Spirituality is...a Bended Knee

Baines:  Have you even bent your knees, Malcolm?.
Malcolm X:  Yes, when I was picking a lock to rob someone’s house
Baines:  Tell Allah that.  (Malcolm tries to kneel but can’t bring himself to do it.) You can grovel and crawl for sin but not to save your soul. Pick the lock, Malcolm. Pick it!
Malcolm X: I want to. God knows I want to.
         “Malcolm X” directed by Spike Lee.

In many of the world's religious practices, the bended knee holds a special place and spiritual value. Whether it is kneeling in prayer, the lotus position, sitting with someone and holding hands or bowing in faith -- there is something powerful about bending your knees. Most people talk about kneeling before God as an act of submission to God, and the physical acknowledgment of who God is in relation to who we are.  But, kneeling or bending the knee has a lot more advantages and purposes than reinforcing the fact that God is bigger than us. Bending your knees offers a host of spiritual lessons.

Flexibility 

I don't know about you - but I don't have a problem kneeling down on the floor. The problem I have is getting back up! I am always grateful I don't go to a church that practices kneeling in prayer during its Sunday worship because the moaning and groaning it takes to put me back in standing position would ensure me a seat in the narthex or our choir would begin to repeatedly sing "dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones!"  I am simply not flexible.
   "You should try yoga," some helpful person will say.
   "I love yoga," I respond. "Except for all the falling down and screaming."
   "That has never been a part of my yoga class," they say.
   "Then you've clearly never been there with me."
 Flexibility isn't just something good for the body. It's good for the soul too.

Inflexibility is one of the things Jesus strongly opposed when he talked about the Pharisees dedicating themselves to the "letter of the law, but not the spirit."  Too often people have confused worshiping the "One God" with enforcing the "one way" - one way to think, one way to be, one way to know.  Yet the bible describes itself as the "living word" and what do we know about living things? The more flexible they are - the more suited to both surviving and thriving.

Cats:  Our flexible overlords

That is not to say the Bible can "mean anything" - but it does mean that the more we are open to history, learning, listening and growing in biblical understanding the stronger we become in faith and in life. 

Function

 One of the many things I've discovered since I started gardening is the simple fact that if you want to get your hands in the dirt - you've got to put your knees on the ground. I saw plenty of tools at Home Depot designed to let people stand up while working on the garden, but none of them seemed as efficient or as functional as just getting on ground level and getting things done.

Spiritually bending allows us to be closer - closer to people, closer to the problems, closer to the joy, closer to the work.  That proximity gives us the heart and ability to reach out with God's love and God's empowerment and make things happen in the world. Spiritual bending may mean we have to go places unfamiliar to us, or hear things that challenge us. It may mean we have to refresh our minds and hearts in God more frequently to be clear on what God is calling us to do. Almost always - spiritual bending, like physical bending, will develop our muscles and led to a strengthen of our heart and spirit.  My favorite quote on spiritual bending comes from Rabbi Israel Ben Eliezer (of the Talmud):

"If you want to pull a friend out of the mud, don't hesitate to get a little dirty."

Focus

One of the first things we teach youth workers or people who work with small children is that the best way to instruct them or have a conversation with them is to sit down in a chair or on your knees to be at their eye level. It is much nicer for them to see the adults who are speaking to them than to be talked at from above.However, the benefit is not just for the child - but for the adult too.

Once you get down to that level - you instantly get a sense of how big the world is and how overwhelming it can be. You realize that to spend most of your time looking up at things, not being able to reach things without help, and experiencing most people as a talking set of calves is to be at mercy to the forces around you.  Spiritually bending the knee has the same benefit. You aren't just showing submission to God, but you are reminding your spirit how very big the world is, and how very much we need and long for someone who can reach all the counters, and guide us safely through the things that crowd around us.

There are many postures in faith that give us spiritual abundance. When there is turmoil God wants us to stretch out and rest. When there is injustice, God wants us to stand up and fight. Yet in the day to day relationship we have with God, there is always a time to bend.

Spirituality is...Ready To Sail

Cast your fate upon the water
Catch a big wave by the tail
And when a good wind comes your way
Be ready to sail.
"Be Ready To Sail" by Claire Lynch

It's been an interesting week as we watched to see what would happen with the prediction the world was going to come to an end on May 21.  I don't think very many people actually believed the world would come to an end, but it did make a lot of people stop and think, "am I ready for the world to come to an end?"   We all know life on earth is fragile and beautiful and it can change course or end at any moment.  However, things like the rapture prediction make us stop and take stock about what we have done, what we have left undone, and what we have yet to do.

The thing that concerned me most about this apocalyptic prediction - and in fact most evangelism based on eschatology - is that it tends to use fear to fuel its path instead of faith. The message is usually "You better be afraid because if you aren't found worthy, you will be left behind in torment."  The messengers hope by giving you a sense of fear, you will choose to change your life.  A much better message would be one of faith. "Something amazing is going to happen someday, and I think you would like to be a part of it, and until then - you can be a part of the amazing that is happening now - because the "now" is amazing." sounds like a better message to me.

Spirituality responds to the message in its positive stream. Spirituality isn't asking you "Are you willing to burn?" but rather - "Are you ready to sail?"

Don't get the idea, though, that spirituality is simply about floating along life's waves bouncing up and down like an untethered fishing bobber. There are several things that have to be done in order to sail.

You can't just  buy a boat, jump in it and hit the water.  You have to have a boating license and take some safety classes. There are a lot of things to know - everything from how to tie/trim a sail to who has the right of way in the water, to passing etiquette.  Failure to learn before attempting to sail can be dangerous, frustrating or at the very least, funny (in a "laughing at you, not with you" kind of way).

Maybe he shouldn't have skipped the first 30 minutes of class...

Spiritually, we need to learn too. We don't need a license to be spiritual - but the more we read, know and understand about ourselves, our world and our God - the more smooth the sailing will be.  We don't have to "learn it all " (that's not even possible!) but we should always remember that spirituality, like sailing, is a learning journey.

Coracles or Catamarans

A coracle is a rudderless, keel-less one-person boat made of wicker covered by animal skin used for ages in Ireland and Scotland. It doesn't have much directional ability (although some direction can be achieved by paddling, not very much overcomes the force of the current).  Legend has it that Saint Columba, who founded the monestary at Iona, set sail in a coracle and let the waves take him until he ended up in Iona. The journey and the boat are often used as an allegory for sailing on faith.

A catamaran has rudders, keels, and two hulls (instead of a regular mono-hull boat). Catamarans are used for ferries, vacation boats, racing, and transport.  Having 2 hulls makes them more stable, and controllable than regular boats.

Spirituality is able to embody both types of sailing.  Sometimes you do need to "set out" and "see where God takes you."  It may be a new job in an arena you've never worked before, or a mission trip where you can't begin to predict the outcome. There is something faithful and fulfilling about setting out in faith, using the skills you do have, and discovering where you wind up.  An adventurous spirituality is a gift and greatly to be valued.

Other times, you need to rest in the stability of a boat that has a solid foundation, and good bearings. You need a map to show you where you are going and you want to be able to steer your journey as much as possible. When you are ill, you ask for information about the treatment, side-effects and successful outcomes. Being ill makes you vulnerable enough, you need as much guidance and surety as you can find to navigate those waters.  It's not a lack of faith to need to know where you are going, or what a loved one is going to experience. It's simply a time for a spiritual catamaran to pull you safely through.

Coracle or Catamaran?  A healthy full life will have times for both. So learn as much as you can about the seas of world you will be sailing - the ocean of family, the lake of work, the river of life -- and make sure you are picking the best boat for the time at hand.  Then you won't have to be so worried about whether the rapture may come, or illness may strike, or a new person may enter your life - because no matter how rough or calm, dark or clear, choppy or still the water is - you'll do fine on your journey - because you are ready to sail.

Spirituality is...A Blind Date

"Most of us don't know where to start with God.  We've got a lot of excess baggage and "God as Told To Us By" and it can feel an awful lot like a blind date.  The trick with God, just like blind dates, is to suit up and show up. Who knows?  God might turn out to be someone you really like. Somebody you can actually talk to and go salsa dancing with. Somebody who gets your jokes.  The point is that until you try to meet God, you aren't going to know."                                                                                     Some Say God is No Laughing Matter by Julia Cameron

This morning I had a chance to have breakfast with some folks from my church I admire very much. We share a common faith in Christ, a love for all kinds of music, and a fondness for dry, cranky humor. However, in some ways, we are very different. They were raised steady and solid, lived in the same area most or all of their lives, and have an internal sense of who God is that would leads me to believe they have known God since childhood. They are raising their daughter in the church with the same solid sense of God's presence they reflect in their service and dedication.

I, on the other hand, came from a chaotic mixture of people and places where I learned to accept and appreciate different kinds of folks, but I wasn't taught anything about God.  I didn't' meet God until I graduated from high school, and when I did it was definitely a blind date. Fortunately,  that date led to a series of experiences culminating in a life given, a life received and a journey shared.  I wondered today, not for the first time, if my faith, my hope, my joyous relationship with beloved God - would be different had God and I started out sooner or if I began on more solid ground. When I asked God the question, I got a question in return. The conversation went like this:

Me:  God, wouldn't it have been better if I had known you from the start?
God:  What?  And give up our blind date?

There's something courageous, and entrancing, about sitting at the table waiting for God to walk through the door.  Even people who are raised in faith can usually point to a time when they transitioned from the God they were taught about in Sunday School to the God who invited them to dinner years later - the God who laughed with their joy during the appetizer or cried with them over their pain while the entree was being served, the God who encouraged them to order dessert, the God who paid the bill.  Ultimately for anyone to to get to know God, they must commit themselves to experience a blind date, and then take the next step - the trust to open our eyes and see.

"But everything is going so well..."

 The God who made us knows us, and longs to be with us -- so you wouldn't think it would be so hard to open up and reveal our honest thoughts and questions. And yet, particularly for those raised with a God more interested in punishing sinners than embracing souls, it can be the challenge of a lifetime.  If we have set ourselves on a course to have a blind date with God - we clearly desire to be with God -- so you wouldn't think it would be so hard for God to talk to us.  And yet, particularly for people who are too busy or too frightened to hear anything other than what they already believe, God is challenged to get through our defenses or distractions with a great message of grace and gifts.

Social science tells us we get what we expect.  So if we go on a date with God, we will pretty much expect what we were told by others who have shared the table.  Some people expect a God who shows up late, annoyed and instantly blames you for giving bad directions or choosing the wrong table. Some people expect a God who shows up with flowers and candy but spends the whole night wanting to hear you talk about how fantastic God happens to be. Some people bring a list, hoping God will open up a wallet and leave a huge tip without asking too many questions or insisting on a steady relationship. And, sadly, some people wait at the table as the candlelight grows dim, not really expecting God to show up at all.

Spirituality begins as a truly blind date and expects the God who is unexpected.  The God who breaks into a song at the table, or the God who moves the plates and puts down a map to show you some exotic place or unforeseen calling is the God who will show up if we allow it. I think one of the reasons Jesus acts so unpredictably throughout the gospels is to help his disciples understand the daily trust walk of following Christ meant you didn't always know what was going to happen, but you knew God was changing something, someone or some path.

Of course, all lasting relationships must eventually pass through the dating stage and become steady, hopeful, and directional. Yet, anyone who has been in a long term love will tell you that couples who are the strongest still manage to date quite frequently, and enjoy unexpected adventures along with daily bread.  But in order to get to that journey of an honest everyday life with God - no matter if you've known about God forever or for a day - you must be willing to "suit up and show up" for the date.

Would I give up my blind date with God? Never!
Would you?

Spirituality is...The Positive Opposite

 "You got your chocolate in my peanut butter!"
           Reese's Commercial

“I’m spiritual but not religious.”

In a frenzy of twisted logic, this phrase has moved from catchy to cliché to a standard response in popular culture. Think about how easily it rolls off the tongue – like any of the other auto-responses we have in our cultural competency.

How are you?   I’m fine.
How’s your mom?   She’s good.
What do you believe?   I’m spiritual but not religious.

The great irony is that as this phrase has been repeated over time it has become the very thing it wants to repel. It is a recurring tradition trying to communicate the idea the speaker is not traditional.  Like many populist assertions, it loses more meaning every time someone says it.

Part of the problem is that “I’m spiritual but not religious” is a completely backwards communication technique.  People who say this aren’t telling you what they believe. They are telling you what they don’t believe.  It shares nothing of who they are and serves as a mere signpost of who they are not.  They are saying:

They are not church people.
They are not opposed to science.
They are not bigots.
They are not Bible thumpers.
They are not gay haters.
They are not judgmental prudes.
They are not closed minded.
They are not brainwashed.
They are NOT RELIGIOUS.

This phrase isn’t a state of being or belief at all. It’s a protest against everything the speaker has seen and deemed unseemly, unholy and unfaithful in the faith.  It’s a T-shirt with an arrow on the front that says, “I’m not with THEM.”

It is easy to see how one would want to set the record straight about belonging with a group like the one those sentences describe. I don’t want to be them. You don’t want to be them.  Heck, even some of the people who are them don’t want to be them. And yet, still “they” exist.

Unfortunately, when we spend so much energy defining who we are not, it doesn’t bring us any closer to who we are. We need a word to take those phrases and convey the positive opposite. A word that says:

I am part of a community.
I recognize evidence of the system this world is built on.
I accept people as they are.
I read the Bible so you can see it through me, not hear about it.
I love and I believe God loves all people.
I don’t judge others.
I am open minded.
I am assertive and unique.
I am spiritual, disciplined, and faithful.

Where can we find such a word?  How about – “city on a hill?”  How about “salt of the earth?”  How about “child of God?”  When our spirituality is noted, but our religion denied, what we are really doing is conveying the simple truth that we don’t believe in the crusades, the political gospel, or the social oppression of rights in Jesus' name. We are conveying that we think the “religious” establishment brings those things to the table, and we want none of it.  But, we are also saying we are shapeless, lacking in clarity, and blowing in the wind. That lack of foundation and definition is neither holy, nor healthy.

Spirituality and religion are like love and marriage. You can have either one independently, but everything is so much better when the two are together.

To have a whole faith, to be all that we are in God on earth and in heaven, we must reconcile the two halves of faith life and find a way to be religious and spiritual once again.  Like the old Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup commercials – we need to find a way to get religion in our spirituality and spirituality in our religion.

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups - definitely spiritual

 

To get spirituality in your religion – you gotta live what you believe and believe what you live.

So when we bring our battling couple, spirituality and religion, into the room of our heart and ask them to stay together, how do we keep them enmeshed?  Living what we believe is a matter of conscious action and choices. Believing what we live is a matter of mental/emotional action and commitment. Holding those two realities in a symbiotic relationship is a matter of faith.

We tend to think incorrectly about faith. We hold onto the idea that to “keep the faith” is to make sure everything stays the same. We believe what our parents taught us which their parents taught them which was handed down through generations. But it doesn’t really work that way – even in genealogy. Preachers, teachers, time, experience and inspiration all put their marks on the faith as it is handed from one to another. That’s the natural way of it. After all, people evolve – why shouldn’t faith evolve? Faith is not about “never changing yourself.” Faith is about “never giving up on God.”   Faith is not about following the old never-changing way. Faith is about following God’s way.

We tend to talk about faith like we have anything to do with it – we say things like “I have faith it will work out” and “My faith life is vibrant” – but faith doesn’t start with us (and we really shouldn’t take much credit) – faith starts with God.

A few years ago, I required surgery and was referred to a local surgeon. I met him once, for about twenty minutes, and two weeks later I trusted him to cut my neck open and remove my thyroid. I didn’t trust my surgeon because I just happen trust everyone with a scalpel (in fact, I fear sharp objects and men who wield them). I trusted him because I knew his credentials were checked out by the state of Virginia, my insurance company, and the hospital privileges department. He has years of experience performing this operation.  I had faith in him because his record justified that faith. I didn’t do all that work. He did. I just walked in the office believing.

Faith in God is the same way. We have faith in God because God has done the work of creating us, relating to us, saving us, loving us, teaching us and connecting us to God and one another. We have faith in God because God has been there. God has done all the work. We just walk through our world believing, and acting on that belief.

So when our pain at the hands of church makes us want to dump religion, or when the questions and complexities of what we believe make us desire to jettison spirituality out the window and drive down life’s highway on auto-pilot, we need to stop. Then we need to examine how we live and what we believe about it, and have faith.

Peanut butter and chocolate, love and marriage, spirituality and religion are all destined to be together. The more we heal and create pathways for that reconciliation the better we can rid our world of that silly catch-phrase.   Then we can say:

I’m spiritually religious.
Or
I’m religiously spiritual
Or better yet….

I believe.

From Pleasantville to Haiti

Scripture: Matthew 23 

One of my favorite movies is “Pleasantville”. It’s a very well done film both in its use of color, and metaphor. The story follows Toby Maguire (pre-spider-man) and Reese Witherspoon as modern teenagers who end up being transported into a black and white TV show (very similar to any 50’s family show- Donna Reed, Andy Griffith, etc) where they believe life will be simpler.

Everything in Pleasantville is perfect. The fire department only rescues cats, because there are no fires. The school kids all sit up and pay attention. The basketball team never misses the hoop. Men go to work, and women vacuum in pearls before making huge amounts of food. Families sit down and talk over dinner. Wow.

However, our protagonists soon discover the black and white world of Pleasantville is not as perfect as it should be. The books in the library don’t have any words in them. The role of art in a colorless world is small and unnecessary, and the road out of town goes nowhere. Perfection, it seems, lacks passion.

As the teens encounter the ideal world of Pleasantville – they bring their own knowledge, passions and experiences to the town. Introducing Pleasantville’s residents to everything from self-esteem to sexuality, soon color begins appearing all over. Books now tell stories (not all of them pleasant) and art is powerful and provocative. Pleasantville becomes chaotic, divided, messy and very much alive. It’s no longer perfect, but its real.

The encounters Jesus has with the Pharisees are very much like Pleasantville. The temple administration had everything under control. People knew their roles and had their place in the temple secured through status and lineage. Lepers knew to keep away, and officials knew who to go to if they needed something done. The Sabbath had its purpose, and its limits. The faithful stayed in line and the blind stayed blind.

And then…along comes a Rabbi with the ability to hear and to heal (even on the Sabbath). Along comes a Rabbi who brings with him a messy group of followers and introduces everything from dining with tax collectors to raising the dead into the midst of the order. Suddenly the temple was abuzz with colorful people, healed sinners and angry authorities who don’t like being questioned.

In Matthew 23:27 – the Seven Woes – Jesus spells it out.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.”

Jesus points out that turning the Temple – the community of God – into a black and white (or white-washed) museum is not what God intended for people to do in the world. Our world is full of messy situations, colorful people and vibrant challenge. It was the great desire of God for the church to be in that world – changing, healing and helping.

Jesus angered the Pharisees because he upset the order, and he showed without question the disordered, creative, techno-colored spectrum of existence – all of which God inhabits.

This week as we have watched the island nation of Haiti struggle with the aftermath of devastating earthquakes the people of God are still struggling to deal with the reality of it all. As people stand around the rim of this tragedy and say “Where was God during this? How could God let this happen?” we are showing our own tendency to want the simple black and white world to come back.

We want a world where good things happen to good people and bad things only happen to bad people. Certainly folks like Pat Robertson who want to blame Haiti (and some kind of devil-pact) for this disaster are trying to push this hard-to-understand reality into a box that is easier to get a handle on: “Haiti was destroyed because it was bad”. But Haiti is not to blame for the fact earthquakes (a natural design to release pressure and prevent the earth from exploding) happened.

We want a world where the easiest explanation is the right one. “It was God’s will” many will say – as if that takes away pain or answers our many questions. With a swipe of the “God’s Will Credit Card” we can make our offering and walk away without suffering pain or sadness. However, one look at the people of Haiti, and all they have lost, would tell you this certainly is not the desire of a loving God. I am reminded of the earthquake that Elijah experienced and the clearly written understanding that “God was not in the earthquake”. (1 Kings 19).

So if the simple, black and white answers don’t work for us anymore, what does? Where IS God? God is digging people out of the rubble, God is holding the grieving, God is boxing up food and blankets, God is inspiring soldiers, missionaries, neighbors and workers to go forward. God is putting on someone’s bandage. God is finding someone’s child. God is in the very midst of the rubble – where the colors of blood, water, courage, and faith are flowing all over the simple realities.

As Christian people, let us not retreat into our whitewashed tombs and long for simpler, happy days devoid of reality. Let’s be the likeness of God and jump into the colors that make up our world. Let’s bring our expertise, our gifts, and our passion into the rubble of the Caribbean, the reality of Richmond and to our very dinner table. From Hull Street to Haiti – let’s stop hiding behind how we want it to be… and let us bring about messy, amazing, colorful salvation through living the good news of the message of Christ.

Praying, working and reckoning with disasters like the one in Haiti make us stronger in our understanding and relationship with God. Ask hard questions and work through the answers. Like the newly colored Pleasantville- our faith may not be perfect anymore. But, it is real.

What Does It Mean To Believe?

Reading: John 6:28-29

I attended a workshop on treating teenagers with HIV and AIDS this last week and heard a sad and stunning story from a pediatric AIDS nurse from New York. She told us the story of “Ben” – a 14 year old who died from AIDS.

His CD4 count cascaded dramatically downward and medical intervention seemed helpless to stop it. After his death, his grandmother who had raised him searched his room. She found two very telling objects: a diary of sorts, and pills. She found pills under his mattress, stuffed in his dresser drawers, hidden in books, and behind bookshelves. She found pills everywhere. Why had he died so young? The answer became clear. He hadn’t taken any of his medicine. But why? The diary held that answer.

“They keep telling me to take my medicine. They say I will die if I don’t take my medicine, but I don’t think I’m really going to die. The only time I even feel sick is when I take the medicine.”

The nurse then spoke of the challenges faced getting teenagers with HIV to take their medicines and follow a very complicated medical regimen. It’s very hard when your disease as no symptoms (until its too late to stop it) to convince teenagers they need the pills to keep from getting sick – particularly when the pills have side effects that make them feel sick.

Ben died, in part, because he didn’t believe:
* - He didn’t believe he was sick. His disease had no symptom of its own.
* - He didn’t believe he would die. He was still in the “immortal age” teenagers go through that tells them they will live forever.
* - He didn’t believe the medicine was helping. The medicine made him feel worse, not better.
* - He didn’t believe there was anyone he could talk to who would understand. So he stopped taking the pills in private.

In John 6:28-29 the disciples ask Jesus for work and he tells them, “believe in the One he has sent.”

For the disciples – it wasn’t too hard at that moment to believe in Jesus. He was standing there with them. He had just feed 5,000 out of a loaf and fish kid’s meal. He had just walked on water in front of them. They were already amazed, and in awe. They already believed.

But soon belief in Jesus would require work for the disciples.

* - They believed he was invincible – and he would get tricked like a common thug and arrested.
* - They believed he was immortal - the messiah – and he died right before their eyes.
* - They believed he was going to change the world – and soon they were hiding from both Romans and Pharisees.

Their easy beliefs became hard for at time – but they held together and kept working at the belief in the One whom God had sent.

To believe is not to have an idea. We sit and talk about what we believe all the time. And while we are having enlightened conversations – the poor starve, the oppressed are beaten, the widows mourn, and the children suffer. We can talk ourselves blue about what we think about God, faith and the bible – but if that’s all we do – we don’t really believe.

To believe is not to close the doors to change. Too often once we decide what we believe – we don’t want to hear anything to the contrary or even consider it for a minute. We shut off literature and lessons from other cultures. We scoff at the faith stories of people not like us. We know what we believe and don’t want to be influenced. But just as people grow and change from the moment of conception to the day they die – our beliefs must also grow and change.

To believe is to live. Believe is not an adjective – it’s an action verb. To believe means you step out on a truth and know it will hold you up. To believe is to get new ideas and test them with your life and discover their change and merit. To believe is to love with the love of Christ – not in our talk, but in our actions.

Recently the state of North Carolina commissioned a “Christian” license plate. It has a stained glass window and a cross. At the bottom of the plate it says I BELIEVE. Some say that’s a violation of church and state – other are worried about the hypocrisy that drives people from faith when they see an “I believe” car cutting them off on the highway or speeding through an intersection. When I was asked my comment was, “I think our world would be better off if we had less Christian stuff, and more Christian people.”

Believing in the One who was sent – means living like the fact Jesus is alive makes a difference – and makes you different. Believing means working to see God even in the dark times when God isn’t so evident. Believing means going out of your comfort zone and into God’s world. Believing means you accept the fact that death occurs and after life exists.

Believing is the hardest work, for the best reward, you will ever do.

So when you are concerned, confused, or resentful – don’t let your disbelief make you isolate yourself and make decisions that affect your relationship with God and your life on earth. Talk to others, seek God’s wisdom, and believe in the One he has sent.

Walk This Way

Reading: 2 John 4-6


Everyone has mysteries in their life. For some people, its how they can bend a finger all the way to their wrist, or remember every phone number they have ever heard. With others it’s an unexplained gift in math, or the ability to know a sibling is in trouble even when you aren’t with him or her. For me – one of the major mysteries of my life has been speed – or at least, my lack of it. When I was a small child my mother called me “Moses” (as in “as slow as Moses”) so much one of the Marshallese ladies we knew in the Marshall Islands thought it was my name and called me that for months. School friends were always waiting on me sighing “any day, Kellie…” as I plodded toward them, and a friend from college would just shake her head as she turned around to see how far behind her I was. She would then pat her chin and ask, “How? How? How? Can someone who is 6 feet tall with at least 3 feet of leg possibly be SO SLOW?”. The truth is: I don’t know.

I do almost everything slow. I eat slow (mostly I push my food around the plate and pretend to eat – I hate eating. But not liking to eat is a different mystery), I react to things slowly, I plan slow, I clean slow, and yes – I walk slow. In fact, last week when my friend Lea was saying she needed to walk for exercise I offered to let her walk with me. She laughed out loud! I said, “WHAT?” and she said, “You don’t walk, you Stttrooollllll.” But I have found some solace in our passage today. It seems walking (maybe even strolling) is what God wants from us all along.

“It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. 5And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. 6And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.” 2 John 4-6

Notice something about that verse – it says the word WALK three times. It’s clear the writer of the Second Letter of John (a small New Testament epistle about rejecting false prophets) has no problem with Christians being in the slow lane. In fact if you look a little farther down at verse 9 – you’ll see running is outright scorned.

“9Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.” 2 John 9.

Of course the Bible is talking about theology and living, not actually physical movement – but there’s a neat lesson here. In calorie burning, all experts will tell you running is better than walking. But in Christian theology – it’s the attributes of walking that make the difference.

The Way of Simplicity

The first benefit to walking over running is its simplicity. Walking is easy. We do it from the time we are young children. (and yes, I learned to walk slowly too – my mother claims to have worried she would end up carrying me to kindergarten). So some of us take a while – but as small kids we all learn that song, “Put one foot in front of the other, and soon you’ll be across the floor…” Walking is easy. Running is harder.

Christianity isn’t meant to be a sprint where you learn everything in a big hurry then rush off to the next fountain of knowledge. Nor is a marathon where you push your endurance to its limits just to get God’s attention or approval. Christianity in its finest witness to a lost world is the every day act of putting one foot in front of the other. It’s the steps of faith, courage, forgiveness, grace, hope, and love every day that change our lives, change our world and reflect our faith. We don’t need a doctorate in theology, a Strong’s Greek Concordance, and a labyrinth drawn on the church parking lot to live and share our faith. We just need the simple act of taking every day as it comes and walking with God.

Less Pain, More Gain

One of the things that inevitably rears its head in the debate between walking and running is the fact that running burns many more calories than walking. However, the reason that is true is because walking is simply a more energy efficient form of motion. From a physics standpoint – walking requires less energy because it absorbs less impact to the joints and converts forward energy more economically. One website said this about running:

“Running is generally considered to be a fairly high impact exercise with a great deal of repetitive pounding.” www.therunnersguide.com

A great deal of repetitive pounding? I don’t know about you – but that sounds like some preachers I know of – pounding their doctrine over and over – bringing out the same old tired rhetoric and non-biblical traditions to involve faith in politics, culture wars, business models and pyramid schemes.

But 2 John is clear that our walk is to be the efficient gliding of love – not the pounding of rules and judgment. Our faith is a walk – a connective stroll between ourselves and our creator God which is slow and easy enough to bring anyone from the smallest child to the oldest dowager on the journey with us. As a faith body Christians have been too busy running their mouths – instead of measuring their steps of bringing Christ into the world around us day by day by day.

Be Grounded

The final reason running burns more calories than walking, but creates the risk of injury was said best in an article by “Therunningplanet.com”

“The mechanics of running and walking are very different. When walking we always have one foot on the ground. Our body weight is always supported. Each stride results in a force equaling our body weight being applied to our leg muscles. When running you are completely airborne between foot plants. When your lead foot comes down, it is absorbing more than your body weight due to the effects of gravity.”

Did you see that? When walking we always have one foot on the ground! Now that’s the best advice for living the Christian life I’ve heard in a while. Stay grounded in scripture, stay grounded, 2 John says, in love. Have at least one foot rooted and supported by the holy spirit. The “gravity” of our humanity, of our culture’s materialism, esteem-driven satisfaction, and self seeking makes our faith have to absorb so much more than it should. We get a ticket and cry out in anguish, “Why does this happen to ME?” although we hear about a Chinese earthquake that kills 80,000 people and say mildly, “that’s sad. But what can I do?...” We are held down by gravity at every turn.

A Christian who is grounded in Christ knows that God is in all things, and will support us through the tickets, and the greater traumas – as long as we keep grounded in the Holy Spirit of the living God and know who we are, and how God expects us to live.

There’s a place in faith for us slow types. We don’t need to run, and we don’t need to fly over the world around us. We need to keep bearing witness to the God who walks us step by step through the healing process, the faith process, and the grace process.

I’ll close with a camp song (seeing how summer is starting and all…) – see if you can see 2 John’s words of walking in love shine through.

“Oh God, you are my God and I will every praise you
I will seek you in the morning, and learn to walk in your ways
And step by step you’ll lead me and I will follow you all of my days.”

Keep walking, my brothers and sisters, keep walking….

The School of Faith

Read: John 6:22-32

What are the three greatest inventions on the world? That might take a long time for most people to list – considering the scientific advancement from the pulley-lever system, to the wheel, to the internet. But my three are easily available in my head. In my thinking the three best inventions in the world are:

1. The Ziplock Bag – you can do anything with a ziplock bag!
2. Eyeglasses – they are like clothes for your face!
3. The Class Syllabus

Almost anyone who has been through a college course will tell you one of the greatest innovations in higher education is a class syllabus. This beautiful list given at the beginning of the semester detailing what will be discussed each day, when assignments will be due and exactly what is expected of the student is a blessing. It’s comforting to have all of your duties and challenges laid out in a nice organized way.

The crowds who followed Jesus - like college students they were seekers and learners - wanted an organized approach to what Jesus had to offer. He feed them until they were full (also like college students, they went to his lecture with no lunch money in their pockets and had to be fed with free loaves and fish) and they wanted to follow him and his program to the letter. This crowd shows us some things we should know.

When You Notice Jesus is Missing – Look for Him!

The ever observant crowd notices one of those weird things about Jesus – he seems to get around pretty quick for someone who doesn’t have many modes of transportation. The bible says they noticed he didn’t get in the one ship that had left, but he showed up on the other side of the lake! (They did not witness the water walking, and probably could not imagine that explanation – even if Occomb’s Razor reminds us the simplest solution is usually the correct one). So what do they do?

A. Retrace his last steps to see if they can predict his future behavior?
B. Decide that just because they can’t see him doesn’t mean he has left, and act like he is still there?
C. Just sit down and wait for him to come back?

NO! They get in their boats and start looking for him! They know he is missing, and they know they need to be in his presence. So they seek him earnestly and immediately. Sometimes we look around our jobs, life, relationships or family and discover Jesus is missing. When our work feels empty and we aren’t sure why we are doing it, it’s usually because we have forgotten to involve Christ in our calling (through our passion, through our commitment, through our faith that God in us is making a difference even when we aren’t seeing immediate results). Sometimes our marriages or deep friendships start to feel routine or rote. It’s usually because we forgot to include Christ’s love, listening, spontaneity and passion for unexpected loving gestures in our lives. If you notice Jesus is missing. Don’t hang around and shake your head. Go look for him!

Ask Questions

When they find Jesus (and the eggheads in the group start trying to compute how he got there without a boat) the first thing they do is ask how long he’d been there. Later they will ask him about the work of God and what it is they can do to do it. They aren’t shy, or pretending to be so holy that they know all the answers. They ask the questions –easy and hard – and so should we.

We have a tendency to silence our questions of God. We don’t talk about them openly, and we certainly don’t ask the wise people God has placed around us. Many times we don’t even ask Jesus himself. But asking the questions we have – technical and spiritual ones – helps us grow and develops our faith. As a youth minister, I was involved in a van rollover with 2 sponsors and 12 kids in the car. We were headed to a conference in Denver when a back tire of a van I was driving blew, rolling us into the intersection. No one was killed, but there were broken legs, a girl with a broken collar bone, cuts and bruises on all the kids, glass in my head and a soft tissue injury for the other adult sponsor. We ended up in a trauma center in Pueblo – some less hurt kids being flown home immediately, others being taken back after their hospital stay. I was one of the last to get released and back. When we were finally all together again we had a “decompression” meeting where we talked about the wreck. We started with a prayer and then I said, “Who has something to say?” Immediately a boy spoke up and said what they had all been thinking since the moment the van flipped and the screaming started. “We prayed for a safe trip. Why did we wreck? Did God even hear us?” Before I could give them my answer a number of kids said “I’m so glad you asked that! I thought I was the only one who felt like that!” His courage opened doors of healing for many young people that day.

Ask the question. It doesn’t mean you’re dumb, faithless or lost. It means you care enough to want to understand.

Believe in the One who was sent

When the crowd asked Jesus what works God was expecting of them, they were asking for a syllabus. But the Christian life is not so easily organized and the course outline only contains one sentence. "Believe in the One he has sent," Jesus said. Oddly enough, something that simple will take a lifetime of fulfillment.

Our rabbi’s answer illustrates the word "belief" is an action verb. The crowd asked for a work - a job - and the word Jesus gives them is "believe". On the surface it may seem like an easy task. It’s not hard to believe in Jesus. Evidence of his life, death, and resurrection are everywhere. But the part you have to work for is the evidence in your heart of his relationship with you.
When your adolescent daughter lets her math grades plummet just to show you she isn’t happy with her curfew, you have to believe the fact Jesus is alive makes a difference. You have to remember what Jesus taught about grace as you deal with your disappointment and frustration. You have to put aside your desire to hurt back and live his instructions to treat one another with love. It will be an effort. When someone treats you badly, at work or home, you have to believe the facts Jesus died for you and rose again and you are an heir to the kingdom of Heaven makes a difference. You have to act as a member of the chosen, of the priesthood of believers. You can’t just wallow in hurt feelings or frustrated anxiety. Do what Jesus says. Forgive and empower. Believe in him.

It isn’t enough to believe Jesus exists. Your belief must change your life, your church and your world. If we as a body worked on our belief in the One God has sent our world would change. When you are out in the world, can people tell you are a Christian by your acceptance and faith? How does Jesus change the way you live? Frequently ask yourself these questions: How does a person who does not believe in Jesus respond to this situation? How do I respond to this situation? Are the responses different? If not, work to see the changes of Christ more fully in your life.

The seekers from the feeding of the 5,000 come a long way in these short verses. They find the Messiah by seeking him. They ask the questions that will lead them to greater faith and they get the syllabus for the Christian life. That’s the same class we are taking. What’s this semester or season in your life going to require? Believe in the One God has sent.

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.

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!”

Faith: God's Holy Fire

Lectionary Reading: 2 Timothy 1:3-14

I don’t know about ya’ll, but I’ve been feeling pretty darn faithful lately. Why? Let’s see…

In September:

• 
  I went to a doctor I didn’t know.
• 
  Who sent me to a surgeon I had no personal experience with.
• 
  Who took me to an Operating Room where I spent 2 waking minutes with someone I had never met who put me to sleep and held my life in her hands.
• 
  Then I saw another doctor who wrote a prescription I could not read.
• 
  Which I took to Walgreens and left for a pharmacist I never saw.
• 
  Who gave me a chemical compound I did not understand.
• 
  Which I put in my body every day because the bottle tells me to do it

I’m either very faithful, or incredibly dumb! (Please – do not tell me which) Faith: most of the time, we don’t even know we have it. But, we all do – whether it’s turning on the switch and trusting the light to come on, or telling a secret to a friend – knowing they won’t betray our confidence. We are a people whose daily life relies on faith.

This second letter to Timothy, which some scholars feel may not have been actually written by Paul as much as by a later disciple of Paul’s, tells us some surprising things we need to know about faith.

Faith Exhibits Change

We tend to think wrong about faith. We hold onto the idea that to “keep the faith” is to make sure everything stays the same. We believe what our parents taught us which their parents taught them which was handed down through generations. But it doesn’t really work that way – even in genealogy. Preachers, teachers, time, experience and inspiration all put their fingerprints on the faith as it is handed from one to another. That’s the natural way of it. After all, people evolve – why shouldn’t faith evolve? Faith is not about “never changing yourself”. Faith is about “never giving up on God”.

The writer tells Timothy to “fan into flame” the gift of God that was given to him. In other words, don’t just let it die out like a smoldering ember that has gone unattended. Fan it – build it – add more logs to it – and create a vibrant flame. That’s what true faith does – it builds off of the strong embers of history and adds air (spirit), wood (teaching), and kindling (experiences) to make a fire that will accomplish God’s will in the world. It is said that everything fire touches, fire changes. From tempering steel to devouring wood to heating our food, fire leaves change in its path. Faith does the same thing. Faith is not about following the old never-changing way. Faith is about following God’s way.

Faith Inhabits Suffering

We often cling to faith when faced with suffering. One of the key elements of the grief process is bargaining with God. Trying to say “God, if you heal me, I’ll never [insert sin or bad habit] again.” But God cannot be bought with our emotional bribery and embraces us with even more compassion as God moves us forward toward acceptance. What is it that God wants us to accept? It can’t be dying – because God doesn’t accept dying. God gives us eternal life, forgiveness, and continues to relate to us even in our fallen state. Why should we accept anything God is not willing to deal with?

I believe God wants us to accept a simple truth placed elegantly in the backdrop of this letter to Timothy. God wants us to realize that Jesus died to save us from our sin. Jesus died to keep us from the separation between us and God. Jesus died to conquer death and provide eternity for our soul. So – while Jesus came to save us from our sin, our separation, and the loss of soul – Jesus did not come to keep us from suffering. In fact, Jesus remarked frequently that following him and preaching a gospel based on loving your neighbor (no matter who your neighbor is) would LEAD to suffering.

Faith inhabits that truth as the scripture in 2 Timothy says:

“So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace.”

Now – try that the next time you have some free time. Pick up your phone, get a hold of a friend and say “Hey, how would you like to come suffer with me? I have a lot of suffering to do, and I thought you’d like to do some suffering too.” See how many dates you pick up! Yet, that is what this letter is doing - INVITING Timothy to join the suffering.

We tend to avoid people who are suffering, because it seems to us they must be doing something wrong. But the reality is – if they are suffering for the Lord’s sake or if they are keeping their faith in God’s love through their suffering as a light and a witness – they aren’t doing something wrong and they might be doing everything right. Spiritual maturity means letting go of the idea that good Christians don’t suffer – and embracing the knowledge that faith is the by-product of Christianity even in the darkest night.

Faith Originates with God

Verse nine of this chapter repeats one of the most common themes in the new testament - the idea that it is not our works that bring salvation, but God’s grace. It’s an important reminder that faith is not about us – it’s about God. We tend to talk about faith like we have anything to do with it – we say things like “I have faith it will work out” and “My faith life is vibrant” – but faith doesn’t start with us (and we really shouldn’t take much credit) – faith starts with God.

I didn’t trust Dr. Rose because I just trust everyone with a scalpel (in fact, I fear sharp objects and men who weild them). I trusted him because I knew his credentials were checked out by the state of Virginia, my insurance company, and the hospital privileges department. He has years of experience performing this operation, and was referred to me by another doctor I had come to trust. I had faith in him because his record justified that faith. I didn’t do all that work. He did. I just walked in the office believing.

Faith in God is the same way. We have faith in God because God has done the work of creating us, relating to us, saving us, loving us, teaching us and connecting us to God and one another. We have faith in God because God has been there. God has done all the work. We just walk through our world believing, and acting on that belief. When you feel like your faith is being tested, think again. Faith originates from God, and God can pass any test in this life or the next. The scripture says it this way: “I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.”

God is able. God is willing. God is waiting for you to fan the flame of faith into a holy fire and change the world around you. Make it your desire that, like fire, your faith will change every thing and every person you touch. Don’t just hold on to what you already know. Hold on to what God knows.

That’s faith.