Just a Moment

Quite possibly the most significant thing about Christmas is the incarnation. God, the infinite, eternal and unchangeable became human, frail, finite, and fickle. It may be the most fantastic miracle imaginable. Max Lucado has some interesting thoughts on it that I have cross-posted here. I hope you enjoy them.

"It all happened in a moment, a most remarkable moment.

As moments go, that one appeared no different than any other. If you could somehow pick it up off the timeline and examine it, it would look exactly like the ones that have passed while you have read these words. It came and it went. It was preceded and succeeded by others just like it. It was one of the countless moments that have marked time since eternity became measurable.

But in reality, that particular moment was like none other. For through that segment of time a spectacular thing occurred. God became a man. While the creatures of earth walked unaware, Divinity arrived. Heaven opened herself and placed her most precious one in a human womb.

The Omnipotent, in one instant, made himself breakable. He who had been spirit became pierceable. He who was larger than the universe became an embryo. And he who sustains the world with a word chose to be dependent upon the nourishment of a young girl.

God as a fetus. Holiness sleeping in a womb. The creator of life being created.

God was given eyebrows, elbows, two kidneys, and a spleen. He stretched against the walls and floated in the amniotic fluids of his mother.

God had come near.

He came, not as a flash of light or as an unapproachable conqueror, but as one whose first cries were heard by a peasant girl and a sleepy carpenter. The hands that first held him were unmanicured, calloused, and dirty.

No silk. No ivory. No hype. No party. No hoopla.

Were it not for the shepherds, there would have been no reception. And were it not for a group of stargazers, there would have been no gifts.

Angels watched as Mary changed God’s diaper. The universe watched with wonder as The Almighty learned to walk. Children played in the street with him. And had the synagogue leader in Nazareth known who was listening to his sermons…

Jesus may have had pimples. He may have been tone-deaf. Perhaps a girl down the street had a crush on him or vice versa. It could be that his knees were bony. One thing’s for sure: He was, while completely divine, completely human.

For thirty-three years he would feel everything you and I have ever felt. He felt weak. He grew weary. He was afraid of failure. He was susceptible to wooing women. He got colds, burped, and had body odor. His feelings got hurt. His feet got tired. And his head ached.

To think of Jesus in such a light is—well, it seems almost irreverent, doesn’t it? It’s not something we like to do; it’s uncomfortable. It is much easier to keep the humanity out of the incarnation. Clean the manure from around the manger. Wipe the sweat out of his eyes. Pretend he never snored or blew his nose or hit his thumb with a hammer.

He’s easier to stomach that way. There is something about keeping him divine that keeps him distant, packaged, predictable.

But don’t do it. For heaven’s sake, don’t. Let him be as human as he intended to be. Let him into the mire and muck of our world. For only if we let him in can he pull us out.

Listen to him.

“Love your neighbor” was spoken by a man whose neighbors tried to kill him.

The challenge to leave family for the gospel was issued by one who kissed his mother goodbye in the doorway.

“Pray for those who persecute you” came from the lips that would soon be begging God to forgive his murderers.

“I am with you always” are the words of a God who in one instant did the impossible to make it all possible for you and me.

It all happened in a moment. In one moment…a most remarkable moment. The Word became flesh.

There will be another. The world will see another instantaneous transformation. You see, in becoming man, God made it possible for man to see God. When Jesus went home he left the back door open. As a result, “we will all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.”

The first moment of transformation went unnoticed by the world. But you can bet your sweet September that the second one won’t. The next time you use the phrase “just a moment,” …remember that’s all the time it will take to change this world."

May God richly bless each and every one of us this Christmas!

Waiting for Christmas

Now that the turkey and pumpkin pie has been consumed, and the decorative pilgrims have been packed away, many of us are getting out our Christmas decorations. Of course, there are numerous opinions about when to get them out and when to light the house or the tree.

I have always been a believer in “sooner is better.” So we like to put our Christmas decorations out on Thanksgiving weekend to be ready for the First Sunday of Advent, which is usually the Sunday following Thanksgiving. The reason is not merely that I like the decorations up as long as possible (although that is certainly true), but I also feel that there is a whole season prior to Christmas that helps us get in the mindset, and in the spirit.

The problem is that some people don’t like to wait that long. They feel like if the decorations are up too long, the waiting can get excruciating. But, then, isn’t that the point of Advent?

Advent is a season of waiting, expecting, and hoping. Beginning four Sundays prior to Christmas and ending on Christmas Eve, Advent helps us prepare for the coming, or “advent” of the Christ child at Christmas. (The word “advent” comes from the Latin word that means “coming.”)

For hundreds of years, Christians have used an Advent wreath to inspire their hopes for the coming of Christ. By lighting candles and reading Bible verses, we are reminded about the meaning of Christ’s birth and become more excited about his coming in the past, in the future, and in our own lives.

We do the same as a part of our worship services, and we have lit advent wreaths at home with our children. There are many advent devotions you can get on-line. We used to light our candles at the dinner table and read the devotion before we ate. Kids really enjoy the novelty of it, and it brings a special thoughtfulness to the season.

There is no set meaning for the candles of the Advent wreath (except for the middle candle, which always signifies the birth of Jesus the Christ and is often called the Christ Candle). I have been in churches where the candles point to peace, hope, joy, and love. In other settings they are identified with key figures in the stories of the birth of Jesus, such as the shepherds, the angels, Joseph, and Mary. The main point is the theme of waiting that gives structure and meaning to the Advent candles, with each candle focused on different aspects of our waiting.

Advent wreaths employ candles with a variety of colors. Some wreaths use all white candles; others use three purple or blue candles, one pink candle, and one white candle in the middle. I share an understanding of the Advent wreath with many Christians for whom the purple candles remind us of how serious and solemn God’s people have been in waiting for the Messiah. The pink signifies the joy of our waiting. The white is triumphant and celebrative because Christ is born.

Speaking of children, they have great expectations and hopes during Advent – usually associated with Christmas presents, Santa Claus, holiday celebrations, and so forth. Rather than discouraging these hopes (which is a “hopeless” task!), I would urge parents to help their children get the “feel” of Advent by relating their hopes to biblical Advent themes.

     May we all have a blessed Advent and be lifted up in our waiting season

Jesus on Stewardship

Well, it’s that time of the year again. It comes around every fall. Stewardship season. We all know that is the time when we talk about giving to God, whether time, talents, or treasure—our financial gifts. But what does stewardship really mean?

We have been talking a lot about the kingdom of heaven in church this fall. I have preached several sermons on how Jesus describes the kingdom of heaven, and the parables he uses to characterize it.

There is one story he tells in Matthew 25 that is about stewardship, but from the perspective of the kingdom. What is stewardship in the kingdom like?

The story Jesus tells is one we have heard before. It’s the one where a man plans to go on a long journey, and he entrusts his wealth to his servants. He calls forward three men, to one he gives 5 bags of gold, to another three bags and to the last he gave one bag, and then he went on his trip.

I think we all remember this story. When the master returned, he wanted to know what the men had done with the money he had given them. The first two came forward and gave their master twice what he had given them. They had invested wisely. The man with five bags earned five more, and the one with three bags earned three more.

But when the one who had only one bag came forward, all he had to show for himself was the original bag of gold. He had hidden it in a hole in the ground to keep it safe. The master was furious. He calls the servant “wicked and lazy.” He took away his gold and had him thrown out of the house.

It’s actually kind of a severe story, but it points out a few things that we don’t always think about in terms of our own stewardship.

As God’s people, we have been given many gifts; gifts of life and health, gifts of family and friends, and even monetary gifts that we have earned and saved over the course of our lives. What does God expect us to do with those gifts? Like the servants in the story, I think there are a few key points we should be aware of when we think about God’s gifts to us.

First of all, we recognize that these gifts do not belong to us; they are given to us by God. All that we are, and all that we have is a gift, on loan to us from God. Our life, our health, even the money we have, is not ours forever. We cannot take it with us when we die. It all belongs to God, and we merely have charge of it for a while.

That is the second point; we have been given these gifts as a charge. God has entrusted them to our care, and God expects us to use them wisely and well. The servants in the story used what their master gave them to earn even more, and were praised for their diligence and hard work. Not so the lazy servant who did nothing at all with what had been given to him.

That is the final point that I believe Jesus is making; one day we will be called to account for what God has given to us. Have we used it wisely? Have we used it well? Or have we merely buried it in the ground and put it to no good use? Remember the fate of that wicked servant.

This next week, when you receive your stewardship letter and pledge card, think about what God has given you, and what God calls you to do with all those gifts and blessings. Don’t bury them, share them and watch them multiply.

Pumpkin Spice Latte as Spiritual Exercise

One of the comments I keep hearing over and over the past few days is how nice the weather is. It seems we all get tired of the hot and dry of summer long before it's actually over. With the recent rain and cooler temperatures, it is finally beginning to feel like fall, for which many of us are extremely grateful.

I love the crunch of leaves, the cool breezes, and, of course, the signature drink of the season, the pumpkin spice latte. Nothing takes the chill off like that distinctive smell and wonderful taste. When I am in a bad mood, or things are not going so well (as was the case when trying to write this article), a PSL often does the trick.

As we move into fall, I tend to agree with Guy Davies, who writes the Exiled Preacher blog. In his most recent installment, he writes,

"Gratitude is the antidote for grumpiness. People who think that the world owes them a living are always quick to complain about anything and everything. You know the sort. But the fact is that whatever our problems in life, we have a lot for which to be thankful. We live in a beautiful part of the country with green fields, rolling hills and trees decked in their autumn hues. Our local shops are packed with plentiful supplies or food and drinks. It’s easy to take these things for granted. But a moment’s thought should make us grateful for rather than grumpy about our lot in life."

Some of the Psalms in the Bible are full of exuberant thanks to God for his goodness in creating this world and so richly providing for our needs. Psalm 65 pictures valleys clothed with grain shouting for joy. If the very fields proclaim God’s praise, then we should also thank him everything that  comes to us from his hands. 

Psalm 65 also speaks of God providing atonement for our transgressions. That was the gift that cost God the most to give. He sent his Son the Lord Jesus Christ into our world of selfishness and ingratitude to die on the cross for our sins. Through faith in Jesus we receive God’s offer of forgiveness and the gift of eternal life. What a giving and forgiving God! Recognizing that whatever we may possess is a gift from God should make us grateful to him and generous towards others who are in need.  

In college, I was part of a production of Godspell, a Broadway musical in which Steven Schwartz took some classic Christian hymns and repurposed them in his offbeat look at the life of Jesus. One of my favorites is the harvest hymn, All Good Gifts, which speaks of gratitude to God for all the goodness he has given us, and I assume that includes pumpkin spice lattes.

All good gifts around us

Are sent from heaven above,
Then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord
For all His love. 

The Kingdom of God

On Sunday, I asked the congregation a question: What is the essence of Jesus’ teaching? If you could boil it down to a single word or phrase, what would it be?

We had several good answers. Some thought it should be love, or mercy, or grace. Perhaps it was the Great Commandment to love your neighbor as yourself. While these are all good, and Jesus certainly talked about them all, none captures the true essence of his message.

Our text for the morning was from Matthew 4:17, where Matthew says, “From that time Jesus began to proclaim, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’” In the gospel of Luke, Jesus says, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent,” (4:43). In Jesus’ own words, then, the reason he was sent was to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God.

That is surprising news to many people. They understand the message of Jesus, and the gospel itself in very different terms. Lots of folks never get past the “Repent” to the good news. But even more than that, Jesus’ focus is on the kingdom. That is the essence of his message, and the reason he was sent was to proclaim it.

If that is what Jesus is all about, why don’t we hear more about it, and what, exactly does he mean by the kingdom of God?

It is a sad commentary on Christian teaching and discipleship that we don’t spend more time teaching and preaching the message that Jesus did. Just a quick reading of the gospels reveals that Jesus talked about the kingdom over and over again.

What is the kingdom like? It is like a sower who goes forth to sow seed; it is like a costly pearl; it is like a mustard seed. How do you get into the kingdom? You sell all you have and give to the poor; you have to become like a little child. Is the kingdom that big a deal? You bet it is! It would be better to cut off your hand or poke out your eye than not to get in at all.

Bible scholar John Bright said, “So paramount was the notion of the Kingdom of God in the mind of Jesus that one can scarcely grasp his meaning at all without some understanding of it.” If we don’t understand the kingdom, we can’t understand Jesus, and if we don’t understand Jesus, what kind of followers are we?

It is my goal, over the next several weeks, to try to understand the kingdom of God better, and to share my insights with all of you. I am going to sift through the gospel of Matthew and find all the places where Jesus says things like, “The kingdom of heaven is like…” There are over 25 of them! In those passages he explains the kingdom in some detail. Don’t you want to know what he says? I do.

I hope that as you make your plans for the fall, you will include spending time in worship, so we can look at these passages together. Jesus had a lot to say about the kingdom, and I know I have a lot to learn. Let’s learn how to live in the light of God’s kingdom together.

Did Jesus Preach the Gospel?

This past week, I had the privilege of attending a conference in Dallas with about 1500 Presbyterian pastors and elders. One of the reasons I attend these conferences is because I find them both challenging and inspirational, and this year was no exception.

The main speaker was a pastor and writer from Australia, the Land Down Under, and some of the things he said certainly turned some of my traditional thinking on its head. For instance, he challenged us with the question, Did Jesus ever preach the Gospel?

My initial reaction was that the question was absurd. Of course Jesus preached the Gospel! What else would he preach, and what else did he come for? As the speaker unpacked his thoughts, I began to understand what he meant.

Many of us tend to narrow the gospel down to the limited understanding of personal, individual salvation. Don’t get me wrong; I think that is a very important part of the Gospel message, but sometimes we talk and act like it’s the only part. I believe that Jesus died a sacrificial and atoning death, and was raised by God to live again. I believe that faith in that event is crucial for personal salvation. Jesus paid the price for my sins, and everybody else’s. But is that all there is to the Gospel message? If it is, you can see the point that Jesus never really preached that message. That is the post-Easter message. Except for intimate meetings with his disciples, Jesus’ preaching was prior to his death and resurrection.

Admittedly, Jesus did talk about his own death, but mostly he was either not believed or misunderstood. The idea of substitutionary atonement doesn’t figure high in the public ministry of our Lord. But if Jesus didn’t preach what we normally consider the gospel message, what did he preach?

A thorough study of the Gospels quickly reveals that Jesus’ message was primarily about the Kingdom of God. According to Mark, in 1:14 (as well other gospel texts, MT 4:17) the essence of Jesus’ message was, “The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe the good news.” So the good news, the Gospel, is that the Kingdom of God has come near, it has arrived!

That thought challenged me to think differently about the gospel message. What does it mean for the Kingdom of God to be here, among us? How should we live and act as citizens of that kingdom?

As I said, these conferences are both challenging and inspirational. The challenge for me was this new way of looking at the gospel message, and doing so has inspired me to work on a new series of sermons for this fall that looks at the message of Jesus, the nearness of the Kingdom of God, and how we can and should live in its light.

As you make your plans for the fall, I hope you will include this study on the Kingdom preaching of Jesus. I think it will be a good one.

What is Our Church's Attitude?

Last week I was at a presbytery gathering, and one of my pastoral colleagues said, “Well, now that you have been in Sand Springs for over a year, are you starting to get some real ministry done?”

I have to admit that I was a little taken aback, and didn’t quite know what to say. I wanted to say, “Starting to? We have been doing some great ministry for quite some time!” But as soon as I thought it, I wondered if it was true.

Sure, we have done some great things; our worship attendance numbers are up, giving has been up, even through the hot summer months, Bible school was incredible, we have people involved in weekly Bible study, we are reaching out to our local community and overseas in mission. These are all laudable accomplishments, and I am proud that we are doing them.

It’s just that sometimes I wonder about the attitude we bring when we come to the church. It is so hard not to see church as just one more in a list of things to do, along with sports, yard work, and summer vacations. Who has time for it all?  Sometimes church attendance ends up at the bottom of our priority lists.

In some ways the church is like a business; there are bills to be paid, customers to reach, and services to render. I know more than a few pastors who think of themselves as spiritual CEOs.

Jack Rogers in his book, Claiming the Center, observes that it has only been in recent history that the church has become so corporate-minded. As late as the 1800s, the Presbyterian Church had no national staff or program. It has only been as the church has entered the twentieth century that “churches adopted the organizational model of corporate bureaucracy,” (p. 48). At its height in the 1950s, the journal Presbyterian Life had more subscribers than Newsweek. This model began to break down in the 1960s when the national church leadership became less in tune with its constituents in the pew. The Presbyterian Church has not had a year of net gain in membership since.

The church is not a business, and when we think of it in that way, we misunderstand the very nature of what it means to be the Body of Christ. The church is a spiritual community. As Christ’s body we grow, we heal, we support one another, and we feed one another. That’s a whole different ball game.

There are so many habits and attitudes we hold, some of them without even realizing we have them. I love the J. B. Phillips translation of Romans 12:2 where he says, “Don’t let the world squeeze you into its mold.” How often do we uncritically accept the things that the world and the culture around us says, never stopping to consider how it may be undermining the work of God in the church?

One of my pastor friends made reference this week to the fact that so many of our churches are inwardly focused. We get so caught up in our own needs and desires that we forget the primary job of the church – to go out into the world and make disciples.

Next week, I will be attending a pastor’s conference for a few days (don’t worry, I’ll be back by Sunday) that is looking at this very thing. The conference is entitled, “From Consumerism to Community,” and I hope to bring back some ideas how we can live the life Christ has called us to in the way he has called us to live it.