Have a Truly "New" Year

Lectionary Reading: Hebrews 2:10-18

I’m no stranger to New Year’s resolutions. Problem is – they usually end up being the same old thing. Many a year I have resolved to lose weight and tone up (you can put me down for that again this year), to balance my finances and give more of my gifts to God’s service. Last year I decided to do something unusual and resolved to be more open to people and self-revealing – to not be so private and mysterious but actually talk about my thoughts, feelings and experiences. Boy, am I glad the year is over! Goodbye to being friendly; Hello to fortress of solitude!

A Revolutionary Resolution

This year, however, I find scripture calling us to do some things that are really new. Not just new as in ‘It’s a used car but its new to me” kind of new – but the amazing “The old has gone the new has come! (2 Cor 5:17)” kind of new. The lectionary reading from the book of Hebrews makes sense to be chosen as a scripture for a new year – because the mindset and ideas God teaches us through it are absolutely revolutionary.

No one knows who wrote the letter the Hebrews – but it was clearly a document made to help converts from Judaism to Christianity understand who Jesus is and what he wants from us (and in the process managed to teach generations of Christians about such things as faith, love, and hope). In reading it – I found three resolutions I think all Christians should resolve to make their faith and this year truly “new”.

Be A Family

11Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.”

Hebrews tells us that we are brother and sister with Christ, and with each other. We are the same family. Wouldn’t it be amazing if we acted like it? Our species divides itself any number of ways – by race, by culture, by nationality, by experience, by age and most initially by family. We see that so much on religious holy days (like Christmas) when we gather with that unit we grow up with, and love. From our family we get our identity, our name, and our history. We give special allowances to our family, such as “yea, I know its an ugly sweater – but my Dad bought it for me” and we protect our family, “Nobody talks bad about my sister!”. At our core – our family is “us” and everyone else is “them”.

That’s not what God wants. Don’t get upset – I’m sure God loves the family unit and the strength that comes from a healthy family – but God also wants us to have more in common than blood. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ – we are all in God’s family. It’s clear over and over in the Bible that God doesn’t want Christians to live in the “us and them” world. God wants us to live in the “all of us” world. Imagine if we guarded and respected others as we try to do our parents. Imagine if we gave others the grace and “extra mile” we give to our brothers and sisters.

Jesus does something really odd on the cross – with all of Jerusalem watching. In the 19th Chapter of the Gospel of John, Jesus is nearing physical death and he points to his mother and John and says “Woman, here is your son” and he says to John “Here is your mother” and the Bible tells us John took the mother of Jesus into his home. When you see that touching scripture you should ask one important question: Where the heck is James????

In the Catholic church, this scripture makes a lot of sense because they have dogma that says Mary never had sex, and had no other children. But Protestants, historians and bible scholars all agree that James, who ran the church in Jerusalem after the Ascension was Jesus’ brother and there were other siblings as well. So, riddle me this: Why would Jesus trust his brother James with the founding of the church in Jerusalem but not trust him with his own mother???? I believe it is a parting message of Christ – “you don’t have to be the same bloodline to be family – take care of each other.”

This year – try reaching out with the same forgiveness, openness, and willingness that you do your family of origin to all the people around you. (yes, it sounds impossible – I told you it was revolutionary - but give it a try). See at the end of the year how much more God has increased your ability to love when your family includes people who are different than you – but children of the same God.

Be close to Jesus

14 "I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises."

While we are enlarging our family – let’s make sure to remember Jesus is our brother too. We have a tendency in Christianity to carry on with great ritual about the Jesus who is the King – with Glory and Honor and Praise. Hark the herald angels sing – glory to the newborn king! And that is rightful – he is the King of Kings. However in all of our golden glorious high praise, we become more and more removed from our brother Jesus. (in fact, those of you who grew up in really “high church” probably think that last sentence is blasphemous – brother Jesus – indeed!). Don’t blame me – look at verse 11 again. Jesus is not ashamed to call us brothers (and sisters).

That is the great wonder of the Christ. He is the high King of Heaven, but Hebrews makes it clear that he was also one of us. Our brother. Flesh like our flesh, blood like our blood, temptation like our midnight cravings. The reading is reminding us not just to keep Jesus high-up and far away – but close to us – as one who understands us like only a brother can. You know how you and your brothers and sisters have always worked together to understand, endure or communicate with your parents? Well – when you find God a little far removed, or you have those “why are you allowing this???” kind of questions with God – consider working with Jesus to understand and communicate with the Creator – after all – you and Jesus have the same true parent.

This year – be less concerned about religion (and how religious you are) and more concerned about the relationship you and your brother Jesus are experiencing. Pray together, invite Jesus to know your thoughts, your daily activities and your regrets, and keep reading, learning and loving him. Laugh and share time with him. If you make time for your earthly brother or sister - do it for Jesus too.

Be Free

14Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

Now there’s a resolution we can sink our teeth into. Its hard to think of treating other people like family – all those little brothers and big sisters we may have to adopt, and its exciting and scary to think of Jesus as our brother – but being free, that we can handle! Or can we?

Historically, the mistakes of Christianity have been when Christians reacted, instead of acted. Nowhere is that more evident in American Christianity than our over-indulgence in guilt and thoughts of sin. It’s not bad to feel sad when we do wrong, and it’s not bad to understand and admit our sin. The problem is, too often, we forget the rest of the good news in the process. God doesn’t want us to go running around all the time talking about what big sinners we all are! God wants us to proclaim the GOOD NEWS that “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” and set us FREE.

Pastors and parishioners make this mistake easily – as a reaction to the world around us. The world seems so self-indulgent and sinful that we try to show our Christianity by talking about sin, and how it is a part of our being. We mistakenly believe that if we can just convince people that all people sin that they will accept and relate to Jesus. The declining numbers in churches (and the growing weariness about a Christian church full of judgment and lacking in relevance) are reflections that convincing people they sin is not enough. What we need to be showing them isn’t how we all sin – but how people are free from death, free from guilt and free to be the children of God. We’ve been filling people with the bad news, without showing them the good truth. Trust me – people know when they sin. What they don’t know is what to do about it. Let’s give some answers, instead of accusations. Drop the slavery mentality - Lift up the Grace of God.

This year – resolve to show your freedom in Christ and share the good news with the people who see your joy and life.

So there’s our scriptural challenge – if you keep your diet resolution, you will lose weight and be healthy. If you keep your financial resolutions, you’ll save money and have less stress. But if you will keep these resolutions – you will change your life, and God through you will change the world. Now, wouldn’t that be really “new”?

Happy New Year – family of mine

The Day fo Love: Go

Read: Matthew 1:18-25

Reflect: No matter how much time we spend stretching, showering, dressing and preparing – there comes a time every morning we have to grab our keys and go. That’s what the love of Christmas is about – the “love” that is an action verb. God who goes to earth, wrapped in vulnerable flesh, and we who are to go into the world wrapped in the abundant love of God.

It’s easy to get confused about love in its action form. Theologians and seminarians talk about the 4 Greek words for love and what scriptures each one is used in, while people die from hunger every day around the world. Pastors and teachers compel love from their pulpits, while our prison population triples as people are punished, but not healed. Christians sing about love every Sunday while unseen lonely people believe the church has no place for them. Love in its action form is hard for us to understand sometimes.

And yet at Christmas we celebrate Love on the Go – Immanuel – God (Love) With Us. Today’s lectionary passage helps us see what a moving love looks like.

Poet Ann Weems points out frequently how many mistakes we make with our nativity scenes:

* Mary looks fresh as a daisy, after just giving birth,
* Shepherds and 1 or two sheep are present (now, if a shepherd was going to bring his flock, would he only bring one or two of them?),
* The Magi (wise men, kings, etc) are there – even though most biblical scholars remind us every year THAT story is from Epiphany (liturgically) and happened as far as 2 years after the birth historically.

But the biggest mistake she points out is our tendency to put Joseph in the back of the stable. We don’t hear much about Joseph really. He’s always somewhere in the back of the room, looking at Jesus from afar. Poor Joseph, the silent stepfather to the infant king. But the Bible shows through this humble man what love truly looks like.

Love respects

Joseph and Mary are betrothed. In Hebrew tradition, once a girl has passed through temple rites, met the criteria and is certified by a Levite priest to be able to be married her family may sign a wedding contract in her name. The contracted couple enters a period of “Betrothal” during which time preparations are made for the couple to be married. If the groom is not a first born son (living and inheriting the father’s house) he will have to build a house (usually on family property). The bride must work to gather what things she may need – cooking pots, pans, and candlesticks for ritual. Again, if she’s not the oldest daughter, she has to earn these things through working for her family somehow. There is even a “betrothal ceremony” called the “Kiddushin” in which the bride and groom drink wine and exchange rings. In the eyes of Jewish law, the bride is already the property of the groom. When they are ready, the marriage ceremony is performed (“Nissuin”), the glass is broken and the marriage is consummated.

Joseph and Mary have had their Kiddushin. He owns her. And she’s pregnant. We always carry on about what that must of done to poor Mary’s reputation – but we rarely think about Joseph. If you knew an engaged couple building a house together and she ended up pregnant – who would be your first choice as the paternal candidate? Joseph knows it wasn’t him, and in an act of great compassion, decides to wait before breaking the marriage contract and taking his ring back. He wants to do it quietly and save her from disgrace (even if he thinks she deserves it). Why? Because he loves her, and in his love – treats her with respect. Love doesn’t say, “well she got what was coming to her!”

Respect is a measurable quantity of love. The more you love God, the more you treat God’s creation (including animals, earth and other people) with respect. Love in the active form never humiliates, seeks revenge, or belittles. Love takes the other person into consideration and acts with grace. Notice the scripture doesn’t say he plans to stay with her, or he forgives her – but he does respect her. Sometimes we, in our humanness, decide to wait until we forgive someone before we can respect them – but love respects first and always.

Love believes

So while he is trying to be more than fair with her, an angel appears in a dream and gives him the most implausible explanation on the planet. She’s having a baby, but she’s still a virgin (and she needs to stay that way) and the baby is the child of prophecy who can save people from sin. Its not written in stone, its not done before the 2 male witnesses required by Jewish law, and there aren’t even Angel footprints in the dust on his floor – because it was all a dream. And yet, he believes. Love believes.

Love in its active form believes that God is still God, that the impossible is probable and that mystery has a place in the world of our faith. Rev. Donna Schaper describes a holy person in this way:

“A godly person is someone who faces despair with hope, and meets challenges with love.”

At the moment Joseph feels the despair of a broken relationship, betrayal from his betrothed, and public scrutiny, he faces those ideas by believing in a dream, and having the hope that it’s true. He takes her as his wife, completing the Nissuin but not consummating the marriage (which breaks Jewish law), because he believes in more than religious law. He believes in God and God’s mysterious righteous will.

We need to believe. We need to believe that peace can come to this world, because it is God’s dream. We need to believe God’s love includes and heals and exists for everyone, because our brother/sisterhood is God’s idea. We need to believe that the hungry should be fed, the prisoner should be healed and the widow should be provided for because it is God’s vision. If we as Christians are to walk in the world with love, we need to believe.

Love Stays

The name the angel tells Joseph is Immanuel – God With Us. Notice the parallel –Joseph is going to stay with Mary; God is going to stay with us. In a rational world, Mary doesn’t deserve Joseph but in a faithful world, Joseph stays with her anyway. In our rational world we don’t deserve God, but in God’s faithfulness, God is going to stay anyway.

Love in an active form is staying. It’s the act of being with one another and not abandoning the promises we make. Love means doing what it takes: believing the impossible, forgiving the painful, reaching for the unthinkable, and following the undesirable. If we are going to love the poor, we must “stay with them” (in prayer, in hope, in building projects, in giving, in creating justice and in memory). If we are going to love the prisoners we must stay with them (in writing, in praying, in healing). If we are going to love God’s children we must stay with them (in peace, in hope, in tolerance, in prayer, in action).

That is what this day of Advent is all about. Love – in “go” mode – active and unfettered. I read a note this past week talking about favorite Christmas songs. I didn’t answer it because I have so many – but in preparing this writing I began to ponder what the best song for this day of love is, and I have come up with a favorite. It’s traditionally an Easter hymn, not a Christmas song. But I can’t escape it when I see the baby in the manger and realize all that he set aside to be with me and save me. I hum it when I think of brave, loving Joseph. I hear it in my heart when I think of my beloved Jesus. I sing it when I want to honor God. It is my response and my reflection this day.

Respond:

What Wondrous Love Is This?

What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul!

When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down I did not in silence drown,
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul for my soul,
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul.

And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on;
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on.
And when from death I’m free I’ll sing His love for me,
And through eternity I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on,
And through eternity I’ll sing on.

Amen.

Advent is nearly over. The Christ child stands at the threshold waiting to be born. Are you awake? Are you ready? Are you willing? Then….

Go

The Week of Joy: Shower!

Read: Matthew 11:2-11

Reflect: So far this Advent we’ve woken up and stretched, now its time to prepare to go out into the world. Waking up is about orienting yourself to the day at hand. Stretching lets your mind and body become involved in your day. But the thing that will really get you ready for work or play is getting in the shower. The shower is the place we wash off the traces of our yesterday and the dust of sleep. Cold or warm, the vibrant water hitting your skin will enliven you and get you ready to head out the door.

The Pink Candle

On the day of Joy (otherwise known as the “pink candle day”) we are encourage to do just that – shower in God’s goodness and blessings, wash ourselves with the forgiveness and love of Jesus and come alive under the flood of spirit. Only in this way can we prepare to go into the world with the good news.

We should be joyous this week – for it is the week of the pink candle. Why pink? The Advent Wreath is a Germanic Catholic tradition that has found a home in many protestant churches in the last 25 years or so. Three candles are purple – the color of repentance – to signify Advent as a time to repent and prepare for Christ. In ancient times Advent was a time of fasting and going without (really contrasts with our currently holiday of cookies and excess, huh?) but on the third Sunday – the day of Joy – the candle is pink to remind us to celebrate because the time of fasting is almost done and the time for the Christ child is close at hand. The pink candle is the light at the end of the tunnel. It’s the amazing feel good shower after hard work. If anyone needs a shower – Christians do.

“Christian Thugs”

On December 13, 2007 in a packed subway in New York City a group of 14 men and women attacked a Jewish man and nearly beat him to death. The reason? They said to him “Merry Christmas” and he responded “Happy Hanukkah”. They ganged up on him and physically assaulted him, telling him Jews killed Jesus. What’s more bizarre than beating someone up so they’ll celebrate Christmas? A man of Muslim faith jumping to the victim’s rescue and fighting off his attackers. The victim, Walter Adler said, “A random Muslim guy jumped in and helped a Jewish guy on Hanukkah - that's a miracle." Right before the first man hit the victim the attacker rolled up his sleeve to reveal a tattoo of Jesus Christ. I know how heavy my heart felt when I saw this headline in an article by Christopher Leavitt:

“Muslim Defends Jew Against Christian Subway Thugs”

My first thought is probably the same as yours – those people are on the fringe – they don’t represent Christianity any more than Fred Phelps and his “God Hates Fags” group represents it. I want to believe Christians are still the primary force of good and peace in the world. However, the evidence to the contrary is popping up all over. In just the last 3 months:

1. David Kinnamon from the Barna Organization releases the book “Unchristian” revealing a three year study that showed a majority of unchurched and churched young people (ages 16 to 29) describe Christianity as “ignorant, judgmental, hypocritical, homophobic, and political”.

2. Sherry Shepherd, a self-proclaimed evangelical Christian on “The View” tried to defend Christianity by saying the Bible’s view of creation is correct. When she was asked if the earth was flat or round – she didn’t know that answer. Three weeks later she proclaimed such startling ideas as “Christians began about 200 years before Jesus”, and “Christians were the first people in the world and came long before the Greeks”. Thousands of people begin to blog about the ignorance of the average Christian. (Tens of thousands of Christians begin to declare they are not that dumb). I love Sherry as a performer, but I’m starting to think the best thing she could do for Christianity is to be quiet.

3. Top Christian leaders from eight mega-churches are being investigated by congress for vast financial misdealing. Only 2 leaders cooperated with the investigation.

4. The many news stories about the subway incident all focus on the amazing thing that cultural enemies of the Holy Land (Muslims and Jews) were able to help each other and find friendship in the midst of Christian oppression. No one seems surprised to see the phrase “Christian Thug” enter the national vocabulary.

Okay okay – you’re thinking – “Helloooooooo Rev. Kellie --- it’s the day of JOY, remember?” Yes – Yes I do. That’s what we have this week – the joy that Jesus Christ is among us to showers us with the gospel of healing, power, hope, truth and love. If anything thing can change the distortion of Christianity people are seeing in our country, it is the joy of Jesus.

The Unexpected Joy

In the lectionary reading – John the Baptist is as worried about Jerusalem as I am about Christianity in the USA. He’s sitting in prison for calling Herod to repentance and he has left his movement to his cousin Jesus to run. But John is hearing strange tales behind the prison walls.

John’s movement was based on repentance – people being sorry for their sins and starting anew. He was, by many accounts, a part of the Essenic movement – believing in self-denial (hence the camel hair coat and locust eating) as a way to purification. He thought the Messiah would come and wipe away the materialism, judgment and corruption from the church and the world. He knows Jesus was sent by God, and he expects to hear stories of mass repenting – people sobbing over their sins and the stock in sack-cloth and ashes rising. He expects evidence of people living simply, selling their goods and giving up status comforts. That’s not what he hears.

John hears about crowds of people being fed luxuriously – as much bread and fish as they can eat. He hears about Jesus lecturing in temple court yards and open fields. He hears about Jesus talking to women, talking about Samaritans, and touching lepers. He hears tales of how much joy people are getting in Jesus’ presence and how he promises them abundant life. John is in prison and Jesus is getting popular! So he sends a messenger to Jesus asking “Are you the one?” – In other words – John is not so sure his cousin was the right man for the job after all.

Jesus answers him by telling him all the joy Christ is bringing. He says, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor." Jesus tells John that he is the right one to bring God’s message alive on earth. That Holy Will involves healing people, raising people, and preaching the good news of God’s love.

Jesus then says, “Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me." What does that mean? It means Jesus knows he isn’t doing what John expected. “I know I’m not what you had in mind,” Jesus is saying. “But don’t fall away, because Christianity is full of the unexpected – forgiveness instead of revenge; acceptance instead of hatred; peace instead of war; life instead of death.”

That’s what we need to proclaim this week of Joy – the unexpected amazing joy of Jesus Christ in the world. Don’t just brush away terms like “Christian thugs” as “a few local nuts who don’t go to our church anyway.” – Take that image and destroy it with your joy. Show people how God has healed you and is teaching you to bring healing to others. Reflect your gratefulness to God, and smile – laugh- sing – forgive. Stop acting like some old dowager stuck in a pew who hasn’t cracked a smile in 40 years and shower in the luxurious love and grace of God. Walk into your church, your kitchen, your work place and your prayer place refreshed by God’s love and ready to live it.

The gospel of John tells us what Jesus told John the Baptist to explain why Jesus isn’t turning the culture into self-denying mourning penitents, but freeing them from sin to live full and joyous lives. “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:17.

Respond: In what ways can you reflect the joy of Christ into a world that needs to see God’s love?
For me:
1. Speak out against oppression – not just the groups or people that oppress women and children and the economically disadvantaged – but when people claiming Christ oppress others as well. I need to stop pretending “Christian violence” (spiritual and physical) doesn’t exist, and start working as a witness to an embracing peace-loving God.
2. Reflect the joy of Christ in my life and my day. I am trying to learn to speak in a way that brings hope, not just awareness and spirit not just knowledge.
3. Take prayer and personal meditation time not just to pray for what ails me and the people I love, but to celebrate God and the gift of salvation in my life. I think I take that salvation for granted sometimes, and I need frequent celebrations of what an unexpected, beautiful gift it is.

The Day of Peace: Stretch!

For each of our four advent Sundays the blog will have 3 components:
Read: the scripture of the week from the lectionary
Reflect: a short meditation about the topic
Respond: A chance to connect with the idea and share your wisdom or experience with someone else. You can email me, leave a comment or just talk with someone (or many) about your answers, but make sure to share the light with others this season. I will answer each question on the blog as my way of sharing with you.
Be blessed this Advent season, and be a blessing.

Read: Isaiah 11:1-10

Reflect: A country farmer went into a local church and was greeted by the stern secretary in the church office.
“Can I help you,” she sniffed. He smelled of dirt and land to her.
“I’d like to speak to the head hog of this trough,” he muttered through a thick accent.
“What?” The secretary was taken aback by his crudeness.
“I”d like to speak to the head hog of this trough,” he said again, pointing as the pastor’s picture on the wall.
“SIR!” the secretary chided. “That is REVEREND JONES and he is one of the most respected leaders in our community. We do NOT talk about the Reverend that way and we do not deal with anyone who would. Please leave.”
“Alrighty,” the man said as he turned to leave. “Ya see, I just got me an inheritance of 2 million dollars from my uncle and I wanted to talk about giving a tithe.”
“Just a minute, Sir,” the secretary called as she looked out the window. “I see the Big Pig pulling into his parking space right now!”

Stretching – we all do it. Sometimes for good reasons; sometimes not. Physically and spiritually, stretching is an important part of life. Remember how the Day of Hope told us to wake up? Well, what do you do when you wake up? Stretch. Reaching out with feet or arms, sometimes even turning or twisting to wake the back and shoulders up – most people will stretch before they get out of bed. The message of the day of Peace is to follow that pattern in our walk with God as well. The day of Peace is God’s way of asking us to stretch.

When I read Isaiah’s prophecy – of the child who will lead us to peace instead of war, to justice instead of oppression and to collaboration instead of survival of the fittest – my first thought is, “Well, where is it???”. The child came a long time ago and we still have war, we still have poor, and we still have wolves that eat lambs. Where is this peace we were promised?

It seems as if we are missing an ingredient in this prophecy. Is this like National Treasure or Tomb Raider? Is there a secret knock or code we are missing? Can Laura Croft lead us to a vault that contains the answers to the world’s need for peace? We have the branch from the stump of Jesse in Jesus. He had all the things it says he needed – wisdom, knowledge, power, fear of the Lord, righteousness and faith. So, what do we need to do for him to bring peace? I think we need to stretch.

“Stretch: (Verb) To extend; To reach out.” – Mirriam-Webster Dictionary.

We have not been successful in allowing Jesus to bring peace to our lives, our church or our world because we haven’t been willing to stretch – to reach out.

Reach out past Judgement

Notice we are told he will not judge with his eyes or ears, but with righteousness. We will see peace at a personal and planetary level when we do the same. Our good friends at Mirriam-Webster who gave us the definition of stretch – have an interesting definition of righteous. “Acting in accord with divine law.” Unlike all those “church ladies” (and men) who view righteousness as a reason to be separate from non-Christians or anyone they disagree with – the definers of the word understand that righteousness is not a reputation, an attitude or a description – righteous is an ACTION. It is what you do. It’s a stretch in God’s direction instead of following the “eyes and ears judgment” we are prone toward. In practical example – reaching past judgment to righteousness means instead of looking at someone in the community as an “undesirable”, treat them as someone God desires.

Reach out past Privilege

In the “dog eat dog” (or wolf eat lamb) world we live in, we have all grown to be people of privilege. However, Isaiah prophecies that with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. The Hebrew word translated “give decisions” in the NIV is a word used for court cases. It’s really more like “pass a verdict” – when there is a trial and Jesus will decide for the poor to make things equitable. I often hear folks say, “I didn’t “get” what I have – I worked for it.” Yet, many of these same people went to college on scholarships, or loans or parents. They got a job because they had a friend who worked in the company or they became part of a family business. They rode on the shoulders of previous ideas and advanced a thought someone already had. They used the body God gave them, the brain God gave them and the blessings God gave them. It is time to stretch beyond ourselves and give to others just as we were given to.

Reach out past Fear

Woody Allen said, “The Lion may lay with the lamb, but the lamb won’t get much sleep!” In order for peace to be part of our picture – we must learn to reach out of our fear. Fear divides us. It makes us hoard food, resources, and ideas. Our fear of being rejected keeps us from communication or reaching out to others. Our fear of being different keeps us stuck in a rut with no new input. Our fear of being judged keeps us from opening ourselves honestly and forces us to hide shame and guilt. One of the phrases of Alcoholics Anonymous is “You are only as sick as the secrets you carry.” But to have personal peace, you must reach out past fear and into faith. God will provide. God will accept you. God will forgive you. God knows your secrets and God is ready to heal your fears.

My favorite image in the prophecy is “and a little child shall lead them.” – I get this image of a whole army of people – young and old, rich and poor, all races, all ages, all orientations, all life-walks following a toddler down the road. It’s a funny picture when you think about it. And yet – anyone who has small children knows – the one thing babies, toddlers and children do more than anything else – is stretch.

Respond: In what ways is God calling you to stretch for peace?

God is calling me to stretch for peace in many ways:

Learn to live without judgement – I need to stop closing my mind and start opening my heart. I want to continue to learn how to help people where they are, not just make a mental commentary about their situation and move forward.

Stop hiding my fears – This new year one of my personal development projects that God and I will work on is for me to stop hiding when I’m afraid, hurt, sad or troubled. I tend to be a “after the fact” sharer, as in “I was really scared” or “that really hurt”. This past year I knew I had a tumor in my throat for 2.5 months before I told anyone about it. Not good! I need to be open to my beloved Jesus, and my lovely partner – as well as myself.

Prayer for my world – I read the news every day (I’m an info junkie) – and as much as I want peace in Iraq, food and medicine in Africa, safe shelter in Mexico – I rarely pray for these things. This year I hope not to simply “know”, but to involve myself in prayer and guidance for the world and my part in it.

The Week of Hope: Wake Up!

For each of our four advent Sundays the blog will have 3 components:

Read: the scripture of the week from the lectionary

Reflect: a short meditation about the topic

Respond: A chance to connect with the idea and share your wisdom or experience with someone else. You can email me, leave a comment or just talk with someone (or many) about your answers, but make sure to share the light with others this season. I will answer each question on the blog as my way of sharing with you.

Be blessed this Advent season, and be a blessing.

Week 1: The Week of Hope

Read: Romans 13: 8-14

Reflect:

A mother knocks on the door of her daughter’s bedroom.
“Sweetie, it’s time to get up and go to school,” she says.
“No,” is the sleepy reply.
“Why don’t you want to go to school? Give me three reasons,” the mother responds.
“First, it’s sooo boring; second, the kids keep giving me a hard time and third, I want to stay in bed, I hate school.”
“I see, well let me give you three good reasons to get up and go to school. First, you can’t just stay in bed all day; second, you are thirty years old, and third, you are the teacher!”

Sleep. Isn’t it wonderful? When asked what the most important invention in the last 50 years is – I skip quickly over things like the artificial heart, the internet and the remote control and think of the thing that most deserves the title: the snooze button. I love the snooze button. 7 more minutes of beautiful sleep. 7 more minutes of warm blankets and soft pillows. 7 more minutes of bliss.

And every 7 minutes the alarm goes off again: telling me its time to get moving. Telling me I can’t stay in bed all day. Telling me a new day is here that is full of God’s mercy and hope and promise. Every 7 minutes the alarm tells me to wake up.

Advent is God’s alarm. We spend all year hitting the spiritual snooze button. We might wake up in Lent just enough to see the path of Jesus’ life and for some Christians the reality of the cross and the joy of the Resurrection is bright enough to get them out of bed long enough to get a glass of living water, but inevitably by the time Pentecost Sunday ends, they will have gone back under the covers. Things in our life can wake us up momentarily but unless one of those things is happening right now – Advent will find you sleeping, comfortable in your relationships and not really wanting to be moving about too much. So God uses these weeks to say:
“Wake Up! The Christ Child is coming.”
“Again?” is our sleepy spiritual reply
“Again and Again and Again,” God responds through the week of Hope
“Didn’t we do this last year?” We whine – pulling our covers over our heads
“The Infant King wants to change your world,” God responds through the week of Peace
“I don’t wanna get up. I’m warm and comfy,” we moan as we fluff our pillow
“There is abundant life in the Manger Throne” God responds through the week of Joy
“What do I get if I wake up?” we bargain, reaching for the snooze.
“You get to be with me fully and forever” God responds through the week of Love
and then, to prove it – Christ is born. Anew. Again. Alleluia.

Don’t take my word for it. One of the great spiritual masters, Anthony De Mello, wrote the following in his ground-breaking book, “Awakening”.

Spirituality means waking up. Most people, even though they don't know it, are asleep. They're born asleep, they live asleep, they marry in their sleep, they breed children in their sleep, and they die in their sleep without ever waking up. They never understand the loveliness and the beauty of this thing that we call human existence. You know, all mystics -Catholic,Christian, non-Christian, no matter what their theology, no matter whattheir religion -- are unanimous on one thing: that all is well, all is well. Though everything is a mess, all is well. Strange paradox, to besure. But, tragically, most people never get to see that all is well because they are asleep. And in their sleep they are having a nightmare

.

The day of hope is the alarm sounding Advent day we say – our Christ is coming and our nightmare is over.

Paul writes advice to the Roman church – who after facing persecution and trial were more than ready to climb back into bed – and he reminds them the day is come and they can’t keep pretending its night anymore.

“And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.”

Paul reminds the Romans that love is the commandment God gives us, and that the time for love is now. “Don’t keep waiting to love others or share the good news of God’s love. Don’t sleep on it. Do it NOW” Paul seems to be telling them. Paul is also helping them keep hope. The time for Jesus to arrive is nearer than we think (no matter what we think) and we need to keep working with that as a true and blessed hope.

I always thought it was strange to prepare for the second coming in the season where we are celebrating the first. But each coming of Jesus into the world requires the same preparation. We must awaken from our slumber and remember what’s important. We must make our plans to greet Christ and bring as many people as we can with us. We must prepare for the world to change, and prepare ourselves to change with it.

This season: whether you are in your working world halls or shopping malls, look around you with eyes preparing to open wide and see the Christ child arriving to take away your nightmares so that you can sleep in peace, and rise in love.

Respond:

What events of the past year woke you up? Maybe they were events that shocked you into seeking spiritual truth. Maybe they were events you didn’t realize were shaking you awake until much later. Maybe they involved so much joy you woke up laughing. Share these events with someone this week, and reflect and pray for continued sense of hope as you wake up for the child to come.

Events that woke me up this year:

Cathy’s cancer, surgery, and chemotherapy – from that nightmare God has brought us much healing and hope.

Moving to an entirely new place – there is nothing like being lost all the time to make you depend on God.

The Virginia Tech shooting – This happened only a few months after we moved here, and the mourning and sadness I felt was the first real communal emotion I shared with the people of VA. It reminded me of why Christ’s work must continue to be manifest in our world.

Fall – Our first Virginia fall was so beautiful (even though the Virginians complained it wasn’t as pretty as normal) I started seeing God everywhere around me and feeling at home in this new place. I have a hard time meeting people and making friends, but fall has made me bolder, and God has given me hope that I have found a home.

Is Jesus Political?

A Meditation for Christ the King Sunday

Lectionary Reading: Colossians 1:15-20

I am one of those people who doesn’t like to talk about politics with strangers, and usually only discuss my ideas with friends and people I respect. If someone who doesn’t know me very well asks for my opinion I’m likely to say, “Oh, I’m not political”. The problem is not that I don’t have opinions and desires about my government. I would love to have equal rights someday, and I care deeply about the issues of immigration, war, and health care. I try hard not to be part of the problem, but, I’m not really part of the solution either. Hence, I am not political. But as a Christian, I have to ask – is Jesus political?

In the liturgical calendar, today is Christ the King Sunday – a day when we celebrate the Kingship of Christ and a traditional early Christian feast day. The title King is a political position – so there’s a clue to the answer. We also are given the New Testament scripture to the Colossians which clearly shows Christ’s political position.

Verse 16: For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on
earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or
authorities; all things were created by him and for him.

Clearly – Jesus was political. But not the way we see people claiming Christian faith go about politics in our day – with contributions to candidates who espouse their beliefs, pressure on public servants to vote with a particular viewpoint, and a review of a candidate’s religious history. I don’t think Jesus was about the process of politics. When asked, Jesus made a distinction between what was Caesar’s business and what was God’s – and also made it clear that his business was God’s. But he was about the product of politics – justice, mercy, and change. So what does that mean for Christians?

There is an old chemistry joke: “If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the precipitate!” (well, I think it’s funny)

The precipitate, of course, is a solid mass left behind after a chemical reaction has occurred. It’s an indicator that a chemical change has happened and something new has formed. When I look at the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, I see him as the catalyst – the one sent to create change in our world, and Christians as people who were supposed to be the evidence of the change Jesus is making – so – we are the precipitate.

Christ as King of Justice

One of the roles of any king was be the head judge (and in smaller kingdoms the only judge) of disputes and decision making. The king decided ownership, punishments, and made the laws. A good king made laws for the sake of justice. Christ the King sought justice through many ways. He called upon the temple leaders to create spiritual justice and get rid of cruel temple exclusions and pharisaic law (that got him killed). He called on disciples to create social justice – caring for the widows, the poor and oppressed. He called on individuals to act justly with one another.

As followers of Jesus the Christ (another political title), we too should strive for just actions with one another, and for social justice in the world around us. We should follow the advice of James – “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” Imagine if that word “religion” was replaced by the word “politics” – how different would our world be? Would we be at war? Would 1/3 of the homeless be children? Would scandal be the hallmark of our political leaders?

Christ as King of Mercy

There’s an ironic twist to understanding our beloved Jesus as a champion of justice. What he did on the cross was the antithesis of justice. He became grace, and grace is about as far from justice as one can get. The dictionary defines justice as “… the impartial assignment of merited rewards or punishments.” In other words, justice means you get what you deserve. And according to Romans, what we deserve for sin – the willful disobedience of God’s law – is death. But Christ brings grace into the arena – dying in our place so that we can experience salvation, relationship with God, and hope eternal. Because of Jesus we don’t get what we deserve – we get what God desires. God desires relationship with us and love.

As followers of the Redeemer, we too should take mercy into our lives and world. Imagine the immigration debate if it were framed in terms of mercy as opposed to economics, job quotas and punishment. Imagine our health care system if it were designed around mercy for the sick as opposed to how much insurance one carries.

Christ’s grace really isn’t so opposite from justice as it seems. Justice and mercy are the two sides of a coin. They are symbiotic. Thomas Aquinas said, “Mercy without justice is the mother of dissolution; justice without mercy is cruelty.”

Christ as King of Change

If there is anything distinguishing about the rabbi from Nazareth, it is his capacity to create change. Every life Jesus encountered he changed in some way. For the corrupt temple leaders, his presence made them insecure, defensive and scheming. For the pagan Roman soldiers his message opened them to the possibility of the One God, creator of all. For the common people, Jews and Gentiles alike, his healing gave them sight, mobility, hearing and spiritual freedom from demons and prejudice. We are all born again in his presence. We are all the precipitate – the evidence of his change.

Is Jesus political? You bet. Not in a “mark you ballot and lobby your cause” kind of way – but in a more profound and personal way. As election season begins to run in its fullness, I fear we will all have more politics thrust upon us than we may desire. But as we make our decisions, donations and demands of our government – let us first follow Christ into bringing the products of good politics into our midst. Justice, mercy and change are the fruits of Christ’s labor and should be our priority as well.

As for the rest – let us remember the wise words of Paul to the Colossians – “He is before all things and in him all things hold together.” In other words – it’s all about Him. Not us. Not Democrats, Republicans, Liberals or the Conservative Right. It’s about Him. Let us pause to honor and live to exclaim – Christ the King.

Some Early Christmas Wisdom

Happy Thanksgiving, all. It should not surprise you than on this great holiday I'm playing on the computer and adding to my blog. Nerds just celebrate thankfullness differently. (Later, I'll watch some Star Wars. I'm thankful for light sabers too). Speaking of nerdom - A friend has directed me toward "facebook" - which I have to admit is a lot more fun than I had suspected it would be. How could a nerd like me not have known that??? If you're a facebook person, or decide to join the fun - be sure to stop by my page and say Hi.

The pic on the blog is my house - which I decorated for our first Virginia Christmas (we are very excited by the whole thing). If you are wondering: "How did a geek like Kellie Rupard-Schorr hang lights on her roof all by herself when everyone knows she is the clumsiest nerd alive?" - I'll have to tell you about the "magic pole" (otherwise known as a "shingle hanger" )that allowed me to do the whole thing without getting on a ladder (or falling off one).

Now to the wisdom: My friend Debra sent me an email forward written by Ben Stein about the issue of the word "Christmas" - and our yearly fight over stores saying Holidays instead of Christmas and outlawing nativity scenes in town squares. I verified it through snopes.com (nerd note: always check stories on a verifier - don't just believe it because its on the web!) and printed the actual part said by Stein. It think it is good wisdom as we prepare for Christ's birth celebration.

____________________

From the CBS Morning Show, December 2005 by Ben Stein (in regard to the media hype surrounding Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson)

My confession: I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a crèche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period.

I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to.

God's Not Angry - We Are

Reading: Psalm 13

In 1741 Calvinist minister Jonathan Edwards gave one of the most famous sermons in history. It is so renown the sermon is used in English and Religion classes as an example of the writings of the time. The title of the sermon is “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”. The image of this sermon is of God holding all people in God’s hands over the pit of hell – and in anger allowing some of them to fall to their eternal torment. To say it is a fiery sermon is an understatement. To say it accurately reflects God would, in my opinion, be a misstatement. Yet, we all sometimes get caught up in the “Angry God” theology. Some pastors preach the most important thing is to recognize ourselves as sinful beings who are separated from God and anger God. Others refer to the Old Testament as “the side of the Bible with the angry God”.

While it is important to recognize the sin in our lives, it is more important to understand first that we are beloved by God. We are God’s created, desired children (not just a bunch of bad seeds who disappoint God every day). Jesus didn’t come just because we have sinned. He came because we are loved. The God of the Old Testament is only angry if you just read the first half of each story. Every time God exiles Israel because of their worship of false gods, God brings them back to the Promised Land. Every time God punishes, God also heals. God tosses Adam and Eve out of Eden, and then gives them children. Their son kills the other son. God gives them another son. The God of the Old Testament isn’t always angry – that God is patient and more forgiving than we will ever know. So where does all this anger come from? I think it comes from us.

We are an angry species sometimes. We are not just angry when our country is attacked or injustice causes harm, but when we are driving (road rage, anyone?), when we feel cheated, lost, grief stricken or embarrassed. We hold anger. We remember it. We use it. We sell it. We buy it. We vote with it. We sleep with it. The 13th Psalm is full of it.

1How long, O LORD ? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and every day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
3 Look on me and answer, O LORD my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;

The psalm of lament says everything we say to God in our anger – Where are you, God? How long are you going to ignore my needs/wants/hurts? Don’t you care? Are you there?
There are three things to know about our anger with God.

Don’t be afraid to be angry

Many people are raised in religions that stress you should never be angry with God, question God or express doubt. The tragedy to that is it robs people of their right to ask important questions and to have an honest relationship. What happens is people start to carry anger at God inside them, and because they never express it honestly it eats them up from the inside out.

Imagine if you could never ask your parents, “why”? Think of all the things you would not learn. Would it be good if a parent told you not to touch a hot stove, but never told you why? Would you enjoy getting a C on your report card without knowing how the grade was assigned? Would it be okay if you came home from high school and were told you were being grounded for three weeks and to go to your room – without ever learning why? Questions and doubt are important to our growth and development as God’s children. When we fail to ask, we rob God of a chance to answer.

Our walk with God is a relationship, and every relationship endures anger. I used to tell couples planning to get married that they could tell the strength of their relationship not just by how much they laugh with each other, but by how well they forgive each other – because disappointments and anger happen even in the best of love. How we get through it is what matters most. Think of your deepest relationships – with your mom or dad, your brother or your sister, your best friend or your lover – as much as you love those people – haven’t there been times when you could just shake them, scream at them, or pull the car over and say ‘GET OUT’? Still you love them. Being angry with God over disappointments, unfairness, loneliness, heartache or illness is a normal part of a real relationship. Learn how to express your anger and let the healing between you and your loving Creator begin.

Don’t be addicted to being angry

Then there are other folks who want to carry their wounds and hurts around with no real thought to a solution or the relationship being repeatedly damaged. Anger is an energy source. It can empower, motivate and even propel people into action. It is powerful, and it is addictive. However, one of the major sermons God gave when Jesus was nailed to the cross was that reconciliation and forgiveness is the dream of God for us all. In other words: it is okay for us to get angry. It is not okay for us to stay angry.

Sometimes people use anger as a reason to hide from God. They say stuff like “I believe in God, but not organized religion” (because disorganized religion is soooo much better?). My experience with that phrase is the person employing it has been hurt before – by a church, a pastor or a person and is holding that anger against God. By avoiding the places and people of God, they never have to face their anger or resolve their feelings. It hurts them, and it hurts God. Be honest and open with God. Soon, you won’t be so afraid of religion, because you’ll be past that and into a real relationship.

Listen to the Emissary

Every once in a while a person can become so consumed with anger they can no longer adequately express or deal with it. The anger festers in them and they no longer have the ability or words to resolve it. That’s especially hard when your anger is at God. Sometimes even when God is trying to give comfort, you are too mad to hear the words.

"Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" revolves around a space station that encountered a unique problem. It was run by Starfleet – the military establishment, but inhabited by Bajorans – a race of people highly involved in their religion. They listened to the prophets. The two sides would conflict frequently in the battle of might versus spirit. In order for this group to work together the prophets picked an “Emissary” – someone who would speak for them. They picked a Starfleet Captain. That way – both sides could hear the voice of the prophets through the experience of a military person. Both sides would listen.

In one episode, a war is coming to the station. The Starfleet crew begins amassing weapons and preparing for battle, but the prophets say to pray and wait. The two sides fight openly about their differing points of view. Worf is a Klingon, a member of a warrior race, and it is expected he will take the side of the soldiers. However, he takes the other side. Someone hisses at him saying, “Since when did YOU believe in the prophets?” Worf answers wisely, “What I believe in is faith. Without faith there is no victory”. He turns to the Emissary (Captain Sisko) who settles the dispute and averts bloodshed.

Every time I watch that show, I think, “That’s what we need in our conflicts and issues with God. We need an Emissary.” And every time God is quick to remind me that we have one: Jesus the Christ. The voice of God in the form of us. Through Jesus, both sides can listen. When we are angry with God, we can look at the life Jesus led on earth and see how he resolved the situation.

On the cross, Jesus accuses God of forsaking him – Ever notice how much like us he sounds? “My God, why have you forsaken me?” sounds a lot like:
“I’ve been praying about this job for MONTHS, why won’t you answer?”
“You know I am lonely. Why won’t you send someone to love me?”
“Why did you let my father die?”
“Why won’t you take this pain from me?”
“Why do I have cancer?”
“Why why why why why why why????”

So what does our Emissary do with his angry question? He asks it! Then look at what is next – he says “into your hands, I commend my Spirit.” He asks. He yells. And then he trusts God. As Worf would say, “Without faith there is no victory”.

When you are angry with God, find the Emissary – Jesus - and learn from his life, death and resurrection. Tell God, listen to God, and then trust God to heal, guide and comfort you. Psalm 13 starts out as an angry accusation about the absence of God. But look how it ends.

5 But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the LORD,
for he has been good to me.

Amen.

Do All Dogs Really Go to Heaven? (and why we should care)

Readings: Gen: 1:20-25, Rev 21:1-5

My dog lied to me again. I wish it hadn’t happened – I wish Buddy always told me the truth. But, it happened again yesterday. I woke up late, and she ran up to me as I stumbled in the kitchen, then ran to the food bowl – looking expectantly, wagging her tail and making herself look as if she hadn’t eaten in three weeks. “Did you get breakfast?” I asked. She jumped and bounced around the bowl, all but saying the words, “I need to be fed! I’m starving!!!” But, even with her lie dripping off her soft velvety ears and channeling through her pretty brown beagle eyes – I knew the truth. Cathy would never go to work and not feed them breakfast (in fact, I’m not sure they would let her out the door if she tried). So I said, “Don’t lie, Buddy…” and she flattened her ears and went back to the couch to sleep. I was muttering as I made my morning tea, “how can I trust anything in this world when my own dog is a pathological liar” when I remembered a question many people have asked me over the years – do animals go to Heaven?

Who You Callin’ Soul-less?

The arguments against animals in heaven (which have been a staple of the Catholic Church and conservative Christianity for centuries) are:

1. Animals don’t have a soul and thus are not redeemed by Jesus Christ on the Cross
2. Animals do not participate in the Christ’s Body and Blood in the Eucharist (communion) and are not baptized, so they don’t get to go.
3. Animals do not sin and do not require redemption or choose to love God through Christ.
4. The Bible doesn’t say animals go to heaven.
5. If animals went to heaven then every fly, fowl and herring would be there and we would be stuck with all of them – it just doesn’t make sense.

However, the other side of the debate has its points too. Theologians who believe pets go into the next soul step point out the following rebuttal.

1. Angels aren’t redeemed by Jesus Christ, and they get to be in heaven. When did Heaven get such an exclusive policy? Who says animals don’t have souls?
2. Many Christians don’t take communion or take it infrequently, and baptism may be a desire of God for us, but the Bible does not say it gets us in, or keeps us out of heaven. Besides, communion and baptism aren’t how humans get there either.
3. Animals aren’t tempted to sin, and aren’t a fallen species. They have a different purpose and plan.
4. The Bible doesn’t say animals don’t go to heaven, either. And Paul says in Romans 8:21, 22 all creation awaits redemption – not just people.
5. The Bible promises a new heaven and earth – anything is possible in them.

Or as the age-old bumper-sticker reads: “If my dog ain’t there, then it ain’t Heaven.”

In studying this for a long time – I have to say I do believe animals can go to Heaven – but I think there is a more important lesson for us to learn from this issue. First, here are my thoughts…

Paradise First, Paradise Last

We (humans) are a fallen species who live east of Eden. Eden has long been recognized as “Paradise” – the way God intended things to be. Have you noticed? Eden is full of animals! They were there in the beginning, and they weren’t thrown out because they ate from a forbidden tree! (Although, If Buddy had been there – well – at least one breed of dog would be headed east!). Eden, like Christ, is the Alpha – the beginning – and animals were there.

Interestingly, the book of Revelation, also like Christ, is the Omega – the end – and guess what? Animals are there too. Whether it’s the four horses who carry the drivers of the apocalypse or the animals gathered around the throne – the animals (long thought to be symbols in the wild and highly debated prophecy) are everywhere in the book. In Revelation 4 – around the throne are 4 representations: a lion, an ox, an eagle and a human. In A Critical Lexicon and Concordance to the English and Greek New Testament, author and scholar - E.W.Bullinger writes that the four images represent "the heads of animate creation; the lion of wild beast; the ox of tame beasts; the eagle of birds; the man of all [mankind]."

In fact, even though the Bible does not say animals were present when the baby Jesus was born, we instinctively put lambs, oxen and donkeys in the nativity set with him and write hymns about that. Why? Because I think deep down each of us believes they probably should be there too. After all, according to prophecy and Luke – Jesus was born in a MANGER in a STABLE – an animal place. Who is willing to say the Son of God can be born in their house but they can’t go to his?

Of course, a lot of this debate centers on whether you take the bible literally or interpretively – but that doesn’t really matter to me – either way – its clear animals and their imagery are important to God and are placed at the beginning and end of our human journey on this earth.

Why Should We Care?

Whether you are an animal lover or allergic to cats – you should care about this question simply because it reveals one of the most troubling aspects of Christianity in our generation. (wow, that sounds serious, huh?) – It reveals our human tendency to take over what is God’s domain, and re-shape it in our own image. When people go around pronouncing animals can’t go to heaven – they are thinking of heaven as THEY believe it to be. Animals don’t fit their theology – so, animals are out. Sadly, those kinds of people often do that to other human beings who don’t fit their theology either.

Heaven is God’s domain, home and future with us. We don’t have the right to demand what happens there or make judgments about who gets in. We aren’t given biblical authority to make up rules, roles, declarations, or visions of this area. We are charged by Christ with a task of bringing the Kingdom of God to earth – not sit around all day figuring out what heaven is like and who or what species can or cannot get there. Remember the Lord’s Prayer? “Thy will be done ON EARTH as it is in heaven.” Even Jesus is praying “Get your heads out of the clouds and get in the game! Use your life to bring the Kingdom of God to EARTH. Heaven can take care of itself.”

I have always maintained that loving God and accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord so you can go to Heaven, is like marrying someone for his money. We should love God because God made and loves us – and we should want and seek an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ where we honor his Lordship because it’s rightful and faithful to do so.

Heaven-focused Christians always seem to me like they have gotten the whole thing confused with "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" – where God is inviting only a few special children into the magical playground and Jesus is the “golden ticket”. What an appalling way to see the one who loves us so dearly and has so much more to share with us on an eternal journey.

How would you feel if the man or woman of your dreams took you to dinner, got down on one knee – looked at you with eyes full of love, opened a ring box and said, “I want you to be my spouse so I won’t go to hell.”? I’m betting you wouldn’t feel happy. Yea, maybe God feels unhappy about that too. God wants to be chosen; to be loved for who God is – not simply as an insurance against an unpleasant afterlife.

I’m pretty sure about human sin, Christ’s sacrifice, salvation and having an eternity with God. But I’m not sure what that eternity looks like. I don’t believe in “pearly gates” or “streets of gold” (frankly, if I get to heaven and there is traffic, I’m going to be very upset!). I believe the Bible doesn’t give us many clues – other than allusions and allegories. But I trust God to have a future for my soul called Heaven and I don’t have to know the details today. I just have to know God – and I’m trying to walk in God’s son’s way every day to know God more. That’s all I think about Heaven.

Don’t be so eager to exclude other people who think or act differently from you from Heaven. Let God be in charge of that. Don’t be so eager to exclude animals from Heaven. Let God be in charge of that too. In fact, be passionate about walking Christ’s way in relationship with the Creator, and all the rest – the new Heaven and Earth that we cannot fathom - will come to pass.

I’m sure that even Buddy, who lied about breakfast, is a part of God’s plan and love for me. I am also aware that I encouraged the lie by asking if she had breakfast when I already knew the answer. To that critique I can only respond with the immortal words of that theological master – Homer Simpson. “It takes two to lie, Marge. One to lie and one to listen.”

Disclaimer: Buddy does not confirm or deny the breakfast incident.

How Does It Look On You?

Lectionary Reading: Luke 19:1-10

The movie Chocolat features a story about a free-spirit single mom who opens a chocolate shop during Lent in a provincial French village. Because Lent is seen by the Catholic church as a time of self denial, the opening of a shop selling rich, delicious and healing chocolate seems pagan and terrible to the people who openly demonstrate against the shop (although they manage to privately purchase and eat the chocolate). Through this whole struggle, a young priest is working on his first self-written sermon. After the intolerance of the church folks reaches critical mass and a terrible fire results, the townspeople are divided between self-righteous justification for their meanness and guilt over the tragedy when the young priest finally delivers his sermon. Here is what he says:

“…we can't go 'round measuring our Christianity by what we don't do, by what we deny ourselves, what we resist and who we exclude... we've got to measure our faith by what we embrace, what we create, and who we include.”

What a perfect message of Christ – for those people and for us.

Measuring Christianity is an interesting notion. Some people have a Christianity measured by their love of Christ and their continuing efforts to walk in his Way. For others the measure isn’t something that beautiful or eternal. Others measure it by how good they are (or look), how much they donate to or attend church, how other people think of them, or how successful they have become. If you measure cloth with the wrong tool, your clothes won’t fit and they look bad on you. If you measure your faith by the world’s view, it looks bad on you too. In fact, to the rest of the world it looks bone ugly.

In his new book “Unchristian”, researcher David Kinnamon looks at attitudes of 16 to 29 year-olds (churched and unchurched) and finds the age group to be “skeptical and frustrated with Christianity”. Only 16% of that age group said they had a “favorable view of Christianity”. The age group’s most common comment was, “Christianity no longer looks like Jesus. Its “unchristian”. When asked to describe Christians with 5 adjectives the top five were:

Judgmental
Ignorant
Hypocritical
Homophobic
Political

Wow. That’s certainly a tragic vision of the Christian Way, and sad news for that generation. But in today’s very familiar lectionary story we find some great news. It’s a story that helps us use the right tools – and measure our Christianity in a way that befits Christ, and show’s God’s beauty to the world.

A Christianity Measured by Vision

People who have grown up in church have heard that song over and over. “Zacchaeus was a wee little man; a wee little man was he. He climbed up in a sycamore tree, for Jesus he wanted to see…”

Have you ever wondered why the Bible pauses to tell us that detail? Who cares if he is short? Why do we have to know he climbed sycamore tree? The purpose of this tidbit is to give us a sense of where Zacchaeus is in his faith walk. He’s a tax collector (a person the Jew’s consider a traitor because he works for Rome, and probably cheats people in the process), so we assume he is not at the beginning of Christ’s way. BUT, look again. He WANTS to see Jesus – so much so that he climbs a huge tree (sycamore-fig trees can grow to be 20 meters tall) just to see him. Salvation comes to Zacchaeus’ house because he is looking for Jesus.

Christians should still look for Jesus. Are you looking for him? Not just in prayer and at church or when you are sitting in the doctor’s office waiting for test results, but are you looking for him when it’s not easy? When you are too short (short on patience, short on time, short on grace) to see him, are you willing to go out of your way to look for him? When you have that person in your office or kid in your classroom that you’d just like to strangle – can you see Jesus sitting by him or her – holding hands, talking, healing? When someone disappoints or hurts you badly, are you willing to see him walking down the street, knowing forgiveness of that person is what he wants from you? Don’t measure your walk by how many times you think you show Jesus, measure it by how many times you climb to see him.

A Christianity Measured by Transformation

The people all scoff and snicker when Jesus goes to Zacchaeus’ house (and let’s be honest – we would too – we are all a little short on mercy sometimes). But the act of being with Jesus changes Zacchaeus in a way nothing else could. Suddenly the man whose only claim to fame was his ill-gotten wealth gives half of it away, and offers refunds that will take the other half. One visit from Jesus and the little guy goes from being Bill Gates to being Bob Poor-house overnight (plus, he has to get a new job). And it doesn't seem to bother him! Zacchaeus’ encounter with the Holy Christ transforms him into a man who values God's opinion and lives Christ's way.

Transformation isn’t just what happens when we meet Jesus. Its not the case that we encounter Christ, get changed and just live the rest of our lives as the aging new creation we’ve grown comfortable being. Transformation is an on-going life journey in a relationship with Jesus. It involves communion every day with God (churchy folks call that prayer or meditation), reviewing our ideas and actions, learning new things and correcting old habits. To the Christian, transformation is transportation – a way of getting closer to the person God made you to be.

A Christianity Measured by Intention

Notice everything Zacchaeus says is a “gonna”. He’s gonna pay the folks he cheated 4 times what he owes – he’s not getting out his wallet at the table – but he intends to make it right. I hope he did. Sadly, this like many encounters ends without telling us what happened next. Did Zacchaeus really give away his money? Did he pay back 4 times what he owed?

What do you think Zacchaeus did when he found out Jesus was crucified? He lived in Jericho – not Jerusalem – but he would have heard the news about that radical rabbi who got hung on a cross. So what does he do when he gets the news? Does he feel like a fool and say, “Dang, I gave away my wealth to follow that guy – now I’m broke and he’s dead! Call my Centurion boss; I want my old job back!”? Does he mourn the too young death of the rabbi who changed him from a money-grubbing sinner to a man who followed God’s justice and hope? I hope for Zacchaeus that he kept on the Way he intended and heard to good news that Jesus rose again.

Our Christianity means we need to keep our intentions before us. We need to keep following the path of peace, justice, love and transformation God set us on through Christ no matter what the future holds. If we give up on faith; if we give up on each other; if we give up on ourselves or give up on God because we meet some resistance - we have left our intentions in the dust and need to climb that tree and start over again. Christianity is measured by the walk we make in the rain, as well as the sunshine of God’s love.

So, look in the mirror of God’s eyes and show your walk of faith to God. Ask God as honestly as you ask your best friend when you’re shopping, “How does this look?” If God’s answer isn’t one you want to hear, then accept God’s forgiveness and start your walk anew. Sooner than later you’ll look around and see brothers and sisters – churched and unchurched – willing to share the journey of Christ with you step by step and day by day. Be open to them. Then, the Bible says, in the end God will say, “Well done my good and faithful servant” or translated into our modern words, “looking good!”

"Will Curse For God"

Reading: 2 Samuel 16:5-14

David, the shepherd boy and first musical therapist, renowned giant killer and psalm writer – and most importantly -- part of the Hebrew lineage of Jesus, had a lot of plusses. But he also had some human and disturbing qualities for a leader. David was known to lie when it was convenient, and then there was the unfortunate Bathsheba incident where he had an affair then used his army to murder her husband. His immediate lineage was the dysfunctional family circus with the son of one wife raping the daughter of another, then David’s son Absalom revolting against him and dying in battle. He was such a bad example and had been such a bloody king (at one point he only agreed to marry Saul’s daughter after her learns he gets to kill 100 Philistines to get her) that God doesn’t allow David to build the temple, but instead passes the task on to Solomon. Yet God loves David, so he softens the blow by saying, “Who are you to build me a house? You cannot build me a house. But, I will build a house for you” and promises him Christ. (2 Samuel 7)

When the Bible says David was a man after God’s own heart, I don’t think it means David was like God. I think it means David was seeking God and God’s love. David had an honest relationship with God (if no one else) and tried in many ways to make God feel honored (fighting for God, treating Jonathan’s crippled son with kindness, refusing to kill Saul because God at one time anointed him, trying to keep the Ark safe). David chased God. Even though his lust and anger often got the best of him, David was a God seeker and a God server in a powerful way. That’s why the strange text in today’s reading doesn’t really surprise me.

The story of Shimei is not often preached about – perhaps a story about throwing dirt and cursing a leader being a tolerated act isn’t what most preachers want to encourage from the pulpit. But it is an amazing story that can inspire us in so many ways. Have you ever heard it preached?

During the bloody war with Absalom as David’s army is traveling, a man named Shimei shows up. He is from Saul’s family and has not forgotten the total devastation of Saul’s clan at David’s hands or the fact he took power from Saul. He begins throwing rocks at David and cursing him and his body guards. Finally after enough cursing and stones, a guard asks David for permission to kill him. David says no. He tells the guard that maybe God has caused the man to curse David, and if David tolerates it, then maybe God will give him a blessing for taking such a nasty cursing. So they walk all the way to their destination with Shimei cursing, and throwing rocks and dirt all over them. My favorite part is verse 14 where it says “When they arrived at their destination – they were exhausted”. I bet! How much cursing and dirt would it take to turn your trip upside down?

Why would David, a King, allow some peasant to throw dirt in his face and curse him? Why would God “cause” somebody to curse someone else?

David was ready for truth

David knew Shimei had legitimate complaints. David was a bloody king, he did take Saul’s throne, and he had murdered unjustly. David’s own son was trying to kill him. David knew the only way to relate to God and the people of Israel about this disaster was to be honest. He’s tired of hiding. He’s done with excuses and spin doctors. “I sinned and the result was this bloody war that has split my family and this nation,” David is ready to say. Along comes Shimei who is willing to say it for him. Shimei tells David’s truth in his spew of curses.

Each of us has people in our life that God has put there to tell us our truth. When we are too tired, unfocused or misdirected that person comes along and “curses” us (hopefully in a more loving and less dirty fashion). Our human tendency is to push them away, argue with them, or silence them somehow. But to seek God - to be after God’s own heart means we should honor them, protect their right to speak and let them talk. The people God sends may not be your parent, sibling or best friend. They may not even have your best interests at heart (Shimei certainly wasn’t working for the “Re-elect King David Committee”) It may be a stranger or someone you needed to forgive or who needed to forgive you. But the Holy Spirit knows truth when it hears it. Don’t silence it. Learn from it.

David is able to let God out of the box

Notice David’s not sure if this is God’s will or not. He tells the guard “IF he is cursing because the Lord told him to…” . Even David can’t confirm if this is God’s will or just some crazy old man who is remotely related to Saul his old enemy, long since gone. But David is not going to take the chance of shutting off God’s words because they come from an unlikely source. The reasoning seems to be “if it’s not God, well – it’s not hurting us too much. If it is God, then we better listen.” David knows God speaks through a variety of means and loves God too much to take the chance of shutting God up.

We make the mistake of putting God in the box of our expectations. There are people who God uses to speak to us – our pastor, parent or friend. We don’t like it when God does the unexpected and sends a song, a police officer, a new person, an old enemy, or a book other than the Bible to reveal God’s message to us. We don’t even bother with “IF it’s God…” we just shut off the source and assume it wasn’t. We are not willing to risk a good cursing, or unique messenger, even if it blesses us.

When I was in college and a new Christian, I went through a period where I only listened to Christian music and I only read Christian books. I decided if God was going to speak to me – God would do it through Amy Grant, not Eddie Van Halen. After some time, my faith began to be tested and Amy Grant’s "El Shaddai" was not helping. I grew in despair and questioned if God really could love me. I was full of sin and self and it didn’t make any sense to think a Holy God would ever get near me, let alone love me or speak to me in a real way. I gave up on God and took the Amy Grant tape out of my player and put Van Halen’s back in. A few days later, still struggling, Van Halen’s “Love Comes Walkin’ In” came out of the speakers. This secular song had words I had been waiting to hear…

“and then you sense a change
nothin' feels the same
all your dreams are strange
love comes walkin' in”

The Holy Spirit jumped up and down in my heart – telling me God’s love had made a change in me, I wasn’t the same and God had walked into my life to stay. I didn’t even bother with “If this is God…” because I knew it was. It didn't make any sense, but I knew the truth. I still listened to Amy Grant on occasion, but I knew the power of God to speak was not limited to A&M Records and the Baptist Book Store. David knew that too. He didn’t need the prophet Nathan – He was willing to hear God through any one.

David knows God doesn’t make sense

Theologians have asked for centuries – why would God pick David to enthrone the line of Christ? However, the Bible has always seemed to favor stories about flawed people doing the Holy God’s finest work. There’s no point in dissecting it. God simply doesn’t make sense.

David knew it. The youngest of the brothers is picked to be king. A shepherd boy kills a giant. A musician becomes a warrior. An anointed king hides in caves. A prayerful man has an illicit love affair. The protector of the Ark isn’t allowed to build its temple. David could have told you point blank – God doesn’t make our kind of sense. So, why not have an old man throwing dirt and stones to curse him at God’s behest? It’s the kind of thing God might do.

Pierre Bayle was a French Calvinist who lived between 1650 and 1705. He wrote an important theological document called the “Historical and Critical Dictionary” in which he spoke of Christian tolerance. He said God could not be explained in terms of human reason, and faith must be founded on the concept that God is mysterious and unpredictable. His main example was God’s love for King David. He said David was “a criminal, a murderer, a rapist, an adulterer, and adored by God.” To any human, this was clearly inappropriate and not rational. And yet it was the way of God. He went on to argue that God is so creative and beyond our logic that a Christian cannot truly know the mind, ways or plan of God. All Christians can know is that they love God and are called to live out that relationship in love. He said we are not to judge one another, because clearly through David God shows God can love and use whomever God chooses, no matter what we think.

It’s hard to imagine the ways God might speak to us, or the people God might actually love. What if we chose to listen to these ways? What if God sends someone to curse us? What if we listen to these people? Like David’s army, at the end of our journey we would be exhausted! But, what an amazing, honest trip we would have had – walking like David, seeking after God’s own heart.

Ancora Imparo

Lectionary Reading: 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5

“Ancora Imparo” is Italian for “I am still learning”. It is attributed (unsourced) to Michelangelo who is said to have uttered the famous phrase when he was 87 years old. It’s hard to imagine the painter of the Sistine chapel, sculptor of David, and self described liberator of angels (“I saw an angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”) telling someone he was still learning. And yet, I believe he was. His art was a journey, not a fact, and he learned more about it until the day he died.

When it comes to the Bible, I can say with great confidence – “Ancora Imparo”. I am still learning. I am learning from history, from the Holy Spirit, from the people – young and old alike – who I am blessed to talk with, and from the sacred library that is the Bible itself. I am unashamed in my journey of learning, and if you spend more than ten minutes near me – I will learn something from you! (Yes, I am sort of a learning vampire).

I tend to cringe when I hear someone remark “And that’s in the Bible!” to justify their actions or belief. I think it’s a backwards (and sometimes abusive) way to do things. It is not God’s desire that we see the Bible through our eyes and use it to support our faith-view. It is God’s desire that our eyes see through the lens of the Bible and we become it’s faith-view.

In other words – we shouldn’t study to make sure the Bible says what we think it says. We should study to be sure we are becoming who the Bible says God thinks we are. The book isn’t going to change. We are!

Confusion and Clarity

Jesus advocated change. His followers advocated doing things differently. As Jews, men had to be circumcised on the body. As Christians, they were told to be circumcised spiritually in the heart (and the body could be spared). The old eating laws were changed and shrimp was back on the menu (along with food offered to idols for those who didn’t mind that kind of thing). The old seating laws (temple classism, and religious sexism) were changed. Now the poor, women, and eunuchs were all baptized and part of the faith. Suddenly, the old laws had new meanings and prophecy became the present. Imagine their surprise when they got a letter that said, “All scripture is God-breathed.” (2 Timothy 3:16).

By “holy scripture” – the epistle didn’t mean the New Testament, the Gospels, and book of Revelation. Those writings were still being written, collected and debated. By “scripture” the writer meant the Torah, the writings of the Prophets, and laws given to Israel. How weird for the converted Jews and Gentile Christians who had been living a new way to get a letter that says “Keep living your new way in Christ because the old way is good”. WHAT? Which is it??? Old or New? Law or Love? And even more confusing - the answer they got to the “law or love” question was: “Yes”.

Fortunately there is also some clarity. Notice Timothy is told that the scriptures “are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (3:15). Wait a minute…if the writer is talking about the Torah, written before the common era, where does Jesus come in? Jesus comes in through the prophets who foretold the Messiah. The Holy Scriptures of Israel’s past talked about the fact there would be change – there would be a Messiah. The prophets said new people would be grafted in to the faith. There would be peace. There would be love. The old laws prepared the people to live faithfully so they could have faith enough to live a new way when the Messiah came. The law led us to love.

The code of Leviticus/Deuteronomy had one purpose for the Hebrews: to teach them to live their lives in such a way that others could see they were God’s people. (That’s what the no mixing fabrics, foods, and purity rituals were all about – showing other cultures about the One God). We don’t have to avoid shrimp, sacrifice doves, or avoid poly-cotton T-shirts. But Leviticus still challenges us to live our lives in such a way that others can see we are God’s people. The method, in the light of grace, has changed. But the meaning is the same. Law leads to Love. The law won’t change, but we will.

Those Itching Ears….

“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead,
to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of
teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears
away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all
situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the
duties of your ministry.”

Whenever I hear about the itching ears Timothy was warned about – its usually in the context of someone fearing the Bible is being used too “liberally” and that the tough realities of Christ are being ignored for a popular or social gospel. But, like the question about the law – there is more than meets the eye (or ears!).

In the time this letter was written, the Gnostics were in a theological war with the followers of Christ through the Apostles. The Gnostics believed Jesus didn’t really die (and hence was not resurrected), they thought they needed special wisdom, and put more emphasis on deities than salvation. To the converted Christians who came from Pan-theistic (many gods) cults – the Gnostic theology sounded good – you could have Jesus, and still believe in other stuff and impress each other with special knowledge. It proved to them that the people who worshiped many gods weren’t wrong all along. Those were most likely the “itching ears” the letter was warning about. They were warned about forsaking the truth and grace of Jesus Christ for a story that made them feel right.

And what about our itching ears? What myths do we turn to? Some people turn to stories passed down in tradition (like that it was an apple Eve ate, or that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute – the Bible says neither). Others follow church dogma, and confuse it with Biblical truth (nowhere does the Bible say that you have to be a “member” of a church to take communion or do anything else). People who preach “prosperity faith” see the teachings on giving, but forget the widow’s mite and the mandate to help the poor (not the church fund). Parents who correct their children by hitting them see the scriptures about the “rod of correction” without considering it’s a metaphor for teaching discipline or learning what that Hebrew word translated “rod” really meant.

We all have itching ears. We all want to hear what we already believe. We want the Bible to back us up and prove we were correct. And we are all warned not to forsake the truth and grace of Jesus Christ for a story that makes us feel right. How do we not? How do we stay true to our Messiah? We need to follow the advice given to Timothy. “Keep your head in all situations…do the work of an evangelist”. Use your brain and make some sense! An evangelist is a “good messenger” – someone who shares the good news not the old fears.

We are called to act with grace, not react with self-righteousness. Don’t memorize verses – live them. Don’t make the Bible a part of your life – become a part of it. Forsake condemnation and follow Christ in conversation. Don’t use the Bible to prove you – but strive with your life to prove the Bible. Then lean, lean, lean on grace – and don’t forget that’s what is holding you up. For by grace are we saved…

I believe the Bible is the Word of God, carried to us by human hands, and it tells me who God is, and who I am supposed to become as an individual and in a community. As for everything else – "Ancora Imparo".