Peace and Forgiveness

Great little graph from over at Indexed.

Dealing with Death/I'm Not OK

Please excuse the "downer" title.  But that's where I am right now.  I am dealing with death.  This is not the death of a relative of mine.  This is not someone I have known my whole life or grown up with.  It's the death of a friend...a friend who happens to be connected to our church.  And it comes on the heels of a death two weeks ago of another person connected to the church.  Both are tragic.  Both are families I've grown to love over the last 10 years.

This is a difficult place for me.  It's difficult because most of the deaths I deal with -- in the community or fire department -- I kind of come into persons' lives at the moment of their deepest grief and then fade away.  Their friends weren't really my friends.  They were passing through Girdwood.  They were not part of my church family and the call for ongoing pastoral care was not really there.

These are different.  I'm emotionally invested here more than usual.

And it's affecting me, emotionally, more than usual.

It's interesting as all the words of advice I normally give to the families who have lost loved ones I have to listen to myself.  "Get sleep.  Eat well.  Get some exercise.  Take care of yourself."  It's a lot easier to say than it is to do.

It's like I know what to do with everybody else but I'm not quite sure I know what to do with myself.  Do I want to talk about it?  Do I want to be by myself?  Do I want to write about it?  Should I go into Anchorage to meet with my pastor friends for some care or should I get out in the sunshine for a walk to take care of myself?  (Today I've chosen a walk).

It's interesting that I'm really not doing "OK" with this.  This is, I think, the first time in years I've been here that as many people have asked if I'm doing OK or have asked my lovely wife if I were doing OK.  I guess that they assume that I'm having some trouble.  They're right.  I'm not OK.   I will be.  And, for now, I'm not sure what it is that will move me in that direction.  But I will be OK.  It may, however, take me a couple of weeks to begin to feel like normal.

"Relieving Poverty" -- Quote from St. John Chrysostom

photo © 2010 Ted | more info (via: Wylio)

Let us relieve the poverty of those that beg of us and let us not be over-exact about it.

St. John Chrysostom (349-407)

"Simple Stewardship: Simply Give" -- Sermon for 14 November 2010

photo © 2007 Fabio Venni | more info (via: Wylio)
Text:  Philippians 4:10-14 & Deuteronomy 8:11-18
Title:  “Simple Stewardship:  Simply Give”

Because we had such a great presentation from the Gideons, I’m going to keep this a little shorter than usual today…and probably quite a bit shorter than many “concluding sermons” for a stewardship drive.  This would probably be the sermon where the pastor pulls out all the stops, pulls on every heartstrings, tells you to think about the children, and implies that an angel cries when you give anything less than 10% of your income to the church.

As fun as that may sound, this is “Simple Stewardship.”

We’ve been saying that stewardship could be simplified to some base concepts.

FIRST -- SIMPLY BELIEVE – Believe that we have a God who’s big enough to provide for you…and when you give, God will take care of you.  God, the creator of the heavens and the earth will be with you if you nudge up your giving.  Believing that you couldn’t possibly give more…for almost everybody…is a belief that God couldn’t possibly provide enough.  Don’t sell him short. 

SECOND -- SIMPLY SERVE – Our giving is an act of service.  Because you give, we can have a food pantry, we can have someone to counsel those who have lost loved ones, we can have Vacation Bible School, and we can, “through our apportionments (our giving to the Alaska United Methodist Conference) be in mission and ministry around the world.  When we give, we think beyond ourselves to others.

And, today, it’s SIMPLY GIVE.

But why?


This week I went into Anchorage to see my allergist, so I could move to allergy shots every other week instead of every week.  The visit took one and half hours.  And it wasn’t because of the various tests they ran.  It took a long time because the doctor and I were talking about Jewish law.

I told the doctor, who is Jewish, that I had been talking with folks recently about the grieving process and how, when someone you loves dies, one of the problems is that, while your world comes to a screeching halt, the rest of the world keeps on spinning.  People go to work.  People, who are very sorry for your loss, have their lives to manage.  There are places to go. Days and nights come and go.  And it can be so difficult, after trauma in your life, to figure out how to work your way back onto the world again.

The Jewish Law, I said, gives guidelines for this.  It’s a process.  There’s a seven-day SHIVA period when you isolate yourself and your family.  Food may be provided.  Torn garments are worn to symbolize the loss and the pain.  It’s a week of great grief where the community supports the mourners.

Then for 23 more days, there’s the practice of SHLOSHIM.  The family reenters the community.  Engagements are limited.  It’s recognized that pain is still present but that community life can begin
again.

And, if one has lost a parent, mourning goes on for a full year until, after a year’s time, one is not considered a mourner anymore.

What I talked with my doctor about is how beautiful and healthy and wholesome this is.  It doesn’t shelter anyone from the realities of death and pain and loss.  It recognizes community.  It recognizes the need for mourners to grieve, even as they make their way back onto the spinning world that never really stopped for them in the first place.  What might, by some, seem like overly restrictive rules and regulations is for us.

And the doctor shared how this rang true in his own life when his parents died and how he remembers the anniversary of their death in worship each year.

Says AISH.COM, the largest Jewish content website these days:

Judaism provides a beautiful, structured approach to mourning that involves three stages. When followed carefully, these stages guide mourners through the tragic loss and pain and gradually ease them back into the world. One mourner said her journey through the stages of mourning was like being in a cocoon. At first she felt numb and not perceptively alive, yet gradually she emerged as a butterfly ready again to fly.

The loss is forever, but the psychological, emotional, and spiritual healing that takes place at every stage is necessary and healthy.

This Jewish law and ritual actually brings life.

This brings us, if you can believe it, to giving...

I can spell out for you all the things the bible says about giving…but I won’t.  It doesn’t really mince words.

We talk about tithes because that’s what’s in there.  It's what the Bible says:

“Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram     …. Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything (Genesis 14:18-20 NIV).

This is where it begins.

Abram, later Abraham, had his spoils from battle with a nearby king and he sees Melchizedek.  And, because he sees that he is someone who is with God, Abram gives him one tenth of what he had received.  This sets it all up; the process of giving ten percent of our increase back to God.

This was a sign of the covenant. But you and I both know that sometimes it’s hard to relinquish any…let alone 10% of what we’ve been given.  Some people sit with calculators making sure to tip their server 15% after good service and a good burger and fries, but giving extra to God for his service can give us fits.

We’re not alone. Israel had that trouble as well.  There were times that they held onto what they had and forgot the tithe and things got bad for them.  That’s where the prophets came in, to call persons back to God and why Malachi does this so well in Chapter 3:

“I the LORD do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD Almighty.

“But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’

“Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.

“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’

“In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.  I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the LORD Almighty. “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty.

The Deuteronomy text we read before, begins with:

Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day.

And then it says that if you fail to follow the commands, you’ll forget the Lord and fall away from his covenant.  We’re not going to burn anyone with unquenchable fire here, but it’s clear that holding back on our giving, is detrimental to our relationship with God.  Our holding back gets in the way.

This makes sense.  Sheila ________, at our meeting last week, used an illustration from Dave Ramsey.  She said that, when you’re holing onto your money, you have tight fists around it.  Nothing is going to get out.  But nothing is going to get in.  When we are generous with our gifts, it makes it possible for us to receive as well as give.  It opens us up to God’s blessings and reminds us, in our wallets, that we have a God who does provide for us, that he will take care of us.  And that’s the relationship he wants to have with us.

As I talked with my allergist this past week about Jewish laws and regulations for mourning, we talked about how these laws and regulations, while hard to follow, while misunderstood, while countercultural, are designed to help those very persons who have suffered loss in their life.   They bring persons into community and into a proper relationship with the God who gives and takes away.

The Scriptural rules and regulations and understandings about giving are hard to follow, misunderstood, and very much countercultural.  I know it can be hard to hear, but they really aren’t about meeting a church budget or being asked to support a new church construction or fund a pastor or even some wonderful, holy, life-changing ministry.  They are designed to help the very persons who have an income, and increase, material things.  They bring persons into community and bring us into a proper relationship with the God who gives and takes away. It also fights against the impulse to make an idol of material things.  It reminds us who we are and who God is.  It’s about faithfulness and holiness.

In this place you will be defined by the sacrifice of Christ, by a God who loved the world so much that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him will not die but have eternal life.  That will define you here…God’s love for you.  You will never be defined by how much you give or don’t give.  You will never be defined by what percentage of your income you offer to God.  There won’t be bigger crowns in heaven for the larger portion of guilt that you carry as you go to write your check.   That won’t define you.

You are defined as a loved child of God with whom God wants to be in relationship with.

Part of that relationship, a prominent but challenging part, is stewardship.  To put it simply.  SIMPLY BELIEVE. SIMPLY SERVE.  SIMPLY GIVE.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

"Simple Stewardship: Simply Serve" -- Sermon for 7 November 2010

Image by crunklygill via FlickrText:  2 Corinthians 8:1-15 & John 13:31-25
Title:  “Simple Stewardship:  Simply Serve”

A little over a month ago I went into the Alaska United Methodist Conference office with Sheila _______ (our money person) and Steve _______ (our “building” person).  To meet with Dave _______ and Leila _______ (our Conference Leadership Persons).  We met with them to talk about our church finances, which, the farther along we’ve been getting in our construction without actually occupying the building, the harder it’s been.  And we knew that this year, as we were looking at what we’ve had on our plate to get heat and start worshipping over there, it was becoming more and more evident that our “income” wasn’t meeting up with out “outgo.” 

And we’ve tried to be honest and forthcoming here.  The longer we’ve had to wait for construction to finish, we’ve been paying bills for a building we’ve not been able to occupy.  And we could see that it was going to get a little too close for comfort as we got to the second half of this year and into the beginning next year as we’ve had some large chunks of money due at one time while giving has gone down a bit.

And we’re there now.  I won’t get into all the details here, but know that we’re struggling to cover some of our basic bills—even things like my salary and the building insurance—all the time as we strive to increase the amount of ministry done in the community.

Well, we went to the Conference office to seek some guidance, knowing that we need to keep pushing to be in that space next door.  Well, from that meeting, I found out there is a fund set aside by the Conference called “The Mission Aid” fund.  It’s a fund built up from APPORTIONMENTS – which is a collection of money all the United Methodist Churches put into to keep up with the functioning of the conference but also for mission work both here and around the world.  Some people—particularly those in the South and Midwest—view APPORTIONMENTS as a HEAD TAX or a “fee” for having members.  It’s not that.  Really, APPORTIONMENTS are A PORTION MEANT FOR OTHERS.  It’s giving beyond ourselves.  And because of that giving from United Methodist Churches around Alaska, our church is getting $7,000 which we’ve said that we would apply to my insurance and pension contributions, which we’re behind on.  It’s a gift for us.

But, many of you know, that’s not the only way we’ve been helped by others throughout this building process.  BY NO MEANS! (As the Apostle Paul says a couple of times.)  Really, it’s breathtaking when you think of all the financial help we’ve gotten just to get in the place we are…with a full-time pastor and some active ministries and a nearly completed building – where I was able to write my sermon this week. 

Did you know that, in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 – each year – we took in over $50,000 from Christians around the US to put towards, not just our building, but also our ministry?  That number’s going down some which is why, this week I need to start mapping out a trip to Mississippi this winter, to visit churches. 

And that $200,000 doesn’t include the vast generosity of churches that have held bake sales and cookbook sales and carwashes and special offerings to send work teams up to Girdwood, Alaska to help us build.   I think it’s 34 work teams—with an average of 12 people.  That’s over 400 tickets to Alaska with rental cars and food and some supplies and, at about $1,500 per person, that’s another financial gift of $600,000 just so people could come and work for us and with us.

I’m done saying we’ll be in that new sanctuary on this or that date.  Been heartbroken too many times for that.  But I know that, as we sit over here today, soon we’ll be over there.  And the hope and the promise of that is only because of the grace and kindness and gifts of – not just the people you see around us today – but a whole lot of other people.  People have been generous with us. 

We are talking about STEWARDSHIP over this three-week period.  And I’m trying to think of just how simple I can make the concept so that you appreciate its importance in the lives of, not just our church, but all followers of Jesus.  I said, if I could break this concept down into just the very important parts to know and understand, I’d say that SIMPLE STEWARDSHIP means SIMPLY BELIEVE, SIMPLY SERVE, SIMPLY GIVE.

Last week we talked about that BELIEF aspect.  This is a tough one in our culture where we have a sense that there just isn’t enough to go around, and so we worry about what we have and how much we have and how much everyone else has.  There’s a SPRIRIT OF SCARCITY which makes us hold onto what we have.

But part of what we need to do as Christians is to recognize that we have a very big God…one who even created the heavens and the earth…and through his PROVIDENCE he will take care of us.  And, even if we loosen our grip on our money by 10%, a biblical tithe, he will take care of us.  He’ll make sure that we have enough…more than enough…to keep on going.  If you don’t believe that God will take care of you…well, then you have to rely on other things, such as money, for backup…in case God fails to come through. 

That’s the first aspect of a SIMPLE STEWARDSHIP.   SIMPLY BELIEVE.

The part I wanted to get to today is SIMPLY SERVE. 

We’re all well aware that our God is a serving God and our Jesus is a serving Jesus.  In fact, that passage we read before kind of gets right at it.  Jesus has come to the Passover Meal with the disciples…although they don’t know it’s “The Last Supper” yet.  And as the meal is set to begin, Jesus does the strangest thing.  He takes off his outer robe and begins to wash the disciple’s feet.  Now, remember, this is Ancient Israel.  Sandals.  Dusty roads.  Dirty feet.  This was the job of a servant, not of the Messiah.  Peter protests, but then relents.  And then the meal begins.  After the meal he gives them a “new commandment.”    He says:

“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

And that love…, well, it’s shown through service…through washing feet, through offering food, and bread and juice.  That’s how it’s shown to the disciples…and us.

It’s also shown to us through churches coming together to help us with our benefits or people around the US giving $50,000 a year to help us build. 

Now, I hope it goes mostly without saying that service is important in the Christian life.  After all, Jesus said for us to take up our crosses.  He said that he came to serve and offer his life as a ransom for many.  And if we look at his life, he went out of his way to serve others…to minister to the hurting and the lost, to reach out to the social or economic outcast, and, of course, to die on a cross for the sins of the world.  Service…, well, that’s part of what made this Messiah different than the military and political Messiah that a lot of folks expected.  They expected someone to ride into Jerusalem on a stallion, with army behind him….not on a donkey.  This was a different kind of King.

And so, we know that we should do good things for people.  We know that we should have things like a food pantry and that we should help persons who are homeless or are having problems with their kids or their jobs or their marriage.  For that’s part and parcel of the Savior we say we believe in.

We are thankful for those who have served in our church in this way…for the committee folks…for the construction folks…for the people who’ve served as mentors for kids…for those who have cleaned Little Bears or shoveled the chapel roof or chopped wood or whatever.

That’s good stewardship of time.  That’s serving through our talents and time and spiritual gifts.

But stewardship of money is also connected to service…in a big way.  See, money is AMORAL as Dave Ramsay says.  Money is neither good nor bad in and of itself.  It’s just money.  It’s like a brick.  A brick is neither good nor bad…in and of itself.  It can be used for good or bad purposes.  It can be used to build a hospital…or it can be thrown through a window.  And money can be used for good or bad purposes.  It can buy things that are unneeded, unwanted, unhelpful in this life.  It can be stored with more and more money out of fear that we’ll never have ENOUGH.  OR…it can be used to serve.

We can’t really wash the disciples’ feet with money, but we can use it to help those in need.

We had fun a few weeks ago in Bible Study looking at Paul’s words to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 8, which is one of the most thorough explanations of stewardship in the Bible.  Well, at least I had fun with it.

The scenario is that times are tough for the Jerusalem church.  Poverty there is bad.  They need help.  And Paul’s taking up a collection along his journeys, in order to help support those Jerusalem Christians. 

In 2 Corinthians 8, Paul talks about the Macedonian Christians and, essentially, says “You know how bad they have had it in Macedonia.  Well, let me tell you they have been graced by the grace of Christ and even amidst their poverty they have responded generously.  They are eager, out of their poverty, to help the saints of Jerusalem.   He says, to the Corinthians:

“…for during a severe ordeal of affliction , their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.  For, as I can testify, they voluntarily gave according to their means, and even beyond their means, begging us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in this ministry to the saints.”

So…you Corinthians, who also have been blessed by God and others, and who are not in a severe ordeal of affliction at this point…will you, also, excel in this undertaking?  Remember how well those Macedonians excelled…as I was just saying.

One of the Bible study folks said they hadn’t realized how amusing Paul can be at times.  He really is funny in places.  And this is one of them.  It would be like me standing up before the offering plate was passed and say something like this...

Friends, before you reach into your wallets and open up your checkbooks, I want to ask if you’ve been blessed by God.  I know you have.  But I want you to answer that question.  Well, if God has blessed you so much then we need to address what we should do with this blessing.  There are people in this community, in this world of ours who need some help.  They need to be served.  And the Bible tells us that we love because he first loved us.  Well, you’ve been loved.  So, we can, in turn, love with what we’ve been given. 

And, before that plate is passed, I’d like you to consider, for example, the fact that we’ve had three workteams from Elkhart, Indiana over the years…a place so depressed that MSNBC had a special place on their website to talk about the unemployment and depression there.  And this is a community that was so very generous with their gifts to you.  They excelled in their giving.  Will you excel in this present undertaking?

I couldn’t do that.

Paul’s got some guts.

But more than guts, it’s true.

Yes, we need funds for the building…not so that we can complete the building, but so that we can start using it for ministry.

Yes, we need funds for my salary…not so that I have money in my pocket, but so we can afford to keep a full-time pastor here, doing what I hope you think is valuable ministry to and with the community.

Yes, we need funds for the heat, and the mortgage, and the phone line…not so the lights stay on for us but so they stay on for all who might need this place.
Paul says, closing out his discussion of the collection:

“The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little.”

I’m not going to say that you have too much.  I’ll say that I have too much.  But I won’t speak for you.  But I will say that pretty much everyone here has more than ENOUGH.  Well, what if we could serve by offering up some of that MORE THAN ENOUGH to others – through the work of this church.

That’s what others have done for us.

If you want to have a very basic understanding of stewardship, you need to SIIMPLY BELIEVE and SIMPLY SERVE.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

"Simple Stewardship: Simply Believe" -- Sermon for 31 October 2010

Text:  Matthew 6:25-33 & Mark 4:37-41
Title:  “Simple Stewardship:  Simply Believe”

I read a blog pretty frequently called “Naked Pastor.” I don’t believe the pastor, David Hayward, is, in fact, naked. It’s more of a metaphor for a pastor bearing his soul.  But this pastor doesn’t bare his soul in lengthy posts about what food he ate on a particular day or how awesome worship is.  He actually draws cartoons.  And every Friday, he gives one away.

I won one just a few weeks ago.  (Picture at right.) It’s a sketch of a giant hand reaching down from the heavens to a character on the earth below.  The hand holds a giant daisy and the daisy just has one petal left. And the voice from heaven says, “Start with he loves me.”

You know, there is a whole lot we can discuss theologically.  We can discuss how it is that the death of Christ on a cross offers us “atonement” or “At-One-Ment” in this life.  We can argue about whether sinners really are welcome in the church and what sins we should really keep out.  We can discuss at length what it means to have a Trinitarian God and we can wonder how in the world one can equal three and vice versa.

There is a whole lot that we can discuss Biblically.  When it says that all of Scripture is “inspired by God” in 2 Timothy 3:16, does that mean that all of Scripture is infallible?  Should we lean in our interpretation of Revelation to a more metaphorical understanding?  How important for us New Testament folk are all of the Old Testament references that Jesus makes?

And we can, some more than others, go on and on about how this all comes together in the life of the church…ordination, mission projects, struggling to get Sunday School teachers, mission and ministry, and, indeed, stewardship.

But, you know, if I could just break it down to the simplest form I could, I’d start with something like that cartoon.  “God loves you.”  That’s where it all begins.  That’s where it all ends.  From the creation in Genesis to the triumphal return of Christ in Revelation, it’s all about the all-encompassing love of our God for us…for you.  That’s a lesson that’s at the heart of it all.  It actually encompasses the message of the whole of Scripture pretty well and shapes how it is that we’re supposed to act in this life.  God loves us.   There’s nothing we can do about it that will change it.  But we can respond in kind.

We’re starting on a three-week journey into Stewardship.  I might throw some charts your way.  I might try to get you informed about our building project and our lack of funds.  It’s tight around here.  And I’ll probably send you home with a commitment card when all is said and done—so you can make a commitment to God and to the church.

But you know, sometimes we have a tendency to make this all more difficult than it is.  I know, in the day when Stewardship might be mentioned just once a year, I always felt like the people in the pews wished they could be anywhere else than in church that day. 

I used to tell jokes just to make the congregation and me feel more comfortable, as if it was a joking matter.  My favorite was the following....
 

A Baptist Minister, a Presbyterian Minister, and a United Methodist Minister were all talking about how they divided up the offering each week.
 
The Baptist said, he'd used the same method for a lot of years.  After everyone was gone he would draw a line on the floor and throw the offering up in the air.  What landed on one side was God's.  What landed on the other was his to keep for himself.
 

The Presbyterian said he was surprised, but his system was similar.  He drew a circle on the floor and threw the offering up in the air.  What landed in the circle was his to keep and what landed outside belonged to God.
The Methodist said his was just about the same.  He threw the the offering up and he figured whatever God wanted, he'd keep. (Ha Ha Ha)

Other times, I’ve heard clergy say, and mean it, that their stewardship sermon was just for the members within the church on that particular day and not for everyone there--like the visitors.  But, you know, if the visitors listened a little bit they might gain some knowledge they could take home with them.  The message was that this is complicated stuff for members only.

However, friends, stewardship isn’t -- as my son might say--stewardship isn’t “rocket surgery.”  It’s basic.  It’s relevant.  It’s simple.

And as we look at our Simple Stewardship over the next few weeks, I’m going to tell you that I think, if we take stewardship down to its simplest form, it’s rooted in three simple steps…SIMPLY BELIEVE, SIMPLY SERVE, SIMPLY GIVE.

But, it all spring from the very fact that our God loves us and, through his providence, cares for us.

And, while you may not think so, at times this can be very difficult to believe in.

First, sometimes, like the idea that cartoon was describing, we question whether or not we really can be loved by our God.  We may feel like we’ve sinned way too much or too badly for us ever to be loved by our God.  And, there’s some good hidden under that emotion.  The good is the recognition that you’re a sinner.  You are.  However, says, 1Timothy 1:15, Peterson’s The Message version, “Here's a word you can take to heart and depend on: Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.”  I don’t want to pretend that your revelation that you’re a sinner is no big deal.  I just want to say that the bigger deal is you're just the person Christ came to save.

Secondly, sometimes, we act like that love of God in our lives is not enough for us, like it’s incomplete.  Take for instance, our need to find belonging and care in our relationships.  We can surround ourselves with friends.  We can be lost when we’re not invited to the parties everyone else is going to.  We can feel so hurt inside when we’ve been wronged by those we love.  And we can, somehow feel less of a person while, all the time, God declares that we are, indeed, his chosen ones...that he loves us.

We can, in life, feel like we’re unloved and can try to escape this world by filling it with other things like drugs and alcohol…as if they can somehow fill us in a way we may not think we’re getting filled with God.

And, perhaps more to the point of stewardship, at least, financial stewardship, we can surround ourselves with the physical stuff of our world…our houses, our cars, our clothes, our gadgets, our retirement accounts, and find our worth here.

This latter issue, living as if worth and care were derived from material belongings is not only an American problem…but it is stereotypically an American problem.  For we live in a nation of consumers and advertisers and sellers and we have difficulty saying “no” to the stuff of our economic environment.  Advertisers know this.  Credit card companies know this.  The person who’s selling us that new house or new car or new dress or new shoes or new iPhone knows this.

If you think you’re immune to the siren calls of advertisers who repeatedly tell us that we’re only cool if we drive this or that car, or we’re only cool if we have this or that ski, or we’re only cool if we use a certain type of computer, or we’re only cool if we wear clothes that look a certain way, or we’re only cool if we drink a certain energy drink, there are millions of advertisers who will tell you that you’re not immune.  They know that their ads work.  They make us want more than we have now.

Just this week I saw a comic about our need to acquire that poked fun at women and their need for dresses—which, frankly, is not a need expressed by as many Alaskans as possibly persons from other areas.  It was a mathematical equation--  “N = D + 1” (Where N equals the number of dresses a woman thinks she should own and D equals the number of dresses she currently has.)  The dresses she needs is always the dresses she has …plus one.

But “dresses” may not be the thing for you.  Perhaps you think you always need one more app for your iPod, one more thousand dollars in your retirement account, one more set of skis or one more snowboard, one more winter hat, one more fishing pole, one more house, one more vacation, one more tool, one more purse, one more gadget.

The bible says that, at heart, this need for stuff isn’t just an affront to our brothers and sisters on this planet who have less, it’s an affront to God because it implies that God is NOT sufficient…that we have need BEYOND GOD and God’s providence for us.  We forget that there is no THING, no PERSON, that will (taking words from the Jerry Maguire movie) COMPLETE US.  In fact, the more stuff we surround ourselves with the harder it is for us to remember that we have a need for God.  The more stuff we have, it’s harder for us even to BELIEVE IN GOD.

Let’s look again at what Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew.  We’ll look at Peterson’s version, The Message.

"If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don't fuss about what's on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.

"Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.
"If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

Isn’t it kind of funny that Jesus would question why we worry too much?  I mean it’s almost more comfortable to hear him talk about the coming Kingdom of God or tell a nice parable or heal someone.  But here he tells us that we worry too much because we’re too concerned with the stuff of this world; we’re too concerned with getting things; we’re too concerned with having the nicest stuff and the nicest food.  And all of this essentially is a crisis of belief…we don’t believe in a God who is able to provide.

In our second Gospel text we have a storm overtaking the disciples because they don’t have faith…faith in God to provide…and Jesus quiets the storm that raged against them.

By living simply we can calm the storms that rage against us and trust, once again, or maybe for the first time, for God to provide for us.

One of the best illustrations I've ever seen for tithing, giving 10%, was from a tract from somewhere down in Louisiana, I think. The author of the tract said that money is sticky.  It sticks to us and, more, we stick to it.  Once we get a hold of it, we hold on tightly, thinking that we need it, that we can't live without it, that it is what's providing for us.  And so here we are, holding on tightly to our money with two clenched fists.  Tithing, is the equivalent of wrenching back one of those tightly grasping fingers, letting go, ever so slightly of our grip on money, releasing some of the stickiness, reminding us that it does not control us and, ultimately, does not provide for us.  Without that reminder, we're stuck.
One of the hazards of Stewardship sermons is that people think they’re about money.  They’re not.  They are sermons about belief in the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Mary and Martha and Jesus.

Do you believe that our God is good enough and strong enough and loving enough to provide for you if you give 10% of your income to the church?

Do you believe that simplifying the stuff of your life would free you up to trust God more and more?

Do you believe that God will take care of you, through every day, o’er all the way?

How much do you believe that God loves you and will provide?

Or, do you want to hedge your bets, making sure someone or something else provides for you, too?

Simply believe.  It's the start of our "Simple Stewardship."

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Another Reason to Get an iPad -- So I Can Record an Album With Gorillaz

photo © 2008 Sarah Nichols | more info (via: Wylio)

According to music magazine NME:

Damon Albarn has told NME that he has been recording a new Gorillaz album on his iPad.

Speaking in this week's issue (cover date November 13), on UK newsstands now and available digitally worldwide, Albarn said he has been working on a follow-up to 'Plastic Beach' while on tour with the band.

"I've made it on an iPad – I hope I'll be making the first record on an iPad," he said. "I fell in love with my iPad as soon as I got it, so I've made a completely different kind of record."

British Methodists (And Others) Take A Stand

photo © 2006 Brian | more info (via: Wylio)

Believe it or not, I actually pay attention to what's going on in the British Methodist Church.  That's because there are a couple of blogs, (Richard Hall's Connexions and Paul Martin's Turbulent Cleric) that I enjoy reading.  But it's been interesting as of late because of economic issues.  The British government is tightening its belt. They are cutting a lot of places and there are Christians in Britain who have been watching the cuts very closely, concerned that they were going to hurt the poor in society more than those with financial means.

The following is found on the Methodist Church site in Britain, posted on 11 November 2010 (highlights are mine):

Christian organisations have warned that the Government’s welfare proposals are based on a lack of understanding of the poor. They argue that constructive reforms are at risk of being lost under a wave of punitive measures and cost-cutting.

The Methodist Church, the Church of Scotland, the United Reformed Church, the Baptist Union of Great Britain, Housing Justice and Church Action on Poverty have welcomed plans for a simplified benefits system, but have raised concerns that the proposed reforms are based on inaccurate assumptions about the poor.

“There is a serious danger that people living in poverty will be stigmatised by government announcements that imply they are lazy or work-shy,” said Revd Alison Tomlin, President of the Methodist Conference. “The Government seems to assume that if people are forced into working they will comply and their lives will be made better. The poor we meet are seeking to better their lives in difficult circumstances. They are willing to work, but face difficulties in finding jobs, in meeting caring responsibilities and in living on the wages offered.”

“People who are long-term unemployed are already struggling to find work in a market place where there is increasing pressure on both the public and private sectors,” added Alison Gelder, Director of Housing Justice. “Some need help to develop the skills to find and keep a regular job. What they do not need are punitive measures such as the proposed cut in housing benefit by 10% after a year out of work. Most of all, they should not be forced to do manual labour in return for their benefits for just £1.73 an hour - £4.20 below the current adult minimum wage.”

The group argues that Government welfare policy needs to be based on a realistic assessment of those living in poverty and what they really need to get back into the work force. They are concerned that policy should not be based on a skewed figures and a misunderstanding of the poor.

Revd Graham Sparkes, Head of Faith and Unity for the Baptist Union of Great Britain said: “We meet people on a daily basis who are experiencing long term unemployment. Unemployment, especially in an area where there are few jobs available, damages a person’s self-confidence, health and ability to survive life’s knocks. The Government needs to understand what people in poverty need in order to return to work. It’s not good enough to just tell people to ‘pull their socks up’.”

Niall Cooper, National Coordinator of Church Action on Poverty, said “We ask that the government to talk to people in poverty and base their policies on combating the problems they face daily. Iain Duncan Smith should come to one of our listening events, where people struggling to make ends meet tell their stories. Simplistic solutions such as benefit cuts, telling people to get on a bus to find work, and enforced labour would face a harsh reality check.”

Some of this is getting fleshed out in Common Wealth: Christians for Economic & Social Justice, which has several Methodists as initial signatories.  Their document can be found HERE but I'll highlight a section of it below:

Christians in Britain today are called to take a stand. Faced with the biggest cuts to public spending for over a generation, it is not enough to retreat into the private ghetto of religious consolation.

As Christians, we are convinced that the actions of the current government are an unjustified attack on the poor. The rhetoric of necessary austerity and virtuous belt-tightening conceals a grim reality: the victimisation of people at the margins of society and the corrosion of community. Meanwhile, the false worship of markets continues unchecked and the immorality of the growing gap between rich and poor goes unquestioned.

We call on the churches to resist the cuts and stand in solidarity with those targeted. We urge them to join the forces fighting back against a distorted ideology. Above all, we commit ourselves not to give in to despair, fear and fatalism. Another world is possible, the world announced by Jesus in his teachings, embodied in the love he took to the cross, alive in the Spirit of his risen strength.

This is, I would argue, the church at its best; confronting power with the Word and a call to action.

Scripture for Sunday -- Deuteronomy 8:11-18

<sup>photo © 2010 Hartwig HKD | more info (via: Wylio)

11</sup> Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. ¹² Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, ¹³ and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, ¹⁴ then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. ¹⁵ He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. ¹⁶ He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. ¹⁷ You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” ¹⁸ But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

Scripture for Sunday -- Philippians 4:10-14

photo © 2006 Gisela Giardino | more info (via: Wylio)
 
¹⁰ I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. ¹¹ I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
 ¹⁴ Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles.

"The Radical Fringe" of Christianity

Image by C. Wess Daniels via Flickr

Ron Cole, who writes "The Weary Pilgrim" describes the work of Jarrod McKenna as the "Australian version of Shane Claiborne."  "The Weary Pilgrim" highlights a podcast of Jarrod's.

What I wanted to quote, however, is how he describes Jarrod and this "radical fringe" of Christianity.

He is part of a radical element on the the fringe of the church that sees faith and works, the practice and action of faith as being critical. The teachings of Jesus put into practice must be lived out, as radically today... to dilute them, co-modify and embed them in western church culture is not the redemptive vision and imagination of Jesus. This radical fringe believes Christianity is in trouble because it has become to passive and culturally accommodating. They are stirring the luke-warm pot of status quo Christianity.

That's some powerful language there. 

And I am left with the struggle of determining how I should live this out when I have bills to pay, kids to pick up, a church to fund, construction workers to check in on, and a stewardship campaign to close out.

Sometimes I seem and feel so far from this "radical fringe."  I feel so...established...so diluted...so co-modified...so embedded.

Alas.

What Americans Really, Really Want

photo © 2010 Dennis Hamilton | more info (via: Wylio)

This editorial is from the Baltimore Sun from November 3rd -- the day after the election.  It gets at some of the problems of putting what we want into the context of what we actually want to pay for or invest in.

After devoting long minutes to careful analysis of Tuesday night's election returns, I now know what Americans want:

• We want roads and bridges that are always in good condition but do not require tax money for upkeep.
• We want world class schools with teachers who are so dedicated that they will work for minimum wage. (Note: the best one should be in my neighborhood)
• We want 60-inch plasma TVs that cost $200 and are produced by workers in Ohio making at least $30 per hour.
• We want our military to win every war, every heart and every mind, everywhere, at no cost in lives or money.
• We want cheap, clean, efficient mass transit that goes through someone else's neighborhood.
• We want no-fat triple-decker hamburgers that are good for you and taste great.
• We want fast, efficient, friendly government services provided by clerks who work happily for free.
• We want "clean" coal and domestic crude that does not produce pollution or require digging or drilling.
• We want SUVs that get 100 miles per gallon and produce jobs in Detroit.
• We want Social Security benefits to go up and Social Security taxes to go down.
• We want cheap labor from legal citizens who don't mind living in poverty.
• We want clean drinking water and pristine parks and the right to dump anything, anywhere.
• We want colleges that are inexpensive and not too hard but produce world class leaders.
• We want football where every hit is brutal but no one gets hurt and baseball where everyone hits 40 home runs but no one uses steroids.
• We want government to deliver all these things — then cut taxes and then cut taxes some more. Mostly, we want what we want, and we want it now.
• Personally, I want leaders who will tell us frankly that all these things are not possible, that the blessings of infrastructure and education given us by our fathers are wearing out. I want thinkers who can paint a picture of a greater America that could exist in 50 or 100 years, and then unite us with a roadmap to get there. I want America to have a shared vision and an understanding that we all benefit when we all contribute, and that we all suffer when we demand only for ourselves. I want leaders who will tell the truth: that there is no free lunch.
• But then, I also want the World Series to end in early October, yet I know that some things are just too grand to even wish for.

Mac Nachlas, Baltimore

Another Reason to Get an iPad -- So I Can Protest in Lithuania

Amazing Grace -- A quote from Sinclair Ferguson

photo © 2009 Rian Castillo | more info (via: Wylio)

“Being amazed by God’s grace is a sign of spiritual vitality. It is a litmus test of how firm and real is our grasp of the Christian gospel and how close is our walk with Jesus Christ. The growing Christian finds that the grace of God astonishes and amazes.” -- Sinclair Ferguson

(HT: OFI)  HT Jared at Gospel Driven Church

Idolotry, Discipleship, Consumerism

This is a good video as we look at Stewardship, which confronts consumerism in our culture...and, indeed, in our church.  This short video is also about how we get the church to avoid idolatry.


Confronting Idols & Making Disciples from Bill Kinnon on Vimeo.


(HT to The Blind Beggar for the Video)

Friday Fun: SINGING AND DANCING WATERMELONS!!!!

OK, maybe I'm just trying avoid a little work right now. But, what better way to avoid work than by enjoying SINGING AND DANCING WATERMELONS!!!!

"Exploding" Christianity in Africa -- What Will We Do?

Image via Wikipedia

CBN reports on the growing number of churches and Christians in Sub-saharan Africa.  Christianity is "exploding."

In 1900 there were 7 million Christians in sub-Saharan Africa. That number is up 70 times today to a staggering 470 million. Christians now account for 60 percent of the population.

That growth by any global comparison or historical comparison has to be one of the most rapid religious transformations in the history of Christianity in the last 2,000 years.

I know the United Methodist Church is growing by leaps and bounds there.  The question is what the Western Church will do when denominations and para-church organizations take on a particular African feel -- socially conservative, emphasis on liberation and health issues, different styles of worship, etc.

Researchers have discovered the most religious place on earth: The area between the Sahara Desert and the southern tip of Africa.

Here Christianity, and to a lesser extent Islam, are attracting followers in numbers not seen in more than 100 years.

Soweto. Most people will remember this place for the role it played in the struggle against racial segregation. Twenty years after the end of apartheid, inside South Africa's biggest black township, another image is emerging.
Soweto is on fire for God.

"People come here and they really sense that they've had an encounter with God," said Pastor Mosa Sono of Grace Bible Church in Soweto.

So...what do we do?  How we we respond?  How do we embrace this growth, encourage it, and learn from it?

Talking About Stewardship This Sunday. Don't Think I'll Show This Video (Apologies to the Bee Gees)

Had Power Outage for 11.5 Hours

photo © 2010 Sarah | more info (via: Wylio)

Will be a slow day on the blogging front.

"Last Leaf" -- OK Go

I'm a sucker for the music videos...

Last Leaf

OK Go | Myspace Music Videos

What if we asked "What If..."

photo © 2007 hobvias sudoneighm | more info (via: Wylio)



Stephen Brewster, of Cross Pointe Community Church, asks "What If..."

Beautiful.

Simple.

Challenging.

• What If we asked "What If" more
• What If we feared not creating instead of feared failing
• What if connecting mattered more than staying in our circle
• What if the next thing we create changes someones life
• What if we toned it down
• What if we turned it up
• What if we invested in other peoples dreams more than our own
• What if we actually lived what we believe
• What if we realized how scary safe really is
• What if we started to live with audacious faith
• What if we loved people more
• What if we stopped and listened
• What if we changed how we do this
• What if we stopped accepting excuses

What A Television is For

Via Make Use Of and Graphjam

And the Posts Keep Coming this A.M.

photo © 2006 Hans Splinter | more info (via: Wylio)

Just when I thought it was safe to turn off the computer and catch another hour of shuteye before I REALLY need to get up, I found another quote that deals with hospitality and holiness and God and the church.  There's a theme today, my friends.

”Our Lord has many weak children in his family, many dull pupils in his school, many raw soldiers in his army, many lame sheep in his flock. Yet he bears with them all, and casts none away. Happy is that Christian who has learned to do likewise with his brethren.”

J.C. Ryle

(HT to S.D. Smith)

Holiness, Hospitality, God & the Church -- A Cartoon

In light of my post below about the holiness of Jesus, I found today's cartoon by David Hayward at NakedPastor to be highly appropriate:

The Wild, Hospitable Holiness of Jesus

photo © 2004 Jared and Corin | more info (via: Wylio)

In today's world (a phrase I use more than I probably should), there seems to be a struggle within the church to define holiness.  This hit home to me when a United Methodist Bishop at General Conference in 2008 addressed the homosexuality debate that occurred on the conference floor by saying it was a battle between two competing goods, "holiness" and "hospitality." 

He said that there are some within the UMC who wanted to preserve the holiness of the church, keeping it pure.  Therefore, this camp wanted to keep homosexuals out of the church.  Homosexual practice is a sin and, therefore, the church needs to take a stand against it.  Homosexuals should not be members.  Homosexuals should not be ordained.  The whole notion of "reconciling churches," welcoming the LGBT community, in this perspective, would be anathema.  Keep the church holy.

On the other hand, there were those who theologically emphasized hospitality, welcoming all.  Therefore, when lines were to be drawn about who was "in" and who was "out" in the church, the biblical concept of hospitality trumped all others.  The church should, as a rule, exclude no one.  All are welcomed to the table of Christ.  As the saying goes, "When Jesus is up on that cross, arms outstretched, who is it that he can NOT embrace?"  The implied answer is no one.  All are welcome.

However, are these really two competing interests, holiness and hospitality?  Are they really opposed to one another?

Alan and Debra Hirsch are two missional leaders over at CatalystSpace.  They address the strange holiness of Jesus that was not opposed to hospitality in a blog post entitled, "What Kind of Holiness is This?"

One of the confronting questions we find ourselves repeatedly asking is: What is it about the holiness of Jesus that caused "sinners" to flock to him like a magnet and yet manages to seriously antagonize the religious people? This question begs yet another, even more confronting question: Why does our more churchy form of holiness seem to get it the other way around – to comfort the religious and antagonize the sinners?

Jesus's brand of holiness (the true form) didn't seem to deter the sinners from wanting to get up close and personal with him. The gospel is full of stories of sinners, the bungled, the broken, and the bent clamoring to be near Jesus. Jesus was different. He wasn't like the other holy rollers, the religious folk, of his day. There was something magnetic about his persona that caused even the most desperate to do the unthinkable and violate not only social etiquette of the day, but risk further marginalization by being close to him.

No doubt about it, Jesus' holiness was compelling. The Gospels clearly show us that social rejects loved to be around Jesus. Think of prostitutes, lepers, tax collectors, adulterers, Roman soldiers, Samaritans, Gentiles, and the list goes on. They couldn't get enough of him. In hanging out with people like these, Jesus shows us that one cannot achieve holiness by separation from the unclean.

The holiness of Jesus, it seems, is a redemptive, missional, world-embracing holiness that does not separate itself from the world, but rather liberates it. And it wasn't that Jesus was simply "a nice inclusive guy." Everyone loves a nice guy, but nice guys don't end up murdered on crosses. Actually, as Ben Witherington says, it's not surprising (because of his actions and teachings) that Jesus was crucified. The surprising thing is that it didn't happen sooner!

A lot of what is given to us as "holiness" today is really nothing more than morality.  I'm not saying that I want everyone to be "immoral" but I don't think "immorality" excludes one from the heart of God--and therefore should not exclude one from the heart of the church. And this is not just about homosexuality.   Homosexuality is just the hot-button issue where this discussion, debate, fight, is taking place.  We could have similar discussions about welcoming the drug dealers, the divorced, the unwed mothers, the goth, the tattooed, the addicted, the poor, the.... well you get the picture.

I have recently been dealing with the death of a young man in the community who was loved by many.  I had the privilege of leading a memorial service for the family yesterday.  This young man, somewhere along the way, got into a hole that he just kept digging deeper into as he tried to get out.  Drugs.  Theft.  Lies.  Turning against the very ones who loved him most.  Very difficult situation.  But in his death the survivors are left with the tough questions like, "Did God love him?"  "Could God welcome a sinner such as he?"  "Is he in heaven?"  These are tough questions and I always fall back on the testimony of the love of God.  That's where it starts.  That's where it ends.  Period.  The holiness of God is intimately connected to his hospitality.  It is not opposed to it.

This is a "wild holiness." It calls into question those of us in the church who would be bound to religious codes, separating ourselves from others.

We must again be surprised by the amazing capacity of Jesus to break religious stereotypes and to embody a kind of holiness that embraces the seriously weird and the wonderful, this is the Jesus we follow.