Commitment

Commitment is a big word these days.  Mostly, it seems to be from the fact that so many people seem to be without commitment.  We see it in many different ways.  A couple doesn't want to be committed to one another, so they call their life together a time to "try things out".  People don't choose to be part of various activities, such as ministries, because they don't want to be committed to something out of fear that they won't be able to get out, or will be made to feel extremely guilty if they do try to get out.  And these are just a few examples.

I've been thinking that this is very interesting.  Could it be that, in our day and age, there are few things that people really want to be committed to simply because they don't see how their involvement makes a big difference?  About 50 years ago, thousands of people committed themselves to various marches to secure freedom and equal rights for people of differing skin colors.  During that same time, many people committed themselves to fighting against participation in a war that they didn't support.

Think about recent events in the life of our country.  What has been there for us to really commit ourselves to?  Sure, quite a few people "committed" themselves to occupy Wall Street or other streets throughout the US, but were many of those committed, or were they just looking for a reason to not go to work or school?  How many people seem to be truly committed to political people? 

Could it be that the lack of commitment comes because these things just don't seem to make a difference anymore?  In some backward-seeming way, could it be that we as a people don't commit simply because we don't see the hope that is offered in the various ventures in which we could be committed?

Sadly, this is greatly present in the Christian Church and its various ministries and auxiliaries, as well.  Could it be that the Christian message has become more about engaging in politics or telling people what is right and wrong rather than painting a picture of hope for this world and beyond?  It seems that people are more likely to become committed to something that offers hope for the future, hope for change, hope that things will be better.

The fundamental message of the Christian faith is that God is indeed working to bring about hope and a better future.  It's not something that will be realized in this world, but does give us a picture of a perfect life beyond this world, one which is open to all who put their faith in Christ Jesus.  In an age of hopelessness and lack of  commitment, maybe the thing that is needed is to paint the picture that things will not always be as they are now.  There is hope for the future, and the people of this world can be part of that hope.  Maybe that hope in the One who was lifted up to draw all people to Himself can once again draw people to Christ and give a great sense of hope to many who are floundering in their hope and their commitment.

Being Manly, Being Moved

"When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her weeping also, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled."  John 11:33

We live in a manly world, in many ways.  We hear good manly sayings, such as "Never let them see you sweat" or "Never let them see you cry."  It's just not manly if you cry, or if you admit to pain, or if you let others see that something is bothering you.

Stupid, isn't it?  You can see in the verse just above that Jesus, who is the epitome of what it means to be truly human, but also truly a man, well, in the verse above, what does Jesus do?  He is moved, moved very deeply in his spirit.  He is greatly troubled.  In fact, just two verses later, we have one of the shortest verses in the Bible, which simply says, "Jesus wept."

If Jesus, who is truly and completely the definition of what it means to be human, cries and is deeply moved, then why do we tend to think that such things aren't manly?

Now, I admit that I have a bit of a bias in this.  It's a well-known fact that, when I face meaningful moments in life, tears come rather easily to my eyes.  I have led many confirmation classes, and inevitably, on their confirmation day, I will cry.  It's even gotten to the point that the class will ask me ahead of time if I'm going to cry.  I really have no shame in telling them that I will, since I invest so much of myself into their lives and spiritual formation.

For some reason, though, we have a tendency to downplay the role of those deep, primal emotions and feelings when it comes to our faith.  We seem to have fallen into the more scientific mindset, that you must be objective and dispassionate when it comes to describing your faith.  If you get too caught up, or are too deeply moved or inspired, well, you are often seen as a bit of a nutcase, who is overly reliant upon your emotions than upon your rational thoughts.

And yet, take a good, long look at God.  God is one who is hardly objective in how He views His people.  He calls Himself jealous when they go looking for other gods.  He calls Himself their husband, in which case, you would hope that He's not objective and dispassionate about us.  As we see in Jesus, He's deeply moved, and greatly troubled that we face such pain and suffering in our lives.  God is hardly a rational, objective God, especially when it comes to His people.

Now, we really shouldn't base the relationship that God has with us upon how we happen to feel at any particular time.  Nor should we simply discard the emotional center we have as humans simply because they cannot "prove" things, perhaps other than conviction.  To say either of these has no importance is to downplay the way that God has made us.

Oh, men, by the way, that goes for us, too.  So remember that next time someone tells you that it's not manly to be overly moved by something, or even moved to tears.  If Jesus is unashamed to do it, then you really don't have to worry about it, either.

Handling Frustration

Over the past month or so, I've had ample opportunity to practice my abilities to handle frustration.  I won't go into great detail over all the different things that have frustrated me, but there has been one rather large one that my wife and I have had to deal with.

About two months ago, we made the decision to finish the three rooms in our house that were unfinished.  They were our laundry room, a bathroom, and a bedroom.  We had never gone through a project like this before, and didn't know many people who did this kind of work.  So we started from scratch, calling around to get quotes and trying to find recommendations from other people who had work done on their houses.

In the end, we ended up with a couple of decent quotes, and went with the one that seemed to be pretty good.  The contractor told us it would be about a three week project.  So we met with him and signed our contract to have the work done.

Things started out okay.  We signed the papers on Monday, and by Thursday, the rooms had all been framed.  Things looked optimistic.  The sheetrocker was to come in on Friday and get started, which just happens to be my day off.  He came over and dropped off his stuff late on Thursday, and told me when he would be there the following day.

So on Friday, I waited.  And waited.  And waited.  No one showed up.  No phone calls.  I finally called the contractor, who said he would try to be in touch with the guy, and would let me know what was going on.  But I didn't hear anything from either of them until Monday, when the contractor said that he still hadn't heard back from the guy.  He gave a couple of possible excuses, none of which seemed to explain why the guy couldn't let us know that he wasn't coming.

Well, to make a rather lengthy story a bit shorter, the sheetrocker had ended up in the hospital with a blood clot in his leg.  Okay, a rather understandable reason not to show up for work.  However, now it seemed like no one knew what to do next.  We waited for him to get a little better, and he said that he would be by late the following week.  Well, that time came and went, still with no phone calls, mind you.  Finally, toward the middle of the second week, he finally seemed to feel that he should have one of his part time workers come over and at least get the sheetrock hung.  The young man worked hard, and three short work days later, the sheetrock was hung.

However, then it was time to wait for the sheetrocker to do his next stage, taping and mudding the walls.  Well, if you haven't guessed by now, it took at least another week before all of this was finally done.  What had originally been outlined to us as a three week project had taken three weeks for sheetrock alone!  And that wasn't even the end of the project.

My wife and I have been challenged in how we handle frustration throughout this process.  I will not say it has been easy, especially with her going through the later stages of pregnancy.  Even though I am typically a fairly patient and understanding guy, I have to admit that the whole process has been a challenge even to me.

This seems like one of those times when God has seemed to decide that I needed to face something like this to learn about myself, and to grow as His child.  My hope is that He has taught me how to be Christ-like, even when things are not going as I had hoped or planned.  Or maybe, at the very least, He has taught me about what my expectations should be if I ever need housework done in the future!

How Good Are You At Speaking?

But Moses said to the LORD, "Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue."  Exodus 4:10

Does the thought of getting up in front of people bring butterflies to your stomach?  Do you often find yourselves in a situation, and you don't really know what to say?  Do you have a hard time expressing your thoughts to others? 

Good news!  That doesn't make you any less of a Christian.  I have read the above verse many times.  In fact, there have been points in my life where I wanted to make the same excuses to God, and not all of those points came before I became a pastor/preacher.  There have been times when I have given a message, and afterward thought about how poorly I did at that.

This spring I have been reading a number of books for a preaching class that I am taking this summer.  Believe me when I say there is no shortage of tips and techniques in speaking!  And yet, even as I read through all of these helpful books, written by faithful Christians, there is always one thing that stands out in the back of my mind.

I can have the clearest of speech and the best presentation ever, but what that does is put the spotlight on me, not on God.  In fact, when I have people come up and say that they really liked what I said because they could understand it well, I sometimes wonder if I haven't messed up.  After all, the power of speaking is about God doing the work through the words, and not my effectiveness.

At the same time, you also can't say that the words and presentation has no impact.  If I just speak words at random, and you can't understand them, how does the message of the good news get across?  It's that fine interplay between designing our words and sentences so that they are understandable, while at the same time realizing that it is God who works through the words, no matter how well crafted or poorly thrown together.

Speaking comes naturally to some, and not so much to others.  The good thing is, no matter our speaking skills, God's Spirit still works through those words.

Monday Musings

An assortment of random thoughts floating around in my head this afternoon.

• Yesterday marked the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.  Now, I'm not much of a history buff or anything like that, but it just seems to me that, anytime we humans start thinking that we've done something incredible, God has a tremendous way of humbling us and helping us see that we and the things of this earth are only temporary.  For further information, read about the tower of Babel in Genesis 11.
• My wife is getting increasingly closer to our due date of May 7, though there are some signs that she may not make it all the way to that date.  Prayers for her and for our baby's health are greatly appreciated.  What a joy it is to have a God who looks upon us and hears us as a Father who dearly loves His children.
• You learn so much  by reading a variety of books.  I read a number of current day popular books not only because I enjoy them, but because they also give me clues into the matters that people are being drawn to.  That gives me some common sources for talking with people and addressing matters of importance to them in their lives, always with the hope that God will open a door to talk about Him in that conversation.
• I find myself torn quite often by my love of sports.  Two of my favorite teams have their seasons going on right now.  The Texas Rangers are off to a great start to their baseball season, and my San Antonio Spurs are looking like possible champions.  Yet, even as I cheer my teams on, I find myself not liking how much sports seems to consume the lives of so many.  Is our modern day life so bad that we need distractions such as sports, which then become multi-billion dollar industries simply because we can't deal with life without distractions?  This may make its way into some future posts.
• Prayers go out for the many families and states that have been affected by all the bad weather, especially across the midwest.  Is it just me, or does it seem like coverage of the effects of "natural disasters" just draws our attention?  I think we are simply awed by such powerful forces that are out of our control.

While that's not all that's floating around my mind, I figure it's enough to get a few thoughts going inside of your heads, too!

Easter Letdown

It's a strange phenomenon that sadly takes place practically every year.  We come to the Easter celebration, and churches are filled with people celebrating Christ's resurrection.  We sing our festive hymns with large numbers of other Christians, and leave the church building with joy in our hearts as we head off to our family get-togethers.

Then, the following Sunday arrives, and it's not merely business as usual, but it's almost as though many people need a week to recover from Easter.  So, what is the solution?  Stay home, and don't go worship.  Sure, Jesus is alive and has made us right with God.  Sure, our eternal life is secured, as is the forgiveness of our sins.  But our response is to worship at St. Mattress and St. Pillow alone, rather than going to join our brothers and sisters at our local gathering place.

Now, a little bit of this is understandable.  Christmas and Easter tend to be the two holy days where people feel they must make their religious obligations and attend church.  Maybe it's to check in with God, or maybe they feel that it's their "duty".  And I'm not going to get into that discussion today.  The lack of presence of these individuals is something to be expected.

 But what about the people who are fairly faithful in their worship time together?  Do we so lightly take account of the Lord's day that we fail to recognize that God still does His work through the Gospel message every time we come together?  Now, I'm not going to pretend to be some kind of worship Nazi, saying that you have to be there every single week or else.  But I will say, what does it say about our faith when we intentionally put ourselves first rather than our time with God and with others?

I'm pretty sure that my thoughts here won't change the minds of any of those who may engage in such behavior.  Who knows, there are some who may even read what I write, and then get angry that I even say something about it.  It is funny, though, how we get angry at those who remind us that we have done wrong.  It's as though we want others to simply overlook our sins and ignore them rather than lovingly to bring them to our attention in order to bring us more in line with what God's will and desires are.

So tomorrow, I will be sharing God's good news once again.  I may feel a little let down that all of those people who gathered to hear of Jesus' resurrection aren't there to receive God's gifts again the following week, but that does not stop the proclaiming of God's good news.  The message continues to go forth, no matter how many or few may gather together.

Wednesday Ramblings

Hi everyone, and I hope that you are still full of joy at the Easter celebration of a couple of days ago.  I haven't blogged for a couple days, basically just giving myself a bit of a mental break.

In a way, I'm always a little bit glad when the whole Lent/holy week/Easter time is done.  I don't mind the extra worship times, and I really enjoy things like our soup suppers, our annual Passover celebration to see where Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper, and our Easter weekend events.  These events and hanging out with God's people really do bring me quite a bit of joy.

The thing that I'm most ready for at the end of this cycle each year is the mental break.  Yes, I still have to prepare to preach this coming Sunday, but instead of having to put together something every 3 days, I have a full week to let it ruminate inside my head and heart.  That's the one thing that the Lent/holy week/Easter cycle does.  It taxes one's creativity.

And yet, even in the midst of that creativity, there is still one thing that shines through.  It's the same story, which still carries the same meaning for us.  Jesus died for our sins, and rose to give us the assurance of His victory.  Now He gives those to us as a gift, as we put our trust in what He has done and accomplished.  While the way that the message gets proclaimed calls for creativity, the message itself remains the same as it has been since that Sunday morning so many years ago.  Jesus is not in the tomb, but is risen, as He said.

I have enjoyed the whole season.  In some ways, I relish the creativity that is demanded, since it demonstrates how we who share the message need to take the time to ensure that this message has impact for all who gather to hear.  While the Holy Spirit can work through even the most monotone of messages, He seems to take great joy in bringing it home and to life when it really impacts us and hits us in our "real" life.

I pray that this age-old message continues to resonate with each of you, and that you heard that message in a way that touched your heart this Easter.

For Love and Food

Today is a holy day for many Christians throughout the world, a day known as Maundy Thursday.  Strange name, yes.  It comes from Jesus' mandate to the disciples as they celebrated the Passover, His command to love one another as He has loved His disciples.  That mandate, to serve one another, is the word of Jesus to all people who bear His name and who are His own.

In the context of that Passover meal, Jesus made it evident just how great His love is for those who follow Him.  The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell us about Jesus taking the piece of bread which would be broken, and as He broke it, He gave it to the disciples, telling them to eat it because it was His own body, which would be broken for the forgiveness of their sins.  And then, in the same way, He took the cup that was to be drank after the meal, and as He passed it to them, He told them all to drink if, for it was His blood of the new covenant, which was to be shed on the cross for the forgiveness of all their sins.

This brings to my mind the role that love and food play in our lives.  How often do we get together for a meal with those whom we love or whom we enjoy being around?  There is just something about food and love that goes well together.  Some of our most memorable times with friends or family probably have taken place in the context of a meal.  And who gets together without having some kind of food available?

In the context of that Passover meal, Jesus showed how food and love really tie together in God's eyes.  We cannot consume the bread of the meal without the connection to the body of Jesus, which was broken for our forgiveness.  We cannot drink the wine of the cup without the connection to the blood of Jesus, shed for our forgiveness.  Jesus shows His true love for us by giving us a meal that contains the very things that were broken and shed for our forgiveness.

Love and food go well together.  But in the particular meal of the Sacrament that Christians celebrate, the love of God, the forgiveness of Jesus, and food truly come together in a spectacular, yet unexplainable way.  When we receive the holy meal of the Sacrament, we receive Christ's love, Christ's forgiveness, and His own body and blood.  Love and food come together, and in doing so, form a miraculous meal which is given for us.

Time For Others

One of the hardest things that I have to deal with personally is when I feel that other people are intruding in on "my" time.  It actually takes a number of different forms.  For example, if I'm involved in a TV show or a book, and my wife calls on me to do something, I tend to get kind of irritated.  There have even been times when I would 'kindly' let her know that I was really involved in something else and didn't want to be bothered.

At other times, it takes the form of phone calls.  If I'm working on something in my office, and the phone rings, a lot of the time I look at the phone as an unwanted interruption.  I could be getting a lot of other things done rather than talking on the phone. 

This same thing happens when I have things planned out, and then other things come up that disrupt my plans.  In each of these instances, I tend to be less than gracious toward those who interrupt me.

Then, I read the stories of Jesus.  Jesus, who spent all day with the crowds, and then went at night to talk to His Father.  Then, in the morning, when it seems like He'd like nothing more than to rest, the crowds are coming up to Him again.  They have more sick people for Him to heal.  They have more that they want to hear from Him.  And so often, we see Jesus graciously giving them what they want and need.

That kind of graciousness seems supernatural to me.  (Of course, since it is Jesus, it is supernatural, since He is the one true God.)  And I find that there are times in my life where it would be greatly beneficial if I were to respond to other people with that same graciousness.  Since God has shown such great grace to me, why should I think that I don't have to show it to others?

What are the times in your life where you tend to feel less than gracious toward others when they encroach upon your time?  Are there some ways that you can remind yourself of what it means to be gracious to others?  These are things that I am always interested in learning.  And I hope that you tend to be more gracious than I do when these kinds of situations arise!

The Narrow Road

Yesterday I blogged about the way that people are being encouraged to use products to help them get their slim bodies without any work or sacrifice of their own.  To introduce that, I used the quote from Jesus about the wide, easy road which leads to destruction.  But I have to admit that, after reading that set of verses again yesterday, my brain has kicked into gear.

What does Jesus mean by the narrow road?  Well, in some ways, this seems to be a fairly easy answer, and in other ways, it's a pretty tough one.  A narrow road implies that there aren't a lot of alternative routes that you can take to get to your destination.  Of course, we can liken this to our hope of life after death with God.  Jesus is the narrow road, as He is the only way to God the Father, through His suffering, death, and resurrection.

And yet, Jesus says that the narrow road is not an easy road.  So what exactly does that mean?  If all we have to do is believe that Jesus has taken care of all the work for us, then it seems like that's actually pretty easy.  All we have to do is trust that He has taken care of the way.

But what if our faith and belief in Jesus really isn't as easy as all of that sounds?  What if we have to admit that we absolutely cannot add or contribute anything at all to what Jesus has done?  In fact, when we echo Paul's phrase that we are saved by grace through faith, according to the Greek root of the word, we are saved by charity.  That means that we cannot make any kind of demand.  Essentially, we sit there, begging, with our hand out, with the gift completely in God's hands, and that it's His choice completely if we receive it or if we are denied it.

How easy is it to admit that we have nothing to contribute to another?  How easy do you find it when you are completely at the mercy of another person with what they want to do with your life?  If you had to beg for food, beg for clothing, beg for shelter, beg for everything in your life, how easy would that be?  You live completely at the mercy of others, depending on them for everything?  Is that, in your mind, easy?

Plus, there is the other side of the coin.  Once we receive this charity from God, it's also not easy to live as one who truly appreciates the gift you have been given.  Since one of the things that God does is to re-create us and to make us in the image of Christ, that means that we battle against that which is sinful in us.  We fight not to do the things that come naturally, but to show love for God and to put the needs and concerns of others equal to, if not greater than, our own.

Think about that one.  How easy do you find it to do something for another person when you would rather do something else?  When I'm trying to relax, or read a book, or focus on some work, I get annoyed when someone calls, or when someone needs something from me.  I tend to do it grudgingly, and to let the person know that I'm not happy about being interrupted.  I'm looking for the wide, easy road rather than the narrow road that looks to the good of others.

As you can tell, this is a very narrow road.  In fact, the only one who has ever been able to walk this road perfectly is Jesus.  That's why we need Him.  He alone can give us the gift of perfection, and who can overcome our own resistance to the narrow road in favor of the wide road.  That's why we need what He has done for us, and simply cannot rely on our own good works, thoughts, or intentions.

The Easy Road

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few."  Jesus in Matthew 7.

Today I went for a run at the gym.  I really like my gym.  I have my favorite treadmills scoped out, where I can be positioned under a fan, and where I can watch the TVs lined up along the wall while I listen to my ipod.  All in all, it's a pretty good life to be able to enjoy all those comforts while I get my runs in.

Though today, I came across a commercial on one of the TVs that got me to thinking.  The commercial was advertising this belt type thing that you wear across your waist and belly, and it promotes heat, so you essentially sweat your belly away.  They had all the usual before and after pictures, and a few people giving their testimonials about how well this product worked.

As I ran, sweating, on the treadmill, I thought of how many people would love to be thin by doing nothing more than sitting on the couch, wearing one of those things, without giving any effort whatsoever to their fitness.  That just really seems to be the easy way to something, with no cost, since you don't even have to change any exercise or eating patterns and can supposedly lose weight.  (Yes, I am skeptical of the products claims, but I think this is reflective of the overall society that we now live in, and yes, I recognize that I am saying this about the time when I am running in the air conditioned gym with my comforts of music and TV at my disposal.  I never have pretended to be the complete idealist!)

Jesus warns about taking the easy road, which leads to destruction.  Now, it may not be so easy to figure out what exactly Jesus is referring to here, since He has purchased us at the cost of His life and has made us His own through His suffering, death, and resurrection.  However, I tend to lean toward the understanding that the life we then live out as a redeemed, forgiven, purchased person isn't the life of ease or luxury, but rather, involves making tough decisions that may not necessarily make sense to the rest of the world.

I suppose, in some way, that's why I choose to run rather than try these questionable weight loss products that supposedly do their work without any exertion on our part.  The easy road may be easy, but I have also seen the value of hard work in my life.  There are many things that are worth doing, no matter what the cost may be, and they are rarely easy.  In fact, I've thought quite often that if something is worth doing, or if it's the right thing to do, it probably isn't going to be easy.

That's what we see in Jesus, who bore the cross for us to make us His own.  If God would have Jesus carry such a load, can we then expect that the easy road is God's preferred way for our lives?