Oh No, It’s “Oh Ho the Mistletoe”

Last Sunday, on our way to church, one of the local Christian radio stations was playing the Burl Ives song, “Holly Jolly Christmas.” I must confess that hearing that song only three days after Thanksgiving Day was a little disconcerting. Hearing it on the way to church put me in a rather foul mood entering worship. Hearing it on the Christian radio station, well . . . enough said. Then, when we entered worship the first song the praise team played was “O come all ye faithful.” I must admit that my Anglican sensibilities were offended.  What ever happened to Advent, the time of preparation for the coming of the Messiah?

The past two years we have endured so much political commentary and musing that by the time the election came around, we were just worn out and disinterested in the whole affair. We grew tired of all of the posturing and name calling and opinions of people who really had no idea what was going on. We had election fatigue.

In today’s consumer society, we tend to get seasonal fatigue because the Christmas season begins after Halloween or sooner and not Thanksgiving as it used to be not too long ago. By playing Christmas music, viewing Christmas ads, and seeing Christmas displays everywhere we turn, we seem to get sick and tired of the whole season long before Christmas day comes. We are robbed of our Christmas joy by retailers who want to rob us of our hard earned dollars by having Black Friday deals continue for three weeks. The new Christmas theme is "more is better." Instead of not participating, we endure it all for the sake of the kids and try to pretend it does not affect us. Well, ask yourself, how is this long Christmas season working out for you? If we are all honest, we would admit that while we don’t like to admit it, it has caused us some consternation and aggravation.

As an Anglican, I enjoy the season of Advent as a time of preparation for Christmas. I need time to get into the mood and leave the rest of the world behind and get ready to welcome the Christ child. I also need the time to remind me that, as I look back to the manger and Christ’s birth, I must look forward to his coming again. I must not only look forward to it with joy, I must assess my life to find out if I am ready when he finally does come. This is an important time and it brings the future into the present as a reality that will one day soon be upon us. As a period of reflection and correction, this is time well-spent.

Seasons are an ever-present reality in life. We may not notice the change in seasons until it is too late, but they do actually occur on a schedule. No one season is extended, delayed or otherwise changed on the whims of our pocketbooks or thermometers. Each one happens like clockwork at its prescribed time. Never early, never late, but they happen right on schedule. We can change the method of observing time – like daylight savings time - but that does not stop time from rolling on. The seasons exist for a reason regardless of how we think or feel. Often it is better to participate in the season than to ignore it. Advent requires the same response from us. We don’t jump ahead to Christmas too soon and get worn out about it by the time it comes. We get to prepare and absorb the enormity of what we are going to celebrate.

The problem with Christmas, especially when it is all about what happens before, is that we quickly forget the reason for the season the day after Christmas is over. We do not celebrate the joy and appreciate the meaning long enough for it to have a profound impact on our life. The Christmas season actually begins on Christmas Day and ends 12 days later at Epiphany. Those are the true 12 days of Christmas. That is the season to celebrate the birth of the Christ child. But during this time period we focus only on the consumer driven excitement of the cashing in gift cards and the exchange of unwanted or foolish gifts. The celebration ends and we get back to normal as quickly as possible. In my house, my wife has to have the Christmas tree up right after Thanksgiving and down right after New Year’s Day. She gets mad – actually tired of the Christmas mess – when we keep the signs of the season up until Epiphany. She becomes fatigued with it and I really do too. To date, I haven’t been able to get her not to decorate for Christmas any later than the middle of December. A nice compromise but even with this the fatigue still sets in.

Now, please do not call me a Grinch. I really love Christmas. I love all of the Christmas hymns and music. But Christmas is more than just about the music, the presents and the decorations. Our secular world would like us to believe otherwise. To diminish the “reason for the season” is to remove from Christmas its identity and meaning. To take it lightly means we see only a babe in a manger and not the Son of God. I was once told by a wise bishop about the purpose of pre-marriage counseling. He said we should be more concerned about the marriage than the wedding. The same principle should be applied to Christmas. We must be more concerned about who the Christ child is rather than when or how he came into the world, if we even recognize those parts of Christmas at all. I am not advocating the mass distribution and dissemination of Advent music, but the proper use of an Advent wreath can add meaning to the Christmas preparation. Most of those hymns are unsingable and sound more like funeral dirges. The contemporary Christian music scene would never gravitate to this suggestion. Instead of using Christmas music, maybe we should just forego it until we get closer the day and continue it through the true Christmas season. 

It is tough not to cave into the secular environment which we inhabit. But that is the call of being a follower of Jesus. Let us prepare wisely for the season of which we are looking forward to. Sunday December 2^nd is the first Sunday of Advent. Participate in the preparation. Enjoy the experience so that when Christmas comes, you can not only appreciate what God has done and will do, but you will be ready for it like Jesus calls us to. I am holding tight to a new motto this time of year, “Experience Christmas again for the first time!” Make this the best Christmas of your life by preparing for it properly and intentionally. Focus and enjoy because Jesus is the Lord of Life.

The War on Poverty

The “War on Poverty” which has been fought here in the United States since the 1960’s is far from over. After trillions of dollars spent to wage this war, we are no closer to having poverty defeated than we are to watching pigs fly. I think the Chicago Cubs have more of a chance of winning the World Series that the US has of ever defeating this societal nemesis. Merriam Webster online dictionary gives one definition of “POVERTY” as “the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions.” Just debating that will send us down a rabbit hole I have no intention of entering. But the synonyms for “poverty” are listed as “scarcity” and “dearth.” For something to be “scarce” is to have “want of provisions for the support of life.” To be “dearth” is to lack supply. In any case, poverty does not just apply to economic means. When Jesus said, “The poor you will always have with you,” (Matthew 26:11; Mark 14:7; John 12:8) I think he was not only speaking of the poor financially. While they are included in this, I really feel Jesus was making a broad statement including poor in health, emotional well-being and spiritual well-being among others. Being poor includes anything that causes dearth (a lack) that holds people back from living the abundant life that Jesus came to give them. (John 10:10) Jesus came to alleviate “dearth” and bring abundance.

I am sure when Jesus pronounced that there would always be the poor among us, many of his hearers focused only on the economic aspects of what he was saying. For a long time, I did too. In Jesus’ day, his hearers would assume that being poor meant the person lacked the blessing of God for some sin or sins which they had committed. Being rich was a demonstration of God’s blessing upon them and an attestation of their righteousness. Well, we can just look around today and see how false that view is. Very few of the rich in our times even try to pretend they are righteous much less give credit for their material well-being to God.

A problem arises from the standpoint of the Church. The Church has acquiesced to the misguided notion that a government hand-out is actually charity. With that mind-set, the Church (big “C”) had abdicated its responsibility in helping the poor. When I say poor here I mean all of poverties aspects: financial, spiritual, physical and emotional and all the others too numerous to name. Knowing that we will always have people - the poor - to minister to because Jesus said so, we (the Church) need to engage – or re-engage – in our calling. Our mission, our calling, our ministry, should be the same as that of Jesus. Jesus announced his mission, his vision and his purpose – all statements or slogans “good” churches have and need – by reciting the words of Isaiah the prophet. Quoting from chapter 61, verses one through three, Jesus said: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19) In essence, part of Jesus’ ministry was to help overcome financial, physical, emotional and spiritual poverty in those he ministered to. 

It is a small point that is often overlooked and seems almost contradictory. But notice that he does not claim that he will end poverty altogether. Jesus knows there are some who will never accept his message and his prescription for their own healing. Preaching the good news to the poor doesn’t alleviate it, just as government largesse doesn’t alleviate it. In this area, I agree with Ezra Taft Benson who wrote: “The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature.” Jesus isn’t worried about our “socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions” - one definition of poverty - that we have or do not have because those will not last. Our abundant life is not found in the phrase, “the one with most toys wins!” 

The obvious question becomes, if we will always have the poor with us, why should we try to help change their circumstances. Always is a long time to fight such a consistent malady. Why waste our time if we are never going to win? The simple answer is that Jesus told us to. The New Testament gives examples of the early church doing it. God reminded Israel over and over again not to neglect the poor and needy. When we help out, pitch in, offer assistance, we are engaging in the ministry of Jesus. We get a chance to minister like Jesus did to people like those to whom Jesus ministered. In this way we get to live out his calling which is our calling. We will not win the war on poverty, but God willing, we can bring people to the place where they can be transformed in a way like Ezra Taft Benson wrote about. The government is not the entity that can bring about this type of transformation. Only Jesus Christ working through the power of the Holy Spirit in his church can.

Jesus said we would always have the poor with us. They even inhabit the Church. There are many within the Church who are impoverished in some form or fashion. Too many within the Church suffer some dearth and are not willing to allow Jesus to help alleviate it from their lives, not willing to enter into that abundant life he came to give. There is a myth about St. Paul that he once healed a blind beggar. The man stands up, looks around and promptly rips out his eyeballs. The man knew how to be a blind beggar. He didn’t know how to be a sighted person. He reverted to the known because this new unknown reality was way too scary for him. He was comfortable being dependent upon the kindness of others. It had worked sufficiently until this point. Now, his need for being dependent was gone. His opportunities for “making it” were completely different. The prospect of having to rely on his own resources scared him back into a dependent mode. This poor fellow chose dependence instead of abundance, a life of relying on charity rather than a life filled to overflowing with the fullness that only Jesus Christ brings. 

The enormity of the problem, the impossibility of the task, does not diminish or negate our call to do what we can and pitch in. Not every congregation has the wherewithal to be directly involved. But again, the call is still present. It reminds me of a story about thousands of starfish stranded on a beach. A little boy was walking down the beach throwing beached starfish back into the water. Someone commented to him that it was such a big task he could not expect to make a difference. The boy picked up another starfish, threw it back in the water and said, “I made a difference for that one.” Then he moved on to the next. If Jesus call was to deal with the poor, and he passed that call onto us, then we must do it. We need to meet the various poverties head on with all of the power and authority Jesus gave us. We may not defeat poverty but we can make a difference, one starfish (or person) at a time. It is impossible to win a war without engaging in a battle. So Church, let’s get busy. It is what Jesus wants us to do.

Look For The Cross

Each week I drive the highways around Oklahoma City generally taking my son the over thirty miles each way to taekwondo class. In town we have a hospital named St. Anthony’s. They have several billboards around town advertising their services. But one caught my attention. It says, “Look for the cross.” The main St. A’s hospital building has a big blue cross on the side of it.  While the blue cross is trying to draw people to their facilities, their advertising slogan is more important than they imagined. It has implications for every believer in Jesus Christ.                 

The whole New Testament is full of references to the “cross.” With that much ink, the cross must be important. But not just any cross. It is only the Cross of Christ that we should look for. I am always amazed at how the cross has turned from an excruciatingly painful execution method and God's chosen method of redeeming our sins into elaborate pieces of jewelry. We have glorified the cross in a way that would be foreign to Jesus’ way of thinking. How many people do you know who would wear a guillotine or electric chair around their neck? While I would love to see Madonna (not the one who was Jesus’ mother) wear a guillotine but I am not sure it would make the fashion statement she is looking for. 

While crosses as jewelry have received much attention (just look at any jewelry section of any department or specialty store), so have people who make a sign of the cross on their body. I am not talking about body art or tattoos but a series of four motions. This has drawn a lot of ridicule from some branches of Christianity as a ritual that borders on the superstitious. While in some circles that may be true I am afraid that ignorance of the meaning behind this motion looms large. When I discuss this with people I am always reminded of the movie (I know, here we go again with the movie references) “Keeping the Faith” with Ben Stiller and Edward Norton. Stiller plays Rabbi Jake Schram and Norton plays his best friend Father Brian Finn. The story is about their friendship and how they are both attracted to the same girl, played by Jenna Elfman. In one part of the story, when the two guys are younger, they check each other’s way of worship. Schram asks Finn about making the sign of the cross on your body. Finn replies with a simple method of remembering. The method tells the order of touching your body to make the sign of the cross: “spectacles, *~&+^ (a man’s private parts that rhymes with spectacles) wallet, watch.” While the wallet watch steps may be either left or right depending on which side you keep them, the head and lower torso must be done in that order.

Many people practice this order religiously without ever knowing why they do it or what it means. If everyone else is doing it I probably should too. Some people do it at the drop of a hat and at every mention of a certain word or phrase. In essence, many people drain the motion of its meaning. As one who does not do anything like that without understanding its wider implications, it took me a while after becoming a Christian before joining in this practice. No one could explain the practice satisfactorily to me. When I lived in Florida, I was on our Vestry (church board) and we had bought a new building. Someone wanted to paint the front doors red. I asked why? I got two not so good answers. The first was that every church “up north” had red doors. In Florida that is a common excuse for doing many things. The other explanation was that if the church had a mortgage then the doors were painted red. Needless to say, I was the only “nay” vote on the proposal. It is not that I am opposed to red doors per-se but we must know why we do what we do. God in his infinite wisdom redeemed this situation. The following Sunday was Palm Sunday and we always reenacted the Triumphal Entry from the back of the building outside and in through the front doors. A dear retired priest who saw every moment as a teaching opportunity explained how and where the procession would go. He reminded everyone that we would go around the building and enter through the newly painted red doors. He went on to explain that in walking through the red doors, we were walking through the shed blood of Christ. Now that made sense! At the next Vestry meeting I changed my vote.

So, what significance does making the sign of the cross on our bodies have? I realized this significance of this while in seminary. The church we attended had a cross hanging over the altar at a slight tilt. The cross was constructed out of wood molding. The design was an outline and the interior void was in the shape of a cross. Every time I received Communion, I felt God was looking through the cross at me while I was receiving the Body of Christ. Wow, what a powerful reminder of the cross. This is also a powerful reminder of why we make the sign of the cross on our bodies. The cross is not just a piece of jewelry. The cross is the only thing that can make me acceptable in God’s sight. When I make the sign of the cross on my body that is how I want God to view me, through the cross of Christ. That motion means something: something powerful, something meaningful, something eternal. In an Anglican service of worship, there are appropriate times when this is done. The reason to do it is to bring home the importance, the significance of what Jesus has accomplished for us. There is a big difference between ritual and reminder. If what we do does not bring us to the cross, the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf, then we probably should not do it. We miss the depth of meaning when doing things by rote.

I am not trying to shame people into doing something they do not feel comfortable with. I am explaining the reason why certain things are done. I do not want people to jettison meaningful portions of their religious practice but to understand the deeper meaning contained in them. And I don’t want people to take on things that are not meaningful to them either. I know when I make the sign of the cross it helps me understand the price Jesus paid for me. It also calls me to something that is beyond my total comprehension. Think about this. Evaluate all of the religious stuff (baggage) you are carrying to see if there is something you need to participate in to add significance to your relationship with Jesus Christ. Also evaluate to see if you really need to stop doing something because you have no idea why you do it. Just remember, making the sign of the cross points to the foundation of our faith. It points to Jesus, our redeemer and the Lord of Life.

In closing, this subject reminds me of the words of Jeremy Riddle’s song “Sweetly Broken.” I hope you will remember why the cross is important. Go ahead and make the sign over your body. Go ahead and wear one as a piece of jewelry. Just never forget what it points to. The first verse of the song say it best: “To the cross I look. To the cross I cling. Of its suffering I do drink. Of its work I do sing. On it my Savior, both bruised and crushed, showed that God is love, and God is just.” Because every cross should remind us of Jesus Christ, the Lord of Life.

“'Cause They Don’t Know the Difference”

In the movie “The American President,” (1995) a scene takes place in the Oval Office involving President Shepherd, played by Michael Douglas, and his aide Lewis Rothschild, played by Michael J. Fox. They are in a heated discussion about the president’s poll numbers and what is happening on the political landscape. As you read this you must remember that there is music appropriate for the intensity of the situation.

 

Lewis: "People want leadership. And in the absence of genuine leadership, they will listen to anyone who steps up to the microphone. They want leadership, Mr. President. They're so thirsty for it, they'll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there's no water, they'll drink the sand."

Shepard: "Lewis, we've had Presidents who were beloved, who couldn't find a coherent sentence with two hands and a flashlight. People don't drink the sand, 'cause they're thirsty, Lewis. They drink it 'cause they don't know the difference."

 

I have always loved this exchange and even used it in a sermon. I think it relates to the state of the church currently and the seemingly steep decline the church has suffered in recent years. It does help to explain certain aspects of this most recent election and the condition of the church here in America.

 

We all know people who are living the Waylon Jennings song:

  

I was looking for love in all the wrong places

Looking for love in too many faces

Searching your eyes, looking for traces

Of what.. I'm dreaming of...

 

These people are seeking to find something fulfilling in life but don’t seem to know where to look. Too many are trying to find it in the bottom of an alcohol or pill bottle or some other recreational drug. And when that doesn’t work, they numb themselves in other drugs and alcohol. The recent trend of people seeking institutional rehabilitation for drug abuse is due to prescription drugs. Now that Colorado has legalized (decriminalized not legalized my son tells me) marijuana, you have to wonder how many people will be taking their vacations there to really check out after they check in. This new law could help the restaurant business and may offer munchies hour that would really be happy! In today’s culture, this is the sand that people are drinking because they don’t know the difference. The church has been complicit in this downward spiral. In fact, the church has been dining on sand too. We – by this am I making a huge generalization about the church and not referring to any specific congregation or denomination – have not presented the gospel of Jesus Christ in a way that answers the problems in people’s lives. Trying to pinpoint the cause of this would take too long to write here. But the main culprit is a lack of biblical knowledge, insight and application.

 

The Bible speaks throughout of the human condition and the simple solution to that condition. Nowadays, too many people view sin – missing the mark; not living up to the standards that God has set – as passé, out-of-date, irrelevant. Most people feel they should get a slap on the wrist and have most of their sins decriminalized. They have not broken the big “10” so anything else is just a misdemeanor. They fail to see how their actions or inactions violate any precept of God. They are unaware that Jesus reduced the Ten Commandments down to two and that, in doing so, expanded their application more broadly. I always chuckle at the joke about the elderly women who approached her priest and said: “I may be a lot of things but I am NOT a manifold sinner.” “Manifold sinner” is a term used in one of the confession prayers in one of the many previous Books of Common Prayer. The priest replied, “Let’s go talk to your husband!” There are two things certain for all human beings: sin and death.

 

If people knew how to use the Bible I am sure that our culture would not be in such decline. The psalms particularly speak to the problem of eating sand. Psalm 63 states: “O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” Any person who has accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior knows that Jesus is the answer to this problem. He said in John 4:13: “but whoever drinks the water I give him will never be thirsty again. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” This is just one example of the Bible pointing to Jesus as the answer to life’s most important questions.

 

I know people who will question my trust in a book that was written so long ago. And no matter how hard J.K. Rowling tried through her “Harry Potter” series, or any other book or series for that matter, they still cannot outsell the Bible. So, why is the Bible so important?

 

As an Anglican I believe what the traditions of our denomination have said about the Bible. In the “Articles of Religion”, otherwise known as the “39 Articles,” it is stated that “Holy Scripture contains all things necessary to salvation.” There are no other volumes or tomes needed. The Book of Mormon, the Qur’an, Think and Grow Rich, the Kama Sutra, The Little Red Book from Chairman Mao, or any other work is useless in comparison to the Holy Bible. There is no need for Dianetics or Psycho-Cybernetics, just Jesus and the Bible. Another reason for seeking answers in the Bible is listed in “An Outline of the Faith commonly called the Catechism.” This is a question and answer document about many foundational principles of the faith. On the topic of the Holy Scriptures one of the questions is: “Why do we call the Holy Scriptures the Word of God?” It is answered as follows: “We call them the Word of God because God inspired their human authors and because God still speaks to us through the Bible.” There is the answer. If God, the creator of the universe from the smallest particle to largest galaxy, and us too, speaks through the Bible, why would we look elsewhere for answers? Like Mao or Napoleon Hill knows more about life and living than the Lord God Almighty! In the Bible we encounter the answers to every pressing issue we may encounter on our journey here on earth. We don’t have to drink sand and think it is water. We can go to the source of living water and drink and be satisfied. I am still at a loss to think that people would actually think sand could be tasty and beneficial. I have eaten my share of sand at the beach – swimming in the usually mild Gulf of Mexico after a hurricane makes sand eating a more likely prospect – and it doesn’t taste good. It only makes you thirstier. We, the church, have something better than sand. We have something that could never be mistaken for sand except if we ourselves accept it as a viable alternative. We need to let people see the difference, know the difference. That difference is Jesus! Then, and only then, will they be able to seek after the true living water and not settle for a mirage of water known as sand. Go ahead and read the Bible again for the first time. Try it, you’ll like it. Jesus will quench your thirst because he is the Lord of Life.

“There Is Nothing Inside Worth Dying For”

On one of my recent jaunts through our new neighborhood I approached a house with a sign that stated: “There Is Nothing Inside Worth Dying For.” The sign was a warning to any intruder to consider before actually invading this dwelling. I found this sign interesting yet not surprising. There were several signals up to this point in the yard and driveway that the resident(s) had some form of military experience. I do not want denigrate any particular branch of the military but I am sure I noticed some Marine paraphernalia in the yard. Not a real surprise. Hurrah!

Being a preacher, I ruminated on that sign for a good while. Also, having a fertile mind – that being one that is well fertilized and we know what fertilizer mostly consists of – I pondered that sign with great intensity. It really had spiritual implications while giving insight into the resident of that house. There was something in that sign that could be preached on. But, of course, all preachers think that about almost anything. I will never forget Henny Youngman (I know many of you have no idea who he was because you are way too young) who was known as the “King of the one liners.” I remember seeing him on Johnny Carson one night (you may be too young to know Johnny Carson too!). Youngman told Carson to say a word and he had a joke about it. Carson picked “penguin” and lo and behold Youngman had a joke. I told my son the other night to pick a word and I could make a sermon about it. I did okay with pineapple but got kind of lost on walrus! So, as I walked along ruminating about that sign I did realize a couple of things that may preach.

While I am sure the sign’s warning was supposed to be a partially humorous attempt to dissuade anyone from breaking into the house, I believe it revealed something about the resident. Did he think his stuff was of little worth compared to any intruder’s life?  In one respect the answer would be yes. That is of course until you don’t heed the warning and attempt to break in and he is willing to protect his stuff at the cost of your life. This sign clearly displays his values.

At my own house I always thought that if somebody wanted my stuff they could have it. Obviously they needed it more than I did. Besides, my stuff was old and I had insurance to replace it. I know the replacement stuff would be better than what was stolen!

Later on during the week, I saw the same sign again at another house. As I began to ruminate on it again, my first vivid thought was how glad I am that Jesus doesn’t feel that way! Applying Jesus’ perspective to the sign made me see things in a different light. Too many people today have the same sign posted on the door of their heart and life. It is almost as if Jesus comes to knock on their heart and there is another big and clear sign on display “No Soliciting!” They want to chase Jesus away and anyone else who wants to have an effect on their hearts for that matter.. They agree with the premise of the sign that “there is nothing inside worth dying for.” They feel they have nothing in their life worth having anyone dying for, even the Son of God. They are not trying to be heretical but they see no need for what Jesus Christ did and think he was basically a fool and so are all of those who believe in him. Their arrogance will be their undoing. Let’s hope they come to their senses before it is too late. Eternity is real and apart from having Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, eternity will be HOT!

In reality, Jesus DID die for what is inside of them and us. And, in his estimation it was worth dying for. Jesus Christ wants to redeem the image of God that is resident in all of us, all human beings. It was given to us at creation and it is what sets us apart from all of the other animals, regardless of whatever nonsense PETA bloviates. There is a reason why, in the first Genesis account of creation, God calls everything “good” until he creates mankind. Only after man comes on the scene does God call his work “very good.” We are the crowning jewel of God’s magnificent work in creation. You have to wonder sometimes if God spoke too soon. But Jesus died for that portion of each and every life that lives in opposition to God.

 There are always going to be a group of people that do not feel worthy of the sacrifice Jesus made for them. And, they are not alone in their unworthiness but they don’t know it. They just feel that there really isn’t anything worth dying for in their lives. There isn’t one thing that is redeemable, that is worth saving. In our disposable culture, they feel they are not worth anything more than ending up on the trash heap of life. Their self-esteem is so low, their psyche so disoriented and abused, their pain so deep and thorough, they cannot image one scenario that would lead Jesus Christ to want to save them. I have actually heard people say that if God knew how bad they had been, he would not give them the time of day. I love that one because they imagine that their life of sin and its severity will come as a surprise to God! That is arrogance of another form. In essence they deny God his almighty power believing they are the only one he cannot or will not save. Everything is possible with God except for them. The other end of the spectrum is the worthless wasted life that has no meaning, purpose or quality and thus would not be of interest as something God would waste his time over. How sad, truly sad, that people actually believe this. The good news – the gospel – is that Jesus ignores the sign that says “There Is Nothing Inside Worth Dying For.” In God’s economy, every life has value and Jesus came to die for each and every one of those. When Jesus restores a life through the work of salvation he wrought on the cross, he reinstates the worth back into that life by his precious shed blood. Regardless of what you have done, what you continue to do, or what you will someday do (again and again and again as our former taekwondo instructor used to say) Jesus still feels that you are worth dying for. He is not going to wait for you to come to your senses, to wake up and smell the coffee. He has already done everything necessary for you to receive what he has to offer. The rest is up to you because there is something inside worth dying for and Jesus is the Lord of Life.

Only 20%? WHERE IS THE CHURCH?

Only 20%? WHERE IS THE CHURCH?

My family and I recently moved to a new city. In an effort to find out more about our new area I searched for demographic information on-line. One web site contained a lot of information including religious affiliation. I realize that Oklahoma is the outer ring, the sort of fly-over waste land of the western portion of the Bible belt. In fact, when we first moved to Oklahoma City, we were jokingly told (at least I think it was a joke) that there was a law that there had to be at least one Baptist church on every corner. It is good to remember that most jokes have some element of truth in them. Even though we only moved less than 10 miles away, we have entered another universe. I was surprised – okay literally appalled – that in my new zip code of at least 16,000 households, only about 20% of the people claimed any religious affiliation. Many people may not answer surveys but I don’t think that is the reason this number is so low. While this statistic is a disturbing, it also offers some hope.

First, let’s discuss the appalling thing. WHERE IS THE CHURCH? Where are all of the disciples that Jesus gave the great Commission to? I just read a Barna Group survey revealing that between 1991 and 2004 the number of unchurched people in North America almost doubled. The number increased from 39 million to 75 million people. I think there was a very wise man who once said the fields were white with the harvest. It is very obvious that North America is the one of the world’s largest mission fields. It is evident that the Church (big “C”) is not fulfilling her calling given to her by Jesus Christ.

A recent excursion through my new neighborhood gives a little insight into this phenomenon. As of this week, we are about two weeks shy of Halloween. From the looks of things in this area, it must be the most celebrated “holiday” in America. I am not sure everyone celebrates the true "meaning" of Halloween but the decorated houses tell a different story. I will have to wait for a couple of months to see if they put as much effort into decorating for Christmas.

I remember at seminary one of the biggest debates was about recognizing Halloween and letting our kids participate in trick-or-treat. At that time my kids did not know much about the day except that you went to as many houses as possible to get as much candy as possible. In my house, we have a rule that all Reese’s Cup go to dad.  So, not wanting to deny my kids their candy or mine, we let them go. They were never to dress in “scary” costumes and they had to say “thank you” at every house. As they got older, I would tell my son to find out which houses gave away Reese’s Cup and come home and change so he could back for more. Alas, he is too big now to pull this off with any sincerity, much to my dismay and Reese's cravings! I’ll just have to hope his being new to the neighborhood will not be a detriment to my sugar fix. As with my kids, I assume many people have no idea what the real meaning of the day is. That may make it worse. I am reminded of Paul’s admonition to the Philippians: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” I suspect that some of these decorated houses are even inhabited by “professing” Christians. I don’t want to condemn them but it does make one think. Does this send the right message?

As I walked along, I kept wondering why people would put so much effort into this type of decorating. Some were very elaborate and took a lot of time and trouble to construct. As the seasons change, the weather gets colder, the sunlight shrinks, it just seems people need something to get excited about. Again, WHERE IS THE CHURCH? If people only have a release of celebration in Halloween decorations, then the Church has fallen woefully short in being able to reach people with the excitement in the love, grace and  forgiveness of Jesus Christ.

There is good news in this statistic though. If Christians want to truly be Christians and obey Jesus’ commands (which I think is part of being a Christian), they will not have to travel far to find someone in need of what Jesus has to offer. The mission field is right in your own backyard (Jerusalem), in your own subdivision (Judea), in your own zip code (Samaria). You don’t even have to go to the ends of the earth! Your neighbor may be the next person you introduce to Jesus. When Jesus says that he stands at the door and knocks, it is probably at the house right across the street. In fact, he may be knocking at several doors on your block alone. Just think of how many he may be knocking at in your subdivision or in your zip code? The opportunity for the Church is enormous. Yet, we miss these opportunities for a variety of reasons.

The really good news for me as an ordained person is that with numbers like that I have job security. In my own zip code accepting these numbers means there are almost 13,000 households who do not have a religious affiliation much less a relationship with Jesus Christ. My congregation does not need transfer growth – swapping or stealing sheep – when we can go through our own neighborhoods and find many “lost” people, which up to 80 percent of them seem to be. And, we are even willing to share our catch with other congregations who want to reach the unchurched. Our nets won’t break but our facilities might. While it is a headache I would love to have, how would you deal with an influx of huge numbers of people? Any church would have to ramp up everything they do in order to meet the needs of those coming in. I would love to be in that situation and find a way to deal with it. With those kinds of numbers, it should be really easy to fill ministry positions, not to mention the congregation’s softball lineup.

I could go on and on about this topic. But you will have to excuse me. I have to go through my neighborhood and tell some more people about Jesus being the Lord of Life! Want to join me?

Generic or Specific?

Generic or Specific?

 Isn’t it wonderful that, even after three years of seminary and many years in the pastorate, God can show you new things? I must admit that it is humbling and overwhelming at the same time. But it happened today and I am thankful. It occurred during my daily devotional time when I sit in my “prayer chair” and study God’s Word and commune with him in and through prayer. Except for the dogs having to have their affection time, I try to reserve this time for God and me. Most days I am able to accomplish this. I don’t say this to pat myself on the back for my piety but to mention that this has become a “habit” for me, and the dogs! What I found out today radically shook my world and my equilibrium.

As an Anglican I gain perspective by saying the Collect for Purity. I start with this.

            Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known,

            and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of my heart
            by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that I may perfectly love you,
            and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ my Lord.  Amen.

It centers my thoughts and actions for what I am about to do. It gives me the proper perception about who God is and what I want him to do for and in me. For you purists, I have changed the wording from the corporate emphasis to the individual emphasis that pertains to me in this situation. My hope and prayer is that at the end of my time with God, I have a cleansed heart, inspired by the Holy Spirit allowing me to perfectly love him. Not a bad day if you can accomplish that!

After that I say the Confession. Again I use a personal version instead of the corporate version. I know that I am a sinner and that confessing daily still isn’t enough to keep short accounts with God. When I got to the part where it says, “I have left undone those things which I ought to have done, and I have done those things which I ought not to have done,” this is where the seismic rumble began. There are times when I feel as if God is speaking to me. I don’t hear audible sounds but, as someone once said, “knowing’s” in my heart that God is communicating with me. I sensed he was asking me, “What do you mean?” I responded, “Do you want me to get specific, Lord? Boy, you are asking a lot here.” I realized at this point that I was good at the generic confession. I think we all are. We are able to generalize sin and can admit, with no sense of guilt or shame, that we are all sinners. We can admit without confessing. We can agree but we don’t normally name our sins. The generic is always less convicting, less guilt inducing, less shameful than naming each individual transgression. So, I felt compelled to take pen and paper and write down where I missed the mark (one definition of sin). I started with the “things done.” This was easy because I could agree with God on some of them. I suffer from fear, anxiety and worry. But, don’t we all. Yes, they are sins but they are typical of most human beings. But since I committed these offenses I need to confess them. Just when you think you are doing fine God has to interrupt. “Dig deeper,” he said. “Okay.” I also have envy, greed, denial, and pride. “Yes and,” God continued. “Oh, how deep do you want me to go?” Well, true confession means not leaving any stone unturned. As I went deeper, I found more that left me separated from the holy, righteous God of the universe. I will not regale you with the rest of this (it’s not as salacious as much as it is disappointing) but I found I’m not as righteous and pious as I thought. But it didn’t end there.

Don’t you hate it when God won’t let go? At times like these, he reminds me of our little Chihuahua Teenie. She is pesky and will bark and nip at strangers who enter our house. She will not settle down until she is satisfied that all is well and safe. God reminded me that I had not addressed the other portion of the confession. I was leaving out, “I have left undone those things which I ought to have done.” I guess I was settling for “good enough” instead of “best.” God wants the best for us and from us. It is amazing how fast my pen went as I rummaged through my life the past week or so. The first thing I had not done was live with the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians tells us: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22) That is a rather extensive list to neglect in any life that claims to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, this was just the beginning. I wish it wasn’t but alas I am not as perfect as I thought (hoped) I was. It becomes more apparent with each passing moment of this exercise, that I am a sinner in need of a Savior. The “left undone” list continues but you get the picture. Later, reading the word of God reinforced this notion powerfully. Micah 6:8 states: “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” God sets the bar high and he does not lower it because we cannot attain his standards.

I must admit that after this careful examination, I realized my need, my failures and my lack of anything remotely resembling holiness. I had a glimpse of me from God’s perspective apart from the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The only word that can best describe this is hopelessness. Wow! What a revelation. But I also had a sense of thankfulness. Without the person and work of Jesus Christ, I will end up being a sinner in the hands of an angry God. He did everything he could do through Jesus Christ and I am glad I have accepted it. I have faith that all of the promises of Jesus are “yes.” That is the only thing that overcomes this hopelessness. Praise God!

Many Christians know, accept and believe the above. And, they think that is enough. But I am here to tell you more is needed. Not in terms of salvation but in terms of a growing, thriving relationship with Jesus Christ that bears fruit and light and life. Too many people though are stuck in the generic. They realize they are sick but have no intention or inclination to get to the specific. I recently went to my family physician. He accessed my ailment and prescribed a treatment. He did not tell me to take two aspirins and call him in the morning. I am so glad he got specific. The generic answer probably would not have solved my problem and left me in the pain and agony in which I was suffering. God, the great healer, the great physician, works with us in the same fashion. Take a pen and paper and record all the things and areas where you have failed to confess your specifics, things done and things left undone. And allow God to deal with you in his mercy and grace for each thing listed. See what a difference this exercise will make in your life. We have a specific God not a generic god and he is the Lord of Life!