More Faithful

<sup>Phil 3:10-14

10</sup> I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

The most popular course at Harvard University is an introduction to Positive Psychology, taught by Tal Ben Shahar. Positive Psychology is a relatively new discipline (even considering the fact that Psychology, itself, is a fairly new discipline); its purpose is to take the desires of the self-help movement and put behind it the metrics and scientific analysis of actual Psychology. Tal Ben Shahar's class, plainly put, teaches Harvard students how to be happier.

Shahar's thoughts were turned into a best-selling book called Happier. In his book, Shahar makes it clear that the proper goal of someone seeking a more fulfilling life should not involve being happy, it should be focussed on being happier. "Happy," of course, is a destination that denotes a culmination of effort. Being happy means that you don't have to move past tragedies or challenges...you are a bucket of bliss. Of course, most of us aren't so happy as to not have bad days; but, no matter where we are regarding our personal world views, we can all do things to make ourselves happier.

The struggle to keep up our faith walk can be daunting. We all know just how weak we are; and we also all know people who seem to live lives of faith so effortlessly. Some times it feels like we are a novice ice skater; we get several strides together and start settling into a level of comfort...only to be brought down to the ice by a small mis-step. It's very easy to become discouraged and to "hang up the skates" for good.

Like Shahar's premise in Happier, though, perhaps what we need is a minor change in perspective. Instead of being consumed with whether or not we are truly faithful; perhaps we should understand that each moment allows us to be more faithful. It's worth acknowledging that Peter and Paul, the great apostles of the early church, never considered themselves fully mature in the faith. Both of these apostles saw the life of the believer as a walk with God, in which the humble and committed might learn and grow in faith.

Many of us in Midian can relate to the two unnamed disciples walking home to Emmaus after the crucifixion. Both spent time bemoaning the death of Christ to a stranger, speaking endlessly about what a staggering blow their lives had just taken. Of course, what neither knew was that the "stranger" that listened patiently to their grumblings was actually the risen Christ, patiently walking with the disciples, even when they had lost their way.

Becoming more faithful is not measured by distance, it's measured by humility and determination. Sometimes the greatest steps of faith come after the largest falls in our lives (something Paul knew quite a bit about). Becoming more faithful first involves accepting the gift of Christ's love and mercy, and then responding to it in thankfulness. Christ only called imperfect people to follow Him; the imperfections were not important, but the love and commitment to following Him were....and still are, today.

Keeping the Gift in the Closet

<sup>Phil 3:7-16

7</sup> But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in ^[a] Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. ¹⁰ I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

¹⁵ All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. ¹⁶ Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

Every year I become a little bit more of a fan of PBS. Sue me, I'm getting old. What used to look like a non-stop parade of fund-raising telethons and Lawrence Welk re-runs, is now filled with programs that treat me like an adult. The news shows fully explore issues and consider each side; the documentaries make me feel like a better person after I have watched them; the music features are great experiences to have.

Part of my new fondness for PBS is generated by my love for the Antiques Roadshow. Everyone has seen it; but, for the one who may have forgotten, the Roadshow is a traveling band of connoisseurs and antique experts who tell owners about the antiques that they have had in their families for years, as well as the monetary value that each object might fetch at auction. Many folks have a few clues about the history of their pieces; several of them know exactly what type of treasure they've managed to snare. The centerpiece of the show, though, is those guests who have absolutely no clue that they are holding onto an antique of extraordinary value.

Most of these "clueless" guests know that their particular piece has been around for a long time; many know that relatives valued the piece highly. Several of them simply think that the piece is of sentimental value, and that no real tangible value could ever come of it. It is a real pleasure to watch these antique owners' jaws drop when the experts detail the thousands of dollars that their treasures are worth. "I had no idea," many say, "it was just gathering dust in my closet!"

One of the central controversies of the early Church was whether or not Gentiles needed to first become Jews before they could become Christians. The controversy came to a head at the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15), when it was finally decided that Gentiles did not need to first become Jews. We know however, even with this powerful statement by the Council, that the controversy continued.

Several of Paul's epistles are concerned with this controversy; the most obvious one being his letter to the church in Galatia. Paul, a Jew of the highest level of achievement..reckoned "blameless" by the Pharisees, was particularly focused on making sure Gentiles were given the Good News without a meaningless set of pre-requisites. In Philippians, Paul continues his argument, identifying those who would force Gentiles to first become Jews as "those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh."

Why was Paul so strident in his opposition to this practice? The answer is simple: Paul had a front row seat into how useless self-righteous action was in achieving the blessings of God. Paul had followed the laws of Jewish society to the letter, including persecuting members of the Christian faith. What Paul learned through his conversion was that his efforts to be perfect under the Law were pure folly, and that the only way to truly receive God's blessing was as an unmerited gift. Paul knew this to be true, because he was the poster child for it.

Paul was well-aware of the value of this unmerited gift of mercy, and that a lifetime of struggling under the yoke of the Law could never approach its intrinsic value. Paul's life became about loving others, walking humbly, and struggling to serve the will of Christ. Paul admitted that he was not perfect, and mentions throughout the epistles that God works through his weaknesses to promote the faith. These efforts and struggles were not geared towards earning God's love, they were trying to live up to the love that had already been freely given.

In Midian, most everyone has their children baptized. Some folks even drag their children to Sunday School while they are young. As they go through life, many of these children will claim to be Christians, even though their faith sits in their closets...rarely brought out, and of little significance to their daily lives.

Like the lucky few on the Antiques Roadshow, a few of those wayward Christians will have experiences which reveal the value that the long-lost gift of Christ's sacrifice has for them and those around them. Many of them will be shocked that this thing of high value was in their possession all along; they will wonder why they never did anything with it.

None of us have reached our final goals in Midian. As we get up and continue on our journey, though, the most important guidepost we have is a valuable gift that we spend the entire rest of our lives trying to live up to.

Avoiding Human Obstacles

Col 2:18-19
18Let no one who delights in humility and the worship of angels cheat you out of the prize by rejoicing about what he has seen. Such a person is puffed up for no reason by his carnal mind. 19He does not hold on to the head, from whom the whole body, which is nourished and held together by its joints and ligaments, grows as God enables it.

Paul was very concerned about the recruitment of new Christians and the unity of those already in the fold. Throughout his letters, Paul meticulously upbraids wayward disciples who seek personal satisfaction instead of peace in the congregation.

The ones who caused the most disention were often ones who presented themselves as the most pious. Taking on extra discipline, they eschewed followers whose religiosity paled next to their own. Paul had absolutely no patience for such self-righteousness...even (and especially) when it was disguised as simply doing the will of God.

In his letter to the Colossians, Paul warns his followers about such people, who trumpet the unmerited Grace in one sentence, and immediately follow with all of the conditions for real acceptance. In the church of Colossi, that included diet; as several who followed the kosher laws considered themselves more devout than those who did not. It also included those who had perverted humility into a badge of honor for themselves, and would silently lord over those followers who had given up less for the church.

Paul notes that different elements of the body grow at different intervals, by God's good design. He also notes that a focus on the frailties of one particular segment of the body often means that attention is diverted from the head (Christ), where it is rightly focused.

One of the challenges for churches in Midian is truly accepting salvation as a gift of Grace. Some churches require followers to progress through many steps before they can be baptized. Other churches have no such requirements before baptism; but, immediately expect perfect behavior after conversion. A focus on the weakness of other believers is as destructive, in Paul's view, as any sin of the flesh. Helping others to grow does not mean being impatient with weakness; it means providing consistent support and encouragement despite it.

Conversion should turn our attention to the head of the body. We must grow and walk on our journey with Christ in the way that God has put before us. Sometimes that will involve jerks and spurts, other times it will stall. Instead of fbecoming frustrated with our own weaknesses, though, we need to try to keep our focus on the head of the body and have faith in His continuing Grace and work in our lives. One person's walk with God will be different from another's; and that is exactly how God has planned it.

Artificially humble people, who claim to have no weaknesses, are not our friends on this journey; often, they are our greatest obstacles. We can't let their disapproval cause us to despair, or to become bitter. Focusing on the head means walking in love and mercy on our own faith journey...which is also, conveniently, the path of Christian growth.

A Difference of Opinion

Like many others, I became fascinated with the Sundance Channel special, "One Punk Under God;" a documentary account of Jay Bakker (the son of former PTL leaders Jim and Tammy-Faye Bakker) and the church he founded (Revolution Church).

A good bit of the story becomes centered on how it affected Jay's church when he decided to proclaim that homosexuality is not a sin. Specifically, funding started to dry up, speaking invitations started to disappear, and several members left. Internally, he and other leaders of the church began to argue about the issue, and some tension appeared. The decision was made to "agree to disagree" on this and several other issues.

I was intrigued by the story of this community of believers (I had read Jay's book a while back), so I made my way over to the bulletin board sponsored by the church. I have been in a wonderful dialogue with the people there ever since. It is an incredible community, filled with people who have a variety of different "takes" on things, including many different opinions about homosexuality.

There is a contradiction in the church in Midian that I have been thinking about since my exposure to Revolution. That contradiction involves how we deal with differences of opinion. Most of the time, when faced with theological disagreement, we shrug it off. When was the last time a member of a church was shown the door for believing in transubstantiation? When was the last time a member of the church knew what transubstantiation actually was?

The disagreements that seem to separate the Body of Christ much more often are sins of the flesh. Drinking, dancing, fornicating, the three big "no-no's" in many fundamentalist circles, are significantly more divisive, these days, than justification controversies or canon debates.

What happens when the fornicators, drinkers, and Solid Gold dance team shows up in the front pew and refuses to leave? What happens after you tell them to "sin no more" and they "sin no less." Where in the church's life does it need to be fully accepting of different opinions on personal holiness, and when does it need to clean house?

As is probably not too surprising, this problem isn't new. In fact, well before we started sweating the "emerging church" here in Midian, the Apostle Paul was dealing with the headaches from the Church in Corinth. Much of his first epistle to the Corinthians deals with this difficult balance between accepting and rejecting; exercising good judgment, without being judgmental; rebuking with love instead of loving to rebuke.

It is a delicate balance....Grace is freely-given to all sinners (whether they are good enough to keep their sins secret or not); but, true faith is also transformative ...if the faith is not challenging you to lead a better life, can it really be the Spirit that you are responding to?

In building a Christian community in Midian, we have to keep in mind both sides of that balance....

One side of that balance is in Paul's letter to the Corinthians states in chapter 9:

24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. 25 Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; 27 but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

The other side to that balance comes in chapter 13 of the same letter:

1 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Keeping an even keel means guiding people to a true transformative faith with a spirit of love...and it is no easy task. It just happens to also be the single most important thing we ever do in life....

Get on the Boat

Mark 4: 35-41

³⁵ That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side." ³⁶ Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. ³⁷ A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. ³⁸ Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"

³⁹ He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

⁴⁰ He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"

⁴¹ They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"

When you spend enough time with the four Gospel accounts in the Bible, you start noticing certain differences. While there certainly are differences in some story accounts, the specific differences I am talking about are the inflections and connotations that reflect differences in purpose, target audience, and author perspective. The Book of Matthew was written for the Jewish community, the Book of Luke was written for Gentiles; The Book of John was written as a theological argument, the Book of Luke was written as a historical account; the list goes on...

Something unique about the Book of Mark, the Gospel account which I have spent the most time with, is that it paints a particularly harsh picture of the disciples. Throughout the Gospel account, the disciples are seen as utterly clueless, and Jesus is portrayed as being quite annoyed with their lack of prescience.

It would be easy to dismiss the disciples' errors as the product of remarkable naiveté; they were simple people who just didn't have the most equipped of minds. While it is tempting to just say that the disciples were slow, that is clearly not the case, and not the cause of Jesus' frustration.

The disciples were, largely, composed of members of the Jewish "middle class," people who were not the heads of great households; but, were also far from being simpletons. Fishermen, carpenters, even a tax collector, were "working people," people who could make a good life for themselves if they worked hard. The literacy of the group is later testified to by the development of the scripture, and the apologies (arguments) that they would later take throughout the ancient world. Jesus was not frustrated with the disciples' lack of intelligence; He was frustrated with their insistence upon using reason and experience, to the exclusion of faith.

When particular events befall the disciples in Mark (many times throughout the Gospel), their first reaction is to ponder the normal meaning and consequences of those events against others they have lived through. When the storm rises in the passage above, the disciples reason instantly that they are going to die. This is not an ignorant projection; several of the disciples are fishermen who have seen such storms before. Jesus, during this mighty tempest, was catching a few "z's." When He is woken up, He immediately calms the storm and questions why the disciples would be afraid. The disciples, who now find themselves standing on the deck of a boat in calm waters, look like children who were scared of the boogey man until their daddy turned on the light for them.

Jesus' surprise at the disciples' defeatism continues throughout the Book of Mark (before Jesus revives the daughter of Jairus, he first asks the crowd why they are weeping for the dead child; at the feeding of the 4,000, Jesus is dumbfounded that the disciples still "do not yet understand"). If we say that Jesus' anger is at the disciples' stupidity, then we miss the point. The disciples are behaving like any sane people would (being scared when a typhoon hits their small boat, crying at a funeral for a little girl, getting flustered when they can't feed all of the guests at an event); except, of course, if such "sane" people knew that God was with them.

One of the primary lessons for the disciples is that the rules of existence change when God is with you, and when you believe that fact to be true. When God is with you and you believe it to be true, miracles occur and there is little reason to be afraid. When God is with you and you believe it to be true, then the frustrations of our own limitations as people become less important than His lack of limitations. When God is with you and you believe it to be true, tragedy can never be the final scene; death is always trumped by life in the end.

The lesson on the boat, in the book of Mark, and in the cubicles here in Midian is that amidst the frustrations and the fears of frail human existence, we must remind ourselves that God is with us. We can be rational, we can be intelligent, we can be educated; but, if we do not have faith, then we won't make it past the storm to see the calm. If we depend less on our good sense, and more on Christ's presence, then the hazards in front of us may start to seem a lot less dire.

The Long Journey

1 Peter 5:6-11
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, 7 casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. 8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. 10 After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. 11 To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Like many people in Midian, I have lived in a lot of other places before settling here. New Jersey, New York, California, Georgia, Virginia, Pennsylvania....all have been home to me.

When I lived in Georgia, I was eleven-years-old. I was living in a small, fairly poor, little agricultural town. I lived with my grandparents as my mother slowly succombed to cancer, and my father was off in another state trying to secure a job. It was, in several ways, the defining period of my life... the combination of the actual events, made even more intense by the age during which they occured, set a powerful mark upon my character. In may ways, I am still that eleven-year-old, in a town far away from home and friends, in a culture very different from where I grew up. But, of course, I am also a completely different person...leaving the age aside, I have been blessed with a wide variety of experiences and relationships that have further shaped me as a man.

As I sit here at this desk, peering over the woods beyond my back yard, I am struck by how long the life journey has been...and how it has changed me.

While every church-going Christian has encountered stories about Peter, I think we often forget what a long journey Peter made from his calling by Jesus, until his own crucifixion in Rome. Peter, the brash young fisherman who said exactly what was on his mind (and whos actions were always led by his emotions), turned into Peter, the Elder of the Church, a man who preached humility, peace, and getting along with others.

Arguably, while the focus of the New Testament is on Christ, there is no one we follow for a greater duration than Peter. Peter is the bold disciple who cuts off the soldier's ear, but, then retreats into the cowardice of denial the very next day. Peter, the missionary to the Jewish diaspora, is, later, the first to reach out to the Gentiles (with the baptism of Cornelius). Peter, the staunch defender of the church, turns into a supporter and brother of its greatest enemy and killer (Saul/Paul). Peter...the man who never seemed able to put two plus two together while in Jesus' company, becomes the rock on which His church is built

The first letter of Peter gives us some indication of what the first Apostle has taken away from this great journey...a life that the rest of history will view as one of the most remarkable of all time. Though Peter was given great power by the Holy Spirit, great responsibility by the Church leadership, and a special place amongst the Twelve by Christ, Himself, Peter marches into the twilight of his earthly life concerned mainly about humility and love.
I guess it can't be so surprising that a man who denied that He knew Christ mere hours after he promised not to do so, only to be forgiven by the Risen Lord three days later, would know something about the importance of humility, forgiveness, and love. On the long journey from follower to leader, Peter relays the importance of laying the stresses, strife, and false promises of the world behind in order to rest in humility with a forgiving God.

The long journey, for many of us harboring old memories in Midian, can lead us through times when we are consumed with our own weaknesses. The long journey takes through many times when we wish we could simply cast aside all of our problems and flaws, and live the life of supermen. If we are lucky, though, we end the long journey in a place where we give up regret and disappointment, in order to rest in the mercy of God.

Like Peter, a man who God Almighty called his friend, there is no escape from our own imperfections...there is only a long journey to a place where their sting is taken away by a loving Creator. Like Peter, the keeper of the keys, we must realize that God blesses the humble, and that being right is less important than showing love.
On the long journey, eventually we can leave behind our heavy baggage, if our hearts and minds are focused on the road ahead.
Journey well........

Resurrection Perspective

The Road to Emmaus

13 And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place. 15 While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. 16 But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him. 17 And He said to them, “What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?” And they stood still, looking sad. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, “Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?” 19 And He said to them, “What things?” And they said to Him, “The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, 20 and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death, and crucified Him. 21 “But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened. 22 “But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, 23 and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive. 24 “Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see.” 25 And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” 27 Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.
28 And they approached the village where they were going, and He acted as though He were going farther. 29 But they urged Him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day is now nearly over.” So He went in to stay with them. 30 When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight. 32 They said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?” 33 And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found gathered together the eleven and those who were with them, 34 saying, “The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon.” 35 They began to relate their experiences on the road and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.

No one expected the resurrection. Jesus kept quite a diverse group of disciples; you would think that one of them would figure it out. There are no "I told you so," stories in Acts; but, there are a lot of people who are shocked by God's plan...even those Jesus called His friends.

On the walk to Emmaus, the disciples that Jesus encounters are lamenting a tragic loss. Their Lord has been killed; their direction has been lost; their world is in a fog. I think it is remarkable that Jesus does not choose to reveal Himself to these two disciples at the beginning of His walk with them. Instead, He chooses to wait until they realize what is really going on. There is something about the awakening to reality that is worth waiting for. Jesus walks all the way to Emmaus with them; He goes to their home for dinner. Why was it important to be present for so long before He was revealed?

In Midian, it is not uncommon to get hung up on our situation. A lot of us are dealing with challenges and disappointments that color our views on things. We spend time praying; we cry; we talk with people we trust...but our situation doesn't leave us.

It's interesting to note that these two disciples had probably not ever been as close to Jesus, physically, as they were on this walk. Ironic that this proximity did not keep them from their mourning of the very same Lord. Their emptiness, their confusion, their discontent was not quieted by the proximity of Christ to them; but....He was still there. At the end of the passage, when the disciples realize what has been going on, their perspective changes completely. Though the historical events that they mourned were still a fact of life, their tears were dried with the understanding that He walked with them.

The resurrection perspective is not that bad things do not happen. When we go through the loss of a child, the guilt of a loved-one's injury, or the long hours of loneliness, they are not illusions...they are really there. The resurrection perspective, though, is that while history unfolds as it will, Christ still walks with us. Though He may not make Himself known, He is still interested...and He is still in charge.

Happy Easter....