Rachel Barenblat, the Velveteen Rabbi, has an interesting post on her multi-cultural Thanksgiving celebration and the happy challenge that presented to her when asked to give thanks. She's a very good writer.
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Rob Asghar (AKA The Dime Store Guru) published an interesting commentary in The Jordan Times about life for immigrant Americans in the so-called "blue states," those that John Kerry won in the most recent election. His web site is also worth reading.
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Friday, November 26, 2004
Havel Kills Chances of Becoming UN Secretary General in Taiwan
Just as pundits and bloggers around the country were building up a head of steam behind the notion of replacing current United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan with former Czechoslovakian president, Vaclev Havel, Havel dealt a lethal blow to the prospect.
Havel appeared in Taiwan, where he opined that that country ought to be admitted into the UN. While Havel is a great and courageous man and the notion of welcoming Taiwan to the United Nations may have merit, the idea and the person who proposes it would incur the opposition of two very important players: the Republic of China and the Bush Administration. The former, of course, regards the Taiwanese regime as an illegitimate government exercising illegal authority over Chinese territory.
US government policy has long held that the Beijing government is the legitimate one for all of China, including Taiwan, while protecting the island country from any attack by the Chinese. The Bush Administration will not be anxious to retreat from that position. The ambiguity of it has been sufficient to stave off Chinese attack while the US develops ties with the mainland.
Meanwhile, it appears to me that one international statesman stands out as a great candidate for secretary general should the UN decide to replace Annan. I wrote Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit about this:
Havel appeared in Taiwan, where he opined that that country ought to be admitted into the UN. While Havel is a great and courageous man and the notion of welcoming Taiwan to the United Nations may have merit, the idea and the person who proposes it would incur the opposition of two very important players: the Republic of China and the Bush Administration. The former, of course, regards the Taiwanese regime as an illegitimate government exercising illegal authority over Chinese territory.
US government policy has long held that the Beijing government is the legitimate one for all of China, including Taiwan, while protecting the island country from any attack by the Chinese. The Bush Administration will not be anxious to retreat from that position. The ambiguity of it has been sufficient to stave off Chinese attack while the US develops ties with the mainland.
Meanwhile, it appears to me that one international statesman stands out as a great candidate for secretary general should the UN decide to replace Annan. I wrote Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit about this:
Vaclev Havel is a great man. But his indelicate suggestion that Taiwan be admitted as a member state of the UN will not only incur the wrath of China, but also be one reason the Bush Administration would offer to oppose his election as UN Secretary General. One doesn't have to disagree with Havel on this point; those are simply the hard political realities.
The UNSCAM scandal only underscores the credentials of another international figure for the position. After apartheid was dismantled in South Africa, it was Desmond Tutu who led the nation to justice and reconciliation. His courage is equal to that of Havel as is his commitment to democracy.
Thursday, November 25, 2004
Some Comments Triggered by Rather Announcement Off-Base
Reaction by America's political right has been gleeful with the news that CBS News anchor Dan Rather plans to step down from that post in March. Whether conservative pundits are justified in their feeling that Rather is biased (pro-left, anti-right), I simply can't say because I haven't watched the CBS Evening News in something like twenty years. Literally, Walter Cronkite left and I became a Tom Brokaw-viewer.
But one recurring aspect of some of those gleeful conservative responses to Rather's announcement has really bothered me. I've seen repeated mention made of his age (73) and of the advanced years of his CBS colleagues, always in condescending terms. They imply that the ages of CBS's top newspeople is grounds for dismissing their work. One prominent youngish blogger even suggested that it was strange for Rather to have quoted Bob Dylan twice in recent public statements, as though a septuagenarian had no right to quote a singer-songwriter about ten years his junior. (I wonder what this guy would have said when my seventy-five year old mother-in-law told me this morning that she likes U2?) One prominent conservative commentator displayed a similar hipper-than-thou-because-you're-older-than-I-am attitude about Rather on one of the news networks last evening.
I've seen this attitude before. It's precisely the one my generation displayed when, back in the Vietnam War-era, we sang along with the Who, "I hope I die before I get old." We disdained the old and were sure that we could do a lot better without them, thank you very much.
Well, two original members of the Who did die before they grew old. The two surviving members, Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, on the brink of senior citizens' status, are soon to go back to a recording studio and produce a new LP. I assume that they're doing so because they believe that they still have something to say (and product to sell) even now.
And there's a good chance that they do. Assuming that we actually pay attention to the lessons our life's successes and failures afford, we really do gain wisdom with the passing of years. As we age, it's possible for us to learn, change, grow, adapt, and have lessons of value to pass along to others.
I find it ironic that young conservatives have been so quick to attack Rather and his CBS colleagues due to their age because just a few months ago, many of these same commentators were celebrating the life, wisdom, and contributions of the oldest man ever to serve as President, Ronald Reagan.
The young have vital contributions to make to our world---new ideas (or perhaps, recycled old ones worthy of another try), fresh energy, different sensibilities.
But middle-aged and elderly persons also have some things to share. In world seeing the elevation of average life expectancies and increases in years of average activity and mobility, it's silly to dismiss a person simply because they've attained what we consider an advanced age.
It's more than silly; it's flat-out wrong!
Besides that, it's shameful to deny our elders our respect simply because they're our elders.
Dan Rather may very well be a biased liberal journalist. But if he is, that's got nothing to do with his age. As his critics assess and criticize his career, his age should have no bearing on what they say.
But one recurring aspect of some of those gleeful conservative responses to Rather's announcement has really bothered me. I've seen repeated mention made of his age (73) and of the advanced years of his CBS colleagues, always in condescending terms. They imply that the ages of CBS's top newspeople is grounds for dismissing their work. One prominent youngish blogger even suggested that it was strange for Rather to have quoted Bob Dylan twice in recent public statements, as though a septuagenarian had no right to quote a singer-songwriter about ten years his junior. (I wonder what this guy would have said when my seventy-five year old mother-in-law told me this morning that she likes U2?) One prominent conservative commentator displayed a similar hipper-than-thou-because-you're-older-than-I-am attitude about Rather on one of the news networks last evening.
I've seen this attitude before. It's precisely the one my generation displayed when, back in the Vietnam War-era, we sang along with the Who, "I hope I die before I get old." We disdained the old and were sure that we could do a lot better without them, thank you very much.
Well, two original members of the Who did die before they grew old. The two surviving members, Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, on the brink of senior citizens' status, are soon to go back to a recording studio and produce a new LP. I assume that they're doing so because they believe that they still have something to say (and product to sell) even now.
And there's a good chance that they do. Assuming that we actually pay attention to the lessons our life's successes and failures afford, we really do gain wisdom with the passing of years. As we age, it's possible for us to learn, change, grow, adapt, and have lessons of value to pass along to others.
I find it ironic that young conservatives have been so quick to attack Rather and his CBS colleagues due to their age because just a few months ago, many of these same commentators were celebrating the life, wisdom, and contributions of the oldest man ever to serve as President, Ronald Reagan.
The young have vital contributions to make to our world---new ideas (or perhaps, recycled old ones worthy of another try), fresh energy, different sensibilities.
But middle-aged and elderly persons also have some things to share. In world seeing the elevation of average life expectancies and increases in years of average activity and mobility, it's silly to dismiss a person simply because they've attained what we consider an advanced age.
It's more than silly; it's flat-out wrong!
Besides that, it's shameful to deny our elders our respect simply because they're our elders.
Dan Rather may very well be a biased liberal journalist. But if he is, that's got nothing to do with his age. As his critics assess and criticize his career, his age should have no bearing on what they say.
Of Salvation Army and Target
You may know all about Target's decision to not allow the Salvation Army to collect donations at their store locations. If not, author, radio host, and blogger Hugh Hewitt has been covering the story well. You might also want to check out these two Target boycott groups' sites: dontshoptarget.com and boycotttarget.info.
I love Target stores. But this is a bad decision on their part, I believe. Hopefully, the concern expressed by people across the country will cause them to reverse it.
I love Target stores. But this is a bad decision on their part, I believe. Hopefully, the concern expressed by people across the country will cause them to reverse it.
Take a Virtual Trip with Virtual Doug
Today, I happened upon the blog of Virtual Doug. A Vietnam veteran, he will soon be returning to that country to teach English. In simple, straightforward, and compelling prose, Doug journals his preparations. I really like this site.
A Proposal for Stretching Thanksgiving Out
Michael Main has a fun suggestion in his post today for celebrating Thanksgiving one day early. Doing so, he said, helps Thanksgiving travelers to enjoy safer, less congested highways. And, those who do so--as his wife Amy and he do each year--are more rested and ready to face the shopping madness that is Black Friday.
Of course, if the idea catches on, all its vaunted advantages would vanish, meaning that we'd have to start celebrating Thanksgiving two days in advance. Hmmmm. If we play our cards right, we could could just take the year off.
Of course, if the idea catches on, all its vaunted advantages would vanish, meaning that we'd have to start celebrating Thanksgiving two days in advance. Hmmmm. If we play our cards right, we could could just take the year off.
Pray for the People of Ukraine!
Tulip Girl has this wonderful post, a message from her friend Lena in Ukraine. The people there are striving to throw off the mantle of oppression. Please pray for them, that God will keep them safe, that God will thwart the schemes of Soviet-style pols and thugs, and that Ukraine will be truly free.
Incidentally, when we consider the events in Ukraine, it gives us one more set of things to be thankful for in the US today: That we live in a free country where elections may not be perfectly administered, but are clean and fair.
Incidentally, when we consider the events in Ukraine, it gives us one more set of things to be thankful for in the US today: That we live in a free country where elections may not be perfectly administered, but are clean and fair.
The Key to Thankfulness, Part 2
Earlier today, I wrote a bit about that incident from Jesus' life on earth that preachers most often use as the basis of their Thanksgiving Eve sermons: Luke 17:11-19.
In it, Jesus gives cleansing and restoration to ten lepers. But only one thanks Him. Like the others, that one had been en route to a priest in Jerusalem, as Jesus had instructed, when he noted that his leprosy was gone. He went back to Jesus, praising God and thanking Jesus as he lay at Jesus' feet. After that, we're told:
A good principle for understanding difficult passages of the Bible is one introduced by Martin Luther: We need to let Scripture interpret Scripture. That means that we don't irresponsibly isolate passages of Scripture without respect to the witness of the entire Bible.
When I was considering what was up in this passage a few years back, I remembered another one: John 5:1-18. There, Jesus performs another healing miracle. He gives a paralyzed man the ability to use his legs.
Because Jesus performs this miracle on a Sabbath Day, He incurs the anger of religious authorities. Apparently, they thought it was okay to perform loving acts on any day but the Sabbath. (Actually, they saw Jesus' feat as work, a no-no for Sabbath days.)
So, they begin to grill the healed man about who exactly this Sabbath-violator was. He wasn't sure.
Later, Jesus approaches the man and tells him:
This, I think, what underlay Jesus' statement to the thankful former leper in Luke 17: "Your faith has made you well." The other nine one-time lepers were physically healed. But only one had the faith to see Jesus as the God and Lord of life and eternity. He was well because, through Jesus, He would be with God forever.
There are lots of things for which human beings can be thankful. But if we've let Christ's Lordship of love into the center of our lives, that's the greatest source of thanksgiving we can have. With Him, we know that we're well...forever!
[I'm not a big hymn guy, but the lyrics of It is Well with My Soul capture Jesus' words well, I think.]
In it, Jesus gives cleansing and restoration to ten lepers. But only one thanks Him. Like the others, that one had been en route to a priest in Jerusalem, as Jesus had instructed, when he noted that his leprosy was gone. He went back to Jesus, praising God and thanking Jesus as he lay at Jesus' feet. After that, we're told:
Then Jesus asked, "Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" Then He said to him, "Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well."I always found Jesus' words to this man curious. Jesus tells this one former leper that His faith has made Him well. But Jesus Himself has just said that all ten lepers were cleansed. And as we saw in my post of earlier today, all ten of these lepers had demonstrated sufficient faith in Jesus and His miracle-working powers to cry out for His help. Furthermore, we have no indication that Jesus has rescinded the miracle He's worked in these ten lives. All ten are still free of their leprosy apparently. So, what gives?
A good principle for understanding difficult passages of the Bible is one introduced by Martin Luther: We need to let Scripture interpret Scripture. That means that we don't irresponsibly isolate passages of Scripture without respect to the witness of the entire Bible.
When I was considering what was up in this passage a few years back, I remembered another one: John 5:1-18. There, Jesus performs another healing miracle. He gives a paralyzed man the ability to use his legs.
Because Jesus performs this miracle on a Sabbath Day, He incurs the anger of religious authorities. Apparently, they thought it was okay to perform loving acts on any day but the Sabbath. (Actually, they saw Jesus' feat as work, a no-no for Sabbath days.)
So, they begin to grill the healed man about who exactly this Sabbath-violator was. He wasn't sure.
Later, Jesus approaches the man and tells him:
"See, you have been made well! Do not sin any more, so that nothing worse happens to you." (John 5:14)Now, to me, that's a telling statement on Jesus' part. According to John, the chronicler of this incident, the once-paralyzed man had been lame for thirty-eight years. It's hard to imagine anything worse than that. But Jesus seems to say that there is something far worse. It's to unrepentantly violate God's will for our lives and thereby destroy our relationship with Him. It's to turn from God and live life according to our own terms and selfish whims and desires and so, to be separated from God, from life, hope, peace.
This, I think, what underlay Jesus' statement to the thankful former leper in Luke 17: "Your faith has made you well." The other nine one-time lepers were physically healed. But only one had the faith to see Jesus as the God and Lord of life and eternity. He was well because, through Jesus, He would be with God forever.
There are lots of things for which human beings can be thankful. But if we've let Christ's Lordship of love into the center of our lives, that's the greatest source of thanksgiving we can have. With Him, we know that we're well...forever!
[I'm not a big hymn guy, but the lyrics of It is Well with My Soul capture Jesus' words well, I think.]
If Annan is Out at the UN, Who Should Replace Him? Havel? Tutu?
Dishes done, kitchen cleaned up, more of this and that...
Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit has been pressing the case for Vaclev Havel as the next UN Secretary General. Others have taken up the call. Havel is an interesting suggestion, but I have another. If Kofi Annan truly is on his way out, here are my thoughts on those who tout President Clinton for the SG position and my alternative to Havel.
Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit has been pressing the case for Vaclev Havel as the next UN Secretary General. Others have taken up the call. Havel is an interesting suggestion, but I have another. If Kofi Annan truly is on his way out, here are my thoughts on those who tout President Clinton for the SG position and my alternative to Havel.
Thanksgiving This and That
Once again, blogger Mark Roberts has hit a home run. His series on Thanksgiving is worth reading and (Dare I say it?) digesting on this Thanksgiving Day.
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Since I am inept both as a cook and handyperson, I have a few hours of alone-time right now. I'm in charge of Thanksgiving, Easter, and Christmas feast clean-ups each year, which suits me just fine.
As a pastor, so little of my work is measurable. I produce few widgets. That's why I enjoy things like cleaning the house, doing the dishes, and mowing the lawn. Once those tasks are completed, you can see it.
Right now, most of my extended family has left here for my brother-in-law's place. He owns a double on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River. My brother-in-law occupies the second-floor unit and spent several years transforming it, restoring it to its original beauty while adding some modern accoutrements. Recently, a tenant left and b-i-l has been working hard to get the place ready to rent. There is painting and some other things to do.
I'm a lousy painter. So much so that a number of years ago, after botching an unbotchable job in a bath room, my wife forbade me from ever picking up a paint brush again. Some suspect me of pulling a Tom Sawyer. But I can assure you that I am helpless when it comes to painting or any other handy task.
So, I'm left to the dirty dishes and, for occasional breaks, the computer.
How do you divide responsibilities when it comes to family feasts?
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Our almost twenty-year-old daughter suggested that after our Thanksgiving prayers, we go around to each celebrant and ask them to name the things for which they are most thankful. Having been the one to offer the prayers, I explained that I had already named most of my greatest sources of gratitude: new life from Jesus Christ, our extended family, the safety of all who'd arrived today, our wonderful country, and the food on our table. (Lots of food on the table today!) But when asked, I said that among the things for which I am most thankful is that my wife has stuck with me for thirty years. I don't deserve the wonderful marriage we enjoy, but God decided to bless me anyway. (That's called grace.)
For you Americans, what are some of your Thanksgiving customs? (Most of the hits I've had on this site today have been from Europe. Welcome to all!)
And what are some of the things for which you're most thankful today? (That's for everybody!)
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Thanksgiving Day always represents the official kickoff of our family's Christmas celebrations. We do that, in part, by putting a bunch of Christmas CDs in the rack and set the stereo for random play.
This year, we bought two of those special Christmas collections that retailers sometimes offer. They're both really good.
One is the Hallmark release, A Christmas Album by James Taylor. There isn't a bad cut on the whole LP. I especially like his duet with Natalie Cole on 'Baby, It's Cold Outside' and an interesting arrangement of 'Jingle Bells.' Taylor's presentation of 'Go Tell it on the Mountain' is fabulous.
The other collection, sold at The White Barn Candle Company and Bath and Body Works is called, The Perfect Christmas. This is a two-CD set which, like the Taylor CD, is a mix of what are commonly referred to as sacred and secular Christmas music. (Although I chafe a bit at those categorizations.) Cuts from many artists are featured. Bing Crosby, Ringo Starr (singing a song with his Roundheads that was originally composed and recorded by all the Beatles as their annual Christmas greeting record for members of their fan club), B.B. King, Shania Twain, Jewel, Barenaked Ladies, Louis Armstrong, Sting, and others are represented here.
Those two CDs join perennial favorites of our family. Among them: Amy Grant's 1983 release, A Christmas Album and Our Christmas, a collection of interestingly arranged Christmas songs from Michael W. Smith, Al Green, David Meece, Bryan Duncan, Grant, Sandi Patty, First Call, Mylon LeFevre, Kim Hill, Phil Keaggy, Russ Taff, and Roberta Flack.
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Okay, it's back to my clean-up operations. I hope to write more about the thankful Samaritan from Luke 17 later today.
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Since I am inept both as a cook and handyperson, I have a few hours of alone-time right now. I'm in charge of Thanksgiving, Easter, and Christmas feast clean-ups each year, which suits me just fine.
As a pastor, so little of my work is measurable. I produce few widgets. That's why I enjoy things like cleaning the house, doing the dishes, and mowing the lawn. Once those tasks are completed, you can see it.
Right now, most of my extended family has left here for my brother-in-law's place. He owns a double on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River. My brother-in-law occupies the second-floor unit and spent several years transforming it, restoring it to its original beauty while adding some modern accoutrements. Recently, a tenant left and b-i-l has been working hard to get the place ready to rent. There is painting and some other things to do.
I'm a lousy painter. So much so that a number of years ago, after botching an unbotchable job in a bath room, my wife forbade me from ever picking up a paint brush again. Some suspect me of pulling a Tom Sawyer. But I can assure you that I am helpless when it comes to painting or any other handy task.
So, I'm left to the dirty dishes and, for occasional breaks, the computer.
How do you divide responsibilities when it comes to family feasts?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Our almost twenty-year-old daughter suggested that after our Thanksgiving prayers, we go around to each celebrant and ask them to name the things for which they are most thankful. Having been the one to offer the prayers, I explained that I had already named most of my greatest sources of gratitude: new life from Jesus Christ, our extended family, the safety of all who'd arrived today, our wonderful country, and the food on our table. (Lots of food on the table today!) But when asked, I said that among the things for which I am most thankful is that my wife has stuck with me for thirty years. I don't deserve the wonderful marriage we enjoy, but God decided to bless me anyway. (That's called grace.)
For you Americans, what are some of your Thanksgiving customs? (Most of the hits I've had on this site today have been from Europe. Welcome to all!)
And what are some of the things for which you're most thankful today? (That's for everybody!)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Thanksgiving Day always represents the official kickoff of our family's Christmas celebrations. We do that, in part, by putting a bunch of Christmas CDs in the rack and set the stereo for random play.
This year, we bought two of those special Christmas collections that retailers sometimes offer. They're both really good.
One is the Hallmark release, A Christmas Album by James Taylor. There isn't a bad cut on the whole LP. I especially like his duet with Natalie Cole on 'Baby, It's Cold Outside' and an interesting arrangement of 'Jingle Bells.' Taylor's presentation of 'Go Tell it on the Mountain' is fabulous.
The other collection, sold at The White Barn Candle Company and Bath and Body Works is called, The Perfect Christmas. This is a two-CD set which, like the Taylor CD, is a mix of what are commonly referred to as sacred and secular Christmas music. (Although I chafe a bit at those categorizations.) Cuts from many artists are featured. Bing Crosby, Ringo Starr (singing a song with his Roundheads that was originally composed and recorded by all the Beatles as their annual Christmas greeting record for members of their fan club), B.B. King, Shania Twain, Jewel, Barenaked Ladies, Louis Armstrong, Sting, and others are represented here.
Those two CDs join perennial favorites of our family. Among them: Amy Grant's 1983 release, A Christmas Album and Our Christmas, a collection of interestingly arranged Christmas songs from Michael W. Smith, Al Green, David Meece, Bryan Duncan, Grant, Sandi Patty, First Call, Mylon LeFevre, Kim Hill, Phil Keaggy, Russ Taff, and Roberta Flack.
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Okay, it's back to my clean-up operations. I hope to write more about the thankful Samaritan from Luke 17 later today.
The Key to Thankfulness
A popular passage of Scripture used in Thanksgiving Eve worship services across America tells the story of Jesus' encounter with ten lepers.
In those days and for many centuries afterward, lepers were forced to live in "colonies" apart from the rest of society. If, by some unexplained miracle or phenomenon, they experienced healing, they could be restored to society---to family, friends, and daily work. (Ironically, that list of family, friends, and daily work is among the things people most often name as reasons to be thankful on Thanksgiving Day.)
As Jesus approached a village, there were ten lepers who neared Him. "Keeping their distance," they cried to Jesus. His reputation as a healer had preceded Jesus. "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" Desperate for healing, they begged Him for help.
As was almost always the case, Jesus was calmly understated in His response. "Go and show yourselves to the priest," He said.
Regulations in the Old Testament's book of Leviticus, chapter 14, said that once lepers thought themselves healed, they needed to go to a priest in Jerusalem to have their restored condition officially certified. Jesus' simple directive to the lepers meant that they would soon be healed and could go back to the lives they so desperately missed.
Naturally, one would expect, in reading the unfolding of this incident, that it could be titled something like Ten Thankful People. But this is what we're told:
I have a theory.
One of the two books which, apart from the Bible, has had the greatest impact on my life is Ole Hallesby's Prayer. (The other is C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity.) Early in his book, Hallesby compares prayer to a common treatment for tuberculosis back in the 1930s, when he wrote. Patients would be placed in the warmth and glow of the sun. Nothing doctors or medical personnel did seemed to matter much, beyond giving comfort. But passive exposure to the rays of the sun had restorative power. Prayer, Hallesby says, is like that: It's placing ourselves under the power of the God we know through His Son, Jesus.
But, Hallesby says, in order for us to come to the Son or to experience the healing and restoration God makes possible, genuine prayer must include two things:
But here's the difference between the one healed leper who was thankful over against the other nine who weren't: Vulnerability. He owned his vulnerability. My suspicion is that the nine had the attitude of, "I'll beat this thing. It hasn't got me whipped yet. I'll prevail on this miracle-worker and everything will be back to normal." Jesus was a means to an end for them. Nothing more.
But the other leper knew just how vulnerable he was. His attitude was that of the psalmist, who writes: "I am poor and needy; hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my Deliverer; O Lord, do not delay!" (Psalm 70:5)
I have the suspicion that thankfulness, the key to really having something to celebrate today, is rooted in owning our vulnerability, in knowing that "every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with Whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." (James 1:17)
True thankfulness is born of vulnerability, of an awareness of our total dependence on God. May the gift of vulnerability be ours this Thanksgiving!
(Later, more on the thankful leper and why Jesus told him that his faith had made him well.)
Happy Thanksgiving!
In those days and for many centuries afterward, lepers were forced to live in "colonies" apart from the rest of society. If, by some unexplained miracle or phenomenon, they experienced healing, they could be restored to society---to family, friends, and daily work. (Ironically, that list of family, friends, and daily work is among the things people most often name as reasons to be thankful on Thanksgiving Day.)
As Jesus approached a village, there were ten lepers who neared Him. "Keeping their distance," they cried to Jesus. His reputation as a healer had preceded Jesus. "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" Desperate for healing, they begged Him for help.
As was almost always the case, Jesus was calmly understated in His response. "Go and show yourselves to the priest," He said.
Regulations in the Old Testament's book of Leviticus, chapter 14, said that once lepers thought themselves healed, they needed to go to a priest in Jerusalem to have their restored condition officially certified. Jesus' simple directive to the lepers meant that they would soon be healed and could go back to the lives they so desperately missed.
Naturally, one would expect, in reading the unfolding of this incident, that it could be titled something like Ten Thankful People. But this is what we're told:
And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus' feet and thanked Him. [Then comes the coup de grace.] And he was a Samaritan. [Samaritans were hated by Jesus' fellow Judeans, tagged with reputations as subhuman, irreligious, evil people.]One person was thankful. Why is that?
I have a theory.
One of the two books which, apart from the Bible, has had the greatest impact on my life is Ole Hallesby's Prayer. (The other is C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity.) Early in his book, Hallesby compares prayer to a common treatment for tuberculosis back in the 1930s, when he wrote. Patients would be placed in the warmth and glow of the sun. Nothing doctors or medical personnel did seemed to matter much, beyond giving comfort. But passive exposure to the rays of the sun had restorative power. Prayer, Hallesby says, is like that: It's placing ourselves under the power of the God we know through His Son, Jesus.
But, Hallesby says, in order for us to come to the Son or to experience the healing and restoration God makes possible, genuine prayer must include two things:
- Desperation
- Trust in God
But here's the difference between the one healed leper who was thankful over against the other nine who weren't: Vulnerability. He owned his vulnerability. My suspicion is that the nine had the attitude of, "I'll beat this thing. It hasn't got me whipped yet. I'll prevail on this miracle-worker and everything will be back to normal." Jesus was a means to an end for them. Nothing more.
But the other leper knew just how vulnerable he was. His attitude was that of the psalmist, who writes: "I am poor and needy; hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my Deliverer; O Lord, do not delay!" (Psalm 70:5)
I have the suspicion that thankfulness, the key to really having something to celebrate today, is rooted in owning our vulnerability, in knowing that "every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with Whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." (James 1:17)
True thankfulness is born of vulnerability, of an awareness of our total dependence on God. May the gift of vulnerability be ours this Thanksgiving!
(Later, more on the thankful leper and why Jesus told him that his faith had made him well.)
Happy Thanksgiving!
Wednesday, November 24, 2004
Orchestral Melee a Sour Note for Symphony
[What would you think if you saw this story in the morning paper?]
“It may be the worst thing to ever happen at Music Hall,” says an official of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, speaking on condition of anonymity. The official was referring to the brawl that broke out as the orchestra concluded its Friday night performance of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F Major. The incident has CSO leaders scurrying to repair a reputation so badly damaged that it could have repercussions beyond this season.[If it's ridiculous at the symphony, then it's ridiculous elsewhere, isn't it?]
Shorly before 10:00 P.M. on Friday, liquid-bearing projectiles were hurled toward the stage from the audience. Several witnesses later confirmed that the thrown objects were cups of White Zinfandel. That variety of wine and other alcoholic beverages are sold at Music Hall during performance intermissions.
The first missile hit cellist Andrew Vander. Stunned, Vander dropped his instrument and charged into the audience. His target was long-time symphony patron, Jacqueline Hunter-Smith. Vander took a swing at the octogenerian and a melee ensued.
Hunter-Smith denied that she was the one who threw the wine at Vander. But, she said, “I did defend myself. And frankly, dousing that bum with wine isn’t such a bad idea. He’s an overpaid, underperforming grandstander who never takes one for the team. He’s a punk.”
Vander was equally angry with Hunter-Smith after police and security guards got the riotous Music Hall under control. “I saw that woman throw her cup at me from the corner of my eye,” he said. “I don’t put up with stuff like that.”
Whether Hunter-Smith was the culprit or not, orchestra officials confirm that more than twenty liquid-laden cups hit the Music Hall stage within seconds, dousing several cellists, violinists, the first-chair trumpeter, and guest conductor Bette Midler.
After the initial onslaught, several symphony members dove into the audience, attacking patrons they thought guilty of hurling the cups. Police say that before the fracas was brought under control, fifteen people were taken to area hospitals for treatment.
Orchestra officials were quick to take disciplinary action. Vander is suspended without pay for the season. Other musicians were slapped with various fines and sanctions.
Vander seems undismayed by the incident or its aftermath. Appearing in an early morning interview on CNN, Vander repeatedly mentioned a new business venture. Holding one of his company’s catalogs aloft, Vander asked viewers to order items from his Vander’s Pet Lingerie. Just weeks ago, Vander incurred the anger of orchestral officials as well as patrons when he asked for a two-month leave of absence in order to promote and fill orders for his company.
On Friday night, local classical deejays were overwhelmed with telephone calls from symphony music fans who had seen videotape footage of the incident on TV. According to Linus (Line-Up) Borkenhamm, one of the deejays, listeners were appalled by the actions of both audience and musicians.
Story still developing...
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Christmas, Eid, and a Holiday Stamp
Earlier today, a well-intentioned friend sent one of those email forwards to me. It dealt with one of the US Postal Service's holiday stamps, one that commemorates the Muslim holiday, Eid. The email suggested that Americans should "adamantly and vocally boycott" the stamp. There followed a catalog of terrorist acts perpetrated against Americans by criminals who happened to be Muslim, which it was suggested we should all remember.
The email frankly upset me and I responded to my friend in part as follows:
But two points need to be made in this regard:
One final thing, like Saint Paul when dragged in chains before King Agrippa, my hope is that all people will experience the liberation of God's unconditional acceptance, forgiveness, and new, eternal life offered through Jesus Christ. My primary aim each day of my life is to help more people know Jesus so that they can follow Him. That, in fact, is the mission Christ gives everyone who follows Him. There is a sense in which Christianity is an "imperial" faith. But true Christianity seeks converts only through the gentle persuasion of committed believers empowered by God's Spirit.
Christ's mission for Jesus-Followers does not include the kind of coercion or violence embraced by radicals, whether they call themselves Christian, Muslim, Jew, or anything else.
Nor does it include making others out to be criminals simply because they share a religious affiliation with people who are criminal.
What do you think?
The email frankly upset me and I responded to my friend in part as follows:
I always make a point of purchasing overtly Christian stamps at Christmas time. That means that if I can avoid it, I don't buy stamps with Santa Claus, Christmas trees, or anything other than stamps with artwork that portray the birth of Jesus in some way.If any of former CIA intelligent analyst Michael Scheur's book, Imperial Hubris, is to be believed, Americans can ill-afford to be naive about the connection between mainstream Islam and Osama bin-Laden's arguments in favor of his terrorist acts. Islam recognizes the legitimacy of waging what Scheur terms, "defensive jihad." According to Scheur, it's seen as justified whenever Muslim lands, institutions, or individuals are threatened or encroached upon. Many Muslims feel that the US has done just this. It is to this strand of opinion that al Qaeda appeals. Americans and policy-makers need to avoid both the reality and the perception that the US has territorial or economic designs on Muslim lands.
But...there are some other things we should remember besides those...mentioned in your email:
Muslims were among those killed on 9/11. That day, Muslims were perpetrators, but Muslims were also victims;
Not all Muslims are terrorists;
There are many Muslims who are loyal, patriotic American citizens;
Today, young Americans are fighting and dying alongside Muslims in Afghanistan and Iraq in part, according to the Bush Administration, to secure freedom for Muslim people. As a nation, we believe that Muslims are people too;
And it was Christians who unleashed the two worst and most devastating wars in history, our fellow Lutherans in Germany.
Above all, I think that we should remember that, as Saint Paul writes, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." And, of course, Jesus told the crowd ready to stone the woman caught in adultery, "Those of you without sin, cast the first stone." So-called "Christians" have been guilty of horrible violence through the centuries. But that doesn't make all Christians evil.
I won't purchase an Eid stamp because I want to focus on what Christmas is about: Jesus. But I think it's wrong to paint all Muslims as criminals.
Just some thoughts I had.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
But two points need to be made in this regard:
- Not all Muslims believe that their religion or its institutions have been thus encroached upon.
- Few Muslim would agree that "defensive jihad" is presently warranted.
One final thing, like Saint Paul when dragged in chains before King Agrippa, my hope is that all people will experience the liberation of God's unconditional acceptance, forgiveness, and new, eternal life offered through Jesus Christ. My primary aim each day of my life is to help more people know Jesus so that they can follow Him. That, in fact, is the mission Christ gives everyone who follows Him. There is a sense in which Christianity is an "imperial" faith. But true Christianity seeks converts only through the gentle persuasion of committed believers empowered by God's Spirit.
Christ's mission for Jesus-Followers does not include the kind of coercion or violence embraced by radicals, whether they call themselves Christian, Muslim, Jew, or anything else.
Nor does it include making others out to be criminals simply because they share a religious affiliation with people who are criminal.
What do you think?
House-Cleaning Music
I'm about to give the house a pre-Thanksgiving dusting and vacuuming in anticipation of spending the holiday with our family. Whenever I do that, I have to play music---preferably loudly. Our son arrived this afternoon from college and handed me a belated fifty-first birthday present: How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb by U2. (If nothing else, the fellows deserve credit for one of the coolest LP titles of all time.) I'll be popping it into the CD-port of the Apple about now. Let me at the Pledge!
Just for Fun: The Five Living Famous People with Whom I'd Most Like to Have a Conversation
1. Billy Graham
2. Bono
3. Jimmy Carter
4. Paul McCartney
5. John McCain
(Tell me how your list looks)
2. Bono
3. Jimmy Carter
4. Paul McCartney
5. John McCain
(Tell me how your list looks)
What About Christian Faith and Moral Values?
Contrary to what gets said these days, Christian faith is not primarily about morality. It's about having a relationship with God through Jesus Christ!
You may remember that the Pharisees in Jesus' day conceived of faith as being about morality. Jesus regularly upbraided them for that. (If you don't believe me, read any one of the four Gospels---Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John---in the Bible's New Testament.)
Morality is to be an outgrowth of our relationship with God. Followers of Christ seek the power of God to live moral lives as a response to God's unconditional love, offered through Christ.
When we have a relationship with God, He gives us both the desire and the ability to (imperfectly) follow His will. (I say imperfectly because even Mother Teresa, Billy Graham, and the Virgin Mary have been sinners saved not because they were good people, but because they believed in Jesus Christ. Christians sin. That's why we need to live in what Martin Luther called "daily repentance and renewal.")
When our relationship with God is non-existent, we are left to our own devices. The result is poor relationships not only with God, but also with ourselves and others, and the commitment of sins.
Even the Ten Commandments begin with relationship and not rules. At the outset, God says, "I am the Lord, your God." That is a word of promise. God is saying, "No matter what, I am your God. I will never desert you. You may leave me. You may decide not to have Me in your life. But I will stay with you. You can always turn to Me and I will always hear." Then, God turns to the commandments themselves, saying, in effect, "Now, here's how life is best lived."
The faith of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible is the only one in the world that doesn't say you must perform these actions to attain holiness, a place with God, higher perfection, or whatever. The faith of the Bible finds God reaching out to pull us up to Him because of His love for us. Through Christ, God performs with perfect holiness and then, accepts the death punishment we deserve for our sins.
The key to America being a moral nation is not in electing political candidates who will pass coercive laws that reflect particular brands of Christian morality or whose "moral values" encompass only a portion of the total package of what the Bible says is moral. Rather, America will be moral when Christians, empowered by God's Holy Spirit, lovingly and respectfully share the Good News of Jesus with others and live the love of God and neighbor to which Jesus calls us. That, according to the Bible is the only method God uses to morally transform people and nations.
The center of Christian faith is Jesus. Period. Until we Christians learn to live and share Jesus and the Good News of how He changes us from the inside out, America's moral squalor will continue to grow...no matter who is in the White House. Our call is to have faith in God, not in any political ideology or system of morality.
To be simplitic about it: Relationship, yes; religion, no. Love, yes; legalism no. Christ, yes; coercion, no.
I strongly recommend that you read the series on faith and moral values being written by Pastor Craig Williams. He says far more capably and knowledgeably what I have tried to write here.
You may remember that the Pharisees in Jesus' day conceived of faith as being about morality. Jesus regularly upbraided them for that. (If you don't believe me, read any one of the four Gospels---Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John---in the Bible's New Testament.)
Morality is to be an outgrowth of our relationship with God. Followers of Christ seek the power of God to live moral lives as a response to God's unconditional love, offered through Christ.
When we have a relationship with God, He gives us both the desire and the ability to (imperfectly) follow His will. (I say imperfectly because even Mother Teresa, Billy Graham, and the Virgin Mary have been sinners saved not because they were good people, but because they believed in Jesus Christ. Christians sin. That's why we need to live in what Martin Luther called "daily repentance and renewal.")
When our relationship with God is non-existent, we are left to our own devices. The result is poor relationships not only with God, but also with ourselves and others, and the commitment of sins.
Even the Ten Commandments begin with relationship and not rules. At the outset, God says, "I am the Lord, your God." That is a word of promise. God is saying, "No matter what, I am your God. I will never desert you. You may leave me. You may decide not to have Me in your life. But I will stay with you. You can always turn to Me and I will always hear." Then, God turns to the commandments themselves, saying, in effect, "Now, here's how life is best lived."
The faith of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible is the only one in the world that doesn't say you must perform these actions to attain holiness, a place with God, higher perfection, or whatever. The faith of the Bible finds God reaching out to pull us up to Him because of His love for us. Through Christ, God performs with perfect holiness and then, accepts the death punishment we deserve for our sins.
The key to America being a moral nation is not in electing political candidates who will pass coercive laws that reflect particular brands of Christian morality or whose "moral values" encompass only a portion of the total package of what the Bible says is moral. Rather, America will be moral when Christians, empowered by God's Holy Spirit, lovingly and respectfully share the Good News of Jesus with others and live the love of God and neighbor to which Jesus calls us. That, according to the Bible is the only method God uses to morally transform people and nations.
The center of Christian faith is Jesus. Period. Until we Christians learn to live and share Jesus and the Good News of how He changes us from the inside out, America's moral squalor will continue to grow...no matter who is in the White House. Our call is to have faith in God, not in any political ideology or system of morality.
To be simplitic about it: Relationship, yes; religion, no. Love, yes; legalism no. Christ, yes; coercion, no.
I strongly recommend that you read the series on faith and moral values being written by Pastor Craig Williams. He says far more capably and knowledgeably what I have tried to write here.
Monday, November 22, 2004
Sick
A Glasgow company has produced a video game based on the assassination of President John Kennedy. Gamers assume the position of Lee Harvey Oswald, the President's assassin. The company claims a serious intent for their game: Disproving conspiracists. But it's difficult not to see this as anything other than a psychologically sick exploitation of a tragedy. I hope that nobody buys this game!
Sunday, November 21, 2004
A Culture Hostile to Christian Faith?
Super blogger, author, and radio host Hugh Hewitt mentions a letter in the New York Times today, a letter that purports to excoriate Christians. After reading Hugh's post, I dashed off the following email:
Hugh:
Your comments about hostility to Christian faith was timely. While you were addressing the comments of letter-writers of a particular partisan bent, I believe that the hostility you identify is substantially present in the mainstream media. This came up in the discussion during our adult Sunday School class this morning.
Summarizing the expressed views which we all seemed to share:
(1) We definitely feel that the mainstream media portrays faith in Christ as belonging only to people who are prejudiced, stupid, arrogant, or ridiculous;
(2) We know that we live in and accept the reality of our pluralistic society. But whether in the mainstream media or in other places, we sense the expectation that we should never publicly utter a word about our relationship with Jesus Christ;
(3) We think that Christian legalists, by their apparent belief that God is so puny that they must protect Him through verbal attacks on others, play into the hands of those who denigrate Christian faith, making it more difficult for other Christians to present a positive witness for Christ.
It's good for Christians to remember that it was in a hostile environment that the message of Christ and the Church first took root in the Mediterranean basin. The God we know through Jesus Christ is bigger than whatever hostility we may encounter as Jesus-Followers.
The apostle Peter has great advice for us as we face the hostility of those who spurn Christ:
"Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear so that when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God's will, than to suffer for doing evil." (First Peter 3:15-17)
The stereotype much of the media creates of Christians is that we are hostile people, against progress, judgmental, prudish, and intellectual lightweights. Peter says that we ought to baffle those who malign our faith by loving and respecting them and then, when they suspect that they don't have us figured out, be ready to tell them why we hope in Christ.
First Peter is clearly the book Christians need to read and study voraciously as we cope with a culture substantially hostile to Jesus Christ.
God bless!
Mark Daniels
Totally Committed to the God Who is Totally Committed to Us
Colossians 1:9-20
(shared with the people of Friendship Church on Commitment Sunday, a time when members and regular participants in the life of the congregation commit their time, talents, and treasures for ministry in the coming year)
I had a birthday this past week. I turned 51. It’s strange: the leap from age 50 to 51 seemed bigger to me than that from 49 to 50. Somehow, at 51, I feel a lot closer to the AARP Zone. I wonder how long it will be before I start to order from the seniors’ menu.
Turning fifty-one also caused me to do some prayer, reflection, and thinking. At this crossroads in my life, I asked God and myself, where am I and where am I headed?
The truth is that every day is a crossroads for us. Each moment that we live, we’re confronted with choices as to how we’re going to live and with what habits we’ll live. This past week, I ran across this quote from someone named Charles Reade, cited in a book by author and counselor Steve Arterburn:
Lutheran pastor Mike Foss says that there are three things you and I need to know if we’re going to make the most of the rest of our lives, all of which are talked about in today’s Bible lesson.
First: We need to know the only God of the universe, the only One Who is worth living for. Our Bible lesson says that we see this God through Jesus Christ. It says of Jesus:
The second thing that we need to know in order to make the best of the rest of our lives is: what God has accomplished through Jesus. In our Bible lesson, Paul says that Jesus “has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of His beloved Son, in Whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sin.” Jesus spent His blood on the cross to buy our freedom from slavery to sin, death, and purposeless living. Jesus is our Rescuer.
The third thing we need to know in order to make the best of the rest of our lives is: what is the goal of our lives. That’s why Paul writes: “...we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will...so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God.”
For several years now, we’ve spent a good deal of time at Friendship talking about what we call the seven habits of joyful people. You can probably recite them by heart. They are:
regular prayer;
study of God’s Word;
regular worship;
inviting others to know and follow Christ;
encouraging others with the love of Jesus;
serving in Jesus’ Name; and
giving to the cause of Christ in the world.
Time and again, we’ve emphasized that adopting these habits can’t earn us a place in God’s Kingdom. That’s a free gift. God gives a right and everlasting relationship with Him--a place in His kingdom--to all who turn away from sin and receive Jesus as the God and Lord of their lives.
But in order to receive all the power God can give us for making the most of our lives (for making the most of this congregation), we must position ourselves to receive it. We have to open up our hands and heart and will to receive what God gives through Christ. These seven habits are conduits by which the living, loving God we know through Jesus Christ can transform our thoughts, our actions, our destinies.
You and I have not been called into a relationship with Jesus Christ or with Friendship Church simply to settle into a pattern of holy mediocrity. God has called us to join hands with God and neighbor in order to change our lives and the life of the world around us.
Over the course of this past year, your Church Council has been committed to sharing information with you about our financial circumstances. You know that our congregational giving has not kept pace with the demands of our bare bones budget, or even with our collective estimates of giving. You know also that if our giving continues failing to keep pace with our needs, we will have to institute dramatic cuts next year. And you know what a devastating impact that would have on our pursuing some of our long-cherished dreams---outreach events, more community service, the addition of a variety of worship celebrations.
But these financial realities are only the tip of a spiritual ice berg. Martin Luther was fond of saying that every Christian must undergo at least three conversions to Jesus Christ:
The first conversion is in the head. We must be intellectually convinced about Jesus conquering sin and death for us.
The second is in the heart. We need to have a connection of will and emotion to Jesus.
And the third conversion is in the wallet. Luther says that this, by far, is the most difficult conversion of all.
By the time our conversions to Christ have sunk down to our wallets---with our spending, saving, and giving reflecting Jesus’ priorities for our lives and Jesus being the Boss of our lives, other habits will have taken hold as well. As one person told me, “I give God 10% of my annual income not to make God love me, but because I’ve come to know how much He already does love me.” Thankfulness to Christ and a commitment to actively living our thankfulness will impact our wallets and a lot more of our lives.
Over the next few moments, I want to ask all of you to have a silent conversation with God. I want to ask what is almost impossible for we Friendship folks: That we keep silent. I ask you to talk with God about how you are going to develop these seven habits in the coming year. You know the needs of this congregation. But even more importantly perhaps, you know that if you are going to make the most of the year ahead, each of these seven habits need to play a part in your life, probably a bigger part in your life in 2005 than they ever have before.
After you and God have talked things over, I want to ask you to take pen or pencil to paper and make your covenant with God for how you will pursue these habits in the coming year. And then, when you’re ready for it, please bring your completed time, talent, and treasure form forward, setting them on the Lord’s Table up here.
Before you start to do that, would you pray with me?
Lord Jesus, You are the King of kings. We want You also to be the King of our every moment. Lord, we know that You are the only God worth living for; we know what You’ve accomplished for us on the cross and from the empty tomb; and we know that Your goal for us is to live lives worthy of You. Now, God, we ask You to help us to want what You want for our lives. Give us the power to grow in our pursuit of these seven habits. Make them the highways by which You help us to grow and mature as Your people. Help us to move beyond mediocrity and in the coming year, make the most of the life You give to us. In Your Name we pray. Amen!
[I appreciate the inspiration provided by Pastor Foss' sermon for this Sunday. His congregation, like Friendship had its annual Commitment Sunday today.]
(shared with the people of Friendship Church on Commitment Sunday, a time when members and regular participants in the life of the congregation commit their time, talents, and treasures for ministry in the coming year)
I had a birthday this past week. I turned 51. It’s strange: the leap from age 50 to 51 seemed bigger to me than that from 49 to 50. Somehow, at 51, I feel a lot closer to the AARP Zone. I wonder how long it will be before I start to order from the seniors’ menu.
Turning fifty-one also caused me to do some prayer, reflection, and thinking. At this crossroads in my life, I asked God and myself, where am I and where am I headed?
The truth is that every day is a crossroads for us. Each moment that we live, we’re confronted with choices as to how we’re going to live and with what habits we’ll live. This past week, I ran across this quote from someone named Charles Reade, cited in a book by author and counselor Steve Arterburn:
“Sow a thought, and you reap an action; sow an action, and you reap a habit; sow a habit, and you reap a character; sow a character, and you reap a destiny.”At this crossroads moment of my life, I want to sow thoughts, actions, habits, and a character that will help me make the most of my time on this earth, that will help me meet the destiny that God has in mind for me. I bet the same is true for you.
Lutheran pastor Mike Foss says that there are three things you and I need to know if we’re going to make the most of the rest of our lives, all of which are talked about in today’s Bible lesson.
First: We need to know the only God of the universe, the only One Who is worth living for. Our Bible lesson says that we see this God through Jesus Christ. It says of Jesus:
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in Him all things in heaven and on earth, things visible and invisible...have been created through Him and for Him...[And] in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.”Martin Luther said that if you want to know God, all you have to do is look at Jesus. When you do that, you get a very different picture of God than what most people have. In his book, Living Faith, former President Jimmy Carter talks about how his image of God has changed because of Jesus. When he was younger, Carter says,
“I envisioned a supreme being, [who] was more like Muhammad, the founder of Islam, a patently successful man in earthly terms: a powerful warrior, political leader, founder of a great institutional [religion]. This was in many ways the opposite of the ‘suffering servant’ in [the prophecies of the Old Testament book of] Isaiah, whom Christians identify with Christ: physically unattractive, uneloquent, scorned, rejected...”In Jesus, we see that God is all-powerful and all-knowing, to be sure. But we also see that He is willing to lay that aside out of consideration of His love for us. One of the early church fathers was a man named Origen. He told once about a village that had a huge statue, so huge that you really couldn’t see what it was meant to be. Finally, someone miniaturized it so you could tell who it was designed to honor. Origen said, “That’s what God did in His Son. He made it possible for us to see what God is like.” Knowing this God can help us find the right direction for our lives.
The second thing that we need to know in order to make the best of the rest of our lives is: what God has accomplished through Jesus. In our Bible lesson, Paul says that Jesus “has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of His beloved Son, in Whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sin.” Jesus spent His blood on the cross to buy our freedom from slavery to sin, death, and purposeless living. Jesus is our Rescuer.
The third thing we need to know in order to make the best of the rest of our lives is: what is the goal of our lives. That’s why Paul writes: “...we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will...so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God.”
For several years now, we’ve spent a good deal of time at Friendship talking about what we call the seven habits of joyful people. You can probably recite them by heart. They are:
regular prayer;
study of God’s Word;
regular worship;
inviting others to know and follow Christ;
encouraging others with the love of Jesus;
serving in Jesus’ Name; and
giving to the cause of Christ in the world.
Time and again, we’ve emphasized that adopting these habits can’t earn us a place in God’s Kingdom. That’s a free gift. God gives a right and everlasting relationship with Him--a place in His kingdom--to all who turn away from sin and receive Jesus as the God and Lord of their lives.
But in order to receive all the power God can give us for making the most of our lives (for making the most of this congregation), we must position ourselves to receive it. We have to open up our hands and heart and will to receive what God gives through Christ. These seven habits are conduits by which the living, loving God we know through Jesus Christ can transform our thoughts, our actions, our destinies.
You and I have not been called into a relationship with Jesus Christ or with Friendship Church simply to settle into a pattern of holy mediocrity. God has called us to join hands with God and neighbor in order to change our lives and the life of the world around us.
Over the course of this past year, your Church Council has been committed to sharing information with you about our financial circumstances. You know that our congregational giving has not kept pace with the demands of our bare bones budget, or even with our collective estimates of giving. You know also that if our giving continues failing to keep pace with our needs, we will have to institute dramatic cuts next year. And you know what a devastating impact that would have on our pursuing some of our long-cherished dreams---outreach events, more community service, the addition of a variety of worship celebrations.
But these financial realities are only the tip of a spiritual ice berg. Martin Luther was fond of saying that every Christian must undergo at least three conversions to Jesus Christ:
The first conversion is in the head. We must be intellectually convinced about Jesus conquering sin and death for us.
The second is in the heart. We need to have a connection of will and emotion to Jesus.
And the third conversion is in the wallet. Luther says that this, by far, is the most difficult conversion of all.
By the time our conversions to Christ have sunk down to our wallets---with our spending, saving, and giving reflecting Jesus’ priorities for our lives and Jesus being the Boss of our lives, other habits will have taken hold as well. As one person told me, “I give God 10% of my annual income not to make God love me, but because I’ve come to know how much He already does love me.” Thankfulness to Christ and a commitment to actively living our thankfulness will impact our wallets and a lot more of our lives.
Over the next few moments, I want to ask all of you to have a silent conversation with God. I want to ask what is almost impossible for we Friendship folks: That we keep silent. I ask you to talk with God about how you are going to develop these seven habits in the coming year. You know the needs of this congregation. But even more importantly perhaps, you know that if you are going to make the most of the year ahead, each of these seven habits need to play a part in your life, probably a bigger part in your life in 2005 than they ever have before.
After you and God have talked things over, I want to ask you to take pen or pencil to paper and make your covenant with God for how you will pursue these habits in the coming year. And then, when you’re ready for it, please bring your completed time, talent, and treasure form forward, setting them on the Lord’s Table up here.
Before you start to do that, would you pray with me?
Lord Jesus, You are the King of kings. We want You also to be the King of our every moment. Lord, we know that You are the only God worth living for; we know what You’ve accomplished for us on the cross and from the empty tomb; and we know that Your goal for us is to live lives worthy of You. Now, God, we ask You to help us to want what You want for our lives. Give us the power to grow in our pursuit of these seven habits. Make them the highways by which You help us to grow and mature as Your people. Help us to move beyond mediocrity and in the coming year, make the most of the life You give to us. In Your Name we pray. Amen!
[I appreciate the inspiration provided by Pastor Foss' sermon for this Sunday. His congregation, like Friendship had its annual Commitment Sunday today.]
Friday, November 19, 2004
Thank You, Mark Sides
Mark Sides is a person I only know through blogging. From his site and from his kind emails and comments on this blog, I know him to be an earnest follower of Jesus Christ who seeks to live a life pleasing to God. I admire that.
Earlier today, Mark honored me by mentioning my series on 'When Tragedy Hits the Innocent' on his blog. Thank you, Mark; I truly am honored and I hope that each one of the entries can help those who suffer and those who strive to help them.
Mark has a whole lot of interesting things to say. I hope that you'll visit his site.
Below are the links to all four parts of 'When Tragedy Hits the Innocent.'
When Suffering Hits the Innocent, Part 1
When Suffering Hits the Innocent, Part 2
When Suffering Hits the Innocent, Part 3
When Suffering Hits the Innocent, Part 4
Earlier today, Mark honored me by mentioning my series on 'When Tragedy Hits the Innocent' on his blog. Thank you, Mark; I truly am honored and I hope that each one of the entries can help those who suffer and those who strive to help them.
Mark has a whole lot of interesting things to say. I hope that you'll visit his site.
Below are the links to all four parts of 'When Tragedy Hits the Innocent.'
When Suffering Hits the Innocent, Part 1
When Suffering Hits the Innocent, Part 2
When Suffering Hits the Innocent, Part 3
When Suffering Hits the Innocent, Part 4
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
Before I Lay Me Down to Sleep...
here are a few blogs I'd like to recommend to you.
Leadership is a group blog to which five different individuals contribute. I like it. Check out the recent post on Squandered Gifts.
Instapundit, according to many sources, is the single-most popular site in the blogosphere. Like his politics or not, blogger Glenn Reynolds is a witty post-modern Renaissance man with an indecipherable affection for Gilligan's Island.
Hugh Hewitt has two particularly interesting recent posts. The more recent deals with the decision of Target to not allow Salvation Army bell-ringers at the doorways of their stores. Apparently, people from across the country are outraged. Good! I've always liked Target, but there is something bizarre about a retailer making a killing on Christmas while preventing a Christian service organization the opportunity to raise funds for services they'll be rendering in the Name of the Christ Whose birth we're celebrating. Hugh also has some thoughts on moral values and the recent election.
Leadership is a group blog to which five different individuals contribute. I like it. Check out the recent post on Squandered Gifts.
Instapundit, according to many sources, is the single-most popular site in the blogosphere. Like his politics or not, blogger Glenn Reynolds is a witty post-modern Renaissance man with an indecipherable affection for Gilligan's Island.
Hugh Hewitt has two particularly interesting recent posts. The more recent deals with the decision of Target to not allow Salvation Army bell-ringers at the doorways of their stores. Apparently, people from across the country are outraged. Good! I've always liked Target, but there is something bizarre about a retailer making a killing on Christmas while preventing a Christian service organization the opportunity to raise funds for services they'll be rendering in the Name of the Christ Whose birth we're celebrating. Hugh also has some thoughts on moral values and the recent election.
Lunch-Time Thoughts on Moral Values in the Recent Election
In the wake of the November 2 election, many pundits are wrestling with the implications of exit polling showing that, for supporters of President Bush, moral values ranked as the number one concern. Many wonder if, before long, there will be any Christians who count themselves as Democrats.
It's certainly true of the congregation I serve as pastor that the overwhelming majority are Republicans. And ours is part of the so-called, mainstream church, a Lutheran congregation, not associated with the so-called Christian Right in many ways.
But I think it's also true that among Christians who are Democrats, there are feelings of resentment, hurt, and some anger that the faith-rootedness of their political views are disdained or ignored.
For many older Christians, the connection of faith (and, by extension, God) to the Republican Party is a new phenomenon. The repository of the best moral values for many Roosevelt and Kennedy supporters was always the Democratic Party. For them, policies which they saw as helpful to the elderly, handicapped, and discriminated-against all were rooted in Christian moral values.
That connection between Christian morality and Democratic politics, in spite of issues like abortion and gay marriage, seems to still inform the views of some Christian voters, especially older Christian voters.
Democratic luminaries appear to be attempting to tap into that history. James Carville, in a recent joint appearance with wife Mary Matalin on network TV, said that Democrats addressed more of the moral and value issues that Jesus deemed significant than did the Republican Party. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has made a similar argument.
But these and other Democratic discussions of their superior moral values, really beg the question.
The fact is that the moral issues raised by Democrats in this election, rightly or wrongly, weren't the ones seen as important by the overtly "faith-based" voter in 2004.
The Democrats have a point insofar as the full-range of morals and values questions confronting our nation were not addressed effectively by either party in the past campaign. (Pastor Craig Williams is addressing these on his excellent web site.) War and peace, wealth and poverty, and other moral issues may well be appropriately addressed in the political process.
But the Democrats are clearly out of touch with the majority of Christians’ thinking when it comes to abortion and gay marriage. Those were the moral issues that most swayed a large portion of George W. Bush's majority on November 2.
It's doubtful that any amount of "moral values" window dressing will help Democrats make their case to the American people. Without their exhibiting some substantive appreciation of the reality and the legitimacy of the concerns of most faith-based voters, the Democrats will probably not realistically vie for the White House for some time to come.
It's certainly true of the congregation I serve as pastor that the overwhelming majority are Republicans. And ours is part of the so-called, mainstream church, a Lutheran congregation, not associated with the so-called Christian Right in many ways.
But I think it's also true that among Christians who are Democrats, there are feelings of resentment, hurt, and some anger that the faith-rootedness of their political views are disdained or ignored.
For many older Christians, the connection of faith (and, by extension, God) to the Republican Party is a new phenomenon. The repository of the best moral values for many Roosevelt and Kennedy supporters was always the Democratic Party. For them, policies which they saw as helpful to the elderly, handicapped, and discriminated-against all were rooted in Christian moral values.
That connection between Christian morality and Democratic politics, in spite of issues like abortion and gay marriage, seems to still inform the views of some Christian voters, especially older Christian voters.
Democratic luminaries appear to be attempting to tap into that history. James Carville, in a recent joint appearance with wife Mary Matalin on network TV, said that Democrats addressed more of the moral and value issues that Jesus deemed significant than did the Republican Party. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has made a similar argument.
But these and other Democratic discussions of their superior moral values, really beg the question.
The fact is that the moral issues raised by Democrats in this election, rightly or wrongly, weren't the ones seen as important by the overtly "faith-based" voter in 2004.
The Democrats have a point insofar as the full-range of morals and values questions confronting our nation were not addressed effectively by either party in the past campaign. (Pastor Craig Williams is addressing these on his excellent web site.) War and peace, wealth and poverty, and other moral issues may well be appropriately addressed in the political process.
But the Democrats are clearly out of touch with the majority of Christians’ thinking when it comes to abortion and gay marriage. Those were the moral issues that most swayed a large portion of George W. Bush's majority on November 2.
It's doubtful that any amount of "moral values" window dressing will help Democrats make their case to the American people. Without their exhibiting some substantive appreciation of the reality and the legitimacy of the concerns of most faith-based voters, the Democrats will probably not realistically vie for the White House for some time to come.
Prayers for Family of Hassan and for Iraq
The murder of Margaret Hassan, the aid worker, whose love for the people of Iraq was reciprocated by many in that country, is a dreadful tragedy.
My prayers are that her family and friends will be comforted by God as they mourn.
I pray also that God will bring peace to Iraq soon.
My prayers are that her family and friends will be comforted by God as they mourn.
I pray also that God will bring peace to Iraq soon.
Just for the Fun of It: Favorite Singer-Songwriters
It wasn't until the Beatles came along that singer-songwriters became a well-established element of the music scene. (They were inspired by Buddy Holly to follow this path.) Below are my top favorite singer-songwriters. (At least they are for tonight.) Tell me yours by using the Comment button below:
1. Paul McCartney
2. Bob Dylan
3. Bruce Cockburn
4. James Taylor
5. Bruce Springsteen
[Honorable mention: John Lennon]
1. Paul McCartney
2. Bob Dylan
3. Bruce Cockburn
4. James Taylor
5. Bruce Springsteen
[Honorable mention: John Lennon]
Your Opinions of 'Imperial Hubris'?
Imperial Hubris is another one of those books that has awaited my attention for some time: my son bought it for me a few months ago. The book, the authorship of which was originally ascribed to Anonymous, is the handiwork of Michael Scheuer. Until this past Friday, Scheuer was employed by the CIA and from 1996 to 1999, he headed the unit charged with tracking and understanding Osama bin Laden and the al Qaeda terrorist network.
I'm about one-third of the way through Scheuer's book and I must say that I'm reading it with mixed emotions. It seems to me that he is guilty of some hubris, as he is an equal opportunity critic of just about every decision-maker in the US government---Democrats, Republicans, and civil servants in the upper echelons of the CIA.
If Scheuer is only half-correct in his assertions about al Qaeda, then the West has only half-reacted to the threat it poses. But I will hold off on making any definitive comments on Imperial Hubris until I've finished reading it.
In the meantime, if you've read it, would you like to share your opinions and impressions by clicking on the Comment button below?
I'm about one-third of the way through Scheuer's book and I must say that I'm reading it with mixed emotions. It seems to me that he is guilty of some hubris, as he is an equal opportunity critic of just about every decision-maker in the US government---Democrats, Republicans, and civil servants in the upper echelons of the CIA.
If Scheuer is only half-correct in his assertions about al Qaeda, then the West has only half-reacted to the threat it poses. But I will hold off on making any definitive comments on Imperial Hubris until I've finished reading it.
In the meantime, if you've read it, would you like to share your opinions and impressions by clicking on the Comment button below?
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
'Living Faith' is a Great Read
I finally finished reading Jimmy Carter's Living Faith last night. It's a book that will have an impact on me for a long time, I know. In another post, I wrote about its earlier chapters. But I want to enthusiastically recommend it here. Living Faith is the testament of an intelligent and accomplished man committed to living in relationship with the real God we meet in Jesus Christ and striving in very practical ways to love God and love neighbor. No matter what your politics, you're likely to love this book!
The book's next-to-last chapter, 'The Lord I've Come to Know,' is, I feel, its best. "A crucial stage in the growth of my faith came when I began to see that the teachings of Christ could be applied to secular existence," Carter writes. That has certainly been true of my faith journey.
Back when I was twenty-two years old, married two years, my wife's pastor came for a visit to our apartment. "I've come to ask you to be the junior high youth group leaders," he said. I was taken aback. "I'm not even a Lutheran," I told him. That statement was true enough. But I failed to tell him the whole truth: I was an atheist.
Yet, my wife and I got involved in youth group. I saw the impact that Christ had on the lives of the church's young people and their parents. They weren't play-acting. The God they said they'd come to know through Christ was real to them and he had an impact on them.
On top of that, for the first time in my life, I felt as though through our work with the youth, I was actually accomplishing something. Yet, I couldn't see that I was actually doing anything at all. An unseen hand was working in my life. I got involved in the ministry (a word meaning, service) of Christian faith and through it, God actually spawned faith in me. I began to see that a living God made it possible, in Carter's phrase, to apply Christ's teachings "to a secular existence."
Carter writes movingly and convincingly about this experience:
Carter then speaks of the mission trips he took to the North and which I've described in another post. Working side-by-side with humble Christians who shared their faith in simple ways, Carter gained what he calls "my first exposures to the miraculous qualities of Christianity."
"But," he writes, "it also brought home to me in a stronger way than ever before the disparity between my secular ambitions and the example of Jesus Christ."
Then come these two amazing paragraphs:
Back when I was an atheist, I wrestled with an image of God very like that promoted by Islam: an implacable war-God Who delighted in befuddling and lording things over finite, almost witless people like me. (I sometimes struggle with similar images of God.) Such a God might be feared or even loved in a sick, co-dependent way. But He could hardly be considered a liberator of the human spirit, a gracious forgiver of sin, or a Deity Whose love for me might in turn, incite love for Him in me or desire for intimacy with Him.
But in Jesus, we meet a different God: Perfect, omnipotent, and omniscient, to be sure; but also compassionate, giving.
Contrary to the pseudo-religion being hyped in some contemporary best-selling books, the notion of Jesus' deity was not a late development. Within just a few years of His death and resurrection, Christians are recording conversations in which Jesus affirmed His God-ness, as did His followers.
Sometime between 53 and 60 A.D., for example, the evangelist and preacher Paul writes about Jesus from a prison cell where he's incarcerated for his faith in Christ:
The apostle John writes of Jesus:
And yet this Jesus, as Carter came to know, makes God not just knowable, but desirable. Paul writes about this, apparently quoting a hymn that had already become current among the early Christians (yes, I quote this passage all the time):
In all the other world religions, a distant God must be reached by human effort, through obeying laws or requirements of righteousness. The Christian faith is the only religion that recognizes our human inability to reach God. But in Christ we see that God is willing to reach all the way down into the depths of human experience to touch us.
The Bible puts it this way:
In Jesus we meet the God of the universe Who is a God of grace, anxious to have us turn from sin and turn to Him for life, everlasting life He offers for free. When this life enters those with faith in Christ, it frees them to entertain what I would call a holy discontent, what Jimmy Carter described as an awareness of the disparity between Christ and himself. It also empowers us, once again using a phrase of Carter's, to apply Christ's teachings "to a secular existence." That becomes easier to do when you live in the daily assurance that whether we live or die, we belong to Christ forever.
Carter talks about this. He says that going on Habitat for Humanity building trips in dangerous inner-city areas of America sometime presents daunting risks. At one project in Miami, he says, one of the volunteers with whom he was working was killed by a pistol shot. But, he writes that:
The Lord he's come to know, Jimmy Carter says, is very different from the stern Maker he once pictured Him to be. He writes gratefully:
I heartily recommend Living Faith, this great testament of faith in Jesus Christ, written by our thirty-ninth President.
The book's next-to-last chapter, 'The Lord I've Come to Know,' is, I feel, its best. "A crucial stage in the growth of my faith came when I began to see that the teachings of Christ could be applied to secular existence," Carter writes. That has certainly been true of my faith journey.
Back when I was twenty-two years old, married two years, my wife's pastor came for a visit to our apartment. "I've come to ask you to be the junior high youth group leaders," he said. I was taken aback. "I'm not even a Lutheran," I told him. That statement was true enough. But I failed to tell him the whole truth: I was an atheist.
Yet, my wife and I got involved in youth group. I saw the impact that Christ had on the lives of the church's young people and their parents. They weren't play-acting. The God they said they'd come to know through Christ was real to them and he had an impact on them.
On top of that, for the first time in my life, I felt as though through our work with the youth, I was actually accomplishing something. Yet, I couldn't see that I was actually doing anything at all. An unseen hand was working in my life. I got involved in the ministry (a word meaning, service) of Christian faith and through it, God actually spawned faith in me. I began to see that a living God made it possible, in Carter's phrase, to apply Christ's teachings "to a secular existence."
Carter writes movingly and convincingly about this experience:
Previously, I'd focused my daily activities on ambitions...All of these goals I achieved.
The first real defeat in my life had come in 1966, when I lost the governor's race to a racist opponent...I felt that God had let me down. After all, I thought, I've done a pretty good job of being a Christian! Don't I deserve better than this?
Carter then speaks of the mission trips he took to the North and which I've described in another post. Working side-by-side with humble Christians who shared their faith in simple ways, Carter gained what he calls "my first exposures to the miraculous qualities of Christianity."
"But," he writes, "it also brought home to me in a stronger way than ever before the disparity between my secular ambitions and the example of Jesus Christ."
Then come these two amazing paragraphs:
When I turned to the Gospels, the Jesus I met had a very different way of life from the one I was building for myself and my family. Jesus had no money, no possessions, no house; he turned away from his mother, brothers, and sisters; he was abandoned in time of trouble by his friends and followers; and he died when he was still a young man. How could this be my God?
I began to realize that when I envisioned a supreme being, he was more like Muhammad, the founder of Islam, a patently successful man in earthly terms: a powerful warrior, political leader, founder of a great institutional church. This was in many ways the opposit of the Jesus of the Gospels, or the image of the "suffering servant" in Isaiah, whom Christians identify with Christ: physically unattractive, uneloquent, scorned, rejected. The more I thought about the discrepancy between my image of God and the image in the Gospels, the more it tortured me, not for Jesus' sake but for mine---because I was so different from the divine human being I claimed to worship.
Back when I was an atheist, I wrestled with an image of God very like that promoted by Islam: an implacable war-God Who delighted in befuddling and lording things over finite, almost witless people like me. (I sometimes struggle with similar images of God.) Such a God might be feared or even loved in a sick, co-dependent way. But He could hardly be considered a liberator of the human spirit, a gracious forgiver of sin, or a Deity Whose love for me might in turn, incite love for Him in me or desire for intimacy with Him.
But in Jesus, we meet a different God: Perfect, omnipotent, and omniscient, to be sure; but also compassionate, giving.
Contrary to the pseudo-religion being hyped in some contemporary best-selling books, the notion of Jesus' deity was not a late development. Within just a few years of His death and resurrection, Christians are recording conversations in which Jesus affirmed His God-ness, as did His followers.
Sometime between 53 and 60 A.D., for example, the evangelist and preacher Paul writes about Jesus from a prison cell where he's incarcerated for his faith in Christ:
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross. (Colossians 1:15-20)
The apostle John writes of Jesus:
No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, Who is close to the Father's heart, Who has made Him known. (John 1:17)
And yet this Jesus, as Carter came to know, makes God not just knowable, but desirable. Paul writes about this, apparently quoting a hymn that had already become current among the early Christians (yes, I quote this passage all the time):
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.
Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:4-11)
In all the other world religions, a distant God must be reached by human effort, through obeying laws or requirements of righteousness. The Christian faith is the only religion that recognizes our human inability to reach God. But in Christ we see that God is willing to reach all the way down into the depths of human experience to touch us.
The Bible puts it this way:
But now, irrespective of law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus. [Romans 3:21-26]
In Jesus we meet the God of the universe Who is a God of grace, anxious to have us turn from sin and turn to Him for life, everlasting life He offers for free. When this life enters those with faith in Christ, it frees them to entertain what I would call a holy discontent, what Jimmy Carter described as an awareness of the disparity between Christ and himself. It also empowers us, once again using a phrase of Carter's, to apply Christ's teachings "to a secular existence." That becomes easier to do when you live in the daily assurance that whether we live or die, we belong to Christ forever.
Carter talks about this. He says that going on Habitat for Humanity building trips in dangerous inner-city areas of America sometime presents daunting risks. At one project in Miami, he says, one of the volunteers with whom he was working was killed by a pistol shot. But, he writes that:
The awareness that my God walked this way before me makes it possible to sustain such an effort.
The Lord he's come to know, Jimmy Carter says, is very different from the stern Maker he once pictured Him to be. He writes gratefully:
To emulate the perfect life of Jesus and to comply with his teachings is impossible. God, being perfect, cannot condone sinfulness, and the punishment of our violation of divine laws is separation from God. But through our faith in Christ, who was perfect and who personfies grace and truth, we can be totally forgiven and reconciled with God, for "the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23)
I heartily recommend Living Faith, this great testament of faith in Jesus Christ, written by our thirty-ninth President.
Monday, November 15, 2004
More on 'Good to Great'
I've been summarizing and applying the lessons found in Jim Collins' book, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others Don't for the leadership of our congregation.
This book challenges some of the conventional thinking about leadership, be it in corporations, government, social service institutions, academia, or even, the Church.
For one thing, Collins demonstrates the deadly effects that charismatic leaders (by that he means leaders with outsized personalities and sometimes, outsized egos, not adherents to neo-Pentecostalism) can have on organizations. When organizations become focused on pleasing a hero at the top of the organizational flow chart, rather than doing its work, the mission becomes blurred, the organization gets mired in mediocrity, and there is no smooth transition of leadership.
Collins' book is filled with research that questions many other conventional wisdom about leadership.
I highly recommend this book. No summary, particularly one by me, can possibly do it justice. I believe that Good to Great will come to be regarded as a seminal book.
Below is what I've shared with our leadership in summarizing the next portion of Good to Great:
This book challenges some of the conventional thinking about leadership, be it in corporations, government, social service institutions, academia, or even, the Church.
For one thing, Collins demonstrates the deadly effects that charismatic leaders (by that he means leaders with outsized personalities and sometimes, outsized egos, not adherents to neo-Pentecostalism) can have on organizations. When organizations become focused on pleasing a hero at the top of the organizational flow chart, rather than doing its work, the mission becomes blurred, the organization gets mired in mediocrity, and there is no smooth transition of leadership.
Collins' book is filled with research that questions many other conventional wisdom about leadership.
I highly recommend this book. No summary, particularly one by me, can possibly do it justice. I believe that Good to Great will come to be regarded as a seminal book.
Below is what I've shared with our leadership in summarizing the next portion of Good to Great:
Chapter 6 of Collins' book is titled, 'A Culture of Discipline.' He opens with a quote from the psychotherapist Viktor E. Frankl. Frankl, you probably remember is someone I myself have quoted many times. A Jew, he was taken prisoner by the Nazis during World War Two and survived life in a concentration camp. He lost most of his family, including his wife. But like Admiral Stockdale, he survived his brutal incarceration and during the experience, learned much about human beings.
The Frankl quote with which Collins leads the chapter is this: "Freedom is only part of the story and half the truth...That is why I recommend that the Statue of Liberty on the East Coast be supplanted by a Statue of Responsibility on the West Coast."
Collins then tells the story of George Rathmann, who in 1980 cofounded a biotechnology company called Amgen. His experience and that of Amgen is particularly relevant to Friendship and to other recently-planted congregations. That's because this start-up company avoided the pitfalls into which many of their ilk fall...pitfalls into which I've seen many start-up churches also fall.
As Collins puts it: "Few successful start-ups become great companies, in large part because they respond to growth and success in the wrong way. Entrepreneurial success is fueled by creativity, imagination, bold moves into uncharted waters, and visionary zeal. [The very things, I might add, that were clearly characteristic of Friendship in our early years.] As a company grows and becomes more complex, it begins to trip over its own success---too many new people, too many new customers, too many new orders, too many new products. [In the case of Friendship, while growth has not been explosive, it has been steady. Established members are virtually unaware of the news members' presence and because of this, don't think to invite them to participate in various ministries. Furthermore, expectations of the congregation spike and a connection to the particular vision and mission of the church dissipate.] What was once great fun becomes an unwieldy ball of disorganized stuff. Lack of planning, lack of accounting, lack of systems, and lack of hiring constraints create friction. Problems surface---with customers, with cash flow, with schedules."
So, Collins says, someone on the board says that it's time for the company to grow up and bring in professional management. But that can bring stagnating changes as well. Various processes and chains of command are introduced. "What was once an egalitarian environment gets replaced with hierarchy...'We' and 'they' segmentations appear--just like in a real company." Order is created, but "members of the founding team begin to grumble, 'This isn't fun anymore...' The creative magic begins to wane...The cancer of mediocrity begins to grow in earnest."
I have seen similar things happen in scores of start-up congregations. (Another wrong reaction I've seen in them is that they simply give up, feeling that there is nothing they can do to forge ahead faithfully and adventurously. They forget that "with God all things are possible.")
Rathmann, says Collins, avoided "this entrepreneurial death spiral." Instead of establishing stifling rules and regulations, he put disciplined people in positions of responsibility. Collins explains Rathmann's formula as follows: "Avoid bureaucracy and hierarchy and instead create a culture of discipline [through the placement of the right people in the right slots]. When you put these two complementary forces together--a culture of discipline with an ethic of entrepreneurship--you get a magical alchemy of superior performance and sustained results."
Of course, a church is not a company. The church doesn't control who becomes part of its fellowship, except insofar as members subscribe to the same faith. But the leadership of a congregation should work hard to bring to leadership positions the right people--people willing to take the risks to which faith in Christ calls us and who exercise internal discipline in the pursuit of the congregation's mission and vision.
As part of a culture of discipline, Collins says, back in 1968, a man named Bernard Semler became CFO of Abbott Labs. It was Semler who introduced "Responsibility Accounting," the very concept with which I hope we will operate at Friendship. (Although I had never heard of the term until reading it in Collins' book.) As Collins explains Responsibility Accounting, it's a system "wherein every item of cost, income, and investment...[is] clearly identified with a single individual responsible for that item." This approach liberated the entrepreneurial spirit, tempered by a culture of discipline, and the impact on Abbott Labs was sustained greatness.
In Friendship terms, Responsibility Accounting, means assigning each program area chair complete freedom and the expectations of responsible stewardship over their piece of the annual budget. (It would also mean assigning such responsibility to sub-set program areas.)
The result of this approach, according to Collins, is that you foster both financial discipline and creativity, a conclusion that only makes sense.
There is one other point from this fantastic chapter that I want to display...
Says Collins: "The good-to-great companies at their best followed a simple mantra: 'Anything that does not fit with our Hedgehog Concept, we will not do. We will not launch unrelated businesses. We will not make unrelated acquisitions. We will not do unrelated joint ventures. If it doesn't fit, we don't do it. Period."
In other words, great organizations--as my study of History shows to also be true of great people--learn how to say, "No" to those things not central to their identities or that will help them become great in the one area they've identified as the place of their potential for greatness. (Collins says that great companies have "Not to do" lists!)
Applying this insight to Friendship, it means that there may be some perfectly wonderful ministries in which we could involve ourselves, but if they don't fit our identity as a church, we shouldn't do them.
This is a particularly tough discipline to introduce in a congregation. Often church members and church leaders see themselves as citizens of what I call "the kingdom of nice," rather than "the kingdom of Christ." When we're focused on being nice, we placate people who have good ideas, even if they don't seem consistent with our identity or mission. Church leadership focused on being nice, like marriage partners who focus on that rather than being genuinely loving, authentic people, say, "Yes" to everything. The result: dissipated efforts and resources, failures, mass mediocrity.
Even Jesus commended a focused mission. He told His disciples during His time on earth that for as long as He was around, they were only to go to "the lost sheep of Israel," His fellow Jews who were in need of His Good News.
This is a lesson which the disciples appear to have learned well. After Jesus had died, risen, and ascended, each of the early proclaimers of the Gospel adopted different mission fields. James, Jesus' brother, focused his efforts solely on his fellow Jews. Stephen appears to have been exclusively focused on Greek-speaking Jews. Peter had a ministry that included Jews and Gentiles, but which was more centered on Jerusalem and Asia Minor. Paul was an emissary to the Gentiles, who formed the churches he started around the fellowship of Jews and Gentiles who believed in the Hebrew God whom he found at area synagogues and places of worship. They each knew what to say "No" to, this maximizing their effectiveness in their defined mission areas. That may be one reason why the early Church went from good to great in a generation!
More thoughts spawned by Collins' book later.
Sunday, November 14, 2004
Farewell, Booknotes!
For years now, the only television show I've reliably tuned into nearly every week has been Booknotes. C-SPAN's series of hour-long interviews with non-fiction authors has been a treasure trove of diverse information and insights on history and public affairs that I have long valued.
The show, which has been a cornerstone of C-SPAN programming for fifteen-and-a-half years, will be passing from the scene in December. Brian Lamb, host and C-SPAN's CEO, has understandably decided to no longer do the show. According to a C-SPAN press release, Lamb has averaged spending about twenty hours each week all these years reading and preparing notes for every broadcast. That's a lot of time and Lamb simply needs to free himself for other pursuits.
But I'm going to miss Booknotes a lot. Lamb's interview style is as sparse and no-frills as the set on which the program is taped. He's really like no other journalist on TV today. Through his style, he manages to give a sense of what a book is about, allowing the authors the freedom to present themselves unfiltered by interviewer biases.
While C-SPAN is going to offer other interview programs and interviews with authors using different inquisitors, the loss of Booknotes will, for a time, leave a void.
In any case, thanks a lot to Brian Lamb for fifteen-and-a-half great years!
The show, which has been a cornerstone of C-SPAN programming for fifteen-and-a-half years, will be passing from the scene in December. Brian Lamb, host and C-SPAN's CEO, has understandably decided to no longer do the show. According to a C-SPAN press release, Lamb has averaged spending about twenty hours each week all these years reading and preparing notes for every broadcast. That's a lot of time and Lamb simply needs to free himself for other pursuits.
But I'm going to miss Booknotes a lot. Lamb's interview style is as sparse and no-frills as the set on which the program is taped. He's really like no other journalist on TV today. Through his style, he manages to give a sense of what a book is about, allowing the authors the freedom to present themselves unfiltered by interviewer biases.
While C-SPAN is going to offer other interview programs and interviews with authors using different inquisitors, the loss of Booknotes will, for a time, leave a void.
In any case, thanks a lot to Brian Lamb for fifteen-and-a-half great years!
De-Arnold the Debate Over Proposed Constitutional Amendment
A group in California, led by supporters of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and clearly with his blessing, tomorrow begins a campaign to amend the US Constitution in order to allow foreign-born citizens to become President.
Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution currently stipulates that, "No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President..."
A "natural born Citizen" is one who is born in this country or who is born of at least one American parent.
There have been occasional moves to amend this requirement in the past. I recall that at the zenith of his pop star celebrity, Nixon national security adviser and later, secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, a similar constitutional amendment was floated. (Kissinger, of course, is originally from Germany.)
Frankly, this effort frightens me a bit. While there may or may not be merit to altering the Constitution in this way, it strikes me that doing so simply because of the popularity or charisma of one prominent figure is reckless. trivializing the Constitution.
This is especially the case when one considers that Schwarzenegger's extremely short tenure as governor has, in part because of its duration, been a mixed bag of success and failure. He is an untested figure. The White House isn't a place for people who have not spent a long time at least thinking deeply about the vital issues of our day or engaging in the art and science of leadership.
Schwarzenegger's life story is a compelling one. His charisma is undeniable. He may even be qualified to be President. But to amend the Constitution in a spasm of adulation over his celebrity is a really bad idea.
I would say this. If the proponents of this amendment genuinely want to fight for the principle of allowing naturalized citizens to become President, they ought to make their case without reference to any individual. To do so, they ought to include a simple stipulation in the amendment. It would read something like this:
The Constitution isn't something to be messed with lightly. (A reason that even many conservatives oppose amendments that would define marriage.) It isn't there to indulge the Horatio Alger-fantasies of one attractive public figure or our vicarious desires to participate in them.
There may be merit to allowing naturalized citizens to become President. But before we do so, let's de-Arnold the debate.
Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution currently stipulates that, "No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President..."
A "natural born Citizen" is one who is born in this country or who is born of at least one American parent.
There have been occasional moves to amend this requirement in the past. I recall that at the zenith of his pop star celebrity, Nixon national security adviser and later, secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, a similar constitutional amendment was floated. (Kissinger, of course, is originally from Germany.)
Frankly, this effort frightens me a bit. While there may or may not be merit to altering the Constitution in this way, it strikes me that doing so simply because of the popularity or charisma of one prominent figure is reckless. trivializing the Constitution.
This is especially the case when one considers that Schwarzenegger's extremely short tenure as governor has, in part because of its duration, been a mixed bag of success and failure. He is an untested figure. The White House isn't a place for people who have not spent a long time at least thinking deeply about the vital issues of our day or engaging in the art and science of leadership.
Schwarzenegger's life story is a compelling one. His charisma is undeniable. He may even be qualified to be President. But to amend the Constitution in a spasm of adulation over his celebrity is a really bad idea.
I would say this. If the proponents of this amendment genuinely want to fight for the principle of allowing naturalized citizens to become President, they ought to make their case without reference to any individual. To do so, they ought to include a simple stipulation in the amendment. It would read something like this:
No naturalized citizen living on the date of this article's adoption shall be eligible for the Office of President.Only with the addition of such a provision can we have a clear-headed debate on the merits of allowing naturalized citizens to serve in our nation's highest office, a debate absent the hysteria of celebrity.
The Constitution isn't something to be messed with lightly. (A reason that even many conservatives oppose amendments that would define marriage.) It isn't there to indulge the Horatio Alger-fantasies of one attractive public figure or our vicarious desires to participate in them.
There may be merit to allowing naturalized citizens to become President. But before we do so, let's de-Arnold the debate.
Working for a Purpose
Second Thessalonians 3:6-13
(shared with the people of Friendship Church, November 14, 2004)
I have to make a confession: I’m a sucker for chick flicks. I've never seen a James Bond movie. I've only seen one of Clint Eastwood's films. But I love chick flicks.
One of them becoming a favorite of mine is Return to Me, starring Minnie Driver and David Duchovny. In it, Driver plays a young woman who lives and works with her grandfather, the proprietor of O’Reilly’s Italian Restaurant in Chicago.
In one scene, it’s late on a Saturday night and Driver’s character stands on a balcony outside the second-floor apartment that sets atop the restaurant. She sees her grandfather, played by Carrol O’Connor, outside, taking out some garbage. She calls down to him, “Do you need help with anything, grandpa?” “No, darlin’” he says, “I’m blessed with work.”
Truth be told, we don’t always feel blessed by our work.
Some of you have gone through the agony of being without a job or of working at one that either fails to meet your financial needs or your need for work that’s meaningful for you.
Some have nasty bosses who make going to work a daily trial.
But all of us can say, I think, that the ability to do work--the brain, the brawn, the endurance--are real blessings.
Work can also be a blessing when it’s useful and when it seems to match our unique talents and passions.
Our Bible lesson for this morning is a reminder of what blessings work can bring to us and to others...and of what curses idleness brings.
Let’s set the scene. The first-century preacher and evangelist Paul planted a church in the city of Thessalonica. As was Paul’s habit, he got the church going and then went somewhere else to share the good news of Jesus and start another church in another town.
But, someone has said that Paul’s departure from Thessalonica kicked off a reaction similar to that of an elementary school class when the teacher has to leave the room for a few moments.
A contingent of the Thessalonians became enamored of the idea that the risen and ascended Jesus was going to return soon. So, a bunch of them decided that there was no point in working. They just quit doing any work, whether for pay or at home or in the church.
And they were going around town interrupting the daily routines of other followers of Jesus who hadn’t stopped working, urging them to quit, and gossiping the day away. With nothing but time on their hands, unwilling to get involved in the mission of their congregation because they were “short-timers,” they became verbal terrorists, complaining about one thing and another, including the church.
Paul got wind of this and was offended. So, he sent this letter to the Thessalonians which is now in the New Testament portion of our Bibles. In the part of the letter that makes up today’s lesson, Paul makes three points. (Now there’s a surprise: a sermon with three points.)
First, he says, that the gifts of salvation, forgiveness, and everlasting life with God are not a license for laziness. He writes, using a Greek word associated with the passing on of military orders from upper echelons to those of lower rank, “Now we command you, beloved, in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from believers who are living in idleness and not according to the tradition that they received from us...”
Paul goes on to remind the Thessalonians about the tradition of working hard at one’s job so as not to burden the rest of the church that he and his coworkers lived and taught.
I once read the story about Hank, a notorious hard-drinking, womanizing, trouble-making guy who became a follower of Jesus. Hank joined a local congregation and for the pastor and other members, he became a poster child for how God can change the lives of people who surrender to Christ. At his factory assembly line job, Hank was always talking about his faith, about last night’s Bible study, and on and on and on. One day, this convert’s pastor visited him at the factory and spoke with the man’s foreman. “I bet you sure can see a difference in Hank since he came to faith,” the pastor said. “I can,” said the foreman, “but I sure wish he’d talk a little less and work a little more.”
It is absolutely true that there is nothing that you or I can do to earn God’s love or the new life that Jesus offers for free to those with faith in Him. All we have to do is want Jesus in our lives and He’ll be there. All he needs is our invitation. But, whether it’s in our professions, at our homes, or in our churches, we have God-given work to do. Our work is a response to God's love for us!
Back in March, 1981, I was sitting in the office of the late Jim Schaaf, one of my seminary professors. Along with two other seminarians, I was taking a private class on the Lutheran Confessions with Jim. His phone rang. After he answered, he listened, and asked, “When did it happen?” I have no idea why, but with only those four words as a clue, I thought to myself, “Reagan’s been shot.” Jim got off of the phone and said, “Reagan’s been shot.” After that Twilight Zone moment, we talked about it for a few moments and then Jim said, “Well, he had his work to do and so do we.” And we resumed our class. God’s gifts are free, but they’re not a license for laziness. Until the day we die and go to be with Jesus, we will have work to do in this world.
The second thing Paul teaches us today is that work is a blessing and a privilege, allowing us to provide for others and ourselves. Paul tells the Christians: “For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat.”
Now, the Bible scholarship I’ve consulted on this passage is quick to say that Paul is not addressing charity or government welfare programs here. Rather, Paul is saying that Christians who refuse to contribute their time, talent, and treasures to the mission of Christ in the world or who use their time to complain and throw stones at others in the church should not be allowed to participate in what was called the agape meal--the feast of love--that the early churches celebrated.
Agape, as you probably know, is one of four kinds of love identified in the Bible. It’s the highest form of love and has only been purely exhibited by God, especially when He came to earth in the Person of Jesus Christ. Agape love is selfless, self-sacrificing love. It’s the love Christ gave when He died on a cross for us.
Agape meals were the first century church’s gatherings around the love of Jesus Christ. Those meals included Holy Communion.
Paul is saying that those who don’t keep at the work given to them by God shouldn’t expect to enjoy the blessings of being part of the Church. They’re not living in the freedom that Christ gives us, the freedom to be our true selves. Instead, they’re living in license, lazily walking away from God’s mission for their lives. The don't live in response to God's grace, they take it for granted.
So, Paul teaches that God’s free gifts aren’t a license for laziness and that work is a blessing and a privilege given to help us love God and love neighbor.
Finally, Paul says, “Do not be weary in doing right.” A few years ago, pundits were speaking of America’s “compassion fatigue,” noting that contributions of time and money to charities and churches were diminishing. Following a steep increase in these things immediately following the attacks of September 11, 2001, people’s giving of time, talents, and treasures fell like a stone again. It turns out that this year, people’s giving of these things is beginning to climb once more.
Paul says that our call as Christians is to keep being Christian when things are going well and when they’re not. Just as God loved us all the way to a cross (and still loves and forgives us), He calls us to love Him and to love others whether it’s convenient or not. He calls us to give of ourselves and our possessions whether doing so is convenient or not. God’s love for us never goes out of season and neither should our responses to His love.
As we contemplate how we will use our time, talents, and treasures in the mission of Friendship Church during 2005, may we remember what Paul teaches us today:
that God’s gifts are free, but not a license for laziness;
that work is a blessing and privilege, allowing us to provide for others and ourselves; and
that in response to God’s eternal love for us, we will never grow weary of doing God’s mission for us...on the job, in the church, and everywhere else.
(shared with the people of Friendship Church, November 14, 2004)
I have to make a confession: I’m a sucker for chick flicks. I've never seen a James Bond movie. I've only seen one of Clint Eastwood's films. But I love chick flicks.
One of them becoming a favorite of mine is Return to Me, starring Minnie Driver and David Duchovny. In it, Driver plays a young woman who lives and works with her grandfather, the proprietor of O’Reilly’s Italian Restaurant in Chicago.
In one scene, it’s late on a Saturday night and Driver’s character stands on a balcony outside the second-floor apartment that sets atop the restaurant. She sees her grandfather, played by Carrol O’Connor, outside, taking out some garbage. She calls down to him, “Do you need help with anything, grandpa?” “No, darlin’” he says, “I’m blessed with work.”
Truth be told, we don’t always feel blessed by our work.
Some of you have gone through the agony of being without a job or of working at one that either fails to meet your financial needs or your need for work that’s meaningful for you.
Some have nasty bosses who make going to work a daily trial.
But all of us can say, I think, that the ability to do work--the brain, the brawn, the endurance--are real blessings.
Work can also be a blessing when it’s useful and when it seems to match our unique talents and passions.
Our Bible lesson for this morning is a reminder of what blessings work can bring to us and to others...and of what curses idleness brings.
Let’s set the scene. The first-century preacher and evangelist Paul planted a church in the city of Thessalonica. As was Paul’s habit, he got the church going and then went somewhere else to share the good news of Jesus and start another church in another town.
But, someone has said that Paul’s departure from Thessalonica kicked off a reaction similar to that of an elementary school class when the teacher has to leave the room for a few moments.
A contingent of the Thessalonians became enamored of the idea that the risen and ascended Jesus was going to return soon. So, a bunch of them decided that there was no point in working. They just quit doing any work, whether for pay or at home or in the church.
And they were going around town interrupting the daily routines of other followers of Jesus who hadn’t stopped working, urging them to quit, and gossiping the day away. With nothing but time on their hands, unwilling to get involved in the mission of their congregation because they were “short-timers,” they became verbal terrorists, complaining about one thing and another, including the church.
Paul got wind of this and was offended. So, he sent this letter to the Thessalonians which is now in the New Testament portion of our Bibles. In the part of the letter that makes up today’s lesson, Paul makes three points. (Now there’s a surprise: a sermon with three points.)
First, he says, that the gifts of salvation, forgiveness, and everlasting life with God are not a license for laziness. He writes, using a Greek word associated with the passing on of military orders from upper echelons to those of lower rank, “Now we command you, beloved, in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from believers who are living in idleness and not according to the tradition that they received from us...”
Paul goes on to remind the Thessalonians about the tradition of working hard at one’s job so as not to burden the rest of the church that he and his coworkers lived and taught.
I once read the story about Hank, a notorious hard-drinking, womanizing, trouble-making guy who became a follower of Jesus. Hank joined a local congregation and for the pastor and other members, he became a poster child for how God can change the lives of people who surrender to Christ. At his factory assembly line job, Hank was always talking about his faith, about last night’s Bible study, and on and on and on. One day, this convert’s pastor visited him at the factory and spoke with the man’s foreman. “I bet you sure can see a difference in Hank since he came to faith,” the pastor said. “I can,” said the foreman, “but I sure wish he’d talk a little less and work a little more.”
It is absolutely true that there is nothing that you or I can do to earn God’s love or the new life that Jesus offers for free to those with faith in Him. All we have to do is want Jesus in our lives and He’ll be there. All he needs is our invitation. But, whether it’s in our professions, at our homes, or in our churches, we have God-given work to do. Our work is a response to God's love for us!
Back in March, 1981, I was sitting in the office of the late Jim Schaaf, one of my seminary professors. Along with two other seminarians, I was taking a private class on the Lutheran Confessions with Jim. His phone rang. After he answered, he listened, and asked, “When did it happen?” I have no idea why, but with only those four words as a clue, I thought to myself, “Reagan’s been shot.” Jim got off of the phone and said, “Reagan’s been shot.” After that Twilight Zone moment, we talked about it for a few moments and then Jim said, “Well, he had his work to do and so do we.” And we resumed our class. God’s gifts are free, but they’re not a license for laziness. Until the day we die and go to be with Jesus, we will have work to do in this world.
The second thing Paul teaches us today is that work is a blessing and a privilege, allowing us to provide for others and ourselves. Paul tells the Christians: “For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat.”
Now, the Bible scholarship I’ve consulted on this passage is quick to say that Paul is not addressing charity or government welfare programs here. Rather, Paul is saying that Christians who refuse to contribute their time, talent, and treasures to the mission of Christ in the world or who use their time to complain and throw stones at others in the church should not be allowed to participate in what was called the agape meal--the feast of love--that the early churches celebrated.
Agape, as you probably know, is one of four kinds of love identified in the Bible. It’s the highest form of love and has only been purely exhibited by God, especially when He came to earth in the Person of Jesus Christ. Agape love is selfless, self-sacrificing love. It’s the love Christ gave when He died on a cross for us.
Agape meals were the first century church’s gatherings around the love of Jesus Christ. Those meals included Holy Communion.
Paul is saying that those who don’t keep at the work given to them by God shouldn’t expect to enjoy the blessings of being part of the Church. They’re not living in the freedom that Christ gives us, the freedom to be our true selves. Instead, they’re living in license, lazily walking away from God’s mission for their lives. The don't live in response to God's grace, they take it for granted.
So, Paul teaches that God’s free gifts aren’t a license for laziness and that work is a blessing and a privilege given to help us love God and love neighbor.
Finally, Paul says, “Do not be weary in doing right.” A few years ago, pundits were speaking of America’s “compassion fatigue,” noting that contributions of time and money to charities and churches were diminishing. Following a steep increase in these things immediately following the attacks of September 11, 2001, people’s giving of time, talents, and treasures fell like a stone again. It turns out that this year, people’s giving of these things is beginning to climb once more.
Paul says that our call as Christians is to keep being Christian when things are going well and when they’re not. Just as God loved us all the way to a cross (and still loves and forgives us), He calls us to love Him and to love others whether it’s convenient or not. He calls us to give of ourselves and our possessions whether doing so is convenient or not. God’s love for us never goes out of season and neither should our responses to His love.
As we contemplate how we will use our time, talents, and treasures in the mission of Friendship Church during 2005, may we remember what Paul teaches us today:
that God’s gifts are free, but not a license for laziness;
that work is a blessing and privilege, allowing us to provide for others and ourselves; and
that in response to God’s eternal love for us, we will never grow weary of doing God’s mission for us...on the job, in the church, and everywhere else.
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I agree that under current circumstances the chances of Bill Clinton becoming Secretary General range from slim to none. One reason clearly is that as long as the US remains the prevailing superpower of the world, no American will be selected as SG. I can't say that this is a bad idea. US interests are too far-flung, our power too great, and our influence too pervasive for the international community to entrust the SG position to one of our number.
Furthermore, the UN will want to stay free of domestic US politics. With Mr. Clinton's wife likely to make a bid for the presidency (or to at least be touted for the office), I don't see the international community wanting him as SG. I also think that the US would squelch such a move.
Vaclev Havel is an interesting possibility.
Others might include former Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Particularly in light of the recent scandal regarding the sexual misconduct of members of UN peacekeepers in Africa, Tutu could be a great choice. In addition to being a courageous Nobel Peace Prize laureate, he is a man with a reputation beyond reproach. His work as leader of reconciliation in South Africa following the dismantling of apartheid marks him as a notable statesman.
While Tutu is of a more advanced age than Havel, he might serve a helpful interim term at the UN, helping to restore its integrity and reputation.