Thursday, January 26, 2012

God Will Find Us!

Lisa is our dog.  Actually she is my son's dog.  We rescued her when he was ten years old as a birthday present.  On any given day, if the family had to vote on who was going to be off the island and the vote was to choose between me and Lisa.  I'm gone. 

Lisa is now fourteen years old.  Sometimes she does not realize it.  At night, she does.  Almost every night, Lisa needs to get up and go do her business.  As an old man, I fully understand.  However, lately, Lisa has decided that the night time in the back yard is a fun place to explore.  So there I am in the middle of the night, waiting for her to want to come back in.  She is wandering around.  My wife says we need a "doggie door" but I am afraid of what other critters can come in a doggie door.
It is the wandering that gets me.  I am  half asleep wanting to get back to sleep.  I wait and wait.  I call and call.  Finally I get a flashlight and go looking around the back yard.  When Lisa sees the flashlight, she knows she is in trouble.  It's like when I was a little boy when my mother used my entire name to speak to me.  All panic lights went on full alert.
So when Lisa is wandering, I cannot sleep.
Maybe this experience gives me insight into the character of God.  When I am wondering, God does not rest.  God is seeking ways to pull me back into the safe place.  God is calling my name.  God is even searching for me with a flashlight.
I have always chuckled reading the Genesis passage where Adam and Eve cover themselves with those itchy fig leaves and hide from God.  I am sure it was Eve who told Adam, "Shut up, put this one, and come over here with me!  God is coming!"  Adam knew better than to argue.  Then  God asks, "Where are you?"  It reminds me of my parents asking me if I did something as a child.  They knew the answer to the question.  They just wanted to see if I would "fess up."
We wander in so many ways.  We wander in our daily lives giving in to the pressures of this world.  We wander in our play--yielding to those temptation--a little won't hurt me.  We wander in our love searching for a quick passion.  And God patiently looks for us.  God seeks to find us. And God does.
There are consequences to our wanderings on this earth.  However to be found by God is to be loved into eternity.   And we rest in the assurance of this--even in the middle of the night.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Extend Your Boundaries

Jesus of Nazareth had no concept of boundaries.  He was a man of great risk. I laugh when I think of the times that his disciple, Peter, tried to teach Jesus the concept of risk management.  Where are your boundaries?

We learn boundaries at a very young age.  The culture seems to teach our children who is "in" and who is "out".  Kids can be pretty cruel to those who do not fit in the boundaries.  They are also cruel to those who risk reaching out to those who are seen as out of bounds.

The business world then creates the same boundaries.  Many times it is a "You Scratch My Back, I'll Scratch Your Back World."  There are economic boundaries that determine who a person hangs out with.  There are social boundaries or moral boundaries that alienate us from those who need friends.

Personal boundaries can also be more powerful than we imagine.   We want to stay safe.  Our memory reminds us on a conscious and unconscious level of all the heartbreaking incidents in our life.   Our imagination can convince us of a world that is nowhere near reality.

Jesus of Nazareth had no boundaries when it came to love.  He love the sinners, the prostitutes, the outcasts, the lepers, the hungry, the lonely and the list goes on.  Jesus would not allow the world to stop him from reaching out.  

I wonder if that is not the calling that you and I have today.  Is the stranger just a friend I have not made yet?  Is those who are lonely and fearful of this life our brothers and sisters?   Is there a greater calling for us than risk management?

Dewitt Jones is a well known photographer for the National Geographic magazine.  His photographs have captured the beauty of the world in ways that are hard to describe.  He tells of trying to capture a particular picture in a place where there were fences that blocked him from where the picture needed to be taken from.  As he struggles to get to the place for the picture to be taken, he makes an interesting observation.  "It is not trespassing to go beyond your own boundaries!"

Perhaps most of life's boundaries that keep us from being faithful in our witness are self imposed.  Maybe this is the invitation for us to extend our boundaries.


Wednesday, January 11, 2012

"I'll Talk To Ya Later!"

Those who know me know that I refer to my mom as the  "Methodist Nun" to her face.  I gave her this nickname.  For those who do not know me, this is a term of endearment for both my mom and nuns.   The calling to live a life devoted to living the faith is a great thing.  My mom is dedicated to the Methodist church as her expression of the faith.
Now it is okay to belong to another faith, but her family as long as she can influence it is going to be Methodist.   It began in my childhood.  As a young child, we were taught that if something was happening at OUR church, we were there.  In my teenage years, there was never an option of attending another church--"You can't do everything you own church offers so you surely don't have time to go elsewhere."  The Baptist church across the street in Minden was so tempting--they had a bowling alley and more girls--what a teenage guy wants!  Nope, I was a Methodist.  That was my identity.

Prayer was also a part of our life.  You did not dare take a bite of food before the prayer.  Everyday life was filled with talk of prayer.  Devotional books were read.  The Bible was read.  It was not unusual for me to hear the words, "Maybe you should just spend some time in prayer about that."  Now I have to admit that most of the time this was heard when I was testing the boundaries of life.

So this Thanksgiving I spent some time with my dad and the "Methodist nun".  Dad begins to laugh as we say the prayer for breakfast one day.  Then he shares this incident.  "I guess you know the  "nun" has come up with a new way of ending prayers now.  The other day she is saying the prayer at our meal and instead of saying  "Amen", she says  "I'll talk to ya later!"  We  all chuckled--even the nun.

If you call mom, most of her conversations on the phone end with "I'll talk to ya later!"   It just seems better than saying "goodbye".  The conversation is not over, it will be continued.  Admittedly sometimes when mom is giving me a story, I will tell her in advance to give me the "Reader''s Digest" version.  

What a natural way to be in relationship with God.  At the end of the conversation with God--which is what prayer should be--there is the knowledge that "we will talk later!!"    Maybe this understanding of prayer will encourage you in the continuing conversation with God.  You talk and listen as if you were talking to great friends or family on the phone.  
If you find yourself in need of someone to pray for you, find someone who has such a relationship.  I tell college kids that if they have a grandma praying for them, give it up.  You stand no chance against the prayers of a grandma.  If you do not have a grandma praying for you, borrow one. 

May your prayer life be filled with people who have such a natural relationship in talking to God they end their prayers with  "I'll talk to ya later!"

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Joseph Knew Holy Discomfort

I read alot.  It comes with the territory.  Show me a pastor who does not read alot and I will show you a pastor who loses great effectiveness in ministry.  I admit there was a time in my ministry that I failed to read as much as I should have.  It was not my brightest moment.

Every once in a while in my reading I am struck by how an author puts together two words that are obviously not familiar with each other.   The two words seemingly do not belong together by the nature of their definition.   Author Will Mancini's words threw cold water on my face.  He spoke of holy discomfort.  I had to put the book down and think about that for a while.
So Joseph has his marriage arranged with this good looking girl from Nazareth.  He probably had seen her once or twice.  Bethlehem was not a suburb of Nazareth so the sightings were not that often.  But her family is a good family.  Joe is admittedly pretty excited about his bride to be until she told him the news.
At first he was pretty mad.  And just for the record, at first he did not believe her story at all.  What kind of a fool did she take him for?  It was a foolish story indeed.  Coming home from Nazareth gave him time to think about what to do.  He knew what they would do if it became public knowledge--the law was clear.  She would be stone to death.
It was there that Joseph felt holy discomfort.  Love won over hatred.  Mercy won over law.  The thought of her not being on the face of the earth was unacceptable to him and in his own understanding of God.  It simply would not happen.  In holy discomfort, there is enough of the holy combined with the discomfort that one is obligated to act in faith whether others understand it or not.
Holy discomfort was what David felt when Nathan told him the truth.  Holy discomfort was what motivated the prophets even if it meant life itself to proclaim God's message.  Holy discomfort has throughout the history of humankind held before humanity the kingdom of God--God's reign.
So Joe had a plan.  His plan was to include no stoning, no shame, no temper tantrums--only mercy dispersed with a broken heart filled with love.
Then the angel told Joe.  And Joe believed what was unbelievable.  Joe was able to accept what the angel said because Joe had already experienced the holy discomfort.  And yet, in this second verse of holy discomfort, Joe found comfort.   So he took Mary and began to do the unbelievable--be the earthly father to the son of God.
Now there's another set of words that just do not go together either.  But that did not stop Joe at all.

Then to top it off, more discomfort.   These three wise guys show up at the house to worship the baby, Jesus. He cannot believe what is put down as the gifts to the baby, Jesus.  It is from them that Joe learns that the baby's life is at stake.  So he loads up the family and flees.  Being the earthly father of the Son of God brings more discomfort than one can bargain for.  However, Joe cannot let go of the holiness of life.
Maybe the most creative and redemptive moments in life are when we put God at the center of things that in this world do not go together.  May our holy discomfort is really God speaking.