Living life in the declarative

Posted on December 28, 2010 by Fred

As you survey Christian history (or any movement in history promoting philosophical or social change) you might discover a seemingly “all-or-nothing” posture towards the christian faith.  Whether the motive was God-honoring or self-honoring, people were sold out to what they believed.  They did not settle to merely live in “the question” in order to be liked, respected or esteemed.  Many of these men and women believed that when it came to life lived in this world, a Creator God offered a word or two about how it should lived and how others should be loved.  These men and women lived life in the “declarative.”  There was a period at the end of their life’s proclamation because they were rooted in deep conviction.  Yes, as you read you will see some men and women whose proclamation of beliefs ranged from biblically-centered to ferociously misguided.

My heart genuinely aches to find that when it comes to living lives of conviction in history, the present, or in my own life, we have often failed to allow our interpretive key to be love. Instead we have pursued Christ’s doctrine so ambitiously that we have often lost Christ’s disposition in the process.  But equally as dangerous is to overreact and settle back with little to no conviction and live life in the “question.”  In other words, when it comes to having a belief, conviction or action there is a question mark at the end.

The reality of life is that there are some moments, beliefs or causes worth dying for, whether literally or figuratively speaking.  In facing one of those moments I had a mentor ask: “Is this a hill you are willing to climb and a battle in which you are willing to die?”  I discovered that there are some convictions that should cause us to climb up the hill in the battle-field of life and risk our reputation or job.  I have had many mentors, teachers and friends who chose to climb up the hill and fight for what they believed.  Some “died” because they were fired or marginalized publicly.  Some died because their lives were taken from this earth.  It was an all or nothing conviction.  A period.  No question mark.

All throughout history men and women were willing to climb these hills of battle because they lived life in the declarative.  At times it gave birth to terrible movements and actions.  But in many cases their convictions were guided by love and kept the christian faith moving forward as they followed their Savior and gave their lives away.  They changed their world.  Lives lived in the declarative bring change.  Lives lived in the question will only bring, well, more questions?

May we be willing to do live life in the declarative, and may we have teachable spirits so that God in His grace can lead us up the proper hills to “die” upon.  Too many hurting and spiritually disoriented hearts are at stake for anything less.

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Normalcy

Posted on December 24, 2010 by Fred

(First off, I would like to say thank you to Lee Camp for the inspiration for this message.  I have read several accounts of this story and put it together as a story below.  This was my Christmas Eve message at our 2010 Christmas Eve Candlelight Service.)

Ninety-six years ago to the day, the world was at war.  It was Christmas Eve 1914.  Thousands of soldiers found themselves lying in cold, mud-filled trenches on the dreary battlefield of France.  Emperor and King had called the men to war.  Of course, as is always true of world superpowers, both sides claimed God to be on their side.  They believed it would be a short war and that perhaps the troops would be home for Christmas.  But there they were, cold, wet and tired, hunkered down in muddy trenches on Christmas Eve.

Both sides were only a few hundred feet apart with nothing but a relatively flat area known as “No Man’s Land” between them.  A stalemate had halted all but a scattered number of brief attacks.  The only thing the soldiers could do was wait, watch and wallow in the muddy trenches.  Sometimes the two enemies would yell at each other as some of the German soldiers had worked in Britain before the war, and so they shared common interests.  Sometimes they would shout rude remarks towards one another providing for themselves entertainment.  At other times conversations could be overheard, each man speaking in his own language.  So there they were, cold, and wet on Christmas Eve and all they could do is watch and wait for further violence to begin.

The German soldiers had received small Christmas trees from the home front from Emperor Kaiser.  As the dusk of Christmas eve fell, the soldiers decorated them with candles and placed them at the top edge of their trenches.  It is said that hundreds of Christmas trees lit the German trenches and that the french and british troops could see these small lit trees.

At one point someone signaled for silence and across “No Mans Land” came the melodic sound of a tired German voice:

Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht…

Though the French and English did not understand the words they were familiar with the story, they knew the tune and the knew the occasion.  Many of the English responded with a Christmas hymn of their own:

On the first Noel…

It is said that Christmas caroling went on for hours until later that night a German soldier was sighted making his way across “No Man’s Land.”  With their rifles loaded and ready the English prepared to fire, until someone spotted a truce flag in one hand and a small lit Christmas tree in the other.  The Christmas tree was of the ones Kaiser had sent to the German troops for Christmas.  It was a Christmas Eve gift offering to his enemies.

The English came out, the germans came out and they began wishing one another a merry Christmas.  Small gifts from their respective countries were exchanged between enemies, food, buttons, christmas trees, and cigarettes. Even family photographs were being shown.  One old veteran said they were conversing as if they had known each other for years.

So it began, a Christmas party in the midst of a war.  They were no longer merely soldiers.  They were sons, fathers, husbands and some even brothers in Christ.  Despite their uniforms and allegiance to their country, for a few brief hours they lived as though they were the same.

The sun arose on Christmas day and each side stepped back out in to “No Man’s Land” to sort through their dead and bury their fallen comrades.  In a few rare instances, joint services were held for the English and German dead.  Soon Christmas day came and went. These sons, fathers, husbands and some, brothers in Christ, became enemies once again and the fighting ensued.  As one old vet said, “It was as if everything went back to normal.”

It was supposed to be the war to end all wars.  Yet on Christmas Eve 2010, we find ourselves in the midst of a world still at war.  So on this Christmas Eve, we remember and we pray.

We remember and pray that the One who came 2000 years ago to bring love, peace and deliverance can in this day still bring us love, peace, and deliverance; deliverance from what we have come to believe and accept as normal.

We pray for deliverance from the normalcy of war; from the normalcy of pride; from the normalcy of consumerism; from the normalcy of prejudice; from the normalcy of sorrow and loneliness.  We pray for deliverance from the normalcy of all of our obsessions, especially those obsessions that are dressed up in the clothes of religion and moralism.  We pray for deliverance from the normalcy of a world full of individuals and families who, day after day, consistently seek to find ways to save themselves.

We pray for the complete coming of Jesus‘ prophetic call: where all people of every race, nationality, social class, or past, can come once again to the manger where the Savior of the world once laid His head, and then watch Him willingly walk to the cross where He died, and finally take a glance in to the tomb where He was buried but was raised from the dead so that all people would see that He came to set the world free from what is so-called normal.

We pray that we would all believe and understand that in the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God began a new thing.  He ushered in a new regime, one called the Kingdom of God which calls for a new salvation-birthed life where love, joy and peace may be known and where His divine presence may be felt both now and forever.  This Kingdom creates a new reality where all people can become one as they place their trust in Christ Jesus as Lord and King.  It is a reality that proclaims that only in Jesus Christ can man, woman and child find a faithful love in the midst of lovelessness, deep joy in the midst of sorrow, abiding peace in the midst of chaos, steadfast hope in the midst of hopelessness, and eternal life in the midst of death.

For unto you a child is born. He is Savior and Lord, King of kings.  He was born, He has lived, He has died and He has risen again and still lives and will reign over all Creation both now and forevermore.  He invites you to know Him and to join Him, as in His birth He wants you to know that you are loved by Him.  His name is Jesus, God with us.

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A Thanksgiving Sermon

Posted on November 23, 2010 by Fred

WARNING! This is a rather long post as it is a sermon (and was a short one) that I gave at a Community-wide Unity Thanksgiving service this past weekend.  My prayer is that if you are reading this and are a Christ-follower, it will help re-frame Thanksgiving just a little.  If you are reading this and are not a Christ-follower, then perhaps it will help you see what Jesus seemed to be more concerned about despite what we as His followers often miss it.  Blessings and have a great Thanksgiving!

———————–

I got to thinking about this thanksgiving service several weeks ago.  I was praying and wondering about what I should preach.  Logically I thought, “I should preach a sermon on thankfulness.  It’s a thanksgiving service.”

But then I got to thinking about how I am going to be preaching to a room mostly full of christians.  I got to thinking about how we gather every week together to praise God for His goodness, celebrate His worth, hear from His Word about the world He wants to create within us and through His, and remember who we are through the Lord’s Supper.

I got to thinking about how every week we gather and are reminded of who we’ve been, who we are, and where we are headed.  Then I got to thinking about who I’ve been and how I deserve hell because of my sin.  Nothing more, nothing less.  I got to thinking about who I am and about how God loved me and all of humanity so much that He would give His only Son who knew no sin to become sin for us; how Jesus Christ was pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our sins; how the punishment that brought us peace was placed upon Him; how by His wounds, our wounds — the one’s deep within our hearts and souls —  are healed.

I got to thinking that even though I am a sinful sin-stained weak man, because of what God has done for me and to me in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, I am now a grace-covered, washed-in-the-blood-stained man who, when God looks at me, He sees me as in Christ, covered in the blood of His dear son, therefore made holy and made right in a relationship with Him.  And now because of the Gospel of Christ, God looks at me and calls me lovely while He sings over me.

So I got to thinking of the Paul’s response to the Gospel in Ephesians chapter 1, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, in Christ…in Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding…in Him we were also made His inheritance, predestined according to the purpose of the One who works out everything in agreement with the decision of His will so that we who had already put our hope in the Messiah might bring praise to His glory.”

Now that is something I sure am thankful about.

So I got to thinking that preaching a sermon to a room mostly full of christians to remind them that they should be thankful is kinda like telling a young boy born and bred in the state of Texas that he should be a Dallas Cowboys fan.  He just knows he should!

So I got to thinking, what should I preach?

Then I got to thinking about how this world needs a little hope.  We live in a world full of people that need something to be thankful about.  For some there’s not a lot of reason to give thanks in our world, you know what I mean?  We live in tough economic times.  We still live in a time of war.  We live in a world full of sickness and death.  We live in a world full of “haves” and “have-nots.”  We live in a world where people are known not by their names, but by the past or their struggles.  You’ve met them: him, the alcoholic; the widow; the orphan in that foreign country; the divorcee; the addict; black man; hispanic woman; arab; the immigrant.

I got to thinking that we live in world full of people that need something to be thankful about.

This week almost all of us are going to celebrate a holiday with people we love, just like we have done every year.  Except some in here and many out there are going to celebrate Thanksgiving for the first time without that someone they love.

Now they may need something to be thankful about.

This week almost all of us are going to sit around the table full of more food than we could ever eat.  While some in here and many out there are going to look into an empty pantry just to find something to eat.  Some are even going to have to rustle through the same old dumpsters and trash cans just so they can find another meal.

Now they may need something to be thankful about.

So I got to thinking, I am preaching to a room mostly full of christians.  We’ve got so much to be thankful about in Christ, we shouldn’t know what to do with it all.

I got to thinking, we should give others something to be thankful about.

So I got to thinking about this story Jesus told in Luke 10.

Luke 10:25-37:  Just then an expert in the law stood up to test Him, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the law?” He asked him. “How do you read it?” 
He answered: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.
“You’ve answered correctly,” He told him. “Do this and you will live.” 
But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 
Jesus took up the question and said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him up, and fled, leaving him half dead. 
A priest happened to be going down that road. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 
In the same way, a Levite, when he arrived at the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 
But a Samaritan on his journey came up to him, and when he saw the man, he had compassion.   [same word as used about Jesus in Matt 9]
He went over to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 
The next day as he was leaving he took out two silver coins gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him. When I come back I’ll reimburse you for whatever extra you spend.’ 
“Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” 
“The one who showed mercy to him,” he said. Then Jesus told him, “Go and do the same.”

We have almost always interpreted the moral of this story to say that every one is our neighbor so we should love everybody. But I don’t think this is what Jesus is telling this religious expert.  The moral of this story was found in Jesus’ question in verse 36 and answered in verse 37:

“Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” 
“The one who showed mercy to him,” he said. Then Jesus told him, “Go and do the same.”

Jesus is trying to help this religious expert understand that he was asking the wrong question.  Instead of asking “who is my neighbor,” Jesus is saying, “how about you ask, will I choose to be a good neighbor?”

The moral is not, “everyone is my neighbor.”  The moral is, I am everyone else’s good neighbor.”

So I got to thinking instead of preaching a sermon on why we should be thankful, how about I just remind us that we as a thankful people, we should just go give others a reason to be thankful; we should be a thankful good neighbor. What would happen if we intentionally started being a thankful good neighbor?  What would happen if we stopped looking for reasons to help people and just started helping?  What would happen if we stopped putting people through this sort of mental application process? You know, asking questions like “will they use this money to really buy a meal or will they just buy more liquor?”

Or, “did they lose their job because they are lazy or did they really lose their job because of what they said?”  Or, “if I do good for this person will they be willing to listen to my presentation of the Gospel?”  Or, “if I keep doing good for this person will they just take advantage of my help and never learn to do for their self?”

I don’t know about you but I sure am thankful God doesn’t ask those questions of us before He does good for us. I sure am thankful that Jesus was always focused on being a good neighbor.  So I am not very convinced that people who were told by Jesus to just focus on being good neighbors should be so focused on asking those questions.  As if we have a right to do so.  As if we are any better than or less careless with the gifts God gives us.  As if we, a people who are reminded every week of who we are, what we deserve and what we have been given because of the grace of God in Jesus Christ, have a right to make that judgment call.  Perhaps we should just be a good neighbor and let the Lord sort out the other details. That seems to be what Jesus did.

I don’t know, but I got to thinking that if we really are a thankful people, then we should be so thankful for what God has done for us in Jesus Christ, that we should be compelled to be good neighbors to those who need a little something to be thankful about.

Maybe instead of one turkey I could buy two and give one away in Jesus’ name.  I bet there is someone in your congregation who needs a turkey.  The principle at your child’s school might know someone.  There might be someone at your the office where you work.  Or just drop it off at the local Fire station.  I bet they will know someone in need.  Or drop it off at Grove Christian Outreach.  They’ll certainly know what to do with it.  Just if you give away a turkey, do it in Jesus’ name.

Maybe instead of cooking one casserole, cook two; instead of one desert, cook two.  And give one away in Jesus’ name.  Even if you don’t know whether or not your next door neighbor has the ability to provide, I bet they would enjoy a gift of your homemade apple pie baked for them in Jesus’ name. Just if you give away a casserole or dessert, do it in Jesus’ name.

Maybe instead of only having your family over, invite someone else who doesn’t have their family this year.  I bet they would enjoy your family’s company and everybody’s good cookin.  Just invite them in Jesus’ name.

So when I was asked to preach this thanksgiving sermon, I got to thinking about Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:13-16:  “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled on by men. “You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden.  No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

And I got to thinking, that if we christians decided that this Thanksgiving we were going to give a little more attention to being a good neighbor, we might give someone else something to be thankful about, especially when we do it in Jesus’ name.  And then maybe they would see our good works and give thanks to our Father in heaven.

Now I don’t know what you think, but I think that’s something to be thankful about.

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A prayer for those who love God and love others

Posted on November 16, 2010 by Fred

This is a prayer I prayed this morning as a man desperately trying to love his family well while I learn how to love God and others well.  It is an adaptation from a prayer offered in a great book entitled “Prayers” by Michel Quoist.  May it resonate deep within you and may God grant the requests of deepest yearnings of our hearts to love and live like Jesus.

Here I am Lord;

Here is my body,

Here is my heart,

Here is my soul, for the praise of your glory.

Grant that my love be purified as gold, that it may shine brightly the reflection of your love into the lives of my precious wife and most impressionable son.  All for the praise of your glory.

Grant that I may be big enough to reach the world, strong enough to carry it, pure enough to embrace it without wanting to keep it.   All for the praise of your glory.

Grant that I may be a meeting-place, but a temporary one, a road that does not end in itself, because everything to be gathered there, everything human, leads toward you.  All for the praise of your glory.

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Tangible Hope for Tangible Hurts

Posted on September 28, 2010 by Fred

First off, thank you so much to everyone who have been praying for our sweet boy Ian.  For those who do not know, over the last two months he has dealt with ear infections, the flu, bronchitis, and now a cold that has settled back into his lungs.  The short of it is that he has a “weak respiratory tract.”  We still have to be careful and aggressive with his healing.  He is currently on breathing treatments, antibiotics for his ears, and singulair (daily).  As you think of us, please pray for him.  Moving to Williamsburg Virginia will provide a new climate and will take further adjustment and observation.  We don’t have a pediatrician there yet so we will need to wisely and prayerfully hustle to find one.  Your prayers mean so much to us and we thank you from the depth of our hearts.  Now more directly to the subject of this post.

Alison and I feel so inadequate as parents.  I have heard this never really changes.  Perhaps that is good so we always remember to rely more on the LORD than our own strength.  After all, it is far too easy to hover over him thinking that somehow we can solve all of his problems or heal him ourselves.  We know that only the LORD can touch him, heal him, and restore him whether through physicians, medicine or supernatural means.  We know that He ultimately holds his life within His hands.  We know that what matters above all else is how Ian grows to know God and see God.  We also know that in this world there will be suffering and we will need to teach him to suffer well and to do so through faith.  So we pray that we grow the kind of faith that learns to trust GOD more ourselves.

I know of so many good parents who have much deeper and more constant issues or struggles with their precious children.  My heart aches, truly aches, for those.  A reminder of this came to me this evening when I had to pay $445 for Ian’s medicine.  Due to our Health Savings Account we had enough to cover it.  I praise GOD for that gift.  But I could not help but think of those parents who do not have this kind of resource or money.  These are the ones who have to choose between paying for medicine or paying for groceries.  As a follower of Jesus who seeks to see the world thru His eyes and feel with His heart, I cannot just dismiss this as a “hypothetical” or a mere “political issue.”  This really happens, whether one has chosen to follow Christ or not.  And regardless of why, it happens.  I confess that sometimes I hate that we live in such a sin-stained and consequentially broken world, that any parent would have to make this kind of choice.  Especially when I know the choice that GOD made to give up His Son.

As I write this I cannot help but think of two of my friends who are preaching ministers of large churches.  They have very young daughters suffering from the hellish illness of cancer.  On one hand I can hardly bare to read their blogs.  On the other, I cannot help but wonder if I could have the same faith to endure with such honesty, humility, and GOD-honoring dignity.

I am subtly reminded that there are many people who desperately need some tangible hope for their tangible hurts.  Even while the suffering happens all around us there is hope to be found in the midst of it all.  I’ve read and heard about it from parents who have suffered devastating hurt or loss.  I’ve heard and seen it in Jesus.  And I believe that He is poignantly reminding me that in very particular ways His followers can and should be that hope.  We should put some skin on this hope for the hurt of others.  We do this with our prayers (as many of you have for Ian) and through our giving of time and money.  We put skin on hope through our carefully thought out words of encouragement.  We put skin on hope when we attempt to put skin on love as we pursue biblically-informed justice, mercy, and giving for those who, for reasons that do not matter, lack the gifts of compassion and mercy in their lives.

Then there are some ways in which all we can do is steadily offer reminders of the eternal hope in Jesus.  A reminder of a most certain day when the curse of this world is finally put to rest; when the brokenness of love, justice and mercy is once and for all made whole; when the wrongs of this world are finally and fully made right; when hurting bodies are replaced with new ones more lovely than the human mind could ever fathom; and when the darkness of pain is forever chased away by the light of the very face of GOD in Christ Jesus when He returns in triumph.

So as you continue to pray for our sweet boy, please remember the many who suffer with far more difficult illnesses and lasting hurts.  For we all need tangible hope for these tangible hurts.

May GOD give us His heart that we may feel what He feels.  May He give us His eyes that we may see what He sees.  May He give us the faith we lack that we might trust what He knows.  And may we pray more fervently, that as we earnestly seek to offer tangible hope for tangible hurts in Jesus’ name, His Kingdom will be seen more each day.

Posted in Christian living, Marriage and Family, My Life, Philosophy, Social Justice, Uncategorized | 2 Comments