God and your calendar

Is God in your calendar?

Think back on a typical day: when did you set aside time for God?  Does he show up if you were to search your calendar?  Of course, we don’t normally enter daily routine items, like waking up, brushing our teeth, etc.  But until our time with God becomes as routine as brushing our teeth, maybe we do need to enter it so that our computer or smartphone or smartwatch can remind us to spend time with him.  

Many Christian groups through the years have ordered their day with times of prayer.  Matins or Lauds is the prayer time that starts the day.  Vespers closes the day.  These are some of the divine “offices”, which comes from the Latin word opus or “work”.  These times of prayer would help people to take time in their day to pay attention to God.  They are just as important as the work of farming or engineering because they help us see the meaning of what we are doing.  They help us become aware of how we fit into God’s purposes in the world. 

These times of prayer aren't supposed to be a spiritual checklist of tasks to be accomplished to get on God’s good side: “Morning prayer, check.  Evening prayer, check."  We are saved by grace, “not by works so that no one can boast” (Eph 2:8-9).  But they help us to grow as children of God, first by reminding us that we are God’s children, and then by creating space for us to be with our Father.  They help us live into the truth of our relationship with God.

So this coming year, put God in your calendar.  Believe me, he won't stand you up.

Love all

Before Thanksgiving a group of department stores ran an ad saying that, "the four-letter word that defines the season is L-O-V-E and not S-A-L-E".  They slipped in a message that they have everyday low prices, but I appreciate the fact that they purposely closed their stores on Thanksgiving Day instead of following the recent trend to start "Black Friday" sales on Thursday.

The Advent Conspiracy theme for the final Sunday of Advent is "love all".  Of course we love our families.  But instead of buying expensive gifts to prove our love, we are being challenged to show our love to those who are in need throughout the world.  I may not consider myself to be wealthy, but being a part of the middle class in the US means I have much more in material possessions than I need.  According to the Wall Street Journal online (Oct 13, 2015), one of the fastest growing industries in the US is self-storage: Americans have too much stuff.  I may think of myself as one of “the 99 percent” but If I have 2 cars, I am part of the "1 percent" relative to the rest of the world (93 percent of the world doesn’t own a car).

So it makes sense for Christians in the US to help alleviate poverty.  Richard Stearns (the president of World Vision) points out that the total income of American churchgoers is $5.2 trillion.  Imagine what a tithe of that income could do!  In fact, just a little over 1 percent of that could alleviate extreme poverty worldwide.  The problem is that most American Christians don’t consider extreme poverty in the rest of the world to be our problem.  Giving by the American Church is down to about 2 percent, down from 3.3 percent in 1933… the height of the Great Depression.  And most of that giving is spent on ourselves.  Only 2 percent of the 2 percent is spent on the rest of the world.  Giving in general and giving to global efforts especially is counter-cultural.  The Advent Conspiracy is calling us to be counter-cultural.

But going counter-cultural has a cost.  The stores probably lost some money.  And I will have to invest some time to find some good organizations for my giving.  Some family members may be miffed that they didn’t get the expensive trinket they had put on their Christmas list. But let Santa worry about Christmas lists.  God’s call to the Church is to “love all”: "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:40)

Good news

This Sunday is the "joy" Sunday of Advent.  The angels told the shepherds that they had "good news of great joy".  Good is relative.  Do we think the angels’ news was good?  And joy is relative, too.  How much joy we experience depends on how good we think the news is.  

In Rom 10:15 says, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news."  But what is good news?  A messenger's feet aren't generally thought of as beautiful, so their beauty really depends on how good we think the news is.  

What makes something good news to you?  Which of these links would you click to find out more: "Delicious holiday recipes", "Stay fit into your 70s", "Best bargains for your house", "Guaranteed career satisfaction."  How about "Tips on how to pray” or “Getting closer to God”?

In Rom 10 Paul also quotes Isaiah’s complaint, "Who has believed our message?" (Isaiah 53:1)  By the time Isaiah wrote this he was pretty frustrated.  He had answered God's call in Isaiah 6, but no one wanted to listen.  (God warned him about this in Isaiah 6:9-10.)  Apparently, the good news wasn't so good to the people that most needed to hear it.

Paul tells us the good news in Rom 10:13, "Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."  But that's not good news to those who don't think they need to be saved.  There are a lot of other things that we turn to for security, for belonging, for a sense of worth: money, possessions, abilities, knowledge, appearances, whatever.  When we feel stressed or worried it’s not our tendency to “call on the name of the Lord”.  And so true joy is in short supply these days.

"Who has believed our message?”  Good question.

Peace on earth

How do you change a society's consciousness about race?  That was the topic of conversation around our dinner table last night.

My kids offered various methods for changing the dominant social perception of young black men like Laquan MacDonald, who was shot 16 times in the back as he walked away from Chicago police officers.  The police officer who shot him said that he feared for his life.  Why is a young black man perceived as a threat?  To put the question a different way, why aren't all young white men who look like Dylan Roof suspected of being mass murderers capable of killing nine people at a prayer meeting?

I don't have any easy solutions to this problem and no one that I know is offering one.  But it's obvious that American society needs to put in whatever effort is needed to work on the problem.  I commend my fellow Covenant pastors, including Michelle Dodson, Shaun Robinson and Phil Jackson, who addressed over 200 people this past Monday on a rainy night in Chicago to call for justice and understanding.  (You can read about the prayer rally here).

Advent is about social justice.  Virtually all of the prophecies regarding the Messiah look forward to a just society where wrongs are righted.  Mary's song, the Magnificat that we said together this past Sunday, says that God "lifts up the humble" and "fills the hungry with good things."  Jesus declared to a packed synagogue that his mission was "to proclaim good news to the poor... to proclaim freedom for the prisoners... to set the oppressed free" (Luke 4:18).

Advent candles and calendars are appropriate for this season, but can draw too much attention to themselves rather than helping us to glimpse the greater glory of the Kingdom of God that Jesus brings.  He is the Prince of Peace, not merely for me as an individual, but for this world.  "Shalom" means that all relationships are made right again, including between leaders and the governed.  Let's declare ever more boldly and insistently, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace."

look

Jeremiah 6:16a tells us,
This is what the Lord says:
“Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls.

What does it mean to look at something?

To look at any thing,
If you would know that thing,
You must look at it long:
To look at this green and say,
“I have seen spring in these
Woods,” will not do – you must
Be the thing you see:
You must be the dark snakes of
Stems and ferny plumes of leaves,
You must enter in
To the small silences between
The leaves,
You must take your time
And touch the very peace
They issue from.
http://armedwithvisions.com/2011/11/30/john-moffitt-to-look-at-anything/

When we take the time to truly look, then we will likely be startled or awestruck. Why? Because then we will be able to see what God is doing. God is always active (John 5:17 “My Father is always at his work”), he is always going about the work of redemption, of re-creating the world. This is the dimension beyond the world that we live in, the dimension that we can see if, for a few moments, we can quit being preoccupied with our own busy-ness and notice God’s activity.

"See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland." (Isaiah 43:19)

fan v nerd v hipster

I recently came across a definition of the difference between a nerd and a hipster that goes something like this: a nerd is someone who loves something and wants everyone else to love it (whether or not the other person has shown any interest in it whatsoever) while a hipster is someone who loves something and then decides that only s/he and a few good friends are allowed to like it and resents everyone else who says they like it.

A few years ago the book "Not a fan" came out. I don't exactly remember the definition of a fan from that book, but I suppose I could contrast fan to nerd to hipster. And then I could apply all of this to being a Christ follower. And so the question is: am I a fan of Jesus, or a nerd for Jesus, or a hipster for Jesus?

The negative vibe of "Not a fan" automatically excludes "fan of Jesus" as a viable response for anyone who says that they take being a Christian seriously. But there are problems with both being a nerd or a hipster for Jesus. Hipster is obviously a cooler reference. But it's exclusionary. And Jesus was not exclusionary. He went out of his way to seek out the marginalized and to challenge those who thought they were already "in" with God and others, people of both religious and social status. There's a big contrast between the depiction of heaven in popular culture and the word picture John draws in Rev 21. There's not just one pearly gate that's closed only to those who can get by St. Peter. As the hymn "For all the saints" says, "Through gates of pearl stream in the countless host." And there are 12 gates that are wide open to the countless hosts. As Jesus said, blessed are the poor in spirit.

And that's the problem with being a nerd. A nerd is someone who is socially awkward and unaccepted. The term brings back lots of forgettable memories of high school caste struggles. Nerd is the opposite of cool. Nerds are poor in spirit, people of low self-esteem. They are meek by definition. But Jesus said that the meek will inherit the earth and that the Kingdom of God belongs to the poor in spirit. And the fact that nerds love one thing so much reminds me of what Jesus said about the pure in heart. Kierkegaard wrote a book called “Purity of heart is to will one thing.” Nerds can see God.

Nerds love something enough to want others to love it too. Do I love Jesus and his kingdom enough to tell others the gospel, that the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe the good news? Am I willing to spread that good news even if it means that others think I'm not cool? Nerds become immersed in a different world and then want others to join them, including the fans and the hipsters. Because God loves fans and hipsters, too.

between

The seasons of the Christian year follow the life of Christ. So it's easy to focus on the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus. These are certainly highlights, but they lose their power if I fail to observe the daily journey of seasons of preparation such as Advent and Lent and Holy Week or the seasons of Easter or following Pentecost when there is daily living in the truths of the living presence of Christ and of the Holy Spirit. Christmas and Easter are the tip of the iceberg of Christian experience and fullness of life. Some Christians look down on those who only go to worship on Christmas and Easter. But Do I fully understand how my Christian life, i.e., the life of Christ within me, can't be fully formed unless I seek out the riches of life between the highlights? If I'm truthful with myself, I realize that the glare of those celebrations often keeps me from seeing the necessity of what's in between them.

The daily journey is given shape by the highlights, but one is not more important than the other. There are those who look down on celebration as being too extravagant. I suppose they are like the older brother who refuses to join the party the father is giving. But that's not me. I readily admit that celebrations are important. In God's presence is fullness of joy. On the other hand, living only for the big celebrations can cause me to overlook the daily mysteries God has for me. I'm reminded of Annie Dillard's description of the amazing depths that she found in small wonders during her time as a "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek". These are the graces that normally feed me and from which most of my growth is intended to come. I'll grow fat and unhealthy if I eat only banquet food.

The highlight events themselves become more deeply meaningful through my experience of the daily journey. I can better understand what it means for Jesus to be God Incarnate if I more fully experience my own incarnation, the intertwining of my body and spirit. My own suffering and triumphs help me realize how much more Jesus took on himself and how much greater his victory was on Easter. If I don't see Christmas and Good Friday and Easter through the lens of my daily journey, they become facades, a spiritual Disneyland of contrived worship experiences that cynics could easily dismiss and which well-meaning Christians may come to find empty after the decorations are put away.

Or putting away the decorations can be a way to continue my dialog with God. What is God saying to me through this activity? And then, what is God saying to me in the daily journey lived outside the glare of celebration? And eventually I come again to asking, what is God saying to me through the activity of preparation for celebration? God doesn't speak only in times of celebration. He is speaking all the time in his still, small voice, and his transforming power is at work in the daily journey, perhaps especially then. Today is Holy Saturday. It's a day between. But it's not a day without grace if I will take the effort to attend to God's work on this day, too.