Christmas is Over

            I am writing this article the day after Christmas. Christmas is over. For some people there are many different emotions on this day. Some may feel relief, that the festivities and activities of the day are over, or at least that they survived another round of Four Christmases. Some may feel sad, a feeling that might come from the constant joyous parties and comings and goings, and now all that is over. Some might feel regret, that another Christmas season has come and gone and there was that thing that was wanted or needed that didn’t happen. Some might just feel overwhelmed, looking at the mounds of wrapping paper strewn across the house and the sinks piled high with dirty dishes. And some might just feel lonely. Whether this loneliness had been there all season making this just another Blue Christmas, or whether this feeling has come about since all the family has gone back to their own homes, jobs, and lives.

            Maybe you find yourself in one of these feeling today, or maybe you feel a mixture of these, or maybe more.

            Today I just want to start by saying own it where you are. Don’t deny how you’re feeling. Don’t pretend that you aren’t feeling the way you are, and don’t feel worse because you aren’t feeling how you think, or others think, you should be feeling.

            On Christmas Eve I had to go to Dollar General. That’s not a new thing for me, every Christmas Eve I have to make a run to a store for something that we need. And I am thankful for everyone working on Christmas Eve so that I can get the batteries, or cheese, or trash bags that I need. One thing that surprised me this trip, however, was that all of the Christmas items had been moved to the front of the store and marked down for reduced pricing and the seasonal shelving area was full of Valentine’s Day decorations, gifts, and chocolates.    

            This really got me thinking, so I am just asking can we extend some of the Christmasness this year? Do we have to start packing up the decorations and get everything back to normal, whatever that is, by December 26? I know we are already into a new year as you are reading this. Maybe you have already packed up your decorations, maybe you’re already decorated for Valentine’s Day, and that’s OK.

            When the angels appeared to the shepherds to announce the birth of Jesus they sang, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, goodwill toward men.” (Luke 2:14)

            And when Mary brought Jesus to the Temple when he was 8 days old, a righteous and devout Jewish man named Simeon took the baby Jesus in his arms, and knowing that He was the long awaited Messiah, proclaimed, “I have seen your salvation, which you have prepared for all people. He is a light to reveal God to the nations and he is the glory of your people Israel.” (Luke 2:31-32. And before Mary and Joseph could leave the Temple area there was a prophet, Anna, who “talked about the child (Jesus) to everyone” (Luke 2:38a).

            During Advent, the 4 weeks leading up to Christmas, the church where I serve as pastor lit a candle every week on an Advent wreath. Each candle had a different “theme”; Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love.

            I guess this is what I am wondering today is if we can just not pack up so quickly this year. Nothing, in fact, can ever really gets “back to normal” after Jesus has arrived. So maybe we don’t need to leave the Christmas tree up until but may we can stay in the “Christmas Spirit” a bit longer this year…maybe even permanently. But it starts, as everything does, with our attitude today.

            May you be filled today with the hope, peace, love, and joy of Jesus and may this filling spill out into you family and work, your hobbies and school. And may this last, not just for Christmas, but every day throughout the year. Amen.

The Great Gift Exchange

            Every December at the church where I serve we have a Christmas gift exchange party. I have heard these referred to by different names, one of the most common is a “White Elephant Gift Exchange”. The way the game goes is that you bring a wrapped gift and then everyone draws a number and you get to either select an unopened gift and see what’s in it, or you can “steal” a gift that someone before you has already opened. Sometimes you get what you want, sometimes someone else takes what you want and you get the leftovers.

            The week after Christmas retail stores, both online and brick and mortar stores will be overrun with exchanges. Gifts will have given, opened, and then taken back to be exchanged for something else.

            That’s part of the Christmas season.

            Interestingly enough, our Christian life is much like this. And what better time than this Christmas season to make an exchange?

            Read this passage from Isaiah and then you’ll see how it works:

“He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives
    and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
    and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,
   and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty
    instead of ashes, the oil of joy, instead of mourning, and a garment of praise
    instead of a spirit of despair.”

--Isaiah 61:1b-3a

            Exchange your ashes for beauty. Cash in your mourning for joy. Take your despair to the return desk and walk away with praise.

            Did you catch all of that?

            Your ashes, your mourning, your despair need to be placed in the exchange bin. You’ve carried these things around long enough. It’s time to give them back. These are the gifts you’ve been given, perhaps, but you don’t have to keep them. The Christmas gift exchange has begun!

            Jesus has some new gifts for you: Beauty, Joy, and Praise.

            That sounds a whole lot better than what you’ve got now doesn’t it? But here’s how this works, you can’t hang on to old gifts and get the new ones. You have to give the old ones up first. You have to give up the despair, the mourning, the ashes of this temporal life. That sounds like something that we all want to do, but deep down you know that it really isn’t that easy, right?

            I agree with you. It’s not easy. But it is simple. It is the way that God has created us to live in this life. We are burdened down with things that are just part of this earthly existence, but not part of who we are.

            Everyone has experienced pain, hurt, and disappointment. That’s why we have the ashes, despair, and mourning. But today you can trade those things in. You can give up the ashes of the past for the beauty of eternity. You can exchange the mourning of loss and death for the true joy that a relationship with Christ Jesus brings to life. You can let go of the despair of regret and put on new clothes of constant praise.

            The past is over. But your future is awaiting.

            Welcome to God’s Gift Exchange. It’s your turn.

A reflection on Hope

 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.  For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?  But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. (Romans 8:22-25)

               WARNING: The following contains completely honest reflections on Hope from a Methodist pastor…

Hope. It’s an important word in our daily lives. It’s an important word in our Christian faith. It’s been an important word to me over the last few weeks. My mom had been in the hospital for three weeks, and over a week ago she went into hospice care. She didn’t want any more tests, no more procedures, no more blood transfusions. She was tired from years of battling physical issues. She was a fighter, for sure, but she was tired.

               “It’s like putting new oil into an old cylinder,” she told me, “I just want to go home”.

               Of course by “home” she meant heaven. The one true and real home that we are all created for. Billy Graham said that we aren’t citizens of this world, we are just passing through. Mom was prepared for her real home.

               And I had hope. Hope that God would take his faithful daughter soon. Hope that God would comfort our family in this loss. Hope that promises of God’s presence would be recognized and felt.

               And so we waited. Day after day, night after night. As she grew weaker, and more tired, then as she was non-responsive most days and as the morphine increased.

               And I had hope.

               During this time I was with five other families who lost loved ones. Most were quick deaths, unexpected, even. I sat with families that wondered why their brother/mother/aunt was taken in death, while I was wondering why my mother wasn’t.

               These families didn’t want death to come, and yet I prayed for death to mercifully come quickly every day and it didn’t. My mom wanted to see Jesus, and yet Jesus was seeing plenty of other people every day, but not my mom.

               Why is that, God?

               Nothing that I was hoping for was happening.

And then 11 later days it did.

               While my wife, Heather, who has been my rock and my best friend during this entire process, and my sister, stood around my mom’s bed she had a moment of direct and focused eye contact with me. I could see her love, and then she blinked…and she was gone.

               What I had prayed for had happened. And in the midst of the pain, in the middle of the loss and beginning of grief, there was that Hope again. 

               It had never left. 

               I had pushed it away a little, I think, but it was still there. A Hope that had redeemed her body and given her a new life. A Hope that saved her, and saved me. A Hope that “we wait for it with patience”.

               And that’s where I hadn’t been doing a good job. Oh, I am pretty good in reminding others the need to wait for the perfect timing of God, but when it came to my mom and her daily slow process of actively dying, I wasn’t patient. I wanted God to act, and act now. And He didn’t.

               And I am thankful for that. 

               I am thankful that we were right there with mom when her last breath was breathed here on this earth and her spirit soared to eternity. I am thankful for the Hope that my mom had in Jesus and in the fact that she is in the presence of God right now. I am thankful for the Hope that I have, even when I wasn’t paying attention to it, even when I was more focused on “my will” than “Thy will”.

               And this Hope is here for you too this Advent season. After all, Advent is about waiting. And none of us are good at it, maybe that’s why God gives us opportunities to do the things that we aren’t very good at.

               Hope is available in Christ Jesus. And God knows we need it.

Merry Christmas mom!

Overwhelmed

This month at the church where I pastor I have been preaching a series called “Overwhelmed”. The idea is that there are things that seek to overwhelm us in life. Things like debt, stress, expectations that others place on us, the expectations that we place on ourselves, and simply the events and stresses of our daily lives.

            Turn on the TV and watch a little bit of the news. Overwhelmed.

            Talk to your friend who is going through a divorce after decades of marriage. Overwhelmed.

            Listen to the doctor explain the diagnosis and the treatment options. Overwhelmed.

            Look at your checkbook and bank balance. Overwhelmed.

            Think about all that you have to do this week, all that is expected of you by your spouse, your boss, your children, your church, your….Overwhelmed.

            Life can seem to be overwhelming at times. Shoot, life can be overwhelming most of the time!

            But only if we let it. I know, that sounds like a really pat answer when we are faced with the giants that threaten to overwhelm us. But here’s the thing: these are all external factors. I realize how huge the OVERWHELMER seems right now. I know that there is nothing else that

Jesus said to not worry about any of this (see Matthew 6:25) and don’t let your heart be troubled by outside things (see John 14:1). Paul wrote to not worry about anything (see Philippians 4:6).

            There is also a difference is being “overwhelmed” and being “overcome”. To be overwhelmed is to be completely engulfed b something for a time. It may be a circumstance, or an emotion, it could be fear. It could also be an overwhelming of the goodness of God, a feeling of being overwhelmed by his love and his mercy, his grace and his forgiveness. So, not every overwhelming is a bad thing! To be overcome is more sever, when we are overcome something has “come over” us that has weighed us down to the point that we cannot get back up on our own. It feels like Hulk Hogan just dropped an elbow on us from the top turnbuckle and is now pinning us down to the mat. All that’s left to hear is the referee’s three count and the bell to ring. We feel done, like this is the end.

            “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”—Jesus (John 16:33).

            Jesus has already overcome the “world”. That seems a little vague, and to be honest, rather large! The world. The word that John uses there for world is “κόσμος”, or “cosmos”. This word has the definition of the world, the universe, all earthly affairs, principalities, the inhabitants of the earth, diseases of the world, and all ordered things in the earth. That is pretty big, and Jesus said he has overcome all of this already!

            As Christians, we believe that the Holy Spirit dwells in us. That this gift of the Spirit (Comforter, Advocate, Helper) was promised by Jesus to all believers and given by God to us to be in us and to work through us. That’s pretty big too, I must say.

            Bigger, I would argue, than the overwhelming thing that is up against you. Maybe it’s a little about perspective. The more we look at something the bigger it seems. The closer we get to something the bigger it appears. This is definitely true of the overwhelmers, but it is equally true of God. The more we focus on Jesus and his kingdom, the more we seek to be agents of grace and love in a hurting and broken world, the more time we spend looking at God, the bigger he seems to us. Not because he has in any way changed, but because we have.

            At times we will all feel overwhelmed. But we are not overcome. Jesus has already proved to be the Overcomer, now rest in that knowledge. Be overwhelmed today with how much you are loved by the God of this κόσμος. Be overwhelmed that your sins are forgiven (see 1 John 1:9).

            “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7)

           

"Is God really with us...or not?"

Let’s do this together today. Grab your Bible and read Exodus 17:1-7.

The Israelites are in the desert, and they are thirsty. 

They still are picking up pints of the manna each morning, they are still having quail flown in from God in the evening, but they don’t have water. And water is important. So they complain. Against Moses. It’s always easier when there is someone to blame, after all. And so Moses brought their complaints once again into perspective and told them that they are really complaining against God, that they are testing God.

And what's astonishing is that God doesn't seem to mind in the least. God seems to welcome the challenge. Thomas doubts that Jesus is risen, and Jesus doesn't say, “Be Gone You Doubter!”  He says, “Look, touch, see for yourself, test it out.” We get this idea that matters of faith can't be proven, that the brain and faith are opposite realms, that science and faith can’t coincide. No wonder that kind of spirituality is irrelevant to the real world! God welcomes a sifting of the evidence; God loves hard questions. God revealed his self to Israel and to the world in the person of Jesus. Emmanual means “God with us”. And Jesus answered plenty of questions.

Ironically, that’s the question of the day in verse 7 “Is God really with us or not?”

Now here's the wrinkle in this story and in our lives that really matters. The Israelites are simply trying to survive. Survival is no small thing; and, in fact, we find ourselves far more intrigued by survival than we care to admit. The movie 127 Hours is about the story of Aron Ralston, who winds up cutting off his own arm in order to escape a canyon in Utah where he is hopelessly trapped. The book Unbroken tells the incredible story of Louis Zamperini, who survived a crash in the Pacific, weeks on a raft battling sharks and Japanese planes, and then months of torture in a prison camp. But we are wired to want more than mere survival.

Not many people want to just survive, we want to thirve.

And so survival is underrated--until you think you might not survive.  The doctor says, "It's malignant; there's a 30% chance of survival" or "You have six months to three years to live." Or if you have ever had a near death experience that in reality lasted a few seconds but at the time seemed like everything was going in slow motion, where people say their entire life flashed before their eyes because they thought this was the end; they weren’t going to survive. Or perhaps it is when you feel so down or broke or alone that you just don’t know how you’re going to survive another day. Now when that happens, your full time business is survival, and you want nothing more than one more time to stick your feet in the ocean or tuck your son into bed or tell that person, “I love you”.

And in the midst of that trying to survive, the question will come up, “is God really with us or not?”

We often don’t ask that question when we are thriving, but it is when we are fighting to survive, trying to make it another day, wondering why this has happened, that the questions come.

And God does not shrink from your questions. I believe he embraces them, he answers them, and then in some way he provides for us day after day after day after day, just like he always has.

“Is God really with us or not?” God was with them in a cloud by day. God was with them in a pillar of fire by night. God was with them during the plagues on Egypt and God was with them when they were liberated from captivity. God was with them when they stood at the Red Sea. God was with them when they were hangry, and he fed them. God was with them when they were thirsty and he gave them living water to drink.

The people of Israel found fault with Moses, with God, and probably, somewhere deep inside, with themselves. God's response? It's all grace, it's all mercy. They survive to live another day to try to grasp the unfathomable, the presence of God that isn't a flashing light or a winning lottery ticket, but the mysterious presence of God noticed in the silence, in manna from heaven, in water from a rock, and in bread and wine at the table.

And that water that the Israelites were thirsting for, it was right there under the rock the whole time, just below the surface of what they could see. The problem was they were only focused on their problem (no water) and they couldn’t see God’s solution (providing in a new and unexpected way).

God’s grace, God’s love, God’s provision was right there, waiting to be set loose.

But the people couldn’t get to it on their own, this was a source of life that only God can give.

               So today, perhaps you are wondering the same thing: “Is God really with me or not?”

               The answer is yes, He is.

Age Well

As I am writing this week’s column I have been thinking about a sermon I will be preaching later this week at a United Methodist senior adult gathering in Elizabethton. This will be my first time speaking at a senior adult event, and I am honored that they asked me, though I have been struggling a little with the invitation. I am not a senior, yet. But the reality is that I am rapidly approaching this stage of my life, and rather than view it with fear or avoidance, I am choosing to embrace it as the gift that it is.

            God has gifted me with this life, and I am enjoying it. And so I have been looking over Scripture passages that might be a good fit for this senior adult event. I thought about Abraham and Sarah, and how God made a promise to them that they would have a child in their old age. Sarah thought this was so unimaginable that she laughed out loud at God. I thought about Moses, who was in his 80’s as we was leading the Israelite people on their trek around the Sinai Peninsula after their exodus from Egypt. I thought about Caleb, who was one of the first spies sent in to check out the land of the Canaan, the “promised land” that God would give to his people, and how at the age of 85 Caleb said that he felt as young and strong as he did when he was 40. And as Solomon aged he looked back on his own life and gave views of life and death.

            There are some great stories in the Bible of aging well.

            One of my favorites is Psalms 71. This was a song written by an older man who was looking back on his own life. Here is something that I appreciate about his perspective: he isn’t focused on regrets. I am pretty sure he probably had some, but that isn’t the focus of his psalm to the Lord.

            “You have been with me from birth, from my mother’s womb you have cared for me. No wonder I am always praising you! My life is an example to many, because you have been my strength and protection. That is why I can never stop praising you. I declare your glory all day long. And now, in my old age don’t set me aside. Don’t abandon me when my strength is failing” – Psalm 71:6

            I think as we get older we can look back at our lives and see that God really was with us through it all, whether we realized it at the time or not. And that is cause for celebration; that is cause for continual praise!

            I pray that when I am 80 I can look back on my life as an example of the love and grace of God. But the beautiful reminder is that I don’t have to wait 40 years for this. I can do it now. I can, by the grace of God, live my life now as an example to my spouse, my children, and my friends. And part of that involves praising God. He has been with me. He is with me. He will be with me.

            And so we pray that God does not set us aside, or abandon us in our old age. The reality is that there are people that will. As we get older we just can’t do all the physical activities that we once could, we can’t run as fast or as long as we could when we were younger. And sometimes it seems that society values the young and the strong more than the wrinkled and the wise. But that is not true in God’s eyes.

            The psalmist prays, “Don’t set me aside”. And God won’t. And neither will His church. It takes all of us together to live abundantly in this Christian life. We can do it together, and we can finish well, until the day we all stand before our Lord, and then may we hear “well done, my good and faithful servant”.

            Praise Him today for the gift of today, and age well, my friends.

A Kingdom Eclipse

               Yesterday was the day of the eclipse. #Solareclipse2017. The hype and preparation and warnings had abounded for months. Moon pies and Sunkist drinks were the snacks of the day. Companies tried to all get in the marketing frenzy of this event by altering their items in a way to appeal to the eclipse theme, Denny’s offered all-you-can-eat pancakes for $4 (since pancakes are round like the moon and sun), and Krispy Kreme put out their one day only eclipse donut (their traditional glazed covered in chocolate). Of course, I also heard the doomsday predictionists, that this celestial event was God’s sign to America, our need to repent and an indicator of His coming judgement and imminent arrival. I read more than a couple articles that stated that Jesus would step out from behind the moon as it passed in front of the sun so that when the moon moved the Son would be in place of the sun.

                I don’t doubt or deny our nation’s need to repent. I know full well my own need of repentance on a daily basis, but I don’t think that this eclipse was sent by God as a sign of our need of repentance. The sings of our need to repent and turn to God are right in front of us every singles day.

                I know that one day Jesus will return and that the “sky” will be the avenue in which he comes. After Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension, His disciples were standing looking up into the sky because they had just seen Him taken up into heaven right before their very eyes. While they were gazing upward, an angel appeared among them and said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday He will return from heaven in the same way you saw Him go” (Acts 1:11).

                I also believe that when the masses of people are predicting that this is the day Jesus will come to judge the nations, that it probably won’t be. Jesus was pretty clear that His return would not be announced and expected, but that it would rather be like “a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2), and that only God knows when this will happen (Matthew 24:36).

                So, yesterday I stood with hundreds of others in downtown Jonesborough as we all looked up into the heavens as the moon passed in front of the sun. Amazing shadows were created, the temperature dropped about seven degrees, there was a stillness and quietness around, and I was reminded of some other words of Jesus.

                                                         

                “The kingdom of heaven is near”.

                The gospel writers record this as a common saying of Jesus. When He was preaching and teaching, when He was sending out his disciples to share this good news of God’s reign, and when He was healing physical and emotional pain. The kingdom of God is one of wholeness, where there is no sin, no pain, no tears, no hate, no death. In this kingdom God reigns as king, and we live as His people in peace. Jesus said this kingdom was near, and at times said this kingdom was “at hand”, and in response to being questioned about this at one time said the kingdom is “among (or in) you” (Luke 17:20-21).

                One of my favorite books on the concept of this “kingdom” is Announcing the Reign of God by Mortimer Arias. In this book Arias says the kingdom that Jesus talks about is like an “eclipse”. What he means is that the kingdom of God is partially already visible to us, the arriving of this kingdom was ushered in when Jesus came (John 1:14) in flesh and blood, so we can see glimpses of this now. We see these glimpses when we see people love rather than hate, give rather than take, help rather than hurt. This is the Kingdom Eclipse.

                The Kingdom is coming, in fact the Kingdom is rapidly advancing. Just remember to not stand around staring up the sky for too long, there is work here to do today. Work of justice, mercy, love, reconciliation, repentance, forgiveness, and grace. So be full of these because we don’t know when His Kingdom come, but it will. And right now it’s just an Eclipse of the Kingdom.

HOPE

            Today I awoke to news of another suicide. A friend of wife had a young family member who took her life yesterday. Unfortunately, this is not a rare occurrence. Saturday I sat with my brother in law and three of my children and talked about Chester Bennington, the lead singer for Linkin Park, who committed suicide by hanging in his Los Angeles home July 20. We talked about Chris Cornell, singer for Sound Garden, who took his life May 18 after a show in Detroit. We talked about Curt Cobain, of Nirvana, who ended his life April 5, 1994 in his home with a cause of death by self-inflicted shotgun wound. All of these men seemed to be living the life that many musicians only dreamed of. They seemed to “have it all” on the outside.
            The accounts of suicide are not limited to the rich and famous, and the reasons are as varied as people themselves. Over the last two years several high schools in our area have been devastated by suicides of teenagers, often those who appeared to have so much going their way and living a happy life.
 The truth is that there is so much that is going on under the façade that we portray to others. Often times depression and doubt is damaging these persons, who ultimately feel a sense of hopelessness in their lives.

            I have known several people who have attempted suicide, but have survived, often by the quick responding of a family member who finds them and acts quickly.

            In 2016 the National Suicide Prevention Network estimated that 44,193 Americans took their own lives.

            That is 121 suicides per day just in our country alone.

            There is reason for concern here.

            If you are reading this and you have had suicide affect your family, I want to encourage you that there was nothing you could have done or said to prevent it. I have talked with and counseled individuals who feel like they should have “noticed” something more, or “said” something or “done” something more.

            This is regret, there was nothing that you could have done.

            I have talked to individuals who have said that they should have shown more love to their family member or friend who took their life. But again, there was not “more” love that you could have shown that would have prevented this tragic action.

            And I have talked to individuals who were concerned about the eternal security of their loved ones, believing that all suicide victims go to hell.

            Let me say this loudly, I don’t believe that. In fact there is so much that could happen between a person and God in their final moments of life that none of us can even possibly grasp or understand.

            Suicide is a tragic and needless loss of life, but is a very real epidemic that we as a culture are facing. And we cannot be silent about it.

            We must talk about it. We must learn to not look the other way. We must learn to be able to let others know when we are not OK. We have to be in relationship together.

            There is hope!

            And taking your own life is not the answer.

            Jeremiah 29:11 says “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

            And I believe this. Hope and a future. That is God’s plan for us. But we have to be here for each other, to love, to listen, to encourage, to cry with, to just do this life together.

            It’s not hopeless. There is hope. There are people that love you.

            Call this number if you need to talk, or give this number to someone you know:

                        1-800-273-8255  National Suicide Prevention Hotline.

                        Or text “TALK” to 741-741

There is Hope. And His name is Jesus.

Planes, Pink Floyd, and Polity

As I write this column I am really feeling the effects of jet lag. I guess I had never experienced this before, but 2 weeks ago my daughter, Emily, and I went to the Czech Republic to lead a Vacation Bible School in Brno, the 2^nd largest city in the Czech. This was my first time out of the country and an amazing experience with some wonderful people. 
 As I sat on the airplane from Amsterdam to Atlanta, I was thinking about the VBS we had led. I was wondering if we did enough, if I said what I should have said, if I should have done or said more? This was an amazing week with the children and parents in the Czech, but I felt like there may have been something more for some reason. So I resigned that seeds had been planted, and perhaps we cultivated others a little bit, and I settled into my seat for a 9-hour flight.

            A man with a unique accent sat down beside me, introducing himself as Luis, from South Africa. Luis was on his first trip to the US, headed to Atlanta and then to Miami to a Roger Waters concert (Roger Wasters from Pink Floyd). He said his wife had bought him the ticket when it went on sale over a year ago, but only bought the one ticket as she was battling leukemia and didn’t expect to be here when the concert came. Luis told me as teared rolled down his face, that she had died a few months ago. He was lost without her, and tried to fall back on the little faith he knew when he was younger but couldn’t. His children had encouraged him to make this trip to Miami, and he had reluctantly come.

            “Maybe will God will actually show up somehow,” Luis said.

            Yeah, you can count on that.

            We talked about life, death, faith, marriage, and Pink Floyd.

            As we talked, Luis asked what book I was reading. Actually, I hadn’t been reading, but I did bring a book with me that I need to read for an August UMC class I am taking this fall. The book was “Polity, Practice, and the Mission of the United Methodist Church, 2006 edition” by Thomas Edward Frank. Dr. Frank is a great writer of all things Methodist, but our Church polity is not exactly a blazing fire of interesting excitement unless you are directly related to it.

            Again, tears welled up in Luis’ eyes as he told me he had grown up Methodist, and was baptized as an infant in a Methodist Church in South Africa.

            “A pastor is sitting beside me at the exact time of my personal faith crisis. Did Delta make this seating arrangement, or did God?” Luis asked.

            OK, no pressure now, I thought.

            Surely God gave me the words to say to Luis, because I can’t even remember everything I said. I listened a lot. I listened to stories of his love for his wife, his marriage, his questions, his concerns.

            And then we talked about hope. Hope that we have in what Jesus said is true. Hope that God is with us through each and every day, and will be with us for eternity. Hope that helps us get out of bed when our best friend, life partner, and soul mate has been buried. Hope in tomorrow. Hope in our faith.

            “I need this hope in my life now,” Luis said, “would you pray with me so that I can recommit my life to Jesus and start fresh when I land in Atlanta?”

            At about 40,000 feet up in air at a speed in excess of 500 mph over the Atlantic ocean a lawyer from South Africa and a pastor from Telford held hands and prayed together.

            Then we both took out pictures of our wives. Luis listened to their favorite music on his phone, hoping that one day he would see her again. I just looked at this image of my favorite person, my partner in life, and thanked God for every experience we had shared together, and asked for His help to focus my love more fully on her and on Him.

            Once again our God has amazed me. As I sat on a plane wondering if I had done enough or done it well enough, God showed up. And He even used a Methodist book on polity and a Roger Waters concert in Miami to do it.

           

            

High Tide Prayer

Prayer has been a focus for me lately. Perhaps that sounds odd to you coming from a pastor, you might think we pray all the time…for hours on end. And though we are all called to “pray continuously”, the reality is that sometimes my prayer life is more God-focused than it is at other times. Of course, I pray every day, but the act of truly being in communion with God during this focused and uninterrupted private time has been a priority for me. I realize now how far I was from this ten years ago, and perhaps ten years from today I will look back and realize how far I am from it now. That is part of the beauty of growth in our Christian life, and the never-ending aspect of relationship with our God.

                As I am writing this I am sitting on the balcony of our condo at the beach. This is my family’s annual vacation week to Oak Island, NC. The beach is one of my favorite places. People keep telling me that if I lived here I would miss the mountains and want to be back in East Tennessee…maybe, but I’d be willing to give it a shot. The beach is also one of my favorite places to pray, well, actually, in the ocean is one of my favorite places to pray. Because sometimes praying in the ocean is hard.

                                I like praying in the ocean because of the sound. I am an easily distracted person. It took me 15 minutes to write the paragraph above because I was watching a seagull. My wife likes to say that she doesn’t have ducks and they’re not in a row because she has squirrels and they’re at a rave….that’s another whole story though, and I think I once again have been distracted.

Back to the ocean. The sound of the ocean helps drown out the other sounds that constantly seek my attention. I need this when I pray. I need the other sounds quieted so that I can focus on and be with my Lord. The ocean is my prayer closet.

                There is also a rhythmic sound to the ocean. It is soothing to me, and there is a beautiful repetition that helps me focus on the eternal and unchanging qualities of the One I am spending this time with. This is soothing to me. There needs to be a rhythm to our lives, not a monotony, but a sacred rhythm of who we are and how this life all makes sense. There will be plenty of things that happen that seek to upset this rhythm; death, unemployment, natural disaster, terrorism, illness, disease, injustice. So a sacred rhythm to life is important. If you don’t have this rhythm yet, talk to someone you know who does. It will make all the difference when interruptions come. The rhythm of the sound of the ocean reminds me that there is a rhythm to my life, even if it may seem chaotic at the time.

                I also like praying in the ocean because of the water. This may seem rather obvious, but the water splashing over me is a prayerful reminder of God’s grace. As I begin my prayers I first ask God to forgive my sins, both known and unknown. I think this is important for me to take care of the elephant in my spiritual room so that my Lord and I can get on to our time together. But the importance of this is paramount to me. Sin is what stands in between me and God, and I know that when I ask for forgiveness that He is faithful and just to forgive me because Jesus has already paid the price for my sins, both those I have committed in the past, and those that will be committed in my future, both those sins of commission and those sins of omission, all my sins of thought, word, and deed. So during this time I let the waves just wash over me. Cleansing me. And I praise God for this.

                But sometimes praying in the ocean is hard. Yesterday I went down to the beach about 5:00. It was high tide, so there were not many people on the beach, since there wasn’t much beach to sit on at that time of the day. The ocean waves had made their way as close as they were allowed, sneaking up to the edge of the dunes for the second time of the day. They weren’t going to come any further than that today, their journey  onto the beach had been limited by their Maker. And so I waded into the waters, and there began my prayer. During high tide the waves are a little rougher, they crash a little harder, they move you around a little more, and it’s harder to keep your balance and stay in the same spot. This is a good reminder for me of all the things distracting me, and my need to stay focused and stand firm in my prayer, in my faith, and in my life.

                Today be strong in your prayer. Hold on. Stand firm. And if you are getting knocked around a little by the rough waves today, just remember that high tides don’t last forever.

               

Blessed are the meek

Part 3 of an 8 part series

            Jesus said, “blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5).

            If you’ve been reading along in this series with us so far, you will remember that these “beatitudes” that Jesus spoke to the people were complete reversals of what they were used to, and what seemed natural. Today’s statement is no different.

            The meek will inherit the earth. A good definition of the word ‘meek’ is ‘gentle or humble’.

            For the people of Jesus’ day hearing this part of their meekness was as an oppressed people, and the idea of inheriting the earth would have been understood literally in terms of their homeland. But as in the rest of these sayings, Jesus is obviously talking about something more than just the temporal and physical.

            The reversal here is in terms of power and control. It is the strong and powerful that are doing the possessing. It is the wealthy, militaristic that make the decisions for the meek to follow. I am not an economist, but I read an article that half of the world’s wealth is owned by 1% of the people[i].

            But meekness is not something imposed upon us by others, meekness is an attitude characteristic of the soul. It is having a gentle and humble nature, not being a doormat for anyone to walk all over, but a meekness that permeates who you are and into the lives of the others.

            Jesus lived this. Later in Matthew we hear Jesus saying, “take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart” (Matthew 11:29a).

            Being meek is about being more like Jesus. It is seeing in others the image of God, and loving and forgiving them in spite of their actions.

            Meekness is not weakness. It is power under control.

            The whole “inheriting the earth” thing is what the people hearing Jesus probably liked to hear. These people had been living a promise expecting that as they awaited a Messiah who would save them. Ironically, that Messiah was standing right in front of them, but for many of them what they wanted saved from was different than what Jesus was going to save them/us from.

            They wanted a military messiah to take their land back, and bring back power to the people. Jesus, on the other hand, is talking about meekness to inherit the earth.

“Inherit”.

            That’s an interesting word, too. To inherit something means that it has been passed on to a future generation from someone who owned it, or possessed it.

            At the church where I pastor, there was a wonderful woman of God who made plans to leave her house and land to the church when she passed away. She didn’t have any children, so this was how she wanted her legacy to be remembered. It was her house, so she could do with it as she liked. In a sense, the church “inherited” this gift from her.

            Throughout the Old Testament we read of inheritances being left to children by their fathers. These were gifts that were passed on from the person to owned them to the next generation. It had nothing to do with power, simply family.

            Inheriting the earth is not about power, but rather about something that is handed down from the One who owns it and can pass it on to His children. So it’s not about power, it’s about family.

            A meek and gentle spirit does not come naturally to us. It is when we spend time with Jesus in prayer, Bible reading, and service to others that we learn from Him and begin to become gentle and humble in heart ourselves.

                                                              

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[i] https://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/oct/13/half-world-wealth-in-hands-population-inequality-report

A morning in Psalm 5

I have been trying to start each day by reading a Psalm, or a portion of a Psalm. Lately I have been enjoying this time more and more. It is preparing me for the other Scripture I read (which right now is Jeremiah), and it helps guide my day in prayer.

                The Psalms really are our oldest prayer book. They contain the praises, laments, joys, and concerns that we all experience. And this time of starting here, and praying these words back to Jesus, has been helpful to me.

                Here is a verse from what I read today:

“In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice, in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly” (Psalm 5:3)

What a way to start the day, right! It is morning now. I have taken the kids to school, and I am having a cup of coffee. I have a test to take in an online class to take today, and make some calls to people I need to visit today, finish up the Bible study I am leading tonight, post in a Philosophy class forum, put out signs for our fundraiser breakfast Saturday, get some prices on new tires for my Mazda, etc, etc, etc.

I could have started the day with any of those other things, and many times unfortunately I do. It takes practice and focus to start here in the Psalms. The other things are all screaming for my attention, and the Psalms lie here quietly, waiting.

                You hear my voice.

That is a fact of our relationship with God that gives me goosebumps when I really let that thought sink in. Today, right here as I start my day in prayer with coffee, God hears my voice, knows my voice, and listens to my voice. I just need to talk, letting my Father know what is on my mind, and asking Him what is on His. Telling my Father all I have to do today, and asking Him what He wants me to do instead.

                I lay my requests.

 Lay ‘em down. Here they are, Lord. Sometimes I write them down, sometimes I speak them aloud, sometimes I can’t put words to them, or mere words just can’t seem to express the desires of my heart so I breathe them out. Just breathe a prayer, exhaling what I am laying down, and inhaling God’s grace and love. This is what is burdening my heart and warping my mind today. This is what I really feel like I need. What do you think?

                I wait.

This isn’t natural for any of us, I know. We don’t live in a culture that rewards waiting. It is almost seen as a sign of weakness to have to wait, and our to-do list is piling up every second we spend waiting. That’s really a shame. Not that I love waiting, or anything like that. But I am growing to appreciate it a little more. For one thing, I try to have a book with me most of the time. This makes waiting easier, whether in line to pick up the kids or in the waiting room waiting for an appointment. Waiting can also be a great time to talk to God. Living in Telford I have found that there are days when I can spend quite a bit of time waiting on trains. This used to create frustration in me, now I am learning to take this time as a gift, a little respite with me and Jesus. And being in the Psalms this morning helps with the waiting, too. The natural and rhythmic flow of the words in the verses calms me before the craziness of the day starts. Waiting doesn’t necessarily mean doing nothing.

                But I am not just waiting, I am waiting “expectantly”.

That added word creates a sense of anticipation. Something is going to happen….and something IS gonna happen today. I have just lifted up my voice to the God of all creation, who has heard me and listened to me. I have laid my requests for Him and sought His guidance. Now I wait “expectantly” for Him to act. Whether in word or deed, God is moving in all this today. The rest of my day can be looking for what God is doing, wide-eyed wonder as He shows me His direction and His love today.

“Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you” (Psalm 5:11)

                Have a wonderful day, be blessed and rejoice in the One who is protecting you.

Don't Forget Your Jewelry

Not many days go by in our house that we don’t mention jewelry at least once. Part of that is because Heather really, really likes jewelry, and she wears it so well 😊

            The other part of that is that we are blessed to work with Premier Designs, a company that promotes biblical truth, the inherent worth of all people as God’s creation and beloved, and strives to enrich the lives of everyone they come into contact with. Training meetings and award ceremonies are more like a praise and worship time with Scripture, testimonies, music, prayer, and lots of excitement.

And, they just so happen to sell jewelry, too.

            So today I came across this little gem in Jeremiah, “does a young woman forget her jewelry?” (Jeremiah 2:32).

(Nice little “gem” pun, right?)

            I have read Jeremiah several times. This is one of my favorite Old Testament books of the Bible, so Jeremiah and I are like old friends, we know a lot about each other and have shared a lot together. I know this verse has always been right there in the 2^nd chapter, but today I just really noticed it.

            Now context is important, I say this every time I am sharing God’s Word with others. And the context here is that Jeremiah has been called by God as a prophet to go and tell the people of Judah that they need to change their ways. They have become lazy in their actions, indifferent in their relationships, cold in their worship, and have turned their backs on the God who created, provided, cared for, and sustained them. So, the Lord goes through a list of things that the people have done, and one of those things is that they have forgotten Him. They have become so busy with their own lives, their own agendas and their own goals, that they have neglected their first great Love.

            To show how crazy this should seem to them, God asks Jeremiah, “does a young woman forget to put her jewelry on before she goes out?” The obvious answer for Jeremiah to that question would have been, “Absolutely not!”

            And the same is true for my wife and these great jewelry ladies we have met over our last year with Premier. When they get together there is a lot of bling going on!

But today I looked at Heather’s jewelry sitting on the table. This has helped make an impact in many lives, and most of them I will never know the stories of personally.

            The people of Judah had gotten too busy with other things.

            We know how that is too.

            So they had forgotten.

            We know how that is too.

            I am not making an excuse, but I know it happens. Life gets busy and there are some days we are just trying to hold on for the ride and not get slung off. Maybe we feel that way at times because we are forgetting.

            I wonder if every Premier lady (and Premier man…and everyone else for that matter) could put on their jewelry each day and use this as a time to remember. Remember your first Great Love. Remember you are created in the image of God and you are greatly loved. Remember the One who hung the stars and spoke creation into being is the One who cares deeply for you and desires your love, worship, and relationship. Remember that today you will be given an opportunity to bless others. Remember that God is in control, and part of that means we are trusting in Him first.

            I wonder if this will help us to not forget?

            “Will a Premier lady forget to put her jewelry on?”

Absolutely not!

            But put on each piece as a time of worship, a time of preparation, and a time of remembering who you are.

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[i] https://www.premierdesigns.com/gettoknowus.html

Pragmatic Problems and Persistent Prayer

Here is a picture of one of my problems.

Actually, this is much prettier than my real problems. This was an illustration from a sermon I preached for a Johnson City District United Methodist Women gathering last month. I had several of these "problems" that I laid on the rail of the alter at the end of the sermon, trying to make a visual connection with what laying our troubles before the Lord looks like, compared to just laying them there while we were at church and then picking them up again when we left.

Last night Heather and I were talking about prayer. Well, we were talking about death. Another friend from our home church where she grew up, and the first United Methodist Church that I had ever attended, passed away last night from cancer. Death and prayer are often closely related topics. Heather had mentioned that I am always saying to pray about a problem, then leave it there at the alter. But there are times in Scripture when we are told to not stop praying, and she prays daily for her own dad, who is with the healing power of Jesus, battling cancer in his life.

Here is what I think about this. I am not a renowned theologian, just a man seeking to better know Jesus daily and to live this crazy life with some sort of purpose and passion while showing love to as many people as I can. Maybe you have different thoughts, and if so please share them with me. We are in this together.
So here goes....

Jesus tells a parable found in Luke 18:1-8 that we call the "parable of the persistent widow". The story is about a widow who went to a judge to get the justice she deserved in a certain legal matter. The judge really didn't care about the woman or her needs that much, but she didn't give up. She went back day after day after day after day and brought her request to the judge. Finally the judge agrees to give her what she wants. Then Jesus says that if that uncaring judge gave the persistent woman what she wanted then "will not God give justice to his elect, who cry out to him day and night?" Here is what is really interesting about this. Jesus opens the parable by stating this is an example that we should "always pray and never give up" (18:1), and ends by asking, presumably based on this persistent, faithful, and expectant model of prayer, "When the Son of Man returns, will he find faith on earth?" (18:8).

Jesus tells another parable of a persistent friend that is found in Luke 11:5-13, which also ends with an equation that we serve a Good Father who will take care of His children and takes pleasure in giving them what they need ("need" is a key word here, not want, and not anything and everything).

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." (11:9-10)

There is obviously something here as Jesus was teaching us to pray with faith and to pray with persistence. To not give up and to not stop praying.

Jesus also said, as recorded in Matthew 6:11 "give us this day our daily bread". So there is an indication this prayer is as daily as the need for eating is daily. Jesus modeled this frequently with his disciples by getting away by himself to pray.

And there is one of my favorite verses, 1 Thessalonians 5:17, "pray continually".

So how does this tie in with leaving your prayers at the alter? Well, I would say you leave the problems and worries that you are praying about at the alter. Leave the feelings of anxiety, stress, uncertainty, and fear at the alter. And then keep praying about the situation. But pray with the faith of one who is asking his or her Father for a gift. Pray expecting something to happen.

"But when he asks (for something in prayer), he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind" (James 1:6).

And keep praying, and don't give up. And if perhaps the answer to the prayer is "no", then talk to your Father about that. What is He wanting to do in your life that is different and better than what you had asked for. I think is what the apostle Paul was referring to in 2 Corinthians 12. Paul refers to a "thorn" that he has been dealing with, but never specifically says what it was. And Paul prayed about it. In fact he said, "three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me", but God didn't do that. I don't think Paul gave up after three times praying about, that isn't consistent with what Jesus taught us about prayer. But I think Paul got his answer, and in his case the answer was "no", so Paul went on knowing that God had a bigger plan and purpose in place than perhaps he could see at the time.
God's dream and purpose for you is beyond the confusion of today.

So don't stop praying. Pray continually. Pray in God's will. Pray for His will to be done and that you are in line with that. Pray expecting something to happen. Pray and give thanks for what God will do that you just haven't seen yet. Pray thanking God for what He is doing now that you just aren't seeing right now.  Prayer is good. Prayer is our life source to our Life Source. Stay connected.

But leave the other stuff at the alter. The stuff that is weighing you down and causing you to forget who (and whose) you are. Leave those hangups and problems at the alter. Lay 'em down, and walk away. That is baggage you don't need, and were not intended, to carry along in life.

So for me, that's the difference between pragmatic problems and persistent prayer. What do you think?

Clean Plates and Clean Slates

Years ago when I played baseball I was a catcher. I got to play not because I was a good hitter, in fact I was normally about 30 points below what would be considered an "average" batting average. I played because I was good defensively. I knew the fundamentals and was good at them because of the hours I spent having baseballs bounced into the dirt so that I could block them with any part of my body, anything to keep the ball in front of me.
I was also good at talking, so I could usually calm down a frustrated or nervous pitcher, occasionally get in the head of an overzealous batter, and always have a good chat with the man behind the plate.
Even with everything going on in a game, I always made sure that the umpire and I were on good terms, because he was the one calling the pitches. I also made sure that he always had a good view of the plate. Most umps had their little ump-brush that they would use to brush dirt off the plate before each inning, but I would wipe the corners of the plate at least after every batter. I wanted the umpire to see just how big and how wide that plate really was, and maybe if there was a pitch just off the corner a tad that he would call it a strike, because after all that plate was clean and white and wide.
As we are coming into a season of Lent, I have been thinking about home plate a little more.  Lent is a 40 day time of the year leading up to Easter Sunday (you don't count Sunday's in the 40 days because every Sunday is a ""mini-Easter" where we are celebrating our risen Lord). Most people think of Lent as a time to give something up, like chocolate or cussing. I know a lot of kids who want to give up school and homework for Lent, but I don't think that's gonna happen. Some people try to pick up something for Lent, like starting a good habit such as exercising or eating healthier. All of these are good things, especially the giving up homework idea, but they don;t really capture what Lent is about.
That's why I've been thinking more about home plate.
See, during a baseball game the plate gets dirty, there is dirt that is blown, kicked, and swiped onto it. Not because anyone wanted to intentionally cover up home plate with dirt, well, maybe there are some batters that want to do that, but that isn't the norm. Home plate gets dirty because there is a game going on, and there is dirt everywhere in the infield, and during the course of the game dirt gets on the plate.
The important thing for me as a catcher was to see the dirt and to get the dirt off when the plate got dirty.

Psalm 51 was written by David after a time that there had been a lot of dirt in his life. And with the help of a man named Nathan, David recognized the dirt. He also recognized the fact that he couldn't get rid of the dirt that was already there, and that he needed God to do that, but he also needed to keep other dirt from getting into his life where he was able.

"Wash me thoroughly...cleanse me" (Psalm 51:2)
"Purge me...and I will be clean; wash me and I will be whiter than snow" (Psalm 51:7)
"Create in me a clean heart" (Psalm 51:10)

This Lent, allow God to create a clean heart and a right spirit within you. The word "Lent" comes from a Latin word for "spring", so maybe a little spring-cleaning is in order spiritually.

Let's have a clean plate and clean slate as we prepare ourselves during Lent. Not just that we are preparing for Easter, though that is part of it. But more importantly that we are prepared daily for the return of Jesus, that we are living our lives in line with what we say we believe, that today could be day! And that we are ready.
Live into a Holy Lent over the next 6 weeks, and know regardless of how dirty home plate may be, there is nothing that can separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. Because God is good, all the time. And all the time, God is God.

Grace&Peace this Lenten season,
Michael


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