disciple – Salvaged Faith

Salt and Light

Posted on October 16, 2016Leave a comment

Last week, I talked briefly about the root of the word, politics… how it refers to the city or the citizen… and how at its core, politics are the relations between people who live in a society. As Christians who live in this society, we have unique sympathies that guide our engagement in this society.

But there is another reason why Christians shouldn’t shy away from politics.
It is because our very faith is political.
We serve a leader who will never be in the White House.
We claim citizenship in a Kingdom that includes this country… but is far bigger than this world.
We pledge our allegiance… as we affirm in the vows of baptism … to Jesus Christ, our Savior and promise to serve him as our Lord.
Those are political statements.
Men and women through the ages have died for believing those things… and yet, we believe them anyways.
When we become disciples, we choose to serve the Kingdom of God.
As disciples, we serve… we follow… the risen Lord.

So, what does it mean to be a disciple in today’s world?
It doesn’t matter if they are man-made problems like Aleppo, or natural disasters like Hurricane Matthew… the chaos of our climate today is overwhelming and part of us wants to run inside the safety of our homes and ignore it. But as disciples, we are called to love and serve this world.
How can we, the church, serve the Kingdom today?

This morning, we find our answer in Matthew’s version of the Sermon on the Mount.
In “The Message” translation, Eugene Peterson, starts off these verses with these words:
“Let me tell you why you are here…”
You see, this whole sermon is full of instructions for the people of God. It reminds us of the attitudes we are supposed to carry with us into the world. And it tells us what we are supposed to do – how we are supposed to live. These words of Jesus are so important we are going to take the first part of next year, in January and February and dive in deep to this message.
Today, we focus on a few verses that describe our witness to the world.

Whenever we see the word “serve” or “service” we often think about the good works we perform or the ways we give and distribute goods. We think of projects like Ingathering and school kits, Joppa, CFUM, all of those ways we use our hands and feet to make a difference.
But “to serve” also means “to be of use” and points to a specific purpose for being and belonging.
“Let me tell you why you are here…” Jesus says.
Let me tell you how you can serve me, how you can serve my Kingdom…
“You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth.”
We are the salt of the earth.

I know that some of us here can’t always have salt, because of dietary restrictions, and perhaps you know better than all the rest of us about how useful salt is!
When you sprinkle salt on watermelon or on tomatoes – the flavor of those fruits become brighter and more crisp! When salt is added to soup, it becomes rich and deep. When we sprinkle salt onto roasted vegetables, or French fries…. Mmmm…
Salt takes what is already there and it brings out the flavors. It helps us to taste what was hidden.
That is our job as disciples. We point to the hidden work of God in this world and bring it out. We are supposed to help the world see and taste and experience God – even though they can’t always see him.
And one of the ways that we can be the salt of the earth is by pointing to the good news and movement of God in the world… by lifting up stories of hope and life. Remembering those stories, pointing to those stories, telling those stories to our friends and our neighbors help us to remember that there is hope even in desperate situations. And they allows us to share the source of our hope – Jesus Christ.

On our “next step discipleship” handout for today… you’ll notice that the very first step, our exploring step… is that we simply notice, we are aware of, the salty people in the world. We start to see that God is moving through in our midst and we, too, want to join in.

And once we become aware… once our eyes are opened, then we can go out and serve.

The thing about salt is that it does no good sitting on the shelf. You have to use it! Just as salt has to make contact with food to be effective, so as people of faith, we need to be out in the world, helping folks, praying with them, listening to their stories.

And the next step you can take as a disciple is to go out there and try it out. Hear that call to serve and try seasoning something!

This church has so many different ways that you can dip your toes in to a world of service. You can prepare casseroles for Under-The-Bridge. You can go to CFUM and dish out supper one night. You can join with others and package meals. You can bring in canned food items for DMARC. Next week, you can give towards the Ingathering kits which will be sent across this world to help those in need…
But your salty life isn’t confined to the church… It also happens in your own backyard.

Every time you attend a youth sporting event or concert…
Every time you mow your neighbor’s lawn…
Every time you sit down and have coffee with someone, you can be, bringing out the God-flavor in this community.

You can let people know they are important, that they matter, and that you – and God – are there.

Jesus continues by putting this message another way – you are here in this world to be light – to help the world see God.
This faith of ours is not a secret to be kept locked up – it’s meant to be made public – it’s meant to shine out wide and far.
And friends, we all shine in different ways.
Some of us are a strand of Christmas lights twinkling in the cold darkness.
Some of us are campfires that provide warmth and light and food.
Some of us are flashlights – portable, willing to go anywhere to be of service at any time.
And as we think about the next steps in our discipleship, part of what we need to do as we serve God is figure out what kind of servant we are called to be. What are the unique gifts that God has placed in my life? What are the things I can offer to this world?
Do you have a passion for food? Or art? Are you able to teach? Or called to lead? Are you an encourager? Or do you have a knack for understanding technology?
Our Lord and Savior does not want or need people who all fit the same mold. We are each here, called into community, because it is our unique gifts, fitting together, that create a light that shines far beyond what any one of us could do.

And that light is meant not for the church… but for the world.
We can’t keep the good news hidden away. We can’t keep the transforming power of God under a basket. We have to let it shine.
As disciples, we are ambassadors for God everywhere we go. The clothes you wear, the place you choose to visit and live in, the work you do, the protests you join, the types of people you eat with in public… all of these things can tell the world something about you… AND the God who you claim to follow.

The question is… what message is your light sending to the world?

“Let me tell you why you are here…”
Every day you are a living witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ… whether you want to be or not!
So, disciples… citizens of the Kingdom of God… choose today to serve Jesus.
Choose this week to go into the world loving, praying, and serving.
Choose this week to be the salt and light that will open the eyes and the heart of someone to God for the first time.
Be that salty, light-filled person that will cause someone else to say, “wow… I want to know more about why they do that.”
May we be salt. May we be light.
Amen.

Prodigal Rabbi

Posted on March 7, 2016Leave a comment

A couple of weeks ago, Trevor and I were at a workshop about how we change our thinking in the church from membership to discipleship.

We talk a lot about membership. We are preparing our confirmation students to become members. We are about to have a new member class. And it’s almost like once you cross that magical membership threshold, then that’s it. You’ve done it. You have reached the peak of your faith journey.

And that’s because we don’t have a process in place to help all of us continue to grow in our faith beyond that point.

So in this workshop, we talked about making the shift to discipleship as our primary focus. A life-long journey of following Jesus.

But what does it really mean to be a disciple?

Rob Bell shares in his video series Nooma what it really meant to be a disciple in Jesus’ time.

He describes how most little Jewish boys and girls would have been instructed in the Torah – the first five books of the bible – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. And by the age of 10, they would have memorized the Torah. They would know it by heart.

When they got to about 10, many of these boys and girls would then go and learn their family trade, but the best of the group would continue to the second level – where they would spend four or five years learning and memorizing the rest of the Hebrew Scriptures. Joshua through Malachai.

And at the age of 14- or 15, many more of these students would learn the trade of their families, but the best of the best would try to continue on and would seek out a rabbi and apply to be one of their disciples. “A disciple just doesn’t want to know what the rabbi knows. A disciple wants to be like the rabbi and wants to learn to do what the rabbi does.”

When you went to seek out one of these rabbis, they would grill you and find out what you knew because the rabbi wants to know if you had what it takes to follow them, to be like them. And many would be turned down. Only the best of the best of the best were invited to come and follow that rabbi. And you would leave EVERYTHING behind – your family, their trade, your home and village – and you would devote your entire life to being like your rabbi, learning to do what your rabbi does. This is what it means to be a disciple.

But, something shifts when Jesus comes around.

In Luke’s gospel, he goes out and calls his first disciples and they aren’t the best of the best of the best.

They are fishermen.

They are young men who went back home to practice the family trade after the first or second level of education.

Jesus isn’t seeking the best of the best of the best.

Jesus doesn’t think that you have to be the smartest or wisest or most clever person in order to follow him and be his disciple.

He thinks that Simon Peter and James and John and Levi and all of those ordinary people have what it takes to be his disciple… to learn from him… to know what he knows… to do what he does.

I think it starts to make a whole lot more sense for me, knowing this, why the Pharisees were so mad at Jesus.

Because many of those Pharisees were rabbis; those who accepted the best of the best of the best to be their disciples.

And they looked around and saw Jesus hanging out with the riff-raff. With the not-good-enoughs. With the nobodies. And in that sense, Jesus was giving their profession a bad name!

They saw him taking his gifts and his knowledge and wasting them by giving them to just anybody. Instead of calling the best of the best of the best, Jesus was calling the least and the last and the lost. They thought he was recklessly wasteful and extravagantly generous.

I used those words when I first arrived at Immanuel to describe Jesus.

It was a sermon on the parable of the sower – who scattered seed wherever he went, without regard for whether or not it would grow. I remember some of you gasped in shock as I started throwing sunflower seeds all over the front of the chancel area!

And that day, I used the word “prodigal” to describe that sower. Because to be “prodigal” means to be recklessly wasteful and extravagantly generous.

It is the same word used in our gospel lesson for this morning.

The prodigal son is recklessly wasteful and throws away his father’s fortune … but that same word can also be used to describe the father who welcomes him back home. If we continued just a few verses in the story, the older son is upset at the prodigal nature of his father’s love for this lost and useless brother.

The dad in this story is filled with compassion when his boy returns home. He runs out and surrounds him with love. He gives the boy the best of what he has. He kills the fatted calf. He is extravagantly generous, pouring out love and grace and forgiveness in his rejoicing.

In fact, all three of these parables about the lost things – the lost sheep, the lost coin, the lost son – are reminders about the lengths God will go in order to demonstrate love for us.

They are reminders about the extravagant, reckless, wasteful, abundant grace and mercy of our God.

A God who loves us so much, we were given the Torah, the law, the teaching to guide our way.

A God who loves us so much, the prophets were sent to call us back into relationship with God – over and over and over again.

A God who loves us so much, that God became one of us, walked among us, taught us, and called us to follow.

Our God doesn’t care if you are the best of the best. Our God doesn’t care about your background or age. Our God doesn’t care about your skills.

Our God looks at you and sees infinite worth and potential.

Our Jesus, our Prodigal Savior, looks at you and is willing to give up everything to seek you out and find you.

Our Rabbi looks at you and thinks – you can do what I can do… you can be like me.

And so Jesus invited those disciples… and now us… to follow in his footsteps… to be covered in the dust of our rabbi… to set everything aside and become like Jesus.

As Michael Slaughter puts it in chapter 3 of Renegade Gospel:

“When I confess that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the Son of God, I commit to follow Jesus in a lifestyle of sacrificial service, walking in the dust of my Rabbi. Whatever my Rabbi values, I value. Whatever my Rabbi thinks about God, I think about God. Whatever my Rabbi thinks about people, I think about people… I act like my Rabbi, talk like my Rabbi, love like my Rabbi, and give my life away for my Rabbi’s mission.”

You may have noticed around this building the signs for this “Renegade Gospel” study we are doing, and it includes the quote – Jesus didn’t come to start a religion.

Well, I think today, we are reminded that Jesus didn’t come to make members of Immanuel United Methodist Church.

In fact, our mission as a church has nothing to do with membership… we have said clearly that we are called to “Make Disciples of Jesus Christ for the Transformation of the World.”

Jesus came to invite people like you and me – ordinary, everyday people – to come and follow him.

Jesus came to invite the least and the last and the lost into a lifelong relationship with him.

Jesus came to invite us to grow more like him every day.

To love more like him every day.

To forgive more like him every day.

To turn this world upside down and transform it with God’s power every day.

And we are empowered to keep working toward the day when we don’t simply know what Jesus knows, but we do what he does.

That’s what this place is for. We are a community of disciples, trying to be more like Jesus every single day.

We are a community of disciples, gathered to be re-energized and strengthened to go out into the world, and live, in Christ, a life of love, service, and prayer. Amen.

Praying on an airplane

Posted on April 13, 2013Leave a comment

Friday I took an early morning flight home. I had been in Nashville for a few days to train some new field coordinators for Imagine No Malaria and get refreshed myself on the latest info.

But that flight came early. My cab arrived at 4. I was done with socializing around 1. So… yeah, not enough sleep.

I got on my flight and crashed. I slept the whole way to Dallas and then shuffled my way through the airport. I got to my gate and they started loading and I sat down and closed my eyes.

But behind me, this lady started talking to her seatmate. What the book/movie Fight Club calls a “single-serving friend”. In between dozes I heard them talking about work, and then family, and then struggles. As we started our descent into CR, she suddenly asked if she could pray with him. And they did, loud enough for others to hear, powerful enough that I was touched… as if the prayer were for me, too… and I had to whisper, “amen.”

She shared her own stresses and they commiserated over lack of sleep… which was when the impact of her ministry really hit home for me.

This woman was just as tired as I was. But instead of cocooning herself on the side of the plane with only one seat (yeah, just one), like I did, she saw every day, every plane ride, every conversation, every single interaction as a place where God might use her. It is what we talk about often… and yet sometimes find it so hard to practice. I found myself wondering how many opportunities for ministry I had missed, because I wasn’t looking.

I was so struck, that I found a way to walk off the plane and to baggage claim with her. And I told her I thought she was doing a really amazing thing. She was challenging me to think about how I live my faith everyday. I told her that what she just did is how we should all be living as disciples of Jesus Christ.

She shared her faith on a plane. Not by preaching, or apologizing, or through shouts or platitudes or tracts. But by listening and sharing… being in relationship with a “stranger” and then opening up the possibility of prayer. It was beautiful.

Spirit of Discipleship

Posted on June 10, 2012Leave a comment

How many of you understand the Holy Spirit? How she works, where she blows, what exactly God is doing in our lives through the Spirit’s power? Raise your hands…

Notice, my hand isn’t raised either 😉

The Holy Spirit is hard to pin down… the power of God, the fullness of God, moving among us, empowering us, advocating for us, and yet never really in our grasp.

We know so little about the Spirit and yet we also spend so little time studying and exploring this amazing gift and presence that Jesus promised us.

This summer, with a new vision of our church in hand (reflect the light of God slide), we are going to watch as the Holy Spirit moves and transforms the early church. You see – they too, are coming to a new understanding of what it means to live as people of God in community with one another. They are growing and changing and learning to live out the Kingdom of God in all that they do. And every step of the way – they are empowered by the Holy Spirit.

As we walk with them, we will ask how we also can follow the Spirit’s prompting and learn together about the amazing things she can do if only we allow her to move. Each week, I want to invite you to ask the question – What could happen in our church if the Holy Spirit moved among us?

Our first stop on our journey is not very far from our experience of Pentecost two weeks ago… In fact, it is the end of Peter’s sermon on that amazing day.

Filled with the Holy Spirit, this ordinary guy gives an extraordinary sermon and three thousand people are converted and become believers on the spot.

Now, that in itself is amazing. We don’t have 3,000 people even IN Marengo… 😉 But what I believe is more amazing is what happens next.

These folks are filled with the Holy Spirit. They don’t pray the Sinner’s Prayer and then go back to live as it was. They don’t experience the mountain top moment of a retreat and life as usual sneaks in… No – they actually commit themselves to living out the fullness of what it means to be the people of God. Their entire lives change. They are the body of Christ. They are disciples.

While I was at Annual Conference last weekend, we had an opportunity to participate in teaching sessions. One of them I went to was with a guy named Ken Willard and he talked about how we make disciples in our church. That is afterall the overall mission of the United Methodist Church – to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. And it was a part of our mission statement here at the church for years – the command to go into the world and make disciples from Matthew 28.

But the sad truth is, we almost never talk about being a disciple in the church. We talk about membership and we have ways of measuring the number of baptisms and professions of faith in our congregations. But we rarely paint a picture of what it means to be a disciple. And when we don’t speak about discipleship in a concrete way, then you and I do not have clear standards to evaluate ourselves by.

And too often, that means that wherever you were on your journey of faith when you became a member of the church is where you have stayed. Not because of anything that YOU have done, but because we, as the church, have never helped one another to grow beyond that. We have not challenged one another to grow into the fullness of discipleship. We have not provided resources and tools to help one another deepen our faith AND we have often left the Holy Spirit completely out of our churches.

I was reminded of an important lesson last weekend and I want you to hear it: membership in our church is not the same thing as being a disciple in Jesus Christ. We have a lot of members who are just beginning to become disciples… and we have some folks here who are working on their discipleship but have never recited the membership vows of our church. We are talking about two separate things.

I believe that if we want a clear picture of discipleship… our passage from Acts this morning is the place to start. Filled with the Holy Spirit, these three thousand plus people were living out their faith in the best possible way. Even though we are merely at the beginning of this book of the Acts of the Apostles, we are shown here a glimpse of the Kingdom of God, of the end goal of our striving… here is a list of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Let me read the second half of the passage again… this time from the Message:

That day about three thousand took him at his word, were baptized and were signed up. They committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers. Everyone around was in awe—all those wonders and signs done through the apostles! And all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, holding everything in common. They sold whatever they owned and pooled their resources so that each person’s need was met. They followed a daily discipline of worship in the Temple followed by meals at home, every meal a celebration, exuberant and joyful, as they praised God. People in general liked what they saw. Every day their number grew as God added those who were saved.

In no particular order, I want to dissect this list and lay out for you 10 marks of discipleship that we see in these early Christians… 10 things that we should stive towards in our own discipleship.

A word of reminder… this list is not meant to shame you or make you to feel bad about yourself if you aren’t doing these things yet… maybe for the first time, it is sharing with you a picture of what we could become through the power of the Holy Spirit. These markers are like a measuring stick… a way of seeing where you currently are and where you might have room for growth.

1. Worship: Worship is the act of praising God and in verses 46-47, we are told that every day the disciples met together in the temple. Every day they worshipped! And while our private worship and time of devotions are important – so is our communal experience of praise to God. A disciple is someone who joins the community in worship at least once a week.

2. Prayer: From verse 42, we are told the believers devoted themselves to their prayers. Prayers for healing, prayers for empowerment, prayers for understanding, prayers for signs and discernment. As 43 continues – awe fell over the people and God performed many signs and wonders in that time. In the scriptures we read: Ask and it shall be given to you, seek and ye shall find… our times of prayer communicate our desires to God… but prayer also helps align those very same desires with God’s desires. Disciples of Jesus Christ pray daily for one another, for the church, and for the mission field.

3. Evangelism – unlike the pre-Pentecost church… this community of believers was present in their community. Through those wonders and signs, through stories and scripture, but also through the living witness of their community. Disciples share the good news about what God has done in their life through words and deeds.

4. Bear Fruit – this follows closely on the heels of number 3 – but I want you to hear that it is different. While disciples are called to evangelize – to tell the good news, we do not always get the response that we want. Sometimes our evanglism simply creates enemies who are offended by God and the proclamation that Jesus is Lord. But in spite of opposition, we continue to share. We do not give up even though the work is hard and sometimes the days are long. A farmer knows that to bear fruit takes patience. Our verses tell us that people began to notice what the disciples were doing. And they liked what they saw. Verse 47 tells us that every day the Lord added to their numbers.

5. Know and Apply Scripture – The disciples devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles. They listened as the scriptures were opened up to them and then they applied those verses to their lives. All of these marks of discipleship come from the scriptures we share together. Disciples today spend time in the scriptures – both on their own and in community – and seek ways to live out what they read.

6. Serve the Body – In verse 44-45 we are read about how the disciples put the body of Christ ahead of their own desires. They shared their resources and made sure that everyone in need was cared for. Disciples see and respond to the needs of other people… especially their brothers and sisters in the church.

7. Communion – twice in this passage a shared meal is mentioned. Breaking bread together unites us in our faith, but it is also a reminder of what Christ has done and centers us in relationship with him. John Wesley talked about the duty of constant communion… of coming to the table as frequently as possible to remember Christ’s death and to recieve grace. Disciples share in the communion meal as often as they can.

8. Fruits of the Spirit – implicit in these verses are the fruits of the spirit that we know so well. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. They were devoted and united, they shared with gladness and simplicity, they were kind and good to everyone they met. Disciples live in such a way that these characteristics are evident in all they do.

9. Give Financially (Tithe) – These early disciples sold their own property and possesions in order to support the work of the church and one another. They gave not only because God commands it, but also because they trusted that God would provide for them as they provided for one another. Their giving demonstrated their willingness to be interdependent – to live in a community where the need of one was the need of all. Disciples of Jesus Christ give at least 10% of their income to the church – the Body of Christ.

10. Love Others – this last mark of discipleship is a bit harder to see in these verses, but it describes where this group is going. They shared God’s goodness with everyone verse 47 tells us… but as we will see in the coming weeks – who is welcome and what will be required of them is sometimes up for debate. Even the earliest disciples had places to learn and grow, but we know that a Disciple loves other people and shares the love of God with them – wherever they are, whoever they may be.

Remember that question I asked earlier… the question that will guide us throughout this summer: What could happen in our church if the Holy Spirit moved among us? What could happen if the Holy Spirit turned us all into disciples? I want to invite you to take a minute or two and ponder what would happen if we all worshipped and shared communion weekly – if we all tithed – if we prayed together and studied the scriptures more – if we let the Holy Spirit help us to love and live and speak. What could happen? I invite you to write down your answer on the slips of paper in the pews and to offer them up to God as we pass the offering plates in a few minutes.

Amen… and amen.

fasting in secret, doing justice in the daylight

Posted on March 9, 2011Leave a comment

Last night in Disciple Bible Study, we very timely read the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew.

As a class, we wrestled with the implications of such contradictory phrases: being salt and light, letting the whole world see the witness of our life – vs – praying and fasting and even almsgiving in secret.

How can we be witnesses for the Kingdom of God if everything we do is secret?

I’ve often loved the familiar quote by St. Francis of Assisi – Preach the gospel, use words if necessary.

We are supposed to be salt, flavoring this world for the Kingdom… but do it in secret?

It has always seemed strange to me that as we put ashes on our foreheads on this holy day and walk back into the world, we read the gospel:

And go out into the world to feed the hungry and to weep with those who mourn; to share your bread and to rejoice with others. And do it not for any heavenly reward… but do it because the Lord loves them. And do it because YOU love them too.

Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them (Matthew 6:1)

Yet as we wrestled, clairty started to find us.

We created a distinction between our personal piety: our prayer life, our fasting, our giving and realized that those aspects of our piety have nothing to do with other people. It is not done for others, it is done for God. No one else needs to know what we have given up, what we sacrifice, what time we have spent with the Lord. It is not for them… it is for God.

On the other hand, this same God reminds us that the fast he chooses is a life lived out in public:

Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? ⁷Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? (Isaiah 58:6-7)

These actions have to be done in the world. You can not do them from the quiet of your closet.

God is calling us to both personal and social holiness, public and private repentance, transformation of heart and mind and soul and body.

As a Wesleyan, these two make perfect sense together. Love God, love your neighbor.

Fast and study and pray and worship, not for any reward but just to spend time with your Lord.

Ezra and Nehemiah… rewriting history

Posted on February 9, 2011Leave a comment

In my local emergent cohort, we have been reading Phyllis Tickle’s Prayer Is a Place: America’s Religious Landscape Observed. As this book has been in the back of my mind, I have been thinking about how we look back and view history. As my carpool buddy Tim put it, we are always rewriting history and every history has a slant.

As I dove into Ezra and Nehemiah then this week with our Disciple study, I have been wrestling with how they, too, are rewriting history. They come parading back into the land they were so visciously torn away from and suddenly begin setting themselves apart, above, against those who are already in the land. They are so terrified of being punished again by God, of being sent back into exile, of having all of this tenuous peace destroyed that they immediately begin talking about righteousness and what makes them righteous. All of the foreign wives they fell in love with and the children of those marriages have to go. This is about purity, this is about a common identity, this is about trying their darndest to not make the mistakes of the past.

I found myself greatly disliking these two books as I read them through this time. I lamented the fact they were so exclusionary, so focused on works and rightousness and reclaiming what was theirs. I had never seen the texts in that way before, and it troubled me.

But I realized that we also have a group of people who grew to experience God very differently in the land of exile than their brothers and sisters who were left behind in Israel. And so when they come back, they find folks who did not sit by the waters of Babylon and weep. They find folks who managed to go on worshipping God in the land without the temple. They find folks who are now complete strangers to them… adversaries.

Having this revelation about Ezra and Nehemiah helped me to see how difficult it is to lay claim to a space in the world without pushing others away. In any attempts to define ourselves, we inevitably also say what we are not. We tell our stories in such ways that show how we have arrived at a certain place and that might mean that others must be written out of our histories. Is this a good or a bad thing? Is it simply reality?

Alongside these two accounts, we also find the prophet Haggai who tells this story without such an exclusionary tone. We find the story of Esther who was in the diaspora and who saved her people by her relationship with the gentile king.

What a wonderful thing it is that our sacred texts can hold these contradictions together. That we can witness to both our struggle to self-identify and to include, to be a people among people and to be a people set apart. What it means to be faithful in this world is not a black and white story, but it is a complicated interweaving of telling our stories, saying who we are and who we are not, working to make the best of our lives in a given place, our attempts to be faithful, our mistaken journeys down wrong paths… and through it all, God is still God.

And thanks be to God that in each of our readings of these sacred texts we are lead deeper into a realtionship with God.

Are Ye Able?

Posted on September 5, 20101 Comment

I have just two simple questions for us to wrestle with this morning… First – what do you want? And second – are you willing to do what it takes to get it?

What do you want? And are you willing to do what it takes to get it?

Now – let’s be honest with one another… how many of you first thought of something you really want like a new car or a new house or retirement to come early? Show of hands =)

I hate to disappoint you all this morning, but I’m not one of those fancy television preachers that can promise fame and fortune and personal success if you just pray hard enough. Sorry.

No, I’m asking these questions – not because together they are the key to unlock a world of personal gain… but because they ask us if we are willing to lose everything.

What do you want? And are you willing to do what it takes to get it?

Some time ago, I had my congregation make a list of the five most important things in their lives. I asked them to write them down and to number them in order of importance.

I think that all of us found the task very difficult. While it might be easy to list those things that are really and truly important to us – our families, our work, our education, our faith – to place one of these things above the other, to make those kinds of choices is hard. It is hard because it means that some things in life – some things that we truly love – have to be placed second. Or third. Or stop becoming a part of our lives all together.

This morning, we are talking about allegiances, about priorities, and what we do when those priorities conflict.

As much as we love to talk about freedom here in the United States, the truth is, we are always, every day, constrained by choices. We are always, every day, limited in our ability to do one thing, because we have chosen to put another thing first. Whether it is our jobs or our families or a certain value like freedom itself – we live our lives so that that thing determines all of our actions.

Our courageous men and women in uniform understand this choice. Just as they are working tirelessly to defend the freedoms of others – they must sacrifice and put their own families on the back burner.

New moms and dads can attest to this fact – when a baby comes into your life – everything else stops. That infant child becomes the highest priority in the world to you… above work, about yourself, above everything.

And for most of us, we do that, we prioritize one thing over another because we truly love it. We love it so much that we would be willing to do ANYTHING for it.

We understand the word “sacrifice” when it comes to our jobs or our families…

But how often do we understand the word sacrifice when it comes to our faith?

I was driving around recently and caught a segment from BBC World News on the radio. It was a story about how the peace talks between Israel and Palestine are being perceived in Israel itself. One of the men being interviewed said very adamantly – I want peace, but I don’t want to surrender.

As I kept listening to him say those words: I want peace, but I don’t want to surrender, I found myself so frustrated by this attitude that says the only peace that is acceptable is the one that comes on my terms.

And I realized how often God must be frustrated with us… because we make the same choice. The only faith that is acceptable to us is the one that comes on our terms.

We want to be Christians, but we don’t want to surrender the things of this world.

Today in Luke’s gospel, Christ teaches us that we can’t have it both ways.

We can’t hang on to our own desires or hopes or dreams or things and also follow Christ.

We have to answer the question – What do you want? And are you willing to do what it takes to get there?

Do you want to be a disciple of Jesus? And if so, are you willing to do what it takes?

Photo by Michaela Kobyakov

Jesus looks out upon the crowd and asks us some questions. If you were going to build a house, wouldn’t you first sit down and figure out the supplies you needed and how much money it would cost? You don’t want to be stuck with a building you can’t complete? If you were a president going off to war, wouldn’t you first sit down and figure out how many troops you needed and how much money it would take? And if it was a fight you didn’t have the resources to win, wouldn’t you go to the other leader and surrender?

Take stock, Jesus tells us. I know you want to be my disciples – but are you willing to do what it takes to be one? Count the costs. Are they burdens that you are willing to bear?

Are you willing to hate your father and mother and spouse and child? Are you willing to give up your job and your security? Are you willing to give up your citizenship and your rights? Are you willing to lay it all on the line to follow me?

Hesitantly, we say yes – I want to be a Christian… but we wonder about where that line is.

You see, we draw our lines in very different places than Jesus would draw lines.

We draw lines around our family and say – I’m not willing to sacrifice this. Or we draw lines around our jobs – and will sacrifice it all for the next paycheck. We draw lines in the sand and say that this particular issue – whether it’s abortion or animal rights or Islamic religious centers or the creation of a Palestinian state – this issue is the most important thing and that we will never give up until we have gotten our way and if you stand outside of that line then you are the enemy. We refuse to surrender. We refuse to give in. And in the end, I think we loose it all.

Because you know what – Christ draws a line. He doesn’t draw it around our houses or cars or children or institutions or issues – but he draws it right down the center of our lives.

Remember, Christ turns the world as we know it upside down. To save your life, you must lose it. To be exulted, you must be humbled. To be first, you must be last.

Nowhere in the gospel does it say that if you go to church on Sundays and the rest of the week work really hard at your job and raise a good family then someday after you die you’ll go to this happy and wonderful place called Heaven. I wish it did, but it simply doesn’t.

No, the gospel tells us that we must hate our parents and our spouses and children and put it all on the line and bear our crosses – and then we will be his disciples.

Just bear with me for a second…

Because alongside all of those hard demands on our lives, there is the good news… Because the gospel also says that the sick will be healed. The gospel also says the poor will be lifted up. The gospel also says the oppressed with go free. The gospel also promises Emmanuel – God- with-us.

Those are the words and the promises that I find in scripture. I believe in the God that will set all things right… and that includes my sorry, screwed up life with all of this messed up priorities. I believe in the God that went to the cross to experience the agony of human suffering and who rose victorious on the other side. And I have to trust that if God says – turn it all over to me and I will make something beautiful of your life – that God means what God says.

Priorities and allegiances matter. What we want more than anything in the world matters. And Christ says that if we choose to be his disciples… if we chose to be known as his followers, then we are in the palm of God’s hand. We should not be afraid, because we have life in Christ. We will find our lives and our fullness, when we follow him.

Today – we are challenged to turn our lives over. We are challenged to surrender all of those things that we think we want and that this world tells us are so important. Here our lives are, Lord. Here we are, Lord. Use us to feed the hungry. Use usto heal the sick. Use us to lift up the brokenhearted. Use us to speak the truth in love to those who preach lies. Use us to stand with the oppressed. Use us to say “no” to a world obsessed with more. And if by chance the world turns against us – so be it. We will know who stands beside us.

My prayer is that we as a community can stand up and say to the world – We want to be Christ’s disciples – and we know what is asked of us. We are ready to live God’s kingdom in this world. We know what it asks of us. And we are not afraid. Amen.

levels and dimensions

Posted on April 5, 20101 Comment

Last month at our county ministerial alliance gathering, we got to chatting about the books we were reading. One pastor mentioned a book – and of course the title escapes me – but it had something to do with how we invite people into deeper discipleship. I actually think that it was “Simple Church: Returning to God’s Process for Making Disciples” but I’m not 100% positive.

Our conversation from this point talked about the process for making these deep disciples. We talked about Saddleback Church’s Baseball Diamond metaphor… which probably comes from somewhere else first. We talked about the process at one local pastor’s church of moving from an attender to a participator to a server… well, that’s not exactly how he phrased it, but it’s moving from simply being there to going deeper in your involvement and then giving back in some way.

It was all about process and movement and how to move people, how to encourage people to not just stay at one level in their spiritual growth, but to… grow!

I left the conversation thinking about the fact our congregation hasn’t had a discussion about our discipleship process. People come to church and we try to get them to join and then… well, pray they get active. It’s kind of sad to type that out, but it’s probably the truth.

I left the meeting and picked back up the book that I had been reading, “This Beautiful Mess: Practicing the Presence of the Kingdom of God” by Rick McKinley. And the very chapter I was beginning had this to say:

When I first became a Christ follower, I was invited to a Bible study… Bring it on, I thought. I was all for it. I devoured that one and soon moved on to the next, and then the next one after that, and the next one after that… But there was no end to it. All I ever arrived at was a new level that needed reaching. Now you might recognize yourself in my spiritual striving, or you might not. But I see that kind of striving and competitiveness everywhere… churches especially. Pastors and lay leaders love to talk about advancing the kingdom, about building the kingdom. It is as if Jesus said, “My kingdom is a pile of lumber on the truck in heave, and I need you boys and girls to get a hammer and help Me nail this thing together. Could ya?”

But he didn’t… He said, “The Kingdom is…”

… What if I told you that the the world is broken and that WE are God’s answer to the world’s problems?… You yourself – and all that you can do – are crucial to the future of the planet. Just like you secretly, humbly, all along expected.

Of course, it’s not true. The kingdom is. That’s it. Jesus does not need you or me to nail it together.

Kind of throws me off. I like thinking in terms of levels of achievement… if I work hard and do the right things, I can move to the next level… Levels of spirituality are perfect for a culture that deifies the individual. Our world is focused on self; the kingdom is about the other. It demands that I notice others, love others, pray for them and serve them. “Levels spirituality” does not. It allows me to do it myself, by myself.

Jesus hates levels spirutuality. All it does is reinforce the lie that started way back in the beginning – the one that says I can be like God. (pgs 56-58)

So, I spent the morning talking about and embracing this idea of levels and growth through a process and then Rick McKinley turns the whole thing upside down and on its head and says – no.

Of course, it’s not necessarily an either/or. It’s a both/and. We are called both to just be in Christ’s kingdom and we are called to take up our cross and follow.

In spite of my Wesleyan roots, I think I tend to really hold fast to the being of discipleship. Wesley had a fanatical desire to grow in his spirituality and had all sorts of “methods” for doing so. Fasting, prayer, visiting the prisoners were all steps in the process of becoming more like Christ. There was the whole idea of sanctification… that we actually COULD by God’s grace become more and more like Christ.

But what I think that in spite of all the doing of discipleship, the early Wesleyans were also putting themselves in situations and among people where they could BE in the Kingdom. They was seeking out the poor – or they were the poor, the sick, the imprisoned. They sat with the people Jesus loved. They loved them. They did what they could for them, but the relationships were important. When they asked, “how is it with your soul?” they meant it.

Again from Rick McKinley:

…God isn’t measuring anything. He only wants us to live in a dimension that is already there. He is simply inviting us to be a part of what He is already doing… What I am realizing after a few years of leaving the levels is that our eyes begin to see differently. We notice the kingdom dimension of life, but slowly… seeing the kingdom may take a few seconds.

My hope as a pastor is not that I get someone to achieve higher levels of discipleship, but that I can love them. My hope is that I can love them and offer them the opportunity to see the world with new eyes. To see the world as Christ sees it. To see the broken and hurting things and to love them. Yes, there is a goal to be reached – a time when that hurting and suffering and pain is no more… but that is not for me to determine. I can simply be in the kingdom and let Christ’s love flow through me.