How Big Is Your Dream?

We started this series asking the question, "What is the sign of Jonah?". It's a question raised in Matthew 16 when the Pharisees and Sadducees asked Jesus to do something miraculous, perform a sign, that would prove he was the Son of God, and Jesus said that only sign they needed was the sign of Jonah.

And if they didn't understand that sign, no other was necessary.

So for the last three weeks, Charlotte, Daniel and I have been unraveling the mystery of what the sign of Jonah actually is, and what it might mean to us.

To date we've picked up a lot of clues. Initially we discovered that God has a will for all of us. It might at times be pretty broad - live righteously - and at other times it might be quite specific. Like, for example, to go to Nineveh and tell its inhabitants to get their act together or face the Lord's judgment. In either case, God will use us either because we been faithful, or as a cautionary tale - as a living example of what happens when we do the opposite of what God desires for us. In either case, if you remember, God uses Jonah even in his disobedience, and the sailors on the boat sailing for Tarshish who begin the story as pagans, end the story offering sacrifices to the living God. Pharisees and Sadduccees can't imagine God using anybody except those who perfectly kept the Law. But they were wrong...

Clue #1: People moving in the wrong direction in life are still used by the Lord.

Next, Daniel helped us understand that while Jonah believed God lived in the Temple of Jerusalem, he discovered the Lord present in the belly of the fish. Remember this was the popular belief of the day. God lived in the Holy of Holies in the Temple. Only the priests could stand in God's presence, and at that only at certain times of the year. And yet, Jonah calls on God in the last place he should be present, and God shows up. And because God shows up, Jonah finds out that even smelling and looking like someone who had been in a whale for three days, that God, in his presence, would still use Jonah. Pharisees and Sadduccees couldn't imagine God being anywhere but the Holy and Holies, but they were wrong....

Clue #2: God just isn't present in the Temple, but everywhere, even in the foulest places imaginable.

Finally, last week, Charlotte talked about how sometimes the Good News sounds like bad news. But in this case, the Ninevites don't hear bad news. Even though Jonah was outsider who reeked of fish vomit, the word from the Lord was received whole-heartedly by the entire city-state. More than likely God had been preparing their hearts to hear the Good News of God's willingness to reconcile them to Him. Maybe it was because, as some scholars believed, the Ninevites worshipped sea gods, and thus could take a guy vomited out of a fish seriously. Maybe doubt had already existed in the minds of those in power that they were leading people in the wrong direction. Who knows. All we know is the word of the Lord is received by Ninevah. For them, the word is Good News. But in a world where the Pharisees and Sadduccees saw those who didn't know God as second-class citizens, as sinful lost pagans, as the enemy, that God would use an Israelite prophet to call foreigners to repentance, and to do so successfully, was bad news. It was inconceivable. It meant, really and truly, that God wanted to use his people to be a light of hope. To speak in a way that hearts who had not heard Him yet were being prepared to hear. The Pharisees and Sadduccees wanted to write the rest of the world off, but

Clue #3: The Good News doesn't always sound like Good News to us, particularly if we have to make room God's couch (or even give up our seat) to let others rest near Him.

Which brings us today. Jonah, having watched God spare Nineveh, is ticked. In his heart of heart, we find out, unequivocally, that Jonah's biggest fear is that God will forgive a nation of people he deeply hates, and hates with good reason. They have, in the past treated Israel cruelly. They've committed unimaginable crimes against the most innocent Israelites. Jonah doesn't even want to imagine that God might let these people off, let alone actually care about them.

Even love them.

The Pharisees and Sadducees hate a lot of people. They hate sinners because they believe they were blocking the day God's justice and judgment would come. They hated Samaritans because for historical reasons, they worshiped God in a different temple, and while they had Jewish blood in them, had intermarried with, of all people, Ninevites.

And they hated Romans. Man did they hate Romans. They hated them the most of all. They hated them for their cruelty. They hated them for being pagans. They hated because they made life so difficult for everybody with their corrupt, brutal form of government and taxation.

They hated them. Hated them to the degree that the idea that, like Jonah in today's scripture, the idea of being personally inconvenienced bothered them more than the death and destruction of every Roman man, woman, and child. Whole families wiped out meant less than a lack of shade for themselves on a hot, hot day.

The Pharisees and Sadducees prayed for the wrath of God to destroy their enemies, but...

Clue #4: God's mercy is extended to all, and where it's accepted, it will be released like a torrent whether or not you think the receiver is worthy.

Four clues to understand the sign of Jonah. When we add them up, what do we get?

God's desire is to be reconciled with all humanity.

So, here's the question: Are you a sign of God's desire?

That's a big question. For all their knowledge of scripture... all the energy in living a Holy life... even the work they would do for the widows and orphans.... the Pharisees and Sadducees weren't signs of God's desire.

I find this to be personally very sobering. We can hate sin and what it does to people, but we've no license to hate people themselves no matter how infuriating we might think they are. In fact, we're called to be sign posts of God's desire of reconciliation and peace. To speak in ways that hearts are already being prepared to hear. In Jonah's case, the word was straight and simple, covered in fish vomit and seaweed.

I know there are plenty of people out there who would be happy to speak a straight and simple word to people who they felt were the most vile sinners. But they'd rather speak that word on a high horse, gleaming white in the bright sunlight assured that God's smiting would smite those needed to be smoted.

The best example, bar none, that I can think of is the Phelps family in Topeka, Kansas. The folks who travel around to let you know that God's judgment on America is sealed. Do you know these folks have called you dogs? They've called you whores? They've called our church, this church, a dog kennel, and me a son of hell? A young man from our community whose grandmother, in particular, was a long-time faithful member of this church, died in action while serving in Iraq. When Christian Neff's death was announced, it didn't take 24 hours for the Westboro Baptist Church to announce their intention to picket his funeral at this church.

They said he was going to hell. That our church is a dog kennel. That you are all whores. That I am a false prophet. And not one word uttered at us, or to anyone else anywhere, is said with the hope that you or I will be redeemed. In their sick, twisted minds, all the Phelps family wants is for you and I to hate them with even greater passion. For their contempt for humanity, anyone who is not them, is so great, that they would pray that your hate would grow so that your torment in hell, forever would be greater and greater.

They have no idea what the sign of Jonah is.

For it doesn't really matter how virtuous a life you lead. If it's devoid of love and compassion for others - particularly the most unlovable of the unlovable - Paul, a Pharisee who one day woke up to discover that even though he knew Jonah's story backwards and forwards, didn't live a life that understood it's meaning, tells us that if you gave everything you had to the poor, possessed the power to make mountains jump, or even offer yourself as a martyr for the faith, if you don't love, if you don't stand as a sign post of God's desire to be reconciled with everyone, every chip you think you've earned with God, is a sham and a dream.

Listen... be principled. Be disciplined. Hold yourself to the highest standards. Believe passionately in God's righteousness and put yourself to the task of working out that righteousness out in your own life.

But don't hate. Don't scapegoat. Not anybody.

Not your that person who hurt you. Not that person who abandoned you. Not that person who is a vile pig. Nobody.

God is calling you to dream His dream... the reconciliation of his children to Himself.

Now, don't get me wrong. I get that what I'm asking you to do is virtually impossible. Everybody hates somebody, me included. African warlords who enslave children to slaughter in their name. Druglords who rule with fear and intimidation to enslave others. Adults who do unmentionable things to children.

If it were up to me, I'd say just kill 'em all, and let God sort them out. I don't care about the circumstances. I don't care about what happened to them as children or whatever it is that has turned these people into sociopaths.

But I hate to say this... God's compassion for whoever it is you've decided is the scum of humanity it not withheld. It does not yield. There is an ocean of mercy that need only to be accepted waiting to wash over every single one of these people.

And what's more, I just might be the person who needs to be the sign of God's forgiveness for the very person I hate. A sign that may, out of my unwillingness to go when called to speak the Good News in a way hearts are already being prepared to receive, might have to be delivered with a humiliated, defeated me, smelling of fish vomit and covered in seaweed.

So, let me leave you with this. Sin, I think, has left each of us just little bit challenged. Emotionally challenged. Intellectually challenged. Spiritually challenged. We have obstacles to overcome to begin embracing God's dream. Challenges to be overcome to be an effective disciple of Jesus. Challenges to be overcome so that we can effectively disciple others.

We hate somebody. We don't believe in ourselves. And we're tempted to put others down so we can stand on their bent backs to try to put us a little bit closer to God.

But even if we're imperfect, if we trust God, we can in certain moments, with certain people, being the perfect mirror, reflecting the light of love into a dark place not suitable anyone.

Are you a sign of God's desire? Will you trust Him to fashion you into beacon of hope He needs you to be?

Sanctification

1 Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, 2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. 3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves ; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. 12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling ; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. 14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing ; 15 so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, 16 holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain. (Philippians 2:1-4, 12-16)

Almost from the very beginning the church has faced an ongoing dilemma. On one hand, it is (theoretically at least) the most inviting movement on the face of the planet. All people from everywhere with every kind of background are welcome among her ranks. Everyone is invited to come worship, study, prayer, and break bread with the body of believers. Particularly in Paul's world (the guy who wrote the scripture) this was largely unheard of in every corner of the culture. Culturally, people largely stuck to their own "kind", and only reached out to others if there was some immediate base need they had someone else could fulfill. The church was made up of rich and poor, slave and free, Jew and Gentile, male and female... compared to the world it was an unknown, wild jungle of the human spirit. When you entered the world of the church, you had to leave your labels behind, and as people gave up whatever labels they came in with, and exchanged them for "Disciple of Jesus", the church just continued to become the increasingly diverse.

But that didn't meant, even if our prince is the Prince of Peace, doesn't mean we've gotten along.

But just because you profess faith in Jesus doesn't mean that you automatically shake your influences. Putting all these different types and kinds of people might sound beautiful in an "Up With People" sort of way, but in the real world it created a lot of conflict. People who came from religious backgrounds that celebrated, for example, wild uninhibited acts of religious ecstasy in worship, generally brought that tradition with them into the church. So when they'd experience "speaking in tongues", they felt right at home. But other people from more subdued religious backgrounds related more to times of prayer and fasting, and when these two people, and many others with other spiritual affinities (some of which were downright unacceptable) all got together, it created conflict.

Lots of conflict.

That's a myth of the church, I think. We read something like Philippians 2, which calls us to be of the same mind, maintain the same love, unite in spirit, and intent on one purpose, and we tend to think of it as proscriptive. As an order, like from a doctor when we've gone to her when we're sick. But I think we miss the tone of Paul's writing as we read what he writes. Paul has learned long ago that you can't force anybody to do what you want them to do or believe what you want them to believe. His is just one voice. An important one, no doubt, but still only one in a world where even the Apostles are struggling to understand what it means to "be of one mind".

So when I read the text above, I hear in it a bit of exasperation. A frustration that comes from having too many times to quell too many disagreements among too many people who, in theory, should take "love your neighbor as yourself" much more seriously.

14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing ; 15 so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, 16 holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.

That doesn't sound like a guy to me who is used to speaking, and seeing immediate results. He's basically asking these people to get along if for no other reason, than because they like and respect him. Like a father begging a son addicted to pain killers at an intervention to go to rehab for Dad or Mom if he can't do it for himself. That's the degree of strife and resistance to his teaching Paul encounters in the church.

The church has always been filled with tension, strife, differences, and challenges, and it still continues.

I know this first hand. I got a couple of reminders earlier today. At the beginning of this post you see a picture of our pastoral staff. You got me, in all my button-down tied glory. You have Charlotte, our site pastor at our Bath campus who is in the picture, the rose among thorns. And then you have Daniel, who all of us other pastors have nicknamed "Pastor Eye Candy".

A white guy. A white woman. A black guy. Can't say there are too many other pastoral staffs who look like ours... anywhere. I remember seeing that picture for the first time and just kind of being surprised. And the first time I saw it, I saw it in a newspaper that had been distributed to more than 90,000 people that very morning. It surprised me when I saw it.

And guess what, so was the public.

Yesterday I received two different phone calls from surprised, even angry, people who I don't know and said they don't go to our church. In fact, they made it point to tell me that they wouldn't dare attend our church. One person, a woman, lectured me for about fifteen minutes on how unbiblical we were because we had a female pastor. She knew a lot of scripture - at least a lot of scripture regarding a woman's role in the church - and let me know that I was inviting "the wrath of God" upon us.

That was the friendly phone call.

The second one I received from someone who somehow got a hold of my cell phone number, and knew how to block theirs from showing up on my screen. He had a lot to say about race and religion. He had a lot to say about me. I don't feel compelled to repeat exactly what was said. Let's just say this person isn't a fan of people who look different worshiping together.

3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves ; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

Both of these other people claimed to be Christians, and I'm not sure what they would do with Philippians 2:3-4 if I had repeated it to them. More than likely, they would have blew me off.

But that what it's like in this faith of ours. We all come to the feast prepared for us by Jesus at the table with all kinds of experiences, backgrounds, beliefs and attitudes. On our way to that table, we often bump into people who are strange, and sometimes even upsetting, and often we want to just go find a place where we won't get stretched. Where we'll be more comfortable. A place where we aren't just fed, but catered to.

Jesus is no caterer. The table is set, but you still need to come forward and sit down with everyone else who has been invited. We do a good job, in this life, most of us in this family of God, sequestering ourselves so that we don't have to see, or smell, or hear others so different from ourselves. But I want to tell you... there aren't different houses of worship in Heaven. Just one, and John the Revelator told us that it was revealed to him that in the presence of God, together, there were people of all tribes, nationalities, races, and tongues. God won't let us keep our blinders on for eternity. Sooner or later, we'll have to take a good look at the other folks singing his praise next us, and realize that realize how different they are. The question is how soon God wants us to wake up to this reality.

Let me share something with you as we end five weeks of looking at ways Jesus restores us when sin, anger, pain, success, or something else steals away our identity. When Christ restores us, he's not interested in restoring us to be the us we were before whatever it was that derailed us, derailed us. His is a complete restoration. He wants to haul out all the junk. Paint every wall. Re-carpet every floor. Replace the electrical and plumbing. He's looking for a total rebirth.

Jesus restores us, only to take what our identity was away, and to give us a completely new one. And the way he does the work is through the work we're already doing, in humility, with much fear and trembling.

We call the restoration work Christ wants to do in us, sanctification. The Greek word is "Qadash" which means to "vindicate the holiness" or to "separate to make holy". Its the work we do, like to an old house that needs made over, to tear out the ugliness that marks us. Paul tells us in v.12-13 that as we do the hard work of tearing out all the ugliness, God come alongside of us in that work, and begins working through us, like a spiritual interior designer and contractor.

To make us "perfect" in his sight.

Perfect is a funny word isn't it. Life is so imperfect, perfection seems virtually unattainable. But perfection, as we understood in our Wesleyan tradition, hasn't as much been a destination (a finished home), but rather a continued journey that only is made complete when we stand fully in the presence of God. A journey of loving God more and more, and loving our neighbor increasingly with a grace greater than our sin.... more and more like Jesus loves us.

Jesus wants to steal our identity, and give us a perfect one. And the way we know we're on the right track, as we do all of this work, is by how far you can extend your love as you faithfully do God's bidding, and as far as you can outside of your little circle of family and friends. It's the movement from looking to be fed by the Jesus the Five-Star Caterer, to finding a seat at the Lord's table next to somebody who makes us very uncomfortable, or angry, or conflicted, or even deeply, deeply sorrowful.

Doesn't seem to make much sense does it. You'd think this Christian journey would be all uplifting prayer meetings, songs that take us to new heights, and preaching that would inspire the angels. Not a difficult journey made with people who could even exasperate a saint like Paul.

But that's how it works.

All of us, doing the work of tearing out the ugliness, while the Holy Spirit renews, strengthens, and makes us over. There is learning in the work, and that education is never free. But if you want to get right with God, you gotta do the work of getting right with others, otherwise you'll never learn who you are supposed to be. You've gotta run - not walk - but run to the table looking for a seat in the place of least honor, with the people who seem least worthy of being there. Even next to the woman who thinks I'm going to Hell for working proudly with a female pastor, and even next to the guy who is a prejudiced bigot. At the table you learn where they've come from, what's been done to them, what their limitations are, how imperfect things are, and yet how important it is to keep them in your prayers, in your orbit, even if they don't want to be there.

Doesn't matter if you ever change them. You can't change anybody anyway. That's the work God does, as we do the work on ourselves, with fear, trembling, and humility. What matters is what's being separated out, the wheat from the chaff, the crap from the holy, so that we might start looking for, maybe even getting a little excited about, running to the Lord's table to find a seat next to the person who isn't the dinner companion we might have, on our own, chosen.

You gotta run, not walk, but run, to the table. Sit down. That's where the feast is.

I just want to tell you, that's the kind of church I want us to be. The church who runs to the table to sit down next to the least, the last, the lost, the hurting, the difficult, and the sick. The church that looks, well, really different, because it seeks out people looking for healing, and is filled with people looking to help heal.

A family of faith being sanctified, doing the hard work of ripping out the ugliness inside, to reveal something God has done that is individually more beautiful, more perfect, and collectively more heavenly. A light, even, in the darkness of what could be the darkest moment of the soul.

It can only happen one restoration at a time. Each of us doing the hard work. All of coming to the table the Lord has prepared.

Won't you come to the table?

Dancing In The Minefields (Twenty Years Married... and counting)

This morning at worship planning, while looking for some potential fodder for a future service, I stumbled on this great song by one of my personal favorites, a Christian artist by the name of Andrew Peterson.



The words kind of hit like a ton of bricks. Aimee and I actually got married when we were 21 and 19. We had been engaged for a year, and everyone told us we were too young. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. Heaven knows it's been hard. Five degrees down and almost one more to go, fourteen moves, a move not made because she told me if I took the job I'd be going alone, one baby, then two, then three, and finally a fourth neither of us envisioned bringing into the world. It seems like we've always been on the precipice of financial implosion, the edge of another major decision, and the beginning of a new daunting challenge.

But we're still here.... together.

I don't know... it's kind of strange. 2010 was just about the most stressful year of my almost 42 years of existence. We spent the entire year preparing for major transitions here at work (new church name, new staff, new additional locations, new leadership structure, etc... it went on and on). We sank money into new opportunities for ministry and mission, but it resulted in General Fund beginning to fall, which became the source of chest-pains and a subsequent stress-test. The changes weren't universally lauded and celebrated, so some people decided it was time to find another church.

It was a tough year.

All the while our family situation was churning as wildly as the situation at work. The two older boys got increasingly busy with sports and activities. Elijah, who had been tested for Autism was slowly finding his way as a student in a classroom as we also took him to an Occupational Therapist to help adapt socially to others. Toby was busy being 2. Aimee took care of four boys while running her own business while I was mostly not around. Oh.... and we moved, again. Nothing like trying to sell your house in the worst housing market since the Great Depression.

And yet, somehow, God used this year to knit us closer together, Aimee and I.

Marriage is not easy. It's hard enough to figure out how to make it through life by yourself, without also having to do navigation for two. I don't know how you make a marriage work without some sort of higher purpose or calling for the endeavor. Call it whatever you want: a "divine calling" or at minimum a belief that the the little world you are creating together somehow makes the bigger one a better place for others to live.... it makes no difference. If you can't somehow keep it in focus that the reason you're together is to create a haven of blessing and peace for the world, and that begins with your own family, I just don't see it surviving. You have to fight for that haven every day. You have to sacrifice for it. Often you have see past the turbulence and chaos to realize that peace on the other side. It's tough, but peace is worth fighting for. You just have to remember to fight the external threats to that peace, and not turn on one another when its not easily realized.

Years ago, I'm guessing when we lived here in Lima long before we had kids, I remember one night we had one of the those yelling, throwing things, kind of fights. We were both in school. We had no money. We were always apart. We were still adjusting to being under the looking glass of a local church. It was tough, and on this particular evening I suppose one too many cups of displeasure were poured out, and the dam broke. The screaming finally ended with my hopping in a car, and leaving.

I drove around awhile, but finally, not really sure where I was going or what to do next, hungry, I ended up pulling into a Waffle House. I took a pad of paper and pen in with me, and while I waited for my eggs over a terrible cup of coffee, I started to write. I just poured out all my feelings. All the good. All the bad. All the "what if" regarding staying together, or getting a divorce. All of it.

After a couple of hours and I don't know how many cups of coffee, I just remember writing and writing, and as time went on asking God what He wanted me to do.

"Write out your best guess", was the reply.

And and out of what's now an old Bible Aimee gave me, I copied:

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."

Love doesn't make it unless two people are committed to living it out what it takes to keep it alive, together, mutually. I thank God I have someone to keep doing that with, through better and worse, richer and poorer, in sickness and health, to love and to cherish, til death us do part.

So when I lose my way, find me
When I lose loves chains, bind me
At the end of all my faith
to the end of all my days
when I forget my name, remind me


Cause we bear the light of the son of man
So there’s nothing left to fear
So I’ll walk with you in the shadow lands
Till the shadows disappear
Cause he promised not to leave us
And his promises are true
So in the face of all this chaos baby
I can dance with you

The Christmas Basics: Peace on Earth, Goodwill Toward All

We have a little problem in the Bucher house: Elijah, our five year old, has discovered Santa Clause.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those Santa bashers. People who are down on Santa Clause don't know the story of the fat man's origin. St. Nicholas was a fourth century Greek Orthodox bishop who was considered a great friend of the poor. His willingness to give what he had to those in need contributed to his legend, which continued to be, and still is, celebrated in church history. The fact that St. Nick is now associated with materialism isn't his fault. Chalk that up to Madison Avenue working for businesses whose fiscal years are broken or made in the final six weeks from Thanksgiving to New Years. The basic idea of celebrating generosity, particularly to those in spirit and/or material need, should be a part of the season, and taught to our children. St. Nicholas, or Santa Clause, is a good way to convey that message.

So it's not the idea of Santa that bothers me. It's just that Eli, who never paid a whit of attention to Santa Clause until this year (thanks to "The Polar Express"), thought that the reason we celebrated Christmas was because it was Santa Clause's birthday.

Now, let me say that I am relieved that my children, at least up to now, haven't been held to a higher expectation of behavior because of who their Dad is. I see this happen too often to pastor's kids, and the results haven't been pretty. Heck, my brother, who is twelve years younger, used to hear about how great I was at our home church and was asked on more than one occasion"why he couldn't be more like me", and he's just my brother. Besides, when I was a kid I was no saint. People have short memories. I could tell you some stories. I wasn't always a pastor. You can take that to the bank.

The Shawnee community hasn't laid a guilt trip on my kids because of what I do for a living, and for that I'm grateful. But, that being said, there is a ripple of dread that goes through you as a Christian minister as your own son tells all who will listen that Christmas is Santa's birthday. The curious examinations for the mark of the beast on my son's forehead are exceeded only by the disapproving glares I get from those same people who wonder what in the world the Methodist preacher has really been teaching his children.

In any event, because Eli has been a bit confused, we have taken up the Christmas story and it's true meaning with a new vigor at the Bucher house. Instead of repeatedly at bedtime reading the normal favorite Bible stories (Samson kills a lion, David killing Goliath, and any story about Elijah the prophet which is a favorite for obvious reasons) we have gone back to the story of Gabriel, Mary, Joseph, the Shepherds, a manger in Bethlehem, and scores of angels singing in the skies about God's goodwill toward all and peace on earth above a remote pasture where sheep lay napping. We just want to make sure that not only Elijah, but our two-year old Toby know whose birthday it is this Christmas morning, while reminding our older two that Xbox 360 games aren't the reason for the season.

This Christmas we've gotten back to the basics. Peace on earth. Goodwill toward all.

Now, if you ask Eli, he'll tell you whose birthday Christmas is and get it right. Of course, if I ask he still says Santa cause he know it will get a rise out of me.... which does not bode well for both of us when he becomes a teenager. But I tell you this on Christmas Eve because as we as a family have had to get back to the basics during this season of Advent, and tonight I'd like to invite you to do the same.

Some of you might think I'm too late. Your Christmas spirit was pounded out of you either at the mall, the grocery store, or if you were brave and didn't plan well, Toys R Us. In between terrible remakes of Christmas songs broadcast muzak style at your local department store and the growing frustration at not being able to figure out what gift to buy Aunt Mildred's new husband who you've never met, all that's irritating about this time of year has beat the goodwill out of you, and whatever peace you might have had went with the Christmas cookies whose dough you forgot to put sugar in. And further more, not only are you not interested in celebrating Jesus' birthday in the same spirit of St. Nicholas, but at this point you could very well be tired of getting tapped, no matter how good the cause, by the guy with the bell next to the Salvation Army kettle, the empty "Toys for Tots" boxes, and, yes, even at your church's Christmas Eve service.

That's kind of the irony, I think, of the latest attempt by the greater church to combat the materialism of this season. We've challenged people to take the money they would have spent on gifts, and contribute it to some worthy cause to try to teach people that the season isn't about money and stuff. It's a worthy undertaking, but it still puts at the heart of the season, cash, and now to some degree, guilt... neither of which, as far as I can remember, were at the heart of the original story. Good stewardship is biblical, but it's not at the heart of this message. In fact, both Mary and Joseph are extravagant with their love and resources beyond societal norms. And Jesus is supposed to free us of guilt and sin, hence the singing of the angels and the excitement of the shepherds. You don't have to buy a clear conscious by writing a check to a charity while someone else writes one to Macy's.

Shoot, I can tell you after an evening at the Dollar Store with Max and Xavier, that pagans know that it's better to give than to receive. As I overheard a father talking to some friends about how he was going to celebrate Christmas tonight (there are spirits involved, just not the Holy Spirit), I also heard him lecture his son about the true meaning of Christmas: Giving instead of receiving. Then he turned to his buddies and started talking about how selfish this generation was. No lie. If that's as far as the message of this season goes the meaning of Christmas hasn't been lost.

But that's not it. At the first Christmas, the receiving on our part was much better than anything that could be given. Better than frankincense, myrrh, or even gold.

The message of Christmas is simple: It's a time of where the message of great tidings and joy, that God has sent us a savior as a means of expressing His goodwill toward us, and the peace he desires for everyone on earth, is celebrated, and passed on. It is, in full view, a clear picture of who God is, and what God wants us to know about Him: That he favors and loves us, and desires for us, peace. Often, that gets lost this time of year, and maybe, even as you sit there, it has for you.

But, I want to tell you.... it's not too late. The true spirit of Christmas, embodied by the birth of a man who was, and is, exceedingly generous to us, can still be captured tonight, and tomorrow. And who knows, might even carry over into the new year. You just have to get back to the basics.

A woman. A man. An angel. A stable. Some shepherds. Some more angels. And, most importantly, a baby, whose birth created such great excitement in the cosmos that in all four corners was sung, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, God's peace and goodwill toward all."

Peace and goodwill toward all from a loving God, is a pretty good reason to be joyful. That's not been the predominant message in most every religious tradition throughout history. Most gods and goddesses have been painted as being largely unconcerned or even hostile toward us humans. We celebrate a God who doesn't give us diseases to punish us or because we were bad or because he lost a bet. We celebrate a God who with us, wants to make our hearts, and our world, right.

That's good news you can't wrap in a box, send via facebook in the form of a gift card, or even buy with a contribution to some local charity.

Before you leave this evening, or morning as the case would be, on tables out in the hallway and the Commons, you have available to you small pieces of paper and various pens. Pretty soon, we're going to take the next step to getting back to the basics of Christmas. We'll light candles, remembering that Jesus told us that we shouldn't hide our light under a bushel. We'll sing "Silent Night", remembering that what makes Jesus life so powerful isn't the string of supernatural miracles, but his willingness to endure the fragility of human mortality and all that has to offer, including being a newborn infant sleeping in heavenly peace. Then we'll sing "Happy Birthday to Jesus", cause we're corny midwesterners, and we'll blow out our candles even as the light kindled, or maybe re-kindled within, stays aflame.

But when you leave, ,I want to challenge you to take this "getting back to the basics of Christmas" one step further. As we celebrate God's goodwill toward us, and the peace that can be found in Jesus, I'd like to do one more thing:

Step up to those tables, and pass on that message of goodwill and peace to someone desperate to hear it.

A little over a year ago I received a phone call from a teacher from Cridersville Elementary School regarding a six year old boy who had been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. We asked you to help out Jack, his mother Shannon, and his little sister, Grace, by making donations which could be used to fund the numerous trips that would have to be made by a single mother with one child receiving treatment in Columbus, and another child still here at home trying to live as normal a life as a little girl can under difficult circumstances.

Shawnee UMC, your response was overwhelming. Even after numerous gas cards, meals, car repairs, and the like, we still have funds available to help the family. So, as you leave keep your wallet in your pocket and the checkbook in your pocket. We already hit you up during the offering, and for your generosity, we give thanks. It's just that more toys or gift cards aren't going to convey most fully the message a few humble people long to hear.

You see, what was supposed to be nine months of treatment for small polyp tumors in Jack's lungs, and a large tumor in his liver, has now stretched out to thirteen months... and still no clear end in sight. The lungs, which were the subject of much treatment in the hopes they'd be clear and a liver transplant secured, are still not clear. The benefits of drugs used in the past have been exhausted, and now an experimental drug is being employed with physically demanding side effects.

She won't say it, because she's his mom. He's her only son and he's seven years old. She wants to see him play Little League, sing in the school Christmas concert, get his drivers license, take a girl to prom, make an honor roll or two, graduate from high school, and figure out what he wants to do with his life. She won't say it, because she can't, but this little boy is has been fighting a long, long time, and his options are not as numerous as they were a year ago.

I asked her what we could do. She asked us to pray.

Pray for her son. Pray for her daughter. Pray for the doctors as they figure out what do next. Pray for her, a mother, worn down by the suffering of a son. Prayer. That's what she wants.

Tonight, don't worry about money or presents. That's not what it's about. Don't worry about Christmas carols or trees. That's not at the heart of what we're celebrating here.

We're getting back to the basics: Share a message of goodwill and peace to all people, even a family facing down cancer.

Just stop by one of the tables in the hallway or commons, and write a note of encouragement to express some goodwill to Jack and his family. Or construct a simple prayer of peace for a mother who loves her son. And tomorrow, when you are doing whatever it is you are doing, remember that Christmas isn't Santa's birthday. It's the birth of peace on earth and goodwill to all, because that's how the angels told us God rolls.

Peace. Goodwill. To you and me and Jack and his family. All of us. Believe that, and I guarantee, your Christmas, and everyday, will be transformed forever. It's the heart of the message of Christmas. Let's get back to those basics.

Sowing Bountifully

6 Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed ; 9 as it is written, "HE SCATTERED ABROAD, HE GAVE TO THE POOR, HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS ENDURES FOREVER." 10 Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness ; 11 you will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God. 12 For the ministry of this service is not only fully supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing through many thanksgivings to God. 13 Because of the proof given by this ministry, they will glorify God for your obedience to your confession of the gospel of Christ and for the liberality of your contribution to them and to all, 14 while they also, by prayer on your behalf, yearn for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you. 15 Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift !
2 Corinthians 9:6-15

In all my years in the ministry I have been blessed and amazed many, many times, over and over. I've baptized men, women, and children who were excited about their new life in Christ. I've watched lives turn around with new spiritual grounding. I've watched young people who I worked with as a youth pastor grow up to be productive citizens who give to their communities, neighborhoods, and a congregation. I've traveled to some of the poorest communities in the world to do development work and bring encouragement with people who became life-long friends. I've laughed and cried, and along the way I've made tremendous friends while growing abundantly in understanding what the essence of righteous living truly is:

Love justice. Show mercy. Walk humbly with your God

One of the unique ways I’ve been greatly blessed and amazed throughout the years has been by people who took, and take, pride in being abundantly financially generous. On some level I think these people are supernaturally gifted by God in ways most people aren't. That’s the only way I can explain why they are so open to giving their money to ministry or mission, when for so many others the subject of money and the church is pretty touchy, or even upsetting.

Let me tell you: I know about touchy and upsetting when it comes to money and the church. As an associate pastor at another congregation, after a long year of financial struggle (and all the turmoil that came with it) we were so far behind financially we faced the prospect of needing to raise a lot money inn the last month off the year to meet the basic needs of our General Fund. For whatever reason it was decided that I would work with the finance committee, which was normally the senior pastor’s job, to figure out how to do this. We came up with a plan, shared it with the congregation, put our names on the bottom of the letter, and made ourselves available for questions over coffee.

Let's just say that after a tough year, some of the conversation was lot hotter than the coffee.

But in the course of that campaign, carrying at the time what I thought was a tremendous burden, again and again I was blessed by people who simply came in and wrote the check. No begging or pleading or convincing... they just wrote the check. And in the end, we received what we needed, and eventually things got better.

Out of that experience thirteen years ago, as I’ve spent more and more time understanding how church finances work from the inside, I’ve learned that the people who give with energy and excitement, are the ones who truly carry a church body financially. Some of these folks are people of great means, but most aren’t. Some give large sums of money, but most give, by the world’s measure, modest amounts, that are in kingdom terms, highly sacrificial. But they all give for the same reason whispered to them at some point in their life, by the Lord.

They give because they know, giving is the root of all our greatest joy.

Do you know what I want for Christmas this year? Do you know what’s on my list for Santa Clause. An ITunes gift card to buy a couple Beatles songs, and world peace. And if I don’t get that ITunes gift card, it’s no big deal. Because the only thing I’m interested in on Christmas morning, when we celebrate Jesus’ birthday with sugared cereal that normally my wife refuses to buy, is seeing smiles on my sons faces. As I get older that’s been the biggest change in my list for Santa: I just want to be able to make the day one to remember for my kids. That’s better than any copy of Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

I know it to be true, and if you have kids or grandkids so do you: joy and fulfillment in life truly comes giving.

That's what this weekend's scripture is all about. It lays out the principles for "bountiful sowing".To sum up, 2 Corinthians 9:6-15, I'd say what Paul is getting at is this:

- Give cheerfully (v.7)
- Expect Righteousness To Multiply In Yourself and Others (v.8-10)
- Expect Your Life To Be Enriched (v.11)
- Expect An Overflowing Harvest (v.12)
- Give so God Will Be Glorified (V.13-15)

It's these common qualities, these attributes, in this attitude that I see people who give easily, with much expectation, hope, joy, and passion, give. They know in their heart the true value and impact a gift given to bring God glory

When they give they're not conflicted. They're not angry. They're not suspicious. They're not resentful. They're not fearful. They're life is just organized to, as John Wesley put it, "work all they can, so they can earn all they can, so they can save all they can, so they can give all they can". Giving has become vital to their own well-being, spiritually and mentally. They’ve become positively addicted to experiencing moments of true joy where God's love, though their resources, takes on hands and feet.

When you received your capital investment campaign packet about a month ago (or only a couple of weeks ago for some, no thanks to the bulk mail department of the US Postal service here in the 485- region), I know it caused some mourning and gnashing of teeth. A quarter-million dollars in addition to our ongoing obligations in a has in some corners inspired discussion more heated than the coffee. Don’t think this doesn’t get back to me. It always ultimately does. Either directly, or via the grapeline express.

But I have to be honest, what little grumbling I’ve heard has been far outweighed the stories of joy shared by those excited to give. They're excited about the ways they can bring God glory in this moment. They're impressed that our leadership isn't going to stand for the status quo, and dedicated to making this happen because they believe we aren't just another church in a world already filled with too many churches. They know what I know: that we possess a unique ministry, with a unique take on the gospel message, that people who are far, far away from God right now need to hear. A message we can offer because it has the weight of just not talking the talk, but, on a Sunday when we were giving away our offering, walking the walk.... and now they want to walk further.

First through their prayers, then through their wallet and checkbook, and ultimately through actions, they are making the commitment, sacrificially to send a message. A message about God. A message about Jesus. A message about their church. A message about what's really important in this life to them right now.

A message of joy, because they feel joyful that we have faith over fear. Love over anger. Belief over doubt. Hope over despair. Dancing instead of mourning.
I invite you to join them. To be one of them. To pledge this day standing squarely on the Word of God, by not just giving, but giving cheerfully, with the expectation that with your gift righteousness will multiply in yourself and others, and in the course of giving you will be enriched, the harvest will overflow, and ultimately God will be glorified.

Let me just share one last thought.

I really believe the changes we're making, and calculated risks we're taking, are God's will for this congregation. Not out of some sense of overly-inflated ego where I think everything I want is what God wants. On the contrary... to quote many others, there's two things I've learned as United Methodist pastor over the last twenty years: There is definitely a God, and I ain't Him.

I'm excited about the full vision for a church. Not just building repairs and renovation, but on our new focus and emphasis on discipleship, a new way of looking at where a church should be located, a new zeal to communicate the Gospel to new generations of believers so this place will ultimately not just survive as most church are doing now, but thrive, long after we’re dead and gone. I’m excited because this vision came out of months and months of prayer, listening, deliberation (sometimes more heated than the coffee), and confirmation from a core group of leaders, lay and clergy, who actually stretched this vision to be much bigger than I could imagine.

And I mean that…. I believe in this vision, because I alone couldn’t see it. I thought asking for a great sum of money for a satellite campus concept that people are having a hard time understanding was ambitious enough. Imagine my surprise when after touring our building the Joshua team wanted to add $100,000 for work here.

They could have ditched the satellite concept to just focus on us, but they didn't.
They could have said, "these things can wait" but they felt they couldn't.

They could have listened to a reluctant pastor who wondered what people would say, or mumble, or abandon with such a request.

But they didn’t. And so, the campaign goal grew. And the reason it grew was cause it was a child who lead us.

At the very last meeting of the Joshua Team, where this campaign was the last topic regarding our church’s future we needed to cover, one of the team members, before we made a final decision, gave me an envelope. It was from his 11 year old daughter, who the week previously, sat quietly in the room seemingly reading a book, while we heatedly discussed how big our vision should be. I opened up the envelope… this envelope, and inside of it was seventeen dollars, and this note:

You should have seen the smile on her Dad's face when he handed me this envelope. You should have seen the smile on the faces of all the Joshua Team members as I read this note aloud. And you should have seen the smile on that little girl's face when later that week I thanked her for her gift, and told her how I proud I was of her.

This campaign was sealed with a smile. And let me tell you what my friends with the spiritual gift of giving know. It’s only when you give cheerfully, with an expectation that your gift righteousness will multiply in yourself and others, with an expectation you will be enriched, the knowledge that the harvest will overflow, and that ultimately God will be glorified, it’s only then that you will know true joy.

This is s the message we want to take root in Abby's heart, and the hearts of all our children and grandchildren and great grandchildren. It’s a message we want to send to the community. It’s a message we want to send to our Lord and God

Giving to you is the root of our joy. Take this gift, sealed with our smile.

Transition Plan (The Book) - Q. How Did You Get Involved In A Project With Bob Russell

If you've come to this blog via my Amazon author's page (or from wherever else you stumbled in here), welcome. Let me tell you just a little bit more about my role in the new book, "Transition Plan", which I wrote with Bob Russell, retired Senior Pastor at Southeast Christian Church (Louisville)

For those who don't know, I am still a doctoral student at Asbury Seminary, finishing up my dissertation, the topic of which is "Planned Pastoral Succession". What I did was research numerous different "successful" (based on some criteria regarding attendance, giving, and whatnot, pre and post leadership transition) transitions from senior pastor to successor pastor. I found these churches using organizations like Leadership Network, various church consultants like Lyle Schaller, word of mouth between United Methodist bishops, and scouring the internet for articles on the subject. Then I traveled to each one armed with a research method called the "Multiple Comparative Case Study" which demanded that I interview the senior pastor, successor pastor, lay-leaders, staff persons, and (if necessary) any denominational big wigs involved in the process. The idea of the case study was to establish commonalities and discrepancies between the various succession experiences to see if anything learned across the experiences could be passed on.

In the end, I established I had enough data from the churches involved to actually be able to establish a credible narrative and some conclusions. The churches are intentionally diverse in background, theology, geography, and make up of the congregation to find commonalities that cut across various polities, theologies, size of congregation, geography, etc... I have churches from the Northeast, South, three from the Southwest/Southern California, and the Midwest. Denominations included are United Methodist, Episcopalian, Southern Baptist, UCC, Christian Missionary Alliance, the Independent Christian Church movement, Anglican, and Congregationalist/Non-Denominational background.

Theologically the churches run from the very theologically/socially conservative (almost literal fundamentalism) to the very progressive (one being on the forefront of what would be called "liberal" causes out on the west coast). Some were racially diverse, and one historically black. The smallest church worshiped 350 weekly, and the largest worshiped over 14,000. I'm still finishing the dissertation, but the conclusions from the data for the purpose of the book and the rough draft of my final chapter have been established. Anybody crazy enough to want to do so could research more churches and test the conclusions could follow protocol and test my conclusion. God bless the poor sucker who chooses to do so. But the point of doing things this way was that I was trying to examine "best practices" in regards to leadership transitioning. Theology, cultural make-up, socio-economic data, size of church, denominational background, etc.... doesn't make any difference my friends. I went into this suspecting that "best practices" are determined by what you do or don't do.... and four years later I believe this research proved that assumption to be true.

Anyhow, one of the churches selected for the study was Southeast Christian Church in Louisville. Of all the churches surveyed, SCC was by far the most prominent and largest. Because it now worships over 20,000 weekly, Bob Russell, who came to the church when it worshiped 120, has become somewhat of a "rock star" in the mega-church pastor world, particularly amongst pastors in the Independent Christian Church movement. Because Bob's success has propelled him to a kind of "fame" (not "fame" in the sense that most, or even a fraction of Americans know who he is, but "fame" in the sense that a lot of practitioners and scholars in the church world know his story) most pastors don't achieve he's been interviewed repeatedly about the transition in various magazines and other publications.

You see, church senior leadership transitions are a big deal. When Jack Welch left General Electric, for example, nobody the day after it happened walked into a WalMart and wondered about the quality of the GE light bulb or hair dryer they were buying. If poor business practices or judgments come out of a transition from one corporate CEO to another, it'll take awhile for the ramifications of that to shake down to the light bulb aisle. But in most churches, when a pastor leaves and is replaced, the results are felt immediately. Congregants and staff have to adapt to a new preaching, teaching, and leadership style. And typically, the longer the pastorate, the greater potential for fallout. Attendance and giving can drop precipitously as a church deals with a change in the preaching style, leadership, theological emphasis, and personality of the lead pastor. As a result, the stories of transitions gone bad in local churches are numerous and plenty.

With the growth of the megachurch (churches defined as worshiping more than 2k people per on the average per week), the stakes of leadership transitioning have only escalated. While the weight and breadth of these larger organizations can carry a poorly executed transitions longer than in smaller churches, the ramifications long term are much greater. The primary example right now of what can happen right now is probably the Crystal Cathedral in Costa Mesa, California, which rose to prominence under its founder and leader, Robert Schuller, and has been in the news for the all the wrong reasons thanks to a transition to his son that's fallen apart. Now the church, which is being led by Schuller's daughter, is facing the real possibility of bankruptcy. This is just the latest example of many high-profile church-transitions-gone-sour in the news that keep megachurch pastors, their leadership boards, and staff people awake at night.

Bob's transition (and quite frankly most of the ones I ended up studying) which was modeled largely on both biblical and corporate models, to what was then an in-house associate pastor, Dave Stone, has become a model that's becoming popular with churches. As a result of theirs and others (smaller church pastors, CEO's, college trustees staring down a presidential transitions, etc....) Bob has been asked repeatedly to speak and or give interviews on the topic. As I was looking for positive examples to include in my work I stumbled on an interview he gave to a church trade magazine on the topic. Given that the transition took place in one of the highest profile, and earliest example of a mega church, it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out I needed Southeast Christian in my study.

But wanting Southeast Christian Church's cooperation and getting it was two different matters. Let me just say this now that I'm done with the research portion of this work... the bigger the church the more difficult it is to get past the wall created to protect primarily the current senior pastor. I mean, it makes sense. Shawnee UMC only has about 900 members and the demands on my time are pretty heavy. Multiply that by two, or ten, or twenty, or more and if you're a pastor you get a sense of the pressure these folks are under. Their offices are set up to protect their time so that only that they are obligated to only that which is essential.

It was because SCC was so large and the wall to access so high that it took almost two years to finally nail down the necessary people to do my on-site observations and interviews. And even at that I still ended up interviewing Dave Stone two weeks after my visit on the phone because his schedule is packed. It was nuts.

Anyhow, while I was in Louisville, word of what I was doing must have leaked throughout the office, and a young ambitious member of the staff, Nevan Hooker, heard what I was doing. I have no idea how he got my number, but by the end of my first day of work he called asked if we could do dinner or breakfast. Seems that he had a small publishing company, Ministers Label, and he believed that a book by Bob Russell regarding his pastoral transition would be worth publishing. I was only in Louisville three days, and I was booked all evenings doing interviews, so he pitched me over eggs at the hotel's buffet, gave me his number, and asked me to think about it. I gave him my email, and told him not to hold his breath. A week later Nevan emailed me a proposal, and (to be honest) when I realized there was a chance to get some of the data I'd worked hard over three years to amass out into the general public, I decided to take this on.

How Nevan persuaded Bob to do this is a part of the story you'll have to ask him. I'm just glad he said "yes".

Now, more than a year after that initial meeting Nevan, "Transition Plan" is in bookstores and available for order at Amazon. As I read the final version I take pride in helping draw out of Bob's story, as well as provide some of the organizational framework and additional data that complete the work. The initial draft of my data was written over a three week period of pretty much non-stop writing last June and July where I pretty much lived either at the Imler's cottage at Grand Lake or Biggby Coffee with my notes and my laptop. I actually wrote the last word at 4am of the day we left on our family vacation (my wife threatening to delay our leaving until I was finished so I could fully engage myself with the family I had been neglecting for weeks. Bob then had my data and over the last year really put the thing together. Now after much editing we're done.

I'll talk more about my work, and direct you to our website for more of my data later, but since I'm happy to actually see the cover on the Amazon page, I'd like to thank a few people:

My wife Aimee (who put up with being alone with four boys while I traveled all over the place doing interviews, then compiling the info, and finally writing the book... all the while she built her web design business from the ground up of which I am immensely proud of her), my kids (who missed their Dad), my transcribers (Cathy Dempsey and Linda Parish who logged through hundreds of hours of recorded interviews), Shawnee UMC (who put up with my being gone, provide me with a living including expense money I used to do much of the travel... and more specifically Roger Rhodes, Arlene Joyce, and Dave and Michele Imler who as a lay-leaders have been really been supportive above and beyond specifically of this work), the Beeson Center for Biblical Preaching and Leadership at Asbury Seminary (which financed the formal part of my education and even a couple of the site visits, all the while patiently waiting for a final product), and the folks at Ministers Label.

Thank you all for giving me the opportunity to do this. I hope it proves profitable for organizations of all kinds, particularly those geared to leave this world looking more like the Kingdom of Heaven.

NEXT POST: Why businesses are practicing leadership transitions that are more biblically oriented (unknowingly, I suspect, in most cases) than churches.

A Friend Of God

6 When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7 Now, no one is likely to die for a good person, though someone might be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God's sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God's judgment. 10 For since we were restored to friendship with God by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be delivered from eternal punishment by his life. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God -- all because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us in making us friends of God. (Romans 5:6-11 NLT)

I believe in the power of free will. God has given us no greater gift or privilege. It's the most powerful thing God could have done as the creator of the universe... to invest us with the power to say "yes" or "no".

We learn and re-learn the frightening excitement that comes with the intoxication of experienced free will. Last night I was watching Game 1 of the NBA Finals with Eric the Buckeye. He's taking some time off in June to do some traveling, catch up on the continuing ed credits you need to keep current in his profession, and just generally relax. Since he's had time off in the middle of the day, his girls are out of town with family, and his much better-half is still putting her nose to the grindstone, he's been enjoying mostly free days where, as he described it, "I can play tennis outside in the afternoon for the first time since high school."

Which got me thinking about my happy, carefree high school days.

Contrary to whatever reputation I might have had back in the day, my high school experience wasn't filled with bad craziness. I was never one for illicit substances or pretending like I was at a party at Led Zeppelin's hotel. My time was filled more with "Ferris Bueller" kinds of experiences.





You remember Ferris. Ditched school a ninth day the last semester of his senior year because it was too nice outside to be trapped in class. For many of us growing up in the eighties, Ferris Bueller was kind of a quasi-hero. And while I never impersonated Abe Fromann, the sausage king of Chicago, I was known to ditch the occasional day of school to catch a ball game and to lip-sync in public places (not too many parades, but I do a mean rendition of "New York, New York".... just ask anyone who was at "Red Pin Night" at Moreo Lanes on various Friday nights in 1986 and 87).

Do you remember going out with your friends on a Saturday night? Do you remember loading up in the car and heading off to find some new adventure? That feeling like as long as there was gas in your tank, and you had your friends with you, just about anything could happen.... do you remember?

Well, I do. That natural high you felt came from the power of free will. A whole world in front of you with unlimited possibilities. Believe me when I tell you, God gave no greater, precious, and fragile gift.

Now, though, with more than 40 years of living under my belt, while I am staunch believer that God does not pre-destine our lives, I can safely say this... the grace of God, while offering us freedom, does seem to look out for us. That's part of the kingdom experience I think, this grace God gives us.

John Wesley, a very smart dude who founded this Christian movement (Methodism) that I'm in, speculated that before we knew how badly we needed God, God knew how badly he wanted us. As a result of this love God has for us, while He gives us freedom to make our own choices , the Lord works in ways only He can fully explain to draw us near Him. That's the idea I think Paul is trying to get at in Romans 5:

Now, no one is likely to die for a good person, though someone might be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God's sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God's judgment.

Prevenient Grace is the strange force of love and forgiveness working on us before we know we need to be connected and at peace with God, that God has already put the wheels in motion to help make that happen. Justifying Grace is the moment when we realize the force of love and forgiveness, washing over us and washing away all the pain, uncertainty, shame... the power of that moment may not last, but the memory of it, and our understanding of God does. Sanctifying Grace is God's love and forgiveness reshaping and remaking us. It's as if, in some strange way all of life is trying to pull us toward God on the shoulders of the mighty stream that is grace.

I guess the best way I can put it personally, is that much like Ferris, at least in this one day, lives a charmed existence leading to something much bigger than its sum parts. His buddy, Cameron, finds the strength to confront his parents as their child, and not a possession. His sister, who isn't comfortable or happy with herself, finds a peace with who she is. Even the principle, Mr. Rooney, as kind of the object of scorn as an administrator who doesn't appear as much to enjoy being an educator as he does a disciplinarian (who doesn't like kids very much), gets his come uppance. His perceived life's ambition - move children toward conformity, not education - is defeated, letting creativity and cunning win the day. It's not like everything goes right.... Ferris' sister gets multiple speeding tickets and Cameron destroys his dad's prize Porsche - but this force that somehow delivers all the characters throughout the movie, prevails over all the characters, and they find peace within it.

That force which in the end brings healing and wholeness, would be described by Wesley as "grace"

The grace or love of God, whence cometh our salvation, is FREE IN ALL, and FREE FOR ALL.... It is free in all to whom it is given. It does not depend on any power or merit in man; no, not in any degree, neither in whole, nor in part. It does not in anywise depend either on the good works or righteousness of the receiver; not on anything he has done, or anything he is. It does not depend on his endeavors. It does not depend on his good tempers, or good desires, or good purposes and intentions; for all these flow from the free grace of God; they are the streams only, not the fountain. They are the fruits of free grace, and not the root. They are not the cause, but the effects of it. (John Wesley)

Because I've used a quirky John Hughes movie geared for teens growing up in the 80's as my quasi-illustration I don't want give you the wrong impression of what I'm talking about. Grace isn't about always getting a "happy ending". Every day doesn't always end with the hero winning the day, and the bad guys getting theirs. Rather, Grace is about ultimately being reconciled with - becoming friends - with God. Finding a peace with what's happened and what will happen, and the God who is behind the creation of all things. In grace we learn who we are, what the Lord wants, and in turn at least some of the mystery between us diminishes.

10 For since we were restored to friendship with God by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be delivered from eternal punishment by his life. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God -- all because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us in making us friends of God.

I told you earlier that without really articulating it at the time that the model I was probably using for my teen years was Ferris Bueller. I pushed a few boundaries and investigated what "having freedom" could lead to in terms of some good times and new experiences. That led to a great amount of self-discovery, and more than a little bit of fun. But I've felt like there was a force that now I would identify as God, somehow involved in His own way throughout that experience, looking to draw me closer to Him, sometimes in the worst of experiences.

One memory, among many, stands out pretty starkly. I was probably a junior or senior in High School away at church camp at Lakeside (just as 40 or so of our Middle and High School students will be later this summer). I remember distinctly stopping back at the cottage where we were staying to change into some basketball shoes, and as I was doing my best to just get out the house and down to the courts, I saw another, younger teen girl from our church sitting quietly writing into a notebook. Probably just to be nice, because at church camps I know now you beat on such themes so the ruffians will treat one another with a modicum of respect, I said hello to the girl and probably asked how she was doing, not really interested per se, but once again, just to be polite.

"I'm writing a suicide note", came the reply.

There aren't too many words put together in the English language that will stop you dead in your tracks much faster than "I'm writing a suicide note". You have to make a decision right there how you are going to respond even at 17 years old with few, if any, tools or life experience to deal with such a situation.

To be honest, I can't remember much what was said. She did most of the talking. Her home life wasn't great. She was lonely. She struggled with how she looked and how she was or wasn't accepted by others. She was crying out for help. All I was able to do at the time was try to keep her calm, convince her that talking to someone with more on the ball might be a good idea, and stay with her until that person appeared.

Fortunately, that person did, and I left pretty shaken for some time to process on a lone bench down by the lake.

All these years later, though, I can see where God was moving and active in that moment, overcoming my fear and youth, entering into that young girl's sense of being overwhelmed with depression and darkness, and using the adult available to help lift her out of the hole she was in. It wasn't a good experience, but it lead to greater peace. In fact, maybe it led to greater peace in me than it did to anyone else as it kind of foreshadowed where my life might be heading. I'm not 100% sure about all of that but it does seem that experiences like this one, and many many others, helped push me toward God, through doubt, into a place where I could embrace some mystery in faith.

I don't know... what do you think? Looking back now, can you see the hand of God working in your own life. Through your doubt, in the midst of your sin and mistakes...... moving you toward, if not a more certain place, a place of greater acceptance and peace?

It's not as if this movement of grace makes God "lesser" or "simpler" or "smaller". Shoot, the longer I do this ministry gig it seems like the less I seem to really know. But as death moves one day closer for each of us, and we confront what's on the other side of the grave, this idea that somehow in this life we start getting a clue as to what really matters and what makes a difference is at least moving more from conceptual, to actual. In the process, God may not become less mysterious in all of His ways, but your love, appreciation, and respect for the One who seems to have not missed even one tiny detail grows.

What a gas to think the love reciprocated is so much greater.

Grace, freeing us from sin, so we can become truly a friend of God. Amen and amen.