A few years ago, when I had my appendix removed, it was nice to receive such wonderful treatment from all of the healthcare providers. I think they would have been wonderful anyway, but it didn't hurt that it was the hospital where Rachel was doing her residency.
After all the tests came back and it was determined that I would, in fact, need an appendectomy, one of the nurses warned me about the surgeon who would be operating on me. She cautioned that he wasn't the friendliest of people. To which I said, "That's okay. I'm not looking for a buddy, I'm looking for a surgeon."
I was reminded of that when I ran across Pastor Bruce McIver's account of undergoing open heart surgery. He talks about his interaction with the surgeon before and after the operation. He got one word out of him in pre-operative consultation. McIver anxiously asked if the Dr. would be able to fix his heart. His surgeon said, "Sure," and walked away.
After the 12-hour procedure, McIver was concerned that his clogged arteries had effected his blood supply, so he asked his surgeon, "How much blood supply do I have now?" The doctor simply replied before leaving, "All you'll ever need."
Finally, before he was discharged, McIver's wife asked him, "What about my husband's future quality of life?" At that, the surgeon paused and said, "I fixed his heart; the quality of his life is up to him." What he was saying is, I've given him everything he needs to continue having a life, now he must decide whether he wants to have one.
This morning we're going to hearing a story where Jesus provides his followers with everything they need, and then some. He gives it to his followers and, in turn, expects them to give to others. Lots of others. He keeps giving, and his disciples keep giving, and in the end there is more than anyone could possibly hope for.
What Jesus is giving is food. But I think the food in the story represents all the good things that come from God—all the blessings that he pours out on us his children. But just like the surgeon did for McIver. And just Jesus does for his disciples. God gives us a lot. What we decide to do with it is up to us.
I hope that you're ready for a reminder of how much God has blessed us this morning. I hope you'll see it, rejoice, and then leave ready to spread the wealth.
A Survey and a Warning
Informal Survey: I grew up hearing the aphorism, “You can’t get blood from a turnip.” Anyone else familiar with this? I did a Google search on it and was reminded that it can also be said, “You can’t get blood from a stone.” I couldn’t find much on the origins of this strange (and somewhat morbid) turn of phrase. I mean, I should certainly hope you can’t get blood from a turnip. Though it would make for an adventurous salad.
Anyhow, sometimes the act of writing a sermon is like trying to get blood from a turnip. It’s arduous and anxiety inducing. These are the times where the words of scripture just lie there, comatose—times when, even if I have some idea of what I want to say, I have no earthly idea how I’m going to get there. These are the times when Sunday morning looms menacingly on the horizon, like a tidal wave.
Then there are the weeks where the turnip does bleed. The weeks where I’m the George Peppard of preaching. I sit back and think to myself, “I love it when a sermon comes together.” On those weeks the sermons just write themselves.
For the record, the vast majority are somewhere in the middle—equal parts grace and exertion. Also for the record, I’m learning not to get too excited either way. The euphoria and the despair are both pretty good indicators that my ego is behind the wheel again.
All this to say that this Sunday’s sermon on Mark 6:30-44 has been coming along pretty effortlessly, and I’m looking forward to sharing what I’m learning with you. I hope you’ll take a moment and dwell on the passage on your own between now and then.
Also, I wanted to give a warning. I’m always getting in trouble with certain people in our church (who shall go unnamed) for showing tear-jerker videos without any advanced notice. Consider yourself warned. Actually, the one I’ve got for Sunday isn’t the worst I’ve shown. It’s probably a 6 or 7 on the “Steel Magnolias” scale. But it might have some of you reaching for the tissues.
So now you know. But if I find out that any of you are ducking my sermons for this reason, I’ll go back to ambushing you all ninja style with the weepy videos.
Welcoming Committee
For today's message I was searching for stories of hospitality that people have experienced. I ran across a number of stories from Christians who had to travel for one reason or another.
I read one man's account of travel to another church as a guest preacher. A potluck dinner was held following church and a ten year old boy was designated to be his host for the day. The man goes on to tell how the youngster took his task seriously and how he dutifully introduced him to everyone. After that, he took him to the dinner table. There the boy commented on each casserole. "You'll want some of that and that," he said, pointing. Then looking at another dish, he warned, "Trust me. Skip that one." We got near the end of the table when he said, "My mom brought that." When the guest asked him if it was good, he said, "The recipe has been in the family for years. Passed down from one bad cook to another."
Another woman recalled how she and her husband travelled as guest speakers to another church and were the guests of a single woman who lived in a mobile home. Before retiring for the evening, her husband asked their host if there would be enough hot water for all three of them in the morning. The woman replied, "I really don't know. I've never taken two in a row!"
Not every story I read reflected well on church folk. I found the story of a man who, some time ago, traveled to a number of churches. He then wrote this about his experience: "I am presently completing the second year of a three-year survey on the hospitality or lack of it in churches. To date, of the 195 churches I have visited, I was spoken to in only one by someone other than an official greeter and that was to ask me to move my feet."
This morning, as we continue in the book of Mark, you'll see that when Jesus travels, he is given a similarly inhospitable reception. In fact, he's asked to leave the country. The locals don't take too kindly to Jesus, because he disrupts their income in the name of helping a man in need.
I hope that you'll receive a kind welcome at this church. I think that, while we can always do better and we occasionally fail to live up to our high expectations, this church does a good job of welcoming the guests among us. It helps to be reminded that Jesus believed in showing hospitality, even if it comes at a cost. You'll hear about that this morning.
Welcome to our worship service.
Storytime
[Ed. note] Someone suggested that I put the narrative part of Sunday’s message on the blog, so here it is. Most of you know that I occasionally like to take a story from scripture and fill in the gaps. It helps me slow down and pay attention. It forces me to be aware of what’s happening. Plus it allows me to see it from the point of view of one of the people within the story.
Whenever I read these on Sunday mornings, I give a disclaimer: I am aware that this is not the Gospel Truth. If there’s something about the story that rings false, it may very well be false. The only parts I know to be true are the quotes from scripture themselves. All the rest is fair game.
If you want to read the biblical account of this story, it’s in Mark 4:35-41. Here’s my version. I’d love some feedback on it…
Questions
I’ve been told that you people go to the sea for your own pleasure. That you take your leisure at the water’s edge. That you peel the clothes off your children and coat them in oil and send them running into the waves. I hear that you purchase boats for no other reason than to ride to and fro on the water. You do not fish with them. (And if you do, you throw the fish back?!) You do not carry goods to foreign lands. You simply spend a day riding about on the waves. And I hear that you sometimes tether people to your boats using a long rope and drag them along behind you on smaller boats? My friends and I did not see it this way. The Sea of Galilee was our livelihood. It literally put food on our table, it was the life we lived before we met Jesus. It was the life we left in order to follow him. It was the life to which we returned when we thought that we had lost him. But the only pleasure we ever received from the waters was a full net. And we were just as likely to receive something else altogether for our troubles. If a day of hard labor pulling in fish was our reward, there were days when the sea gave us nothing but the sun. Sun that punished us from above and glared at us from below as it reflected back from the glassy water. But everyone knew that this was not the worst that the sea could give. As children we were taught that the sea opposed the Lord. We were taught that, at the creation of the world, he had to beat it back in order to give his children a firm place to stand. We were menacingly reminded that in Noah’s day, he used the sea to punish our wickedness. And every time we heard the story of our escape from Egypt we experienced the terrifying prospect of being caught between the sea and the armies of Pharaoh. Both opposed us. We escaped them both only with God’s help. We were taught that the sea is the home of the monster that swallowed Jonah. It is a place of death and of evil. Demons reside there, too. A man is pulled down into the depths never to return. Only the Almighty has power over the sea. The rest of us are at its mercy, able only to take whatever it gives whether good or evil. So at the end of that long day, when Jesus announced that we were to make for the other side of the Sea of Galilee, I couldn’t help but exchange nervous glances with James and John. We had thought that the boat was merely a device to keep the crowds at bay so Jesus could teach. We had no idea that travel was on his mind. And travel to Gentile lands at that. Lands on the “other side” of the lake, full of unclean people and unclean animals. I had noticed how, at different times during the day, the sons of Zebedee had pulled their attention away from the work in order to scan the horizon. I know they saw the line of clouds in the distance. I know they heard thunder on the other side of the mountains that overlooked the Galilee. But our impromptu trip was clearly not up for debate, because, as soon as Jesus announced our destination he grabbed a cushion from the nearest rower’s seat, stumbled to the rear of the boat, and collapsed in an exhausted heap. He would not stir until hours later when Peter finally decided to take matters into his own hands. Our progress at first was so good that we began to think we might have been unduly alarmed. Even James and John began to relax as we rowed our way through the warm, still night. But even people like us, who have spent their lives on the sea, can forget how quickly the storms come rolling over the mountains. And in moments the reflection of the stars disappeared from the water, chopped to bits by the waves and obscured by the sudden arrival of the storm clouds. The rain did not present itself with care. It rushed upon us suddenly. Our only warning was a wave that sent the boat listing dangerously to one side, and then the downpour was upon us. We pulled in the sail to keep it from being shredded and to keep the mast from being splintered and, taking to the oars, we began to fight against the water. I was at the stern of the boat, just in front of Jesus, an unmoving, soaked pile of clothes and skin and bones. We turned her around to face into the oncoming waves, but that gave little comfort. Between the wind and the rain I could only see the front of the boat when lightning struck. The men at the bow would rise precipitously until they were directly above me, and then they would come crashing down below as the boat crested each wave. Every time the front of the boat was catapulted upwards I thought to myself, this will be the time that it doesn’t stop. It will continue to go up and up pass the point of no return and we will be tossed into the sea. I wondered if Jesus would wake up even then, or would the last sight I ever saw be of him, curled into a ball and sinking into the blackness. I’ve noticed that, in everyone’s stories about Jesus and us, his disciples, Peter doesn’t always come out looking so good. It’s not his fault really. He’s usually just the one who says what we’re all thinking. The decisiveness that will someday make him a leader also makes him look occasionally foolish. But in this case, when he finally got up and lurched his way past me and stood over Jesus, he was only doing what we all lacked the courage to do. Another thing I’ve noticed is that Matthew and Luke try to clean it up a little bit when they tell this story. The way they tell it, you would think that Peter knelt piously before Jesus with his head down and his hands in the air and said, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!" But Mark is closer to the truth when he tells the story. Peter didn’t kneel submissively. He began to shake Jesus, as violently as he could. And I could hear him roaring above the sound of the waves, "Teacher, what is wrong with you! Don't you care if we drown?" Even in this dire situation, Peter realized he had gone too far. He pulled his hands off of Jesus and dropped onto the seat beside me. Nobody was rowing anymore. Every eye was on Jesus. We waited to see what he would do. I don’t know what anybody expected him to do about it, but I can say that no one ever dreamed that he would do what he did. He swung his legs down, rubbed his eyes, stood up and yelled above the tumult, “Quiet! Be still!” Jesus rebuked the wind like he rebuked a demon. He issued orders to the sea. “Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.” As quickly as it had come, the storm disappeared. In the moonlight reflected off of the smooth surface of the water, I could see my utter amazement staring back at me on the faces of the others. And then we were aware of Jesus’ eyes on us. No one knew what he would do now, but everyone waited. I will never forget it. After a long silence, Jesus shook his head, smiled a weary smile, and said "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" And with that, he reached down for his lost cushion, stepped back to the stern of the boat, where he collapsed. Pulling his cloak over his shoulder, he turned away from us and fell asleep in seconds, leaving us there gazing on in amazement. For a while no one spoke. There was only the sound of our ragged breathing, the dripping of our clothes and the gentle creak of the boat as it lilted about on the sea. And once again, we were all afraid. Not because of the waves, but because of what we had just seen. And suddenly, I was a boy again sitting in the synagogue, watching one of the elders rise from his seat and pull the scroll from its place. Watching him stand before the congregation, watching him unroll it and begin to read: 1 Praise the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty. 2 He wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent 3 and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters. He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind. 4 He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants. 5 He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved. 6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. 7 But at your rebuke the waters fled, at the sound of your thunder they took to flight… Once again it was Peter who broke the silence. Once again, it was Peter who said what we were all thinking. Nudging past me and walking back to his place on the boat he sat down, looked at us all and said, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!" And with that, he set about rowing us to the other side, just like Jesus had said.God vs. Science?
I was raised in an "either/or" world. And while that may sometimes be helpful, it often is not. I’ve found that I’m often better served taking a "both/and" approach. That is certainly the case when it comes to science and faith.
Seems like most of the current dialogue shouting match sees the whole thing as Science vs. Faith. That’s because of the attitudes of people on both sides of the issue. There’s a take no prisoners kind of spirit that sees the whole thing as a battlefield.
But what if, instead of pitting one against the other, we could let each have its own domain—domains that occasionally overlap? This week Mike Cope linked to an Op-Ed piece in USA Today that was written by two men who are Scientists and Christians. It’s a wonderful and inspiring read. I can’t help but quote from the opening paragraph:
We’re scientists and Christians. Our message to the faithful: Fear not.A good reminder, since fear seems to be what drives most discussions fracases today over all sorts of topics: religion, politics, etc. You can find the Op-Ed by clicking here. Have a good weekend. How about resting some with your families?
Questions
Tony Snow, a news columnist, talk show host, and one-time White House Press Secretary, died of colon cancer in 2008. But before he passed away he spoke frequently about how cancer had changed his life. The following quote is from a 2007 Christianity Today article called, “Cancer’s Unexpected Blessings.”
“The moment you enter the Valley of the Shadow of Death, things change. You discover that Christianity is not something doughy, passive, pious, and soft. Faith may be the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. But it also draws you into a world shorn of fearful caution. The life of belief teems with thrills, boldness, danger, shocks, reversals, triumphs, and epiphanies.”
Nicely put. No one goes out looking for tragedy. It comes to us. But a potential for blessing hides in the storm clouds we face. A walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death peels away the façade of our “business as usual” routine. When faced with life-changing events, we can no longer afford to be unconscious of what we truly believe.
It is in these difficult moments—illness, divorce, financial troubles, death (ours or someone else’s), etc.—that we must deal with the most elemental aspects of our faith. We must ask ourselves, “What do I really believe? And how will it carry me through this?” To borrow a metaphor from sports, it is the end of the preseason, when every game counts.
Today we get to witness what happens to Jesus’ followers when they come face to face with this reality. What do they do when following Jesus becomes a matter of life and death? And how does Jesus respond to them? His actions draw them deeper into a life of following, because they are left asking this all-important question: “Who is this man?”
I don’t know what your life is like right now. I know that some of you are taking your own stroll through the Valley. For the moment others of us are able to go about our days in a business as usual manner. Either way, my prayer is that we all will spend some time asking the same question as the disciples.
Whatever the reason you have come, I am glad. But I would be doing you a disservice if, at some point during your time with us, I did not encourage you to ask this question about Jesus: “Who is this man?” Because both the experience of asking and the answer we come to can make all the difference in our lives.
Blood Drive Today
Heresy in the Home
And from my 3 year old son, nonetheless.
The other day I was straightening up the bathroom when he came in and said, "Dad, did you know that there are TWO Gods?!"
"Really?" I said. (As I began a surreptitious search for something with which to stone my wicked, heretical son in accordance with Leviticus. Can you stone someone with a bottle of Johnson & Johnson's Lavender Baby wash? That would be ironic considering its claim to be "No tears.")
"Yeah," he said, "There's a Big one in the sky..." (He said this with his hands spread wide apart and standing on tip toes. Then he made himself really small and brought his thumb and index finger close together)"...And there's a little one in my heart."
Touché. It appears someone has been paying attention at church and then filling in the gaps for himself. That makes him a theologian.
Free Backpacks
H/t to Ray Stiff for forwarding this. You or someone you know may be eligible for free school supplies and backpacks. Follow the link below to register:
Military families of E-1 through E-6 ONLY are encouraged to sign up for free backpacks and back-to-school supplies which will be distributed before school begins, this year. Registration is limited to the amount of backpacks and supplies donated and the registration is open from now until all slots are filled. Families with the greatest need have priority. Military ID cards showing rank of E-1 through E-6 must be presented by families at their pick up. This program has been made possible through kind donations from all branches of the military, as well as corporate and private donors throughout the Hampton Roads area. Please go to: www.operationhomefront.net/hamptonroads to sign up for backpacks.
A Very Biblical Wedding
I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey; I have drunk my wine and my milk. [ Friends ] Eat, O friends, and drink; drink your fill, O lovers. (Song of Songs 5:1)
Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. (Revelation 19:7)
You’ve got to see this. A friend from Grad School posted this to her Facebook account. As with the Sound of Music video, I defy you not to smile. I defy you to resist the urge to move. It’s like a Bollywood movie. What a great way to start a wedding. Check out my thoughts after the jump.
Let me say a couple of things. First, if you want a picture of a Biblical wedding, there you go. The wedding feast was a party. The betrothal (engagement) was long. So when the long-awaited day finally arrived, the groom and his friends would go as a group to the house of the bride and fetch her and her friends. Then they would go as one raucous procession to the place of the feast. Then the marriage would be consummated and a feast lasting several days would follow. There would be music and dancing and wine. Weddings were not solemn occasions. They were blowouts.
That’s why Jesus uses the image of a wedding when he’s asked why his disciples do not fast. He basically says, “Why should they fast? The groom (Jesus) is here; it’s time to party (Mark 2:18-20)!”
Second, I wonder if we would do well to make more room for rejoicing in our church services. In one sense, we are still waiting for the groom to return. In another sense, the promise has been made. It’s just a matter of time. I’m a pretty serious guy, so I don’t always go to the rejoicing stuff very naturally. But how would our times together benefit if we could?
Just a thought for you this Friday. Keep reading the Good News according to Mark. Can’t wait to see you all on Sunday morning.
What Did He Say Part 2
28“…I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. 29But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin."
[1] David Dark. “Insert Soul Here.” Relevant July/August 2009.
- The Bible is incredibly simple to understand.
- The Bible is incredibly difficult to understand.
[1] David Dark. “Insert Soul Here.” Relevant July/August 2009.
What Did He Say
Once again, I’ll show my age. Back when I was in 9th or 10th grade, the band, Depeche Mode came out with a song called “Personal Jesus.” While it was on the pop charts and in the public eye, it got the attention of quite a few preachers. As I recall most of them didn’t have very kind words for it. The word I remember being used most was the word “blasphemous.” Something to the effect of, “How dare these rock and roll singers mock God?”
But I don’t really think they were mocking God. I don’t know enough about the personal beliefs of the songwriters or singers to say anything about them as individuals. But I don’t think “Personal Jesus” is a slam on God. Here’s a sample of the lyrics:
“Your own personal Jesus, someone to hear your prayers, someone who cares…feeling unknown and you’re all alone, flesh and bone by the telephone, lift up the receiver I’ll make you a believer.”
First of all, the song wasn’t really about Jesus Christ. The inspiration for the song came from something Priscilla Presley once said about Elvis and how she made him out to be more than human and, frankly, how she made something of an idol out of him
The point they were trying to make is that we’re often looking for someone to meet all of our needs, and take care of us and be there whenever we need them. Sometimes that’s a family member or a friend. Sometimes we do that to Jesus.
Actually, I think Mark (the writer whose Gospel we’re studying) would agree about that. He would go so far as to say that we don’t really have any business doing that with Jesus, either. That Jesus isn’t just here to make all of our problems go away. He’s not some personal valet who will see to our every whim.
It comes up more than once in Mark. The people are looking for Jesus to be one thing for them, but his mission is to be something else. We’ll see the first (but not the last) example in chapter 3 of Mark this morning. It happens when Jesus says something to a demon, something we would not expect Jesus to say.
If I understand the lyrics of the Depeche Mode song right, Jesus isn’t the problem, our perception of him is. We want him to be our little servant. He wants to be our Lord. I hope this morning we’ll have the courage and honesty to see Jesus as he is rather than as we want him to be.
X Marks the Spot
I let a week slide by without anything for the blog. The blog is always hungry. The blog always wants to be fed. The blog will have to go on a diet next week. I’ll be at Camp Idlewild. If you’re looking for something to read, stop by the camp blog for pics and updates. Our awesome webmaster has trained my phone to send updates to it, so I’m going to be making mini entries throughout the week.
For now I have a huge challenge for you. Read and dwell on this quote from Barbara Brown Taylor. I started her book Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith last year at camp. This year I’ll be reading her new one: An Altar in the World. She was just recently a speaker at my Alma Mater’s Christian Scholars’ Conference.
She’s talking about the treasure of meaning and significance in life. And how we’re always looking for some big spiritual “A-ha” or awakening. And how we’re always looking somewhere else for an encounter with God:
People seem to look all over the place for this treasure. The last place most people look is right under their feet, in the everyday activities, accidents, and encounters of their lives. What possible spiritual significance could a trip to the grocery store have? How could something as common as a toothache be a door to greater life?...No one longs for what he or she already has, and yet the accumulated insight of those wise about the spiritual life suggests that the reason so many of us cannot see the red X that marks the spot is because we are standing on it.Ohhh. I want to write something like that. Not that there aren’t mountain top experiences to be had. I just hope we’re not looking to them to give our lives meaning. Most importantly, I hope we’re not so obsessed with the future that we miss God’s presence in the…um, presence. How often do you think to yourself: I’ll be happy when ______. Or I’ll be content when ______. Or Life will be good when ______. I seemed to recall Jesus saying that the Kingdom is here now. I hope instead of staring at the map and looking over the horizon, you’ll start digging right now.
John Lehnen
Thought I’d pass along a link to the article about John Lehnen winning the Military Father of the Year. If you missed the article and you want to read it, click here. I’ve also embedded the White House video that features an interview with him. Jennifer was telling me about it this morning. Apparently he got to ride in a motorcade. She also has an awesome story about an unattended cell phone in the White House.
Thanks to all you military fathers. Thanks to all you fathers. I know it can be hard to do what you do and then come home and be there for your families, but keep it up. It’s the right thing to do.
VBS and a Funky Fresh Clip
I don't have much insight for you this morning.
Can't wait to see everyone at VBS. Preparations are going full blast. Don't forget to register your kid if you haven't already. See you Sunday and then Monday morning.
I saw this video a while back, but it's making the rounds again. Any volunteers to do our own rendition at church sometime? It would probably require us designating a Deacon of Dope Dance.
All Things New
You’ve probably gotten this as a forwarded email, but it’s still pretty amazing. And I don’t know who should get credit for this. But give it a read:
“The human mind is a wonderfully complex organ. Our brains can actually process a group of words, even if they are spelled totally incorrectly. For example, see if you can read the following:
The hmuan mnid is a wndoreullfy cpoemlx oargn. You see? It deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod aearpr, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is that the frist and lsat ltteer are in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the human mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig isn't it?”
Ha. That last paragraph just made the spell check on my computer go crazy. Red everywhere. And yet I think most of us can read it without too much trouble. I could feel my eyes slow down a little bit. It didn’t come as quickly as usual, but it was relatively smooth. Then the writer concludes by making this point:
“Oftentimes our lives, and the world around us, don't seem to make sense. There are even times when everything seems to be a total mess. But when we take a step back and remember that God is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last, we can rest assured that one day it will all become perfectly clear.”
Neat application, huh? As long as we keep the First and the Last (God) in mind, we can make sense of our lives even if they seem chaotic. Everything doesn’t have to perfect.
This is the message of the book of Revelation. That’s right. I’m breaking my general rule and I’m preaching from Revelation this morning. But I’m still ducking the crazy imagery and getting right down to the part that is relatively easy to understand. It’s this: God will fix everything.
This morning as we conclude our look at passages that give us hope in troubled times, I can’t fail to include this all important one—the one that gives all of the others their meaning. In the end, our greatest security comes from the fact that God is preparing us for a place in which everything will be as it should be. No tears, no death and the relationship with God that he always wanted us to have.
The beginning and the end are set; it’s just the middle that’s a little jumbled up. I hope that today will provide you with a preview of this wonderfully happy ending.
Get To It
A recent article in Time magazine recounts what is probably the most important discovery in the history of NASCAR. In 1960, Junior Johnson, already a famous moonshine runner and racer, entered his first Daytona 500. That year Johnson's car, a Chevy, was unable to keep up with the Pontiacs of his opponents, so he began looking for a way to overcome the disadvantage.
That's when Johnson became what physics professor Diandra Leslie-Pelecky calls an "intuitive physicist." In practice, Johnson discovered that his slower Chevy was capable of keeping up with the Pontiacs if he kept it close to their rear bumpers. In his words, "the air was creating a situation, a slipstream type of thing." (I love it when brilliant people speak plainly.)
Johnson's theory was so correct it led him to victory lane. Toward the end of the race the lead car lost its rear windshield due to the low air pressure caused by Johnson. This new discovery, called drafting, changed the racing world.
What I love about this is the fact that Johnson's discovery didn't happen in a lab. This wasn't some guy in a white coat or a mathematician hunched over a calculator. It was simply necessity giving birth to invention. Johnson didn't care about the physics. He just wanted to go faster. He was simply driven (lame pun).
We can learn a lesson from NASCAR. This morning we'll be looking at a couple passages that call on us to seek out more speed. Like the writer of Hebrews puts it, "let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us" (Hebrews 12:1).
The Good News for us in bad times is this: we don't have to just sit still. We are not helpless. There are things for us to be doing. And we are called on to seek out more and more ways to do the work that God is calling us to do.
Kris, Adam, and American Idol
A month or so ago, when Kris Allen, "shocked" (I use quotes here, b/c a number of people, including my wife, predicted that he would win), the world by winning American Idol, someone suggested that I do a blog entry about the cultural implications of the Kris Allen/Adam Lambert showdown.
For those of you who don't know, Kris is as "aw, shucks" wholesome as they come. Raised in Conway, Arkansas, Allen is not afraid to be vocal about his faith. Adam, on the other hand is "fab-yoo-lous." And you know what I mean when I say that.
I thought about it, but then got distracted. Then yesterday Mike Cope linked to a wonderful (but looong) essay on Allen and Lambert's rivalry and, more, their relationship. When you have time, give it a read. I was telling someone last night that good writing always makes me a little jealous, because I find myself thinking, "Why didn't I write that?" I was really jealous of this piece.
If you want to skip some of it, you might pick up with the paragraph that begins, "Countless commentators wanted the Idol competition to be about more than just singing."
Let me know what you think.
More Good News
Two of the books I was reading in preparation for Sunday's message are Brennan Manning's The Ragamuffin Gospel and Henri Nouwen's Life of the Beloved. Even though I read a lot from both of them, the only thing I ended up using from either one was that quote from Julian of Norwich. But both books are amazing and well worth the read. Both are liberating in their bold declaration of God's love for us. Here are a couple of quotes for you to sit with.
From Brennan Manning:
The Word we study has to be the Word we pray. My personal experience of the relentless tenderness of God came not from exegetes, theologians, and spiritual writers, but from sitting still in the presence of the living Word and beseeching Him to help me understand with my head and heart His written Word.And from Henri Nouwen:
Aren't you, like me, hoping that some person, thing, or event will come along to give you that final feeling of inner well-being you desire? Don't you often hope: "May this book, idea, course, trip, job, country, or relationship fulfill my deepest desire? But as long as you are waiting for that mysterious moment you will go on running helter-skelter, always anxious and restless, always lustful and angry, never fully satisfied... Well, you and I don't have to kill ourselves. We are the Beloved. We are intimately loved long before our parents, teachers, spouses, children and friends loved or wounded us. That's the truth of our lives. That's the truth I want you to claim for yourself. That's the truth spoken by the voice that says, "You are my beloved."I hope you are still coming to grips with the truth that nothing can separate you from the love of God.
Unbreakable
I have two quotes for you to dwell on this morning. The first is from Martin Luther. Following his excommunication from the Catholic Church, Luther was tried for heresy at the Diet of Worms (a rather unfortunate name, in my opinion) in 1521. The trial’s climax came when the prosecution spread Luther’s own writings out before him and asked if he would acknowledge his authorship of the documents and continue to stand behind them. This is his famous response:
"Unless I am convinced by proofs from Scriptures or by plain and clear reasons and arguments, I can and will not retract, for it is neither safe nor wise to do anything against conscience. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen."
For the record, most scholars say that the “Here I stand. I can do no other” was added later. But the sentiment remains the same.
The second was written by Deitrich Bonhoeffer some 400 years later just before he was executed for his cooperation in a failed attempt to assassinate Hitler. It’s part of his Letters and Papers from Prison:
“Who am I? This or the other?
Am I one person today and tomorrow another?
Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others,
And before myself a contemptibly woebegone weakling?
Or is something within me still like a beaten army,
Fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved?
Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine.
Whoever I am, Thou knowest, O God, I am Thine!”
Both of these men have something to teach us about belief, because, in both cases, their beliefs were about more than what was going on between their ears. Their beliefs were a matter of life or death. Their beliefs were the net that they trusted to catch them when they fell. Their beliefs were more than just ideas.
This morning I’m going to ask you to believe a verse in the Bible. And when I ask you to believe it, that’s the kind of belief I’m hoping for. I’m looking for more than a nod of the head and a pleasant smile. I’m asking you to wager your future on the truth of this verse. I’m asking you to take a leap of faith and believe that the truth of this verse will keep you safe. If our faith is a matter of life or death, hope or despair, this verse can make all the difference. I hope God uses it to speak to you today.