The events of December 14th, 2012 cause us to take a deep breath. They are moments that once upon a time we thought would never happen. Similar to 9/11, we as a country were reminded that we are not invincible, we do not live in a protective bubble, safe from harm. Even the events of Oct 2nd, 2006 in which a gunmen murdered some of the nation's most peaceful, the Amish, remind us that no banner of religion creates such a safe bubble either. Or consider the events of November 5th, 2012, a young girl was spraying graffiti on the side of a church while worship was taking place inside. When two worshipers tried to stop her, they were gunned down by a man in a car across the street. Houses of worship are no safer than school buildings or shopping malls. So at some point, we must recognize that we all live in places where "we didn't think this could happen here" is a phrase that simply doesn't make sense.
Furthermore, some responses offered by others to comfort those who are grieving only add to the pain. God does not "need another angel" in heaven and thus fulfilled this need by having your child brutally murdered. A violent death is not somehow part of some divine plan that we are not privy to. No, God creates and redeems. Does God destroy, yes of course, but not at the hands of violent human beings. Death is a part of life, it is the other side of being created as finite creatures, but death by murder does not glorify God, does not speak of God's character and therefore, is not of God. Therefore, let us not attempt comfort at the expense of God's character; let us not belittle God's power robbing God of the chance to bring redemption out of chaos.
Even though we may so desperately want to comfort, and rightly so. As Christian people, I believe our response is to offer hope in place of fear, and love in place of vengeance or retaliation. In Revelation 22, it is said that God will create a new Heaven and a New Earth. Without getting into the exact details of this (which we cannot know yet) suffice it to say that God creates newness when we only see death and destruction. Is the death of 28 people part of God's plan, absolutely not. Is God mourning with us, absolutely yes. It was in the darkest of nights, in the hardest of circumstances that Jesus Christ was born into the world to give us new life. So too, it is in these dark days, that we pray God to work most powerfully among us. May we be God's agents of healing and hope in a world inundated with death and loss, may we offer signs of God's continuing love and mercy as we await so desperately, the Advent of God's redemptive work.
The pain and loss will not go away, but just as sure as there is Resurrection of the body, so too there is of the soul. May God grant us patience and peace as we seek to support and love on those of us who hurt the most.
Finally, I serve a blessed church in Kennett, MO, where after the events of 9/11, a second grade class wrote a book offering signs of hope. The book was simply called "September 12th: We Knew Everything Would Be Alright". The premise of the book was that the sun still rose, teachers still greeted their students, homework was still assigned, and they knew that all would be alright. I pray we continue to learn from those students. The sun still rises, parents still cling to their children, and churches still sing "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel", and therefore all will be alright.
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Not Enough
Mark 6:30-44 is one of those passages that could be reflected upon for years on end and still it comes to resonate within me something new about me that I did not know before. It is interesting to know that the feeding of the 5000 is the only miracle story that is written into all four of our Biblical gospels. That is revealing in that this story continues to resonate, as it did to the early church, to people in all walks of life.
The story is simple on the outset. The disciples, termed apostles for the first time here, have been on a missionary journey. They are worn out, exhausted, and are spent. So Jesus invites them into a time of retreat. Their missionary journeys must have been successful because upon arriving at their retreat spot, thousands of people came from the surrounding area to learn from these disciples who have been spreading the good news about this Jesus fellow.
Recognizing their tiredness, Jesus steps into teach the people. After what would have been an extended time of teaching, the disciples tell Jesus to send the people away so that they can get some food. And here is where the story gets interesting. Jesus could have turned the stones into bread, he could have made it rain spaghetti, but no he looks the disciples square in the eye and says, "You feed them".
It is not hard to imagine the disciples concern. They were the "B" team. These fisherman and tax collectors were not chosen to become Rabbis or other elite places in their society. They were the 'Not-good-enough's". So you can imagine panic coming across their face as they listen to Jesus' charge, "You feed them!" They must have been thinking, "We are not enough". And they were right. they couldn't feed these 5000 men plus their wives and children. They couldn't possibly provide for them as they needed to. It was out of genuine concern that they told Jesus to send them away in the first place. They really weren't enough.
And neither are we. We all have our comfort zones, and places of refuge. They are comfortable because they are predictable. Even though we know they are flawed and limited, still yet predictable. And where things and places are predictable, then we have some sense of control, albeit limited. But it is in those places where we truly and authentically know that we are not enough is where miracles happen. They do not happen in familiarity, but rather in dark places that have yet to be explored. They happen in people who look at Jesus and say, "Not me, let someone else do it" and "But Jesus I am not enough, I can;t do this."
Notice what Jesus does. He asks them what they have. He asks what they already have, even if isn't a lot. Sometimes, I think we try and impress God. We strive to show God how much we have and ask God to use it. But true surrender to God is demonstrated when we have nothing to give. When we are tired, worn out, scared, or all of the above. When we have nothing to give, is when God is ready to use us the most. Because then we are out of the way, we stop trying to take control, and we let God be God. The psalmist captures this the best in Psalm 51: 16-17:
The story is simple on the outset. The disciples, termed apostles for the first time here, have been on a missionary journey. They are worn out, exhausted, and are spent. So Jesus invites them into a time of retreat. Their missionary journeys must have been successful because upon arriving at their retreat spot, thousands of people came from the surrounding area to learn from these disciples who have been spreading the good news about this Jesus fellow.
Recognizing their tiredness, Jesus steps into teach the people. After what would have been an extended time of teaching, the disciples tell Jesus to send the people away so that they can get some food. And here is where the story gets interesting. Jesus could have turned the stones into bread, he could have made it rain spaghetti, but no he looks the disciples square in the eye and says, "You feed them".
It is not hard to imagine the disciples concern. They were the "B" team. These fisherman and tax collectors were not chosen to become Rabbis or other elite places in their society. They were the 'Not-good-enough's". So you can imagine panic coming across their face as they listen to Jesus' charge, "You feed them!" They must have been thinking, "We are not enough". And they were right. they couldn't feed these 5000 men plus their wives and children. They couldn't possibly provide for them as they needed to. It was out of genuine concern that they told Jesus to send them away in the first place. They really weren't enough.
And neither are we. We all have our comfort zones, and places of refuge. They are comfortable because they are predictable. Even though we know they are flawed and limited, still yet predictable. And where things and places are predictable, then we have some sense of control, albeit limited. But it is in those places where we truly and authentically know that we are not enough is where miracles happen. They do not happen in familiarity, but rather in dark places that have yet to be explored. They happen in people who look at Jesus and say, "Not me, let someone else do it" and "But Jesus I am not enough, I can;t do this."
Notice what Jesus does. He asks them what they have. He asks what they already have, even if isn't a lot. Sometimes, I think we try and impress God. We strive to show God how much we have and ask God to use it. But true surrender to God is demonstrated when we have nothing to give. When we are tired, worn out, scared, or all of the above. When we have nothing to give, is when God is ready to use us the most. Because then we are out of the way, we stop trying to take control, and we let God be God. The psalmist captures this the best in Psalm 51: 16-17:
"You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite Heart
you, O God, will not despise."
17
The best offering we can give, is our genuine nothingness. Our "I am not good enough" Because the hope of the Gospel is that we do not have to be enough, because Jesus Christ already is. And it is through power of the Holy Spirit that empowers and equips us to becomes enough.
Jesus takes their bread and fish, gives thanks to God for it, breaks it, and offers it to all who are willing to receive it. In the end 12 basket fulls of leftovers. Despite the numerical symbolism many of us may wish to read into it with some truth found in it. The point is simply that with Christ, our nothingness becomes more than enough to share the hope of the gospel with others and to worship the Triune God.
I can only imagine the disciples look as they see the baskets of leftovers. Their disbelief in themselves, I can imagine, was restored. They began to wonder not only about Jesus, but also about themselves. About their own true capacity to be used by the Spirit. The fear of leaving their safe and predictable places was quite apparent. But so where the baskets of leftovers.
Maybe if we, as the church, are able to leave behind our flawed and predictable places where we strive to hang on to whatever sense of control we think we have, that we may be able to see miracles even more than these.
Friday, September 21, 2012
A misunderstanding of Baptism as the demise of the Christian life
One of the highest joys in a pastor's life (at least my own) is to preside over a Baptism of an infant. Something about the vulnerability and helplessness of a baby captures the theological push behind Baptism, namely that we too must enter the water at the mercy of God ready to be shaped, molded, and oriented toward who God truly created us to be. And as we emerge, we emerge not as someone who has been given a new sword ready to take on all the evils of the world, but rather as an even larger open vessel beckoning God to work through us.
In Baptism we die to ourselves, and become resurrected with Christ in who we truly are. That is immersion is such a significant mode of Baptism because it embodies this theological framework in concrete actions. In the ancient church, prospective Christians were even naked upon entering the water and as they emerged clothed in a white garment which signified their new life in Christ which only made possible through the death of their old life.
This is such a key movement in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The sad part is, that we have often reduce it to sentimentality. We take pictures, get certificates, get candles,get a cake, say all the "official" words, and so forth. We often fail to discern the significance behind this sacrament. We often assume it is the Parent's working by "starting the child's life out right", but in fact, it is God's working. There isn't anything magical about the water or the words or the pastor, but through them all, God is at work in a powerful and unique way in the ritual. And anytime God works, it is neither insignificant or optional.
Then fast forward a generation when the baby has children of their own. The only memories often shared with them about their baptism is is what kind of cake they had to who was the pastor; nothing about how the sacrament initiated them into the body of Christ where they could be treasured and cared for by the community of faith. (That assumes that those wishing their child to be baptized have a church they attend weekly).
When we reduce such an important sacrament like Baptism to sentimentality, we reduce the very character of God. Nothing sentimental appears in Noah's ark out to see being tossed about for 40 days, nothing is sentimental about a young boy defeating a giant with a stone, nothing is sentimental about the 10 plagues God used to free the people from Egyptian slavery, nothing is sentimental about Jesus Christ dying on the cross and being resurrected, nothing is sentimental about the day of Pentecost when the Spirit moved and continues to move in amazing and awesome ways. If we can recapture the rawness and authenticity of what Baptism really is (dying to ourselves and rising anew in Christ), then we can begin to reclaim some sense of the Gospel, the good news of God in Jesus Christ.
In Baptism we die to ourselves, and become resurrected with Christ in who we truly are. That is immersion is such a significant mode of Baptism because it embodies this theological framework in concrete actions. In the ancient church, prospective Christians were even naked upon entering the water and as they emerged clothed in a white garment which signified their new life in Christ which only made possible through the death of their old life.
This is such a key movement in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The sad part is, that we have often reduce it to sentimentality. We take pictures, get certificates, get candles,get a cake, say all the "official" words, and so forth. We often fail to discern the significance behind this sacrament. We often assume it is the Parent's working by "starting the child's life out right", but in fact, it is God's working. There isn't anything magical about the water or the words or the pastor, but through them all, God is at work in a powerful and unique way in the ritual. And anytime God works, it is neither insignificant or optional.
Then fast forward a generation when the baby has children of their own. The only memories often shared with them about their baptism is is what kind of cake they had to who was the pastor; nothing about how the sacrament initiated them into the body of Christ where they could be treasured and cared for by the community of faith. (That assumes that those wishing their child to be baptized have a church they attend weekly).
When we reduce such an important sacrament like Baptism to sentimentality, we reduce the very character of God. Nothing sentimental appears in Noah's ark out to see being tossed about for 40 days, nothing is sentimental about a young boy defeating a giant with a stone, nothing is sentimental about the 10 plagues God used to free the people from Egyptian slavery, nothing is sentimental about Jesus Christ dying on the cross and being resurrected, nothing is sentimental about the day of Pentecost when the Spirit moved and continues to move in amazing and awesome ways. If we can recapture the rawness and authenticity of what Baptism really is (dying to ourselves and rising anew in Christ), then we can begin to reclaim some sense of the Gospel, the good news of God in Jesus Christ.
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