I’m Pro-Choice and Pro-Hope

Today marks the anniversary of Roe v Wade, and while blogs prevail on such a day as this that seek to reinforce one’s views, I’d like to add to the mix a bit and prayerfully not get lost in the noise.

I know what you’re thinking, “Todd is Pro-Choice?” Seems odd for a pastor in a conservative congregation to think in this way. Let me explain.

Today was a great day. My wife and I are expecting our fourth child. It was not a child that was planned. Very early in our marriage we suffered the loss of a miscarriage. It took years and years before we could actually have a child. It was a lot of heartbreak as the months just kept rolling by with hope in our hearts and tears upon our cheeks because it always resulted in the same way…we would have to wait. Then, one night, we took yet another test, and finally…we were going to be parents! Tears rolled down our cheeks for a far different reason. It was a memorable night, and our daughter is now 5 and hilarious and beautiful and a joy to have around. Our hope had been, and is continuing to be realized as we enjoy life with her.

We weren’t sure if she would be the only one. We knew to be content, but we still hoped. It didn’t take nearly as long the second time. Just 16 months later we welcomed our first son, and a couple years later our second son. Neither planned for, both surprises, but both welcomed just as much as our first.

To be quite honest…we thought we were done.

With our hands full, not thinking we could handle anything else, then came another pregnancy test. A fourth?!?! Really?!?! What are we going to do? We’re really not that good at this. I’m thankful that babies take 9 months before they’re born. We need that time to prepare and recover from the shock.

This morning, we saw a specialist in order to have an ultrasound. I saw my child move his/her (yeah…we like to be surprised with the gender) mouth, arms, feet, and shift around in the womb. It finally made sense. Though I’ve been looking forward to the arrival of this child, there’s been some apprehension. But sitting in that room looking at that screen I saw a life that I could never have imagined. I have no idea what this child will be like, and I can’t wait to find out.

So, then, why do I say I’m Pro-Choice? It’s not what you’re thinking. What I’ve been realizing over the past 7 months is that this child is God’s choice. He is the one knitting this life together in my wife’s womb. He knows who we are, and He has chosen to bring us the miracle of this life. It is His choice to bring breath into this child’s lungs. It is His call to place this baby into our family. God has decided for this child to be raised in California with three older siblings and a pastor for a dad. And it is God’s choice to bring this little one into His eternal family. And this is the same choice He has made for our sake. Seeing the joy that each of those has brought us, we can stand confident in the wisdom, foresight, and choice of God. He has a perspective on our lives that far supersedes our own. It’s this divine perspective that is at work for each of us, including my fourth.

If you’re someone who is considering an abortion, I get it. You don’t feel ready. You don’t feel that it’s the right timing. You don’t think that you can afford it financially or emotionally. You’re too young, too old, or too busy. I get it. Now, to clarify, I never considered aborting this child. He/she is a human life. But the worrisome heart has been there. I’ve done the panic-mode thing. Can we really pull this off? Will I go insane? How broke does God really want me to be? Will I ever get to sleep?

Still wondering what your choice should be? If you are, I’d like to invite you on a journey with me and my family. Together, we can join in the adventure of what our good Father has chosen to bring us. He chose to create life in your womb and my wife’s. It’s the same heart and mind that chose to bring you forgiveness and eternal life. A choice made by sending Jesus to take our place upon the cross. God has chosen you to be His child, and He has chosen you to be this child’s parent. Both lives are full of challenges, and both are full of inexplicable joy because God is far more loving and wise than we are. This is why His choice matters.

So, yeah, I’m Pro-Choice. Pro-God’s Choice. And I’m Pro-Hope. Because as I consider the life that we’ll meet in a couple of months, I hope that this gift will be given to me from the Lord, and it is exactly what our family needs…and we are exactly what this child needs. My hope is that the day of this child’s birth will be a tiring, emotional, and joyful beginning to an adventure created by God before time.

So join me in saying that God’s choice matters more than ours in salvation and every matter of life, and let’s enjoy the adventure that is to come.

 

the worst theological illustration ever

Have you ever had someone try to make a point, and it you are wholly distracted by either their imagery or overt narcissistic display of “knowledge”? For the most part, this was my Seminary experience, and sadly describes some of my engagements with other pastors and church leaders. Many making points…few sharing sacrificial, humble love.

I write these words not as a reaction from a particular interaction, but an observation on the posture of many in the church (even myself, at times). I pray it moves us all to repent and submit to the all powerful and loving God.

First, a little background. I currently serve in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. It’s a relatively conservative church body that holds tightly to it’s traditions and doctrinal views. For the most part, this is refreshing, healthy, and reassuring…sometimes it’s harmful and distracting. I love my church body and the doctrine which it holds tightly to, but there has been some things troubling me lately.

Let me start with a recent afternoon I spent with my family. I ate a burrito…a delicious pork burrito at one of my favorite local places. Let’s just say that shortly after…it didn’t sit well. I’m not sure if it was something that I ate earlier or the burrito itself, but my stomach was not loving me. It made me think of a common illustration that gets thrown around from time to time amongst my brothers and sisters in the LCMS. It goes something like this.  In regards to others who have a high view of the Holy Spirit, there is this joke that we can’t be sure that what we’re “feeling” or “experiencing” is the Holy Spirit speaking to us “or just a bad burrito”. Whenever I heard this, I always just assumed that it was coming from guys who didn’t like Mexican food, because I’ve never had a bad burrito in my life (not even the one that didn’t agree with me). They’re delicious and I’m pretty sure I’ll be eating them after the Lord returns. But the more I thought about it, I realized that there is a deeper fear happening hear than the fear of Carnitas.

What I realize now is that, other than some of my brethren having poor taste in food, there is a distinct fear of the Spirit of God and what He could actually pull off here in the world.

And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him, said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.” And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.” And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” -Matthew 17:14-20

We fear God’s Spirit so much that we try to minimize His importance, power, and work in our lives. Jesus says that if we have faith in Him (a gift of God’s Spirit), we can move mountains. This phrase is often reduced to metaphor…but what if it isn’t? What if God can move actual mountains through us? What if faith in Jesus can lead you and I to do such powerful things, that we once called them ridiculous? His power is made perfect in our weakness, after all. The God that exists in the Bible works in powerful yet peculiar ways. He speaks to people through a donkey and a burning bush, He sends angels to fight battles, becomes a man, forgives sins, raises the dead, heals the sick, casts out demons, and rescues men from a fiery furnace. His Holy Spirit leads mere men to plant churches, convert thousands at a time, become martyrs, heal diseases, and allow an elderly couple to not just start a family…but start a nation. All of these things were considered unfathomable…until God shows up in the story.  When God shows up they not only become plausible…they become an odd sort of normal. It’s the sort of power that, may not lead a donkey to prophesy to us…but He may move us to forgive someone who deeply hurt us. God may move a racist to repent, or a teenager to love and respect their parents, or an addict to lose their craving for just one more. The Holy Spirit has the power to move the many mountains we face, and God likes for things to look impossible from our perspective…it’s so that he can remain God.

Before I get too far, I want to say this again…I really do love our church’s doctrine. I became LCMS because of it’s love for Scripture and for the sufficiency of the cross, but I’ve noticed that the implementation of that doctrine is quite poor. We always seem to begin the implementation with the premise that everyone else is an idiot.  We change lines of hymns because there is the slightest chance that it could be misunderstood (not because the line contains falsehood). We correct people who speak of God because it doesn’t fit with our jargon. We write off God himself and claim that someone ate a bad burrito because it doesn’t look like the God which we have lovingly paper trained. The traditional church has attempted to castrate the Holy Spirit, and the modern church has attempted to Photoshop him just so that we can take and understand what He has to say.  Either way…we have a hard time with God working outside of what we expect and have “always known”.

It all boils down to this…you and I…we’ve all got a low view of the Holy Spirit.

“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” -John 3:8

God is up to something and it is always big and weird. There’s a reason why crowds often turned on Jesus.  He works in ways that make us entirely uncomfortable. Are we ready for a God who does miracles? What about a God who converts a crowd with just one simple, poorly crafted witness of someone who isn’t clergy? What about a church that, instead of doing a capital campaign to expand ministry…they just pray…and that’s it…and it’s successful? What about a worship service that has no European roots? In a church that lifts high the mysteries of the sacraments, the significance of being “saved by grace through faith”, and the comforting beauty of Sola Fide, Sola Gratia, and Sola Scriptura…are we ready for a transcendent God to work in ways that are not our ways even though every single aspect of our theology suggests that He will? It’s time we see that reducing others’ interactions with God as a case of mistaken identity is really just the divisive work of Satan himself. Assuming that you’re the only one in the room who understands the Holy Spirit is really just an invitation to be humbled by the blowing wind of the Spirit who chooses to use someone else and not you.

So here’s my confession…I’ve actually used this illustration before, and, now…I repent. I was only trying to put others down, instead I should have been trying to lift them up in love. Let’s leave the burrito alone, because God’s ways are much better than my own, and His work is, though, weird at times…if it lead Jesus to Calvary…it’s exactly the sort of weird that I need.

53

This past weekend, I went to the Justice Conference in downtown Los Angeles. Matters of justice have always (imperfectly) been near to my heart, and a longing for a better world is something that I crave. The time that I spent in that theater hearing speaker after speaker proclaim God’s heart for the poor, enslaved, hurting, broken, and cast aside was both heart wrenching and inspiring. From MLK’s daughter, Bernice King, to theologian NT Wright, to people like Bryan Stevenson who serves with the Equal Justice Initiative, there certainly wasn’t a lacking of insight into matters of how we, as God’s people, can bring a voice to the voiceless.

One of the presenters was a man named Justin Dillion who was representing a group called Made In A Free World. He works with slavery around the world…yes…that kind of slavery. Slavery didn’t end around the world when Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation…in fact, it didn’t even end slavery here in the States. It just went underground.

Dillon shared with us that he and his team have been putting in a lot of work into ending slavery worldwide. One of the tools they’ve created is a survey for you and I to discover how many slaves work for us. Now, before you click away, Dillon even admits “The world doesn’t need another bummer calculator” referring to their, well…their bummer calculator. His point is this, they are not trying to guilt us into donating to their cause. They are not attempting to exploit the starving child in Africa like those pathetic commercials you see late at night. Rather, they want to build awareness to help you and I to reconsider the choices we make when we buy things, and to build awareness so that we might start looking past those enslaved as people made in the image of God, just like us.

So, here’s where the rubber meets the road. Here’s a vid with a little more insight in what they do, and below will be a link for you to take the survey. Myself, and my kids (I couldn’t figure out how to factor in my wife)…we have 53 slaves working for us. As responsible as I attempt to be with my purchases, this is heart breaking. But as Justin Dillon said, this isn’t just to bum us out. Instead, it’s an attempt to educate us on the reality of the situation, hopefully give us a holy disgust (as God has), and it’s a call to action. What can you and I do to stop people thinking that they can own people? Well, this website is a good start, and then I urge you to be praying about it. Pray for the slaves and their masters, and that the freedom which Christ brings us be made a reality for 27 million people across the world.

http://slaveryfootprint.org/

Here’s a link that I didn’t put in the original post. This is another great organization trying to create awareness on slavery. http://www.enditmovement.com/learn.php

Balloon Ships Make Terrible Homes

Last year, Feilx Baumgartner set a world record for highest skydive (over 24 miles above the earth’s surface). Tens of millions of people watched the clip of this breathtaking event.

To one up themselves, GoPro released a new video this week that has drawn the same sort of attention that the first video did. Watching Baumgartner step out onto that platform left, even this guy who isn’t afraid of heights, with a pounding heart. I was on the edge of my seat. It was the exact same event, yet, I was just as engaged as I was when I saw the first video.

This time around, something new stuck out to me. It was Baumgarter’s words as he stepped out onto that platform, “I’m coming home.” It was certainly meant to be inspiring, and it was. It helped move us out onto that platform, as he felt so far away from earth, and as he gazed down upon the vast deserts of New Mexico…even that felt more like home than the silent stillness of space.

Do you ever feel this way? Often times we’re surrounded by people that we feel don’t get us. Whether at work or school, or even sometimes at home, we can feel that we’re not at home. It could be as simple as people don’t share our affinity for the arts or a certain sports team, but it can often run deeper than that. Sometimes life can feel like you’re just on the worst date ever…where you know from the gate that this isn’t going to go anywhere.

There are two reasons I felt nervous when Baumgardner’s stepped out onto that platform: 1) That’s super high up…what if his parachute doesn’t work? and 2) I’ve felt that separation before…that distance from home can feel vast which means that the journey will be brutal…potentially even fatal.

Now, to clarify, I’m not speaking of heading back to the city where I grew up. I’m speaking of the distance we often feel from God. It, too, can possess a vastness that seems insurmountable. Standing on the precipice of our relationship with God, peering down into what real life looks like…life with God…life without the protection of material to hide our real selves from the “elements”…where we can be our “real selves”. This view brings butterflies in ways that can be hard to handle, because we know that on our own…we won’t make it if we approach God’s holy throne (think Baumgarter without the fancy space suit nor a parachute…the results look pretty much the same and they aren’t pretty). That feeling of distance and being out of place is actually a good one, because it reminds us that we walk around with this barrier between us and our Creator. We look to find love and acceptance in the hearts of our fellow man, but he is wholly incapable of loving us perfectly. The constant need for him to show us grace and vice versa is merely a reminder that something just isn’t right…he is not my creator…I’m not fully known in his presence.

Perfect love and acceptance can only be found in the arms of the one true God. He created you in His image, so He knows you forwards and backwards…he gets you more than you get you. His presence is the only place we’ll actually be satisfied because we are understood and truly belong.

“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility…” Ephesians 2:13-14

Still feeling a separation from God…like He’s too far off? Maybe you’re a prodigal child who now realizes that your choices in life haven’t brought you joy, and that only God possesses truly satisfying joy…but peering down off that platform…it just feels like it’s not worth it. Our little balloon ship ain’t so bad and it could make a nice home for a while.  We live life torn between living in our sin (balloon ship…separated from real life), and living where we were created to live…in God’s kingdom…washed clean by Jesus (earth…where we can have abundant life). This tension keeps us on the platform twiddling our thumbs hoping for a third option that will never come.  Well, if you sense a separation from God…good…that’s because you, like me, are a sinner. But don’t let the fear of dying scare you…Jesus specializes in resurrection. He brings us off the platform down safely to our home…in God’s kingdom. It may seem like a scary leap…and it will be full of uncertainty and risk…but just like Baumgartner saw…life away from home is no life at all.

This is why I run from tigers

This morning, I was playing with my kids, when a familiar game arose.  I call it, “It’s a Tiger!”  (Inspired, no doubt by one of their favorite books of the same name). It’s a borderline chaotic game interwoven with youthful imagination that challenges animal-human social dynamic.  

That is…is a game where my kids pretend that a tiger is outside.

A bit of background…I have a 3 year old girl (Arianna), and a 2 year old son (Miles).  They are polar opposites in their personalities, but play fairly well together (as well as brothers and sisters do, I guess) and this is their favorite game (for now).  At some point during the day, one of them will walk up to anyone (typically my wife or me, but it can often be whoever is closest to them), and they will say something like “We’ve gotta hide!  It’s a tiger!  He’s over there and he’s opening the door!”  The animal always changes (it’s often a gorilla or a bear, too), and the reaction to the animal always changes.  Sometimes we run and hide, sometimes we offer them coffee or tea.  Sometimes there’s a bunch of animals, sometimes there’s only one.  

You get the point…remember…I said chaos, right?

What struck me was that they always want to invite people in to their imaginative play.  It’s never exclusive, and it seems that whoever gets invited in, they always wants to engage in this ridiculous game.  It got me thinking a lot about faith.  Often, in the church we get frustrated that our friends and acquaintances don’t accept our invitations to a worship service, Bible Study, or event at our churches.  In the church, we analyze this interaction to death, and our results are typically the same two things: 1) Change how we do things to adapt to culture or 2) Change the people to think/talk/act like us so that they can understand Jesus (i.e. Colonial Missiology).  This is often a false dichotomy that paralyzes our ability to share the good news.  The problem isn’t how we do things, or how “they” do things (those are secondary or even tertiary issues for the church).  The solutions are not found in style or even in the material.  The solution is found in one thing…joy.  When I play “It’s a Tiger!” with my kids, I enter in on their turf, with a language I don’t understand, and rules that I’m not convinced anyone has laid out, and I do all of it willingly because I see the joy they are experiencing and I want to be a part of it.  They invite in a way that makes their joy hopefully contagious, and who doesn’t want real joy, right?  Maybe people refuse our invitations because our joy doesn’t appear to be contagious…or maybe it just doesn’t come off as joy at all.

I don’t have any fancy formulaic solutions for the church, but I do have a few questions that I feel we all must wrestle with, namely this one, “Do my friends/family see my joy in Christ in a way that they want to be a part of it?”  If “No”, the solution, I’m convinced, will not be found in style.  The solution will be found in the truth of the gospel which may challenge our own faith in ways that maybe we’re not comfortable with.  This is a challenge we must all face.

“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” John 15:11

Is your joy full or are you still lacking?  Jesus doesn’t offer us “half joy”…it’s always complete…it’s all that we need.  He has forgiven your sins.  You are now reconciled with God.  You are given perfect freedom, perfect love, perfect peace, and perfect joy.  Maybe you don’t fully understand what it all means.  That’s okay.  God leaves room for mystery.  Just don’t forget that all of that is yours…for free…no hidden charges.  My encouragement for all of us is to live in that joy and invite others into it so that they can discover the sheer joy of salvation.  

Giving Tuesday

In the overly branded culture we live in, the days leading up to Christmas, once called Advent, now is full of various days all containing their own little nuance, which supposably prepares people to celebrate Christmas.  From Black Friday, to Small Business Saturday, to Cyber Monday, capitalism has created all sorts of holidays (holy-days) for people to celebrate (worship?).  Today, which is no longer the Tuesday after the 1st Week of Advent (way too wordy).  It is now “Giving Tuesday”, which is the non-profit world’s response to those other high holy days.  This brand was birthed just a couple of years ago, but has some major supports and partners.  Giving Tuesday’s website state that the day exists to have a day to ” kick off the giving season”.  This seems to be a very good organization who simply wants to help out 501(c)3’s do their thing, and I get that.  I’m a part of an organization that relies upon a boost in giving at the end of the year to try and make budget.  Their goal is quite helpful to many amazing non-profits and even a bit refreshing amidst the constant barrage of messages telling us to buy/consume during this season.  

But as helpful as it is, and as much as I have love for the non-profit world out there, I think that Giving Tuesday reflects something quite disturbing about our culture.  Apparently, the only day of the year when we can get behind generosity is after we’e kept our capitalistic structure in tact by spending money we don’t even have on things that we’ll just throw away in a year (or less).  It’s like telling my kids that they can have dinner after I eat all of my food, borrow some food from next door on credit, and if I have a few crumbs left over…it’s all there’s.  Then we’ll throw a party, get a hashtag trending about it, and have plenty of celebrities endorse me, and call it #GenerousDadDay.

It’s almost silly if it wasn’t so sad.   

The only reason I bring this up, is certainly not to take money away from worthy organizations (please give!).  Rather, I bring this up, because Giving Tuesday is fine, but it isn’t generosity, because it’s not sacrificial…it’s leftovers…table scraps, and that’s how we tend to treat those in need.  We set aside a day to give to those who don’t have but only after we’ve taken care of our own.  Jesus taught about our wealth in a number of ways, but the most profound and simplest was this “Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Luke 12:33-34)

As a culture (for those in and outside of God’s Kingdom), one of our biggest struggles is that our treasure is here on this earth, and that is evident in when this day takes place.  If it took place before Thanksgiving/Black Friday/Cyber Monday, it probably wouldn’t have gained any momentum because we crave stuff…we’re addicted to it.  Granted, we claim that the things purchased during this past weekend we’re mostly presents for others, but I’d argue back that they were almost entirely a pursuit of things that “moth and rust destroy” and had little to do with generosity and more about building up our personal earthly kingdoms.  

So, here’s where I offer a totally different alternative to Giving Tuesday, right?  No.  I have no website, hashtag, picket sign, petition, or celebrity to help me out nor do I plan on enlisting any of those tools.  Instead, I say, give to a worthy organization today.  The only thing I ask is that you prayerfully examine your own heart and ask why the “season of giving” has to come after the “season of buying”.  The answer is found in what this season is all about…the coming of the Christ child (the Advent of our Lord)…the one who defined generosity at the cross.

Great people to give money to:
Lutheran World Relief
Food For The Poor
or you can just give to your local church who is looking to make an eternal difference in your community

8 Steps Towards Showing Christ’s Love To Your Neighbors On Halloween

Many don’t know this, but Halloween really just means “All Hallows Eve”.  It’s, historically, church holiday which took place the evening before All Saints’ Day (the day the church remembered those who died in the faith and praised Jesus for their life well lived).  At one time it had a similar vibe to Christmas Eve…a holiday we still celebrate despite the hijacking attempts from culture.  Halloween isn’t a holiday to run away from, rather, it’s just time that we, in the church, reframe how we engage others on this night.

This year, my church will be hosting a “Trunk or Treat” on Halloween.  It’s a free event that we’re doing as a gift to our community, because many in our area don’t live in a neighborhood that is conducive for Trick or Treating.  This is our first year doing this, so we’re not sure what we’re getting ourselves into, but we’re extremely excited for the chance to love our neighbors in this way.

We also know that many of our people won’t be joining us because they want to love their neighborhoods on that night…and we’re very excited for them to do so.  We want people in their neighborhoods, loving their geographical neighbors and blessing children who come to their door on Halloween.  For those who are choosing that option, I’ve created the following 8 Steps Towards Showing Christ’s Love To Your Neighbors On Halloween.  These are all simple and practical, and also viewed as a starting point.  You know your neighborhood and what they need.  Hope these are helpful for you as you get set to meet/reconnect with many of your neighbors. 

Step 1: Pray and ask God how you can be a blessing to your neighbors on Halloween (and everyday).   

Step 2: Buy LOTS of candy.  Kids come to the door for candy…real candy.  Bypass the cheap stuff and give abundantly.  You can choose whether or not to put a Bible verse on the candy you hand out.  If you do, choose something about how they are loved by God…not judged by God.  Avoid giving out tracts, toothbrushes, or fruit.  They will all get trashed pretty quickly…probably in your front yard, too. 

Step 3: Decorate without being scary.  If it’s over the top, you may miss out on little children coming to your door that night and, well, ever.  Decorate without it being a slaughterfest.  Draw the line well before you think a little one would be scared.  It’s important that your neighbors know that you are hospitable.  Hospitality is a gift of the Holy Spirit after all.

Step 4: Pray for your neighborhood.  If you know your neighbors names and anything about their lives, pray for them.  Also pray for the neighbors you haven’t met yet.  

Step 5: Consider opening up your home for more than just a candy station.  Cook a big pot of chili and invite your neighbors before that night to pop in and grab a bowl.  You could also set up a table on the sidewalk (or in your home) with hot cocoa.  Especially in some areas where it’s cold, this can be a huge blessing to Trick or Treaters.  

Step 6: Engage the kids at your door.  This is always hard especially when a bunch show up, but do your best to ask them about their costume, and try to get to know them in at least 2 simples questions like “What’s your name?”, “Why did you choose to be a _______?”, or if it’s a group, then ask “How do you guys all know each other?”  Celebrate their creativity, compliment their work, and thank them for coming over and making your night more fun.

Step 7: Greet the parents who walk with the kids and introduce yourself if you don’t know them already.  They are your neighbors, too.  If you can, ask where they live and thank them for taking the kids around.  Offer them some candy, too…because, hey…you know they want some!

Step 8: When the night is over and you see your neighbors around in the days following, make sure to greet them and keep the conversation going.  Stronger neighborhoods are kindling for the Spirit’s work.  After all, the better you know your neighbors, the better you can show them Christ.  

Have a Happy Halloween, Everyone!

I rejoice in autumn

This past weekend marks the “official” close to summer.  All kids are back in school, pools are closed, and vacations have ended.  The skies of of the road trip, full of optimism and adventure are replaced with the skies of a morning commute…full of routine and familiarity (and occasionally resentment).  The smells of camp fires, mosquito spray, grilling, and the intoxicating ocean air are all but a faint memory that waits to be rekindled next summer when time affords.  The memories shared this summer will most likely fade only to be remembered after you upload your photos onto your computer.  Summer is an often romanticized season full of trips to the beach, the ballpark, and spending extra time with people you care for.  This is because it’s the season where we are given a break from normalcy and permitted to enter into a paradoxical season of rest and adventure.  Regardless, at this point we crave just one more vacation, one more s’more, and one more sandcastle.  

In our family, the rhythms of summer aren’t as deeply imbedded since our oldest just started preschool and we live in Southern California.  We have potential for sunburns, trips to the beach, and grilling any day of the year.  The craving of summertime together as a family is more found in my memories that my present, though this summer we had a great time hitting up local beaches, the Santa Barbara zoo, seeing family, and running an art camp for kids.  Summer is there, but certainly not as pronounced as it is in those who are entangled in the calendars of our educational system.  My eyes were opened to my slightly skewed perspective as I recently gathered with some friends.  We sat down to do some planning for our church, and I noticed that there was a different approach to things in the fall.  There was an openness to more, less guarding of schedules that await the impromptu, and even a subtle sigh of relief to enter into autumn’s structure.  

As we say goodbye to the August’s insufferable heat, we exclaim “I need a vacation from my vacation!”  And we’re left with the warm days of early September to taunt us as we sit at desks and return back to normalcy.  

At this point in the year we have a choice…to mourn or rejoice.  We can be frustrated that we have to go back to homework, bosses, less time catching up, and much less fresh fruit, or we can embrace that which is ahead.  Our choice resides solely in our trust in Jesus.  In the 3rd Commandment (4th for my Evangelical friends) God commands us to Sabbath.  Every week we should set aside one day where we should not work.  This is the rhythm God established for life at creation.  We’re not built to be 24/7 people.  We’re created for rest.  The purpose for God inserting this rhythm is multifaceted.  It exists to protect worship (we now have no excuse to step away from worship), but wrapped up in all of that is that God is shifting our perspective on life…a perspective where He is God, and you and I are not.  It’s a perspective where we enjoy all that He has given us.  We need the day off so that we remember why we do what we do.   We need the day off because otherwise we might think that we are God…holding the whole world in our hands.  We work and go to school to support our family and to grow as a person, but ultimately, we go for the God who created us and redeemed us and will come again to recreate us…to honor Him with our gifts and to obey His calling to work in our vocations…to keep Him as God and avoid the dangers of self worship.  

Summer can be Sabbath, too.  It’s not just Sabbath…it’s Jubilee where we celebrate on a grander scale all that God has done in our lives.  It’s the rest we need once a year to recalibrate our minds and hearts to God as Creator, Redeemer, and Friend.  We were created for this, too…to rest…rejoice…discover.

So, don’t mourn the adventure of summer…rejoice in autumn, because it is in autumn that you enter back into the work that you were created for.  You were created for more than making s’mores and sandcastles.  You were created to be a student, an engineer, an artist, an IT guy, or a teacher.  You can find joy in what happens as Labor Day ends, because the optimism of the real you appears, and the goodness of discovering how to use your gifts becomes an adventure that always seems to bear new fruit. 

Autumn begins the season of you living as the real you…the one who is fearfully and wonderfully made…the one who works out his salvation with fear and trembling.  You were given perspective of your calling as you pealed the sun burn from your shoulders…now your healed shoulders exist to carry a burden for your fellow man…the burden that you’ve been created for…the burden you’ve been called to…the burden that was handed down to you by the living God.  It’s not a burden too heavy…it is a light burden.

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” -Matthew 11:28-30  

This is the real you.  Living in the eternal rest given to you by God, and finding joy in the calling you’ve been given.  The familiar awaits.  Meet it as one who has been given earthly rest this summer and eternal rest from Jesus.  

Welcome to autumn….you were created for this.

From Calvary to Stone Mountain

Today marks an historic day in the history of our country…it’s the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech.  This morning, in honor of the day, I thought that I’d sit down and watch Dr. King’s speech again.  Every single time I watch it, I’m moved.  Every single time I hear him quote Amos, I feel like I’m there, even though he spoke those words well before I was even born.  In just 16 brief minutes, King spoke volumes, and as a result, his words are still treasured, and the cause he fought for is still being championed today.

A little background first.  

I grew up in St. Louis, MO.  It’s a funny city.  It’s a Northern Southern city and a Southern Northern city…both mindsets permeate the general consciousness.  Shadows of the Missouri Compromise, the Dred Scott Decision, and countless boycotts and protests of the civil rights movement all helped bring King to that podium on that warm August day in Washington D.C.  

Even today, the civil rights movement is still moving in St. Louis…sadly at times it moves backwards.  

I remember as a child, my grandmother often spoke of King and what life was like when she was a little girl in the city.  She spoke of drinking fountains for “Coloreds” and “Whites”, as well as separate entrances and booths in diners, separate schools, separate neighborhoods, and the constant tension that simmered between races.  It was a tension that I lived in living in one of the few racially mixed sections of the city.  

My high school was fairly equally mixed between black and white, but it was by far the romantic image painted by King in his speech of the young black boys and girls holding hands with white boys and girls (though it was always amusing to see peoples’ responses when there was an interracial couple…it’s amazing how quickly we revert to our honest self in those sorts of moments).  The constant biases and stereotypes that simmered in the hearts and minds of our parents’ generation were handed down to each of us.  That tension had to be resolved amongst us…young, naive, and shaped with the frustrations and biases of our elders…we were knowingly called to engage one another in love regardless of what we’ve been taught to the contrary.   Throughout the hallways we often saw the distrust of both races bear fruit, and though it never manifested itself into any sort of physical violence…the tension was still there and we weren’t sure what to do with it.  Thankfully, we had four years living together, walking together, playing ball together, studying together, and hating dress codes together.  As life was lived together, we began to see each other as more human and less of a stereotype.  

This is probably the most valuable lesson I learned in high school.  The fact that those around me are human just like me, and though the music they listen to, the clothes they preferred, the way they spoke, and other surface things may be different, the longer we spent with each other, tensions subsided as matured relationships and caring dialogue on race began to emerge.  What we learned was just what King dreamt that we would learn.  

Our destinies are tied up together.

As I watched King’s speech again today, one thing stuck out to me.  He understood that in order to live truly free…the sort of freedom that even supersedes the vision of our forefathers…then the “symphony of brotherhood” must be realized.  

Easier said than done.

Many who will celebrate King today won’t realize his faith.  King did what he did, said what he said, and lived how he lived because of Jesus.  He wasn’t a politician, a non-profit organizer, a strong believer in a system of government…King believed in Jesus.  He believed that Jesus died on a cross and rose from the grave on the third day and that that single truth changes everything.  It changed his relationship with the Almighty God, and it changed his relationship with his neighbor.  

Our culture today is one where Scripture is rarely understood, the church is rarely present, and, therefore, our collective hermeneutic is poor at best.  King got it, though.  He didn’t take his experience in the world and impose it on Scripture…rather his faith in Jesus and the Scriptures themselves shaped his view of the world.  That biblical worldview has now shaped our view of the world, because King saw a deep chasm between God’s created world and what man has done with it.  In Scripture we see pictures people from all walks of life loved by God, because each are made in His image, all known by Him, and loved by Him.  In the world…we see hatred, judgment, and violence.

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”  Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (Revelation 7:9-14)

In this great picture of Christ’s return, we see the unity that King was dreaming of.  This picture does not belong to the world and it’s governments, it does not belong to our militaries, nor our celebrities.  It’s a picture that belongs only to Christ.  I love the image that we get here of people praising God from all tribes and all nations.  That unity was not found in any earthly philosophy…it was born out of what verse 14 says “they have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb.”  That is…they have all been forgiven through the work of the cross.  That dreadful night on Calvary proclaimed the sort of freedom that King said would be proclaimed from Stone Mountain.  It was the day of unity for all who have blood in their veins and breath in their lungs.  It was the day that no man or woman could say that they were greater than another because God so loved the whole world and didn’t single any of us out.  It was that day that moved a young preacher to proclaim that some have attempted to destroy and compromise that freedom which was freely given to us.  There were many who wanted to silence the work of King, and his understanding of a loving, unifying, and Almighty Creator God moved Him to stand up for those who were being treated as less than human.  

Those 16 minutes have resonated for 50 years now…but what many don’t see is that there was a greater resonance which sounded forth from the lungs of King on that day.  It didn’t come from him, though.  Rather, it was being spoken through Him.  The freedom he envisioned ringing forth from the Rockies to Lookout Mountain rang forth originally from the top of Calvary…the place where we can find unity, freedom, grace, and truth…the place where everyone of us should bow down.  

I still fight my own biases and temptations to judge and stereotype.  Those moments are always moments I attempt to ignore Christ.  King told us to “not be satisfied” with how things are.  The moments that I enjoy the symphony of brotherhood are when I am not satisfied with the way the world is and I am only satisfied with who Jesus is.  We live in a caste system, formal and informal, shaped by our sinful hearts where we look down upon those among us because of the color of others’ skin, the amount of money in their bank account, and the accent of their speech, or their life accomplishments.  

We’ve been persuaded to be satisfied with the lies of Satan that we are better and deserve more.  

In those moments of bias and judgment…I’m thankful for the reminder of my brother in Christ, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., because I’m reminded to not be satisfied until real freedom is realized for all who wash their robes in the blood of Christ when He returns.  That day, freedom will no longer need to ring…because it will have rung…it will simply be fact…and we will be free at last.

the ruins of an ivory tower

Recently, I started realizing something about myself as others spoke to me.  The words spoken to me were inconsequential…and so were the speakers for that matter (at least for this discussion).  Instead, it was the manner in which these words were spoken that opened my eyes.  Without going into detail, I had many speak to me in ways that were rather condescending.  It was like throwing a mirror in my face for words that I’ve said over the years to other people.  I was in a position of knowledge (or, at least, perceived knowledge), and I attempted to posture myself over another in order to not simply refute, but effectively destroy the other person.  I do this a lot…and I’m sorry for any I’ve done this to.

My recent discovery was not just people speaking to me.  Once the eyes were opened, I began to see the subtle but destructive beast of condescension all around me.  It happened across and within generations, genders, ethnicities, and economic levels.  It saw no color, gender, faith, or social status.  What I began to see was this:

Condescension is just another form of judging others.

Here’s the kicker…everyone who spoke to me and around me with flares of superiority and judgmental words were all Christian…every last one of them.

That is not to say that the virus of self importance only infects the casual or fervent pew-sitter…not at all.  My expectations were simply higher of those who claimed to know Christ, so their interactions stuck out to me as they thrust the mirror of the law before me.

Back when I began seminary, excited for what God was going to do with me, I vividly remember one of the faculty members addressing a hall full of new students.  I don’t remember all of his speech, but at one point he referred to Seminary as our “ivory tower experience”.

This reference was meant to be a good thing.

Apparently, he wanted us to embrace being totally right about all things theological.  We were going to be “locked away” for 4 years, studying theology, wrestling with the doctrines of God, and it seemed that we were somehow supposed to think that our thoughts were higher than others’ thoughts in matter of life, God, and spirituality.

I almost dropped out right then and there.

I stuck it out (thankfully), and I realized something along the way…this is how pastors are trained.  We are trained to be “right” in theological disputes  and to defend your rightness with all of our being.  We would often get into heated theological debates around campus, in the classroom, and, sadly, even in blogs as we attempted to squash our theological opponent.  I’m pretty sure that this is close to the standard seminary experience.  Often it wasn’t the content of what was being defended that irked, rather, it was the posture behind it.  It didn’t look like the apostles who fervently proclaimed the simple truth of Jesus Christ risen from the dead.   Instead, it looked more like the talking heads of cable news who liked to puff out their throats like a bullfrog in order to win a debate.

These men are now teaching about life in Christ in the church all over the world.

As a result, we use insults when we should just be listening.  We judge when we should be trying to empathize.  We put ourselves upon the throne that Christ rightly won because it’s easier and it’s what we’ve been taught.  But assuming everyone is an idiot who you have been sent to save is making yourself the Messiah and everyone else your creation…and that’s never a good idea.

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.” (Matthew 7:1-5)

I love this passage because it reminds me that how I judge others, God will use the same measuring stick in His judgment of me.  This doesn’t mean that humility and empathy are an attempt at self-preservation, rather, it’s bringing others the joy of God’s forgiveness that I enjoy daily.  I also love the imagery that Jesus uses with the wood…it’s harsh, but comical at the same time.

What really hits home for me is that final proverb that he closes with, “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.” The pearls he speaks of are God’s people…the ones HE made holy through His grace.  He says to not throw them out to the dogs…or destruction, because they will be destroyed.

When we condescend, we tell others that they are not beautiful pearls, dearly loved by the living God, created with joy, and washed clean by the blood of Jesus.  We’re telling them that they are pig slop…unforgivable…unredeemable…unloved.  The only thing an ivory tower is built for is to be a platform for casting pearls to pigs.

C.S. Lewis describes the posture Jesus describes in this text quite well in his poem “As The Ruin Falls”

As the Ruin Falls

All this is flashy rhetoric about loving you.
I never had a selfless thought since I was born.
I am mercenary and self-seeking through and through:
I want God, you, all friends, merely to serve my turn.

Peace, re-assurance, pleasure, are the goals I seek,
I cannot crawl one inch outside my proper skin:
I talk of love –a scholar’s parrot may talk Greek–
But, self-imprisoned, always end where I begin.

Only that now you have taught me (but how late) my lack.
I see the chasm. And everything you are was making
My heart into a bridge by which I might get back
From exile, and grow man. And now the bridge is breaking.

For this I bless you as the ruin falls. The pains
You give me are more precious than all other gains.

Our planks are large…lumber yard sized, in fact.  And we do not have the power to remove them…but Jesus does, and has chosen to remove our plank and hang upon it that we might live.  This is his grace for you, and this is the life you’ve been given.  Our God is in the business of tearing down ivory tower, and raising us up with His dearly loved, humble, and self sacrificing son, Jesus.