Why Being A Christian Is Harder Than It Looks

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’

Romans 12:19

‘You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…’

Matthew 5:43-44

Reflection:

On Sunday night, Jess, the kids and I were still at my mother’s house in AZ, on vacation. We had just put the kids to bed, and we were looking forward to playing card games with my mom because it was our last night with her. Then, a text came over my mom’s phone. “Turn on the TV – big news!”

We then sat for the next hour watching the details as they came in. Photos of Osama bin Laden, archive footage of the towers falling on 9/11/01, and tons of talking heads telling us what they thought this meant. As our President spoke and confirmed the rumors, I felt a sense of national pride, a sense of relief, and a sense of disturbed sadness all at the same time.

The first two emotions were motivated by my patriotism, my sense of fairness, and my assumption that bad people deserve bad things. The third emotion, though – the disturbed sadness – I believe came from my life studying the Bible.

You see, we often want Christianity or Jesus to validate, confirm, or support the basic reactions and emotions we have as people. We want there to be some verse in the Bible that tells us it is OK for us to joyously celebrate this man’s demise. He was a mass-murderer for crying out loud! Isn’t it OK to be thrilled he’s dead, God?

Jesus had a lot of encounters with people who wanted him to validate their human emotions of vengeance, greed, or fairness. The disciples had an argument in front of him about which one of them was the greatest, but Jesus re-directed their conversation. A lawyer approached him, asking what he had to do to earn his way into heaven. Jesus re-directed the question. People lined the streets with palm branches in hand, expecting Jesus to offer military revenge to the occupying Roman army. Jesus re-directed their eyes to the cross.

Thus, my disturbed sadness…because from studying and reading the Bible, I know that the part of me that is a citizen of this country still has to come under the part of me that follows the God of all people. I know that we have to struggle with the things that Jesus said and did, because he does NOT simply justify or validate our human need for revenge or what we think is “fairness.” I know that asking God to be fair actually means I’m out of the promise, as well. I know that expecting God to judge like I would is a problem, because I judge imperfectly.

So, my emotions about the news stay mixed up and confused, and I’m OK with that. I am relieved that someone who caused such suffering is no longer able to do so. I am saddened that sometimes in this broken world, violence is a necessary evil (and I am able to recognize it still as an evil, no matter how good it feels). And I am attempting to trust in the two verses I placed above. As difficult as it might be, I can even pray for the soul of this murderer…because it is God who has the final say, not me.

Sometimes, being a Christian makes you do things you never thought you’d do.

Prayer: God of love, mercy, and grace, we pray for all those who suffered because of bin Laden. We pray for all those who bravely brought him to human justice. And we pray for ourselves, that we might find peace and humility in trusting that your justice will always have the final say. Amen.

To Be Schooled In the Ways of Love

1 Corinthians 1:18-31 Christ the Power and Wisdom of God

(click link to read passage)

Reflection:

Dr. Mahmoudi was his name. He was my professor for Sociology 101 my very first semester in college. I still consider him to be one of the most intelligent people I have ever met. Sure, he had more degrees and more initials after his name than I could count…but that’s not what impressed me. It was his willingness to continue learning…it was his outlook on life; that every day teaches us something new. It was as though all of his education had given him a healthy humility about the limitations of human wisdom.

That was probably the most profound lesson he could have passed on to me. Sure, I had to finish both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s Degree to become a pastor – but my foolishness is even more evident to me now than it was before I began.

Indeed, as Paul explains today, the profound wisdom of God looks like foolishness to us. A God sacrificing himself to save a stubborn and stiff-necked people? Preposterous. One death crushing the power of death forever? Nonsense. A servant-savior? Who ever heard of such a thing?

This Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday we will be schooled in the ways of love. More profound than any theological discourse is the silence we encounter at the foot of the cross. And more powerful than all the world’s knowledge is the Easter Dawn.

Prayer: Foolish Father, teach us to be wise as you are wise that we might boast, not in our own accomplishments or wisdom, but in your love working through us. Amen.

Heaven In The Real World

Matthew 22:23-33 The Question about the Resurrection

(Click link to read passage)

Reflection:

It is possible to be so heavenly-minded that you are no earthly good.

In the passage linked above, Jesus has an interaction with some folks who fit this description. They propose a heavenly thought experiment – if someone is married multiple times in this life, who will they be married to in heaven?

Jesus rejects even the premise of their question, and then utters a sentence that, if we really listen, can radically alter the way we approach this thing we call Christianity:

“He is God, not of the dead, but of the living…”

Maybe, Christianity is about God’s presence in THIS life…& NOT just about how to get into heaven.

Maybe, the Church is a dynamic, lively community of everyday people seeking peace, deep joy, and guidance…& NOT just a salvation store.

Maybe, Baptism is an event that sets the tone for an entire life of counter-cultural love…& NOT just something you do to “hedge your bet” if this Jesus gig turns out to be real.

Maybe this living, breathing, everyday, real-world God calls us to engage the living, breathing, everyday, hurting world!

In the next week, we will be living out the story that bears the deepest witness to this God-of-the-Living. We will hear about Jesus’ passion, compassion, and mission. We will sing our praises once again – not to a dead hero, but to a living Lord!

Prayer: God of the living, so often we reduce your message to a way into heaven. Help us to see that you care about our future – but that you also care about our present. Show us the ways we can care about this world in a way that reflects your priorities. Amen.

Losing My Religion

Ephesians 2:1-10 (click link to read passage)

Reflection:

By definition, Christianity is not a “religion.”

From the dawn of humanity, “religions” have been systems of belief through which humans attempt to appease, please, or otherwise affect the “gods.” These systems of belief have a moral and ritual code of conduct. Blessings, or other favors, are procured from the gods through right behavior or ritual action. Essentially, religions are systems by which humans attempt to gain the favor of the gods by their correct behavior.

With this understanding, Christianity is the anti-religion.

Except that we have expended an awful lot of energy turning it back into a religion.

The human sense of fairness understands the world in a tit-for-tat, mechanistic way. If you do good things, good things happen to you; and vice-versa. So, the logic goes, if you follow the rules, you will earn God’s blessings; and if you don’t, you will earn God’s wrath.

With this very human understanding, we have turned Christianity back into a religion. A high percentage of Christians in this country think of it as a system of rules with blessings or curses attached. Many of its most zealous adherents have boiled it down to a moralistic and judgmental system of black-and-white thinking.

Against that backdrop, read verses 8 and 9 of the passage above one more time. Let it sink in. Let it destroy your concept of fairness. Let it erode your moralistic, you-get-what-you-deserve assumptions about God.

Grace is a gift; an action of God that we didn’t cause by being “right.”

Jesus is a gift; an action of God that we didn’t cause by being “right.”

Salvation is a gift; an action of God that none of us earns by being “right.”

If this basic…Biblical…anti-religious truth could sink in, I imagine our churches would be packed. Folks would finally realize that Christians aren’t here to judge others or proclaim themselves better; but merely to celebrate the gifts of God!

So, here’s to losing our religion! Maybe by doing so, we’ll gain a sense of God’s love!

Prayer: God of every time and place; our human understandings have so twisted the message of the cross. Give us the humility and joy that comes from recognizing your free gifts of grace and love. Amen.

Thirsty!

Exodus 17:1-7 Click to read passage

Reflection:

Have you ever had that feeling of extreme thirst? Maybe it was after a great workout, or after mowing the lawn in the heat of summer….but have you ever come in, grabbed a glass of cold water, and not been able to drink it fast enough to quench your thirst?

Can you imagine being in the company of the Israelites in the desert? They’ve been freed from slavery, but at times they think it would be better to go back, because at least as slaves, they had enough to eat and enough to drink. They are hungry, thirsty, and tired.

The thing that Moses knew, and that the people continued to forget, was that God had promised to walk with them, even through the desert – even through the thirst. The spring of living water we will hear more about this Sunday is actually travelling WITH them through the driest time of their lives! All they have to do is ask, and this spring of living water can even break forth from a rock!

Do you trust in the same promise? Whatever is happening in your life that has you thirsty for grace, acceptance, and unconditional love, do you trust that your God travels with you through the desert? Or do you think God is trapped in religious buildings, rituals and rules?

Come this Sunday to hear more about the God who travels with us through the desert, and brings the living water we seek from the most unexpected places.

Prayer: God of grace, you have promised to be a ‘god on the move’ travelling with your people wherever they go. Help us to trust that even in the driest and thirstiest times in our lives, you will never leave us without the water and grace we seek. Amen.

Free Food?!?

Isaiah 55:1-11 (click link to read passage)

Take a moment – close your eyes – and think of the best family meal time you can remember. Maybe it was during a holiday celebration. Maybe it was a birthday. Maybe it was at a reunion. What is the best memory you have of a meal with your family?

Now answer this question: how much did you pay for that meal? My guess is – it was free – and it was more satisfying than any meal you’ve paid good money for.

My meal memories swirl around Christmas, when uncles, aunts and cousins from far away would come. If I close my eyes, I can still smell the fresh bowl of chilled shrimp; I can still hear the loud sounds of kids playing and adults laughing. Those are some of my most treasured memories, and they surrounded a meal – not one bought at a store, or one that came in a package – but a meal that only existed because of the people who gathered around it.

The same image is present in the passage from Isaiah. This word of hope is coming to a people who are in exile in a foreign land. They are in crisis, and in times of crisis, often people return to the things that matter – to family, to friends, to relying on a community of others.

As I listened to the news on the radio this morning on my way into church, there was a report about the incredible suffering in Japan. One man who was interviewed had a very stoic and realistic approach, however – he said, “this is the time you return to the things that matter.” Japan’s economy is faltering. Money isn’t useful if the stores aren’t open. But the houses of neighbors, family, and friends are always open.

So maybe you can hear those opening words of Isaiah 55 a little differently now – “everyone who thirsts – come to the waters – and you that have no money – come buy and eat!” This is about family – God’s family – where the meals and the grace are always free.

Prayer: God of love, you invite us to step out of our consumer mindset to recognize that you don’t charge us for your gifts. Help us to humbly receive, and freely share the amazing life you have provided. Amen.

The Light Meets the Dark

John 1:1-5 (click link to read passage)

Reflection:

Have you ever turned on a flashlight in a dark room and been afraid it wasn’t going to work? Not because the batteries are dead, but because you’re afraid this time, the darkness will be stronger than the light? Of course not! That’s not how flashlights work. Even a dim flashlight scatters the darkness.

From a purely scientific point of view, darkness is not its own “thing.” It is merely the absence of light. Darkness cannot be strong, powerful, or deep enough to overcome even the smallest light. Darkness has no power. By definition, it is the void left when power and light aren’t present.

So why is it that so often, we think our own personal darkness has power? Why is it that we think somehow, our pasts, our secrets, our pains are strong enough to choke out God’s love?

The opening words of the Gospel of John, linked above, remind us of this powerful truth. The same God we hear about in Genesis speaking LIGHT and LIFE into the void shows up on the cross. The same God who showed up on the cross breaks into our daily lives as well.

Whatever is going on in your world today, take heart that God’s Light shines in the darkness – and the darkness CANNOT, WILL NOT overcome it…

The video I placed in this blog today is of a song by the group Tenth Avenue North entitled “Healing Begins.” The lyrics are printed below. Pay particular attention to the refrain: “This is where the healing begins…when you come to where you’re broken within – the light meets the dark”

LYRICS:

So you thought you had to keep this up

All the work that you do

So we think that you're good

And you can't believe it's not enough

All the walls you built up

Are just glass on the outside

So let 'em fall down

There's freedom waiting in the sound

When you let your walls fall to the ground

We're here now

This is where the healing begins, oh

This is where the healing starts

When you come to where you're broken within

The light meets the dark

The light meets the dark

Afraid to let your secrets out

Everything that you hide

Can come crashing through the door now

But too scared to face all your fear

So you hide but you find

That the shame won't disappear

So let it fall down

There's freedom waiting in the sound

When you let your walls fall to the ground

We're here now

We're here now, oh

This is where the healing begins, oh

This is where the healing starts

When you come to where you're broken within

The light meets the dark

The light meets the dark

Sparks will fly as grace collides

With the dark inside of us

So please don't fight

This coming light

Let this blood come cover us

His blood can cover us

This is where the healing begins, oh

This is where the healing starts

When you come to where you're broken within

The light meets the dark

The light meets the dark

Prayer: God of Light and Life, give me the trust I need to let your light shine even into the deepest darkness I keep secret from others. Heal me with your Word, your Light, your Life. Amen.