SEEING THE EXTRAORDINARY

Category: Hope

  • The Dawning of Hope – Advent 1

    Today we transition…we move from ordinary time, when we spent time learning more about Jesus, how God calls us his beloved, and how we are to follow.  We move from this ordinary time into the special time of Advent.  This is a time of waiting expectedly.   There is an anticipation in the air.  We are reintroduced to the stories of a Messiah.  The songs begin to change, the season changes, there are lights and trees and everything around us begins to look a bit different, at least for a few moments. 

    As a child, I couldn’t wait for this time because the Advent calendar came out.  Door by door, new things would appear until we reached the pinnacle of Christmas.  There was apprehension and excitement.  We tend to lose that as we grow older.  We see sparks of it in our children and grandchildren.  We see glimpses in the lives of others.  But we can lose the excitement.  We have responsibilities and bills, we have things to decorate or bake, we have people to care for and things in life which just don’t go well.  We tend to lose the spark because, well…life.

    But Advent is a reminder that spark is still there, waiting to be ignited.  We are reminded the joy bubbles underneath the surface, not because of the things which bubbled up as kids, and not because of anything which happens during this season in particular.  The joy, the spark is brought on because of what we light a candle for today.  The spark is brought on by HOPE.

    You see, we wait expectedly today for a restoration of hope, even when our world is crumbling.  We wait for a reinvigoration of hope, even when we feel more stuck in ordinary time.  We wait for a jolt of hope which ignites something deep within us waiting to be awoken.  And when we get to this place, we may have a glimpse into the lives of those on that first Advent.

    The people were itching for something more.  They had tried to follow the rules.  They had tried to live by the commandments.  They had searched for hope.  They had tried to buy, bribe, and take it.  But here’s the deal.  The hope they were searching would not come as they expected.  And even though we know the story, this hope doesn’t come as we expect either.  

    This brings us to our first Scripture reading – Matthew 1:18-25.  

    This begins the birth of HOPE.  This is the story of the birth of the Messiah, which means it is the beginning of so much more.  This is what they were waiting for.  This is what we are waiting for.  This is what we all wait for.  This is the spark.  This is the glimpse.  This is the truth we couldn’t wait to hear, experience, and live.

    But it doesn’t happen as we would have guessed.  A woman is pregnant, it isn’t her future husband’s baby.  He is trying to help her keep her dignity, the baby, and maybe her life.  He is probably trying to help himself in the process too.  She goes away, problem goes away, life goes on.  But this isn’t a problem, this is a solution.  

    The solution…Joseph is to married an unwed mother.  He is to raise this baby as his own.  This baby has a purpose which is too big for any of them to understand…and if we are honest, we know the story and it is too big for any of us to understand as well.  Joseph does as he is asked to do. 

    And here is how hope is introduced…here is how hope is brought to you and me as well…here is the evidence of hope…this is HOPE – Emmanuel.  Did you catch what it means?  Emmanuel means God with us.  

    We transition from ordinary time to Advent with a spark of hope, not because of anything we have done or can do.  It wasn’t because of anything Joseph could do except be obedient.  It wasn’t because of anything the people did, except make a place.  It wasn’t because of anything even Mary did, except be willing.  And it isn’t anything we do except to open our arms…a baby is coming and he is Christ the Lord.

    Here’s my fear, though.  My fear is that I become so caught up in ordinary time that I miss the extraordinary hope.  My fear is that I become the opposite of Joseph, unwilling to make a change, unwilling to move or so caught in the ordinary parts of my day that I simply skip it.  My fear is the world has so clouded my vision that the spark doesn’t ignite for me.  

    Hope is right there in front of us but we can easily miss it.  Think of all the people who were craving this hope and it was right there in front of them, just packaged a bit differently than they wanted.  Think of all the people who were so stuck in the way they wanted to do religion that they wouldn’t have given a second look at an unwed mother, much less consider she was carrying the ultimate hope.  Think of all the people who had their own ideas of how God would work and completely allowed Jesus to grow up unrecognized and unacknowledged.  

    Hope was right there in front of them.  And so many missed him.  Hope is right here in front of us…Emmanuel, God with us.  And yet, so many of us miss him.  It’s easier to go about our lives just as we are.  But if we are going to seriously welcome in Advent, if we want to see and experience hope, if we want to be changed from ordinary into something new…we have to be willing to wait expectedly.  

    God is with us…what more hope could we possibly need?

  • Woke Up with a Song

    I woke up this morning with a hymn on my mind.  Music often speaks to my soul and guides my day.  Sometimes the music I hear when I awake is something I had been listening to the day before.  Sometimes it is from a past church service and resonates with me.  And there are the times when the song which plays is seemingly random and just appears in my mind.  The latter was the case today.  

    It is an old hymn which I can’t remember the last time I actually sung it, though I know it really well.  And I don’t know that the song has been especially important to my life in the way many of the hymns have.  Some hymns stick with me and helped to shape and form my spiritual journey.  Some I wonder how they got in the hymnbook and have found them less than helpful.  But this one doesn’t fit in either category.  

    The hymn has a feeling of majesty and presence.  It has grandeur and feels as though it carries importance.  The hymn is “O God, Our Help in Ages Past” written by Isaac Watts.  I think it needs the boldness of the song to carry lyrics which remind us of God’s help, security, and defense.

    It is a reminder of the God who formed the earth is strong enough to conquer the things which overwhelm me.  The God who has been a safe haven for the saints who have gone before is the same God who can provide a shelter for me when I am afraid.  Time moves on so very fast for all of us, but God is not bound by time.  He is the help we need no matter what we may face.  And, this is the reminder of where our help comes from.

    Psalm 121 is a powerful scripture echoing this same message.  Where does our help come from?  Our help comes from the Lord, who made the heavens and the earth.  He is our keeper, our stronghold.  He is our HELP.

    O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come – May YOU calm our fears, renew our weary spirits, provide hope for our futures, and guide our steps.

  • God is Good?

    It’s a phrase we often hear, use and repeat.  My Dad would often begin worship with the phrase, and the congregation replying, “All the time,” to which he would say, “All the time,” with the congregation replying “God is good.”  It’s catchy.  It wakes people up.  It brings some sort of agreement.  Except, what do we do with the times when we suffer or we struggle?  What about the times when all seems overwhelming and God seems more distant than ever?  What do we do when we cannot see the goodness of God in the land of the living?

    For me, I often struggle with the phrase because the term “good” is attached to worldly attachments.  God is “good” when we can pay the bills or money comes in unexpectedly.  God is “good” when something works that didn’t work before.  God is “good” when I feel content and happy and everything is going my way (or at least my perception of my way).  God is “good” when I get what I want.  But that is a skewed perspective of good.

    I have been considering the scripture in Lamentations 3 which reads, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”  This speaks to me of God’s goodness.  This is a scripture where I can bow my head and dig my heels in to God being good.  Why?  Because God’s goodness is not dependent on my outcomes, my wealth (or lack thereof), my health, my attitude, or my sense of fulfillment.  Instead, God is good because of his steadfast love.  He is good because of mercies from him which do not end.  God is good because his faithfulness is great.  THIS is why God is good.  

    I’ll be honest, I still struggle with the phrase and you likely won’t hear me say it on a regular basis.  I won’t quickly attribute success to God’s goodness.  I will strive not to blame my lack of control on his lack of goodness.  Instead, there is a far greater chance you will find me, like the writer of Lamentations, with my soul bowed down and simply searching for hope where there seems to be none.  

    Is God good?  My hope is in his steadfast love, his endless mercies and his great faithfulness.  So I suppose the answer is a resounding yes, regardless of where I may be this day.  

  • I Opened the Window Today

    I opened the windows today.  It doesn’t sound like such a big deal.  It really doesn’t take that much effort.  But the winter seems to have drug on longer than usual.  The darkness and the cold have blanketed so much of our lives recently.  It is hard to keep going when life feels so heavy.  And it has felt overwhelmingly heavy. There is hope, still.  There really is hope, even when it feels buried and destroyed.  Even when it can’t be felt, it is there.  It might be faint but it doesn’t completely get drown out by the news or the events or circumstances.  It cannot be completely crushed, though I’m sure it has been blown into a million pieces at times.  

    So today, I opened the windows.  It was finally warm enough to do so.  The birds are singing just as they have been taught.  They are proclaiming the goodness of creation regardless of the circumstances.  And so should we.  Except that’s hard sometimes.  I open the windows because being shut up too long begins to feel drab and harmful.  It begins to eat away at me, one nibble at a time.  It becomes a stale and defeating feeling.  But with the windows open, fresh air begins to creep in and hope seems a little more vivid than before.  

    It may not last long and that’s okay.  It may only be for a moment, and that may be all that is needed.  Hope only needs to show up in a glimpse to reignite the spark – it keeps the flames of life going.  Life is hard.  Days can feel begrudgingly brutal.  All can feel dark.  So, maybe we just open the windows a little.  Just crack them a bit.  Maybe a little hope might seep in and console our hearts.  Maybe our spirits get renewed.  Maybe, just maybe, we begin to live again.  

  • There is HOPE in the Air

    Her days had been long, searching for the promise.  She had all but given up hope this would actually happen.  She kept pressing forward in life, never giving up on God.  He must have a different plan, she must have thought.  He may have had other ideas.  She couldn’t quite understand it or put it all together.  But there was something to all of this.  And she remained faithful.  That’s who she was, that’s what she did.  She was a woman of faith – always had been, always would be.  She had the lineage of faith as well.  Her name meant something.  People knew who she was.  She was highly regarded and respected among many.  She had married well and she loved God with her all.  Yet there was still something missing.

    She was getting older.  As each year ticked by, she let the spark of a new day fade.  It was okay.  She was embarrassed.  She couldn’t believe it.  But it was okay.  She would be okay.  They would be okay.  They didn’t have children but they had each other and they had God – and that had to be enough.  They loved each other.  

    We can miss her in the whole story.  She can get lost in the background of it all.  Yet she is the one.  She is the promised one.  She is the one to watch.  Her name is Elizabeth.  Elizabeth is a descendant of Aaron.  She is from the priestly line – from the original first priest.  This was her heritage.  Faithful service was how she was taught and how it all came together.  For her to marry a priest only seemed fitting – the way it should be.  Yet, in their faithful service, they still had no children.  Their dedication had not given them the one thing they wanted more than all the rest.  

    That changed, though.  There was a change in the air.  Something big was about to happen.  Anticipation filled the room where the priest, Zechariah, served.  Anticipation filled their home as a promise would somehow be fulfilled.  Her time was not done.  Her life was not complete, not yet.  God still had something for her.  Elizabeth was needed.  She was an important, vital part of God’s ultimate, greater plan.  She would become a mother.  She would be a mother to someone that would surely change the whole landscape of faith.  He would be called and sent by God.  He had a mission.  Elizabeth felt it.  Her life was changing moment by moment as this new baby grew inside of her.  Her womb was filled with anticipation and grace.  There was more to come.  Hope was still to be discovered.

    Gabriel brought the news.  Elizabeth stayed put.  She waited for direction.  She looked for the next step.  She searched for what God has planned.  If he could do this – this whole baby thing – he surely had something incredible ahead.  She was to wait.  She was to hope again.  She was to anticipate the goodness of all that was ahead.  God had given her an amazing gift.  One of the most amazing gifts came in a visit.  This visit brought things into perspective.  She was a woman of faith.  She got that God was at work.  She understood that things were much more connected than she could see.  And so this visit was confirmation – times were changing and her baby had something to do with this.  Let’s look at just a small part of her story.

    Luke 1:39-45

    39 In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, 40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42 and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44 For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”

    Mary was at the door – her young cousin, Mary.  Mary was so young and Elizabeth so not.  Yet, these two women had a connection that would last a lifetime – and beyond.  She had an experience that changed everything.  Mary walks in the door, Elizabeth can’t calm the excitement of the baby she is carrying in the womb.  And Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit.  It is Elizabeth that brings the proclamation.  It is Elizabeth that understands there is something monumental about this visit – about this baby – about her cousin.  There is something so much bigger than any of them could have ever imagined.  She is privileged to not only carry a child, but to experience the woman that would carry the Lord.  It was more than any of them could explain.  They became a comfort, a peace, and a strength for one another.  They were at different life stages but going through similar struggles.  Mary, a soon to be young mother who was unmarried and inexperienced.  Elizabeth had wisdom, courage and strength on her side – but didn’t actually have any children of her own.  Both pregnant – both finding their way through unknown territory.  Both lean on each other – strengths and weaknesses combine.  Hope is finally being renewed.  God was up to something big.  And their two sons would be the forces behind it all.  This is something huge!

    In case you had not picked up on it, Advent begins today.  The multi week wandering that brings us to the manger and the fulfillment of a promise.  Promises fulfilled is what it is all about.  Anticipation of the great things to come fill the air.  Excitement becomes paramount as new life is apparent.  We see Elizabeth today – for her hope and excitement of all that is ahead.  We see her for her motherly wisdom and her Godly faith.  We see her for all that she is – a child of God, used in a mighty way, to bring life to a promise to come.  What an exciting and scary time – all rolled into one.  

    As we approach this Advent, we are dealing with extraordinary times.  Things are out of place.  We are not as we ever have been.  Caution fills the air.  Uneasiness is the sign of the times.  We can be easily concerned about all the future holds.  Times are not all that much unlike the times of Elizabeth.  There is danger ahead.  There is more to take in than she could possibly understand.  What she can do is hope.  She can hope that God is in this.  She can hope that God hasn’t forgotten his promises.  She can live in a hope of new life.  Her hope is not based on her circumstances.  Her hope is not based on the powers that be in her world.  Her hope is not in those she loves that surround her.  Her hope has to be based in God.  Her hope has to be focused on God who calls her his beloved.  Her hope can only be in God – all else will let her down.  There is too much at stake.  She can only hope in him. 

    Where is our hope?  What hope do we have?   What promises are still being fulfilled all around us?  God has not stopped working, even when we miss it all.  God is still creating.  God is the only place for our hope.  He is the only One who fulfills the real hope.  May we find hope in HIM today.  

  • Gratitude Lived

    They were grouped together like they had no meaning.  They were categorized and set aside – to be avoided at all costs.  From the beginning, they were labeled.  The things they were called, among many, were diseased, disgusting, deformed, unclean, destroyed, forgotten.  They had something that separated them physically from everyone else – and the community never failed to remind them of that.  They were the unseen, the excluded.  Keep them at a distance and all is better for it.  That was the norm until Jesus.  He saw differently.  He saw humanity, God’s beloved, the created and adored.  He saw so much more.  He had not lumped them together into some group to avoid.  He reached out – literally – where no one dared to reach.  He loved where no one dared to love.  He restored where all had been taken away.  

    Jesus probably shouldn’t have been in this part of town.  No one who was holy would have dared such a thing.  He risked being exposed.  If he was exposed to the things which would make him unclean, how could he function in his role of priest and prophet?  He couldn’t even enter the temple.  That was where he belonged, in the church, not out in the streets among these people.  And yet, in his predictable unpredictability he wanders to places he should not have been.  It’s like he doesn’t know the rules of the religious – or maybe just doesn’t care.  

    In this part of town, he risks being too close to those people – you know, the people who were nasty and gross.  They weren’t the same.  They were invaluable, separated because of being unworthy to live with everyone else.  And that’s what happened – see, if Jesus had stayed where he should, he wouldn’t have risked being in any proximity to them.  And here they were, hollering to the top of their lungs for mercy.  Have mercy, that had to be embarrassing.  It was a shame that someone as holy as Jesus would have to be exposed to such low life.  And yet Jesus doesn’t see it this way at all.  He doesn’t see their diseases.  He doesn’t smell their poverty.  He hears their cries.  These are his people – even though at least one of them is from a different group.  You heard that right – one of the people hollering is not like the others.  He not only has been excluded by the fear of others, he has been thrown into a group which he would not belong on any normal basis.  I guess they figured that when you are excluded and unworthy – you might as well throw them all in the same barrel together.  But again, they were Jesus’ people.  So Jesus sees them – and he does something about it.  

    Luke 17:11-19

    11 On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, 13 they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” 14 When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. 16 He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? 18 Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”

    Healing can bring on many different reactions.  It can evoke deep cleansing tears of a life that has been restored.  It can open many doors of joy and elation about what can be one more time.  Healing can make us want to jump right back into the life that had been snatched away like a thief in the night.  It can make us want to get on with life so quickly so we forget where we once were. 

    Up until this point, this group had been ripped away from their families and thrown into exclusion.  They had lost all they once held so dear.  They had not touched or hugged their loved ones in so very long.  The idea of embracing anyone else had been so far from their minds that this would be a welcome reunion for the ages.  Why would anyone delay such a reunion?  Why would you want to put off what they thought would never happen?  Life has been restored.  Life that had been ripped away had been handed back in an act of love that no one could have imagined.  Why wouldn’t we all run to our loved ones in such joy that all else faded behind?  It seems perfectly reasonable to me.

    But there was one who thought differently.  That mercy he has so shouted for, longed for, begged for, and dreamed about had come true.  That mercy he had all but given up on had been given.  It had been given in such a big dose that he did what came natural to him.  He ran back as fast as he could.  His feet had been restored so he ran.  He was out of breath, panting as he fell on his face just to say thank you.  It was more than words.  It was an expression of everything he had long held inside.  It was a genuine gratitude for a transformation no one could have seen coming.  He could not run to his family before he ran to the Mercy Giver.  His life could not begin until he had turned back to give thanks for a life that would never be again.  To say this was life changing would have been the ultimate understatement.  Mercy had restored a hope, a future, and a joy that no one could quite explain.  So he ran back to the Giver of Mercy before moving forward with his new life.  Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

    Jesus asks an interesting question – not of the man – but of the whole situation.  He is not asking this man what happened to the rest.  Jesus just kind of throws it out there.  He states the obvious.  He mentions what others may have sensed.  All of them had been healed but one returns.  And the one who returns isn’t even the expected one.  The one who really shows the most gratefulness for his restoration is the one who was not a Jew.  He was already the excluded, even in his regular life.  He was already held separate by the Jews – at arms length – avoided.  He was already among the undesirable.  He had just sunk to the lowest of lows.  And here he is, returning.  Maybe his restoration was even more beautiful because a Jewish leader had seen him, recognized his value, and provided mercy.  Maybe he was so overwhelmed with thankfulness that gratitude seemed the only answer.  The others didn’t return – they went on with their new life – their healed life.  They went forward.  This man did too, but not without first giving thanks.  And a bonus – he was healed from the inside out.  His restoration was more than could meet the eye.  Sure his skin was restored, but so was his heart, his hope, and his joy.  He had been given more than he ever lost.  Jesus saw a beloved.  And Jesus provided mercy.

    Our lives may look quite different if our gratitude brought us to the feet of the Giver of Mercy.  We may find ourselves not being able to move forward without first bowing to the One who chose to restore.  Gratitude may come as a natural response to opportunity for a life we didn’t even know was possible.  Gratitude is more than the simple exclamation of thank you.  It is a life lived knowing that the change was due to the great Giver of Mercy.  May we live in gratitude.

  • The mat

    His name is Chris.  He captured my attention yesterday – as he did of thousands of others.  Yesterday, Chris completed an Ironman 140.6 in Florida.  For those of you who may not know what this is, it is a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, followed by a 26.2 mile run.  One right after the other, in one day, timed.  As amazing of a feat as it is, people complete an Ironman on a regular basis – thousands do this or have done this.  This was Chris’ first.  And he did it.  We had someone from Goldsboro who completed it yesterday named Josh.  It is something you train for and work for and still there is a possibility of not completing it.  Yet, Josh did it.  And Chris did it.  Prior to yesterday, I had not heard of Chris.  But I know of him now.  It isn’t because Chris was the first through the finish line.  He didn’t break any time records.  He was a male who completed Ironman Florida.  Yet, he was also the first person with Down Syndrome to ever complete an Ironman.  That’s right, Chris has Down Syndrome.  And Chris completed a nearly impossible feat.  Chris is an Ironman.

    At some point, he had a goal.  He had people who believed in him.  He had a coach that was willing to train him and guide him through the entire course.  But Chris had to complete the whole thing under his own power.  Someone saw something in Chris beyond being a young man with Down Syndrome.  Someone saw an athlete.  And now, we all see an incredible athlete.  

    A couple of weeks ago, a song was stuck in my head.  That’s not all that unusual, I think in songs.  At work, we communicate in songs.  But this particular song continued to play over and over again.  I looked it up on YouTube so I can hear others sing it.  I thought it was stuck in my head because of Robin’s baptism.  But turns out, it was stuck in there much longer.  And there is a powerful message.  It is a Negro Spiritual from the late 1800s and early 1900s.  While it is believed to be a song to help slaves navigate as they escaped, it also alludes to two different scriptures – one of Moses and the other, we will look at today.  This song brings me here.

    John 5:1-9

    5 After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

    2 Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. 3 In these lay many invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. 5 One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” 7 The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Stand up, take your mat and walk.” 9 At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk.

    The song goes – Wade in the water – wade in the water children – God’s gonna trouble the waters.  Here is a man at the edge of the water, but not wading.  And Jesus asks an interesting question. Can you imagine the thought of the man who has been approached by Jesus?  First, can you imagine Jesus even making his way through a group of sick folks.  He could look from a distance and think about those poor, pitiful people.  He could pass them by and avoid being unclean – it was the Sabbath after all.  He could have ignored they were there – religious people had been doing this for years.  But he didn’t.  He went there, on purpose.  He had something to do.  He had to see people.  

    And there was a man who John records has been sick 38 years.  That’s a long time to sit by the water.  He has been there so often, he has a place, his own space.  This is his home – but he is only steps from the promise. He can’t move forward because he has been stuck in hopelessness.  He doesn’t see a possibility to move from where he is.  He has reached his destination – and it is devastating.  The legend of the water is that when the angel stirs the water, the first in becomes healed.  He just wants his shot at it.  Yet, every time the opportunity comes, he is passed by.  You can imagine after 38 years, one just feels like it will never happen.  He is there to stay – to watch others reach the water first – to watch others find healing while he sits and waits, never to be healed.  

    Yet, Jesus asks him what seems to be a question with a glaringly obvious answer – do you want to be made well?  Think about it – Jesus asks a man that has been sick for 38 years if he wants to be made well.  While it seems this is a ridiculous question, Jesus doesn’t just ask things for no reason.  He isn’t trying to ridicule him.  He isn’t trying to insult him.  He needs this man to consider – do you really want to be made well?  Do you really want to move past this?  Because when you are living in the land of hopelessness, you may not even know what it means to be made well anymore.  Because your mat becomes your comfort and being well becomes the impossible.  It has long been put out of his mind as a possibility.  It likely hasn’t even been a part of his thoughts for so many years now.  

    Hopelessness, defeat and dismay can easily become the norm.  When I looked at this guy in the past, I wanted to tell him to move closer to the water.  I wanted to tell him how to reach the water first.  I wanted to teach him how to move his mat so he could be the most agile even despite his illness.  I wanted to see him reach the water and couldn’t, for the life of me, understand how he could just sit there while others received the healing.  That is, until I experienced what hopelessness feels like.  It is emptying.  It is defeating.  And it runs so deep that all desire to move forward has been drained out of you.  And then I got it.  He couldn’t get to the water, not because he didn’t want to, but because he didn’t know how.

    When you have sat on the mat for so long, people see you as belonging on the mat.  This man had sat on the mat for so very long that he became ‘the sick man’.  His life was lived as the sick man.  His identity was the man who was sick.  He lived so close to healing but would never make it because he would always be the sick man.  Why would anyone help him because being sick was who he was?  Why would anyone offer hope – he had lost it – so why wouldn’t everyone else believe he was hopeless too?  Yet, Jesus didn’t define him by his illness.  His mat was not his home.  This was not his final destination.  There was life off the mat – even if the man couldn’t see it and the people around him couldn’t see it – God could and God did.  

    Jesus looked at the man and saw him.  He was not the sick.  Those people gathered around that water were not the blind, lame, helpless forgotten people.  To Jesus, they were the beloved.  They were children of God.  So he asks him – do you want your hope restored because I see so much more in you than you see in yourself?  Do you want to see what life is really like off the mat?  Do you want to break the barriers placed by the people around you?   Do you want to see what it is like to not be defined by the mat and this illness?  If that’s a yes, pick it up and let’s go.  And he did.

    If you know the story, you know this is not the end.  The man is questioned and Jesus gets into a lot of trouble for this.  He gets in trouble because he healed on the Sabbath.  The man gets in trouble because he picked up his mat – against the law because it is defined as work on the Sabbath.  They get in trouble because they saw beyond the rules of the day.  The religious people were furious that a man who had been sick for 38 years was healed on the wrong day.  I wonder how many of the rules we have made up in the name of religion Jesus would break today?  And we would be mad about him making people well.  Don’t be upset at those religious leaders because that defines way too much of the church today.  Follow the rules, forget the people.

    But ultimately, the man got up because the mat was not his home.  Even though people had placed him there and told him to stay…you are the sick man and this is where you belong…Jesus saw more.  The story about Chris that I started with in the beginning – I don’t know Chris, I have just followed his journey.  But I can only imagine the people who told him he couldn’t do it.  I can only imagine those who would have said that it was too much for him to attempt.  I can hear people tell his family about how he could hurt himself or this would put too much strain on him and they weren’t caring for him.  I don’t know his whole story  – but I hear this kind of thing all the time in different circumstances.  We want people to be who we want them to be – even if it means they stay on the mat.So if you find yourself hopeless on the mat today, I encourage you to look up, Jesus stands before you to show you a new way.  If you know of someone on the mat that has lost all hope, love them, see them and encourage them.  You can’t pick them up but you also shouldn’t be the one holding them down.  Wherever you may find yourself this morning – the mat is not your home.  God has so much more planned – and it might just take breaking the rules in love.  Take up your mat and walk, God has beautiful things planned for his people who follow him.  Rise up, there is still good to be done. 

  • CHRISTIANS, Put Down Your Stones AGAIN

    Here we are again…the day after an election with a narrow gap between two candidates for President.  It is a place we are all too familiar.  This is not new for us.  It is definitely a sign of where we are as a people – split right down the middle.  Divisiveness never seems to turn out well.  If we could be divided on a candidate but still come together as a united people, this would be fine.  But if we are honest, this isn’t happening.  It didn’t happen last time and it is unlikely to happen again.  I wrote a blog on this day after the election 4 years ago as this same scenario was playing out (copied below).  It seems just as important today as it did then.  But I share this with a bit less hope than I had then.  Christians have continued to cast stones in an effort to show “the right way” (beat it into them if they won’t listen??).  Those of us who claim the way of Christ have often shown anything but love for anyone who thinks, votes, or believes differently.  And it just cannot continue.  

    So I am up early this morning with concern.  It isn’t over who will actually win the election (although we all want our candidate to win).  It isn’t over the future of our country.  I am up early this morning concerned about those of us who love Jesus.  Since the vote is split in the middle, this means those of faith are also split.  Essentially, you are likely sitting on the same pew or in the same place of worship or the same park bench with someone who did not vote like you.  We have friends and family members who did not vote the same.  We have coworkers who are divided on their vote.  And if we claim the Christian faith, we must find a way forward together.  There has been damage – words have been said and actions have been shown – and all too many were really ugly.  But Jesus’ love is the great repairer.  

    Repairing does not mean changing everyone to be like me.  Repairing means we change to become more like Christ – and neither political party or candidate is Christ.  You can be on both sides of the spectrum and still love Jesus.  One more time…YOU CAN BE ON BOTH SIDES OF A POLITICAL SPECTRUM AND STILL LOVE JESUS.  So I still believe the only way forward is to put down our stones and work together to share the love of Christ.  We cannot cast stones and show love at the same time.  And the Gospel of John reads that Jesus believed the one without sin was the only with the ability to cast a stone.  That means there won’t be any stone casting from anyone who follows him – there simply can’t be.  

    So, one more time – let’s drop our stones and find healing in the love of Jesus Christ.  Christians, let’s lead the way – not in contempt or bullying – but in love.  This is the only way.  

    Put Down Your Stone…A Call to Christians (published November 9, 2016)

    It is the day after the Presidential Election.  We are a nation divided.  The narrow victory certainly tells many stories about how our country feels.  There has been so much divisiveness and dissension.  It has been a time of turmoil as we have watched candidates debate, argue, and even fist fight.  With such a narrow victory, the next president certainly has his work cut out for him to unite this country.  That is all stating the obvious.

    What is also obvious is the underlying current of hate and anger that has been simmering and occasionally spewing to the top.  There has been name calling and people made to feel belittled for supporting one candidate or the other.  There have been phrases like…if you vote for ____, then you are just stupid (or an idiot or whatever other negative connotation you can come up with).  Phrases like…you can’t possibly be a Christian and vote for _____.  Or, who in their right mind would vote for _____.  Honestly, it has felt more like being on the playground in middle school than being adults “debating” the issues for the future of our country.  It definitely is a sign that many Americans lack the basic skill of effective communication and instead, lean towards bullying and fear mongering.

    The most disheartening of it all for me is that much of this hate, anger, belittling, and casting of fear has come from my Christian brothers and sisters.  On social media, on the TV, in ads, and in person, one cannot tell if a person is a Christian or not by actions or by their love.  I have heard just as many negative comments and hateful spewing from Christians as from anyone else.  And since Jesus wasn’t running (or anyone who even resembles his actions or values), there should not have been a “Christian vote.”  Since the vote was nearly 50/50, that would suggest that there are Christians who love the Lord with all their heart on BOTH sides.  What a concept.  It has been difficult to see the love of Christ show up in anything that has been done over the last few months.  Apparently when the heat is turned up, Christians don’t seem to react any different than anyone else…and that is painful and sad.

    So, the election is over (and we all say a collective THANK GOD).  But damage has been done.  Christians, it is time for us to drop the stones that we have been casting and find unity.  We must find a way to come together as God’s people to do God’s work REGARDLESS of who is president or whether or not we voted for him.  For me, it starts with humility, looking to Christ as my guide.  We must seek forgiveness, both from God for the way we have acted, and from our neighbors for the stones that have been cast.  We must turn our hearts and minds to Christ and to LOVING OTHERS.   We cannot join hands in this world while holding stones.  We cannot offer a helping hand or help a brother or sister up while carrying the stones.  We cannot be the hands and feet of Christ while burdened down with our anger and fear and hatred.  We have to drop it all in surrender to the ONE that can bring us together.  Regardless of whether or not this country unites, Christians are called to be different, to act different, and to love different.

    Brothers and Sisters, may we drop our stones today seeking forgiveness, joining hands with our neighbors in love and unity, and moving forward doing the work of Christ.  If you are looking for a change in this country…this is where it really begins…

    And may it begin with me.

    A Place Where Stones Belong

  • Don’t Quit

    We can be much better cheerleaders for others than for ourselves.  We will support our friends through their most difficult times.  We will stand behind our children or grandchildren in their challenges and as they seek to find their place in this world.  We know that God has a plan and a purpose for them and it is good.  We will pray for them and love them, no matter where they may find themselves.  We watch them stumble and we beam with pride as they pick themselves up and go one more time.  When they stumble and struggle, we are there to encourage them.  We believe in them.  We know they are capable of good things.  We see the beauty and the strength – even when they have no idea.  We will never give up on them.  But we don’t treat ourselves the same.

    It can be that in becoming an encourager of others, we forget to encourage ourselves.  I am not talking about a false sense of pride.  I am not talking about a “look at me and how good I am” type of encouragement.  We don’t encourage others in that way.  When we see potential in other people, we try to help them find their best.  We try to help them live out what God has given them.  We try to direct them in the way that God has created.  But we don’t always do this for ourselves.  We don’t always look in the mirror and see potential.  We see flaws.  We see reasons we can’t.  We see the things which hold us back.  We see every reason not to do something.  We know things about ourselves no one else does.  And so we end up encouraging others while beating ourselves up.  We end up uplifting others and tearing ourselves down.  And God has called us to something different.  If only we knew what God knows about us – we might see potential in those eyes.  We might see love in our heart.  We may see joy in our smile.  We might just see God at work – in us.  

    But if only they knew… I wonder how many times we think or say that to ourselves.  If only they knew what my past looks like.  If only they knew how many times I have tried.  If only they knew how many times I have messed up.  If only they knew.  Yet, the only “they” who matters is God.  And here’s a fact – he already knows.  God knows and God still believes in you.  God still has a plan and a purpose for you.  God has not left you because of who you were.  God has not deserted you because of the things you did.  God sees something incredible in you and is just waiting for you to live it out.  He hasn’t given up on you – so why have you given up on you?

    Whenever I am struggling with who God would have me to be – or struggling with my place in this world – or just struggling with me in general – I turn to this scripture.  This particular Psalm says more to me about who I am than any other I know.  It also gives me encouragement to see someone different in the mirror.  I am given courage to look beyond the flaws and see the man God has created.  I see more because God shows me more.  

    Psalm 139:1-18 – Hear God speak life over you.

    1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
    2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
        you discern my thoughts from far away.
    3 You search out my path and my lying down,
        and are acquainted with all my ways.
    4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
        O Lord, you know it completely.
    5 You hem me in, behind and before,
        and lay your hand upon me.
    6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
        it is so high that I cannot attain it.

    7 Where can I go from your spirit?
        Or where can I flee from your presence?
    8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
        if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
    9 If I take the wings of the morning
        and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
    10 even there your hand shall lead me,
        and your right hand shall hold me fast.
    11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
        and the light around me become night,”
    12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
        the night is as bright as the day,
        for darkness is as light to you.

    13 For it was you who formed my inward parts;
        you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
    14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
        Wonderful are your works;
    that I know very well.
    15     My frame was not hidden from you,
    when I was being made in secret,
        intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
    16 Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.
    In your book were written
        all the days that were formed for me,
        when none of them as yet existed.
    17 How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!
        How vast is the sum of them!
    18 I try to count them—they are more than the sand;
        I come to the end—I am still with you.

    The Psalmist concludes with:

    23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
        test me and know my thoughts.
    24 See if there is any wicked way in me,
        and lead me in the way everlasting. 

    God sees , God knows, God hears and God is with us.  Yet God does not leave us.  He does not give up on us.  He does not dismiss us.  He does not throw us into the trash heap because we are not good enough.

    We are encouraged to look for the perfect in life. We are encouraged to only take the best and to dismiss the rest.  But we miss so much when we do.  In our home, we have fruits and veggies sent to us from the dismissed.  In other words, the fruits and veggies that are imperfect – those that farmers cannot sell in the store – are packaged and sent out.  When we go to the grocery store, we look for the absolute best fruit and will not take one that has a mark on it.  There is nothing wrong with it, we just want the best.  So the fruits and veggies that are marked or didn’t grow perfectly become waste.  We want the best and expect the best and seek out only the best.  Yet, the rest of the produce is just fine.  It may not be pleasing to our eyes, but it is just as good to our stomachs – where it really matters.  But we are conditioned to only take the best.  And it happens that way in our own lives too.  

    We dismiss the good in us because we don’t feel like we are the best at something.  We don’t want to pursue something because we may be just okay.  We don’t see God at work in us because we have bruises and imperfections.  Yet, God sees so much more.  He doesn’t care about all that stuff.  He sees good.  He sees possibility.  He sees opportunity.  He created you for something amazing – amazing in his eyes, not the worlds.  We have to change our vision.  We need correction to see the possibilities.  We must stop seeing the reasons why not and see what God is up to.  We may see a completely different person – loved and called by God.  

    God has not given up on you.  That I can promise you.  He sees someone that he created and he loves.  He is encouraging you to follow, serve, and live out all that he has for you.  This isn’t about  – “look at me and all I have done” – but rather “look at what God is doing.”  God has something good – and it just may be looking you in the mirror.  Let’s move forward, children of God.  There is work to be done.

  • Who Are YOU Calling?

    We are living in strange times.  No one would have guessed this is where we would be at this point in this year.  It is a time of extreme uncertainty.  There are difficulties at every turn.  Mixed messages are thrown all over the place like an overload of bad confetti.  Any resemblance of normality seems to have been thrown away and can’t be found.  This can be both scary and confusing.  For people that like consistency…for those that like a plan…for those that seek security in some sense of rhythm – this can be a nightmare. 

    We have choices, though.  We can fight it all the way.  We can embrace the newness.  We can slog through the day trying to figure it out as we go.  We can throw a tantrum, we can follow, or any of the combination of the like.  And we do.

    The interesting thing is – in different ways and different circumstances, we have been here before.  While this particular situation feels so foreign to us, this is really not as strange as we want to make it.  Life is made up of twists and turns, challenges and successes, difficulties and struggles.  That’s what life is about – navigating the difficult and finding God at every turn.

    As I thought about all the changes we are facing, I couldn’t help but think of Abraham – still known in today’s reading as Abram.  They encountered more challenges and difficulties than we can hardly grasp – and that was in an effort to follow God.  They were not running…they were seeking to be obedient.  And still, this is where they find themselves.

    Genesis 12:1-9

    12 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

    4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, 6 Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram, and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 8 From there he moved on to the hill country on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and invoked the name of the Lord. 9 And Abram journeyed on by stages toward the Negeb.

    Abraham and Sarah (as they will later be named) find themselves in an interesting place in their lives.  God has called them to leave all they know…their familiar – their creature comforts – family, friends, way of life, their own home – and follow, at the age of 75.  Follow simply to a land that God will show them.  No specifications of the land.  No idea of where they will stay.  They didn’t get the luxury of touring the new place online and checking out the hot spots around.  It wasn’t as if they had the choice to see if this was a better option or not.  It was simply a call to go…go to the unfamiliar and uncomfortable.  And they went.

    Their willingness to go comes with joys that they cannot even imagine.  There are lands to be seen and peoples to be discovered.  There are children to be born and strangers to take care of.  But there are also more challenges than one would ever want to encounter.  They face the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.  They encountered famine and devastation.  They hid their identity to hopefully save their own lives.  They took God’s promise into their own hands and ended up doing harm to more lives than their own.  They had tests of faith – some they conquered like champs and some they failed miserably and embarrassingly.  Would they have taken the journey if they knew it all?  We really don’t know.  All we know is that they were willing to step forward into the unknown, following God.

    That says a lot to me in the situation we find ourselves.  We are wandering through the unknown daily.  There are way too many opinions and newsfeeds and voices shouting for our attention.  There are people that insight fear and those that uproot ignorance.  But all of this does not mean this is the end or the worst situation or the absolute biggest nightmare.  This is moving forward in the unknown and it can be okay.  It can be okay because we do not move forward alone.  We do not move forward without God.  He is with us.  He is guiding us…but we must listen to him.

    If we listen to God in times like these, we hear the words he tells Abraham and Sarah.  These words include his presence, his provision (he will take care of them), and his guidance (you are not figuring this out alone). He has promises that are yet unfulfilled.  He is not done yet.  And neither are we.  But we sure act like it sometimes.

    Did you hear what Abraham and Sarah did in this particular scripture?  Sure, they were obedient.  They were willing to leave it all behind to follow God into the unknown.  They heard him and they said yes.  God made promises – that he would keep in his time and in his way.  At the end of this reading, don’t miss what they did.  Yes, they built an altar.  That was common to build something to remember – to signify a moment in time. God’s call was huge and this was to be commemorated.  They pass along what has happened through story – verbally telling their children what God has done.  This was a physical marker of a part of the story.  But that isn’t it.  Don’t miss it.  He built an altar and what?  He called upon the name of the Lord.

    That doesn’t sound like such a big deal.  But remember – this is the beginning of a relationship, the beginning of a call to something big, a part of a promise.  This means that Abraham already sensed that it was important to not only mark the place, but to call on the name of the Lord.  He began to pray.  As he began the journey, he called on God.

    Take a step back for a moment.  God called him to this.  God has called him from his ordinary life to something extremely unfamiliar.  God had made extraordinary promises that would completely blow his mind.  He is setting out on this journey of the unknown and still he found it important to call on God.  He wasn’t told to.  He wasn’t given a command or a list of ways to do it.  He wasn’t given rules on how to call on God and the right times.  He simply did what came to him…he called on the name of the Lord.  It was a part of who he was.

    As we move through these difficult and unfamiliar times, has it been instinctive for us to call on the name of the Lord?  We have fussed and worried and complained and struggled…but have we called on him?  We have done a lot of talking and a lot of whining but have we called on him?  Maybe we start back at the beginning.  God is with us. God has promises for us.  And we should be calling on him – right now.  All those who call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

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