I’d Rather See a Sermon

I’d rather see a sermon
than hear one any day;
I’d rather one should walk with me
than merely tell the way.

The eye’s a better pupil
and more willing than the ear,
Fine counsel is confusing,
but example’s always clear;

And the best of all the preachers
are the men who live their creeds,
For to see good put in action
is what everybody needs.

I soon can learn to do it
if you’ll let me see it done;
I can watch your hands in action,
but your tongue too fast may run.

And the lecture you deliver
may be very wise and true,
But I’d rather get my lesson
by observing what you do;

For I might midunderstand you
and the high advice you give,
But there’s no misunderstanding
how you act and how you live.

When I see a deed of kindness,
I am eager to be kind.
When a weaker brother stumbles
and a strong man stays behind

Just to see if he can help him,
then the wish grows strong in me
To become as big and thoughtful
as I know that friend to be.

And all travelers can witness
that the best of guides today
Is not the one who tells them,
but the one who shows the way.

One good man teaches many,
men believe what they behold;
One deed of kind noticed
is worth forty that are told.

Who stands with men of honor
learns to hold his honor dear,
For right living speaks a language
which to every one is clear.

Though an able speaker charms me
with his eloquence, I say,
I’d rather see a sermon
than to hear one, any day.

– Edgar Guest

Thoughts on Heaven and Hell… before I read Rob Bell’s Book

There is quite a stir about Rob Bell’s soon to be released book – Love Wins. It is about heaven, hell, and the fate of every person who has ever lived.

Judging by the response to a book that no one has even read yet, Bell has certainly hit a nerve. This nerve is probably the growing tension between traditional, orthodox Christian belief and the growing pluralistic, post –Christian culture we find ourselves in.

Is orthodox Christianity in danger? Is Rob Bell, and other church leaders, starting to teach false doctrines? Is the church succumbing to the post –modern culture it now finds itself in?

Or, are we now asking tough questions we once avoided? Are we not settling for cookie –cutter answers? Are we beginning to see things about God and scripture that we once were blinded to?

I reckon probably a little of both.

Here are some of my thoughts off the top of my head on the issue of heaven/hell:

1. The Conversation Changes When It is Someone You Love – and that is a good thing. Last year I lost my cousin to a tragic death. She was 25. That experience changes everything – and it should. Heaven and hell are not primarily matters of belief and doctrine. They are primarily matters of an intimate relationship with the living God.

I am not saying that we can change the Christian faith to suit our own feelings. I am saying that we can turn a living, breathing faith into a lifeless belief system. I worry that this issue has been thoroughly depersonalized by some church leaders. If that is true, we are in danger of being modern –day Pharisees. And Pharisees, in scripture, were orthodox in belief – but rebuked by Jesus.

2. Our Salvation is Based on the Grace of God. A young evangelist was sharing the gospel with people in an airport terminal. He noticed a man sleeping. Undeterred by his slumber, the young evangelist tapped him on the shoulder and asked, “Are you saved?” The man, half asleep, responded “Ummm, yeah, I’m saved. I suppose I’m saved. Yeah, I’m saved.” And then he went back to sleep.

The young evangelist did not think that was good enough, so persisted, “When, sir? When were you saved?” To which the man responded, “Well, I dunno. It was about 2,000 years ago I guess.” That is good theology. Our salvation is based on the grace of God.

When we discover that grace, and how we respond to it, will vary.

3. Judgment Resonates with our Souls. I don’t buy the argument that a God who punishes us is amoral or mean. Judgment resonates with our soul. Our hearts long for it. Our hearts ache for justice, including judgment.

For example, if a priest molests children. And continues to do so for years. And when caught, denies any wrong doing. And hides behind the power of his position and the church. And in the end, continues to serve as a priest and work with children. That disturbs our souls… especially those people who are not “religious”. Regardless of faith, judgment resonates with our soul. We want God to set things right.

God judges us. And while that is incredibly terrifying – it is a good thing.

Now, does telling a white lie equal burning in hell for eternity?

4. God’s Love and Grace is Always an Extravagant Surprise. In terms of hell -bound people, Jesus was notorious for keeping their company. It seems that in the gospels, religious leaders were quick to pick up rocks. But Jesus miraculously found a way to get them to fall to the ground harmlessly.

Tax –collectors, crooks, lepers, prostitutes, Samaritans, the demon possessed, and the other hell –bound characters in the gospels are exactly the type of people we read about in order to learn about God’s love and grace. According to the religious culture of their day, these were the people smitten and rejected by God. And that is exactly why Jesus was such a surprise.

5. Our Choices Matter. I cannot emphasize this enough – OUR CHOICES MATTER. One of the reasons hell leaves such a distasteful flavor in our mouth is because it asserts that there are actually consequences for our actions. And in our culture, we work very hard at being able to make POOR choices and then avoid living with the consequences.

Here is what I notice:

– Kids can make poor choices in school – should flunk or get punished – and are often passed on to the next grade.
– We eat poor food and get sick because of it – but we avoid changing our eating habits by taking pills or having surgery.
– We spend our money poorly. We buy things we cannot afford with money we do not have. And then we avoid the consequences by paying the minimum on our credit card or not answering our phone when the debt collector calls.

However, eventually all of these things catch up with us. Consequences are inevitable. Kids will grow up and have to deal with their lack of education. People get sick and have to deal with their illness. And eventually the debt collectors find you and make you pay.

Our choices matter. And that goes for God too. If we choose to reject God and his will, that matters. That is a significant decision. And I believe it has consequences.

My question is: if we spend our entire lives avoiding and rejecting God, what makes us think that will change on the other side of death?

6. Heaven and Hell are present realities. One of the biggest problems with this conversation is that we limit the idea of heaven and hell to “places we go after we die.” While I believe that this is partially true, the greater truth is that heaven and hell are present realities.

Hell is when/where God’s will is rejected. Heaven is when/where God’s will is done. One day, I believe, God will completely set the world right. All the evil, pain, and death (hell) will be eternally condemned. And the will of God will reign, and the glory of God will cover the earth like the waters cover the sea.

But in the meantime, heaven and hell are present realities held in tension. At times, God’s will is accomplished. At times, God’s will is rejected. At times, it is almost as if we are experiencing heaven on earth. At times, it is almost as if we are in the middle of a living hell.

7. The Human Soul is Eternal. So the bigger question is – are we becoming heavenly creatures (people who are living in God’s will), or hellish creatures (people who are rejecting God’s will)???

Both now, and forever, are we going to be people who live in harmony with the will of God? Or are we going to be people who reject the will of God (in favor of our own will)?

C.S. Lewis says, “Hell is when God finally says, ‘Your will be done.’

Which makes heaven, I guess, when we say with Jesus, “Not my will, but yours be done.”

This would be a good opportunity to re –read *Revelation 20: 11 – 22:21* with fresh eyes. Pay special attention to:
o Revelation 20:12 -15
o Revelation 21: 1 -8, 22 -27
o Revelation 22: 14 -15

Thoughts/insights?

Resurrection

Resurrection

I’m tired, Lord, and have grown weak.
I serve, and give, and die, and leak.
Crucifixion has been my life’s selection
But now I’m praying for resurrection.

I’ve died a thousand deaths to obey your call;
Lost my life, lost it all.
Like a seed – dead and buried in the ground
Hoping this is where resurrection’s found.

I cannot give what I do not own.
But I have not reaped, only sown.
But the seeds are there, deep in your earth.
Longing for resurrection’s birth.

Suffering and Spiritual Growth

I once was part of a survey on spiritual formation. Thousands of people were asked when they grew most spiritually, and what contributed to their growth. The number one contributor to spiritual growth was not transformational teaching. It was not being in a small group. It was not reading deep books. It was not energetic worship experiences. It was not finding meaningful ways to serve. It was suffering. People said they grew more during seasons of loss, pain, and crisis than they did at any other time. – John Ortberg

Welcome to the World

Welcome to the world, Chara and dear Grace
Welcome to this magical, God-soaked place

I have many things to tell you and many things to show
Many wonders await you and many truths to know

But for now dear daughters graced from above
Just rest in my arms and abide in my love

Lashed to the Mast Amidst Siren Voices

Eugene Peterson would be on my top 3 people I would like to spend a day with.

“This isn’t the only task in the life of faith, but it is your task.  We will find someone else to do the other important and essential tasks.  This is yours: Word and Sacrament.

“One more thing: We are going to ordain you to this ministry, and we want your vow that you will stick to it.  This is not a temporary job assignment but a way of life that we need lived out in our community.  We know you are launched on the same difficult belief venture in the same dangerous world as we are.  We know your emotions are as fickle as ours, and your mind is as tricky as ours.  That is why we are going to ordain you and why we are going to exact a vow from you.  We know there sill be days and months and maybe even years, when we won’t feel like believing anything and won’t want to hear it from you.  And we know there will be days and weeks and maybe even years when you won’t feel like saying it.  It doesn’t matter.  Do it.  You are ordained to this ministry, vowed to it.

“There may be times when we come to you as a committee or delegation and demand that you tell us something else than what we are telling you now.  Promise right now that you won’t give in to what we demand of you.  You are not the minister of our changing desires, or our time –conditioned understanding of our needs, or our secularized hopes for something better.  With these vows of ordination we are lashing you fast to the mast of Word and sacrament so you will be unable to respond to the siren voices.

“There are many other things to be done in this wrecked world, and we are going to be doing at least some of them, but if we don’t know the foundational realities with which we are dealing – God, kingdom, gospel – we are going to end up living futile, fantasy lives.  Your task is to keep telling the basic story, representing the presence of the Spirit, insisting on the priority of God, speaking the biblical words of command and promise and invitation…”

– Eugene Peterson, The Contemplative Pastor

Imaginary Gods

Who we imagine God to be can be very powerful.

Though powerful, our imaginations are often not accurate. Imagining God will always lead us to an imaginary God.

The God of Abraham, Moses, David, Isaiah, Peter, and Paul did not base their life on images of God. They experienced God – real life, real places, real time. Revelation.

I am noticing that there are two very popular images of God – in and outside the church. The first is what I call “the Parking Space God”. The second, “the Distant God”. Both of these gods seem to be much more imaginary than the God of scripture.

1. The Parking Space God. Have you ever been late, or stressed, and been in need of a parking space? And have you ever prayed to God for Him to provide for you a parking space? I confess that I have. It is a bit embarrassing.

I believe that God is intimately involved in the details of our lives. However, the parking space god reduces God to be used for my needs and wants. This popular image of god does not challenge me to reorient my entire life around the kingdom of God. Rather, it prays that God would reorient Himself around my lifestyle – needs, wants, prayers, desires, values.

The “parking space God” gets God’s “nearness” correct. But it misunderstands God’s holiness, God’s Kingdom, God’s Lordship, God’s agenda. We might know when we are worshiping this false god when we pray for parking spaces, instead of God’s Kingdom coming to earth. We might know when we are worshiping this false god when we ask God to submit himself to our wants, instead of submitting our lives to what God wants for his world.

2. The Distant God. Could you sum up the Christian life as giving your life to Christ and now trying to live a moral life? For seasons of my life, I have. But this is often a symptom of worshiping “the Distant God”.

I believe that God is huge, awesome, holy, and “other”. I believe that he reigns from the throne of heaven and holds the universe in his hands. However, this image reduces god to an idea – the idea that a god exists somewhere and that we can read about Him in the Bible. But this popular image of God is not the God of the Christian faith – Immanuel, God with us.

This distant god gets God’s “bigness” correct. But it misunderstands his nearness, his revelation, his incarnation, his sending of the Holy Spirit, his intimate love. People who worship the distant god live as spiritual orphans – thinking God that exists, but is absent. But Jesus promised not to leave us orphans, but send us the Holy Spirit that will be with us.

Frankly, God desires intimacy with us.

Intimacy with God is a good thing.

Are you worshiping an imaginary god? Or our your learning to grow in intimacy with the Lord of Heaven and Earth?

Because I Follow Jesus

There has been a lot of hoopla lately about Qur’an burnings and Mosque building.

Because of this, I have been in a lot of conversations about interfaith dialogue.  How do we handle these situations?  Should the mosque be allowed?  Is America a Christian Nation? Etc.

I am sure that people have thoughts and opinions that fall all over the spectrum, but I have noticed two particularly strong reactions to these situations.

The first reaction is what I call power defense.   People with strong American and Christian sentiments tend to see Mosques being built and react by burning Qur’ans.  It may seem ludicrous to many.   But I was intrigued to learn that many of the phone calls that Terry Jones (the Florida pastor) received were from angry American/Christians who were upset that he canceled the burning.  This “power defense” reaction tends to say: “I am a Christian and I am an American and I need to defend my faith and country from people who are not.”  I understand this is an over-generalization, but I am learning that there is quite a bit of this sentiment in our country.  As a pastor, I am very intrigued that so many Christians take a defensive and hateful stance towards people/their neighbor/their enemy, when Jesus clearly teaches to differently.

The second reaction I notice is from people who promote interfaith dialogue.  I am a huge fan of interfaith dialogue, relationship building, and loving our neighbors.  However, having been part of many of these conversations, I notice a disturbing trend.  Often times, interfaith dialogue has a misguided end goal (in my opinion).  The goal, simply, is to help religious people “get past” their faith, which is seen as a point of division and conflict.  (And yes, I understand that religion has been, and is, a point of deep conflict in our world).  The solution, it seems, is a generic “God”/”Higher Power”.  In this like of thinking, “Jesus” becomes a problem.  Identifying with Christ is considered close-minded and a stumbling block to interfaith conversations. A few pastors I know will not preach/teach Jesus because they are seeking to promote interfaith relations. It seems to me, the end goal is to “progress” past our archaic and ancient beliefs and be spiritual gurus in a post-modern world.

I would like to offer a 3rd way.  I would like to suggest that we dialogue, serve, love, and befriend people of other faiths and nationalities BECAUSE of our faith in Jesus.  I think the DEEPER our devotion to Jesus is, the MORE we will love and befriend Muslims and people of other faiths.  To be a Christian ought to mean that we walk as Jesus walks (1 John 2:6).  Following Jesus does not look anything like the first option.  On the other hand, peace and dialogue will not happen by abandoning our faith, but by deepening it.

The illness of American Christianity is not that it is too strong; it is that it is too weak.

Those who claim some of the strongest devotions to Christ, are actually the weakest.  Their faith has become ill with hate, fear, and the false god of country.   I heard this story last week:  During the Holocaust a Christian man went to into the Jewish ghettos to suffer and ministered to the Jews who were undergoing persecution.  During this time, his family, friends, and church urged him to return home, fearful for his life.  One man from his church urged him to come back by writing, “Come home.  Why are you doing this?  They are not even Christians!”  The return letter had 3 words:  BUT I AM.

Incarnation

Incarnation is a theological world.  Though fancy, its meaning is simple.  Simple, but deep.  It is the combination of two words “in” and “flesh”.

Incarnation means that before we attempt to fumble our way towards God, God has already moved intentionally towards us.  The God of heaven, the God that often feels far away, the God who reigns in heaven, the God who created all things at the beginning of time, the mysterious God who we cannot see or comprehend… has come “in the flesh”.

Incarnation means that God is know –able.

Most religion is the movement of people towards God.  Incarnation is the movement of God towards us.

Most religion is humans moving away from earth towards the heavens.  Incarnation is heaven moving towards earth.

Most religion is learning how to love God.  Incarnation is realizing that God loves us.

Most religion is our struggle to find God.  Incarnation is God’s struggle to find us.

Most religion is trying to get closer to God.  Incarnation is the truth that God is closer that we realize.  Much closer.

Most religion is our pursuit of God.  Incarnation is God’s pursuit of us.

The Church, Warts and All

“Sometimes we hear our friends talk in moony, romantic terms of the early church.  ‘We need to get back to being just like the early church.’  Heaven help us.  These churches were a mess, and Paul wrote his letters to them to try to clean up the mess.” (Peterson, Practice Resurrection)

“If we permit- or worse, promote- dreamy of deceptive distortions of the Holy Spirit creation [the church], we interfere with participation in the real thing.  The church we want becomes the enemy of the church we have.  It is significant that there is not a single instance in the biblical revelation of a congregation of God’s people given to us in romantic, crusader, or consumer terms.  There are no “successful” congregations in Scripture or in the history of the church” (Peterson, Practice Resurrection)

At times in my life, I have lost trust in the church, rejected it, walked away from it, written against it, critiqued it, worked for it, gotten paid by it, bashed it, loved it, planted it, cultivated it, and more.

Over this time, I realize that my understanding of the church is extremely important.  Too often, I looked to the church with with unfair expectations that lacked a biblical grounding.  Church, I thought, was supposed to be perfect, meet most of my wants and needs, be centered in Christ without any entanglement in sin, deeply spiritual, and generally idyllic.  When it failed to meet these criteria, I was left with 2 options:  1) criticize and critique it (and thereby, I would often remove or distance myself from that tangible community); 2) romanticize and  mystify it (i.e. remove the theological dream of the church from its tangible reality).  Over time, neither of these options satisfied.

Don’t misunderstand me- engaging in critical thought on the church and embracing the mystery of the church are both important.  However, these things cannot be separated from the tangible, living-breathing, social and local, worshiping community.  For so long, I struggled with this tangible, living-breathing reality called the church.  It had too many warts and hang ups.  Truth is, it was easier to critique the imperfect bride of Christ than to be part of it.  If I privatized my faith, dabbling in occasional conversation with family and friends, I did not have to do the hard work of becoming part of the “body of Christ”.   I reasoned, as a believer, I was part of the mystical body of Christ while refusing to engage in the tangible body of Christ.  But biblically and historically, God’s people have always been a social and tangible reality in the world- warts and all.

It has been in the context of the church, the real, living-breathing community, that my faith has been sharpened the most.  Reading books, talking to friends, writing blogs, listening to sermons are all great and helpful.  But they easy.  They engage my heart and mind, but not my humanity.  It is in the context of the church, I am challenged with difficult people, actual arguments, differing personalities, real needs, and so on.  This context, better than any other I know, helps me to grow up in Christ- taking up my cross, submitting my my brothers and sisters, encouraging and being encouraged in the faith, forgiving and being forgiven, etc.

I admit, that I also find my workplace, the neighborhood, “the world” as a context for growing up in Christ.  This is important both for my maturity in Christ and the mission of God in the world.  And there are many Christians and churches, who in avoiding the world, seriously hinder their faith and neglect God’s mission.   But this is the church scattered, it is not the body gathered around the Christ’s body.   I have certainly learned that I cannot be the church alone.   It is both too easy and too difficult.  Mostly, it is not God’s intention.

“I want to look at what we have, what the church is right now, and ask, DO you think that maybe this is exactly what God intended when he created the church?  Maybe the church as we have it provides the very conditions and proper company congenial for growing up in Christ, for becoming mature, for arriving at the measure of the stature of Christ.  Maybe God knows what he is doing, giving us church, this church.”  (Peterson, Practicing Resurrection)