iHOPE

Sabbath Rest: Part 3

  There seems to be two schools of thought about what it means to be 'good' and nowhere are they more distinct than when it comes to observing the Sabbath.

  In Jesus' day, the Sabbath was a BIG thing.  There were laws and codes that pertained to every aspect of what was- and wasn't, permitted on the Sabbath.  One of the reasons Jesus was in such sharp conflict with the religious authorities of the day was because he consistently 'violates' the Sabbath by healing people on that day.

  One school of thought defines being 'good' by all the things you are to avoid. You are 'good' when you don't do anything 'bad'. If you avoided breaking any of the laws and regulations concerning the sabbath, you were 'good.'  That is one school of thought and it is still true today that the child who stays out of trouble and is quiet in class is considered a 'good student.'

  Jesus seemed to have another version of what the Sabbath was all about.  For him, the purpose of 'resting' was not a command to do nothing, but to eliminate the lesser, more urgent things that occupy our days, so that we could attend to the higher work of God. This included mercy, compassion and love.There is never a time to abstain from these things, for these reflect the very heart of God.  In fact the purpose of the sabbath was to reorient ourselves to what was important to God so we could be mindful of those things throughout the rest of the week.

  For Jesus, the sabbath was created to highlight and encourage the things that make us human. Its a day to call us away from  the activities that make us merely 'human doings' and remind us that we are 'human beings.'

 

Sabbath Rest: Part 2

  I've been thinking about the Sabbath and how to 'keep it holy'. In his book, The Dangerous Act of Worship, Mark Labberton describes the purpose of the Sabbath:

Every seven days they (the people of Israel) were to rest.  God's call for Israel to practice sabbath living was given so they would never be more than six days away from laying down the implements and practices of their own productivity in order to acknowledge that human life was set within a limited boundary of time, place and responsibility. The sabbath practice was meant  to be an exercise of human freedom and liberty. 
  Acknowledging these boundaries sets us free to be human. The message is this: prepare for the sabbath; go to sleep and wake up knowing that your life and the world do not belong to you or depend on you; worship God, and remember with his people the One who made you and the world, and called you his own; don't work; don't rely on your provision; then live this out today and every day of the week..."

 In other words, setting aside one day of the week is a way of acknowledging your own limits as a human and declaring your dependence (and freedom) is on God.  The common tendency is to think that if we just worked a little harder or a little smarter or if we just had a little more time, we could accomplish what we want to. The truth is, we could work harder, smarter and have an extra day of the week, but we still won't accomplish what all that we want.

  If we make the command to 'keep the Sabbath holy' nothing more than a list of things we can or can't do, we have missed the point.  That is what the Pharisees did (and you know what Jesus had to say about them!). The point of the Sabbath was to release us from the tyranny of always having to do more so that we can find our rest in what God has already done and prepare for what God is yet to do. If we do that, the sabbath doesn't become the exception to the rest of the week, but a preparation for it.

Sabbath Rest: Part 1

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.

  (Exodus 20:8)

  How do you keep the Sabbath?  Other than "You shall have no other gods before me", keeping the Sabbath holy may be the most violated of the 10 commandments (and there is a connection).

   In our Bible Study on Thursday, the subject came up again and we compared how we 'kept the Sabbath' when we were growing up. Some of the things we heard were:

• Sunday was a day for family. We couldn't go out and play with friends that day.
• No working on Sunday
• Sunday is for church and religious education.
• No shopping on Sunday.

  Some of us remembered the controversies when stores began to be open and movies theaters were allowed to do business on Sundays. Some of the restrictions were  very confining and no one expressed a desire to go back to the 'good old days' when there were rigid rules and laws that governed what you could- and couldn't, do on Sunday.

  Is the concept of Sabbath outmoded and frumpy?  Is there a way to keep the Sabbath 'holy' without making it 'horrible'?    How do you keep the Sabbath?

G.K. Chesterton- prayer

Here dies another day
During which I have had eyes, ears, hands
And the great world around me;
And with tomorrow begins another.
Why am I allowed two?

G.K. Chesterton is imminently quotable and I especially like this one as we approach the end of another year.  I think the inventory he makes at the end of each day is a pretty good one for the end of each year. 

I know it is traditional to make New Year's resolutions and that can be a helpful exercise. Before we make plans for the coming year though, I suggest an inventory of the past twelve months. What have you done with what you have been given? What have you done that you would want to:

• Continue?
• Extend?
• Curtail?
• Amend?

Of course one reason we don't like doing these inventories is because we don't want to see the results. We are afraid that we will come up short in the 'plus' column and long on the 'minus' side.

What have we done with the gifts, talents and resources in the past year?  Why should we get another?

I'm less likely to ask that question if I don't think I'll like the answer. Fortunately, God doesn't ask us to justify our existence in order to grant us another year. We are given another day regardless of whether we earned it or not. That's Grace.

Our lives- and all the days assigned to them, are gifts from God. What we do with them is our gift to God. The above inventory is one way to make sure the gift you give back to God in 2008 is a better reflection of the gift He is giving you.

'Persecuted Christians'

  Like everyone else, I am stunned by the violence at the YWAM (Youth With a Mission) headquarters and the New Life Church. The pain of the families involved as well as the organizations must be staggering. For the New Life Church, this must be an especially critical time.  Not only were they drug through the scandal and departure of their founding pastor earlier this year, now they have experienced violence and death of their own members on their own campus, coming out of worship. It is hard to imagine anything more devastating.

  Words of solace and comfort have been coming from many different church leaders around the country. I wish some of them would have stopped with those words.  Unfortunately, some have tried to link this tragedy to their own political agendas.  After expressing their grief and offering comfort, at least one prominent leader went on to suggest a link between this violence and the increasing persecution of Christians in America.

  I guess the polite thing would be to just quietly nod my head and attribute the statements to the effects of grief or being overly zealous in their commitment to the cause of Christ. I guess I am not feeling polite lately.

  First, the shootings didn't have so much to do with any persecution of Christians or anti-Christian sentiment so much as an obviously mentally unstable young man who was overwhelmed by his own darkness. This isn't about someone being anti-Christian any more than the Columbine shootings were about being anti-education.  To suggest otherwise is misleading- at best.

  Second, such a statement cheapens the suffering of those who really are suffering for their faith.  There are places in this world where to claim to be a Christian is to risk oppression, torture and death. The genocide in the Sudan has been particularly targeted to Christians.  The story last Sunday on 60 Minutes highlighted the suffering and persecution of the Christians in Iraq. Missionaries around the world faithfully go into countries and regions that are hostile to Christianity.  The South Koreans kidnapped and murdered in Afghanistan last year are only the latest example of the sacrifice that people make for Christ and the Gospel.

  I know some people are bothered by the general trends of our culture away from its traditional  and historic connections to the Christian faith. I'm bothered by some of those things, too.  However, to use this tragedy to suggest a growing anti-Christian sentiment in America  uses personal grief to further a political viewpoint and makes a mockery of those who really are living faithfully in conditions that truly are anti-Christian.

  I grieve for the families who are grieving their loss in this senseless violence.  I also grieve and pray for those people around the world who are oppressed and killed for their faith in Christ. Unfortunately, this week it seems necessary to remember that there is real a difference between the two. 

The Golden Compass: Part 2

  Last week I talked about some of the controversy surrounding the movie, The Golden Compass. I read the books (it is part of a trilogy titled, His Dark Materials) and gave my opinions (see below) about whether folks should read them or not. Since then, I have seen the film. As expected, the anti-Christian themes (which are mostly saved for books 2 & 3) have been softened to general swipes at Religious Totalitarianism.

  Should Christians be concerned about this movie and these books?  Yes- but probably not for the reasons people are talking about. Christianity isn't the the most logical thing to believe (one of the reasons that Faith is necessary) and there will always be those who can't and won't believe it.  That is no surprise. It was that way in the 1st century just like it is true in the 21st century. It is not even surprising (or new) that people who don't share our beliefs write books, plays, songs and movies that express their own beliefs. When people articulate those beliefs, I don't think it threatens the Church, it reminds us why we are here in the first place.

  So I am not bothered so much by The Golden Compass and the world view it espouses. What does bother me is the portrayal of The Church as a soul-killing, manipulative and mind-controlling institution, and the fact that no one challenges that portrayal.  Indeed, most folks seem to be willing to associate that stereotype with The Church and the people in it.

  How did it come to be that the followers of the One who proclaimed he had come to bring abundant life, are now unquestioningly linked to those who suppress joy and suffocate life? How is it that Christians are scandalized by the fact that someone who doesn't believe in God wrote a movie reflecting those beliefs, and not scandalized by the fact that our collective behavior has made it acceptable to associate Christians with intolerance, oppression and hatred?

  Now I don't accept that portrayal of Christians and i hope you don't, either.  It certainly doesn't reflect my experience. But the point is that somehow it is close enough to a large group of people's experience so that such a portrayal seems reasonable and realistic. If that is the case, then it really doesn't matter what we say we believe about God. The existence of a God who produces such a people is irrelevant if not unwelcome.

  His Dark Materials should be offensive to Christians, but we are offended by the wrong things.  We shouldn't be offended that someone has imagined a world where there is no God and the god who is there is eventually killed. What should offend us is that the followers of Jesus in this world have lived in such a way that many people actually prefer a world where there is no God.

  The Golden Compass doesn't threaten my faith, it challenges it. See the movie or don't see the movie; it doesn't really matter. What matters is that we have a lot of work to do. But then, isn't that why we are here?

The Cost of Hope

"To hope is to risk frustration.  Therefore, make up your mind to risk frustration."    - Thomas Merton

  Christmas is a season that celebrates hope in the midst of darkness. Yet hope has a price. Unlike most made-for-TV movies, problems are not satisfied within 90 minutes. Sometimes hope has to hang on for months, years and decades. In the Bible, people cling to hope for hundreds of years.

  That is a long time to feel frustrated and foolish. Giving up would make sense.  So would despair. 

  The cost of hope is high, but it is a price worth paying. Biblical hope is grounded in the reality of what God has done and is yet to do. Because God has already defeated sin, sickness and death, hope is far more than mere wishful thinking in Sunday clothes.  Hope is the cord that connects us to a world that is Real.  It is this old world, with all its brokenness and pain that will one day fade away.The one to come- God's new world, is the one that will last forever.

  Hope is hard.  It also keeps us grounded in the reality of what God is yet to do. Hope has a price.  It is a price worth paying.

   

Wounded Healers

  The late Henri Nouwen wrote a book that has been very helpful to anyone in ministry.  It is titled, The Wounded Healer.  It is based on an old Jewish parable that poses the question, 'How will we recognize the messiah when he comes?'

  The answer given to the questioner is to go to the city gates where all the poor, sick and wounded gather.  Look for the one who doesn't unbind and tend to his wounds all at once.  Look for the one who only unbinds the dressing and tends to his wounds one at at time so that he can be ready to assist others. 'That', we are told, 'is the Messiah.'

  I thought of the 'wounded healers' in our midst.  We have a special group of people called GriefShare. Their ministry is to come alongside and support people in their time of grief and loss. They provide a weekly support group, sponsored the recent 'Grief In The Holidays' workshop and this year they are helping sponsor the "Blue Christmas" service on December 23. The ministry they do is profound.

  Who are these people?  Are they people who have advanced degrees in counseling or grief?  Do they do this for a living?  Nope.

  There are all kinds of educational and levels of experience and training  among the group.  The one thing they have in common is the experience of grief and loss in their own life. They have 'been there' and 'done that'- and they want to help others who find themselves in that same place.  They are 'wounded healers' who tend to their own wounds in such a way that they are available to help others when needed. As they do, they represent the One who came to,

'Preach good news to the poor...proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed and proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Luke 4:18-19)

  Most of our lives is spent avoiding the places where we have failed or been wounded.  Isn't it just like God to use the places where we have been weak and broken and use them to become a source of strength?

Weeping & Rejoicing

  Last Sunday was one of those days when my heart was breaking and it was singing at the same time.

  We got the news that Travis had passed away in between services. During the services we also announced that another Travis, an eight-year old boy who has been on our prayer list, also died. Ironically, both died of brain tumors.

  It is hard to explain the heaviness that falls on a congregation when they hear about a tragedy like that. When it is doubled and both cases seem so senseless and cruel, it almost becomes overwhelming. More than a few people reached for the tissues in the pews.

  Yet in the very same service, there was laughter and celebration.  Several of our children in Pioneer Club came up and recited some of the verses they memorized as party of 'Memory Mountain.'  The youngest was four!

  A plaque showed up at the Welcome Center celebrating the dedication of a new Habitat for Humanity house the day before. The single mom and her son who were going to live in that house were pictured on the plaque.

  We heard about the 3rd Annual Turkey Rock Trot, launched and sponsored by New Hope.  It is a 5K family 'fun run' that takes place on Thanksgiving Day. Last year, more than 700 participants helped raise more than $11,000 for the Douglas/Elbert Task Force. The line to register for this year was long.

   People have been responding to our 'Make God Smile' challenge. The basket was full of the stories of how individuals, couples, families and Home Groups have used what they were given and the results have been nothing short of astounding (we'll get to hear more on this Sunday). 

  I remember walking out into the parking lot after services and wondering, 'How do days like this exist? How is it that we experience incredible tragedy and joyous celebration all on the same day?" My next thought was, "This is the Church." We 'weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice.'  Even our weeping is a sign that God is up to something.  No one has to stand alone in the family of God.

  This is a wonderful venture that we have been called to- this thing called 'Church', and it is at the top of my list of things for which I give thanks this year.

All Saints Day

  A good friend reminded me that today is All Saints Day.  It is not a day that most of us on the Protestant side of the Table celebrate.  Historically that is due in part to the fact that it is something those who are from the Catholic side of the Table did regularly (and in the strange logic of division, "If they are doing it, it must be wrong!")

  While not widely celebrated, we Presbyterians do have All Saints Day on our calendar- and that is a good thing.  It is a day to remember and be grateful for all those who have come before us.  None of us got here by ourselves. All of us had people who encouraged, strengthened, sponsored and demonstrated the love God in our lives.  Some did so at a distance (i.e., Mother Teresa, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Albert Schweitzer, etc.) and some at a much more personal level. We are who we are in large part because of them- and that is worth remembering.

  If you are looking for a way to infuse a large dose of gratitude in your life, try remembering and celebrating all the people who have had a hand in leading you to faith in Christ as well as those who have helped strengthen, support and encourage you in your walk with Christ.  Between now and Sunday (when we will celebrate All Saints Day around the Communion Table) is an ideal time to work on this.

  It is also a good time to recall that the second part of All saints day is a reminder that our life affects others, too. It is a time to reflect on the legacy of faith that we are leaving not only with our children and grandchildren, but with everyone we contact.  There are likely generations of believers that are still to come and will recall and celebrate the legacy of faithfulness that we have left for them- and that is worth remembering, too.