Unplugged Sabbath!

Americans are nothing if not rushed.  Hyper-busy, multi-tasking, bloated schedules - that's us.  I don't know too many people who wouldn't welcome about six more hours in a day.  Way too many of us say way to frequently, "I don't have enough time."  That's our assumption; time is a scarce commodity.

No wonder we who are followers of Jesus don't "sabbath."  From its roots in Hebrew faith, sabbath is not just about going to worship.  Sabbath is about being reminded of that which really matters.  Christian writer Barbara Troxell says the purpose of sabbath is three-fold.  First, Sabbath is about resting in full awareness of the presence of God.  Second, sabbath is, "a time of companionship, of renewal with others...keeping company with those who are dear to us and those with whom we reach out in hospitality."  Finally, sabbath is about love and service; compassion for a wounded and weary world.  All of this involves a different view of time than, "I don't have enough time!"

What would it be like if we flipped that view?  What would it be like to abandon the presumption that there isn't enough time, and chose to believe that God has given us all the time we need to the three priorities of which we're reminded on sabbath:  To focus on our relationship with God, to focus on our relationships with those closest to us, and to address our individual contribution toward leading people in new life with Jesus to which each of us has been called and for which each of us has been equipped?   What would we do differently to reflect sabbath priorities. 24/7?

Consider the following as an example.  The average American spends 25 hours a week in front of a television, computer screen, or portable electronic communication device.  That's 54 full 24 hour days a year passively stimulated by electronic entertainment!   What could you and I do for God, for those we love, and for the people God calls us to reach with 54 extra days?!?   Let's see what one of those days would look like.  Join me on Sunday, August 5, for UNPLUGGED SUNDAY.   Do not turn on your television (yes, I know the Olympics are on!), stay off your computer, and have your cell phone on to receive calls only - no outgoing calls, except emergencies, and no texting, tweeting, or Facebook.  You may have a few hours of detox to face!  But be open to what the Holy Spirit does in your awareness of God, your opportunity to really be with those you love, and time to focus on what God has called you to do to connect to a world in need.  You might just have all the time required and more.

I'll see you around the next bend in the river.

The Worst They Can Do Is Kill You!

We've been going through some heavy days in our church and community lately.  We've had sudden, unexpected deaths among our folk, including the tragic death of a Christian counselor who was a part of our ministry team here.   Maybe it's just because of what we're going through here, but there seems to be a heaviness throughout our land this summer.  From drought scorched farmlands to bullet holes and bloodstains on theater walls in Aurora, Colorado, it's like we're in some kind of a dry and barren valley.  We really do live in a fallen world, bad things really do happen to good people, and we really don't have answers for it all.  And in our faith system we acknowledge the presence of a very real and malevolent spiritual power that seeks to opportunize all this, to break our spirits, and to separate us from our God and each other.

It reminds we of a very unique benediction/sending forth I heard at a church conference in 2001 in Goshen, Indiana.  The preacher had been talking about how followers of Jesus most certainly would be victims of resistance, opposition, ridicule, vilification, and outright attack, both by people and by the enemy of God, both from outside the Body of Christ and within it.  His final words to us before the service ended were something like this:  "No matter what they do to you, don't worry about it.  The worst they can do is kill you!"

That sounds ridiculous or even offensive, until you think about a follower of Jesus like Paul.  With uncommon resolution, persistence, and joy he took every opportunity to offer the living Jesus to a world that did not know him and was often hostile toward him.  Assaults on Paul, by both humans and Satan, were the likes of which few of us will see in a lifetime:  beatings, banishment, discrediting, pursuit, shipwrecks, arrests, trials - you name it.  Yet Paul was not only fearless, but exuberant.  He said, "For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain."  (Philippians 1:21)  If he lived, that was that much more time to change lives and join Jesus in transforming the world.  If he died, then he would unite with the risen Jesus and all the saints in glory.  Even killing him didn't defeat him.

This needs to be our posture.  The world needs hope in these heavy days.  The Church, the Body of Christ is the hope of the world.  My late, lamented friend and colleague, Kim Maclin would tell us to lean forward into the darkness, do so in the love of Jesus, and keep moving on, committed to leading people in new life with Jesus.   Let's do so, holding one another up, and praising God.  And don't worry; the worst they can do is kill us!

I'll see you around the next bend in the river.

Life is a "Moving" Target

Seems like I've been involved in a lot of moving here lately.   We moved some of my late mother-in-laws furniture to our home; a trek of some 350 miles in a U-Haul truck.  Last week we helped by son and daughter-in-law and our grandchildren move from one town in Missouri to another.  And over the last couple of weeks, I have been moving my office from one place in our church facility to another, as part of an overall plan to deploy all our staff in the places that best suit their gifts and skills for their part in the ministry of leading people in new life with Jesus.

Moving is not easy.  It's in the top stresses in life.   It's tiring, to begin with.  I had moments when I thought, "I cannot lift one more box; I cannot drag one more piece of furniture."   Moving can be overwhelming.  ("When did I accumulate all this stuff?!?")   Above all, it's totally disorienting.  I My staff can tell you that I've spent time over the last two weeks sort of staggering around between my old office and my new office, looking kind of lost and bewildered.  I saw the same look on my wife as she struggled with what to do and where to place her mother's furniture in relation to our existing furniture. And I know our son and his family are still in a daze of unpacking boxes and getting acclimated to a strange, new setting.

Unsettling as it is, though, moving brings its own kind of energy.  First, it can be cleansing.  Moving to a new office forced me to get rid of a lot of stuff that I've had for years with no purpose.  Also, there's excitement and potency in a fresh start.  My new office has the feel of hopefulness and eagerness I have about our church's future in continuing our disciple-making mission.

The Church, the Body of Christ, the hope of the world is a movement.  We serve a God who makes all things new, and we follow a risen Savior who commands that week keep moving into our mission field, to change lives and to transform the world.  Continually moving forward is not easy; it can feel much easier just to try to stand still.  Sometimes moving forward leaves us dazed, disoriented, and tired.  But we have to keep our eye on the prize and remember that the most important word in the Matthew 28:19 Great Commission is "GO!"

How God REALLY Wants You to Vote!

A political campaign season can be really wearying for those of us who are independent voters, especially if we are people of faith.  There's no shortage of parties and political groups claiming to most fully represent the Divine.  Stressing personal morality, Republicans claim God is on their side. Emphasizing social compassion, Democrats claim God is on their side.  As if any humanly constructed movement or organization could remotely capture all that God is and all that God's heart wants.  Please...!

Admitting that I'm biased, I think the founder of our movement got it right.  John Wesley is credited for starting the phenomenon known as Methodism in the 18th century.  In 1774, giving advice to those in so-called Methodist classes and bands who were casting votes in England, regardless of how they voted, he suggested they commit themselves to the following:

1. To vote, without fee or reward, for the person they judged most worthy,

2. To speak no evil of the person they voted against,

3. To take care their spirits were not sharpened against those that voted on the other side.

Now there's a voting strategy that is closest to Christ-like!  How much of this do you see on the Right or the Left or anywhere in between?   If we all voted this way, neither Republican nor Democrat nor Independent nor anyone else would have the gall to claim to represent God.  We would simply yield to the Holy Spirit, make an informed and humble decision, and do so in love.  Then maybe this current embarrassment which is the American political scene might become something different.

Okay, that's enough from this old political cynic.  I'll see you around the next bend in the river.