Christmas through another's eyes

This Christmas, I had an unusual experience. I saw my own religious actions and convictions through the eyes of someone else. This is neither an easy thing to accomplish nor an easy thing to understand, and I am not certain that I have done so fully, but I am still working through the experience.

What happened was this: my son brought a friend home from college for the holiday. She was raised in a strict Muslim household, and went to a Muslim school in Dallas, so she had little understanding about Christmas beyond the mish-mash of media which includes Santa Claus, Charlie Brown, and the Grinch as well as Jesus Christ.

When she asked, "Why do you do this," and "Why do you do that," it caused me to take stock about my own answers. Why DID I do those things? Was it just habit, or was there a deeper meaning for me, and for my own faith? Her questions held no animosity, just curiosity and a desire to understand this holiday that is so prevalent around her in Western American culture, which is connected to but separate from her own experience.

I found that I explained more carefully the meaning of the Advent candles to the children in church, rather than merely going through the motions with a cursory reading and prayer. I found that I was more thoughtful about my own prayers, both at home and at church, knowing that someone from a different faith tradition was listening and trying to understand. You would think that I would be that thoughtful all the time, but I'm usually not. I guess we all get lazy sometimes.

For me, this was a good lesson. It was a lesson in how I OUGHT to celebrate; thoughtfully and meaningfully. And it was a lesson in how interfaith relations can be a blessing and actually help us as we think more carefully about our own traditions and the ways in which we celebrate our Holy days.

Here is wishing you all a safe and blessed Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

Religious Affections

This morning I have been reading a little of Jonathan Edwards' Engagement of the Heart, and I am struck once again at how contemporary are the words of this Early American theologian, pastor and educator. Although he lived in the early 18th Century, even before the Revolutionary War, when the mission field was the Native Americans of upper New York, yet so much of what he said and wrote resonates with where we are today.

To wit: (sorry, couldn't resist)he says that so many of us have a kind of half-hearted faith; we mean well, and we claim to love God, but though our hearts appear to be in it, our wills are not. Perhaps this is what the Bible means by loving God with our "strength", as opposed to our "heart and mind". Edwards says, "If we are not earnest in our religion, and if our wills and inclinations are not strongly exercised, we are nothing." Strong words. And yet, I see his point.

As we enter the holiday season with all its feasting and parties, it is so easy to pack on those unwanted pounds. Some of us already had unwanted pounds before the holiday season even began! On the one hand, it is so simple, really, to lose those pounds; all that must be done is to eat less and exercise more. It's a piece of cake (dang, I wish I hadn't said that!). So, why do so many of us have those unwanted pounds that affect our life and health? Because to get rid of them requires a strong and consistent act of the will.

Perhaps the same is true in our spiritual lives. If we are genuine in our "religious affections", that is, if we truly believe what we say we believe, that we love God and desire to serve him, then why don't we? Why do we put it off, or allow other things to get in the way? Why are we so reluctant to live out our faith in the myriad ways we know it should be lived? Perhaps, like our extra holiday pounds, it's not a matter of desire (we want to look and feel better) it's a matter of the will.

In Romans chapter 7 there is a passage that confuses many theologians, or, rather, there is no consistent agreement on its meaning. From about verse 14 to the end, Paul describes the experience of a person (and it is written in first person, so it could be Paul himself) who continually struggles with sin, and has the desire to do good, but does not have the will to do it, like an addict who wants to quit, but just cannot bring herself to do so. So often we feel this way in regard to sin and spirituality (at least, I do). I want to pray more, I want to study more, I want to be more faithful in 1,000 different ways, but there seems to be something pulling me back, and I say with Paul, "What a wretched man I am!" That's why it is so wonderful that Paul concludes with verse 25, "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord." Then he launches in to Romans 8, which has so many wonderful verses about life in the Spirit.

So, where is all this going? I don't really know; that's why this blog is called "Random Thoughts." What I do know is that sometimes our will doesn't keep up with our desire to do good. Lord help me to strengthen my will to follow you in your way.

Refined to Its Essence

In recent weeks, I have been thinking about the essence of things. When you boil something down to its most basic component, what does it look like?

In religious circles, Presbyterian ones, at least, there has been a lot of discussion recently about "essential tenets." In other words, what are the basic beliefs and actions a person would have to have in order to be a Christian?

I can see the negative side to this: you can use a list like that as a whipping post or a wall to keep some people out and some people in, or maybe somebody wants to do the minimum required to achieve some sort of spiritual or ecclesiastical status. You do just what you can to squeak by, whether into the church or into the Kingdom of Heaven. It feels sort of like Abraham bargaining with God in Genesis 18. What will you do if I do this much, or just this much?

On a more positive side, it can be helpful to know what the rules are. My kids love to play a card game called Mao, in which the leader keeps on changing the rules of the game to suit his or her purpose. "I'm sorry, if you play a red 8 and are wearing a black shirt, you have to draw 5 more cards." You get the idea.

In the context of all the strife in the Presbyterian Church, I, for one, think it would be helpful to have some clear "essential tenets" so that we have some kind of ground rules. What is a pastor, elder, or even a church member, for that matter, expected to believe and how are they expected to live? What is out-of-bounds, and what is up for discussion? I am reminded of the way in which Jesus responds in John 8 to the woman brought to him who had clearly broken the rules. His response is both pastoral, "neither do I condemn you," and true to his tradition, "Go, and sin no more." I think those are both good lessons.

Those of us in the Presbyterian tradition seem to be in a crisis as to what our tradition really is and teaches. What do we believe? What should we believe? How should we respond to those who don't?

This fall, I am going to explore what I believe to be some "essential tenets", first of the Christian faith, and then of our reformed tradition. I am going to preach on subjects like, the authority of the Bible, God, Jesus, and salvation. Join us at the First Presbyterian Church in Mexia, TX each Sunday this fall, or check back here regularly for a summary. I hope this exercise will enrich us all.

God bless!

God's Love is Sticky

Love this quote from Mike Yaconelli:

In Romans 8, Paul says, "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

In response, Yaconelli says, "Paul uses lots of religious words here, but the bottom line is we are all stuck with God's love whether we want to be or not. The words, 'nor anything else in all creation' mean that nothing can stop God from loving us. Nothing. He just keeps loving us. In modern language, you could say, 'Neither failure nor poor church attendance, nor inadequate Bible reading and prayer, nor betrayal, denial, doubt, insecurity, guilt, weakness, bad theology, or even losing our temper can separate us from the love of God.' God loves us when we don't want him to love us. He loves us when we don't act like Christians. He loves us when our lives are a mess. His love is sticky, resistant to rejection, aggressive, and persistent. The challenge is on, so go ahead...resist his love, run from it, hide from it. Go ahead and try." (Messy Spirituality, p. 124)

His point is, obviously, that we can neither run nor hide from God's amazing love. That is truly good news, and I couldn't have said it better myself, so I quoted Mike.

Sometimes it gets messy

I recently picked up a copy of Mike Yaconelli's book, Messy Spirituality. If you haven't seen it, it is definitely worth a read. I think it would be an awesome book to use in a Sunday School class or Christian book club. He raises a lot of issues about how it's better to stumble along trying as best we can to follow Jesus than to stand firm on what we believe is solid ground, when what we are standing on is really only our own preconceived ideas about what we think church and spiritual people should be like.

In one section, Yaconelli tells the story about a young couple who went off and lived together before they were married, as so many do today. Their parents weren't happy about it, but what could they do? Eventually, the couple decided to get married, but then they found out that the woman was pregnant, so they decided to use the money they had saved for the wedding to spend on the new baby. They opted for a small courthouse wedding instead with two friends as witnesses.

Later,some friends of the couple got to thinking how much they had missed by not appropriately celebrating their wedding. They decided to throw them a wedding. They invited family and friends, had a big dinner, and a minister in the garden. Everybody told them how much they loved them, and everybody cried.

Some folks, however, thought this was inappropriate. They thought that it was condoning "unspiritual behavior" and perhaps it was. But this is where Mike Yaconelli shines. He said the nay-sayers would essentially be correct. "Christians don't condone unbiblical living; we redeem it. Now that is an awesome line!

Not so Random

Every time I think that much of life is filled with random, unconnected events, I get a knock upside the head that reminds me how completely un-random life really is. There is a God who is in charge, and who brings all things together in organized, loving ways.

As an example, I have been preaching my way through 1 Peter, and just going through the book, begun on a seemingly random date (although, it was actually set by the Lectionary) and taking random chunks,(two verses this week, five verses last week) lo and behold, on the Fourth of July, I had the passage, 1 Peter 2:13-17 in which we are to accept and honor those in government over us. Strong words on the anniversary of this country's rebellion against its former government. Also at issue is how to relate to our own country's government, especially when and if we don't agree with its policies.

A mere coincidence? I don't think so. It has happened before. Several years ago I was preaching through the Lord's Prayer, and got to "Thy will be done" on the week of Sept 11, 2001. I could never have planned or expected that one. I had to re-think all I was going to say that next Sunday.

All this is merely to say, that what some people call random coincidence, I think is much more. I see connections. I see organization. I see "the hand of God" in many ways. I realize that some people would claim that I see this because I want to, and not because it actually exists; that it is my own mind that is organizing these events into patterns, and the patterns aren't really there. I respectfully disagree. I believe God is there, and makes himself known to those who are willing to perceive. "Let him who has an ear, hear".

The Cost of Non-discipleship

I've been doing some reading in a collection of "Devotional Classics" edited by Richard Foster, who I like very much. Today's installment is by Dallas Willard, who I also like. His observation is about how few churches today aspire to train disciples, and how few Christians aspire to be disciples. To be a disciple is, simply, to follow Jesus and to try to be like him.

The marching orders for the church are to be found, primarily, in Matthew 28:19, "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." But I wonder how many churches actually do that. We don't teach or train disciples, we try to attract members, and we try to make it as painless as possible. But its not painless to follow Jesus. He talked about taking up a cross. Of course, he also talked about the lightness of his burden, but it was still a yoke and a burden.

What is also interesting, as you look at the Great Commission, is that we are not called to baptize church members, but disciples. One wonders whether there ought to be some training before baptism is administered. Mostly, churches only require a profession of faith, but no progress in discipleship. In the medieval church, one was required to memorize verses and catechisms in order to be baptized or confirmed. I wonder what that would do to church membership today. Most fear that it would reduce interest, but I wonder. Many organizations require that you first learn some basics before becoming a full member, the Boy Scouts and the Masons, for example, why not the church?

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote a book in the 1930s called The Cost of Discipleship, in which he said that we need to be wary of "cheap grace" or Christian faith that makes no demands on us. The kind of faith about which the Apostle Paul declared, "May it never be!" But Dallas Willard puts a new twist on that idea by introducing a concept he calls, The Cost of Non-discipleship. In other words, what price have we paid by NOT training people of faith in the way of the Lord, and how to follow in Christ's footsteps? Willard says, "Nondiscipleship costs abiding peace, a life penetrated throughout by love, faith that sees everything in the light of God's overriding governance for good, hopefulness that stands firm in the most discouraging of circumstances, power to do what is right and withstand the forces of evil. In short, it costs exactly that abundance of life Jesus said he came to bring (John 10:10)."

Food for thought.