Articles

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Leap of Faith

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The following quotes are taken from a series of journal entries written by a man who has recently lost his wife (H.) to bone cancer.  They are just a few of the raw, honest reflections on pain and suffering that are to be found in the memoir.  Read the quotes and see what kind of impression of the author forms in your mind.  Would this be someone you'd like to know?  How strong would you say his faith is?  Check out these quotes:
  • Talk to me about the truth of religion and I'll listen gladly.  Talk to me about the duty of religion and I'll listen submissively.  But don't come talking about the consolations of religion or I shall suspect that you don't understand.
  • They tell me H. is happy now, they tell me she is at peace.  What makes them so sure of this?  ..."Because she is in God's hands."  But if so, she was in God's hands all the time, and I have seen what they did to her here.
  • Sooner or later I must face the question in plain language.  What reason have we, except our own desperate wishes, to believe that God is, by any standard we can conceive "good"?  Doesn't all the...evidence suggest exactly the obvious?
  • What chokes every prayer and every hope is the memory of all the prayers H. and I offered and all the false hopes we had...hopes encouraged...by strange remissions, by one temporary recovery that might have ranked as a miracle...Time after time, when He seemed most gracious He was really preparing the next torture.
The author?  C.S. Lewis-the prolific Christian author known for his incisive defenses and explanations of the Christian faith and for his fantasy series, The Chronicles of Narnia.  They are part of a personal diary called A Grief Observed.  Would you have imagined these thoughts to be the work of a Christian artist?  For the record, we get to see some healing take place.  In the end, his faith is changed but not obliterated. Also for the record, reading these quotes only makes me want to know Lewis more.  His bravery and honesty are to be admired.  He does not flinch in examining the problem of pain. Neither does the writer Paul.  It is hard to read Romans 7 and 8 while wearing rose-colored glasses.  Today we're going to read a reflection that Paul has on suffering.  But it also leads us to another one of the passages that I'm referring to as "security blankets," because they give us hope even in the most difficult of situations.  These passages remind us of our theme.  They encourage us with the knowledge that "His divine power has given us everything we need" (2 Peter 1:3).

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Above My Pay Grade

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Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (Philippians 6:6) Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance ... it is laying hold of his highest willingness. --Richard Trench Rachel was about 2 months pregnant with our oldest child on September 11, 2001.  This means that I haven't yet had to explain that awful day to any of my children.  So far they are blissfully unaware of evil and tragedy of that scope.  I remember that there was a lot on the news shows about how to talk to kids about it.  But it still seems like it would be a difficult task. Author and preacher Erwin McManus talks about having to explain 9/11 to his children, then 13 and 9: "...I remember sitting down with our kids. Now, I knew what I wanted to tell them. I wanted to tell them that old cliché-the safest place to be is in the center of the will of God. Haven't you heard that? The safest place to be is in the center of the will of God. It's so beautiful. It's just so unbiblical. I wanted to tell them, "Look, we're Christians. We're followers of Jesus Christ, so this would never happen to us. We're on the other side of the country. It's really, really far away. If you'll just walk with Christ, you don't have anything to worry about." In fact, what I wanted to do was give them a good, old, Christian lie. But I knew that I had to tell them the truth. And so I told my children that morning that what we learned is that we have no control over when we die, or even how we die, but what we have control over is how we live." Is it really any different with anyone?  When faced with tragedy, don't we want to tell each other that "everything will be OK," or "God wouldn't let that happen to us?"  Never mind that Jesus assured his followers that they would face troubles in this world (John 16:33).  It's still tempting to seek consolation in false notions of safety. But Paul suggests another route to courage--one that doesn't seek to avoid pain or troubles.  As we'll see this morning, Paul points to the power of prayer in living a courageous life. That's a dangerous phrase: "the power of prayer."  It's open to significant misunderstanding.  So today we'll look more closely at the power of prayer.  We'll seek to understand how such prayer can bring with it a "peace that passes all understanding."  I hope you'll get a glimpse of that peace this morning.

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Worrisome

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Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? (Matthew 6:27)

This morning we’re going to begin looking at passages that echo the sentiments of our theme verse for the year: “His divine power has given us everything we need.” (2 Peter 1:3). And we’ll start with these words from Jesus that are quoted above.

As I was reading for today, I came across a meditation on worry and thought I would share it with you.

“In some parts of my lawn, the grass is thick and green. In other areas, it's sparse and dry. There are even a few places where the grass is missing entirely. When I mow the lawn, I notice that where the grass is healthy, there are no weeds. Where the lawn is sparse, there are a few. Where there's no grass, the weeds flourish.

Every time I notice the weedy spots, I think, I really need to pull those things. So I do, but within a few weeks they're back—and I'm pulling them again. One day it hit me: I don't have to pull weeds where the grass is thick. Instead of spending all my time pulling weeds, maybe I [need] to invest time making the grass as healthy as possible. The more grass I had, the fewer weeds I'd have to pull.

The same applies to worry. Worry is like the weeds. God's peace is the grass. Instead of just focusing on eliminating my worries, I [need] to cultivate God's peace.” (Mike Bechtle, in an article for Discipleship Journal; quoted in the October 21, 2008, entry of Men of Integrity)

Bechtle gets to the heart of the real problem with worry. The problem is that, like the weeds, worry can consume so much time and energy that would be better spent elsewhere. As you’ll see, Jesus says the same thing in the passage from Matthew 6. Both would say that worrying is the opposite of doing something. Worrying is stationary, not active. Worrying puts us in a position of helplessness. I’ve found that, when I’m worrying, I’m usually not focusing on the true problem at hand.

This morning we’re going to be focusing on the weeds of worry. But my hope is that you will leave here wanting to pay more attention to the lawn of your life. I hope you will want to concern yourself, not with what might happen in the future, but what is happening in the present.

Perhaps the serenity prayer is in order here: “God grant us the courage to change the things that we can, the serenity to accept the things that we cannot, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

Worry is what happens when we fail to know the difference. May God grant us the courage to stop worrying and to turn to him today.

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Christos Anesti

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--May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ…(Galatians 6:14) --"Jesus, keep me near the Cross...let me live from day to day with it shadow 'oer me." (Traditional hymn) I've been seeing increasing reports of the theft of metals like steel, aluminum and copper. In a market like ours it's a good way to make some quick money. That's must be what was going through the minds of the thieves who stole a cross from Calvary Cemetery in Little Rock, Arkansas several years back. They cut the cross off at its base and hauled it away in a truck. Then they cut it into manageable pieces and sold the metal off for scrap. Police later discovered that the thieves probably made a total of $450 on the 900 pounds of metal that they got from the cross. It's hard to know what the true value of the cross was. But it had been installed in 1930 at a cost of $10,000. These thieves got less than 5% of the original price of the cross. But then, I suppose that's $450 more than what they had spent on it. I think there are some striking parallels at work here, especially in the value that we place on the cross. How precious is the cross to us? How much value do we place on it? It's often easy for me to undervalue it. Why? Perhaps because it has become too commonplace. There are crosses everywhere. To put it in economic terms, our market is saturated with crosses, so it becomes hard to appreciate the value of one. Or maybe it's that I forget the price that was paid at the cross. The thieves were willing to take $450 dollars for their cross, because they hadn't really sacrificed a great deal to get it. It's easy for us to forget that, in order for the cross to be a symbol of hope worthy of boasting, a great price had to be paid. An innocent man was wrongly executed. The Son of God experienced separation from the Father. Had this great price never been paid, the cross would have no more value to us than the guillotine or the electric chair. This morning, Easter Sunday, we'll remember the value of the cross. Not because of what it was, but because the person who was placed upon it. And because of what God did for him (and for us) through it. I hope you'll celebrate with me today. Christ has been raised!

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This Is a Test

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Given the current state of things, who knows what Google’s current hiring practices are? But back in the heady days of 2004, this millionaire-making tech company was aggressively searching for the best tech minds around. And it was employing some very “Google-like” ingenuity in finding them. They placed ads with publications such as Mensa, MIT’s Technology Review and Physics Today. In these ads they included questions designed to separate the wheat from the chaff. Questions such as, “How many different ways can you color an icosahedron with one of three colors on each face?” and “On an infinite, two-dimensional rectangular lattice of 1-ohm resistors, what is the resistance between two nodes that are a knight’s move away?” Some of their questions were more creative: “Write a haiku describing possible methods for predicting search traffic seasonality. Other than the haiku one, if any of you can even explain these questions to me, I’d love to hear from you after church, because I have no idea what they’re talking about. Perhaps their most creative ploy was to place billboards around Silicone Valley and Harvard Square that simply read: “(first 10-digit prime found in consecutive digits of e).com.” Whoever solved the math problem was taken to a Google recruiting site. Of course, as a “for-profit” company, Google’s goal is to get the cream to float to the top. Their hope is to have only the smartest and best working for them, hence the rigorous elimination process. Fortunately for me, this is not the case in the Kingdom of God. Jesus repeatedly offers his invitation to anyone who will hear and respond–anyone who will answer the door when he knocks. It is not hard to get into God’s Kingdom. This morning we’re going to be looking at a verse that tells us to keep testing ourselves to make sure that our salvation is sure–keep administering exams. But don’t be afraid, the entrance exams aren’t hard. They don’t require Spiritual Geniuses. They just require that we pay a little bit of attention. I hope you’re ready to pay attention to your walk with God today. He stands by, ready to help.

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If Then - Part 2: The Stick

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Just a warning: this article's not for the squeamish.  And now that I have your attention: According to a recent AP story, a construction worker from Colorado received quite a surprise when the source of his toothache was finally identified.  Patrick Lawler had been suffering from pain in his mouth and blurry vision for a week when he finally decided to do something about it.  He went to a dentist office where his wife works and asked them to investigate. The mystery was quickly solved by an X-ray of Lawler's mouth.  There was a nail in his head.  That's right, a...nail...in...his...head.  A few days before, he had been working with a nail gun at a construction site when it backfired.  The gun sent a nail flying into a nearby piece of wood.  But what Lawler didn't know was that a second nail had been fired.  This one had struck Lawler, lodging itself in the roof of his mouth. Lawler's wife, Katerina, thought her boss was joking.  She couldn't believe that her husband had been eating ice cream to take care of the pain caused by a nail that was embedded in his head. After being transported to a nearby hospital Lawler underwent a four hour operation to remove the 4½ inch nail.  It had entered his brain and had just missed his right eye (hence the blurry vision). But wait, there's more.  One of the neurosurgeons on staff at the hospital said that it was the second time they had removed a nail that had been unknowingly fired into a patient's skull.  At the time of the story's publication, Lawler was expected to make a full recovery. I hope the irony isn't lost on you.  The man was hoping to take care of a nail in his head by eating ice cream and taking pain killers.  Of course, you can't fix the symptoms if you don't address the cause.  Until then, you're just working blind. In today's verse we're going to hear a warning from Peter.  If we don't address the root of our problems, we, too, will be blind and unable to fix it.  He says that a failure to grow spiritually can lead to spiritual blindness and an inability to do anything about it. I would ask you if you are blind this morning, but I don't' know if it would do any good.  The problem with spiritual blindness is that we don't usually know we've been afflicted.  We need someone else to tell us. So, instead, this morning, I would ask you to do the same thing that Lawler did.  Allow yourself to be examined by the Spirit of God.  Let God point out the causes of your pain.  And then give him an opportunity to fix them.

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If Then - Part 1: The Carrot

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In one of his sermons, author and preacher John Ortberg recalls a time when his wife surprised him with a getaway to Napa Valley wine country.  And as he's driving through the beautiful country, he begins to reflect on all of the work that went into preparing these vineyards. Then he remembers Proverbs 24 where the writer comments on a vineyard that has gone to ruin.  Ortberg notes that the significant tragedy of a wasted vineyard comes in the value of having land that could be put to use. He rightfully goes on to point out that, in the Ancient Near East, only the wealthiest of people owned land.  Farmable land was a precious, once in a century opportunity.  That's what made the writer of the proverb so disappointed.  Ortberg goes on to make an insightful comparison: "Everybody gets a vineyard. When you were born, you got a vineyard. You got your body, your mind, your will, and some relationships. You got financial resources and the chance to do some good work. You got a soul. Everybody gets a vineyard, and that vineyard is your one and only shot on this planet. It's the opportunity of a lifetime, and you don't even have to care for it on your own. God will partner with you. Nonetheless, God never forces anybody to take action and care for their vineyard. The writer of this Proverb says, "I was walking past a vineyard, and I thought of what it might have been." He sees that the vineyard could have been a thing of beauty. It could have been a source of pride, joy, and income to the owner. It could have been a blessing to everybody around it...But the vineyard the writer observed wasn't any of those things. It fell tragically short of what it might have been. The writer wonders why: Was there some catastrophe? ... No. It was just sheer negligence on the part of the owner of the vineyard. He had no idea what he had. He was throwing away the opportunity of a lifetime." That is precisely the point of Peter's admonition as well.  If you can add the virtues that we talked about last Sunday to your life, you will avoid being a wasted vineyard.  You will be used to bless yourself and bless others. I want you to know that God has a plan for you.  This morning I hope you will be encouraged to partner with Him in making that plan a reality.  We have been tremendously blessed with the "opportunity of a lifetime."  May God help us make the most of it.

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Adding On

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In his sermon, "You Don't Have to Be Good to Come to Christ," John Claypool tells about a woman from an Italian village who once found herself face to face with a monk from the monastery perched on the hill overlooking the village.  It was rare to see any of the monastery's residents outside of its confines, and the woman wanted to make the most of a rare opportunity. "Father," she said, "I've always wanted to ask somebody what you men of God do up there on the top of the mountain that looks to me to be so close to heaven. I've always wondered about the life of holiness that you lead up there." To which the monk responds, "What do we men of God do up there on the holy mountain? I'll tell you, my dear. We fall down; we get up. We fall down; we get up. We fall down; we get up." Claypool continues: "That is the way of all Christian growth. It doesn't happen all at once. But it does happen when we glimpse what we have not yet achieved, and we want that so badly that we honestly say, "Here's where I am. I'm not going to try to get myself together and then ask God to move me to the goal." I love the old monk's response because it brings to light two great truths that Christians do well to acknowledge.  The first is that "we fall down."  Followers of Christ have lost too much credibility throughout the ages because of their unwillingness to own up to this basic truth.  We must no longer act as though we don't fall down.  We must no longer act as if the Christian walk is a steady, unerring ascent toward great holiness.  I have encountered my share of setbacks.  I will encounter more. But the other great truth must also be honored.  It is just as important.  We must also remember that to be a Christian means that "we get back up."  While the Christian life is not an unhindered march toward perfection, it is still a march in that direction.  We are not expected to be perfect in our progress, but we will seek to progress. Falling down is not a reason for despair, because we know that God grants us the chance, (he ALWAYS grants us the chance) to pick ourselves up again.  In fact he doesn't just invite us to get back up every time, it's his arms that are pulling us to our feet.  "His mercies never come to an end.  They are new every morning." This morning we will see what Peter has to say to his audience about Christian growth.  I hope you'll hear God calling to you to keep moving toward him today.

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God-Like

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I recently read an amazing article about Saddam Hussein written back in 2002 and entitled, “Tales of the Tyrant.” It contains interviews of many former Iraqi citizens—newspaper publishers, artists, soldiers, high ranking officials—who have left Iraq and are able to speak openly about what Saddam was really like. In addition to these interviews there are a number of anecdotes about Hussein. These stories cast light on the mind of a dictator. It is amazing to think about all of the things that he did to maintain his hold on power. Like most dictators, Saddam stayed in a different palace every night. But every palace maintained the same schedule even if he wasn’t there. They cooked dinner every night. The household staff kept busy. All to give the impression that Hussein might actually be in any of his palaces. He maintained a detail of ruthless bodyguards who would go before him to ensure that any place was safe. You know, the usual stuff. What I found most fascinating was all of the work that he did to create a public image. Hussein’s propaganda machine was always working to make him appear larger than life. There were the notorious statues and paintings of him all over Iraq. Every night, Iraqi television featured a segment of poems and songs that extolled the virtues of the “Great Uncle” of the Iraqi people. He had a false genealogy created that traced his lineage all the way back to Fatima, the daughter of Mohammed. All Iraqi officials were required to read his 19 volume (!) autobiography. He hired a former Hollywood director to edit a film about his life called The Long Days. So much of what Hussein did was designed to make him appear larger than life—godlike, even. Once, during an award ceremony for military officers, he went down the aisle presenting awards and saying, “I will give you more, if you will only thank me.” But you and I have a different model for what it means to be “God-like.” And a different understanding of all that it entails. So when Peter reminds us of the chance we have been given to “share in the divine nature,” I would hope that none of you are thinking about statues of yourself or tribute poems. I hope you’ll get a better idea of what it looks like this morning.

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The Source

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"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness." (2 Peter 1:3) It's good to be back with you this morning, but I wouldn't give up what I heard and saw last week at Winterfest for anything.  You'll get to see some of it for yourself today and in the coming weeks.  Those of us who went experienced things that will stay with us for a long time.  This morning I'll be sharing some of it with you.  It fits neatly with where we happen to be in our study of our theme verse. First, I want to remind you of a story I told just a short while back.  At least I'm pretty sure I told it.  I'm always surprised when people remember things that I say in messages or lessons, because I remember so little of it.  But I'm pretty sure I shared this with you.  It's from Donald Miller's book, Searching for God Knows What: Last year, I pulled a friend out of his closet.  His marriage was falling apart because of his inability to stop drinking. This man is a kind and brilliant human being, touched with many gifts from God, but addicted to alcohol, and being taken down in the fight. He was suicidal, we thought, and the kids had been sent away. We sat together on his back deck and talked for hours, deep into the night. I didn't think he was going to make it. I worried about him as I boarded my flight back to Portland, and he checked himself into rehab. Two months later he picked me up from the same airport, having gone several weeks without a drink. As he told me the story of the beginnings of his painful recovery process, he said a single incident was giving him the strength to continue. His father had flown in to attend a recovery meeting with him, and in the meeting my friend had to confess all his issues and weaknesses. When he finished, his father stood up to address the group of addicts. He looked at his son and said, "I have never loved my son as much as I do at this moment. I love him. I want all of you to know I love him." My friend said at that moment, for the first time in his life, he was able to believe God loved him, too. He believed if God, his father, and his wife all loved him, he could fight the addiction, and he believed he might make it. (Donald Miller, Searching for God Knows What, pg. 130-131) This morning you will hear about the two ways that we are called to love.  We are called to love God and we are called to love others.  It really is that simple.  But there's something that comes before that.  There's something that undergirds and drives our love for God and our love for others.  It's the engine that makes the love go. Before we can talk about loving God and loving others we have to start with this earth-shattering, universe creating truth: God loves us.  Without this, nothing else is worth mentioning.  I'll be mentioning it a lot today.

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Do This in Rememberance of Me

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I'm sure most of us are aware of the famous statements that were recorded during the landing of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module on July 20, 1969.  We've no doubt heard the first intentional declaration to mission control: "Houston...The Eagle has landed."  Equally famous was Neil Armstrong's declaration: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." But in a lesser known incident Buzz Aldrin took a moment to reflect on the magnitude of the event saying, "I'd like to take this opportunity to ask every person listening in, whoever and wherever they may be, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the past few hours and to give thanks in his or her own way." Then you know what Aldrin did?  He took communion.  As an elder in the Presbyterian Church, Aldrin brought along a communion kit provided to him by the pastor of his congregation.  Since NASA was still fighting a lawsuit brought by Madlyn Murray O'Hare over the public reading of Genesis on the Apollo 8 mission, Aldrin preferred to keep this ceremony to himself.  He hadn't even told his wife that he had taken a communion kit with him.  Only years later did Aldrin tell anyone about his personal act of worship. There are several things to be noted regarding this incident.  I'll comment on just one, because I think it fits today's message.  Aldrin took communion out of the church.  And I think that what he was trying to say is that communion with and celebration of the goodness of our God has a place outside of Sunday.  It belongs to the entirety of our lives.  Communion can be a 24/7 kind of thing. I wish I were at NCOC to hear Bob Kiser's message.  Instead, I'm travelling back from Gatlinburg with the teens.  Please say a prayer for our safe travel.  We hope to be in later tonight. This morning, Bob will be talking with you about our celebration of communion.  If I understand him right, he's going to be suggesting that we have made communion to small a thing and that "Do this in remembrance of me" is bigger than most of us imagine.  I agree.  I hope you have a big communion with our Great God this morning. I look forward to seeing you next week.

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Called Out

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His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. (2 Peter 1:3) This morning I just want to share with you another wonderful quote from the writings of NT Wright.  It's from his book For All God's Worth (Eerdmans, 1997): What is the most beautiful thing you have experienced this week? Maybe something you heard. Maybe some beautiful music-perhaps in church, or in the cathedral. Maybe something in the world of nature: the sun breaking through the mist and making the autumn leaves luminous, the curl of a squirrel's tail as he sat nibbling a nut. It might be something you smelt: the scent of a rose perhaps, or the smell of a good meal cooking when you were very hungry. It might be something you tasted: an exquisite wine, a special cheese, with that same meal well seasoned and well cooked. Maybe something you experienced in work: things suddenly coming together, an unexpected new opportunity. It might be something you experienced in human relationships: a quiet, gentle glance from someone you love dearly; the soft squeeze of a child's hand. ... I want to suggest to you...that our ordinary experiences of beauty are given to us to provide a clue, a starting-point, a signpost, from which we move on to recognize, to glimpse, to be overwhelmed by, to adore, and so to worship, not just the majesty, but the beauty of God himself. Whenever you're talking about a "calling," it's easy to get distracted.  Our particular denomination doesn't talk about getting "a call" very much.  Perhaps it's a reaction to the way other denominations have used the term. I think people mostly understand a call to be to a specific role.  And there are certainly examples of that in scripture.  But there's a much more basic kind of call, not to fulfill a certain duty, but to be in a certain relationship. The first call that is offered to all of God's people is to be in relationship with the Father through his Son, Jesus Christ.  It's not about being a preacher, or a teacher, or a lawyer or a doctor.  It's about being invited to be a follower of Jesus.  That is the first and most important call that is issued to us every day. In fact, the call is going out today.  God is calling you this very morning to renew, strengthen and rest in your relationship with him.  Have you been able to hear it yet?  If you haven't, my prayer is that you will at some point today.

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Knowing vs Knowing

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According to a recent article from USA Today, you can tell a lot about a person by finding out what their basic view of God is.[*] Researchers from Baylor University surveyed more than 1700 Americans, asking questions about what they imagine God is like.  They reported that the respondents had four basic views of God:
  • The Authoritarian God is heavily involved in every aspect of people's lives.  This God is angered at human failings and will punish those who do wrong, both in this life and the next.
  • The Benevolent God is also interested in human events, and "still sets absolute standards" of right and wrong.  But, unlike the Authoritarian God, the Benevolent God is "primarily a forgiving God, more like the father who embraces his repentant prodigal son in the Bible."
  • The Critical God looks on with a critical eye, but does little to intervene. Proponents of this view are "less inclined to go to church or...see God as active in the world."
  • The Distant God is not so much a being as a "cosmic force" that is the agent of creation.  Now, though, this God is virtually uninvolved in the affairs of the world.
The researchers go on to note that each view of God is likely to influence a person's political and social attitudes in addition to their religious beliefs.  They did, however, acknowledge that there is a great deal of overlap to be found among people.  Not everyone fits neatly into one group or the other.  I'm glad they offered that last disclaimer.  I have had some experience of God that resembles all of the above profiles.  Some more than others. So what do we do with these statistics?  I'm sure there are a lot of interpretations to be made.  I'm reminded of Jesus' statements that "As you seek, so shall you find."  Which is another way of saying, "You usually find what you're looking for."  Before we can claim to understand God we must seek to know Him. Peter says the same thing in our theme verse for today: 3His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us..." (2 Peter 1:3, emphasis mine).  How well do you know God?  What does it mean to know God?  That's what we'll be talking about today.
[*] Cathy Lynn Grossman, "View of God can predict values, politics," USA Today, September 12, 2006 (www.usatoday.com).

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Life and Godliness

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Do you think you could devote a year to living like Jesus?  I know, in theory all of us who are Christians are supposed to be living like Jesus.  But I mean radically living like Jesus-trying to live exactly as Jesus would live. That's how Ed Dobson spent 2008.  For an entire year this former megachurch pastor and founder of the religious right, who is now the vice president of spiritual formation for a Christian university in Michigan, tried his best to live like Jesus in every way. It all started when Dobson read The Year of Living Biblically, a memoir by a man who purported to have no religious faith whatsoever but just wanted to see if he could follow all of the rules set out in the Bible.  Dobson thought that if someone with no faith could do it, then a person who claims to be a follower of Christ should be able to, as well. Most media attention seems to the outward changes he made.  He stopped trimming his beard.  He ate only kosher foods.  (Dobson said that one of the things he was looking forward to the most in 2009 was ordering a chicken and cheese burrito.)  Once a strict teetotaler, he began to drink alcohol in moderation, especially if it gave him an opportunity to speak to people about Jesus.  He kept the Sabbath, only breaking it to attend his grandchildren's soccer games. But Dobson says that none of those things were the hardest.  "The hard part is trying to live up to his teachings," Dobson said. "I've realized how far I fall short."  He reread the four Gospels every week (!).  Throughout the day he prayed, "Son of David, have mercy on me, a sinner[*]."  He gave to the poor and visited those in prison.  Not because any of those things are easy, but they are things that Dobson saw Jesus do. Oh by the way, he also has ALS/Lou Gehrig's Disease.  This year of living like Jesus was one of the ways that he chose to respond to his illness.  He says that it put everything into perspective.  "I'm getting up every day not worried about what doesn't work; I'm getting up concerned about how do I live out this Jesus stuff." We stand to learn a lot from Dr. Dobson.  I think he could teach us a lot about how God's Divine Power has given us everything we need.  Maybe not everything we want, but everything we need.  I'll say more about it in my message.
[*] Charles Honey, "Could You Live Like Jesus for a Year?"  http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-01-01-jesus-year_N.htm

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Get a Life

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His divine power has given us everything we need for life... --2 Peter 1:3 In a recent entry for the Blog Gifted For Leadership, Carla Waterman talks about a friend who came to visit her after relocating for a new job.  Her friend was feeling overwhelmed by her new circumstances.  She had gone from an environment that was rewarding and full of friends to one where she was a stranger who had yet to be "noticed" or appreciated.  She was tired of having to fight for respect and a chance to play a vital role in her new world. At that moment a quote from Dorothy Sayers occurred to Waterman: "Life is not a problem to be solved, but a medium for creation."  Then she suggested to her friend, "Perhaps it is time to drop your sword and pick up your paint brush." From there the two friends went on to discuss how easy it is to devote energy to making things how they thought they should be rather than working with them as they are.  Instead of fighting for what she thought would make her happy, her friend began to wonder if she might do better to accept them. Waterman continues: It is not the first conversation I have had in the last week on the difference between a full life and a frenetic one. And I find myself increasingly recognizing that, when there are so very few things over which we have control, we still have the choice of whether to wield a sword or pick up a brush. This morning we will continue our discussion of our theme verse (above).  And the question for us to ask is this: What do we mean when we say that God's divine power has given us everything we need for life.  What kind of life?  And how?  How has God given us everything we need for life?  Notice that it doesn't say that He will give us everything we want.  Or even everything we think we need.  This passage promises that his power will provide what we need. I hope this morning that you feel like you have everything you need for life.  I you don't feel that way, I hope you will leave feeling a little better equipped to serve God in your world.  I hope when you go you'll feel like picking up a paintbrush and getting to work.

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Grace & Peace

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Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. (2 Peter 1:2) In cased you missed it (or forgot), last week I made a case for extending our celebration of Christmas past December 25th.  The idea was that we are in better shape now to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas, since we're not as easily preoccupied with getting and giving and buying and decorating and planning, etc.  In keeping with that, I thought I'd share with you a Christmas story that also provides a springboard for this morning's message. In a recent article for Christian Standard magazine, Brian Lowery recounts his visit to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.  His expectations for the trip were low, having heard that it was something of a disappointment.  After waiting in line for hours, he descended the steps that lead underneath the church into the cave that is purported to be the birthplace of Christ.  He recalls how unexpectedly moved he was to be singing "O Holy Night" and "O Little Town of Bethlehem" there in that church.  There he was, praying for peace in a church that had been a cause of great division among Christians.  Look at what he says: "As we left, I passed by all the pilgrims yet again. Some were from Germany, Poland, or Italy and others from England, Spain, or China. They, too, sang and prayed. Anger and violence wrestled about in all our worlds, but in that moment we had all come together in Bethlehem to worship and celebrate the Prince of Peace who, if anything, was working shalom into the folds of our lives as he will until the day he returns to work it into all things, once-for-all." It's that word shalom that leaps out at me.  Shalom is the Jewish word for peace, but as we shall see this morning, it means much more than just the absence of conflict. In the opening statement of his "second" letter, Peter includes a greeting with a prayer for "grace and peace."  In one sense, it's just a greeting-like saying "Dear _____, I hope you're doing well."  But there's more to it than that.  As we prepare to spend some time reflecting on the verse that will be our theme for the year (2 Peter 1:3), it is clear to me that the grace and peace of knowing God are crucial to seeing just how he is able to meet all of our needs. So this morning, I'm praying with Peter that grace and peace will be yours through your knowledge of God.  I'm assuming that's one of the reasons that you're here.  My prayer is that you will find it.

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In the Meantime

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Back in 2007, anticipating a busy hurricane season, the state of Florida lowered Lake Okeechobee. But instead of storms, they got a drought. The combined effects of the water regulation and the drought brought the nations second largest inland lake to its lowest level on record. Even in normal times Okeechobee is a shallow lake. But now many square miles of lake bed were exposed. Droughts are generally bad news. They're bad news for farmers, and bad news for those who rely on water tourism. The drought of 2007 was no different. But this time there was a silver lining. Lifelong Floridian Boots Boyers was piloting his airboat on the lake one day when he began to notice shards of pottery, arrowheads and jewelry protruding from the dry soil. Boyers was smart enough to notify local and state archaeologists. Ryan Wheeler, Florida's chief archaeologist, was pleased: "This is a big deal. Before Boots contacted us this year, we knew of about three or four archeological sites out here and now we know about 33." The find was a wonderful opportunity for scientists to learn about the Native Americans who had lived in the region anywhere from 500 to 1,000 years ago. They found shells that had been carried hundreds of miles to be fashioned into jewelry. They also found old paddleboats and parts of steamboats that were over 100 years old. Since then the waters have slowly been rising, covering all of the artifacts that could not be excavated in time. Future droughts will continue to be bad news, but they will also be good news for the archaeologists who will be quick to search for new treasures. For now, they are waiting. This morning we're going to be talking about another kind of wait-the wait for the appearance of the Messiah, the anointed one of God. Actually we'll talk about two waits. The first period of waiting happened between the Old and New Testaments. The second one is happening now. We are waiting for the Messiah's return. This wait isn't always easy, but just like with the drought in Florida there are treasures to be found. There are things to be done while we wait. There is Good News to be spoken in the meantime. I hope you hear some this morning.

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Rescue Plans & Bailouts

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A couple of weeks ago I read an article detailing then presidential candidate John McCain's links to Hampton Roads.  It went into some detail describing his experience as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.  That reminded me of an earlier article from Time magazine.  This article highlighted the role that faith had played in McCain's life. Following his captivity, his mother told him that she would often hear his father praying for John's safety.  No one could have imagined how God would answer those prayers. While being held as a POW, McCain endured hours tied into agonizing positions.  His captors would "tie [his] arms behind [his] back and then loop the rope around [his] neck and ankles so that [his] head was pulled down between [his] knees."  It was not unusual for him to spend entire nights in this position. Once, when he had been tied into this position, a guard entered his cell and put his finger to his lips.  Without a word, the guard reached down, loosened the rope and left the cell.  Before leaving his shift in the morning, the guard returned and refastened the ropes, so the other guards would believe that McCain had been in that position all night. At the time, McCain could not explain this unexpected kindness.  Why would this guard risk retribution from his peers in the name of giving comfort to an enemy? A month later, on Christmas day, he got his answer when the same guard approached him in the prison courtyard.  The guard did not smile at him or speak to him.  He didn't even look at him.  But he did give him a message.  With one foot he traced a cross in the dirt.  McCain said of that encounter: "We stood wordlessly looking at the cross, remembering the true light of Christmas, even in the darkness of a Vietnamese prison camp[*]." I can't think of a better illustration of the meaning of Christmas.  This week begins a series of Sundays where we'll remind ourselves of the Good News of Christmas.  When we were in prison; when we were in a dark place without hope; God sent someone to remind us that we were not alone or forgotten.  He sent Jesus. Celebration Sunday has been postponed until December 14th.  And given the bleak state of our economy this doesn't promise to be the most celebratory of Christmas seasons.  But in spite of all of that, there is good news to celebrate, I hope you can do that this morning.
[*] "A Light Amid the Darkness," www.time.com, August 7, 2008.

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Giving Thanks

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This story comes to us straight from the Good News/Bad News department.  According to an article from Reuters, John Brandrick, a 62-year-old British Man was told a few years ago that he had pancreatic cancer, a form of cancer with a median survival rate of less than one year.  Facing such a dire prognosis, Brandrick's response sounds reasonable enough.  He decided he was going to enjoy the remainder of his life as much as possible. Brandrick stopped paying his mortgage, stopped saving money and spent everything he had living the good life.  He took frequent vacations and dined out whenever he wanted.  At the end of a year he owned little more than the black suit and red tie that he planned on wearing to his own funeral. But time passed and, much to his surprise, Brandrick's health did not decline.  So he returned to his doctor to get a checkup only to find out that what had appeared to be a tumor was merely a temporary inflammation of the pancreas.  Brandrick wasn't going to die at all.  That's the good news.  The bad news is that he had spent everything he had and was facing foreclosure on his home. He told Reuters, "I'm really pleased that I've got a second chance in life... but if you haven't got no money after all this, which is my fault -- I spent it all -- they should pay something back."  At the time of the report Brandrick was considering legal action against the hospital. What an interesting predicament.  To be given your life back only to realize that you have spent or given away the life that you had.  Can we blame Brandrick for his mixed feelings?  Of course it's good news that he's not dying.  But that probably doesn't keep him from being worried about his future now that his finances are in such bad shape. This morning and next Sunday, in observation of Thanksgiving, we're going to be talking about giving thanks.  I think that Brandrick's story is a good place to start, because I believe that most of us are like John Brandrick when it comes to gratitude.  Perhaps you already see where I'm going with this.  If not I'll try to explain later on. For now, let me just remind you how grateful, how thankful, I am for this congregation.  We are blessed with another opportunity this morning to visit with each other and to remember the love of God.  That's a wonderful thing.

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Behind The Scenes

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A recent AP article on MSNBC.com tells of a Yale Study which demonstrates that babies as young as 6 months old know which playmates to seek out and which ones to avoid.  Psychologists showed a "googly-eyed toy" trying to climb "roller coaster hills" to a variety of babies age 6 to 10 months.  They were then shown two types of additional toys.  One type of toy would help the googly-eyed climber up the hill.  The other would push it back down. Finally each baby was given the choice of playing with the "helpful" or "harmful" toy.  According to the article, "nearly every baby picked the helpful toy over the bad one."  Babies would also choose to play with neutral toys, but they preferred the helpful ones to either of the other ones.  If researchers removed the eyes from the toys, rendering them less "life-like," the children stopped making distinctions. Of course scientists are divided as to how these data should be interpreted.  Those who conducted the Yale study believe it to be evidence that humans have innate social skills that don't need to be taught.  Others argue that it merely indicates that children are learning social behaviors at an earlier age. At the risk of being an arm-chair researcher, it does indicate to me that, even at an early age, we look for people who will help us rather than hurt us.  There is something in us that is looking for a teammate, someone who will make life easier.  And we choose people who show that kind of promise.  Most people don't really want to go it alone. This morning we're going to look at a scripture that reminds us of this very fact.  At the end of Colossians, Paul devotes some space to personal matters.  He sends greetings from some of his companions to the church in Colosse.  He greets some of the recipients by name.  He asks that the Colossians receive the bearer of the letter as well as others who will be visiting them sometime soon. All of this serves as a very important reminder to us.  Even though Paul is the one who gets most of the credit, he was not working alone.  He had a lot of help.  Some of these helpers we know by name.  But, even though we know their name, that's all we know of them.  The rest of their story has faded into obscurity.  Surely there are other helpers of Paul who will forever be anonymous.  I would hope that any of them would tell you that this is OK.  What matters is not who gets the recognition, but that people hear the Good News about Jesus. We all have a part to play.  Most of us will not get very much recognition by others.  I doubt any of us will go down in history for our contributions to the Kingdom of God.  No matter.  God knows the part we are playing.  And the Kingdom is growing.  Paul calls this fact a mystery.  I pray that, this morning, God will pull you in and make you a part of his unfolding plan.

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