"A Study in Contrasts"

I am often struck by the absolute contrasts that life presents. I was reading my twitter feed earlier today, and rejoiced to read the following tweet from International Justice Mission, "“I have never experienced this kind of happiness before.” – David, freed today after 11 mos illegally jailed in Kenya. @IJMHQ rejoices too!" A man that thought that he had no hope suddenly is living in a world of possibilities. David is still poor. He did not receive a windfall settlement. But, he is free. Then, I listen to the radio and I hear on ESPN that the NFL is still "locked out" and the NBA will probably be locked out by midnight tonight. On the one hand, we have a man celebrating the simple fact that he is able to breathe free air once again. On the other hand, we have grown men that get paid way too much to play a game arguing over who gets their "fair" share of billions. I sometimes wonder if we have all completely lost our perspective. Confession - if there is an NFL next fall (and almost everyone thinks there will be), I will be watching and hoping my Packers can repeat. If the NBA were to go away, that wouldn't sweat me much (But, I am only 5'4" tall, you can't expect me to have a ton of love for basketball. Besides, March Madness is still more enjoyable).

"One in Christ"

Galatians 3:23-29

Yesterday, we talked, among other things, about the difference between unity and uniformity. Check out my previous blog to use as a reference. The point that I was making is that I believe that Paul was seeking unity at the church in Galatia, and not uniformity. When he makes the statement in Galatians 3:28 that, "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus," he is calling for unity in the midst of diversity. I believe that unity is what God wants for the church today, as well. During a sermon I heard at annual conference last week, a recent study was mentioned that said that an overwhelming number of young people in our society love Jesus. The problem that they have is a deep and growing skepticism of the church. They are put off by the inability of people in the church to be loving and gracious towards others that think differently. This is the exact kind of thing that Paul is addressing in Galatia. Perhaps, it would help us to remember that the The Christian church has never been uniform. There was never a time in history where it could be said "all Christians believe this way." From the very beginning, as evidenced by most of the New Testament, there have been disagreements about what the church should believe. But, somehow, the fledgling movement of Jesus followers managed to grow in the midst of this diversity. They were united - not by a common creed - but by Christ crucified. The differences did not hinder the gospel until someone decided that the church should seek uniformity in instead of unity. The picture of the mosaic that I showed in worship yesterday is the one attached to this blog. It represents to me the unique place that Light of the Canyon UMC has in the spiritual landscape of Anaheim Hills. We are not uniform, but we are united under the love and grace of God as it was revealed to us in Jesus Christ. And because of that, we are truly a "welcoming community of faith where spiritual seekers become loving, serving followers of Jesus Christ."

"Unity vs. Uniformity"

I think that often times when people say that they are seeking unity, what they are truly seeking is uniformity. We will be exploring this more in worship on Sunday as we wrestle with Paul's words from Galatians 3:23-29. As we think about what it means to be "one in Christ," let me offer my thoughts on the differences between unity and uniformity. It is my sincere belief that Paul is seeking unity. Unity - Diversity of thoughts, opinions, theologies, and spiritual practices. Uniformity - Everyone thinks and acts the same. Unity - Dissenting voices are allowed, even engaged. Uniformity - Dissent is not tolerated. Dissent breaks down the fabric of the community. Unity - Goal is to grow in our understanding of and commitment to the call of Christ. Uniformity - Goal is to establish a culture of compliance where everyone behaves a certain way Unity - United under the banner of Jesus’ self- giving, sacrificial death on the cross. Uniformity - Made uniform by common ideas and practices (following “the law”). The Christian church has never - ever - been uniform. There has been no time in history where the church has spoken with one voice for all people. Unity was not a serious issue until the church began pursuing uniformity instead. Perhaps, if we began focusing on unity, rather than uniformity, we might learn to be "one in Christ," despite our differences. What a witness to the world we would be!

"Sinfully Proud"

One of my dad's most famous sayings was that he was "sinfully proud". He was a United Methodist pastor and whenever his church would step up and address a great need in a meaningful way, he would declare (often with tears in his eyes), I am "sinfully proud of you." For my siblings and I, it was a badge of honor growing up if we heard those words from my dad. We used to make fun of him for his sentimentality, but we always loved it when he was talking about us. But, today, in the midst of the California-Pacific annual conference plenary session, I got the opportunity to be sinfully proud. And it felt pretty darn good. I was sitting in the session, playing close attention to what was going on, really focusing on the issues being presented (if I were telling you this story, you would hear the sarcasm in my voice) when they introduced a speaker. The girl that approached the microphone was a twenty-something youth worker in our district. She stood before the gathered assembly of roughly 1600 delegates and spoke with confidence and passion that I don't think I could have mustered in front of that group. The part that was so moving was that, roughly a decade ago, this young girl appeared in my youth group and was unwilling to even raise her head in a group of about 8 young people, let alone speak before 1600. What happened? Our youth group went away - to a mission trip, or a retreat (quite honestly, I don't remember). Her mom convinced her to go with us. While we were gone, some girls in our youth group made a point to include her in everything they did. By the end of the trip, she was a smiling, talking, engaged youth. And it took off from there. After high school, she participated in mission trips abroad, went to a Christian college, and is now working with youth, and sharing the same transforming love that changed her own life. This young women and I are a part of a holy chain of people that have not just talked about the love of Christ, but have modeled it, and lived it, and because of that, have helped change the world (in small, but not insignificant ways). I wonder how many chains like that exist in the world. I imagine millions. And that is exciting. I am a part of a church that often times gets in its own way in its desire to "make disciples for the transformation of the world." However, sometimes, we have created faithful communities that do just that - make disciples and transform the world. Every now and then, I am blessed to see that experience first hand. And when it happens, I am sinfully proud to be a United methodist Christian.

"The Ghost in the Machine"

It is day #1 if annual conference in Cal-Pac. A group of faithful laity and clergy are gathered at the - surprisingly only moderately hot - University of Redlands for three days of working together to try and move our conference and our denomination forward. As a lifelong United Methodist, one of the things that I have observed is that we have a pretty big "machine," a corporate structure that, for better or for worse, determines much of how we function as a church. Most of the time, I find the machine frustrating. That is only a personal observation. The machine is too big, and I am too small. But, sometimes, when I get involved and listen to people and talk to people and work with people, I find that the church is not just about the machine as much as it is about the people - faithful, loving people - that are earnestly trying to do their best to honor God and to change the world, in small ways and in large ways. One example is One Book One Life, a home grown organization developed to get the bible to people that need and want it. What a great idea. So, here I sit, in the midst of meetings, conversations, conflicts, resolutions, etc. It's easy for a simple person like me to become overwhelmed by it all. But, then, I am gently reminded that the church is more than just the machine. And my faith is restored, if even just for a while. The United Methodist denomination is a bit of a machine. I rejoice when I encounter the ghost in it (I just hope that it's a holy one).

"Justified"

Scripture: Galatians 2:11-21

Yesterday, in worship, we talked about one of the cornerstone doctrines of Christianity - justification. In simplest terms, and to quote the Apostle Paul, we are justified "by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law." Remember that justification is when a relationship is made right. This is important because church tradition, especially since the Reformation, has understood justification to simply mean being forgiven so that we can go to heaven. But, what justification means in the bible is that our relationship with God is made right so that we can get heaven into us. We must be very careful that we not not make another "work" of faith. By that I mean, we must not talk about faith in terms of a hoop that we must jump through in order to get God to love us. God already loves us, and already did what is necessary for us to obtain forgiveness. Faith is about laying our lives at the foot of the cross and turning our lives and our will over to God as we know him through Jesus Christ. This reminds me of the day that our son Corran was born. The moment the nurse brought him to us in the bassinet, I held him and declared, "you are my son." The love that poured out of me was not something I had a choice about. If I am capable of such love for someone that has only been alive for a few minutes, how much more does God love us. As we go through our lives, Corran "tests" Cindy and me often. Sometimes, we do not respond as redemptively as I would like. But, sometimes, we do. But, regardless of our response, I hope that one thing Corran can trust is that his mom and dad love him unconditionally. And, it is my sincere desire that that trust helps him to face the good times and the challenges that life will present. Corran already has our love and blessing. When he does something wrong, he already has our forgiveness. But, he can experience the transformation of that love and forgiveness when he trusts us. Now, consider how imperfect I am. If I am able to love in such a way, how much more than can God love us. But, we minimize the power of God's love when we make a "law" of faith in God. Faith in God simply means that we place our trust in God's goodness as it was revealed to us by Jesus Christ on the cross. That faith is our path to the experience of justification.

"Jesus Needs New PR"

Matthew Paul Turner wrote a blog about how Christians should respond when someone like Stephen Hawking say something that we consider to be critical of our faith. He raises some great issues. It is always a struggle as to whether to respond to comments like Hawking's or not. Obviously, I am not going to engage Hawking in a intellectual debate (I would be overmatched in such a debate by "biblical" proportions). But, at the same time, as a pastor, I feel duty-bound to respond to my people. For me, the issue ultimately comes down to one of humility. If everything I say is presented with the attitude that "this is what I believe and this is the faith that informs my life, but I could be wrong," than the ultimate value that I stand for - which is love - is hopefully communicated. I always tell my people that Christians bear witness to the love of God through Jesus Christ not simply by what they say, but more by how they say it. If we are speaking lovingly and with genuine respect, than we are truly witnessing to Christ. This is especially true in our day and age where partisan bickering has become the primary method of communication. But, that's just my belief. I could be wrong.

"And the Crowd Goes Wild"

At 8:00 p.m. eastern time tonight, the Miami Heat and the Dallas Mavericks will face off in what could be the final basketball game of the season. I guess I care about what happens, but, well, not a whole bunch. It seems that with an NFL lockout going on and with an NBA lockout being threatened, and even questions about MLB, it just sort of makes me wonder. Is it worth it? All of the time and energy that we fans invest in professional athletes that, for the most part, do not seem to care if we exist. Is it worth it? Spending time and money on watching a game that is much more enjoyable to be out playing? Is it worth it? We pay athletes (and actors, for that matter) far more than they are worth to society (as opposed to say - teachers). I am just feeling less and less like professional sports are worth my time. But, yesterday, while volunteering at the Special Olympics, I was reminded again about sports simply for the love of it. I watched athletes, mainly basketball and track, give their all for a game that was not going to be featured on ESPN, but had all of the intensity of a world championship. There is great joy in watching athletes that love to play, and who really love the fans. When the crowd would cheer at the Special Olympics, the athletes would not only acknowledge the crowd, they would bask without shame in the joy of the moment, spreading their arms out wide, smiling ear to ear. There was no pretense, or provocation, just joy. And they really wanted to share it with everybody. That is why I love sports. Are you listening Lebron?

"Turning it All Around"

Scripture: Galatians 1:11-24

Yesterday, I contrasted my own spiritual journey with that of the Apostle Paul. Paul came to Christ in a flash of light - literally. I came slowly, and methodically. My faith was nurtured by a number of Methodist churches over the years. And I am thankful to God for each one. But, Paul and I have one thing in common. Through Christ, our lives have been turned around. And that is a very good thing. But, I do need to clarify something. Turning it all around does not mean going backwards. As Paul would say, "may it never be!" Turning it all around does not mean a nostalgic return to the "good old days." Even though Paul referred to an event in his past to establish his authority as an apostle, the focus of his journey was always on going forward and moving closer to Christ. The story of God is about moving forward - "going onto perfection" in the Methodist tradition. But, there has never been a time when we arrived there. Which means that the good old days were not as good as what God has in store. To be a Christian means that we are always moving forward. Turning it all around means that we change our direction, and move in God's direction. It does not mean that we go back. Christians are always on a journey. We are a pilgrim people. And, to be honest, that is kind of the fun part.