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….

Crossing the Rubicon

Crossing the Rubicon

1 Peter 3:13-22

The Rubicon River separated the North called Gaul from Italy proper in the century before and after Christ. It formed a border line to what was considered actually being in “Rome”. Because of the concern that Rome could be defeated not by the armies of other countries (whom Rome had always defeated in battle) but by a general taking the Roman army against the city, a law was created that made it illegal (treason) to cross the Rubicon with an army. In 49 BCE Julius Caesar did just that. Taking his full army to Rome, he knew the act of crossing the river was an act of treason and war. In legend the moment he crossed the river he reportedly said, “ālea iacta est - "the die is cast”. Once you cross the Rubicon, there is no turning back.

In popular culture the phrase “Crossing the Rubicon” means the same as taking a risky and irrevocable action or starting a revolution that cannot be turned back from. In our passage today Peter is telling Christians to “cross the rubicon” – not with an army of might but with a force of peace. How do we create revolution? Courage, Conversation, and Conscience.

It Takes Courage to Create Change

The first thing Peter tells us is “do not be frightened”. Christianity is not a faith walk for people who lack conviction or courage. It requires making stands so radical in their nature that people are tempted to think us quite mad. Christianity is designed to be so embracing that the very people other shy away from – the homeless, the immigrants, the lepers, the prisoner and the outcasts – are the very ones we take in, create community with and consider our equals. Instead of the old way of thinking ourselves “religious” and them “cursed” – Christianity is the courage to say “These are my brothers and sisters I am them – they are me.”

Don’t be afraid of the world around you. Create change by your willingness to be equal – not just when it gives you rights, but when it keeps you humble. Learn from everyone God puts in your path and teach them through your courage to side-step the norm of achievement, busy-ness and social status. The Rubicon was a boundary. Be willing to break the boundaries of class and stature and cross into the true Christian life.

Conversation, not Condemnation

Peter then challenges us to do something modern Christians struggle with more than anything – be ready to talk about Christ. Not only be ready to talk about Jesus – but be ready to do it gently and respectfully!

15But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…
Now there’s a groundbreaking thought. Instead of condemning people for their belief, practices or non-practices and walking around with a list of mental does and don’ts – be ready to be gentle, respectful and talk with them. Peter knows what we should notice in the gospels – Never does Jesus point out someone and say “Well, they are just going to hell” and walk away. He chides the Pharisees (church folks!) and talks about the woe they face if they don’t learn to embrace the spirit of the Lord other than the letter of the law. But mostly he listens, he teaches and he loves.

Lets not just bring “respect” into our churches – lets create a revolution of change by taking respect out into the world – and when people notice our gentle nature and respect then they can say “What is it about you that’s different?” and you can be prepared to talk about Jesus Christ.

Have Conscience on your side.

Americans like to be “right” – no matter if we are right or wrong – or even if right or wrong really isn’t the point – we like to be “right”. Having a conscience means you don’t enforce your “rightness” but God’s goodness, God’s holiness and God’s love. Notice Peter expect Christians to live such good behavior that anytime someone says something bad about them – its slander – because Christians don’t act badly. That’s what it means to live with conscience.

Instead of worrying about creating theological arguments about our beliefs and how right we are to follow Jesus, lets channel that desire to be right into our lives – be right about how we act, be right about what we give, and be right before God in our hearts. Not only will that make an irrevocable difference our lives, but it will cross the Rubicon of faith and show they world a revolution of hope.

Crossing the Rubicon was how Julius Caesar started the revolution that took Rome from a corrupt Republic to the age of the Emperors – some like Caesar were tyrants, some the Augustus brought the peace of Rome (pax romana), roads and culture to the world. No matter what historians decide about that act – one thing is for cure – not being able to go back – took the whole world forward.

Make a change in your relationship of faith that makes an unchangeable mark on the world around you.

Don't Be Driven

Lectionay Reading: 1 Peter 2:2-10

Five years ago a phenomenon in Christian publishing changed the way many people see faith and life. That phenomenon was “The Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren. Published in 2002, it became an international best seller for people looking for some meaning and purpose in their existing by teaching that God has a purpose for each person and the things that happen. However, the book has garnered as much criticism as acclaim. From its lack of the gospel message, to its “new age-like” feel for devotional but not missional understanding the book has some folks wondering what people are really seeking that drives them to this work.

Although I find some parts of the book quite helpful, I am one of the critics in general, not because of the main idea – but of the way that idea is presented. (I am also not too happy with the mass merchandising of faith – but I’ll write that in the “Purpose Driven Journal” with my “Purpose Driven Pen” after I drink from my “Purpose Driven coffee cup”). My concern is expressed in the very title of the book – the word “Driven”.

According to the dictionary, driven means, “being propelled or pushed forward. Having a compulsive or urgent nature”. Mature Christianity isn’t about God pushing us along or a compulsive need requiring us to participate. Christianity is about our willingness to go, because of our love for and relationship with our creator. People who are “driven” are often singularly visioned, inflexible, and uninvolved with the people or places around them. Think of a work addict – someone so consumed or driven by work that they take work on vacation, ignore their family and soon lose perspective of the rest of the world. We are not created to be driven – even by an idea like our divine purpose – we as God’s children are instructed to be called.

We are to be called, not driven.

The lectionary scripture in FirstPeter reveals a treatise on what we are called to be – living stones building the body of faith as temple of the Christ by our actions and behaviors. But in that treatise is a list of who we are called to be.

9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Identity - A Chosen People

One of the things that the converts from Judaism to Christianity were missing was their status as “chosen”. As the Hebrew people they had been raised for generations with the fact they were God’s own people – chosen and called to proclaim the name of God. When they converted to Christianity, there was a sense of confusion and loss in some early communities. They asked, “we were once God’s chosen people. Now who are we?” This book goes to remind them that they are still chosen of God and still were a people proclaiming the name of God.
It is a humbling and beautiful thing to realize we are not Christians because we chose God, or were driven to God. We are Christians because God chose us – humanity – to create, relate to and reveal the relationship to. We are a chosen people called to relationship.

Service - A Royal Priesthood

There are two services offered to God in the Old Testament: those done by prophets, and those done by priests. A prophet is someone who brings the message of God to the people. A priest is someone who brings the people to God. That’s our role – we are part of a royal priesthood – we are not called to speak for God. We are called to bring the people to God. Imagine how embracing and powerful the church would be if we remembered that we are a priesthood – called to serve and to connect.

Community – A Holy Nation

A nation is a collective of people, with different traits, backgrounds and gifts, who live within the some territory and hold a common bond. We as Christians are called to be God’s nation – not defined by our country – but by our citizenship is heaven. A nation is not made of people who are the same, but by people with the same foundational contract. To the age old question “well, can’t I just worship God at home alone?” the answer is Yes – but the call is for us to be together – to be a nation of Christ on earth.

So that’s who we are – living stones. We are not people meant to be driven by internal goals or external faith precepts. We are people meant to be called by the clear voice of God, forgiven by the grace of Christ and gathered into one people.

Our Brother James

Who was James in relation to Jesus?

Who is James in relation to us?

There’s a lot of scholarly argument about who James is. Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox faiths claim James is not related to Jesus in any way, because their dogma tells them Mary never had sex and was a perpetual virgin. Many Protestants believe James was indeed the son of Joseph and Mary making him the younger half brother of Jesus. Other protestants use ancient traditions to make the case that after Jesus was born Joseph died young, and Mary married a man named Clopas who had children of his own – making James the older stepbrother of Jesus. And still more suggest James was actually a cousin because neither Hebrew nor Aramaic have a word for “cousin” and used the term “brother” interchangeably.

So: non-brother, younger half-brother, older step-brother or cousin – we don’t know. But what we do know is that he was Jesus’ spiritual brother – just as the Bible calls us all “joint heirs with Jesus” – we are all God’s children and related to Christ through that. And it’s that spiritual brother role that I find the book of James brings to me. James is our spiritual big brother.

Everyone needs an older sibling (even if they aren’t born with one). That role of someone who has a little more experience, a little more wisdom to give, and is someone that you can talk to about the really sticky things you might not otherwise bring up in conversations with your peers is a need we all have to fulfill. An older sibling who has been through what you have experienced or endured, and can support you through your joys and encourage you is a great gift of heaven. Throughout my life I have been blessed with mentors and “big sisters” who have taught, nurtured, laughed frequently and shared experiences with me. As I got a little older I have been blessed to be a “big sister” to some younger men and women who have allowed me that joy and help them by sharing my experiences, encouragements, thoughts and know-how. It’s the larger circle of life in God’s family on earth and we are always blessed when we get the rare chance to participate in it.

Spiritually, James is our big brother. His 5 chapter book deals with the real-life issues other writings skirt right by. His speech is plain. His message is unmistakable. While other biblical books challenge us with the truth of resurrection and the beauty of being saved by God’s grace – James comes along as says “Yes, grace is a gift of God, but don’t just sit on your can while receiving it. Do something! Don’t just take the gift – USE IT.” The book of James is a treatise on Christian maturity. It’s a book that says “it is time to grow up little sister/little brother – here’s how”. Let’s take a quick look at the 5 chapters of this amazing letter and see the message our bro has for us.

Chapter 1: Be Positive Under Pressure

Whether you are suffering from lack of wisdom and don’t know what to do (ask for it!), or are being tempted, James tell us in chapter 1 to persevere. The ability to see the hand of God in all things, and endure the whirlwind of life on earth is a great sign of spiritual maturity. How do we learn to be positive under the pressures of our jobs, ideas, expectations and regrets? By hearing and doing. Those are the bookends of the Christian faith. Hearing helps us understand God’s relationship with us and the world around us. Doing helps us live in and take it into our being. Christians don’t always have to be happy – but they should be hopeful (and reach out with hope to one another).

James 1:12 “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”

Chapter 2: Be Merciful to Others

Maturity in Christianity means realizing there are more people in God’s world than you, and embracing them with equality and grace. Christianity is not selfish, or self-seeking. It does not seek to make someone think like you, act like you or be like you. It seeks to open a door to God for all people so that in relationship with their creator they can be who God made them, not who God made you. Playing favorites – rewarding the rich, desirable or similar, while punishing the poor, needy or different is not the act of a mature Christian, but of a slave to ego, our big brother reminds us.

Mercy, we are reminded, is not just in thinking – its found by doing. Faith without deeds is dead, James says. It isn’t saying we can “work our way to heaven” – but it is saying if we produce no fruit, we might be the prettiest most useless tree on the planet. Mercy isn’t a feeling, its an action.

James 2:12, 13 “Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!”

Chapter 3: Master Your Mouth!

A recurrent theme is this small book is to watch what you say. Its not just the fact that words can tear down or build up that has James concerned. It’s the idea that people speak without thinking, or let their emotions take over the communication center and do a lot of damage. Things like belittling people, gossip, name calling, or discouraging words don’t transmit the love of Christ or desire of God. They simply hurt. There are times that people have to be told “No” or instructed that they are doing something incorrectly or unwisely. However James reminds us with his talk about wisdom there is a big difference between “instruction” and “destruction” – Use the wisdom that comes from Heaven – it’s positive, controlled, God-centered. That way your words can create, and not destroy.

James 3:2 “We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.”

Chapter 4: Be a Peacemaker, not a Troublemaker

Stop fighting. Stop fighting with each other over stuff like baptism, communion, and what hymnal to purchase. Stop fighting with other Christians over worship styles, who can serve God, and what prayer style is best. Stop fighting with people in the world about the things of the world. Stop suing each other at the drop of a hat, and stop blaming other people for your problems. It’s that clear. We are to show the power of Christ through our peacemaking, not how much controversy we can bring to the table. Like any good big brother, James says in a timely way “forget about your petty drama and get over it! Grow up and follow God.”

James 4:1 “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you?”

Chapter 5: Be Patient not Panicked

Don’t run around grumbling, blaming and acting badly. Just as God is willing to wait an eternity for us to grow into the people God wants us to be, we should reflect that likeness in our patience. Remember when you endure a trial that God is a healer who gives good gifts. Sometimes those gifts require our work, our patience, our learning, our seeking, or our forgiveness. Sometimes we simply have to wait. Everyone goes through times at the top of the circle, and everybody goes through times at the bottom. Instead of deciding that God has withdrawn from you during those darker times or events, remember that God uses time, wisdom, prayer and faith as healing/helping/guiding elements. Don’t panic. Be patient. God is still God.

James 5:7 Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains.

James didn’t help us with the other older sibling stuff – like how to tie our shoes, or what to say to our parents when we come home with a bad report card, but he does help us with the questions that plague us in our walk to maturity in Christ. The book of James gives us 5 lessons from our big brother as a blueprint about who we should be and how we should act. No matter who he was to Jesus, he has certainly been a godsend to us.