Thursday, October 31, 2013

October 31

Today is… the feast of St. Alphonsus Rodriguez.

Alphonsus was married at 26, but his wife died when he was 31. All 3 of his children also died within a few years and so at the age of 40 he became a Jesuit. His health was poor, so he was assigned to be the porter of the new Jesuit college at Majorca. For 46 years he answered the door, greeted visitors, delivered messages, ran errands and distributed alms to beggars at the door. What set him apart was that he said he imagined that whoever was on the other side of the door was Jesus. He became such a godly person that he developed a counseling ministry to students and citizens who would come to the door to talk with him. Eventually he was invited to preach in the college dining room. No one would leave, even if he spoke overlong, because the students were so drawn to his godly perspective and advice.

Tonight it's Halloween and kids are knocking on my door. Actually they're ringing the doorbell. But tonight is unusual. Most people don't knock on a door. They call my phone or send me an email or text me. Do I imagine that they are Jesus?

What affects my imagination? Am I inclined to be suspicious of people because that's how my parents taught me to interact with the world? Or am I cautious because I've been hurt by too many people? Do I groan inwardly when I see an email or voicemail from a particular person?

And what do I aspire to be? Even at this later stage in my life, I imagine myself doing big things, supposedly for God. But if I'm honest, I want to do these things for my own selfish reasons. I'm humbled by Alphonsus Rodriguez. He accepted his role as a porter and used the simple opportunity for greeting people at the door to spread the love of Jesus.

Ube caritas, Deus ibi est. Live in love, God will live in you.

Monday, August 5, 2013

walking on water

In Matthew 14:22-33 Jesus walks on water and stills a storm. We tend to focus on Jesus' spectacular feats and Peter's lack of faith. But God called my attention to a couple of other things today.

Jesus spent the night in prayer, listening to his Father. He walked on the water at the direction of his Father. And there were many other times when Jesus prayed and didn't walk on water. My friend Russ Ikeda says that the Christian journey is more about training than trying. Instead of trying to walk on water, I need to be learning to listen to my Father through a daily practice of prayer.

Jesus' words to the disciples in the boat show us that he was aware of their fear and that he spoke first to their fear before calming the storm. Listening to his Father cultivated compassion in Jesus. The miracle was in response to the disciples' fear. Am I becoming more compassionate toward those around me? What is more important to me, compassion or performance?

Friday, July 5, 2013

independence?

We just celebrated Independence Day. I saw an editorial cartoon that made fun of Americans' desire for independence while they were still dependent on the electric power grid for their televisions and other electronic gadgets. What is independence and why is it so valued in American society?

The Declaration of Independence is about independence from Great Britain, not personal independence. In fact, the founding fathers felt that the best citizens for their new country would be people who lived their lives in dependence on God and in interdependence with each other. Such people would have a strong moral compass and sense of civic duty.

So what's the place of personal independence? Does God want us to learn independence from him? Yes and no. The Psalmist speaks of becoming "like a weaned child" in Psalm 131:
1 My heart is not proud, Lord,
my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
or things too wonderful for me.
2 But I have calmed and quieted myself,
I am like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child I am content.
We find contentment with God when we are able to understand that he isn't there to satisfy our every whim and demand but that he still has our best interests, our growth and flourishing, at heart. And when we have this sort of relationship with God, we can relate in true interdependence with each other, living into the sort of community (oikos) that best expresses the redemptive purposes that he has for this world that he loves and for which he gave his Son.

Thursday, June 27, 2013

weapons

Paul tells us in 2 Cor 10 that the weapons God's work are not of this world. As part of the armor of God, Paul mentions prayer 4 times in just three verses in Eph 6:18-20. How can prayer be a spiritual weapon? And what other weapons do we have?

When we think of weapons we tend to think of destruction and violence in the name of righteousness. Some call this a belief in "redemptive violence". But taking down spiritual strongholds (2 Cor 10:4) cannot be done with violence. In fact, Paul is contrasting the ways of God with the ways of the world in both 2 Cor 10 and in Eph 6. In Eph 4 Paul tells us to get rid of anger and take on kindness and forgiveness. This is how we are to pray for people, no matter how corrupted the image of God in them has become.

It's hard to shake our belief in violence as a tool of redemption. We want to be on the winning side, and we assume that means that someone has to lose, that someone has to be subjugated. This is the message the world repeats to us through every medium possible, especially movies.

"The Lord of the Rings" has been described as the story of an anti-quest. Instead of fighting to acquire something the heroes are struggling to get rid of something. The counter-cultural nature of this story comes through in Tolkien's contrasting of Boromir and his father Denethor's belief in redemptive violence with the younger brother Faramir's belief in grace as the superior weapon of spiritual warfare. This comes through more clearly in the book than the movie.
(Denethor) "Ever your desire is to appear lordly and generous as a king of old, gracious, gentle. That may well befit one of a high race, if he sits in power and peace. But in desperate hours gentleness may be repaid with death."
"So be it," said Faramir.
The more desperate the situation, the more looming the defeat, the more tempted we are to turn to violence. Jesus showed us that death may be the ultimate weapon rather than the ultimate defeat. Sacrifice and service and prayer are the "weapons" of love, weapons that can bring down the strongholds that imprison the people that God loves and for which he sent his Son to die.

Thursday, June 13, 2013

reading

I was supposed to be working on a sermon. I picked up a book that I hadn't read for a while because I was thinking there might be something useful in it for my sermon. And then I just sat there reading. And then it was dinner time.

Why do I read? You could say that I enjoy the world of ideas. Or that I find it important to view the world from different angles. Or that I'm trying to get in touch with reality from the perspective of people who are a lot smarter than I am. These are all true to some extent.

But the book I was reading that day was Anne Lamott's "Plan B: further thoughts on faith." And the reason that I let myself get immersed in her writing that day was that I found her thoughts on faith comforting. Sometimes I read smart people because they are able to put the world together much better than I can, and that's comforting. Sometimes I read people who are amazing wordsmiths and it's comforting to know that someone out there can do amazing things like that.

And sometimes I read because the world seems really messed up and someone like Anne Lamott understands how messed up the world is and also finds humor in it, and she also finds God in it. She doesn't find God by unlocking the arcane complexities of the universe, utilizing several PhDs and a brilliant mind. She just notices that God is there and points him out to me. Sometimes her sense of God doesn't make a lot of theological sense. But God is real to her and walks with her wherever she is. God shows her what he is doing and also show her things to do. That kind of real-life God is the God that I want to know. The fact that she can tell me about that kind of God is comforting.

unfinished business

I just read a preview of Richard Stearns' new book, Unfinished. Here are some things that resonated with me.

First, when Jesus said that preaching the gospel to the whole world would presage the end of the current world, that's a good thing, not a bad thing. It naturally follows from Jesus' good news that he kingdom of God is at hand. So God's people should be joyful messengers (and not in a schadenfreude sort of way, either), instead of dour prophets of doom.

Second, the Church in the US has lost sight of the mission God gave us to carry this message. The result is that we have lost our sense of purpose. We have tried to substitute many things for the sense of identity and fulfillment that comes with pursuing the purpose for which God created the Church. Here are some subtitute pursuits that come to mind:
- Intellectual fulfillment in studying the Bible or knowing a lot about any other topic such as church leadership, Reformed or Dispensational theology, small group dynamics, marriage and parenting, etc.
- Emotional fulfillment in worship or community.
- Volitional fulfillment in committing oneself to any godly cause: fighting human trafficking, translating the Bible into new languages, etc.

The above are not bad pursuits in themselves, but they cannot replace the purpose/mission that God gave the Church to declare the good news and make disciples of Jesus. All of the other pursuits must be done under this overarching purpose or they become gods to us.

Third, Jesus calls us to be disciples, not deciders. He has not asked us to make a decision but to begin following him. Following Jesus means taking on his mission and doing it the way that he did it. He worked for three years with 12 men just to get them to the point that Richard Peace calls "conversion" (and one of them didn't make it). I can't think that becoming like Jesus will be accomplished by simply making a decision. And no amount of effort can hide the fact that I'm not there yet: I'm "unfinished". My consolation is this: "...he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6)

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

raising Grace

My friend Brian Woodson tells me, "I need other men to help me raise my boys." I've found that to be true with both my daughters and my son. And it's also true with a church.

I don't have all the resources within myself to develop Grace Community. That's OK: God has given us a wonderful denomination that has a "congregational vitality" department. The Veritas workshop (a church vitality assessment offered by our denomination) showed me that outside people are able to speak truth into our church community better than I can. The question is: am I going to be threatened by that or am I going to receive the help that they offer?

I need other leaders to help me raise Grace Community to become the church that God wants us to be. I don't want to become like the frazzled parents who try to be "super parents" and find that consulting experts is less effective and way more expensive than getting a little help from their community. We have a community of churches and church leaders that we belong to. I'm ready to get their help.

judging

Jesus didn't judge the Samaritan woman. But he did expose her brokenness and sinful past. How is that different from how many Christians respond to exposed sin? Let me rephrase that: how is that different from how I respond to exposed sin?

Contrast Jesus to the religious leaders in John 8. The leaders demanded that something be done, that a punishment be meted out. Jesus did not, either with the woman caught in adultery or with the Samaritan woman (in John 4 Jesus wasn't being pressured to exact a punishment). And the leaders' punishment involved hurting (killing, actually) the guilty person. Jesus responded to those seeking the punishment by forcing them to take responsibility for that hurt, not letting them hide behind righteous indignation.

The result in John 4 (and in John 8) was that the woman was drawn to Jesus, not repelled. The Samaritan woman then brought her whole village to Jesus. Notice her "testimony" didn't include a story of transformation. To be honest, its not much of a testimony in our current way of thinking. She's not even sure who Jesus is. But her testimony, such as it is, is honest and she is enthusiastic about talking about Jesus. Why the enthusiasm? She has found acceptance and a promise of living water, something no one else has offered to her.

Am I as enthusiastic about Jesus? Maybe I need to quit hiding behind my facade of transformation, embrace Jesus' forgiveness and drink more deeply of the living water. I need to quit trying to attract people to Steve, admit my brokenness, and tell people about Jesus because he has the living water.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

revival

This morning I was praying a prayer of presence: "Dear Jesus, I come to you today longing for your presence." It made me think, how much do I truly long for Jesus' presence?

At lunch yesterday I met with some pastors and a couple of them mentioned that they had a deep desire for revival. I haven't heard that term for a while. I've always associated it with outward phenomena such as big meetings, people weeping, dramatic manifestations of the work of the Holy Spirit. But today I realized that there's little difference between longing for Jesus' presence and desiring revival.

I suppose that my fixation on outward signs got in the way of my noticing the relationship to the inward signs. The outward signs of revival are accompanied by the inward signs of the work of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, etc. And who doesn't want those for themselves? But the work of the Spirit isn't just in individuals. What does it look like when God's people pray and God heals their land (2 Chron 7:14) and love, joy, and peace characterize a whole culture?

We don't usually associate Jesuits with the work of the Holy Spirit. But the prayer of presence I was praying comes from a Jesuit website. And I'm sure that it's that longing for Jesus' presence that motivates many Jesuits to work for love, joy, and peace in our world. Jesuits don't hold revival meetings. But they long for Jesus' presence in their lives and in our world. And so should I.

fighting evil

(I posted the thoughts below on Tuesday to Grace Announcements.)

Yesterday I was confronted with two kinds of evil. First, there was the horrendous news of the bombing in Boston. Then last night, I saw the insidious world of human trafficking exposed in the movie, "Not Today". My heart responded to both with the same question: what can I do?

Much of the damage and injury inflicted by the bombing were easily seen in the news footage and photos that have been coming out of Boston. People's lives were forever changed by losing loved ones or being physically harmed. And the movie helped to bring to light a world of suffering that could go unnoticed because of a lack of media attention. But the suffering is there and is affecting 23 million people in our world. We naturally want to do something to alleviate the suffering once it's brought to our attention.

The first responders in Boston were able to do something that at times could be recorded on video. Their actions were often heroic and life-saving. But what can the rest of us do? And the movie followed the fictionalized response of a college student who travels to India on a whim. But what if we're not in India?

As I'm writing this, construction workers are making a racket as they repair the church buildings. Earlier today, we started our staff meeting as usual with a time of contemplative prayer and reflection on God's Word. But our time of prayer was punctuated by the whine of power saws and sanders. It seemed an apt metaphor to me for the times that we live in: we are trying to do "God's work" but it keeps butting up against the chaos of the world we live in.

Christians are called to live in the chaotic place between God's kingdom and the current kingdom of this world. The places that need God's grace the most are the ones that are the most annoying, bothersome or even dangerous because they are so broken. But those are the places where we, as messengers of grace, are most needed. What are we supposed to do there?

We are enamored of heroic, life-saving actions and may even secretly envy those who are applauded for such actions, partly because they get to actually DO something. But most of us are called to do things that may never get the limelight.

When we were in Thailand, Joe told us that there are three ways to fight human trafficking. The work that ZOE does is mostly the rehabilitation of kids that have been rescued out of trafficking. It's courageous work that requires perseverance but it's not as glamorous as the intervention work done by the rescue teams that actually pluck kids out of trafficking situations. Still, there are the rewards of seeing a child who was brainwashed by traffickers begin to live in freedom and joy, in the knowledge that s/he is loved unconditionally.

But the work that receives the least acknowledgement is the work of prevention. This is the work that Bob Shim is directly involved in as he serves with the Sustainable Development Research Foundation. By raising the standard of living in villages that have relied on subsistence farming, people are brought out of desperate poverty and are less likely to listen to the lies of traffickers who tell them that their child will have a better life if the parent gives the child to the trafficker. This preventive work is hard. It can mean years of trying to figure out how to get a whole village to change its ways of farming, ways that have been handed down generation to generation for centuries. And those years are often frustrating and unheralded.

And that is the kind of work that most of us are called to do. We are not "first responders" to crisis but prevention workers who are called to fight covert and everyday evil. We are called to live lives that counter the gospel of wealth, or achievement, or education, or anything else that offers salvation without God. Our work is the daily grind of living out the life of God's kingdom in this world, without appreciation or even with opposition as we try to figure out ways to bring the needed message and live our own lives amid the chaos, lives that may be chaotic enough with all the pressures of school and work and extended family, not to mention life in the church community.

So what can we do? We can ground ourselves in God's Word and live in the Spirit. We can live as though people are more important than things. We can greet everyone we meet with peace. We can talk to God about people and then take the opportunities he gives us to talk to people about God. We can look for the ways that God is active around us and then cooperate with that work. It may not be the flashiest or most photogenic work. It may be mundane and unrecognized work. But if we are following Christ then that work is good enough because it is what God has given us to do.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

lessons from Thailand

I was in Thailand on a mission/vision trip from Mar 22-Apr 2. I got to share the experience with my oldest daughter. It's impossible to sum the trip up briefly, but here are three things that stick in my heart:

1. "I am not in a hurry". The team learned "The Pilgrim's Creed" together: "I am not in a hurry. I am not in control. I will take only what God gives me. I will greet everyone I meet with peace." On the way to Chiang Mai we had a 45 minute layover in Seoul, during which we had to go from one terminal to another, including the security check. Needless to say, we had to move fast. On the plane, I read this:
Hurry is an inner condition that is fear-based... If I have only ten minutes to get from one end of the airport to another, I can move quickly without hurrying…when I walk in step with God I learn to say, "If I don't make that plane I'll be fine. God is with me. Things will work out. Meanwhile, I'll move my legs as fast as I can…"
As we learned to walk in step with God, we were often tempted to hurry or to take control. But the Pilgrim's Creed made us more aware of how God was orchestrating things.

2. What can we offer kids in villages in Thailand? We brought a large suitcase full of arts and crafts. We found that Thai kids like Rice Krispies treats (made with coconut oil instead of butter) but weren't so taken with finger Jello ("It's pretty good if I don't have to eat much of it." They're very polite.) But the most important thing we brought was love and attention and a sense of hope for a future beyond subsistence farming. We were the first group to include teens, members who were close in age to the kids we worked with. And we were the first group to spend entire days with them, even eating lunches with them and lunch and dinner on our final day. As a result, this was the first time that the Thai kids cried when they had to say good-bye… and we were crying, too.

3. God uses faithfulness in small things. A missionary family's life can be very ordinary. We spent time with three missionary families in Chiang Mai that Grace Community supports. A frequent topic of conversation was where to buy groceries. Yet the work that these missionaries are doing is life-changing for so many. And that reminded me that back here in the US, it's the same. God wants to change lives around us, yet he wants us to be faithful in the everyday stuff. A lot of life is about things like where to buy groceries. But that doesn't mean that there aren't greater purposes for why God has us living where we do. Treating a grocery clerk with respect can be as important as leading a Bible study.

At the same time, there are unique challenges faced by missionary families. The transitoriness is hard. Missionaries' kids (MKs) have to say good-bye too often, especially when they're on "home assignment" (and they often don't feel that the US is "home"). And the missionaries themselves feel pressure to have "successful" ministries on the field, just as Christians in the US want to participate in a "successful" church. And "success" is often interpreted to mean "big". The transitoriness and pressure can lead to a sense of isolation. So missionaries need emotional support just as much as Christians in the US. One suggestion we heard was to send out a missionary's best friend for a week: a small thing that supporting churches can do to provide emotional support on the field.

Even if you don't go to Thailand, God is active where you are. May we be able to see what God is doing in our own neighborhoods and may he give us the grace to cooperate with him.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

learning to pray

It's really hard to teach kids to pick up after themselves: keeping their rooms clean, making their beds, attending to their laundry, etc. As a parent, I go back and forth between wanting them to learn the gratification and practical efficiency of having a neat room and getting them to learn that there are consequences to their actions, i.e., if they don't pick up after themselves, they'll have to live in a a messy room. The problem with the former is that I don't like having my efforts to keep the house in a livable condition are taken for granted. The problem with the latter is that they're pretty good at not caring if their room is neat or not. And so it continues.

It's also hard to find time to pray. I know I should pray for my kids, but I find that I often rush through my prayer times just mutter some general "bless the kids" kinds of prayers.

So today I put the two together and learned something about the "quotidian" (everyday) mysteries of prayer. As I was straightening up the kids' rooms it dawned on me that I could pray for them at the same time. I prayed over their beds, that they would feel secure and loved. I prayed while putting picking up their clothes that God would provide for their needs and more. I prayed over their desks that they would apply themselves to the schoolwork while learning that building character is more important than top grades. I even decided to fold some laundry and use that as an opportunity to pray. I considered each article of clothing and what it might mean to my daughter and then prayed that she would know that she is beautiful to me and to God and that she would be secure in that knowledge and confident in facing the challenges that life throws her way at this formative period of her life.

My prayers gave me joy and gratitude for my family. I'm still basking in it. Who knew that chores could be a thin place between this world and the heavenlies, a window to help me better glimpse the kingdom of God or even a doorway into God's presence: "In your presence there is fulness of joy."

But I still hate it when the kids don't realize the effort I put into keeping the house in order. I guess more prayer is needed, both for them and for me.

Saturday, January 26, 2013

God intervenes

How does God intervene in our lives? When we think of intervention we usually think of somethng dramatic, sudden and forceful. But God's intervention is sometimes gentle and gradual. Is 42:3 says "a bruised reed he will not break". We cannot always bear sudden and forceful interventions because it would be too much for either our minds or our character. We often do better with something new growing slowly, gradually taking root in our lives. Jesus said the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed or like leaven. That is God's grace giving us what we can handle.

As I look back and consider what I am thankful for, I'm realizing that I may overlook ways that God has intervened that have unfolded slowly. In fact, I may have previously thought that I deserved the credit for these things because of my perseverance. Some of these things have happened so gently and gradually that I have just grew accustomed to them without realizing that it was God's work. I am now realizing that the credit goes to God, that it was his grace and his presence all along.

...it is the gift of God, not by works so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:9