Ramblings from a Tuesday Morning

Just a few things floating around in my head this morning.

• Our country's new "gods" seem to be politics, entertainment, and wealth.  Of course, these have always been at the core of humanity's idolatry, but it has become very blatant in recent years.  These are all you seem to see advertised on TV anymore.  You also don't hear many stories about how people show care for each other anymore.  At most, you get the occasional news feature that shows how someone did something like this in the community, and it's a great feel-good story because it's not something that seems to be regularly experienced anymore.
• A true sense of community has been replaced by having a large number of acquaintances.  Think about Facebook.  How many of your "friends" do you really know well?  How many of them are people that you encountered for a season in life, but haven't really known for quite some time?  Rather than taking the time to develop deep, lasting relationships, we now seem to focus on having a lot of shallow acquaintances that barely seem to know us, or us know them.
• When it comes to celebrations, we hardly seem to celebrate the great or the excellent anymore.  Instead, we celebrate participation.  In fact, it seems to have gotten to the point that, if you actually do achieve something great or excellent, others seek to tear it down or discredit it, since it may make them feel inferior in some way.  Rather than celebrating how someone actually achieved something, we now feel like they are a threat to how we see ourselves, and want to bring them back down to our level.
• As a society, we seem to see things so starkly as either black or white.  An example of this is the whole homosexual issue that is raging in our country.  It seems that you either have to be for it completely or totally against it.  Gone seem to be the days when you could say that you disagree with a certain type of behavior, and yet still have encouraging interaction with that person.  Now, it seems that if you say that the behavior is wrong that you are instantly labelled as anti-whatever it is.  This is especially distressing when it comes to the Christian faith, which believes that every single one of us is sinful by nature, and yet, every single one of us has been rescued by Jesus' life, death, and resurrection.  There is a place to say "This is wrong" and yet still care about the person.  
• Isn't it amazing how technology seems to make the world smaller and smaller, and yet seems to create more and more distance between us in our personal relationships?

Is Resting Productive?

Friday is typically a day off of work for me.  It's the day when I would lay around the house and take a nap before my daughter was born.  It meant a day away from the rigors of work, a day to get my head and body rested and recovered.

And yet, I have found an interesting thing that happens in my head when it comes to Fridays.  I always look for something to be doing.  Truth be told, I'm one of those people that has a hard time just sitting around watching TV, or playing on the computer, or only reading a book.  While I don't mind doing any of those, I also cannot just sit there at one of them for hours on end without going a little crazy.

But today it hit me for some reason.  Why do I need to find something "productive" to be doing when I can be resting?  Could it be that I have been taken over by the American idea that you always have to be productive, or your time is being wasted?  I have visited other countries where they take breaks throughout the day, and where their vacation time typically adds up to more than a month.  Why do I, and we, as Americans, have such a hard time seeing rest as something productive?

I've grown to realize the productiveness of rest when it comes to my running.  If I were to simply run seven days a week, I know that my body would wear out.  It needs time away from running to heal the minor muscle tears and to recover.  Without that time away from the roads or the treadmill, the body will eventually break down, and running will then become a chore rather than something enjoyable.

It really does seem that God knows what He was doing when He told His people to set aside a day of rest (the literal meaning of the word Sabbath is day of rest).  Without that day that we set aside to focus on Him, and to get away from the work of our hands, we would never have time for the healing that we need, both from letting our minds and bodies rest, as well as the refreshing that takes place when we find ourselves in the place where God speaks His Word to us, and where He gives us His gifts as we take time to devote ourselves to Him.

Now, I understand that resting means different things for different people.  Your idea of rest may not be the same as mine.  Though I may not understand it, you may never find an eight mile run restful.  But I see how it is for my body and soul, and so I hope that you also find that your time of rest is indeed productive.

Seriously!?!?!

The title word for today's blog post is one that comes from my mouth fairly often.  Usually, it's while I'm driving, especially when I see someone do something that just simply doesn't make sense.  For example, last week I was driving along one of our local neighborhood roads and was behind another car.  We were driving along a residential area road, and there was a person on the side of the road who wanted to cross the road.  The car in front of me stopped in the middle of the block (without a crosswalk or any other sign indicating that the pedestrian could walk there) in order to let the person walk in front of them, even though no one was coming the other way, and that car and I were the only ones on the road.  They stopped merely to be "nice" to the pedestrian and not have them wait the extra 5 seconds it would have taken for us to pass and for that person to walk across the road after us.  And out of my mouth came the word: "Seriously!!!"

As a Christian, there have been any number of times when I have had to say this about something that I have done which affects my relationship with God and with my fellow man.  As a student of God's Word, I know a great deal about what God says we should be doing, what we should be avoiding, and how we should be acting toward one another.  And yet, despite that knowledge, every once in a while I find myself doing something that calls for me to say "Seriously!?!?!?" to myself.

I also see this in the lives of so many other Christians.  In one way, it really is quite shocking how often we do things that are blatantly against God's will and word, things that we expect that we should know better than to do.  And I have uttered that word "Seriously" on more than one occasion when I have witnessed how God's people act regarding their faith and the living out of that faith in their lives.

In some ways, I expect that God desires for all of His people to take their faith and the living out of that faith seriously.  It's not merely an expectation on my part, but it's found throughout the Bible.  God calls for His people to be holy people, to be perfect as God is perfect.  Granted, we all know that we are incapable of that, a condition which the Bible calls sin.  And yet, when God's people fail to take their faith and life seriously, history shows us that God will often allow us the quite firm reminder that being His chosen people doesn't mean we don't take Him or our faith seriously.

Let's face it.  It's easy to fail to take our faith seriously.  Instead of being kind to another person, it's far easier to say what we are really thinking about them.  Instead of recognizing our neighbor in need, it's far easier to find an excuse not to take the time or effort to help them.  Instead of taking time to pray or focus on God's Word, it's far easier to find time to do other, more enjoyable things.  And the list could go on and on and on.

I think this is one of the reasons why so many see Christians as hypocrites.  It's not that we fail to do these things, but rather, we present the image that we take these things seriously, but then, when people look at our lives, they don't see the evidence of it.  If we were seen to be honest and admit that we fail at it more than we actually succeed, and that we turn to God for forgiveness, the charge might be much less daunting.  But when we put forth the image that we are doing it, and yet, the evidence of our lives presents the contrary, then we are far more open to the charge of hypocrisy.

That's why I need the frequent reminder that I need to heed this word too.  When it comes to my faith and life, I really need to take it more "Seriously!"  I think it's something that all Christians can grow in, and so don't be surprised to see it popping up as a common refrain on this blog. 

So I close today with one simple question.  How seriously do you take the living out of your faith?  And as you answer that question, just picture me looking at you saying, "Seriously?"

Personal Faith and Shared Faith

This fall, I'm planning on adding a daily Small Catechism component to my blog.  Each day, we will focus on one part of Luther's Small Catechism.  I will include a brief Bible verse that helps explain what we believe based upon God's Word. 

However, I also want to emphasize how our Christian faith is both a personal faith and a shared faith.  So as part of those daily devotions, one day we will focus on what that particular teaching means for us as an individual, and then, the following day, we will see how it applies to us as we live our lives in a shared faith with other Christians. 

Part of the reason I want to highlight this distinction is because it is very easy to focus on just one part of our faith life.  Indeed, as North American Christians, we are influenced so much by our individualistic culture that we often fail to consider how our faith and life impacts other believers, or even how it impacts those who do not believe.  So I hope to give a few thoughts each day about how we see these various parts of our faith life lived out, both personally and all together.

I realize you may wonder what I mean by this.  Let's take, for example, the 6th Commandment (as the Small Catechism numbers them); You shall not commit adultery.  Most of us would look at that commandment and see it as a very personal one.  This is especially true in our culture which emphasizes that "I can do what I want with my own time, and it's none of your business."  And yet, we cannot take a look at our society and culture without seeing the impact that unhindered sex has had on our morals and values.

So, for example, I might highlight ways that we can live out our faith by defending our Biblical view of sex.  From a personal standpoint, it may mean that we control what our eyes see (from such things as TV, magazines, calendars, etc.) and be cautious about the type of language we use when we speak.  But from a shared faith standpoint, we may also look at how we help encourage each other to live lives of purity, and how we can help one another withstand the onslaught of images that will daily tempt us to fall.

Our faith is personal, but it is also a shared faith, one that we have in common with many people.  On top of that, how we live and what we believe has an impact even on those who do not share our faith.  True, they may not agree with us a good portion of the time, but we still are encouraged to take our faith seriously enough that we not only focus on the personal, but on the shared aspect of our faith.

When the voice hides THE VOICE

This past weekend was an interesting one.  Over the past week or more, there have been quite a few wildfires out here in the west, and the smoke has invaded our mountain valley.  In addition, we had a large quantity of hay bales catch on fire, adding even more smoke and trapping it all inside our sheltered little valley.

This has had a dramatic effect on me.  It started with my sinuses, and then slowly worked its way down to my throat, inevitably landing in my voicebox.  Thus, over the weekend, I could hardly be heard when I spoke.  I wasn't sick or anything like that, I simply couldn't talk. 

Now, for most people, this might not be that big of an issue, but when you are in the profession I'm in, if Sunday rolls around and you can't talk, you have some issues.  After all, public speaking is part of the job description.  But as I stood before everyone and attempted my best efforts to speak, I also was reminded that it's not my voice that everyone gathers to hear.  It's God's voice that they need to hear.

I think that's one of the things that I need the occasional reminder of.  I know it sounds very simple, and yet, I have come to see that it's also a pretty challenging thing to do.  I am to be God's voice to His people.  That means that I speak what God says to His people.  When I find myself wanting to spend more time talking about things that I have a few thoughts on, I need the reminder that the people don't need to hear my thoughts.  They need to hear what God says about it.

I think most people in my profession understand this, but also find it challenging to consistently practice.  We all have our issues or topics that we enjoy spending more time on, or our personal favorite sins to rail against.  Keeping the focus off of our voice, and instead, letting God's voice be the one that shines through may seem fairly cut and dried, but my experience is such that it actually takes a lot of work to do.

In the end, this weekend served as a great reminder that it's not my voice that needs to be heard.  God's voice is the one that needs to resound.  It's His voice that needs to declare what is right and wrong, how we stand before Him as sinful and yet forgiven.  It's God's voice that needs to speak when it addresses our lives and what we do with them.  Yes, I may speak what He has to day, but when I start finding that I'm a bit too interested in the subject, or in crafting clever words to say, I need the reminder that I need to step aside and make sure that it's God's voice that rings through loud and clear, not mine.

A Few New Things for the Fall

For all of you who have been following me for a while, you've probably gotten used to my occasional scattered appearances on here.  Sometimes work and life get in the way of posting, but at other times, it may simply be that I have nothing worth posting running through my head.

That all will be changing in the next week or so, though.  As part of a way to get God's people thinking about how simple it is to understand God's Word and commands, and to get an idea of just how deep they penetrate into our lives, I will be starting a daily "Catechism Thought for the Day."  In these daily blog posts, I will introduce a small section of the Small Catechism, have a Bible reference associated with that thought, and then give a brief devotional thought or suggestion for what that part of the Small Catechism may mean for our daily life.

This is part of a fall theme that I will be leading that is simply titled, "Taking Faith Seriously."  Much of what we do in our lives shows how seriously we take our faith as we go about living our lives.  So my intent for these daily catichetical thoughts will simply be to provide ways for us to think about how we take our faith lives seriously, and how that may look as we go about living our lives.

There will not be a standard format for these thoughts or devotions.  One day may simply be a thought on what it means, another day may be a suggestion for how to find moments in our day that reflect our faith and our seriousness of it, and other days may simply be explanations.  However, the thing that will be remain constant will be an emphasis on the simplicity of what we know and believe about God, as well as encouragement for how our lives reflect the seriousness with which we take our faith.

I'm looking forward to doing this, for both the discipline and the discovery that it will call forth from me.  I hope that you feel comfortable sharing any thoughts that may strike you along the way, too!

Is reading the Bible all that important for Christians?

Okay, I know some of you are already ready to peg me as a heretic and not read any further, but I beg you to bear with me.  I'm not approaching this as though I'm saying that the Bible isn't important.  But I know that many Christians and pastors spend a lot of time telling people that they should read the Bible, and it's likely that many of them may not be able to explain exactly why.

Let me pose the thought in a slightly different way.  When we live in a culture of high literacy, does that make us "better" Christians than the majority of Christians over the years who were unable to read God's Word?  For many of them, they would simply hear the message proclaimed and then would go about their week.  Many of them have likely had active prayer lives, but if you cannot read, does that mean that you are now an inferior Christian compared to those who have access and the ability to read the Bible?

I understand that there are two different kind of things going on here.  Most of it is about the attitude that we have toward God's Word.  An illiterate person who barely pays attention and then doesn't care about their faith life throughout the week is not all that different from a literate person who attends worship, barely pays attention, and then has access to the Bible all week, but doesn't make the most of it.  Again, I realize that much of what I'm getting at in this post has more to do with attitude and motivation than it does with the actual activity of reading the Bible.

Would the illiterate person who only heard a small portion of the Word on Sunday, and then thought about it throughout the course of the week, be condemned in our eyes for their lack of biblical knowledge?  I hardly think so.  We would recognize that, while the situation may not be the most favorable, they are firmly clinging to the Word of God that they know.

Likewise, the literate person who hears the Word of God and then engages it throughout the week in an effort to know it better is showing that they are interested in nurturing and growing their faith life.  I doubt any of us would find a cause to condemn them for their actions, since we see them clinging to the Word of God that they know.  They merely have better opportunity than the illiterate person.

In the end, the Christian faith consists of much more than the printed words on the page.  The Christian faith consists of Christ Jesus, God Himself, who came to redeem a humanity that was destined for destruction, and is rescued from that destruction only by His action.  Sometimes the message of that rescue is told in the words on the page, and at other times, it is merely the message of what Christ has done that people have to cling to.  And that is why the Christian faith is far more than simply the words of the Bible.  It's not a set of words, but the Word who came from God to make us God's very own.