Ike Graul

I John 2 and the Ironic Memorial

2011-07-03T18:38:00.000-07:00

[Technical Note: Someone recently asked me to try recording my sermons again, so I gave it a try this week. The voice-activation mode setting on the recorder was set wrongly, so the sound cuts off the beginnings and ends of words at times. The effect is only slight (and corrected for the future.) If you would like to listen to this on another device at your convenience, you can click this link to download the audio file.]

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

Now by this we may be sure that we know him, if we obey his commandments. Whoever says, "I have come to know him," but does not obey his commandments, is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist; but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we may be sure that we are in him: whoever says, "I abide in him," ought to walk just as he walked.

Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word that you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new commandment that is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.

Whoever says, "I am in the light," while hating a brother or sister, is still in the darkness. Whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light, and in such a person there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates another believer is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know the way to go, because the darkness has brought on blindness.

I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven on account of his name. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young people, because you have conquered the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young people, because you are strong and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

Do not love the world or the things in the world. The love of the Father is not in those who love the world; for all that is in the world--the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches--comes not from the Father but from the world. And the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever.

Children, it is the last hour! As you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. From this we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But by going out they made it plain that none of them belongs to us.

But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and all of you have knowledge. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and you know that no lie comes from the truth. Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; everyone who confesses the Son has the Father also.

Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he has promised us, eternal life.

I write these things to you concerning those who would deceive you. As for you, the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and so you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, abide in him.

And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he is revealed we may have confidence and not be put to shame before him at his coming.

If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who does right has been born of him.

Do you have someone in your life that is like a grandfather or grandmother to you? It may actually be a parent of your parent, but it doesn’t have to be. This special kind of relationship isn’t restricted to a singular family tree. And it is special. This is a person who is enough older than us to live comfortably outside timely fads with which we are enchanted. Oh they know about the internet, but they are only on there really to keep up with you.

They have been around long enough to know the difference between “the flavor of the week” and what is just eternal way of people; the things that never change. And because they have earned this perspective and wisdom, AND because they care about us, they choose to be involved in our lives. They generously offer us a peek behind the curtain; not to the specific circumstances of our futures, but to the inevitable opportunities and consequences of life. This person is someone about whom you secretly think, “When I grow up, I want to be just like them.” That is our friend John, the author of our letter. And what he wants is for us to get this truth for our own good.

John begins by reminding us that we are to earnestly pursue a righteous life. Not a religious life; not a life built around the game show of the appearance of blinding purity, and the insincere approval of the other players. The righteous life is jealously interested in only one opinion; that is, the opinion of God. She regularly reflects on the Words of God, not with the intention to use them in point proving, but rather to be changed and used by God’s words. He understands that God is up to something and is careful to look and listen, never too busy to join what God is doing when he has the eyes to see it.

God brings out the best in the righteous. The religious act fake around God because they are uncomfortable with him; unfamiliar with who he is. The righteous may act different in God’s presence, but only because we all like to be our best selves around the people that we love and admire most. And the righteous, like to enjoy as much time with God as they possibly can. It is their wish to spend every moment in the awareness that God is at hand and is seeing what they are seeing; sharing in their life.

A life characterized by this kind of relationship with God is not a storybook fantasy. It is not wishful thinking or the “blessing for very, very spiritual people.” Jesus begins by saying, “Blessed are the POOR in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” This life is the life God wants for you and for me.

It is not a perfect life, however. Inevitably, there are moments when our eyes are drawn away from God and onto ourselves; when we choose to please ourselves rather than to please God. Though it is our aim to honor God with every thought, every word, every action, we do not always hit our mark.

What a comfort to know that in those times of failure we are not alone. Jesus, the one who lives in perfect community with God, is present to be our advocate, not only with words, but with his very self. The reach of his atonement devastates the guilt of our mistakes; it overwhelms our selfishness in God’s eyes. And Jesus is the cure not only for our wrong doings; He has the power and authority to forgive the sins of the entire world. Jesus is the right that rights all wrongs.

Relationship with Jesus embodies more than the simple dismissal of our guilt before a righteous God Judge. Jesus invites us to know him and in him to know the perfect love of God. Is there any more valuable summons than this? We may hear others talk about their knowledge of God, but we should be unimpressed by cheap talk. Jesus’ life is characterized by his singular obedience to God, and if we are to know Jesus and share fellowship with him then we must commit ourselves to his path. The way of knowing Jesus is not the way of boasting; it is the way of obedience.

Today our message is an ancient one. It is an echo of the earliest law, the foundation upon which rests the faith of all those who have gone before. The Law of Moses recited in Leviticus includes the underpinning and summary of the relational aspect of the God’s law: You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.

God reminds that as his children, our actions bear his name and reflect on his character. We are to care for one another because He is the LORD and we are his children. We are the LORD’s.

Yet, we are also hearing this command in a new way. Jesus begins teaching with the words, “You have heard it said…” then he recites the old law. Jesus answers the old law in reply, “BUT I SAY to you…” and the ancient command is born again. God never changes, his desire of abundant life for Abraham and Moses and David, is the same torch that he carries for us. But when Jesus broke into the world and brought the Holy Spirit with him as a gift to everyone, literally the whole world changed. Paul tells us, “if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away. See, everything has become new!”

Christ claimed his own purpose for coming was not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it, which he did once for all in his ministry and resurrection. He now calls us to maintain the law fulfilled, in his death and continuing life as the head of the church. To uphold Christ’s law now is not to strive for God’s acceptance through righteousness. It is to please God in thankfulness because of Jesus’ reconciliation.

But just in case our theology is about to run away with us, let us bring our attention back to where the rubber meets the road. Our teacher lists simple, practical actions as the tell-tale sign of a person living in God’s light. A person of confession has fellowship with God and with his children. A person of obedience is following the path of Jesus. To these John adds that a person of loving action will never stumble in the darkness.

There has never been a shortage of religious talk in the world, but how far has this excess of discussion advanced Jesus’ cause? Declarations of spiritual maturity abound, but what is the quality of love found in the person? Jesus says, this is all that matters. She, who loves, lives in the light. He, who hates, will stumble and fall in darkness, regardless of his claims.

And just in case you are wondering if this teaching applies to you, rest assured, our message is for everyone. No one is exempt. Even those who are young need forgiveness for their sins. Even those who are old need a father-figure in their lives. And everyone in the middle lives with the struggle of evil and promise of overcoming it. We all have something to learn from this word; a new direction to take as a result of it.

For many of us receiving this word will mean finally breaking it off with the world. Oh, it’s been an innocent enough love affair, that dark and alluring stranger with an allusive appeal. It is always tempting to reach for that which is forbidden. John warns: the world and the things of the world are without the love of God; not for God’s inability but for the world’s disallowing. All that will be found in pursuit of the world and its things are sin, and the injury and pain that are its inevitable result. Greed and pride, selfish desire and illicit living all lead to destruction; and the nature of God and his people is eternal.

And so, as we race toward God’s promised future, in the face of those who would spread a contrary message, we are to humbly and firmly take exception. Even from those with whom we may have shared fellowship and with which we have some things in common. we must remember what we have been taught and what we know to be true. Jesus is the truth.

Jesus is our source; nothing exists today apart from him and nothing ever will. He is the wisdom and word with which God sings love into the world. Jesus is our head; he is the only full revelation of God in history, and freely offers a way to abundant life today. He is the object of our thinking, and the character out of which we act. Jesus is our destination; he is seated at the right hand of God as the first born of all creation and the first born from the dead. It is his invitation that offers us light today, and leads us forward, forsaking even our fear of death.

Because we abide in this truth, because we abide in Jesus who is truth, we enjoy the inheritance of eternal life. That is not to say that we count ourselves among a fortunate few, as we bide our time in this life and wait to die, only then go to enjoy fellowship with God. We do not live in a holding pattern, waiting to make our final ascent and land in God’s airport at the end of this life. The death that offered us inheritance has already occurred. Our eternal life has already begun; the wheels have touched down. We’ve exited the craft trudged up to the gate bags in hand, and fallen into the arms of the God who welcomes us home.

Friends, we are already there! We have not seen or learned all of God that there is to know, and there is a greater abiding fellowship to be enjoyed with God in our future. But in the mean time, as we enjoy this life of abiding in God with Jesus, we join God’s welcoming party and anticipate the arrival of others into God’s fellowship. Ours is a work of invitation, of hospitality, of sacrificial service, and of love.

And so this morning we abide together. We sing songs to God who is our guest of honor, conscious that our performance is a witness to the people in the world around us.

We observe the discipline of listening to the Holy Spirit here where it is easier, so that later when we find ourselves in some harder place, facing the temptation to choose our own selfish will over God’s, we are better practiced in obeying, familiar with the sound of his voice, and more prepared to listen.

We gather around the fellowship table of Jesus. We share in the emblems representing his body and blood, and honor his request that we remember him. At funeral homes all over this city, in any other memorial service scheduled for today, people will gather to celebrate the life of a dead person. It is a peculiarity and a sweet irony that we gather today to honor the death of a living person. We abide together in the living Jesus. Let’s pray.

Our Father, and our God, it is our pleasure to walk in your world. It is our desire to please you with our lives. It is our prayer that you would lead us into the service of your kingdom. May we have ears to hear your voice, eyes to see your opportunity, and may we rush to attend to your will.

Jesus, we are blessed to abide together in you. We pray that our confidence in your presence and your coming, will keep us from shame. Your righteousness saves us from our sin and into a new life. May we offer your invitation and share in your hospitality with your generosity.

Holy Spirit, we call for your abiding power to the measure of the task God has set before us. Awaken us to your presence, and empower us to listen and obey your leading. Shape us into a people united in purpose and boldly called by love.

This is our prayer in Jesus’ name. Amen.

1 John 1

2011-06-26T16:10:00.001-07:00

We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life-- this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us-- we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

“All of a sudden the building shook, then it started to sway. We didn't know what was going on. I ran towards the reception area. It was completely collapsed, but the receptionist was able to crawl out from under it. People started to panic. We got all our people on the floor into the stairwell, and then people began to calm down. At that time we all thought it was a fire. Someone was joking, "I hope it wasn't another bomb." Everyone was trying to keep things up-tempo. We got down as far as the 74th floor, and someone there pulled us into their office. They had a TV on, and we saw that a plane had crashed into the building. Then there was another explosion, so we left again by the stairwell.

It took about 40 minutes to get to the bottom. We were trying to get out through the building's lower level when all of a sudden the power shut off and the lights went out. The police yelled, "Run!" Then something behind me collapsed. The building was starting to come down. All you saw was black, it was so dark. Now everybody was screaming. I got out with a coworker, I grabbed his hand and we headed out together. Once we got outside, he went back in to assist, but I was so messed up, I just kept on walking. A detective came up to me and asked me if I was okay. I had an asthma attack and I had debris in my eyes, but I was okay.” [Kim White’s account of the attack on the World Trade Center September 11, 2001]

“It all began so beautifully. After a drizzle in the morning, the sun came out bright and beautiful. We were going into Dallas. In the lead car, President and Mrs. Kennedy, John and Nellie, and then a Secret Service car full of men, and then our car – Lyndon and me and Senator Yarborough. The streets were lined with people – lots and lots of people – the children all smiling, placards, confetti, people waving from windows. One last happy moment I had was looking up and seeing Mary Griffith leaning out of a window waving at me. Then almost at the edge of town, on our way to the Trade Mart where we were going to have the luncheon, we were rounding a curve, going down a hill and suddenly there was a sharp loud report – a shot. It seemed to me to come from the right above my shoulder from a building. Then a moment and then two more shots in rapid succession. There had been such a gala air that I thought it must be firecrackers or some sort of celebration. Then, in the lead car, the Secret Service men were suddenly down. I heard over the radio system, "Let's get out of here," and our Secret Service man who was with us, Ruf Youngblood, I believe it was, vaulted over the front seat on top of Lyndon, threw him to the floor and said, "Get down." Senator Yarborough and I ducked our heads. The car accelerated terrifically fast – faster and faster. Then suddenly they put on the brakes so hard that I wondered if they were going to make it as we wheeled left and went around the corner. We pulled up to a building. I looked up and saw it said "Hospital." Only then did I believe that this might be what it was. Yarborough kept on saying in an excited voice, "Have they shot the President?" and I said something like, "No, it can't be." As we ground to a halt – we were still the third car – Secret Service men began to pull, lead, guide and hustle us out. I cast one last look over my shoulder and saw in the President's car a bundle of pink, just like a drift of blossoms, lying on the back seat.” [Mrs. Vice-President Johnson’s account of the Kennedy assassination, November 22, 1963.]

While the content of eyewitness accounts is often the matter of tragedy, this is not always the case. I offer the following in evidence.

“Whoa, that’s a full rainbow all the way. Double rainbow, oh my god. It’s a double rainbow, all the way. Whoa that’s so intense. Whoa man! Wow! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa ho ho oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! Woo! Oh wow! Woo! Yeah! Oh ho ho! Oh my god! Oh my god, look at that! It’s starting even to look like a triple rainbow! Oh my god it’s full on! Double rainbow all the way across the sky! Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh god. What does this mean? Oh. Oh my god. Oh. Oh. God. It’s so bright, oh my god it’s so bright and vivid! Oh. Ah! Ah! It’s so beautiful! [Crying? Laughing?] [Pretty sure he’s crying.] [Now he’s laughing and crying.] Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god! Oh my god, it’s a double complete rainbow! Oh right in my front yard. [Laughter] Oh my god. Oh my god, what does it mean? Tell me. [Crying] Too much. I don’t know what it means. [Laughter] [Heavy breathing] Oh my god it’s so intense. Oh. Oh. Oh my god.” [The words of Paul Vasquez, uttered upon seeing a double rainbow, January 8, 2010.]

There is something about actually being there when it happened that makes a person very special. Most of us have a story to tell in answer to the question, “Where were you on September 11?” But how many of us can say, “I was on the 74th floor; staring out the window in disbelief as the second plane buried itself into the South Tower.” It is one thing to scour through the Zapruder film frame by frame. It is quite another to pause the video, point to a fuzzy figure in the shot and say, “That’s me. I was standing right there.”

Being there offers its own kind of instant celebrity; a credibility that is only granted with personal experience. From the race of reporters to shove a microphone in your face to the seat next to an honorable judge and the promise not to lie; everyone recognizes the power of a person who can give more than just their personal opinion. A person who was there has the authority to tell the truth of what happened.

This celebrity, this authority is magnified all the more when you are the only witness left. We have all seen thrilling movies where some heinous crime has been committed and the perpetrators are ordered by their evil superior to “clean up all of the loose ends.” Invariably, people who have first-hand knowledge of the notorious offense begin to die or disappear, and we all watch tensely as our hero races against the clock to find and protect the last eyewitness; to bring the criminals to justice.

But it happens differently in real life; in a less dramatic but more deeply moving way. In February of this year, the last surviving U.S. veteran of World War I, died. He was 110. According to msnbc, Frank Buckles, who also survived being a civilian POW in the Philippines in World War II, died peacefully of natural causes early on a Sunday at his home in Charles Town. He turned 110 on Feb. 1 and had been advocating for a national memorial honoring veterans of World War I in Washington, D.C. Buckles lied about his age to join the army at age 16.The Missouri native was among nearly 5 million Americans who served in World War I in 1917 and 1918. "I knew there'd be only one (survivor) someday. I didn't think it would be me," he was quoted as saying in recent years.

The Bible words we have heard this morning come from just such a man. Our friend who writes to us today from across the hemispheres and centuries is the last of his kind: possibly the youngest of Jesus' followers, and assuredly the last to survive. Having survived the martyrdom of most of his colleagues, he is rumored to be the only personal student of Jesus to die in the luxury of old age. He is the last surviving disciple of Jesus; the last living person who sat at the table in Cana and shared a cup of water turned wine with Jesus. The last of the servers who watched the hands of Jesus pray, break bread and fish, and then offer it to thousands in hospitality. The last living of the witnesses who saw the feet of Jesus defy the law of nature, and heard him command the water to offer safe passage. The last to stand in the dark middle of day as Jesus spoke his final words and his body breathed its final breath.

In this sense, there is something even more special about being the last eyewitness; a unique seniority that brings with it a distinctive countenance. Different people may express it different ways, but when you have been around longer than anyone else; when you have seen and heard more, when you have been there from the very beginning, you carry a natural liberty. It is not arrogance; it does not have to express itself as bravado (though it can.) It is a unique resource well from which draw, the well of sole experience.

And this one witness has been given the unusual gift of long life. Unlike his executed colleagues, John has had years to reflect on the incredible acts of Jesus that he saw and in which he participated. He has had decades to discuss the great wisdom of God embodied in the Rabbi of his youth. He has had over half a century to dwell in the words of Jesus; a few of which we may read in the passed-on accounts, most of which we as later followers will never hear.

When you are that kind old-timer there is no need to impress anyone. No one expects you to be informed on the latest fashions. When you’ve been around forever and seen the fashions come and go like the months of a year, you cease to be impressed by the latest fashion. The shine of newness wore off ages ago. Time and mileage slowly steal the freshness away from you, but they offer you something stronger in return.

We envy and desire that singular strength. We treasure the words of Jesus that we find in the Gospels, but our ears only hear them from our own mouths. Our imaginations are left to try to conjure a suitable substitute for the ancient sound of Jesus’ voice. We have no memory of the man himself, and without that anchor, it can be easy to fall prey to the allure of the latest theological fashions. We are tempted to bind ourselves to the new and fresh ideas about God and church that are being discovered in our midst. We may look to the latest innovative conferences hosted by the largest competitors in the North American Church industry. We may read the latest blogs and dwell on the re-tweets of our most admired theologicians. We may find ourselves combing through YouTube: the world’s most ubiquitous sermon concordance, for the next viral God-slogan, offered by an iconic Christian preacher.

Most of these ideas are not without merit. They deserve some of our attention and discernment. But we must never forget that their value comes from their harmony with the Spirit of God, not from the proximity of their creation with our experience. Jesus is not “the latest intellectual pursuit of a recalibrating theological movement." Jesus is not an idea. Jesus is a flesh-and-blood person, who has ideas.

And so, our ancient friend offers us this more-than-just-a-spiritual-idea person that he personally knew; with which he had slept on the ground under the stars, with which he had weathered the storms in a boat. With which he had shared bread and wine and the love of family. John offers us Jesus in the flesh, and let’s us know in no uncertain terms what we are getting when embrace Jesus as our teacher.

Be warned: the message of Jesus is not complex, it is simple. The message is easy to understand, but that does not make it easy to live. John makes it clear that Jesus’ teaching and authority lives to heal us of our pride which separates us from God. And while pride is a fatal and cruel disease, the cure is equally painful.

Jesus’ message is this: God is light, and when we walk with God we walk in light. If we walk in the light, we are bound to clearly see our mistakes. When we admit that we make mistakes, God forgives us and heals us, and we enjoy a close relationship with God and with other people who enjoy living in the light.

If we refuse to see our mistakes and confess our sins, we are pretending that the light is of no benefit to us. We are telling God that we are perfect and that He is a liar, and that we have no need of him. In this sad case, God will grant us our wish, he will release us to the darkness where we will no longer see and be confronted by our sins, and we will no longer be burdened by the fellowship of those who love the light and seek the truth.

Pride is the enemy of confession. It kills relationship, it sews darkness and clouds the clarity of God's light. Pride entices us to twist perception; to close our eyes to indiscretion, to avoid personal reflection that might lead to conviction. Pride motivates us to search for the source of the problem "out there" rather than to examine our responsibility in surrounding brokenness. Ultimately pride is a voice that shouts down the song of Good News. A person with no need to confess disregards the invitation of a Savior. They suffer nothing from which they need to be saved.

For John, the practice of confession is the central indicator of a person who has abandoned their pride in order to live in light with God. The church practice of confession as we largely remember it has to do with a persuasive sermon that motivates people to walk forward at its end and ask for the prayers of the church. I say “remembered” because it is rarely practiced anymore. This modern church discipline invented in the 19th Century and as a tool for recruiting new tithers, has fallen out of favor in our “don’t ask, don’t tell” world. And I’ll confess to you as a gospel preacher, I don’t miss it. It was created as a brutish tool, and while I respect what good it has accomplished over the last century, that specific model of confession is not necessary to the message of the flesh-and-blood Jesus or endorsed by John. For Protestants, the only other practice of confession with which we are widely familiar is the catholic discipline that we have seen in movies; A person steps quietly into a small booth and through a shade, reverently speaks the liturgy, “forgive me, Father, for I have sinned.”

John does not give us an approved method for the practice of confession. John’s matter of fact instruction suggests that the way of confession is self-evident. Because God is always wronged by our sin, we need to confess our sin to God, which we may do alone or among our friends in prayer. If our sinful act also wrongs another person, we should go to that person, tell them of our wrongdoing, and ask for their forgiveness. As a people walking in the light, God’s presence stands as witness to our humility and recognition of his truth.

This is the simple life of abundance into which John had followed Jesus all his days, and it is the life into which Jesus invites us as well. We stand before Jesus' fellowship table this morning ready to feast on the emblems of Christ himself: his body and his blood. We now become the living witnesses and participants in Christ's body, alive in the world. We are reminded of the great length to which Jesus was willing to go in order to seal our new covenant with God, and we confess that fellowship with God and each other is all that matters.

Jesus, we come to hear your voice, to hear your words today. We lay down the fashionable distractions of the world around us to listen to the witness of your truth, to accept these symbols of your body and blood, and to follow you wherever you are going.

God, as we think about our sins, we are sorry for hurting you and the people around us. Please help us by your Spirit to have the courage to make amends with you and with those we have offended. This is our prayer in Jesus’ name, amen.

Colossians 4

2011-06-12T13:32:00.000-07:00

2 Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving. 3 At the same time pray for us as well that God will open to us a door for the word, that we may declare the mystery of Christ, for which I am in prison, 4 so that I may reveal it clearly, as I should. 5 Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time. 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone.

7 Tychicus will tell you all the news about me; he is a beloved brother, a faithful minister, and a fellow servant in the Lord. 8 I have sent him to you for this very purpose, so that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts; 9 he is coming with Onesimus, the faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you about everything here. 10 Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, as does Mark the cousin of Barnabas, concerning whom you have received instructions--if he comes to you, welcome him. 11 And Jesus who is called Justus greets you. These are the only ones of the circumcision among my co-workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me.

12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you. He is always wrestling in his prayers on your behalf, so that you may stand mature and fully assured in everything that God wills. 13 For I testify for him that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis. 14 Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas greet you.

15 Give my greetings to the brothers and sisters in Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house. 16 And when this letter has been read among you, have it read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you read also the letter from Laodicea. 17 And say to Archippus, "See that you complete the task that you have received in the Lord." 18 I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.

If you have been looking for it then here we find it: this is the ancient Facebook, is it not? “Aristarchus greets you, Epaphras who is one of your own family greets you. Mark, with whom you have one mutual friend, wants to be your friend, and greets you. The church in Laodicea has invited you to an event. Onesimus reminds you that it’s your turn on Scrabble.” Can you imagine what a nightmare Facebook would be if its delivery system was the postal service instead of the internet? Isn’t that basically what the postal system was created to do? Though there was a postal service for state correspondence in Roman times, most letters were carried by friends, from one friend to another.

These days our options for sending and receiving communication are so plentiful and convenient, I can’t help but wonder if it has cheapened the quality of the things we say. If getting a word to others costs us almost nothing, how easy it seems to broadcast without discretion. It is good to remember though that on the other side of our phones and computers are eyes and ears and hearts that still respond to words with the same emotions and reactions that people have had for all of history. Maybe we should consider adding an extra step of quality assurance to our sharing?

How is it that our teacher who strongly warned us against a reliance on religious rituals in earlier chapters would now call us to be devoted to prayer? We are to both make use of spiritual disciplines, but also be careful of their tempting allure? The difference lies in the quality of our intent and our expectation of the outcome. For those who approach the practice of prayer as an obligation to be rendered, prayer will adequately serve their needs. Having labored to fulfill one’s duty of repeating the words, one feels the satisfaction of an exercise completed. And a practice that has been devoted to self from its start will have reaped its just reward: prideful self-satisfaction.

For one whose desire is an intimate relationship with God; who understands God as the end and object of our prayer; who meets and expects a conversation of both talking and listening, then devotion is not too strong an imperative. The object of our devotion is not a practice. He is a person.

What an adventure of inward life to which we are called by God. In the promise of a new Kingdom where God makes himself available to us, he invites to a constant fellowship with him: a conversation of our experience that enjoys his perspective, his blessing, his direction. Most citizens live their entire lives never once receiving an invitation to enjoy an audience with the King.

Ours is the blessing of the unlikely kingdom; our sovereign is at hand and wanting to receive us at any moment; to enjoy our fellowship, to share our struggles, thoughts, and emotions; to hold counsel with our discoveries. What other kingdom can boast a King so generous in his attention? What other religion can offer a God so ready to live and die with his people?

How unfortunate that we often feel guilty for the lack of devotion to a life of prayer. It is probably true that no matter how often our thoughts turn to God they could always turn there a little more. To focus on our failure in this devotion is to miss the Gospel in our letter. The good news is there will never be a time when we turn our hearts to God that he is not ready to receive us. God is always attending, and time that we spend dwelling in guilt that does not lead straight back to God in repentance and humility is just one further distraction; one more self-focused delay in the journey. God loves the sound of our voice; he loves to hear his name on our lips. He treasures our attention.

The devotion of our inward journey should live in concert with our actions. As our thoughts are turned toward and led by God, so our conduct should also follow in this same path so that the wisdom of God shared in our prayer life finds itself manifested in our conduct. As we pray, so should we live, and wisdom is the theme and result of this integral connection between God and our thoughts; our thoughts and our action.

The conduct of a Christian devoted to prayer is founded in wisdom. Wisdom is characterized in the Old Testament as the hand maiden of God, and extolled as one of the noblest pursuits of a person of faith. The book of Proverbs invites us:

Listen as Wisdom calls out!
Hear as understanding raises her voice!
On the hilltop along the road,
she takes her stand at the crossroads.
By the gates at the entrance to the town,
on the road leading in, she cries aloud,

“I call to you, to all of you!
I raise my voice to all people.
You simple people, use good judgment.
You foolish people, show some understanding.
Listen to me! For I have important things to tell you.
Everything I say is right,
for I speak the truth
and detest every kind of deception.
My advice is wholesome.
There is nothing devious or crooked in it.
My words are plain to anyone with understanding,
clear to those with knowledge.
Choose my instruction rather than silver,
and knowledge rather than pure gold.
For wisdom is far more valuable than rubies.
Nothing you desire can compare with it.

“I, Wisdom, live together with good judgment.
I know where to discover knowledge and discernment.
All who fear the Lord will hate evil.
Therefore, I hate pride and arrogance,
corruption and perverse speech.
Common sense and success belong to me.
Insight and strength are mine.
Because of me, kings reign,
and rulers make just decrees.
Rulers lead with my help,
and nobles make righteous judgments.

“I love all who love me.
Those who search will surely find me.
I have riches and honor,
as well as enduring wealth and justice.
My gifts are better than gold, even the purest gold,
my wages better than sterling silver!
I walk in righteousness,
in paths of justice.
Those who love me inherit wealth.
I will fill their treasuries.

“The Lord formed me from the beginning,
before he created anything else.
I was appointed in ages past,
at the very first, before the earth began.
I was born before the oceans were created,
before the springs bubbled forth their waters.
Before the mountains were formed,
before the hills, I was born—
before he had made the earth and fields
and the first handfuls of soil.
I was there when he established the heavens,
when he drew the horizon on the oceans.
I was there when he set the clouds above,
when he established springs deep in the earth.
I was there when he set the limits of the seas,
so they would not spread beyond their boundaries.
And when he marked off the earth’s foundations,
I was the architect at his side.
I was his constant delight,
rejoicing always in his presence.
And how happy I was with the world he created;
how I rejoiced with the human family!

“And so, my children, listen to me,
for all who follow my ways are joyful.
Listen to my instruction and be wise.
Don’t ignore it.
Joyful are those who listen to me,
watching for me daily at my gates,
waiting for me outside my home!
For whoever finds me finds life
and receives favor from the Lord.
But those who miss me injure themselves.
All who hate me love death.” [Proverbs 8]

The introduction in the book of John joins the ancient image of wisdom with the philosophical thought of his day as it describes “the Word” which was with God in the beginning and was God.

God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
The Word gave life to everything that was created,
and his life brought light to everyone.
The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it. [John 1]

Unfortunately the story of inspiration swiftly turns to tragedy in John’s narrative, because those people who had been nurtured by God to identify and pursue life’s call of wisdom regretfully refused this Word of God.

He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. [John 1]

This wise “Word” made a life among people and John proclaims that we were witness to His glory; “he” being Jesus, the only born and living Wisdom of God. So, the very act of praying “in Jesus’ name” is an invitation for God to bless us with His guidance in the everyday choices of our lives. Our life together as disciples of Jesus manifests the wisdom of God in as much as we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to know the commands of Jesus and to obey them.

This wise life at times stands in contrast to the choices of those around us who have not invited the living Wisdom of God to instruct them. It opens an opportunity to provoke a generous conversation about how the Wisdom of God offers peace in a hostile world, proclaims truth in a compromised world, and inspires hope in a world swaying under imposing burdens of political oppression and religious scorn.

The Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) is an independent Baptist church known for its extreme stance against homosexuality and its protest activities, which include picketing funerals and desecrating the American flag. The church is widely described as a hate group and is monitored as such by the Anti-Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center…

The WBC is not affiliated with any known Baptist conventions or associations. The church describes itself as following Primitive Baptist and Calvinist principles, though mainstream Primitive Baptists reject the WBC and [its leader Fred] Phelps. [Wikipedia]

Their protesting website is updated frequently with new funerals to disrupt, and lists sister sites including

GodHatesTheMedia.com - The worldwide media is in place for WBC to preach through. What they mean for evil God means for good.
GodHatesTheWorld.com - Country-by-country explanation of why God hates the world.
JewsKilledJesus.com - What the Bible teaches about the final fate of the nation of Israel for murdering the Messiah.
blogs.SpareNot.com - Chronicles the worldwide street preaching ministry of Westboro Baptist Church!
AmericaIsDoomed.com - Builds the airtight case that America is not only cursed of God, but that this curse is irreversible.

and a small number of others that not even I will say aloud in the context and company of a sermon.

This active religious group has become infamous for their attention-seeking, inflammatory tactics that neither honor the truth of God, nor embody the mercy of Christ. They choose a path in open disobedience to the Word of God that we hear today which calls us to use gracious speech, especially with those who think differently than us, so that we may have an answer for everyone.

The literature and shouting of the Westboro Baptist church make liberal use of the name of God but rarely mentions the name of Jesus, and appropriately so. I doubt they have much use for a Savior who openly associates with sinners, who accepts the hospitality of people of questionable reputation, and befriends and praises the good character of people of other religions.

It is ironic that they condemn the Jews for Jesus’ murder when they have taken to the activity of shouting at funerals. It is not hard to imagine the members of the Westboro Baptist Church standing on the hillside in celebration of the death a preacher who generally took a position of the acceptance of others. Their picket signs might have said, “Son of God? King of Jews? Save Yourself!”

In this moment we hear an even more scandalous word; a word that our righteous indignation does not accept. We hear the author of the gracious speech to which our teacher alludes. We hear a voice of acceptance that reaches farther than our mercy can extend; a distance that would break under the weight of our conscience. We hear the word of Jesus reaching past what we can allow; the preacher looks down at the mockers at his own funeral and responds,

“Father, forgive them.”

Our father and our God, we are gathered today around your table to celebrate this gift: the body and blood of Jesus, who is our head. As Jesus has asked us to do, we remember him today.

We remember Jesus as a man devoted to prayer; who rarely left the company of his disciples, but would regularly break fellowship with them to find a lonely place and enjoy an intimate fellowship with You. Father, by your Spirit may we feel a hunger for that intimate communion, and thankfully seek You in prayer.

God, we remember Jesus as a man of wise conduct; who acted in merciful justice because he is the very architect and source of justice and mercy. Father, by your Spirit may we live in the wisdom of Jesus and may our actions be mistook for His wherever we go.

God, we remember Jesus as a man of gracious speech, who had an answer for everyone he met; most often a word of mercy and healing for a person rejected, and sometimes a word of loving reproof for the arrogant self-righteous. Father, by your Spirit may we be a people with Good News on our lips; generous with hope, and patient with ourselves and with others.

Lord, we gather to receive the body and blood of this Jesus that we remember today and by your Spirit we ask that we might see Jesus in others, that you would call and empower us to be like Jesus, and that by your mercy as the church we would be Jesus’ body and blood living and dying on behalf of others in our world.

This is our prayer in Jesus' name, amen.

Colossians 3

2011-06-06T23:44:00.000-07:00

Our reading has been interrupted by two weeks of activity, so I would like to remind us briefly of what we have read thus far before continuing through Colossians chapter 3. Paul and Timothy open their letter to the Church at Colossae (founded by Epaphras), with prayer and thanksgiving for their faith, and extol Jesus as the exact picture of God: who reconciles the broken to himself, and who calls them to be an advocate for people new to the faith all over the world. Paul wants to encourage these Christians that he has never met in person to cling to Christ who is the fullness of God, and avoid empty philosophy and religious rigor. The ritualistic traditions adhered to by religious addicts are a shallow attempt at self-justification. They are an offensive response to the grace of a God that has given everything, and they are a poor substitute for the authority of Christ who is above everything.

Those who are addicted to religion have miscounted the cost of following Christ and mistakenly found it too expensive. They try to leave the store with the prize, throwing their change on the counter when no one is looking and pretending as if their payment is somehow a generous gesture. Certainly their heavy regimen of prayers, their abstinence from the “secular life”; their showy religious actions make them a lock to be picked first for God’s team.

They are too busy straightening their ties and flattening their dresses to realize that God is away searching out the hurting, the broken, the hopeless, and ironically offering them for free a redeeming grace about which the religious sing in majestic anthems, and then like to pretend that they don’t need.

So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry). On account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient. These are the ways you also once followed, when you were living that life. But now you must get rid of all such things--anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth.

Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all! As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.

Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and never treat them harshly. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is your acceptable duty in the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, or they may lose heart. Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything, not only while being watched and in order to please them, but wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord. Whatever your task, put yourselves into it, as done for the Lord and not for your masters, since you know that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you serve the Lord Christ. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for whatever wrong has been done, and there is no partiality. Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, for you know that you also have a Master in heaven.

It is commonly understood among motorcycle riders that the most important part of your body for steering a motorcycle is your eyes. The principle is called “target fixation” and it applies to the driving of all vehicles. It is the reason why we find it almost impossible at times to miss that pothole in the middle of the road; because we are looking at the pothole. The effect is much more pronounced on a motorcycle: because the direction of the vehicle is so closely tied to the balance of the rider, the motorcycle will invariably go toward whatever target the rider is looking.

This is not unlike the relationship between the trajectory of one’s spiritual life and a person’s regular patterns of thinking. Both of these inward journeys are deeply intertwined. Our friend instructs that spiritual direction is set by the setting of our mind; and this a conscious choice. We may not realize or recognize it but though we have been raised with Christ, our minds may have been set and well-established on things below for much of our lives. We may be living in old habits, reliving old mistakes, dwelling on old sins, and unfortunately, we tend to steer where we look.

The way of things below is exactly what we think it might be. It is the way of escaping the pain of our lives by focusing on actions that bring us selfish pleasure with disregard for the hurt that they may pass on to others in the process. The hunt for elicit pleasure is a temporary distraction from our own spiritual brokenness. This satisfying of our carnal appetites includes but applies to much more than simply sex and money.

The fulfillment of such lustful pursuits requires mastery in dark actions: manipulating words of rejection to and about others which win us the immoral prize that we seek but at the cost of multiplying our pain and hurt onto others. Be warned, God is not oblivious. He intends to broker a reckoning for this kind of selfish cruelty in our world.

The good news is we no longer need to live in this place; we have been raised with Christ. Christ is healing us of our past wounds; he is making us like himself, and he offers us a place of fellowship with him in communion with God. We need to no longer to chase our past appetites; to fall into the old lifestyle patterns in which we once lived. We can discard these old clothes and dress in a new set of fresh clothes that Christ has set out for us.

These new clothes are not for show, they are work clothes, and the new work for which we are commissioned is the work of compassion: to bear the likeness of God to others around us who need to physically experience his mercy. It is the work of kindness: to approach every person as a child of God by creation and to respect them in such a way as to invite them into God’s adoption. It is the work of humility: to never forget that the clothes we wear were received as a gift, undeserved and unearned; free to us, but at great cost to God in Jesus. It is a work of meekness: choosing a gentle way, knowing that God has the authority and power to make his will come to be. It is a work of patience; accepting the brokenness surrounding us, for the time being and the time to come, as a reminder of God’s own long-suffering with our own frailty. It is a work of peace, knowing that our vocation is nothing short of a participation in divine reconciliation, and giving our work its due attendance. And supremely it is a work of love which means, our clothes will not stay clean and fresh, we will enjoy meeting others where they are, we will create our own messes, and Christ will be with us to right the wrongs we find and commit along the way.

In this sense, in the most human sense, everyone is to approach their relationships with the generosity of God regardless of their ethnicity, their gender, their station in life. Because Christ has raised us, these things no longer define our roles in the world, and they also no longer confine our responsibilities to one another.

Do you find yourself in a role that is usually seen in a posture of submission? In your new life in Christ you are addressed with the same respect as your dominant counterpart. You are no longer an object on which to be trampled. You have the privilege of setting your mind on things above. And in this moment when you may be tempted to seize your power and exact revenge on your prevailing partner, Christ calls you to set your mind on things above. To remember your calling to love and to peace; to choose a posture of reconciliation in your divine power.

Do you find yourself in a role that is expected to possess a posture of dominance and ruling? In your new life in Christ you are called to see the image of your Master in those over which you have exercised authority, and value and serve them as you would serve God himself. Your social power is not to be exploited for your own selfish gain. There is one who has power over you, and when no one else does, Christ calls you to your deep responsibility in being loving and peaceful toward those over which you exercise authority. Everyone is a servant in Christ’s new clothes.

I can’t help but think of Martin Luther King, Jr. standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial as we read this chapter today. Summoning the voice of one who had been given the legal right to walk as an equal in his world, but who had suffered the life of chronic injustices leveraged at any black-skinned person living in his day and time, King’s speech at the Lincoln memorial strikes as the words of one who has set his mind on things above. King says in a lesser-famous section of his speech:

In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

In this historic moment we hear the words of a man who suffers from acute target fixation. He stands as a representative of a class of unjustly subjugated people, and speaks a message of peaceful and compelling reconciliation to a prejudice nation that has proudly understood itself in the moment as Christian. King is a human representative, suffering many of the flaws and making mistakes as we all do, but he summons a profound dignity as God’s child, not afforded to him by society, and he asks his nation’s leaders to set their minds on things above, to join him in fellowship as equals. It is an admirable target on which to fixate. It is a target above.

It is this dignity that is offered to us by Christ. Jesus chose to leave his place above to walk alongside us in the human struggle. Though he willingly relinquished the favor of heaven for the austerity of earth, he never forsook his divine esteem; knowing that he belonged to God, and God to him. Jesus willfully joined those who were subjugated politically; who were enslaved to their sin, who were despised by their communities, and with those people that the world views as worthless Christ shared the dignity of God. It was his to give away, and Jesus gave it freely and with unlikely generosity.

Our Father and God, we are blessed to be your testimony of healing in the world today. Having been touched by Jesus, and having felt your mercy we meet at your fellowship table in humility and gratitude. God we are not perfect, but we belong to you, and as your possession and the object of your affection we are overwhelmed by your Jesus-gift. May we look to you, setting our mind on things above, and by your Spirit may our hearts follow where you lead our thoughts. This we pray in the name of Jesus, amen.

Mary's Song

2011-05-28T18:20:00.000-07:00

Colossians 2

2011-05-22T15:02:00.000-07:00

I want you to know how much I am struggling for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for all who have not seen me face to face. I want their hearts to be encouraged and united in love, so that they may have all the riches of assured understanding and have the knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I am saying this so that no one may deceive you with plausible arguments. For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, and I rejoice to see your morale and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.

Therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or sabbaths. These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, dwelling on visions, puffed up without cause by a human way of thinking, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God. If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the universe, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations, "Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch"? All these regulations refer to things that perish with use; they are simply human commands and teachings. These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-imposed piety, humility, and severe treatment of the body, but they are of no value in checking self-indulgence.

Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, traditionally the beginning of the Christmas shopping season.
On this day, many retailers open very early, often at 4 a.m., or earlier; offering promotional sales to kick off the shopping season, similar to Boxing Day sales in many commonwealth countries. It has routinely been the busiest shopping day of the year in recent years. The day's name originated in Philadelphia, where it initially was used by police to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic which would occur on the day after Thanksgiving. Use of the term began by 1966 and began to see broader use outside Philadelphia around 1975. Later an alternative explanation began to be offered: that "Black Friday" indicates the period during which retailers are turning a profit, or "in the black."
Whereas Christmas films often depict a comedic dramatization of the somewhat chaotic antics that people may go through in order to achieve their holiday shopping goals, recent years have seen a marked increase in extreme and even violent chaos resulting from people's desires to take advantage of Black Friday sales.
In 2008 a crowd of approximately 2,000 shoppers in Valley Stream, New York, waited outside for the 5:00 a.m. opening of the local Wal-Mart. As opening time approached the crowd grew anxious and when the doors were opened the crowd pushed forward, breaking the door down, and trampling a 34 year old employee to death. The shoppers did not appear concerned with the victim's fate, expressing refusal to halt their stampede when other employees attempted to intervene and help the injured employee, complaining that they had been waiting in the cold and were not willing to wait any longer. Shoppers had begun assembling as early as 9:00 the evening before. Even when police arrived and attempted to render aid to the injured man, shoppers continued to pour in, shoving and pushing the officer as they made their way into the store. [Wikipedia]

It is inherent in our nature to strategically want. For many as it pertains to Black Friday, this is little more than annual sport of acquisition; a life-sized strategy game of risk, to search and purchase the best deal available on the planet even if it is only available for one day. We should be careful because as the demand increases, the game and its consequences increase as well.

In a sense quieter, in life, it pertains to most. We perceive a missing piece of ourselves and we imagine that having found and obtained it that we could be more that what we are now. There is nothing inherently wrong with acquiring, but when the internal drive to acquire is born from a personal sense of inadequacy then the result of an external acquisition seldom satisfies.

People are driven and drawn in a countless number of ways to acquire this missing magic piece. Some work overtime and endure the stress and politics of high paying jobs to purchase and polish expensive status-achieving trophies: fancy cars, speed boats, beautiful houses, in the few hour remaining in their week.

Others push their physical selves to test the limits of their created frame. They might spending hours in the gym, targeting the perfect body fat percentage, that extra repetition of weights, one more yoga class in preparation for the next extreme pentathlon contest. The answer for them is to push their physical bodies and find their maximum capacity.

Others ignore material possessions and athletic accomplishments to pursue excellence in the world of the intellectual or academic. Their arena of achievement is framed inside the mind and there is always one more degree to acquire, one more conference for which to register, the latest book to devour and critique.

And if somehow the appetite for all of these drives could be summed, they would be embarrassed to fall so short of the force which has drawn people to radically pursue the appearance of wisdom in religion.

The appearance of religious wisdom has been a trap’s best bait since the time of ancients. It is only natural: the promise of self-improvement is always attractive, and what can be more helpful and noble than wisdom? It is not hard to see the wholesome and bountiful result of a well-lived life. Who wouldn’t pass their plate for a second helping?

But there is a big difference between wisdom and the “appearance of wisdom”. A polished exterior can make all kinds of promises about its contents, but the promises are often crafted to sell the product more than to actually describe its contents. “This snake oil must work; it was sold to me by a doctor.” Or these days, “You are just one click away from your free iPad.”

Often we can smell the ruse. “There’s no such thing as free lunch.” Or better put, Thomas Paine suggests, “What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods.”

Here is something that Paul knew: the temptation to pursue the rigor of religion for the sake of achievement can be strong, and He warned the Colossians against it. Paul knew what we know; that we feel a special kind of personal approval when we do an unusually pious thing, and if we are not careful we can forget the aim of the piety itself, and our hearts can sometimes forsake the object of our devotion, to chase the prideful feeling. Religion is a dangerous drug.

Paul had been a reputable Pharisee; a bit of a local celebrity. He had an impressive resume; and it was no secret to those around him that he was destined for prominence. In fact, Paul had almost reached the top of the success ladder when one day on the road to Damascus, Jesus knocked him off his horse and blinded him. Paul got the message: He was near the top, sure enough, but his ladder was leaned against the wrong wall. In his effort to achieve religious stardom, he was inadvertently persecuting the God he so devoutly worshiped. From that day on, Paul chose to forsake the appearances of wisdom and the trappings they promised: pride, celebrity, power, for the pursuit of Jesus.

Now Paul finds himself not being entertained by the wealthy, but in a Roman prison. From his prison cell Paul is struggling; he is not second-guessing this decision that he made to leave his popular life behind. Rather, his chains will not allow him to meet this stranger family in person, and he wants them to know surely how he wishes that he could. How he desires to encourage and assure them of the authority and reliability of their shared faith. As the church has joined Paul in joining Jesus, Paul wants them to know that he has never been surer that they have made the right decision. Paul aches to stand alongside them as support, to defend them against those who would try to convince them that as beginners their faith is somehow less than: in some way insufficient to meet their spiritual needs.

There are very few things over which Paul will break fellowship; Paul forsook the pious life to meet Gentiles where they lived, he often referred to notorious sinners as brothers and sisters. There are very few hills that Paul will fight and die on, but on page two of this letter, we find ourselves standing on one of those hills. Paul boldly proclaims: Jesus is enough.

It is important to Paul that his new friends maintain their way in Christ. It is so easy to get distracted along the course of a long journey; to forget the priceless worth of the slow and steady road on which Jesus set us, and travels with us. New opportunities are presented in attractive packages; easier destinations call us to a hastier and cheaper gratification. In a world of “do it yourself” spirituality: of quick-fix psychology, of bumper sticker theology, it can be difficult to maintain the resolve to remember that Christ is our end. Jesus is our home and with Him in our lives we are at peace no matter where we find ourselves. With our lives in him, no other home will satisfy us.

They sit in a row on the window sill of classrooms. Paper cups filled three quartes of the way full of dirt. For a few moments each day, the teacher directs her students to check for progress and add a bit of water, but not too much.

The student remembers poking a hole in the dirt, and hiding a few small seeds beneath the surface. In the first week the only way one student could tell her cup from another’s was by her name carefully scratched in pencil on the outside. But with a little time and a little water, not too much, a flower begins to grow.

Christ’s seed has been planted and is bearing fruit, but growth is measured in seasons, not minutes. Jesus is now the root of our lives. He is the foundation of our covenant relationship with God, and the source of our spiritual nourishment. Like much of the spiritual life this is an inward transformation; however, the fruit of the decision to abide in Christ is unmistakable. It can be the cause of great change in a person, a family, a city. Christ can change the course of kings and direct the intentions of nations.

The change is not random or coincidental. At our baptism we declare in ceremonial words that Jesus is Lord. It is our proposal that we wish to know His will and to make it our own. When the ceremony is over, then the being and action begins: to know the will of Christ and to decide in favor of it every day: to pursue the character of Jesus, and to apply ourselves to his person. To learn that the answer “Jesus” presupposes and frames the questions that will confront our lives.

And because we are found in God through Christ, because we are redeemed and sustained by Christ’s grace, because we are finding freedom choosing for Jesus and trying to live like him, we are thankful. We are less hungry for the petty trappings of status and temptations of the sensational “new thing”, be it material, personal, intellectual, or religious. Christ has set a lavish table for us and encouraged us to eat until we are full. And for this meal; for love, for truth, for grace, for the life which God provides in Christ we are truly thankful.

The Greek mystics claim they will lead you on the path to righteousness and enlightenment, but Paul is unimpressed. Jesus’ authority and righteousness is the source of all authority and righteousness. Why settle for a cheap imitation? The Jerusalem missionaries claim that one must obey the Law of Moses; that is, be circumcised if he wants to know Jesus as his Lord. Paul objects: Jesus is the fulfillment of Moses’ law. To submit to him is to find and be fulfilled in the covenant that the children of Moses could never keep.

Don’t be sucked in by the temptation of following the “authority” of a “better” way. Jesus is God fully in the flesh, and he is above any spiritual wisdom that an earthly leader might offer you. Through Jesus God has reconciled you to himself and if you are reconciled by Jesus, what more do you lack?

Christ has acquitted us of our trespasses; He has nailed our sins to the cross and erased their record so that we will no longer be found guilty of them. What can any religious leader do that can make you more righteous than can the forgiveness of God? Nothing.

Paul warns: beware the smugly devout, who consider themselves superior to others based on their resume of outstanding pious acts: their observance of an above average number of religious days, their fastidious abstinence from the norm purely for the sake of being distinguished, their condescending invitation to “follow them” as they open the mysteries of spirituality for you. Don’t buy it. Any Christian faith that is not heavily focused on Jesus as Lord, and our allegiance to him, is vanity parading as spirituality.

Jesus is the head. He is in control of this body, and only in Jesus is this body a living and growing being. Jesus says who is in, and the qualifications have nothing to do with what you do or do not eat, what you will or will not touch. It has to do with who has touched you. Have you decided that the Savior of the world should become the Lord of your life? Are there further details to this action? Absolutely, but they are just that: details. As in so many cases in life, it is not about what you know; not even about what you don’t do. It is not even about who you know. It is about who knows you.

This Jesus, who possesses the full deity of God, who is the source of all wisdom and knowledge, the strength of faith and authority of truth; this Jesus, who is your authentic invitation to God, who is the thief and chief executioner of the wrong doings of the world, This Jesus who is your resurrection and welcome to new life; a life in which everyday is holy because it is lived in union with him, and every action is a ceremony because he is present to be honored; this Jesus knows you.

Lord Jesus, we gather around your table today and we declare that you are enough. It is embarrassing to admit that along the way, there are times when our enthusiasms become obsessions. They steal the place of first-love in our life and we pursue them more than we attend to our union with you.

We are so thankful today that nothing would distract you in your loving pursuit of this world. Though you know completely our selfishness and our failures, you meet us in our inadequacy with healing love. We remember today the cross to which you nailed our sins, the dark day on which you erased our record of wrong doing and we see you there dying in our place. How could we ever choose the love of another over this greatest love? Even in those moments of our betrayal you are there to forgive us. We are made whole when we join with you, we are filled with your Spirit and we are thankful.

This we pray in your name, Amen.

Colossians 1

2011-05-16T17:02:00.000-07:00

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

In our prayers for you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. You have heard of this hope before in the word of the truth, the gospel that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the grace of God.

This you learned from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, and he has made known to us your love in the Spirit. For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 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.

May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who 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 sins.

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.

And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him-- provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel.

I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. I became its servant according to God's commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints.

To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil and struggle with all the energy that he powerfully inspires within me.

One afternoon earlier this week, I spent a bit of time in search of hidden treasure. I made a mental list of possible locations of my treasure, I started with the place closest to my desk, and I began to look. After searching a few places, a clothes closet, a file cabinet, an old storage tub, I came across the object of my exploration: a small collection of personal letters.

In this pack all of the letters are mine; that is, they are addressed to me. Their contents span over three quarters of my life. I keep them in no particular order, but they share some common characteristics: they are all personal, they each carry some special meaning (either the person who sent it is special to me or the content is valuable to me), and I like reading them. I haven’t kept anything that I would not want to read every time I pull out the lot.

There are more letters from earlier in my life than from recent days. I haven’t ever printed an email to add to the pack. I have received some email messages that fit all of the criteria for the collection, but it is just not the same. Receiving a letter or note from a person; written with ink in their own handwriting, carries the presence of the person in a tangible way; you can feel them peering over your shoulder as you open the envelope and unfold the pages. In a real way, the writer is with you as you read.

I’ve kept a thank you note from a high school teacher, a few letters from college friends; a letter from a soldier that corresponded with me during his overseas commission. All of the detailed news is stale; I can recite some of it by memory. At this point, reading them isn’t about learning something new, it’s about reliving a moment of caring; remembering who I am by seeing myself through someone else’s thoughtful and often generous eyes.

I can’t imagine sharing my stack of letters with anyone else. It is not as if there is lewd material contained in them; there are no distasteful accounts of misdeeds, no incriminating confessions, but they are mostly about me in very personal way. To hand the stack to another reader would be to reveal myself at a level of intimacy with me that no other person has ever experienced. Imagine if how you might feel if my treasure hunt had ended with my reading your stack of personal letters…

When we open the letters of the New Testament, we are opening a carefully selected stack of letters. This collection shares some similarities and presents some differences with your personal stack of letters and mine. They were written by and to people who shared a unique set of experiences; a special kind of friendship. They get very personal, and at times uncomfortably intimate. They include numerous, old details that have lost their importance over time, but also possess relevant themes and propose compelling truths which still speak with impact. They are a treasure.

Unlike our personal treasure, this stack of letters has been extensively examined by the eyes of countless strangers. In fact, it is among the most explored writing of human history. The readership of this collection includes people from every walk of life, coming to the table with a wide variety of motivations: many possessing merely an academic curiosity, mining the historical data available from a literary or sociological perspective, but that is not us. We approach this treasure as strangers, yes. Separated by history and ignorant of much of the ancient world that the words embody. We share however, a single mutual friend with that ancient place and time.

We believe that reading these letters is unlike reading the letters of other historical figures. Assuredly by reading his mail, there is a host that can be discovered about life and person of 14th century monk or a 19th century president. There are all kinds of facts to be collected about the history of dead men that aid in the discovery of his character and actions. But the subject of our treasure is not dead. Our wild claim is that he was raised by God to new life, that he reigns today at God’s right hand, and that he is still dynamically revealing his character and acting with authority in the world today. Our confession is about more than what the Bible says Jesus did. It is also a witness to what we see Jesus doing today, in our place and time.

And so we unashamedly pick up the mail which frankly is not addressed to us, but has been left out for us. It has been passed on; that our witness of the power of God through Jesus’ action today might be informed by a record of his action in days past.

This morning we hear “page one” of a letter from a minister to a church he had never served, or probably even attended. By what we can gather, while traveling to some neighboring town, Epaphras has heard the apostle Paul preach the good news about Jesus; and having become excited about good news Epaphras did the most natural thing, the thing that we all do when we are given good news: we tell it to someone else. It is often the case, all things being equal, that the severity of the goodness of the news is directly proportional to the quantity of people to which we repeat it. Apparently, Epaphras considered Paul’s good news to be very good, because he told it to a number of someone else-s, and those people passed it on so that by the time of Paul’s writing, a church is alive and well in a place Paul had never preached.

How reassuring it is to know that God needs very little from us to accomplish His will. What a tragedy that we sometimes steal away a God-sized share of the burden of expanding God’s Kingdom; a burden in which we are neither called nor equipped to succeed. In Acts chapter 1, when Jesus calls the disciples to action, his agenda includes only two responsibilities. Jesus’ disciples: the students that had most closely followed Jesus in ministry for 3 years, the people whose experience would shape the direction and character of the church forever, these young men were expected to do only two things: received the power of the Holy Spirit, and to be Jesus’ witness.

What a beautiful vision for the life of followers of Christ. The church is guilty at times of assuming that our action is God’s only “plan of salvation” for our community; that our presence is God’s only manifestation to the people around us. Yet the practice that Jesus prescribes presumes quite the opposite: God does all of the heavy lifting, it is our place to receive and report.

We are promised that the Spirit of God joins us in baptism and most of us affirm this union, but of all the words we would use to describe the nature of this experience of the coming of the Spirit, I wonder how often we would say it is “powerful.” “Comforting”? Maybe. “Insightful”? Sometimes, but “powerful”? Less often I imagine.

I can speak for myself and confess that being on the “receiving” end of most partnerships is not my preferred position. Being on the “receiving” end presumes that I am empty. I must have the humility to admit I am powerless in comparison to my partner, that I am in need of something; that I am ready to be acted upon by God. In my pride, I am generally more comfortable in the power role than I am in the role of submission. If my partnership with the Holy Spirit seems to be lacking a witness of “power”, maybe this is not because Holy Spirit working less in our day. Maybe it is because I am still less willing to work in submission to him.

The only other responsibility to which Jesus calls his disciples is to be a witness. Jesus does not call us to be a judge; that is, he does not call us to decide and pronounce the fate of others. Jesus does not call us to be an attorney: ours is not to represent the agenda of prosecution or defense. Jesus does not even call us to be an expert witness: we are not required to possess an authoritative knowledge of theological propositions or of deep spiritual mysteries. Jesus calls us to be a witness: to give testimony to what we have seen Jesus do!

John told a story about a blind beggar that Jesus healed. When the beggar’s neighbors saw him they began to argue about whether or not he was who he said he was. He kept saying, "I am the man." But they kept asking him, "Then how were your eyes opened?" He response was, "The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, 'Go to Siloam and wash.' Then I went and washed and received my sight." They said to him, "Where is he?" He said, "I do not know."

That friends, is the testimony of a faithful witness.

When religious leaders heard this man’s eye witness testimony they were conflicted. The beggar’s healing happened on a religious day that should not be violated by work. The truth is, the religious leaders did not actually care about the miracle that had happened to this man. They only wanted to preserve a system of religion that protected their right to push people around. Their conclusion was that Jesus had violated the Sabbath and was a sinner.

"I do not know whether he is a sinner.” The beggar responded. “One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see." They said to him again, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?" He answered them, "I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?" Then they reviled him, saying, "You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from." The man answered, "Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing." They answered him, "You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?" And they drove him out. Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" He answered, "And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him." Jesus said to him, "You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he." He said, "Lord, I believe."

It is so ironic that Jesus’ most outspoken eye witness in John chapter nine is a blind beggar who had never seen him. This man who had likely himself been an “invisible” member of society; who had quietly received the alms and donations of passersby, is all of a sudden thrust onto the stage of everyone’s attention, and his witness is bold and honest, “There’s a lot I don’t know about Jesus, but here’s what I do know: I used to be blind, but now I can see.”

I wonder what my response would be if someone were to challenge me by asking, “What can you tell me about Jesus? Don’t tell me what the Bible says, don’t tell me what your minister says, what can you say about Jesus?” The question would probably catch me a little off guard. I certainly don’t have a witness as powerful and personal as having my eyesight instantly corrected by Jesus.

Would have I have to speak in general terms? Would I have to reach way back into my life and talk about a time long gone? Our church confesses regularly “Jesus is well and alive today…” I wonder if we expect Jesus to act like a person who is alive and well, or have we have gotten accustomed to seeing Jesus as little more than a noble statue or an stained-glass image, inspiring to look at, maybe to sing about, but hardly a figure from which we expect to witness any action or power.

Maybe our witness is impaired by our location. We do a lot of our theological thinking and talking here in church; Jesus says his mission is to seek and save the lost which are out there. We come to this safe place to learn about God, and God has taught us about himself that it is his nature to leave the safe places for the purpose of finding and saving. Maybe if we want to be credible witnesses to what Jesus is doing we will have to start looking for Jesus’ presence and power out there, instead of reading and theorizing about it in here.

Well, if you are wondering this morning where to look for Jesus, carefully follow the expert witness of our letter writer and you might be led to a few opportunities to witness.

Paul suggests we can look anywhere when we start with our minds focused on Jesus. Jesus is the visible picture of a God who can’t be photographed. Look up and around! Look to the stars and to the oceans; to the streets of the city, and the steps of the capitol: Jesus is the firstborn of all creation; for in Jesus 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.

Paul directs to look in the hard to see places, to witness in exploring our emotions and relationships: Jesus himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Paul commands us to look at one another to witness Jesus: 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 is pleased to dwell, and through him God is pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

Our Father and God, we thank you today for the writings of those that have gone before us. They are dead: their eyes no longer see, their writing hands have gone still, but their witness of Jesus is alive, and because Jesus is alive and leading us today, their words are instructive for us.

Jesus, as we gather around the table this morning to commemorate your death we remember that death was not the final act of your life. We proclaim your love for the world in your willingness to die, and we declare your power to redeem in your resurrection and continuing life in our world

Jesus, we want be faithful witnesses to what you are doing. We want to tell the truth, the whole truth, and we want to speak nothing but the truth, when we speak of you. Lord, give us the courage to admit it when we don’t know. By your Spirit, may our minds be fixed on you, may we grow in our understanding of your presence and your action, and may we tell on you without hesitation whenever we see you working. We pray this in your name, amen.

A Mother's Day Sermon

2011-05-08T16:02:00.000-07:00

It is remarkable what 10 years will do in the life of any human being; how the experiences of all that a decade brings can make you question your belief, change your opinions, set a different course; it can even make you stand against your former self. 10 years is a lot of water under the bridge, and while we are powerless to change the past, there is no doubt that the past changes us with powerful effect.

One can easily see the change that a decade brought into the life of Julia Ward Howe. Consider the years between 1861 and 1871, which were significant for all U.S. citizens. In 1861, at the beginning of the Civil War, inspired by meeting Abraham Lincoln during a trip to Washing D.C., and at the suggestion of a friend, Julie Ward Howe rewrote the lyrics to the song “John Brown’s Body”. The newly entitled “Battle Hymn of the Republic” became the 19^th century definition of an overnight sensation.

Extolling the glory of war in metaphor and defending the abolition of slaves through violence as an issue of divine mandate, Julie Ward Howe lent her poetry to the cause of the North. Her words were carried in the heart and on the lips of every weary soldier dressed in blue, and sat in desperate hope next to his photograph on the mantle in his home. They became the prayer of half a nation.

But the poetry could not defend itself against time as the war labored on. There is no metaphor strong enough to effectively beautify the horrors of bloodshed; no song will galvanize the heart at the news of a fallen loved one. And even in the face of divine mandate; given enough time, one begins to question the moral superiority of any participant in violent conflict.

By 1870, Julie Ward Howe was ready to speak again. After nearly 10 years of witnessing the bitter cost of the “glory of war” and having watched her kinswomen insufferably starve for the sight of husbands and sons that would never come home again, she once again summoned her voice and invited a mourning nation to the table of reconsideration.

Arise, then, women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts,
Whether our baptism be of water or of tears!

Say firmly:
"We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."

From the bosom of the devastated Earth a voice goes up with our own.
It says: "Disarm! Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."
Blood does not wipe out dishonor, nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil at the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel.

Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace,
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God.

In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And at the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.

This hymn written nearly forty years before the United States recognized the national holiday was entitled Mother’s Day Proclamation and it spoke a truth: that of the powers of God bestowed on humanity, no one embraces her station more passionately, no one understands her calling more deeply than does a mother.

Assuredly, one of the inspirations for this new proclamation was Ann Marie Reeves Jarvis. Mother of 11 children and vocal advocate for the less fortunate, Jarvis had founded Mothers’ Day Work Clubs to improve sanitary and health conditions. Her local chapters were so successful that the organization spread from city to city, and were called upon to attend to sick and wounded soldiers during the darkest days of the Civil War. Jarvis agreed to serve the war’s wounded on one condition: that their organization be recognized as neutral and that they receive and offer respectful treatment to both side of the conflict. Jarvis’ reasoned response was, “We are composed of both the Blue and the Gray.”

On May 12, 1907, two years after Ann Jarvis’ death, her daughter Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother and launched a campaign to make "Mother's Day" a nationally recognized holiday. She succeeded in 1914, but by the 1920s, Anna had become so repulsed by the commercialization of the holiday that she and her sister Ellsinore spent their family inheritance campaigning against what the holiday had become. They both died in poverty. Anna is quoted as saying,

A printed card means nothing except that you are too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone in the world. And candy! You take a box to Mother—and then eat most of it yourself. A pretty sentiment.

Painful words to hear, it is likely for the best that Anna Jarvis did not live longer to see the lengths to which national-holiday commercialism has been driven. And what a sad end for Anna, who was so personally inspired by the power and compassion of her own mother; a woman who had labored so intensely to care for so many, and who outlived all but four of her own 11 children. In light of her example, a national holiday does seem a small token to distinguish such an exceptional person, and in fact, such a divine station of humanity.

Though cultures and church as well have largely ignored this truth throughout history, the text of Scripture regularly points to women as fully-participating image bearers of God. The singer of Beginnings declares in plain speech, “Humankind was created as God's reflection: in the divine image God created them; male and female, God made them." But the song remains woefully little heard.

In the Old Testament, God celebrates and mourns her intimate relationship with Israel, and the law and prophets find that the “father-child” metaphor is often inadequate to fully frame the brute force of both love and heartbreak that God feels for her chosen people.

The covenant law calls and warns God’s people: “Like the eagle that stirs up its nest, and hovers over its young, God spreads wings to catch you, and carries you on pinions.” Yet “You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you; you forgot the God who gave you birth.”

God’s whispers consolation to an anxious Israel through the voice of Isaiah.

“Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you…As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.”

Hosea lends voice to God’s divine custody and nurture of her people.

“…It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, I who took them up in my arms; but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with bands of love. I was to them like those who lift infants to their cheeks. I bent down to them and fed them.”

And in the face of danger, Hosea conveys God’s ferocious protection:

"Like a bear robbed of her cubs, I will attack them and tear them asunder...”

As God’s clearest word, Jesus also affirms these maternal qualities as divine, and challenges his listeners with stories where God’s “character” is played by a woman. When speaking on the steps of the temple, Jesus asks:

“…What woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Even Jesus himself in lament over the rebellious pride of Israel, neglects masculine metaphors when expressing his longing to embrace his people:

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”

His hope is the aching hope of a mother, praying a repentant destiny for her wayward child.

Hamida al-Attas is 77 years old and to say she has endured a challenging 10 years is to understate the truth in great measure. In her autumn which should be filled with the joy, surrounded by family and friends, Hamida has had to endure a decade in which the world and its greatest powers openly and regularly denounced and expressed hatred toward the only son of her first marriage. She is looking on; in horror I’m sure, as many people of the world celebrate.

It is hard to imagine, but there is at least one heart deeply grieving his loss. One pair of eyes that looks past the fuzzy associated press images and the dark news footage, and rather than feeling sick with anger, feels anguish for the child that was hers but is now gone. It doesn’t matter if Hamida understood or agreed with his politics, if she condoned his actions or not. It doesn’t matter if she had disowned him and refused to acknowledge their relationship. Mothers shoulder the burdens of their children. There is no cessation of that relationship and for good or bad as the world collectively sighed in relief, Hamida surrendered to the bitterest heartbreak.

Hamida remembers being delighted by hearing his first words; letting go of his small fist as he took his first steps. She spent a part of her every morning getting him ready until the proud day that he was old enough to do it for himself. She remembers a young life marked with accomplishment, filled with potential and promise, and regretfully wonders how it might have ended differently. Hamida is the surviving mother of Osama Bin Laden and regardless of his unforgivable actions, very likely in spite of them, on this Mother’s Day she endures the punishment of every mother’s greatest fear; that of living to see the death of her own child.

Mary knew this pain. I wonder what memories might have flashed before her eyes as the mother of Jesus stood weeping; her own first born son launched into the air on a Roman cross, labeled as a notorious criminal.

Did she reach back into his childhood?

The extraordinary visit of God’s messenger proclaimed that she was blessed to bear the child of God. The temple prophets that had spoken over his infant frame had promised a life of unparalleled glory and misunderstanding; and they had made her a promise too.

“This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed.” Simeon said to Mary, “And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

Can’t you imagine Mary recalling Simeon’s words each time her mothering heart was seized with fear or broken with disappointment; wondering if this moment was the “sword” that was destined to pierce her soul?

The moment of terror on the road back from Jerusalem when they realized that young Jesus was missing from their traveling company. Three anxious days of searching the city of Jerusalem, retracing their steps and asking every stranger on their path if he had seen their son? The final flood of relief at the sight of him, sitting in the temple engaged in conversation with religious leaders. They had been impressed with his young wisdom; who would have thought that their amazement would turn to such deep jealousy and hatred as young Jesus grew to be a man, and his impressive questions became searing rebuke.

The moment of dishonor that had come one evening not long ago, when the family stood in the evening air outside a stranger’s home? Having heard rumors of his actions and claims, they had come to collect Jesus. He mustn’t have been feeling well, his words had been conveyed to them as wild, extreme. Was her own past anger and humiliation resuscitated as she remembered receiving word the Jesus refused to leave; even to meet with them? “Who are my mother and brothers?” She had overheard his familiar voice from inside the house. “Those who do the will of my Father are my mother and brother and sister.”

Her attention could have been jarred back to the present day by the taunts of Jesus’ enemies, standing before her at the foot of his cross. Having leveraged Rome’s military superpower to apprehend Jesus, and neutralize this threat to the safety of their freedom, they celebrated in mockery and base frivolity the end of a political conflict that had dragged on for far too long.

“You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!”

No, of the many painful experiences that Mary had endured…this was the soul-piercing sword.

“He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

I imagine that Mary might have prayed for her son’s ears to close so that the excruciating pain of his execution might not be punctuated by their arrogant celebration of a Mission Accomplished.

“Lord, let the venom of their words ring twice as loud and long to me, that my child might die free of their poisonous sentiment,” might have been her mother’s prayer that day. “Grant me this one last grace, as I have been unable to protect my child from their wrath, that I might at least protect him from their words.”

If it was her prayer, it went unanswered for we hear the response of Jesus. Having endured the wrath of a defiant people, he suffered their conceited ridicule. Jesus responded by offering them forgiveness as they gambled for his clothes and left him for dead.

As we share in communion today let us remember that Jesus’ was both divine and human. It is common for us wonder at the divine compassion and mercy that Jesus demonstrated in his life and death. It is less common to remember that he grew up in a home not unlike yours and mine. The character that Jesus displays in the moments of the cross is not only the result of the divine spark of God, but it is also end of a righteous upbringing. Jesus learned to cut wood straight with a sure hand in his carpenter/father’s house, and he received instruction in faithfulness and righteousness from his mother.

Dear God, we come before you on this day set aside to honor our mothers, and we thank you for the blessing that this special relationship can be between and a woman and her children. We see by their words and deeds that the mothers among us have accepted this important calling for which you have empowered them, and we are thankful for their graceful affirmative response.

We all look to Christ today, who is the sustainer of our covenant. May we embrace his sacrifice, live in the power of his resurrection, and celebrate his love which is the foundation of our love. This is our prayer in his name, Amen.

An Introduction to Psalm 1

2011-05-01T20:07:00.000-07:00

1 Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the LORD,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.
4 Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

The Book of Psalms is a collection of poems that was assembled and published in the centuries just prior to Jesus’ birth. At the time it was first distributed, it included works that claimed to be over a thousand years old, and its compositions are believed to witness events across the entire history of the children of Abraham. The Book of Psalms is a collection of 150 poems, and as might be expected with such a large work, it has been edited and organized with intention into 5 sections, with the possible the purpose of the editors being to pay homage to the 5 Hebrew books of law.

The purpose of the Book of Psalms was to provide a hymnal for the worship of the children of Abraham. These are the songs that Jesus sang in church. In the Psalms we hear the worship and praise songs that were popular and relevant during the days of Moses and Miriam, of David and Solomon, and even more clearly of those Jews that lived in exile and were reaching back into their ancestry to find a connection to their earliest fathers and mothers, those heroes of history that had talked and listened with God.

It’s true: singing has always been a part of the worship of God, from the very beginning of human history. And it makes sense when you think about it: when we sing music about God, our bodies are acting in a way that engages our intellect and our emotions, and we recite truth in words, in a way that is easier to remember; in a way that we can carry around inside us without having to reference a Bible.

Most of us are not familiar with Paul’s description of the actions of God’s grace found in Titus chapter 2, but many of us know these corresponding words:

`Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fear relieved.
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.

I don’t know anyone who can quote the long sections of dialogue in the book of Job, exploring the authority of God to interact in the lives of humanity at will, and what the appropriate human response is. But I bet almost everyone here can sing:

Blessed be your name when the sun’s shining down on me
When the world’s all as it should be, blessed be your name
Blessed be your name on the road marked with suffering
Though there’s pain in the offering, blessed be your name

You give and take away, You give and take away
My heart will choose to say, Lord, blesses be your name

I don’t know anyone who would commit to memory the labored instruction of Galatians chapter 6, but most of us can recall the spirit of the Apostle Paul’s words when we sing:

When I survey the wondrous cross on which the prince of glory died
My richest gain I count but loss and pour contempt on all my pride.

This is the gift that singing offers us: it puts beautiful words on our lips about God and to God, and we get to express them with our whole selves; our minds, our bodies, and our emotions.

The Book of Psalms, like most hymnals, begins with an introduction. Unlike most modern praise books, the introduction is not four pages of the editor’s resume’, explanation and apology. Rather, the first two poems are placed in the very front because their themes are an excellent summation of the collection that follows. Psalm 1 and 2 reveal that the ritual of the worship of God was representative of the pursuit of wisdom, and that wisdom was not a crown that could only be attained by the privileged, but that it was available to anyone who would give their heart to the law of God.

As we look at the law of God from a distance, standing on the other side of the Sermon on the Mount and the “Pro-Gentile” arguments of the Apostle Paul, often our reaction to the detailed instruction of Old Testament law is irritated dismissal. Legislation is tedious; in the 613 specific commands of the Levitical code, there are too many forms to fill out, too many schedules for too many different kinds of exceptions. Thankfully, for us Gentiles, God in Jesus sums it all up to one page. He is the EZ form, and we can file online.

But the Jews did not see the law as tedious or irritating. In the ancient world, nations were constantly in the dark about what their so-called gods were up to; never knowing when or how the gods’ selfish opinions might change, and that blessing or curse would come not based on human action at all, but more on the fickle moods of the divine. In contrast to this tenuous and desperate existence, HWHY, the God of the Jews, offered his people a very specific and detailed code of action, with boundaries and expectations. God offers consistency and clarity, “Follow my law and be blessed.” To the Jews, the law was a gift. It was literally the path to the life of blessing. It was, for them, good news; the gospel.

6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

So it makes sense that the worship rituals, the songs and hymns of the Jews revolved around God’s law as a gift; the path to blessing. The songs of the church of the day constantly directed her attention to it’s virtues with the promise of the good life as a result. Many of the poems invite the worshipers to lend their ears, their minds, and hearts to the law, with the hope that their obedience to God through the law will bring them prosperity. Psalm 1 leads the charge in proclaiming this promise: the righteous, those who make their lives into a meditation of God’s law, cannot fail.

Blessed is the one who does not slip progressively into evil ways; at first, only walking in step with the wicked, but eventually stopping to stand in the way that sinners take, and ultimately finding a seat in the company of the most corrupted, the mockers. It is one thing to find yourself sharing the road with the wrong kind of people. It is quite another to choose a seat in their company, to make yourself comfortable in their midst.

But rather, there is a completely different path to be chosen; one that finds delight in the law of LORD. The wicked would never find themselves near this place. And on this path we are invited to join God on an inward journey that constantly holds His words before our attention throughout the course of each day and night; weighing what we see and do in light of God’s direction and discerning His will moment by moment. This life is a sure thing; to bind one’s heart so closely to the heart of God can only offer a steady stream of spiritual nourishment; of fullness. It is the only fail safe path to prosperity.

The wicked have no such guarantee in life. Their lives are born out of emptiness and unwanted. They are destined to be forgotten. Their lack of integrity is crushed in the mere presence of judgment. They have no place at the table of God.

And why is it this way? Because God is present! He is involved; dirty up to his elbows in the affairs of our world. He is like a gardener, tending to the events of human life. Not content to look on, and not too busy pay attention, God is actively guarding the righteous, and the wicked who choose to live recklessly outside of his care are left by their own volition to fend for themselves.

How nice! How noble! And how unfortunately, not always true. It is time to confront an obvious problem with the words of Psalm 1. It is difficult to admit because we wish so badly that it was always true. We wish that we could take comfort in the fact that we are to blame for all of the pain we experience, and hold onto the hope that our growing righteousness promises a future, pain-free life. Unfortunately, most of us when confronted with our own life experience have to admit that we have plenty of memories in which we and those we love are forced to endure the pain of failure because of someone else’s mistakes. Life is just not as simple or as formulaic as Psalm 1 makes it out to be.

Life is confusing; relationships are complicated, and we all have a lot of them. Things don’t always work out as we would expect they should. Sometimes we do our absolute best, God is honored by our heart and our actions, and sometimes the blessing feels strangely like a curse. Oh yes, we can talk about the “upside” of painful experiences, that they produce perseverance, and perseverance faith; that they equip us to minister to others in similar situations…all true. But let’s be frank, if it looks like a curse, and it smells like a curse. If it quacks like a curse, what happened?

At this point religious people are often driven back into self-examination to find some microscopic flaw in their actions or their logic. To make excuses for God by saying, “See here. I forgot to cross this “t” and dot this “i”. Or, I crossed this “i” rather than dotting it, and dotted this “t” when I should have crossed it. Really this is my fault and not God’s mistake.”

Far be it from me to discourage self-reflection for anyone, but when we go blaming ourselves in service to making excuses for God, it ends up making both us and God look bad. It suggests that God is this petty, withholding, immature, selfish prick, who is in deep love with the “rules” and only notices us insofar as we live them out with to-the-letter perfection. That does not resemble the generous and graceful HWHY God of the Hebrews at all!

Rather, it would be good for us to remember that, while Psalm 1 is a fitting introduction to the Psalms, it is only that: an introduction. It provides a beautiful, short SUMMARY to a life spent following the wisdom of God, but it also introduces 149 other psalms that explore much more than 149 other aspects of the robust and multi-faceted experience of faith. A faith that wrestles with the seeming “success” of the wicked, a faith that is forced to wait long for moral vindications, a faith that both soars and is crushed, that both proclaims and questions, that both boasts and repents.

And the Bible’s voice of wisdom is not confined only to the many voices in the Book of Psalms. This collection stands as one choir amongst other voices in the books of Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon. This compilation when examined as a greater anthology of wisdom carries similar and contradicting themes. It harmonizes and clashes; it is inspiring and confusing. Its clarity and mystery are true to life, and in so being it exposes the unchanging nature of human beings and the abiding grace of God.

No one word sufficiently performs the truth and story of God. Each voice is necessary but incomplete, every part of the song is important, but no part IS the song by itself. And this is a truth not only lived out in the books of the Bible but also in our gathered life together as the church.

When we come together as one broken and forgiven people, we are living phrases of God’s song; each person’s life expressing some unique truth of our humanity and of God’s divine grace.

Some of us gather as verses of victory as in Psalm 66:

Shout for joy to God, all the earth!
² Sing the glory of his name;
make his praise glorious.
³ Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!
So great is your power
that your enemies cringe before you.
⁴ All the earth bows down to you;
they sing praise to you,
they sing the praises of your name.

Some of us gather as verses of failure as in Psalm 6:

LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger
or discipline me in your wrath.
2 Have mercy on me, LORD, for I am faint;
heal me, LORD, for my bones are in agony.
3 My soul is in deep anguish.
How long, LORD, how long?
4 Turn, LORD, and deliver me;
save me because of your unfailing love.

Some of us gather as verses of desperation as in Psalm 42:

1 As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, my God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?
3 My tears have been my food
day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”

Some of us gather as verses of confidence as in Psalm 75:

1 We praise you, God,
we praise you, for your Name is near;
people tell of your wonderful deeds.
2 You say, “I choose the appointed time;
it is I who judge with equity.
3 When the earth and all its people quake,
it is I who hold its pillars firm.

Every person is welcomed to lend their voice to the witness of God’s redemptive work in the world. Every person is a verse that testifies to God’s continuing life among his people, whether the lyrics speak of joy or lament; whether the heart is lifted in triumph or aching with sorrow. And because we are here together, each verse that we bring, every verse that we are, regardless of the nature of its content, reaches its end in the chorus of Jesus,

Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Our Father and God, we come before you today as unfinished phrases with unrefined lyrics. We confess that we are often confused by the noise of your world. We see conflict, we hear dissonance and chaos, and we cannot imagine the ordered beauty that you are progressively orchestrating, that song which is becoming our resting place to your great glory.

Lord, even in our midst this morning as a group of people engaged in the pursuit of your way, we are sometimes confused by our circumstances; we are often disappointed by our own failures, and in light of the messiness of our own lives, it is easy to doubt that we could ever find the skill and seize the moment to join you in song.

This morning we look to Jesus’ life, and we ask that you shape our song to echo his song; His life to call, and ours to respond. We know that his life could be described as anything but easy. We are aware that his melody seemed to end abruptly and in tragedy, and ironically God, we come to your table this morning to celebrate that sad-sounding song because within its fabric we hear life emerging and we are drawn to His life.

Lord, remind us that in defiance of what tragedy is playing out before us today, your song plays on. We are sorry for our sins. We thank you that in your compassion, though every missed note, every rushed rhythm, every life mistake we make can be heard, that our weakness stands in beautiful contrast to your loving power, and even our failures are redeemed in you.

This is our prayer in Jesus’ name, amen.

> 140 Characters

2010-10-18T18:05:00.000-07:00

Today I'm thinking about what a lot of people have thought about before: personal blogs are dying. There are still blogs that are alive and well, but in my sphere of reading I find that surviving blogs mostly generate revenue of some kind, or they offer content that is both greater and more focused than simply the public sharing of someone's personal experiences. [365 characters]

I confess, I miss these glory days gone by. I remember 2005 fondly; the morning ritual of logging onto my computer and clicking through a list of bookmarks which would take me to the thoughts of my friends. (These are olden times about which I reminisce; dawn-anticipating and promising days before the invention of fire and the RSS feed reader.) Some days there would be nothing new; other days I would be delightfully surprised by a new post, a new idea, a new perspective that gave me insight into the world, and as importantly to me, into the minds of the people I knew. [574 characters]

As is the case with glory days, they are usually not named so until they have died. And the Blog Age, that profound democratic renaissance of words and ideas, has been replaced by the modernized, the streamlined Twitter tweet or Facebook status update. I am still reading each morning about the lives of my friends, but alas, the sentiment of our lives has been ruthlessly gutted, and what hangs bleeding out in the cruel sun is 140 to 420 characters worth of “update.” [469 characters]

Ike Graul says: I did this. [27 characters]

Sorry, but there’s little room for Ike Graul to say anything else; like who told Ike Graul about this, and how Ike Graul resisted doing this for the longest time, and how when Ike Graul actually came to finally do this, it was ironically quite by accident, and how Ike Graul ‘s knuckles were blood-drained white the entire time he was doing it, and how Ike Graul both thoroughly enjoyed this, and will also probably never do this again. [436 Characters]

Ike Graul might like to say more, but on Twitter and Facebook there is an unflinching character limit on what Ike Graul can say. [128 characters]

I wonder if this is not what makes the glory days seem glorious. The glory days at least get named so, because there is enough distance between now and then that we can reflect on them and judge them as glorious or otherwise. Often I think they get proclaimed glorious simply because we judge them in contrast to today, and today is rarely a day about which we have done any reflection at all. All I have done in regard to today is report – [440 characters]

Ike Graul says: I did this. [27 characters]

There is little capacity for any kind of reflection in 140 characters. There is barely room to do anything besides report in 140 characters. [140 characters]

Ben Zander on Music and Passion

2010-06-03T13:08:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I haven't passed this on here sooner. I probably watch this once a month, and can't recommend it to you enough.

trinisonic

2010-04-28T23:47:00.000-07:00

Ella

2010-04-20T11:37:00.001-07:00

One of the reasons we have been anxious to move into a new house is so that our family could finally end our pining for a pet. Kaelea and I both grew up in animal-friendly homes, and wanted our kids to have similar positive experiences to ours. Our apartment landlords did not allow pets, and even if they had; adding an animal to that situation would not have been a good idea. So, when we started the closing process on the house, we also started trolling for potential animal-type family members to adopt.

I am not a cat person. My dad and brother are both allergic to cats, so we never kept cats. Really, I’m interested in pets that will at least fake some interest in me. I’m looking for a relationship, not to be the owner of some stupid creature that believes my feeding and caring for it is somehow a distinguished honor to me. I have diligently guarded my children against any affection for cats, and I think if you were to quiz them, you would find I have done a decent job. They do not hate cats per se, but treat cautiously, as any garden-variety animal-spawn of Satan should be handled.

Dog seemed to be a solution everyone was excited toward. I had one other notable prejudice: I don’t like dogs that shed. I don’t mind animal hair; I just believe it should stay attached to the animal. At least when human beings go bald, they stay that way. Anyway, there are a number of small to mediums-sized pooch breeds with non-shedding genetics, so again we seemed to be on our way. We finally settled on a cocker spaniel/poodle mix, and after corresponding with a few local breeders, Kaelea picked the final contestant in our search.

The family hammered on the name discussion for awhile, and eventually landed on “Ella” (after the African-American jazz singer) because no one absolutely hated it. We brought her home, and she immediately won us all over, as only a puppy can. The kids had a hard time sharing her at first (yes I also had a hard time sharing too, you didn’t have to bring that up), but over the last several months, we have all settled down and really started to enjoy Ella as a member of the family.

Yes, she still poops places that we wish she wouldn’t. Yes, she has a hard time distinguishing what objects are and are not chew toys. But really, who cares? When you walk through the door, no matter who you are or what kind of day you have had, Ella runs to you and erupts in a full-body wiggly wagging dance. She is very happy to see you.

Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir

2010-04-17T12:54:00.000-07:00

I want to share this badly enough that I'm not going to wait until I have something to say about it. I'm just going to share it. Maybe I will comment more another time. Once you view the video you will know as much as I do. I'm excited because I think the music performed here is beautiful, and the manner in which it is performed is certainly innovative. Eric's website is here.

Oh. My.

2010-04-13T19:43:00.001-07:00

Apparently these are being sold in Japan this year. Sigh.

A New Friend

2010-04-12T21:05:00.000-07:00

Just a little more than a month ago, we had a few friends over to the house to make some music together. I've done a lot of singing with these friends, but this night we were trying something different: a few guitars, a harmonica or two, and an acoustic bass.

We had a couple of very talented beginning players among us, so we paired up to teach some new songs, and I was fortunate enough to be helping the bass player. It turns out the 4-lowest sounding strings on a bass are tuned exactly one octave lower than the 4-lowest sounding strings on a guitar. This fact, along with my average guitar playing ability and my experience singing bass, made me an adequate tutor for the bass player. We practiced and played through a few songs, and then when we switched things up, I asked if I might try my hand at the bass guitar.

This was a BIG mistake.

The first song we played was "There's a Stirring." That was all it took. The feel and sound of the instrument; it was pure bliss. I knew right away I had one of these basses in my future. Surprisingly, a look at Craigslist produced a few results, one of which was a very competitively priced Martin BC-15e. With a solid mahogany top, sides, back, and neck, and a warm, mellow sound, the guitar oozes low, dark chocolate tone.

A few emails...a few days...the next thing I know I'm holding this beauty in my own hands. The condition matches the owner's description; oh yeah. This is a done deal.

Since then, the biggest problem I have had has been putting the instrument down. I've been basically jumping at every chance to play, and creating opportunities when I can't find an existing one. In fact, if you know of any more, please don't hesitate to fill me in!

For the Nerd in your Life

2010-03-09T22:33:00.001-08:00

Jimmy Maks

2010-03-03T17:56:00.000-08:00

Three nights a week Portland Jazz club Jimmy Maks plays host to phenomenal jazz drummer, Mel Brown. Brown drummed on staff at Motown, and played records and the road with the likes of the Temptations, the Supremes, and Smokey Robinson. He leads a septet on Tuesdays, a quartet on Wednesdays, and a quintet on Thursdays. It is to this last group that I should like to draw your attention.

Last fall I was introduced to Jimmy Maks and the Mel Brown Hammond B-3 Organ Group by Steve Delarmarter, a professor of Old Testament and a personal hero. Dr. Delamarter led the worship band I fronted for a couple years in seminary. He is fiercely curious about music in many of the ways I am, and I trust his instincts as it pertains to tuneful things.

What makes Thursday night so interesting to me is the instrument line up: guitar, saxophone, drummer, auxiliary percussionist, and organist. You may not notice that there is no bass instrument listed there, and if you were to hear a recording of their performance you would very likely never think of it. This is because Louis Pain, resident J.M. organist pulls double duty on the mighty Hammond B-3, playing smooth, timely bass with the left, and making both rhythmic and solo magic with the right. Listen, all the players on the stage are as good as you will hear on their instrument. Louis Pain’s left hand is the best kept secret Portland has to offer on Thursday nights.

I sat organ-side my first night at Jimmy Maks and was blown away by the collection of skills displayed by the group. I’ve been back many Thursdays since (with many of my friends in tow), and have easily recaptured the same astonished delight. It is a spiritual experience for me.

If we’re friends in some other place in the world-wide thing, you may have caught a glimpse of this: a dark phone photo mostly of blur, backed by a red velvet curtain. This is Thursday night church at Jimmy Maks. It is really a sound worth hearing.

Pictures

2010-01-19T16:37:00.000-08:00

As both of you know, I have been growing my hair out for the last couple of years to donate to Locks of Love. This afternoon, I mentioned on Facebook that Shearing Day had finally come, and a few people were interested in pictures of the results. Mental that I am, I'm actually flattered by your call for photographs of the carnage. You probably slow down to look at traffic accidents too, don't you? Here are some images worth your time.

I was first inspired to grow my hair when Jessica Bolt (a member of our church) asked some of the ladies to donate their hair to a wig for her sister Mary. Mary had been diagnosed with cancer. Jessica, remarkable young woman that she is, gave up a year of her life (and a full-ride, Summit scholarship) to move to Seattle, and walk with her sister through a long journey of intense treatment. I realized in conversation with Jessica that for all of the things I couldn't do in the cause of fighting cancer, growing hair was one thing I could do. Lord knows I wasn't using the hair at the time, so why shouldn't someone else? Two years later and very soon from now, someone else will, thanks to Jessica.

In October of the same year, our church was shocked by the news that the VDK's youngest daughter Caitlin had leukemia. The first days were filled with tests and prayer, and wonder at Caitlin's courage. Over the last 18 months, the VDK's have adjusted to medical regimens and regular hospital visits. Caitlin continues to show about the best reaction to the treatment that anyone can hope for, and we are all grateful for God's answer to our constant prayers. Caitlin herself is the genuine miracle. Taking all of this invasive therapy (and all of the not-so-thrilling side effects) in stride, nothing seems to deter her much from just being her own-kid self; she is a pretty inspiring young lady.

Friends, these are the pictures for which you are looking: pictures of people who refuse to allow the worst of circumstances get the best of them. I'm sure you have some of your own as well. Thank God for them, and let them inspire you to action!

Grade School Homiletics

2009-10-20T16:35:00.000-07:00

I spend half a day at the school every week volunteering in a couple of classrooms and playing with the kids during lunch. This year, I have the pleasure of serving in Isaiah's classroom with Ms. Scottel, and on my first day she asked me if I would make a presentation on sermon writing.

I was a little surprised.

This is a public school. A fourth grade class. And it is today. And you want me to make a presentation on sermon preparation? I could tell by the look on her face that she was serious, so after grading a number of the students' math quizzes, I grabbed marker, and got everyone's attention. And then it hit me.

What I do every week is write and present a book report.

Every week, I focus on some section, aspect, or theme of the Bible, and I report on it. Book reports are things that fourth graders know all about. In fact, it didn't take long before we were in it up to our elbows. I decided (for the purposes of honoring the First Amendment) that we would write a sermon on the book Green Eggs & Ham. We discussed the premise and main point of the book; we developed major supporting points, and we drew examples from personal experience. When we were finished, we had a well-rounded persuasive sermon on the importance of trying things that are potentially good. When we were done, any one of those kids could have had you coming up the aisle for breakfast.

It amazes me what God is up to sometimes.

Our House

2009-10-06T17:53:00.000-07:00

1619 NE Holman Street

In December of 1999, when Kaelea and I moved into the Woodlawn neighborhood, we rented this small house on Holman Street. We brought Isaiah home from the hospital to this house in June. After 8th months on the corner of 17th and Holman, we moved into our own first house.

6837 NE Claremont Avenue

Our first house was not a house per se, but a condominium in Woodlawn Park. We heard a lot of gun shots in this house. We brought Malachi and Michal home from the hospital and hosted a lot of life groups in this house. Isaiah started kindergarten in this house. We Learned a little about loving our neighbors, and a lot about money management in this house. When we came home from our Africa sabbatical in January of 2006, we decided to sell our condo in order to live simply and learn to be more generous givers.

6322 NE 8th Avenue

After selling our condo, we moved into this apartment across the yard from the PUMP house. The girls started school in this house. We learned how to maximize space and think globally in this house. We learned that hospitality has nothing to do with where you live, and everything to do with who you are in this house. We learned to be more generous with what we had in this house. We learned how better to manage and give our money in this house.

7032 NE 10th Ave

We are moving again. I wonder what will happen in this house?

Luke 16 - A Podcasting Test

2009-09-21T11:18:00.001-07:00

Revival

2009-09-02T21:02:00.000-07:00

Hello to both of you who read this blog! It's been nearly a year since I left this blog in order to write on PUMPTrek. Little did I know what this year would hold. I thought by this time PUMPTrek would have been a memory, and I would have been long settled back into this corner of the web.

Is est quis is est.

I'm back. I've only got a few days of remembering left on PUMP Trek, and I've really missed reflecting in this place. As I'm sure is the case with you, lots of life has happened this year so let's get on with it, shall we?

This summer Isaiah and I read all of the Harry Potter books. It turns out Sai is book monster, he eats them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. No joke, they tremble on the shelf as he walks by. So we raced our way through the series (watching the movies as we finished each book), and then went to see The Half-Blood Prince in the theater this summer. It was a lot of fun. I must say that I think J.K. Rowling has done a fine job writing an excellent moral tale that was as engaging for me as it was for my son. For those with the reservation about having your children read about magic, I would encourage you to consider reading the first book as a pilot test. What I found was that the magic was not presented in any sort of seductive way, that the problems in the book are solved with good character, not with incantations to evil spirits. The School of Magic that Harry Potter attends takes Christmas and Easter break for heaven's sake. Anyway, it's certainly not my normal genre but it was a great experience to share with Sai, and it made my summer better, for what it's worth.

Sorry about the delay, I post-dated this post to show up at midnight on the first, but apparently choosing the date doesn't do that. My bad.

2009-08-18T18:49:00.001-07:00

Unexpected Absence

2009-04-21T16:21:00.001-07:00

Well...I was not expecting to be away from my blog quite this long. The week after I finished PUMPTrek, our little church was hit several pretty tough pieces of bad news. These things carried our attention and energy straight through the new year, which has brought continued transition.

I'm surrending the hope that things will return to normal. I've jump started PUMP Trek, and as soon I've finished the story there, I'll be back here.

Temporary Interruption

2008-10-11T16:19:00.000-07:00

This blog is being temporarily interrupted. I'm currently away on a trip that is being chronicled at www.pumptrek.org. So if you want to check in on what's going on with me, that is where you will find the latest information over the next two weeks.

You will be returned to your regularly scheduled programming on October 26 or so.

Technology Failure

2008-10-06T15:50:00.000-07:00

This was a hard weekend for me. On Saturday right around midnight I got the blue screen of death on my laptop, and couldn't get it to restart. I ended up having to rebuild my powerpoint presentation and getting Adam Wolfgang to bring his laptop for worship (thanks dude.)

The error(s) I get seem to indicate that the RAM has failed. I could swap the RAM out myself, but it is still covered under warranty, so I will send it in to have it repaired. The deeper question is, if both sticks of RAM failed (which I think they have) then was it my power supply that fried them; in which case I have a bad power supply which could fry future good RAM as well. You know I like just about anything fried, but RAM...well, not so much.

This also means that I will not have my laptop on the motorcycle adventure. We have another laptop that I can take, but the USB ports don't work on that box but it does have an SD slot...

This morning I woke up and my phone didn't work; I mean it. was. dead. I opened up the back to check the battery, and the inside of the phone was wet. There was no liquid on the outside of the phone, just the inside. I ask you, WHAT IS THAT? My next free T-Mobile phone doesn't come until February, so I ended up picking up the cheapest "pay as you go" model I could find. I inserted my SIM card and sure enough, it started ringing off the hook just like my phone does. My old phone didn't save phone numbers to the SIM card, so I have to reenter all of the numbers I had. I have that information backed up on my computer, so I can just...nevermind.

The truth is I rely on technology a lot, it remembers things for me, and adds a lot of fun to my life. It always dies eventually, sooner for me I think because I don't treat it as nicely as I could, and it's never a convenient time, but when is? And at the end of the day, I have to say, I'll gladly endure the cons for the pros. No question.

Obedience School

2008-10-05T19:32:00.000-07:00

For a while now, I've been obsessing about Jesus' "great commission" definition of discipleship - to be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and to learn to obey everything Jesus commanded. I have started a blog having to do with how we learn to obey what Jesus commanded. Each post will begin by quoting a teaching of Jesus, and then include some person's comment on what that teaching means to him/her, and how s/he is applying it to life.

This is not a blog by me, it is a blog by us. Everyone is invited, so if you would like to contribute just pick a teaching of Jesus, reflect on it, experiment with it, write a post and send it to me, and I will add you as a contributor to the blog. (I am initially retaining editorial privileges, but I don't expect to need to use them.)

Ready. Set. Go.

Free Geek

2008-10-04T20:22:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, the kids starting making a fake computer out of some cardboard boxes we had lying around in our apartment. They have been interested in having a computer in their room for a while, and I've thought about putting one in their for playing music, watching movies during quiet time, having an extra internet connection in the house, etc. So forget the cardboard computer we decided to adopt a real computer through the volunteer program at Free Geek.

[From Free Geek's Website]
FREE GEEK is a 501(c)(3) not for profit community organization that recycles used technology to provide computers, education, internet access and job skills training to those in need in exchange for community service.

Free Geek was founded in February 2000 (and incorporated as a 501(c)(3) in April 2000) to recycle computer technology and provide low and no-cost computing to individuals and not-for-profit and social change organizations in the community and throughout the world.

In the eight years since its formation, Free Geek has recycled over 1,500 tons of electronic scrap and refurbished over 15,000 computer systems that are now in use by individuals and organizations in the community.

Free Geek does most of this work with volunteers (at any given time, about 500 are active). The volunteers disassemble the donated equipment and test the components, which are either recycled as electronic scrap or recycled into refurbished systems. These refurbished computers are then loaded with Open Source Software, such as GNU/Linux, Open Office, and other Free Software.

Our first volunteer job was tearing apart floppy disks for recycling. It was a simple job, and we enjoyed doing it for about three hour straight! The kids did great, and we only have about 9 hours of volunteer work left before we can adopt our computer!

An American Idol

2008-08-19T20:48:00.000-07:00

This is a show about which I've just never gotten excited. I can understand the "survivor-like" quality added to the musical aspect that gets my friends excited. I think I can understand that the show offers a variety of entertainments throughout the season. I can't explain my hesitation, and I have to admit I've never given it a full episode's opportunity; I guess I'm just not interested. I watch plenty of television already.

One aspect of the show that rubs me wrong is the premise that the critics can actually find an American Idol. When I think of an American musician that deserves the title "idol" (for those that just can't get over the theological implications of this term, I ask you to just keep trying), I think of Elvis. Marvin Gaye. Paul Simon. Stevie Wonder. Yes; I think of Michael Jackson. It's easy to see that David Cook and Jordin Sparks are talented. Will one of them be the next Elvis? Nothing personal, but I'm not holding my breath.

I might like to suggest John Mayer as someone that has great potential to be an American Idol. At age 31, with four Grammy Awards already under his belt, and a wicked sense for how write, sing and play the guitar, Mayer seems to me to be a legitimate candidate for that short list of musicians who have defined American music. I've spent some time listening to his latest live album, Where the Light Is, and I have to tell you, it's as fresh as his early work, if fresh is how you would describe any of it. John Mayer is making music today, but in the best sense of what we admire about musicians of earlier years. My opinion: he's worth your time.

Photobooth Mayhem

2008-08-10T20:14:00.000-07:00

2008 Summer Slam

2008-08-03T23:30:00.000-07:00

The summer has played host to stuff and stuff and STUFF. This is me describing some of it to you.

The kids are all old enough this year for the first time to all be in PUMP summer Program, and the girls took to it like fish to water. We are all training-wheel free now which is pretty sweet. The family recently invested in a Nintendo Wii, and our opinion is that all of the hype is true. We're mostly into bowling and tennis.

PUMP has hired Heath Cloutier to join the staff as an Executive Director for the PUMP Summer Program. The Cloutiers are just back from teaching English in Japan, and Heath, Pam and their new son Zion were at church this morning for the first time. It was sweet. Heath is a very creative and energetic guy, and I feel lucky to be working with him.

I got a motorcycle a couple of months ago, and I thoroughly enjoy it. It's a Honda CB750, which was the first motorcycle ever called a "superbike." I'm planning to take a long trip on it in October, and if you want to you can read more about here.

I'm way behind on my book reviews. The reading regimen has not been as heavy this summer as the past, the lists on the right are still pretty out of date. I'll see if I can't attend to that sometime soon. FaithQuest is coming up which always gets me thinking about special music. The FQ worship team is ridiculouly talented and always comes ready to attempt the impossible without a safety net.

Hope you all are having a great summer. I obviously have no complaints.

A Theremin Introduction

2008-05-13T10:26:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure that it was Jared Ranum who taught me that the strange futuristic-sounding instrument in the Beach Boy's song "Good Vibrations" was a theremin. "Invented by Leon Theremin in 1920. It was very difficult to play and the appeal of the theremin faded quickly. It is described as an oscillator which generates a single tone controlled by the movement of the operator's hand to an antennae that protrudes from it."(1) Below you will find a lady named Pamela Kurstin playing the fire out of one, and explaining how it works. If this kind of thing is not the reason you read this blog, then I have no idea why you would.

A Brief Musical Update

2008-03-29T16:23:00.000-07:00

The Strat-O-Cast
I've been having a lot of fun playing the guitar lately. My friend, Sam Middlebrook, gave me a very cool guitar instruction book with cd-rom lessons for the computer. He also sent me home with a tube amp which is a lot of fun to play through, although I'm pretty sure our neighbor doesn't appreciate the tone as much as I do. I'm still waiting on some of the custom pieces to come to the local shop; once it gets here, I'm going to give the thing a face-lift and try my hand at setting up the action.

The Songs from a Hat
Abby Simmons has started a weekly YouTube Show called Songs from a Hat. Here are the rules:

An original song must be uploaded by every Sunday 11:59 pm PST
3 out of every 4 weeks the song must be titled after and relate to the designated song title picked from the hat the Sunday prior
Every 4th week Abby may perform a song of her choosing
Said songs must be at least 90 seconds in length
All components of every song must be original
Project will begin December 9th 2007 and end December 9th 2008
If any of the aforementioned rules or guidelines are broken, Abby will be given a punishment to be decided by any and all Songs From a Hat viewers.
Power of veto concerning the punishments is given to Abby's sister (aka The Loch Ness Monster

Here's an example (funny but may be not so appropriate for little ears):

Harmony Sweepstakes
I've been doing some arranging for the very talented and unusually patient group Legacy. Legacy recently took the Rocky Mountain Regionals by storm, and are now headed to national competition. In Denver, they were recognized as best group, for best soloist, best vocal percussionist, and I was recognized for best original arrangement. Nice work, gentlemen, thanks for making me sound good.

Phono-Synthesis
I'm sure both of the people reading my blog are familiar with a musical project that I've been tinkering with which finally has been named "Phono-Synthesis." This is a project in which I blend worship songs with songs from the radio, particularly from the 70's and 80's. With a little help from my friends, I have found almost an album's worth of tunes. I recently presented this material for the first time at Cascade College and I have another opportunity to present it in a few weeks in New Mexico. To that end, I've acquired a computer interface that will allow the user to mix sound files on a computer much like a DJ mixes with two turntables. My hope is that the culmination of this project will be not only some submissions to iTunes, but also a worship dance with a DJ and worship team. More information to follow.

It's happened again.

2008-02-21T22:12:00.000-08:00

It just happens with me. I find something I really like, then I get kind of crazy about it. Then it's just about that thing and really something that is not that thing just isn't and there's no talking to me about it. For instance,

and of course,

Well, it's happened to me again.

The Fender Stratocaster: standard axe of greats including but not limited to Clapton, Hendrix, and Vaughn. Mine has been ordered, the loaner I have looks like this. I'm planning to do some custom body work, when it's done I'll post pics.

Page 123

2008-02-08T13:39:00.000-08:00

I was tagged by Mike Lewis, so here is my contribution to the experiment.

[Directions]

Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more.
Find Page 123. Find the first 5 sentences.
Post the next 3 sentences (in other words start posting at sentence #6).
Tag 5 people.

"And this shall be a permanent statute for you: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall humble your souls, and not do any work whether the native, or the alien who sojourns among you; for it is on this day that atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you; you shall be clean from all your sins before the LORD.
It is to be a sabbath of solemn rest foryou, that you may humble your souls; it is a permanent statute.
So the priest who is anointed and ordained to serve as priest in his father's place shall make atonement: he shall thus put on the linen garments, the holy garments, and make atonement for the holy sanctuary; and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar."

Adam W, BD, Em, Moon, Sarah W

The Bible Experience

2008-01-07T13:08:00.000-08:00

Could somebody please get on Google Maps and tell me where I've been?

Girl meets God by Lauren F. Winner

2007-12-16T22:11:00.000-08:00

RATING: a honest to God III.

Ryan Gibbons bought me a copy of Girl Meets God from Powell's on Hawthorne just before dinner at the Bagdad theater some July night this summer. Anyway, The book is recounting of Ms. Winner's decision to move out of a life of Judaism and to choose Jesus. Ms. Winner's writing style is forthcoming; she dances from whimsical to sincere with almost no effort at all. I really enjoyed her book.

Sex God by Rob Bell

2007-12-16T14:28:00.000-08:00

RATING: A sexy III.

Sex God by Rob Bell came highly recommended by the summer interns at PUMP. Bell suggests as do many spiritual authors (from Augustine to Eugene Peterson) that our spirituality and our sexuality are intimately connected because they are integral to God's formation in us; and goes on to draw lots of helpful connections and implications. This is the second of Rob Bell's books that I've read, and I really like his writing style. Bell also does these cool videos for small group discussion as well. Thanks to Matt Tibbles for introducing me to those.

Seeing Is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees: a Life of Contemporary Artist Robert Irwin by Lawrence Weschler

2007-12-13T21:48:00.000-08:00

RATING: an enlightening III

I think I've mentioned before that I sometimes tour the Portland Art Museum with fine artist Michael Brummett. If you are going to go to an art museum this is the way to do it: walking around with a guy that knows stuff about a lot of the people whose works are hanging on the walls.

Anyway, Michael had made mention of this book a few times as a book that had had noteable influence on his thinking. I hadn't ever read a book about an artist before, but I was pretty much interested from page one. One of things that I admire about Robert Irwin is that the art that he created was the result of the pursuit of answers to all kinds of questions. Irwin never really let the art dealers dictate what he made. By the time a certain kind of artwork started to get popular, Irwin had answered that question and was moving on. It is a very engaging book. I recommend it.

The Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Ethics by Immanuel Kant

2007-12-13T10:20:00.000-08:00

RATING: A Fundamentally Tedious II

Last summer I read David Hume's Dialogue Concerning Natural Religion. Based solely on my reading of these two books I think these guys would have related to each other in our age in the following way:

Hume: Hello, I'm a Mac.

Kant: ...and I'm a PC.

I get the idea that the few people I hang out with who have read and therefore may understand Hume well enough to evaluate his work, see him as a kook. But this review isn't really about him, it's about Kant's work. Kant's self-evident need to be brutally thorough in the application of the scientific method to a moral metaphysic is probably necessary and surely helpful in the end, but dizzying. I felt like I needed to stop and ask for directions about every three pages. Unfortunately, Google Maps is no help in this case. Anyway, I have great respect for the motive, methodology and subject, but this is far from popular reading. You better really want it if you are going to pick it up.

Renovation of the Heart by Dallas Willard

2007-12-06T20:40:00.000-08:00

RATING: morally forward III

I am a big fan of USC philosophy professor Dallas Willard. I think he is writing some of the most deep and practically helpful work being published for a certain group of Christians I like to call "the rest of us." In Renovation of the Heart, Willard offers simple, practical steps toward a Christ-like character. While I don't personally resonate with his 6-part description of a human being, I am very impressed with Willard's astonishing ability to offer concrete, pragmatic answers to questions of human improvement while completely avoiding the trap of legalism. Willard writes, "Grace is opposed to earning, not effort." I recommend the book.

The Release of the Spirit by Watchman Nee

2007-12-05T17:43:00.000-08:00

RATING: a unusually fresh III

The work of Watchman Nee was first recommended to me when I was working as a book seller at Christian Supply. I had just finished my undergraduate degree, so reading wasn't high on my list of extracurricular activities. Last year, I picked up The Release of the Spirit for almost nothing at a Christian book sale. It is not a long book, I remember reading a good portion of it at Les Schwab one day this spring, while waiting for new tires to be fitted on the Vanagon.

Nee was a Chinese Christian who started many churches over the course of his life. In 1952, he was imprisoned by the Chinese government for his faith. He died in prison 20 years later. I think one of the most interesting concepts of this book is Nee's idea of brokenness. According to Nee, the effect of Christian brokenness is not simply a more humble believer, but the purpose of the "crack" is to create an openning for the release of the Spirit. I find Nee's ideas to be original and I intend to read more of his work.

Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki

2007-12-04T19:09:00.000-08:00

RATING: A fiscally philosophical II

It's time to start banging out the book reviews again. Thankfully the load is light this year, so there's a good chance 2007 reviews will be done before 2008. RDPD was recommended to me by a few people and finally lent to me by good friend David Lankton. I enjoyed the book. Kiyosaki is probably never going to win any literary awards, but that certainly would not be the point. In fact, the author leaves the impression with both the style and the content of this autobiographical sketch that anyone willing to apply him/herself to the right financial principles and work ethic can in fact become rich. The book covers a narrow discussion field, carries ostensible wisdom and is repetitive, but it's a fine primer for the interested.

Story Pirates

2007-11-30T10:01:00.000-08:00

I was hijacked by the Striking Viking Story Pirates while out on the world wide open sea, surfing YouTUBE this morning. This is a group of talented people who turn little kid's stories into performance songs and videos. I ask you, how cool is that? For your entertainment:

A live performance.

A music video.

A podcast.

And their website: www.StoryPirates.com

Podcast: Matthew 16:21-28

2007-11-25T10:30:00.000-08:00

Right-click here to download.

From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead.
But Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. “Heaven forbid, Lord,” he said. “This will never happen to you!”
Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father and will judge all people according to their deeds. And I tell you the truth, some standing here right now will not die before they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”

From Watching to Doing

2007-11-19T22:54:00.000-08:00

So, Michael Brummett and I have been hanging out at the Portland Art Museum. We'll usually take a lunch hour every week or so, walk around the Museum looking at all kinds of art-type things and talking about everything from family dynamics, to competing postmodern philosophical schools of thought, to life at PUMP. Since the spring we have walked through all kinds of cool exhibits like the Minimalism-Postminimalism exhibit, The Drawn Line exhibit, the Rembrandt exhibit, and most recently the Chuck Close exhibit.I've learned a lot about art. Not a lot when one thinks about all there is to know about art, but a lot when one considers how little I knew about art before Michael and I started taking these walks around the museum.

So, the other day a group of us were at a restaurant down MLK. The table cloth was paper and even though there were no children with us at the time, our server brought us a couple of cups worth of crayons with which to doodle while we waited for our food. I've never been very good at rendering images of things per se, but what I've learned while walking around with Michael is that Art is often the result of exploring the answers to many different kinds of questions. And so, I applied myself and my blue crayon to the table cloth with unapologetic inquiry.

Other people at the table reacted with surprise, and on a continuum from mild annoyance to mild entertainment. When the food came, I washed my hands and took a break to eat, but then launch back straight away in order to have some realistic opportunity to finish before it was time to leave. Someone at the table had a digital camera with them, and offered to capture the results for me. At the time I didn't think much about it, but when I received the images via email tonight I was really please to relive the artistic experience through them. There is a part of me that wishes that I would have ripped out my piece of the table cloth and brought it home; the work was decidedly gratifying.

Podcast: Matthew 16:13-20

2007-11-18T10:25:00.000-08:00

Right-click here to download.

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"
They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.

A Brief Musical Roundup

2007-11-12T00:15:00.000-08:00

Last week Sara Groves released her next project, Tell Me What You Know. This album does not disappoint. I will probably not get around to a full review of this CD (I'll be lucky to get through reading list reviews for this year), so let me say this. Sara Groves has shown consistently extraordinary song-writing capabilities starting with her very first album. From Past the Wishing to TMWYK, it is difficult to find a track that does not represent an act of genuine thoughtfulness. On the musical side, I see a Paul-Simonish desire to explore in the areas of instrumentation, arrangment, and musical style. A lot of musicians do not have a musical character (lyrical and melodic) with the strength to maintain their identity in the midst of exploration of this scope. You will not find that problem here. Sara Groves has it the way Paul Simon has it.

NPR interviewed TAKE 6 around Thanksgiving last year for their program All Things Considered. I just found this piece through TAKE 6's website discussion board. The interview includes a couple of performances, and there are two additional cuts offered on the website that didn't make the final edition of the interview. It's worth a listen if you are a fan.

Licensed Creativity and Creative License

2007-11-08T09:45:00.000-08:00

This guy introduced me to this website, which is interested in philosophies pursuant to the act of excellent presentation. The site uses this video (also embedded below) of this guy captured at this event as an illustration of excellent presentation.

I agree that the presentation is excellent. I'm more interested in the content of the presentation on at least two levels. It's speaks directly to a conflict with which I wrestle as an artist with a desire to fairly and freely utilize the creative work of the culture around me to speak the Gospel in a compelling way. I think it also recommends some powerful guidelines for how a culture can empower creativity in the marginalized, whose voices might otherwise go unheard.

Podcast Helpdesk

2007-11-08T08:38:00.000-08:00

Here is a link to the switchpod page, the host of the PUMP Sermon Podcast.

Here is a link to the PUMP Sermon Podcast in iTunes.

Here is a link to the RSS feed for the PUMP Sermon Podcast for those who use an RSS Feed Reader.

So for those of you who may have had browser trouble with hearing the podcast, I hope this helps. If you are still having trouble, let me know and I'll do what I can.

Podcast: Matthew 15:29-39

2007-11-04T20:40:00.000-08:00

Right-click here to download.

Jesus returned to the Sea of Galilee and climbed a hill and sat down. A vast crowd brought to him people who were lame, blind, crippled, those who couldn’t speak, and many others. They laid them before Jesus, and he healed them all. The crowd was amazed! Those who hadn’t been able to speak were talking, the crippled were made well, the lame were walking, and the blind could see again! And they praised the God of Israel.
Then Jesus called his disciples and told them, “I feel sorry for these people. They have been here with me for three days, and they have nothing left to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry, or they will faint along the way.”
The disciples replied, “Where would we get enough food here in the wilderness for such a huge crowd?”
Jesus asked, “How much bread do you have?”
They replied, “Seven loaves, and a few small fish.”
So Jesus told all the people to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, thanked God for them, and broke them into pieces. He gave them to the disciples, who distributed the food to the crowd.
They all ate as much as they wanted. Afterward, the disciples picked up seven large baskets of leftover food. There were 4,000 men who were fed that day, in addition to all the women and children. Then Jesus sent the people home, and he got into a boat and crossed over to the region of Magadan.

Pumpkin Patch

2007-11-02T21:50:00.000-07:00

We went to the pumpkin patch and played. It was a lot of fun. This is why I finally decided it is ok to have a camera on your cell phone.

Matthew 17:1-13

2007-10-26T00:20:00.000-07:00

^{Six days later} Jesus took Peter and the two brothers, James and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone. ^As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance was transformed so that his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light. ^Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared and began talking with Jesus.

Peter exclaimed, “Lord, it’s wonderful for us to be here! _Ifyou want, _[then]I’ll make three shelters as memorials—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

But even ^ashe spoke, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to him.” The disciples were terrified and fell face down on the ground.

^Then Jesus came over and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” 8 And when they looked up, Moses and Elijah were gone, and they saw only Jesus.

^As they went back down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen ^until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

^Then his disciples asked him, “Why do the teachers of religious law insist that Elijah must return ^before the Messiah comes?”

Jesus replied, “Elijah is indeed coming ^first to get everything ready. But I tell you, Elijah ^{has already} come, but he wasn’t recognized, and they chose to abuse him. And in the same way they ^will also make the Son of Man suffer.” ^Then the disciples realized he was talking about John the Baptist.

Observations

Jesus

23x
Verbs: took, led, was transformed, shone, want, is, came, brings, touched, said, commanded, has been raised, comes, replied, tell, suffer, was talking
Imperatives: get up, don't be afraid, don't tell

The Disciples

21x
Verbs: watched, exclaimed, make, spoke, were terrified, fell, looked up, saw, went, have seen, asked, realized

Moses and Elijah

3x
Verbs: appeared, began talking, were

Voice

3x
Verbs: said
Imperatives: Listen

John the Baptist

6x
Verbs: must return, is indeed coming, has already come, wasn't recognized

Genre: narrative
Camping with the Peter, James, and John
Future tense language: until, will also make
Presence of Moses and Elijah
Miraculous manifestations
- Bright light
- OT figures
- Cloud
- Voice
Conjunctions: But 3x, and 15x,
Clarification question
If/then statement
Discussion of John the Baptist's role of Messianic preparation
"The mountain"?

Key Themes

Jesus takes 3 disciples to be alone
They are caught up in a miraculous experience
God affirms Jesus' authority
The disciples are told to keep this a secret
Jesus clarifies John the baptist's role as the Messiah's Elijah

Central Idea of the Text

God affirms Jesus' authority as His Son and wants Jesus' disciples to listen to Him.

Lord, Save Me!

2007-10-07T21:49:00.000-07:00

Today's sermon was from Matthew 14:22-53: the story of Peter walking out to Jesus on the water. Fine artist Michael Brummett created this amazing picture of Jesus during the service. I was hoping to post the first PUMP podcast today, but the batteries in the mic ran out during the sermon, and the mic stopped working. We'll try again next week.

Wicked Cute

2007-10-05T16:16:00.000-07:00

If you're missing your stage presence,

there's a good chance this girl probably stole it from you.

It looks like she's stolen a lot. At least she's putting it to good use.

E4: Online Learning

2007-10-01T19:10:00.000-07:00

I stumbled onto this resource (located at http://www.teleios.us/) while browsing Dallas Willard's website. It looks like a pretty sweet way to do some online learning. If you go to the online store, you will notice a vast price difference between the individual course prices. The most interesting to me was 19 hours of Dallas Willard lecturing (via video) on his book The Divine Conspiracy. This is the least expensive course available at $30.00. I'm in the third lecture right now; Willard is not the most charismatic teacher I've ever watched, but what he lacks in showmanship he more than makes up for in content. If you have read the book, I think it's worth the bucks to hear him expand on some of his concepts.

Old School Sai

2007-09-30T21:48:00.000-07:00

Here's some video shot before there was blogs: evidence that Sai has always had that musical laugh (and, of course, that big beautiful forehead.)

Vanagon of the Day | A Conclusion

2007-09-05T17:53:00.000-07:00

Insomuch as I have successfully taken a picture per day of a different vanagon for over a month now; further, in that these pictures are merely representative of the larger number of vanagons that I have seen on a daily basis in Portland, I hereby declare that Portland, Oregon is the Vanagon Capital of the World. Pursuant to my need to be a less dangerous driver, I will no longer attempt to post a picture of a vanagon everyday.

This concludes this test.

Vanagon of the Day

2007-08-31T09:50:00.000-07:00

Southbound on 102nd St.

Vanagon of the Day

2007-08-30T08:25:00.001-07:00

Parked on NE Mason St.

Vanagon of the Day | Honorable Mention

2007-08-29T10:30:00.000-07:00

Tim Lewis sent me this picture of a Vanagon he saw in Portland recently. Thanks, man, that's a sweet ride.

Vanagon of the Day | Appendix B

2007-08-29T09:46:00.000-07:00

Many days the pictured Vanagon of the Day is not the first Vanagon of the Day, but is in fact the second Vanagon of the Day. Usually it goes something like this:

Driving along
See a vanagon
Almost wreck trying to get my mobile/camera phone out of my pocket
Completely miss the photo opportunity
Look for the shortest route to catch up with said vanagon
Give up looking
Place mobile/camera phone on dash
Start looking for second Vanagon

Vanagon of the Day

2007-08-29T09:38:00.001-07:00

Parked on NE Mason St.

Vanagon of the Day

2007-08-28T09:43:00.001-07:00

Parked on NE 15th Av.

Vanagon of the Day

2007-08-27T12:39:00.000-07:00

Parked on NE 11th Av.

Vanagon of the Day

2007-08-26T20:49:00.001-07:00

Parked at Ikea.

Vanagon of the Day

2007-08-25T09:56:00.001-07:00

Parked on NE Graham st.

Vanagon of the Day

2007-08-24T12:32:00.001-07:00

Parked on NE 17th Ave.

Vanagon of the Day

2007-08-23T07:37:00.001-07:00

Parked on NE Glisan.

Vanagon of the Day

2007-08-22T08:57:00.001-07:00

Parked off of NE MLK.

100 Things

2007-08-22T00:00:00.000-07:00

Aaron Sorkin is my favorite television writer/creator.
According to the medical charts, I am dangerously overweight.
As a child I had a respectable collection of Smurfs and Stomper trucks.
As a matter of conviction, I choose to be mostly politically uninformed.
Biscoff are my favorite cookies.
Blogging is a really enjoyable hobby for me.
Calvin & Hobbes utilized and balanced all of the elements of the perfect comic strip for me.
Chewing gum is repulsive to me.
Coca-Cola is my favorite beverage.
Dallas Willard taught me that there is a notable difference between being a Christian and being a disciple of Jesus, and now I am trying to be both.
Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University 13-week course completely changed our financial life.
David Fleer is my favorite preacher.
Donald Duck has his own very cool theme song, and I didn't know until I was an adult. How did that happen?
Ever since we returned from our sabbatical in Africa, Kaelea and I have tried to live our life like we are missionaries.
The furthest I have ever lived away from the Pacific Northwest is Reno, Nevada.
Glider-rocking chairs make me nauseous.
Gloria Fox taught me to sing harmony as a very young child. She was an alto, and I sat next to her during church whenever I could because she was a very nice lady, and she always had candy in her purse.
Habitual flossing is a discipline that I have tried and failed to implement several times.
I am afraid that if I ever go skiing or snowboarding I might be tempted to spend a lot of my time and money doing it more, even if I wasn't very good at it.
I am left-handed.
I am not always right, but I am always confident.
I believe one of the Gospel's great enemies is network news.
I believe Denzel Washington should have won the Best Actor in a Leading Role Oscar for Malcolm X.
I come from a family of folk musicians and cowboy poets.
I deeply enjoy a sense of order.
I dream of arranging/producing two major recording projects: A hymns project played by a big band and sung by me, and a project of Disney songs arranged for an acappella jazz group.
I find profanity useful for describing the profane.
I have always had a weakness for Ruffles potato chips and Hidden Valley Ranch party dip.
I have decided to get a tattoo, but I have not told anyone where on my body, what it will be, or when I am getting it.
I have never been more than a casual fan of any professional sport.
I have swindled my daughters out of their right to choose their own husbands.
I have used the same alarm clock since I was nine.
I have worn glasses since I was 11.
I invented the Pringles, bacon, and Easy Cheese sandwich.
I just went from carrying a fat wallet with everything in it to carrying a very small wallet with just a few things in it.
I love to read.
I love to sing more than I love to talk, and I deeply love to talk.
I miss McDonald's fried cherry pies.
I own and drive my dream car.
I rarely mail in rebate paperwork.
I really try not to end sentences with prepositions.
I saw Stomp this year, and I was incurably enchanted.
I see a counselor to do personal growth work.
I think Dr. Seuss was one of the most powerful moralists of the 2oth Century and I'm not making a joke.
I think a quart jar is the best drinking glass.
I try not to own lots of stuff, so that I don't have to spend a lot of time maintaining my possessions.
I usually stay up most of the night before a big trip, and I don't know why.
I work at hands down THE coolest church in existence. Save your difference of opinion. Seriously, just save it.
I would like to get a banjo and learn to play it.
If I want to avoid using hair clippers, I need to shave my head every four days.
If you worshiped at PUMP for any length of time and you don't any more, please know that I miss you and I pray for you.
In high school, I was thrown out of a California All-State Choir audition for singing too high. I re-auditioned as an alto, and was the only male singer ever to be the section leader of a female section.
It took the digital age plus the inevitable law of averages to make me consider picking up a camera.
Kaelea and I were married on Groundhog Day on purpose.
Kaelea and the kids are the most tangible evidence to me of God's grace.
Languages, math, and music are disciplines that come fairly naturally to me.
Legos hold as much or more command over me now as they ever did.
The last time I was in Africa, I white-water rafted the Nile river.
Matthew Isaac is my given name.
Moderation is not a principle that is easy for me to practice.
Microsoft is slowly losing me to Google.
My bike was stolen earlier this year. I never rode it, but I've been thinking about buying a pedal moped to replace it.
My children beg me to draw tattoos on their bodies with permanent markers, and I indulge them almost every time.
My driving often makes people nervous.
My heart still aches sometimes from missing Cinder, my pet dog from childhood.
My personal library is cataloged according to the Dewey Decimal System, complete with spine labels, and available to browse on librarything.
My worst enemy is one more good opportunity.
Navy blue is my favorite color.
No one likes to repeat oneself. I take it more personally than many.
The only gun I am interested in owning is an authentic, decommissioned AK-47.
On September 11, 2001, I was in the Detroit airport with my father and my brother, trying to get home.
Only one person in our house sleeps on a bed at the normal height and it is not me.
Our family spends a lot of our Saturdays at my parent's house, eating grandpa's incredible cooking, playing with Uncle Karl, Aunt Kathy, and the cousins, and getting spoiled by grandma.
Papa Murphy's is my favorite pizza.
Portland rain really affects my mood, but I never notice until it stops.
Powell's bookstore is a temple to me.
The railroad rolls by a mile or two from our apartment and at night when they blow the horn it reminds me of my Grandma Cantrell's house.
Sexiness and excessive simplicity are not high priorities for me when it comes to using a computer.
Since they are making movies anyway, I have pretty much decided not to read books written by John Grisham, Michael Crichton, Joanne K. Rowling.
Singing in the car with my kids is why I am a dad.
Some people say I am a picky eater. I prefer to think of it as having simple taste in food.
Someday I would like to buy an old motel and turn it into an urban monastery.
Sometimes I get so busy being a good father that I forget to love my children.
Sometimes I wonder what Karen Carpenter's singing voice would have sounded like if she had lived to be 70 years old.
The songs of Sara Groves are a friend to me.
Stephen Covey has taught me a whole lot about loving my neighbor as myself.
Steve Martin is my favorite comedian.
Take 6 is my favorite musical group.
The television show American Idol has never held any attraction for me.
There is a 8' x 4' white board hanging on the wall beside my bed where I like to work stuff out.
There is a Kraft Foods factory about 2 miles from our apartment and sometimes in the summer the whole neighborhood smells like freshly-baked Vanilla Wafers. I love that.
Tie-your-own bow ties are my favorite kind of ties.
Toffee-covered peanuts are my favorite road-trip snack.
"Trinisonic" is a word I made up, which contains an allusion to the divine (trinity) and an allusion to music (sonic).
Weddings are my favorite sermons to preach.
When I die, aside from being remembered as a loving family man and loyal friend, I want to be remembered as a Gospel preacher.
When my life gets stressful, I start misplacing things.
When typing, I suffer from a compulsive propensity to gratuitously capitalize words.
While working at Christian Supply, I audio engineered live performances by Dove Award winners 4 Him, and Grammy Award Nominee Tracy Harris.
With the exceptions of Roxanne and possibly Shakespeare in Love, I hate movie plots that require the "hero" to tell successive lies.

Vanagon of the Day

2007-08-21T15:34:00.001-07:00

Parked on NE 19th Ave.

Vanagon of the Day | Appendix A

2007-08-20T20:16:00.000-07:00

This is not a Vanagon.
It is a vw bus, manufactured in two iterations (the T1, or split window, was made from 1950-1967 and the T2, or bay window, from 1968-1979.)

This is not a Vanagon.
The VW Eurovan, or T4, manufactured in the United states from 1993-2003, was the first of the Type 2's to sport an engine in the front end (how unelegant.)

This is a Vanagon!
The T3 was manufactured in the United States from 1980-1992. This beautiful brick-shaped masterpiece of german engineering came in both air-cooled (1980-1983) and water-cooled (1984-1992); in two-wheel and four-wheel (Syncro) drive; in passenger, weekender, and full camper editions, with many more options from which to choose!

Vanagon of the Day

2007-08-20T13:52:00.001-07:00

Parked on NE 23rd Ave.

Vanagon of the Day

2007-08-19T16:56:00.001-07:00

Parked on NE 23rd Ave.

Vanagon of the Day

2007-08-18T10:32:00.000-07:00

Parked on NE 26th.

Vanagon of the Day

2007-08-17T13:42:00.000-07:00

Parked on NE Broadway. Unique in that it has California plates.

Vanagon of the Day

2007-08-16T08:23:00.001-07:00

Parked off of NE Broadway.

Vanagon of the Day.

2007-08-15T08:24:00.001-07:00

Parked off of NE MLK.

Vanagon of the Day

2007-08-14T10:18:00.000-07:00

Eastbound on I-84.

Vanagon of the Day

2007-08-13T15:47:00.000-07:00

Parked off NE Oneonta.

2007.08.12 | Sermon Notes

2007-08-12T21:00:00.000-07:00

Read this first: Matthew 13.1-23.

Boy, they sure don't farm like they used to. In our time and place, it seems the preparation of the soil is considered as important as the planting, cultivating, and harvesting of the crop. Apparently, not so much in Jesus' Day. Back then, the farmer sowed seed, and the seed went everywhere.

These days there are roads to drive on, and fences around the crops to keep people out. In Jesus day (and in many places today), walking is the main mode of transportation. People naturally choose the shortest distance between where they are and where they want to go, even if that means they trample a few crops along the way. A popular foot path can become as smooth and hard as a modern day street. No crops are going to grow there. And there's this business with thorny ground and with rocky ground, and finally, with good soil. Hard, thorny, rocky versus good. Those aren't exactly great odds. Still, Jesus begins and ends his story with an invitation. "Listen!" He says, "If you have ears to hear, hear!"

The disciples listen, and they question. Why the stories, why make the learning so hard? Jesus sings Isaiah's song, it's a tough answer to swallow. God romanced Isaiah with His overwhelming glory, and the train of his robe which filled the temple, and the praise of the angels. He had cleaned Isaiah's mouth with fire, and now God needed a preacher. Oh, Isaiah was all too eager to accept the call of God, but God warns him that it will cost.

There will be no giga-church for you to pastor. There will be no multi-million dollar para-church ministry. You will paint compelling pictures of a loving God devastated by the chronic betrayal of a selfish people. Their eyes won't see your pictures. You will preach the words of God until your mouth is dry and your throat is hoarse and your stomach hurts. Their ears won't hear your sermons. For Isaiah, faithfulness was not found in the repentance of Israel. Faithfulness was found in the preaching despite the blindness and deafness of Israel.

"Blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it."

There's a difference. In Jesus' day, the soil is not all a foot path. It is not all rocky and thorny. The word of God also finds good soil and produces a harvest. There are ears to hear and eyes to see. In Isaiah's day, the people weren't the right people. At times, there had been right people, but they had not lived at the right time. Finally, at the right time and the right place, now there was the right people. The soil is fertile; pregnant with the promise of harvest.

If you have ears to hear, then hear! Pay attention to what Jesus says and to what he does not say.

Seed = Word of God
Foot Path = People who misunderstand the Word
Rocky Soil = People who receive it but fall away due to trouble or persecution.
Thorny Soil = People who receive it but fail to produce a harvest because of worry or greed.
Good Soil = People who hear and understand the Word and produce a sizable harvest.

Who is the Farmer? Is it God? Jesus? His disciples? Jesus doesn't say. What is the sizeable harvest? Is it more disciples? Is it the fruit of the Spirit? Jesus doesn't say which means whatever the harvest is, it is not the point of the story. The point of the story is this: not everyone who hears the word of God is ready to join God's kingdom but for those who are ready, the result is big, and it is good.

John tells us that Jesus is the Word of God, made flesh and dwelling among us. In the Eucharist, Jesus gives us his flesh to eat and his blood to drink, and as we receive him the Word of God is sown in us. What is the condition of our soil?

Word of God, find good soil in us; amen.

Vanagon of the Day

2007-08-12T18:19:00.001-07:00

Parked on NE Liberty.

Vanagon of the Day

2007-08-11T11:58:00.001-07:00

Parked on NE Holman.

Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis

2007-08-11T07:56:00.000-07:00

Rating: A Furry and Toothy III

The cubs and I continue our quest through the Chronicles of Narnia. I've chosen to read them in the order that the books were originally published rather than in "chronological" order starting with the Magician's nephew (which is how publishers are now printing the sets.) These books simply do not disappoint.

[Elementary parental tip: If you find that your children are umotivated and easily distracted when you read to them, I recommend reading to them just before bed, in this way.]

Dad: It's time to go to sleep. Please go put on your pajamas and get on your beds.

Children: Awwwww, Dad. We're not sleepy; it's too early, (and so on.)

Dad: Well, I suppose, if you like, we could stay up and read for awhile.

Children: Yippee! Our Dad is a rockstar!

Dad: Thank you, that's true.

Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers

2007-08-10T22:26:00.000-07:00

RATING: A Quixotic III

Kaelea asked me to read this book. I think she has read it a few times. If you search the term "book review" on my blog, you'll find that I don't read romance novels, Christian or otherwise. But the good wife doesn't hand me a lot of book recommendations, so I obliged.

What can I say? This book is an American West re-telling of wedding of Hosea and Gomer. It romanticizes their relationship with an almost Hollywood tone, which on one level completely loses the point of the book of Hosea. On the other hand, the romantic flavor communicates in some Old Testament sense, the desire with which God pursues His people Israel.

One note: Rivers uses the word "sardonic" often enough to notice.

Vanagon of the Day

2007-08-10T11:21:00.001-07:00

Parked on NE Durham.

I Met a Master

2007-08-09T17:40:00.000-07:00

In June, I was walking through the Washington Square Mall doing some birthday shopping for the man cub when I came across this sign. It turns out that the Lego store was hosting an exhibition of Sean Kenney who is one of four artists licensed by Lego as a Lego Master (the real world equivalent of a Jedi Master.)
At the time I first saw it, the mall was not completely open and their wasn't very many people around. By the time I had finished shopping the place was fairly well-populated and construction was afoot. It turned out that Sean Kenney was there to recreate one of his original installations, an eight-foot tall statue of Batman. Mr. Kenny had about a dozen tables set up with five or six tubs of legos on each table. In between the tubs were these simple instructions for building a single brick exactly 100 times the size of a standard 2x4 brick.
I slowed my pace as I walked by, watching the crew of multi-generational volunteers busily and happily churning out bricks. From my left I heard an unfamiliar voice say, "Aw, come on, Dad. Lend a hand." I turned to see who was address me, and he was none other than the Master, Sean Kenney, himself. That was an offer that I could not refuse, so I built the brick pictured here. (I know, it glows with the radiance of an experienced craftsman, doesn't it?) I kept my own production to one brick, as there were people waiting for me. However, given the once-in-a-lifetime nature of the opportunity, I did take a few moments to speak with Mr. Kenney. I was not able to stay to see the culmination of all of the work, but an image of it is available on Sean Kenney's website, which if you enjoy legos or art at all, is worth a few minutes of your time.

Vanagon of the Day

2007-08-09T16:31:00.001-07:00

Parked off of NE Grand.

Vanagon of the Day

2007-08-08T09:19:00.001-07:00

Pulling out of Starbucks.

Vanagon of the Day

2007-08-07T15:16:00.001-07:00

Parked just off of NE 15th.

Vanagon of the Day

2007-08-06T20:55:00.001-07:00

Parked northbound on NE 9th.

2007.08.05 | Sermon Notes

2007-08-05T17:00:00.000-07:00

As Jesus was speaking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. Someone told Jesus, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, and they want to speak to you.”
Jesus asked, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” Then he pointed to his disciples and said, “Look, these are my mother and brothers. Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!”

- Matthew 12.46-50

In our time and place, the church is very interested in the health of the family. In fact, there is a developed Christian perspective in every social science discipline regarding marriage and family, and many churches are active in political affairs that involve the family dynamic. Evangelical Christians have gone so far as to invest millions of dollars into Christian leader James Dobson's organization which seeks in the name of Jesus and (my opinion) with the best of intentions to "Focus on the Family."

Of course! And why should we not? The family is the fundamental expression of God's vision for healthy human community. It is the main conduit by which the principles of God are faithfully passed from one generation to the next. It is, as far as Christians are concerned, a sacred institution.

This is fascinating when you consider what we know about Jesus' family, and when you read what Jesus said about family.

Some of we know and some of what we guess about Jesus' family:

Jesus was conceived before Joseph and Mary were married which probably cast their family in a less that reputable light. (Matt 1.18)
Jesus' earthly father Joseph may have died before Jesus reached adulthood. (Gospels make mention of Mary, but not Joseph during their account of Jesus' adult life.)
Jesus had four brothers: James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. (Matt 13.55)
Jesus had some sisters. (Matt 13.56)
During the time of Jesus' ministry, His brothers did not believe he was the Messiah (John 7.5)

Some of Jesus' talking points regarding the family:

Another of his disciples said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my
father.”
But Jesus told him, “Follow me now. Let the spiritually dead bury
their own dead.” (Mt 8.21-22)
"A brother will betray his brother to death, a father will betray his own child, and children will rebel against their parents and cause them to be killed. And all nations will hate you because you are my followers." (Mt 10.21-22)
"‘I have come to set a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
Your enemies will be right in your own household!’" (Mt 10.35-36)
“If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine." (Mt 10.37)
...they were deeply offended and refused to believe in him.
Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his own family.” (Mt 13.57)

Consider the following possibilities:

If Joseph has in fact passed away then as the first-born son, Jesus would have inherited responsibility for the welfare of the family.
Jesus was not working a trade and providing for his family, he is wandering Israel preaching, and living on the generosity of others. (Luke 8.3)
Jesus' questionable religious conduct, outlandish and even scandalous teaching, and public conflict and humiliation of other religious leaders would surely have some negative impact on the family reputation and business.

Can you imagine what kind of scene precipated Mary and Jesus' brothers leaving their house in order to go find and "collect" Jesus?

(the following story is pure fiction.)

Mary, the mother of Jesus is finishing meal preparations with the help of her youngest daughter, Hannah. The color of the sky is beginning to deepen in the window across the room. Her sons will leave the village soon and wind their way home. Most of her sons anyway. She listens and counts the thuds from the next room as Hannah places each bowl onto the low table. three...four...five...six...just six. She braces herself for what has become a daily confrontation.
As her daughter enters the room, Mary instructs without looking up from her work, "Seven places, dear."
"Why? He's not coming, he never comes."
"Seven places, Hannah."
"But why?"
Mary clears her throat. "Please set seven places."
The young girl rolls her eyes, but her body turns in forced compliance and she shuffles out of the room. Mary hears Hannah carelessly drop one more bowl on the table. That went easier than expected.

Time passes; preparation ends and the women wait. Finally the men arrive home. Everyone washes and prepares themselves for dinner. The blessing is said. the food is passed. No one talks. Simon accidentally knocks his bowl off the table. He is about to get up to get another when Hannah grabs the empty bowl and shoves it toward him.

"Just use this one. No one else is going to."
"Hannah!"
"Well, I'm sorry, Mother," Hannah rises to her feet, ready to leave the room, "but He didn't come...just like I said. He never comes and He probably never will!"

The discussion that follows is the tense kind of quiet. Everyone speaks slowly because the words are difficult to say. Jesus is embarrassing the family by offending the local rabbis. The family business is losing customers. He should be providing for the family, instead he is making provision even harder. Many people say that Jesus' teachings are becoming more radical; that he is insane or even possibly demon-possessed.

Something must be done.

"Mom, we've talked to him. He will not listen to us. But...maybe if you come with us. Maybe you can talk some sense into him."

The men of the family escort their mother to the teaching place. They ask someone to please go inside and send Jesus out.

Then they wait...

...and wait...

...and wait.

Jesus never comes. He leaves them standing in the dark. Jesus uses his own, waiting family as a sermon illustration. "I don't know who those people outside are. My family are these people, who do the will of my Father."

Wow, can you imagine what Thanksgiving would have been like that year? Those don't really sound like our brand of "family values." They are not and there is a reason. In our time and place, believing in Jesus is about as dangerous as believing in the Easter Bunny, it doesn't cost you much. But in His day? Confessing Jesus as Messiah, could cost you everything.

In fact, John 9, tells us that the religious leaders had decided that anyone who confessed belief in Jesus could be thrown out of the synagogue. No big deal in our time and place. There are plenty of churches you can go to if you can't go to your old one anymore. In Jesus day, life was the "small town." There was only one church and if you get thrown out; you're not just thrown out of church, you're thrown out of life. You lose your business, you lose your family, you might lose your property...you could lose it all.

Don't believe me? In John 9, when the religious leaders question a blind man's parents about their son's miraculous healing, they are so afraid of the religious leaders, that they turn the question on their own son, so as not to be outcast. Those were the consequences that people were signing up for when they signed up for Jesus, and they felt the pain of losing it all. It was that bad.

And they signed up anyway. They sacrificed the dignity, and the money, and the property, and the relationships, and their world of security; they sacrificed it all on the altar of the Kingdom of God, and they did it because they wanted to be with the King.

It was for those forgotten, abandon, rejected people that Jesus offered these words:

"You belong to me. You are my people now. I don't care who you are, there is always a plate waiting for you at my table. You are family."

And Jesus is a first-born son who provides for His family. He gives us Himself: His own body and blood, as a sign of our covenant, our fellowship, our providence, and our care. Our plate is full of exactly what we need; Him.

Lord, thank you for inviting us to Your table; You have blessed us. May we be a blessing as we walk in Your world, today.

Vanagon of the Day

2007-08-05T14:52:00.001-07:00

Westbound on NE Dekum.

Vanagon of the Day

2007-08-04T02:17:00.001-07:00

Parked westbound on NE Broadway.

Vanagon of the Day

2007-08-03T17:44:00.001-07:00

Parked northbound on NE 7th Ave.

A Pilot Project

2007-08-03T16:53:00.000-07:00

Over the past 2 months I have been strategically amassing the rest of the hardware and software necessary for enterPraise to make a quality recording. This week I purchased a Kontakt 2 and Antares Autotune which is the end. The battle station is now fully operational.

Earlier today, all of the girls were taking a nap. Sai was singing and I was working on some other music. I opened a new file and started to write down what he was singing. He came over and kind of got into it and so we put together a little arrangement and pulled out the gear to lay some vocal tracks on it. Not too shabby for 30 minutes worth of fooling around.

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Click
here for standalone player

Vanagon of the Day

2007-08-02T15:11:00.001-07:00

Southbound on MLK.

Vanagon of the Day

2007-08-01T17:27:00.000-07:00

Headed North on MLK Jr. Blvd.

So you may be wondering to yourself, "Self, what is this whole 'Vanagon of the Day' shenanigan about anyway?" OK, OK, I'll indulge you. You may not know that Portland is in fact the Vanagon capital of the World. You may not know this because you are ignorant on matters of such a nature; you may not know this because you don't look out for them like I do, or you may not know this because I just made it up. In any case, it is true and I'm going to prove it. Ask you how? Vanagon of the Day; here's the rules:

I will post a picture of a different vanagon everyday, until a day comes that I don't see a different vanagon.
A picture has to be taken every consecutive day, but I do not have to post them daily (though I will do my best.)
I may only use one picture from each day, even though I usually see between 3 and 5 different vanagons each day.
If I am out of said city for more than 8 daylight hours on any given day, I am not responsible to post a picture for that day.
The date and time displayed on these posts will reflect the time the picture was taken and not the time the post was published.

It's on.