Break The Code

I have been reading Alan Alda's book, Never Have Your Dog Stuffed. Alan Alda has long been a favorite of mine. At seminary at 10:30 p.m. each weekday night, there was a holy gathering in the commons room. MASH reruns came on. One night a newbie wandered into the room just as the show was beginning. For some reason, she thought it would be okay to change the channel. Bad move. You would have thought she was removing the Holy Grail. For some reason after she left, she never came back to the Commons Room.

If you did not know, Alan Alda was reared in a family of silence. His mom was by his own description mentally ill. His dad was a traveling actor. For a period of his life, Alda thought his parents loved a pig more than their son. At least the pig got to travel with them. The code of silence reigned in their house. If there was something unusual or problematic, do not even think of talking about it.

The "Code of Silence" is what I label this. If we do not talk about it, it will go away. So we think. It usually does not. It becomes a cancer that eventually destroys life. Like cancer, it destroys from the inside out.

When Jesus meets people, he often asks this question. "What do you want me to do?" Many times it is obvious what Jesus needs to do. It is obvious where the pain of life is located. Maybe it is a part of the rabbinical influence that trained Jesus. Good rabbis will ask questions. The wisest Rabbis answer the first question with another.

Maybe answering the obvious question is an invitation to a more intimate relationship. Jesus invites those that he meets to talk about what no one else wants to hear. To the leper, Jesus says "Tell me what this disease has done to your Spirit." To the woman with the flow of blood, perceived as so unclean and undesirable, Jesus wants her to know that he will listen to her. Jesus wants the healing touch to be more than a passing glance.

Jesus breaks the code of silence. Jesus invites us to be vulnerable and authentic so we can experience the depth of love that God has for us. Talking about it brings us into the redemptive community that gives us life. Talking about it invites us to allow others to share our burdens and celebrate our wholeness. It invites us out of the cold of darkness into the warmth of light.

During this Lent season, I am preaching a series of sermons on The Experience of Prayer. Prayer is a living relationship of intimacy that is best known through authentic and intimate relationships with God and with each other. Prayer is communicating all of life not just the part of life that seems okay. Sometimes the most authentic prayers are found within our helplessness.

Maybe it is time for each of us to risk breaking the code of silence.

Pray for me as I pray for you!

Good Morning Lord!

As a little boy I listened to Marcus Wren pray. Marcus was and still a leader in the church. To begin every prayer, he simply said, "Good Morning Lord!" or "Good Evening Lord!"

How do you greet God?

Greetings are such a way of life. Some folks we greet cordially. Some folks we greet with a kiss. Others we greet with a handshake or a hug. Some people we just do not know how to greet. And still others, we simply would rather not greet at all. We wait to be confronted.

Believe it or not, all of these apply to how some greet God. Some wait for God to confront them. God is seen as the "heavenly hound" dogging them all the way. God to others is a God that one would never want to cuddle up to or be near. God is the "critical parent" waiting to tell us how we have failed or waiting to punish. If either of these is your relationship with God, lent is a time to change that relationship.

What would it be like to be in an intimate relationship with a loving God? What would it be like for you to understand God loves you right now—not when you get better—but right now?

One of the hymns that I remember singing out of the Cokesbury hymnal was "In the Garden". The chorus of the song speaks of an intimate relationship with God. God walks with me. God talks with me. God tells me I belong to God. The relationship and the time together are described as joy. Can you imagine such a relationship?

Tex Sample is a retired professor theology. He tells the story of how at one point in his thought the theology of this song was simply too chummy. He thought the song reduced God to a level that made God less than God. It reduced the relationship to God as something owned by an individual. He would present his conclusions in a rather offensive manner. The logic he gave impressed him more than it should have.

After one of these presentations, a small woman found her way towards him. She patiently waited until her turn. She then told her story.

"When I was a little girl, my stepfather began abusing me sexually. This went on for years. After he left, I would go out in the large garden we planted behind the house. I would walk through the garden and I would sing this song. This song gave me the only sense of love and hope I would know for years. That chorus which you berated so brilliantly was the gate in which I knew God loved me—that anyone cared. It saved my life. So, Dr. Sample, (as she pointed her finger at him) do not let me ever hear you berated the relationship that this chorus gives as it is the hope of a loving relationship for many." And she walked away.

The little lady had become massive in size. Tex Sample said he never felt so small. Her intimate relationship with the living God trumped all the knowledge he could have gathered in life.

What would it be like to greet God, "Good Morning Lord!"?

Jesus Comes!

Jesus has just heard that John the Baptist, his cousin, has been beheaded. Jesus has been teaching and the crowds will not go away.  He sends the disciples ahead wanting to find a little space.  Jesus valued his time alone with God, especially now.  

I wished Jesus had shared more with his disciples about his time apart--the time in which he detached from the world.  Did he sing his favorite songs before God?  Did he weep?  Did he laugh as he talked about the people he met?  Did  Jesus voice his frustration with how the ministry was going?  Maybe he kept silence.  We simply do not know.

Time to catch up with the twelve in the boat.  In the Gospel of Mark, it says that Jesus was walking on the water and meant to go by the disciples unnoticed.  What?  Jesus was thinking, "Maybe the guys will not see me! (as he is walking on the water)"  But they do.  They are frightened.  Their fear cries out!  So Jesus comes to them.

I think there were times when Jesus simply did not want to be noticed.  He was not in this world to be the center of attention.  Jesus wanted God to be the center of devotion.  At this particular time, I think Jesus was detached dealing with is own grief.  John was his cousin.  John had baptized him.

There were times when the crowds overwhelmed him.  It was like being at a Mardi Gras parade where people are on top of one another.  Arms were reaching out to him, begging for healing.  People were asking him question after question.  And I am sure there were the hecklers that annoyed him as well. 

But Jesus came.  At the first hint of fear, Jesus comes to the disciples.  He will not stay away.

On many tickets that we receive in our life there is this statement, "Not Good If Detached".  This is true in faith.  A Savior that detaches give no hope.  A disciple that detaches loses the ability to lead others.  A friend that detaches is not that good a friend.

It is important that you have your time apart.  You need to have your personal space.  However, this is not a reason to become indifferent and detach.   Jesus knew the power of time alone was to prepare him for the moments that awaited him.

In spite of our sin, in the midst of our fear, and at the time when we cry out--Jesus comes. 

   

What Mask Are You Wearing?

It is that time of the year again--Mardi Gras--best defined as a crash course in sin.

Masks are so much fun!  Remember the first mask you saw in your life?  I think mine was the Lone Ranger.   He's the cowboy that would appear in the nick of time to make things right.  His sidekick was Tonto.  I think the only word Tonto said was "Kemosahbee".  That is some Indian word for  "let's do it!"  The Lone Ranger's mask was pretty plain.  There was not much energy put into mask decorating at that time in history. 

Masks at Mardi Gras help hide our identity as we do what everyone else is doing that nobody wants to confess that we are all doing.  Usually it is not good.  Sin is missing the mark.  At Mardi Gras, it is missing the entire target.  It is like aiming the bow and arrow at the big bulls eye on the bale of hay.  Pulling back the string and swhoosh!  Then looking and seeing nothing.  I lost so many arrows I had to sell my bow.

Some folks, especially preachers, like to make out that sin is not much fun.  They need to go sinning with me!  The reason that sin is so attractive in my life is that it usually feels pretty good--for a while.  Then when the consequences of sin arrive, it doesn't look so hot anymore.  It is like the morning after.  I did what?  I pushed down how many kids to get that Mardi Gras bead.  I said what to those whom I love.  Sound too familiar?  That's why we wear masks.   Masks hide our shame which is built into the concept of sin.

But remember with me the Lone Ranger.   When he left and life was better, he would leave something behind--a silver bullet.  Usually the last line of the show was said by someone holding up the silver bullet,  "Who was that masked man?" 

Interesting huh?  The same mask that we wear to hide our shame and sin can be worn to change the world.  The same part of the human spirit that creates selfishness can be remade into a spirit that can become self sacrificing.   It is about choosing to be what God would have you be rather than settling for less.  Too often we settle for less.  We buy into the cheap stuff of life.

Mardi Gras can teach us that more of "me" means less of God.  More of sin is less holiness in our life.  More of this world  is not what God is about.  This is why Fat Tuesday is followed with Ash Wednesday.  This is why Lent (the season of sacrifice) is longer than Mardi Gras (the season of accumulation)

So what mask are you wearing?  Kemosahbee

And a Child Shall Lead Them

Children have the ability to teach adults more than we want to learn.

For example, my son as a six year old taught me a prayer that I continue to pray daily.  "Put me on your path and no one else's."   A daughter taught her dad about value when the dad was going to pay for her meal as a child.  "Dad, I'm older than ten!"  Sometimes in an effort to save money, we spend more than we ever realize.

A teacher opened the car door for the little boy to get out as he arrived to school.  With a big smile on his face, he greeted his teacher.  "I've got the joy of Jesus!"  As the teacher laughed, she realized that she needed to hear those words on that particular day.  God was speaking to her through the words of a child.

I think Jesus knew that the innocence of children had a quality of teaching about the kingdom of God.  Jesus was always open to the presence of children.  One of my favorite times in morning worship is when the kids of my church come running up to me.  They may just want a hug.  Sometimes they have a story to tell me.  Sometimes they ask questions.  I wonder how some churches can sit week after week with no children present.

Recently a grandmother was cleaning out her treasures.  You know those treasures of life---cards, pictures, letters, etc.  Memories that fill our soul and give us strength on the long days of winter.  She ran across a little package.  In the package there were three toys.  There was a little ball that you would throw to play with your cat.  There was a horn with a cartoon character on it that fit on a small child's bike.  And there was a Lion king give away from MacDonalds.  The grandmother remembered the day she received these treasures.  A little boy heard that it was his grandmother's birthday.  The grandmother was not well at the time.  So the little boy went into his room and gathered a few of his treasures to give to his grandmother.  It was the best gift she received that year!

When God was deciding to hide the treasures of life that were going to be stumbled upon by his creation, God decided to package them in children.   Yes sometimes children overwhelm us with the responsibility of being a parent, a teacher, or a grandparent.   But then about the time our soul is weary and not at rest, what the prophet Isaiah said becomes quite evident.  "A child shall lead them...."

My prayer is that you let the children be children.  They have the unique ability to lead us where we never would ever dream of being.