Prince of Peace

It is still the Christmas season and contrary to current culture the season begins on Christmas Day and goes on for twelve days. Thus, the twelve days of Christmas take us through Epiphany, which is January 6^th, not the pre-Christmas sale season. Since we are still in the season it is okay to talk about the meaning of “the season.” There has been much talk lately, due the secularization of this holiday, to remember that Jesus is the reason for the season. This causes much consternation with the secularists because anything to do with Jesus is verboten. But, having come from a denomination that claimed to be Christian yet held Jesus Christ to be optional, one has to ask: “Which Jesus?” There are many neutered versions of Jesus that have nothing to do with the Son of God whose birth we celebrate on December 25^th. This is especially true when he is labeled the “Prince of Peace.”

 

 

Having heard it read at Christmas each year, many of us can recite Isaiah’s prophecy about the coming of the Christ-child. Isaiah 9:6 says: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Now, he is called more than Prince of Peace but that is the title that has come under much distortion. The notion of “peace” has been so skewed that we cannot envision what it truly means. Since we live in a fallen and tainted world we have never experienced true peace. There are many definitions of peace that we may have experienced personally. Some from Merriam-Webster are: a state of tranquility or quiet; harmony in personal relations; a state or period of mutual concord between governments; a pact or agreement to end hostilities between those who have been at war or in a state of enmity. But none of these go far enough to describe the peace that Jesus brings. The Prince of Peace brings a peace that “transcends all understanding.”(Philippians 4:7) It goes beyond our wildest imagination.

 

 

I cannot count the number of “peace treaties” that have been entered into by warring factions during my lifetime, and I'm not really that old (contrary to what my kids think!). Sometimes those treaties last a long time and sometimes the ink doesn’t even dry before they start attacking each other again. Either way, a cessation of hostilities, while one definition of peace is not the peace we will experience when Jesus comes and ushers in his kingdom. For many of us we just remember the Arab-Israeli conflicts and their attempts at “peace.” Their hatred for each other – or at least the Arabs innate hatred of Israel – makes true peace impossible. The animosity continues even when the bombs and bullets aren’t flying. While they are not physically attacking each other, the hatred remains. While there may be mutual concord they are devising new ways to get retribution. The conflict is not occurring externally but inwardly the battle rages on. What really happens is that people try to pretend that everything is copasetic - the Rodney King gospel of “why can’t we all just get along?” – but they are just waiting, hoping for an opportunity to try to overwhelm and overpower the enemy. The opposition remains because deep down they continue to be enemies. When one reads Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) we find the rules for kingdom living, living in peace with one another. It can be summed up as turning enemies into friends. That is when true peace is possible.

 

 

The prophet Isaiah gave us a vision of how this peace that Jesus brings will finally be lived out on earth. In two different chapters he gives us this picture of peace. Isaiah 11:6-7 tells us: “The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” And later in chapter 65, he says: “The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent’s food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,” says the Lord.” (v. 25) Think back on any National Geographic special about Africa or the wilds anywhere for that matter. How many times have you had tears in your eyes because a young animal has become food for another animal that is too ugly to appreciate? The picture Isaiah draws for us is something that is humanly impossible. No human endeavor at peace could ever achieve this kind of harmony in nature or civilization. But the animal kingdom will one day live at peace and harmony together. I maintain that part of the fall was having carnivores. And Isaiah 65 seems to add evidence to this conclusion. It is hard to conceive of Isaiah’s perfect world when we look at the world around us. A friend in seminary told us his dad, an overly educated man, finally agreed that he saw no hope of man ever perfecting himself. It took the collapse of the World Trade Center to bring him to that pronouncement.

 

 

Like much in this life, people are looking for peace in all the wrong places. They want to have “the peace that passes understanding,” without having the one person who is capable of giving it, Jesus Christ. This is impossible and we have a whole decade to prove it. The 1960’s were called the decade of peace. Many people adhered to the mantra of making peace not war. (Some advanced the notion of making love not war because that was easier to do than to make peace.) They took John Lennon’s song “Imagine” as a sort of proto-Isaiah portrait of the peace they so desired and wanted to work towards. “Imagine” is a sentimental version of peace. The song itself is certainly a godless version of peace and fairly impractical. It is a partial truth because it does not take into consideration the underlying cause of the problems of the world: fallen humanity. It is a partial truth because it does not consider the ultimate solution: Jesus Christ. He is the peace that Isaiah foretold would come. While the song contains some laudable objectives, many of which will one day happen, they cannot be come into being apart from the person and work of Jesus Christ. He will be the one who will bring about those achievements. St. Paul summed it up perfectly. In his letter to the church at Ephesus he wrote, “For he (Jesus) is our peace.” (2:14) He does not impart peace, teach peace or inspire peace. He doesn’t preach about it, write about it or pontificate upon it. He is it. He IS peace, he IS the Prince of Peace. It not just part of his character, it is who he is. Looking for peace anywhere else or in anyone else is futile. You can imagine all you want but it ain’t going to happen. The peace we seek, we desire, is available in one and only one place, one person, Jesus Christ. All other forms of peace are counterfeit and will not satisfy our desire for peace. This Christmas you can find the “peace that passes understanding.” But you can only find it in the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ. This year, don’t imagine it, experience it!

Coal Again!

In the Christmas season we find a more than usual amount of accountability about what we have done during the year. I cannot tell you how many parents I have heard coaxing their kids by saying that if they aren’t good Santa will not bring them anything on Christmas. This Christmas coercion usually begins about the Black Friday. The other night I was kidding a young man about a video game he was playing. The idea of the game was for Santa’s reindeer to kick him in the bottom and knock him down the chimney. I jokingly said to the kid that if he knocked Santa too much he would get coal in his stocking. I guess it was the vacant stare I received that made me realize he had no idea what I was talking about. Being raised on “A Charlie Brown Christmas” I knew too well the supposed disappointment at having a stocking full of coal. The idea of coal in the stocking was to signify that the person who received the coal was not good during the year. However, it seems rather cruel to give someone coal so it is not done much, if at all.

The impetus behind coal is the recognition that our behavior has consequences. It seems we only worry about this just before the Christmas season. It is only then that we worry about our conduct and what it may mean to our stocking contents on Christmas morning. It reminds me of a story about the Visigoths. When they became Christians they would have four priests – two on each side of a river – and the Visigoths would walk through the river holding their swords above the water line. They would be baptized up to their swords which allowed their swords to continue to conquer and pillage without eternal consequences or reprisals. They devised a loophole to continue their way of life and still be “Christians.” We contort things to avoid an avalanche of coal on Christmas.

 

Our accountability ends up being a year-end review. We see this examination as a chance to rationalize our actions throughout the year and try to justify them. It is amazing how short our memories are when we are involved in this type of situation. It is also amazing at how lucidly we can create rationalizations for each and every misstep. Personally, I can barely remember last week, much less last month or last January. While I am sure this saves me from suffering from too much guilt I am sure it does not saves me from the need for confession and repentance. This is why it is good to keep short accounts with God. I may not remember what I have done but God surely does. If the contents of my stocking are based solely on my year-long behaviors, without Jesus Christ in my life I would get coal, coal, coal! In fact, there is not enough coal in all of West Virginia to fill my stocking to the level of my misdeeds. Even if the coal deposited in the stocking was just symbolic, the stocking would still need to be full. Coal is actually a sign of our need for a Savior, even one born in a manger. There is a song by the Newsboys that says: “When we get what we don’t deserve, it’s a real good thing. When we don’t get what we deserve, it’s a real good thing.” This is especially true on Christmas. Just think of the run on coal if all of loved ones had to be honest and give as our deeds deserve. Thank God he does not act like that. 

When we repent and confess, God is faithful and just to forgive our sins. (1 John 1:9) The Bible has three promises about our sins that offer us a sense of relief. It says that God puts them as far away as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12); he puts them behind his back (Isaiah 38:17); and he remembers them no more (Jeremiah 31:34). If you look at the earth, going from north to south you eventually hit the opposite direction. This does not occur however when you are going from east to west. You can keep going east as far as you would like and you will never reach west. When God puts our sins behind his back it means they are no longer in his sight. Now, my mother always said that she had eyes in the back of her head. This doesn’t mean God is incapable of seeing behind him but that once he places them behind his back they are no longer in his line of sight. Finally, the Bible says that God remembers our sins no more. This does not mean he is a giant senile grandfather in a rocking chair and he can’t remember things he should. This is a choice on God’s part that once confessed he will erase the board clean and not recall them ever again. This is eternal coal abatement for those of us that deserve coal in our stocking. So, as we approach Christmas and hang our stocking by the chimney with care, or wherever you hang them if you don’t have a chimney, remember this: God will not give you coal this Christmas. He will give you a Savior!

It’s Just Not Fair

As I drive my son to taekwondo there is a stretch of road that is under construction. One evening while going home, I was fooling with the GPS in the car and not paying the proper amount of attention to the road or that traffic signs. We were taking this route for the first time so I wasn’t familiar with the thoroughfare anyway. Seeing four lanes I just gunned the engine and went. I was traveling at 42 MPH, so I have been told. Until of course, the nice police officer decided to flash his colorful lights in my rearview mirror. He was nice and understood my dilemma about driving my wife’s car, the new road and speed limit and thus he only gave me a warning. I was very thankful because being in a “work zone” the speeding fines are double. In Oklahoma, the law calls for double fines in any speed zone regardless of whether there are workers present or not. That’s just not fair! It’s not like that in other states. Regardless, I got a warning and not a fine. Now, I know there are people who will say, “That’s just not fair!” You may be right. But nonetheless I was upset and I obsess about the speed limit through that section of road every time I drive it. I get upset when I get passed on that section of road by vehicles ignoring the big sign that advises of a speed limit of 25 miles per hour. I cry to the Lord for justice and fairness that they would get stopped like I did. I appeal to his sense of fairness and good that there would be a police officer anxious to apprehend speeders just over the next hill. That indeed would be true justice. That indeed would be fair! It rarely happens (okay never!).

I have been intrigued by the notion of fairness lately as it is an overused and misunderstood word. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines fair as: “marked by impartiality and honesty: free from self-interest, prejudice, or favoritism or conforming with the established rules: allowed.” Fairness to me means that it is not arbitrary or showing favoritism to one party over another. Fairness should be equal to all without regard to any other factors or influences. It should affect all parties to the same degree and proportion. Keep this in mind when reading the following. Ask yourself, is it fair?

 

There is a lot of talk politically about the “rich” paying their fair share. While in the US, over 80% of all taxes are paid by just 10% of the population, the battle cry now is for the rich to just pay their fair share. In this parlance, fair means more because that would just be fair. After all, they can afford it. Yet, their tax rate is currently higher based solely on the fact that they make more money. If fair means equal in proportion and degree, then the tax rates would be the same for everyone regardless of how much they make. If fairness means not arbitrary then the rich are already paying more than their fair share. When we look at the Bible, we don’t see God expecting some people to give more just because they have been blessed to make more. The tithe is proportional at the same level for everyone regardless of how much they make. God didn’t give everyone the same amount of talent, but he does expect each person to maximize their potential based on the talents he has given them. God expects each person to return to him the same percentage of what he has allowed them to make as everyone else. The tithe is God's standard and he applies it equally to all based on that standard and not on where or how they obtained it. I must confess that I have been part of congregations that thought that the richer members should carry more of the churches financial burden thus relieving the other members of having to tithe and contribute their fair share just because they can. This is man’s idea not God’s.

 

I also hear frequently that same sex marriage would be fair. It would offer the same privileges and advantages to same sex couples as their married heterosexual counterparts. The rationale behind this is that love has no barriers so the church and the government should not erect barriers either. How can it be fair to love someone and not receive the benefits and societal protections that other heterosexual couples enjoy? Here fairness has more weight and thus the argument gets cloudy. However, in the quest for fairness the culture is scuttling several thousands of years of tradition. While it may seem fair from one point of view, is it really fair to devalue and tamper with all that history. Can something be fair for one party and not the other? Whose values are to determine which is correct and valid? In the United States, until this recent election, every state that had a marriage amendment on the ballot passed them by overwhelming margins. Is it fair for courts to overturn the will of the people in the name of fairness? Now the Supreme Court will be settling the issue. You know after their decision, someone will cry, "It's just not fair!"

Another cry is that it's just not fair that everyone will not enter heaven as if entrance should be based on some arbitrary, human notion of fairness. God would never be that exclusive, restrictive and judgmental. After all, God is a loving and just God and he should want everyone to “get in (which he does by the way). While this sounds good, it goes against the very nature and character of God. God has set the bar high because he is holy and righteous. He cannot even stand to be in the presence of sin, whether it is a small tiny spot or a large cankerous blotch. Neither can sin ever be in the same space God inhabits. Since heaven is God’s dwelling place, since he is the one who created it and resides in it, he sets the requirements for admission. While many people want to impose on God their view of fairness it does not mean God will accept it. Fairness seems to be a moving target based on what we want. If we do not get what we want, it's just not fair. If it is beyond our ability to reach it, it’s just not fair. If someone who has more talent and ability has “stuff” we want it’s just not fair. Something must be done to level the playing field in the name of and for the sake of fairness. If we don’t like God’s standards because he sets the bar so high, we just need to lower the bar instead of raising our expectations and endeavors. We confuse fairness and love with caving in and being underachievers. Like much of what has been discussed here, it is not God’s plan. It is not God’s intent to lower his requirements to make us happy or give us a sense of fairness. We want the creator and sustainer of the universe to bow to our wishes instead of the other way around. Now, that’s just not fair! And I am sure God has a few things to say about that. The next time you want to complain about fairness, try looking at things from God’s perspective. He sacrificed his Son for us and yet we ignore him, deny him or just plain don't give him a second thought. If anyone has a RIGHT to cry, “it's just not fair!” it is God!

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.