A Hopeful Voyage

     In 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew embarked on a cross-continental voyage across Antarctica. The journey was cut short when his vessel, the Endurance, was stopped by the ice and eventually crushed by an ice pack.
     The men set up a winter camp on the ice, adjacent to the wreckage, hoping they could drift eventually to warmer waters. They remained on the ice for several months before pulling their gear in lifeboats across the ice to reach sailable waters. Eventually the crew set sail and spent five days at sea, traveling 346 miles in lifeboats to Elephant Island.
     Elephant Island, it turned out, was an uninhabitable land. It soon became clear that Shackleton and his men would need set out on the open seas once again in search of a whaling station. Shackleton and several other men launched from Elephant Island on a 800-mile journey to South Georgia Island. They spent 15 days on some of the most treacherous waters imaginable.
     But even this was not the end of the journey.
     When they reached South Georgia Island, bad weather forced them to dock on the southern end of the island; the whaling station was on the northern side. The men spent the next 32 hours traversing snowy, mountainous terrain until at last they reached the whaling station.
      Shackleton then spent the next four months trying to get a water vessel that could make the return trip to Elephant Island. He eventually succeeded, and safely returned all crew members from the original Endurance voyage. Not a single man perished!
     On this Easter Weekend, I am reminded of what Jesus does for us. He went through hell for us so that we might cross to the other side. He did not abandon us in an uninhabitable place but returned to deliver all those who were called on this voyage of faith and discipleship.
     It often seems that the seas are uncrossable. Hope seems gone, and then, in the distance, we see Him coming back to rescue us and take us home.

Bearing Our Bunions

     Tonight at Grace Presbyterian Church we celebrate Maundy Thursday, the night when Christ gave us the new commandment (mandatum) to love one another as He has loved us. We will re-enact the Last Supper with a cast of 12 disciples. We will also sing hymns and participate in a foot-washing ceremony.
     On this night (described in John 13), Jesus picked up a towel and washed his disciples' feet. When he arrived to Peter, Peter wanted no part of it. Perhaps Peter had a bunion he did not want Jesus to see. Maybe Peter's toes were deformed. Maybe he had athlete's foot and was embarrassed?
     I can assuredly say it was for neither of these reasons. Rather, Peter did not think it was appropriate for his Rabbi and Lord to take up such a servant role. After all, what teacher of his day would do such a thing, to come and wash the dust and grime off of his disciples' road-warn feet?
     Today, I think we are just as reluctant to have our feet washed, but for different reasons. First of all, today this practice is unique to the Church; we do not practice this ritual (at least in my culture) outside the context of Christian liturgy. But when we practice it within the Church, it is just as uncomfortable as it was for Peter.
     Why is this?
     The feet, it seems to me, are a very personal area of our body. Some of us could care less if somebody handled our feet or saw our planter's wart, but for some it is a cause for great anxiety! One parishioner this morning said she was going to have a pedicure before the foot-washing tonight, so that her feet will look presentable.
     I will partake in a pre-washing ceremony of my own. About an hour before the service, I will remove my socks and clean those dogs up, because I don't want to subject the foot-washer to feet that have been in sweaty socks all day long! Sounds like a respectable thing to do, right?
     We do much the same thing in other areas of our lives, though, don't we? Before we walk into a worship service or show up for a church function, we go through a pre-washing ceremony to hide the blemishes, deformities, and uncleanliness of our lives. For some reason, church can make us feel like this, and it's too bad. Church should be a place where we can show up without polishing up.
     That's the way it is, I guess. It just makes me think.
     Tonight we are reminded to love each other, as Christ loved us. As I go forward to have my feet washed (pre-washed, of course), I will be thinking of Peter and saying to myself, "I know how you feel, brother." My silent prayer and hope is that we can all become more vulnerable and authentic with each other, bunions and all.
   

A Worthwhile Endeavor

     I can almost taste it! Graduation is in my sights. It will be the culmination of five years of work.
     For some reason, though, I will feel no sense of closure until I walk across the stage with diploma in hand. More importantly, I want this project to be as good as it can be. From the moment I started the program, I have tried to focus on completing a project that could be a practical blessing to the Church. Yeah, sure there are some selfish, ego-driven motivations in the mix, but I genuinely wanted to complete a project that would be relevant and timely.
     I selected the themes of social justice and Creation Care, and how focusing on these disciplines can help us to live more faithfully in a consumer culture.
     Have these themes been the most important themes for me personally throughout my adult Christian life? Have I come to some level of mastery of these themes in my own life?
     Not really.
     As an "evangelical Christian," I gravitate toward spiritual conversion of people's hearts as the first order of Christian mission. If God can change people's hearts and people can accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, then everything else will fall in place. This is my default setting for understanding Christian mission and it probably always will be! But this project has challenged my understanding of Christian mission. I am seeing more and more that apart from good works, such faith is dead and useless (Matthew 25). If we neglect to care for The Least of These and to care appropriately  for God's creation (as its primary stewards), then we have missed the boat!
     Am I a better Christian than I was before I started this project? Probably not, but I understand more clearly what God expects from his Church (and individual believers). Hopefully I can grow into this new understanding, and hopefully others will be inspired in the process.

Final Project: Sample No. 2 on 'The Problem'

    Following is a second sample from Chapter 1 (Identifying the Problem) of my final doctor of ministry project. Any comments are appreciated, as I refine the project and submit for an anticipated May graduation.

     If the amount of money that Christian households give to the local church is any indication of how well we confront consumerism through intentional spiritual disciplines, then Christian households in America are not doing a very good job. According to Ron Sider, in The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience, only 6 percent of evangelical Christians tithe. This is a startling statistic, because in our nation, this subset of the church is persistent in preaching the importance of financial tithing but apparently poor in modeling this discipline.
     In short, we profess to be disciples of Jesus Christ and yet have abandoned the simple lifestyle that Jesus taught. As Sider writes, "Scandalous behavior is destroying American Christianity. By their daily activity, most 'Christians' regularly commit treason. With their mouths they claim that Jesus is Lord but with their actions they demonstrate allegiance to money, sex, and self-fulfillment." Every day, Sider concludes, the Church is becoming more like the world it allegedly seeks to change.
     Many of us do not engage in disciplines like tithing that could help us to find contentment with less, to seek after the wellbeing of others, and to consume in ways that are more conscientious of creation. Most troubling of all are the hectic family lifestyles that leave families with little to no time or energy for the practice of shared, intentional disciplines ..."

Questions: Is Sider's assessment of evangelical Christianity too harsh, or is it right on target? What keeps us from participating in disciplines like tithing?

My Final Project: Understanding the Problem

My final doctor of ministry is titled, "Cultivating Spiritual Disciplines in a Consumer Culture." Following is a sample from Chapter 1 of the project. The purpose of Chapter 1 is to identify the problem that my project seeks to address.

     

     "Life in this country is good, for a large percentage of the population. If a family wants to improve its level of material affluence, access good public education and health care, or consume a variety of recreational and retail opportunities, this is a great place to live. The downside to living here, however, is that it is difficult to escape the negative effects of consumerism.

     "Consumerism is a pervasive spirit that orients our deepest affections toward the personal possession of things. When under the spell of consumerism, it seems, we become much like the fictional character Gollum, the dark side of the split persona, Gollum-Smeagol, in J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. In one moment, we are Smeagol, captivated by warm thoughts and selfless sentiments like friendship and love. In the next instant, we transform into Gollum and become obsessed with possession The Precious.

     "Consumerism teaches us that pursuing The Precious -- which could represent any thing what we feel we must possess for our own -- is of primary importance. What matters most is purchasing a house with a large amount of square footage and consuming fashionable clothing, stylish vehicles, good-tasting and ready-made food, and fun activities. I have not yet mentioned the sports culture that consumes our time, energy, and money on a mass scaled. But again, consumerism is not about the things that we consume or the wide variety of goods and services that are available for purchase. Consumerism is about the mindless orientation of our deepest affections toward things we want to possess."

Questions: Is this a fair assessment of consumerism in our culture? Does Gollum accurately portray what happens to us when we are under the spell of consumerism? Other thoughts and comments?

Entering God's Rest

     I finally get it!
     It is a little embarrassing that it took so long, but I think I understand the concept of "resting" in God and the gift of God's Sabbath rest.
     Resting on a Sunday or during a week of vacation is not primarily about what you do or do not do as an activity. It is not about whether my neighbors catch me cutting my grass on a Sunday or whether I pick up my laptop to check emails while on vacation. Fasting from these work-related activities may be a discipline the Spirit invites us to cultivate. More important is our attitudes of trust (or mis-trust) toward God.
     To truly rest in God is to trust that God will take care of our fields when we are not tending our crops or sewing new seeds. It also means trusting in God as we go about our work week! It is quite possible to refrain from physical exertion on Sunday afternoons and yet our hearts remain far from a restful state. On the other hand, it is also possible to be hard at work and yet to have a peaceful and restful attitude, a mindset that trusts God is active in our lives and providing all that we need.
     In short, we can cultivate an attitude of resting in God whether our bodies/minds are actively at work or whether we are taking a nap on the couch. Resting in God is more about trusting that God is at work with or without any effort from us.
     Coming to this realization is freeing.
     What about you? Are you weary and carrying a heavy burden? Could you benefit from finding an inner place of rest? Rest in Jesus, for his yoke is easy and his burden is light. Let him pull the weight for you, as you walk beside.

More of God's Character

            When we provide care for people who are hurting, the best things we can offer are a listening ear and prayer. The temptation is to think it is our job – as care-givers – to fix problems, when all an individual may need is a listening ear.

Spouses do the same thing. Instead of listening to each other, we troubleshoot each other’s problems. A more effective approach is simply to listen – “… Be quick to listen, slow to speak …” This is difficult for some of us to do, but listening more and speaking less is an important discipline to cultivate in our lives. It forces us to listen for God’s voice and to trust that the Spirit is at work. It leads us to God’s solutions for problems, which are always better than our solutions.

Another important discipline to cultivate is patience. Anger is a natural human emotion and anger is sometimes an appropriate response (Mt. 21:12). But more often than not, patience is the better path, for it is the very nature of God to be patient and loving. As Psalm 134:8 tells us, “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”

           Which of these disciplines is God inviting you to cultivate in your life today? Are you a talker? Perhaps you could enter into a 24-hour silent retreat. Tell your family and friends that you are going word-free for a day so that you can hear what God is speaking in your life. They may giggle and cut a few jokes, but it could be a rich and rewarding experience. Or perhaps you could keep an anger journal. Every time something makes you angry, write it down. Instead of “unloading” your anger on another person, unload your emotions on paper. You can return to these emotions later in the day and pray through them.

            Silence. Patience. I know I can use more of them in my life. Perhaps I am not alone.

Today’s prayer:

            “Gracious God, you are merciful and patient, abounding in steadfast love. Make me more like you today. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Faith and Understanding

     Where do dogs go when they die? Why is there suffering? Why is there a hell? Does life exist in other galaxies? How do Christians reconcile "Creation" with evolutionary science?
     Even the most educated of scholars have never been able to answer these questions definitively. We can look to the Scriptures. We can look to science and philosophy, but in the end, there are some questions we will never answer satisfactorily.
     This is a good thing!
     Part of being human and Christian is to embrace the mysteries of life. We cannot answer every question. We should not expect that every question can be answered. Our thoughts are not God's thoughts, and God's thoughts are not our thoughts. (Isaiah 55)
     Having said this, there are two principles we can embrace as people of faith who seek answers for life's deeper, penetrating questions.
     The first is the sufficiency of Scripture. In the Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin notes that Scripture does not attempt to answer every one of our questions, but it tells us what we need to know for life and salvation. In other words, if Scripture does not comment on a particular subject, then it is not essential that we know the answer!
     The second principle is "Faith Seeking Understanding." It is important to begin all intellectual pursuits with faith in God (trusting in God's thoughts and ways) and then pursue deeper understanding. If we try to flip this order, we will be frustrated. There is no ladder of understanding that leads us to the mind of God. It begins with the gift of faith. This gift can then lead us to new places of understanding.
     If these principles and strategies worked for people like Anselm, Thomas Aquinas, and John Calvin, they can probably work for us today as we seek to grow in faith and understanding.

A prayer for today: "God, I trust in your thoughts and ways. Help me to place my heart and even my mind in service to you. May you lead me into the deep places of life and faith. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

The Best Type of Fire

     I just finished staffing a three-day renewal weekend with folks from 13 different congregations. Lives were transformed at this retreat. Faith was deepened. Bonds of love were strengthened.

    My biggest prayer for all 29 participants is that they find and nurture a God Fire that burns deeper than feelings and emotions. 

     Maintaining spiritual fire in our lives following a renewal weekend is a lot building a campfire. Done correctly, the fire will burn through the night, giving us warmth and light. If it is built incorrectly, it will quickly die out and leave us shivering in the dark and cold.

    When Boy Scouts go camping, they use materials like dryer lint or dried leaves as tinder. On top of the tinder, Scouts will build a miniature teepee of twigs and small branches, making sure to position the twigs loosely, to allow wind and air to flow through and stoke the flame. But unless there are fuel logs that catch the flame from the kindling wood (and tinder), the fire will go out. Building a good campfire takes practice and patience.

     The same thing applies to faith!

     When we return from a men's or women's retreat, a marriage enrichment weekend, or something like Cursillo/A Walk to Emmaus, it is important to build a fire that will last. This starts with how we decide live the Christian life, particularly in the days following our renewal weekend experience.

     How do we build a fire that will last? It is not the amount of Bible reading we do or the number of poor and homeless we serve at the shelter. It is not the number of days in a row that we honor a morning devotional. And it is not based on how many people we "save" with the Gospel message.

     The thing that will keep our fire burning is our dependence upon the grace of God. If we realize that God loves us unconditionally, no matter what we do in our lives of faith, then we are building a deeper God Fire. This realization of God's unconditional love will lead us to pray regularly, to read our Bible, to attend Sunday services, and to serve the poor, but the best fires are built on our utter dependence upon the grace of God in our lives.