A Squirrel in a Cardboard Box

The gods of the Canaanites could be controlled because they lived in “houses” built by them. The Canaanite gods could be shaped into the belief system instead of having their belief system shaped by God. Their religious life had become an accessory or add-on. The danger was if David built a house for God that Yahweh would also become manipulated. Instead God chose to remain free. God desired to be the one who built the houses. We manipulate God when we view our faith as an accessory to our already complicated life. The commitment that God desires is a life commitment. There is no way to manipulate God when our lives are surrendered to God and God is the guiding force of our thoughts and actions. When we give our lives over to God’s agenda we have no room to manipulate God instead we can expect to be used in the service of God’s kingdom. I had to learn this lesson. When God called me into the ministry I begin to bargain with God. I would say well God if you want me to do this or be this then I need you to do this. But I was quick to learn that I was in no position to offer God a bargaining plan. As long as you view your faith as an added accessory you will be tempted to manipulate God, you will always think that you have the ability to bargain, you will always think that there is something in your life that does not belong to God. You can keep your money because you earned it. You can keep your house because you built it. You can keep your career because you climbed the ladder. All of these things become bargaining chips. We cannot manipulate God. To be a follower of Jesus Christ is to surrender our rights. To be a follower of Jesus Christ is to let God have full reign. To be a follower of Jesus Christ is to be in a self-surrender relationship with God. But as long as you think that you can twist God’s arm then you will never experience that life-changing, world transforming relationship.

One time when I was little I decided to catch a squirrel. I set a live trap one afternoon and sure enough it wasn’t long that I had me a squirrel. Now I hadn’t thought it through long enough to decide what I was going to do with it when I caught it. So I decided to put it in an old shoe box. So I forced it in the shoe box with a stick and slammed the lid down. I covered it in duck tape certain that the squirrel could not get out. I put it in my dads building until next morning. The next morning I though the squirrel was probably hungry so I took it some corn shucks. But to my surprise the squirrel had chewed through the cardboard box and gotten loose in my dads workshop. The only way out of this workshop was through an open window or the open door. So I opened the door and windows. I waited and all of a sudden I saw the squirrel sitting on the ledge of the window sill. And it seemed like he was taking a deep breath of air, he jumped down and ran up the nearest tree. I related this story to my grandpa and told him how upset I was that the squirrel did not want to by my pet. He said, “Squirrels are made to be free and in order for them to fulfill the reason they exist they have to roam wild.” My friend, in order for you to be blessed by God, God must be left to be free and wild. God must be allowed to roam in and out of your life. God must be given room to work. God cannot be localized, limited, or manipulated. When things are going well in our lives is when we are most tempted to put God in a box. Maybe it is the human desire to keep things as they are. We are safe as long as God is in a box. Let God out and we don’t know what God will ask of us. Let God roam wild in our lives and we may end up in Africa, Venezuela, or New Orleans. Let God run wild in our lives and we may have to tell the truth. Let God run wild in our lives and we may have to stand up for justice. Let God run wild in our lives and we may have to answer the call. Let God run wild in our lives and we may have to teach Sunday School, preach the gospel, or witness to a neighbor. Let God run wild in our lives and we may have to start taking our faith walk serious. Let God run wild in our lives and we may experience grace. We may be called to love our enemies. We may be challenged to stand when others are quiet. We may be called upon to serve. The only way to truly know this God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Paul is to let God roam free in your life.

Carl Medearis: Relating to Muslims

In 1900 34% of the world population called themselves Christian. In 2000 33% of the world population called themselves Christian. The figures demonstrate that Christianity simply kept steady with the population growth of the world. In 1900 12% of the world population called themselves Muslim. In 2000 20% of the world population called themselves Muslim. The Muslim faith grew 8% over the rate of population growth. This makes Islam the fastest growing religion in the world. In the 18th and 19th century, Judaism was the second largest religious group outside of Christianity in the United States. Currently Islam is on the same level as Judaism and is expected to surpass Judaism in the United States for the title of second largest religion within a decade. Islam is a highly misunderstood and feared religion by many of us in the West. Yet we are moving into an era where we will have neighbors that are of the Muslim faith. Our children will sit beside children of the Islamic faith in school. We visit restaurants where the owners are Muslim. It is becoming more common everyday to come across and interact with a person of the Muslim faith. We can choose to ignore the fact. We can refuse the Scripture’s mandate to love and just turn our backs on our neighbors or we can begin to have a conversation.

As a church I would like to see us committed to reaching out to Muslims. I see no greater opportunity than right now witnessing to the people of Islam. The God of Abraham hears the crying of Ishmael in the wilderness and he is challenging his people to also hear that cry. We must commit ourselves to reaching the Muslim world.

God the Dreamer

God has got a dream for you. In one of Garth Brooks music videos there is a teenage boy who has Down syndrome. The boy wants to run track. He practices and he practices. His coach is not too hopeful. His father challenges him to be all he can be. The day of the track meet the young man gathers at the start line. The gun fires. The runners take off. Half way around the track he takes a bad fall. The coach watches from the sidelines, the boy’s mom stands up in fear from the stands. The father rushes to the boy’s side. The father in a bold and loud voice tells the son to get up and finish the race. He tells him this is what he has been training for. This is his moment. He can do it. He has the strength. The boy looks up with blood on his face and determination in his eyes. He races down to the finish line. It didn’t matter that he came in last, it mattered that he finished. His father was proud because he had given it his best shot. He had the courage to get up after he had fallen. Courage gives strength to our faithfulness.

Consider the courage of Joseph. He was an ordinary carpenter with a pregnant wife-to-be. To marry her, he would have to break all of society’s rules. But could his dreams about the baby be true? How could Mary be pregnant – before they were married? Joseph knew he was not the father. So who was the father? Could Mary’s story be true? Had an angel really told her that she, a virgin, would conceive “by the Holy Spirit”? I am sure the questions made Joseph’s head ache. He loved Mary. They had already gone through the customs for engagement. But if he married her now, he’d be the laughingstock of Nazareth. Neighbors would count the months as Mary’s waistline grew so soon after the wedding. There would be no doubt the timing was off. All of Nazareth would be spreading gossip about who the real father was and call Joseph a fool. The situation was beyond Joseph’s control and beyond his understanding. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. He listened to the angel, “Joseph, do not be afraid.” “Mary will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people form their sins” (1:21). The Bible says, “When Joseph awoke from his sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him; he took her as his wife” (1:24). Joseph’s response demonstrates that he had the courage to leave a legacy by remaining by Mary’s side.

Do we have the courage to leave a legacy? We are given a short time on earth to leave a legacy. An inheritance doesn’t involve any personal involvement. A legacy takes courage to live out. Joseph could have chosen to bail out. He could have said, “You know Mary this is too difficult,” or “This is not exactly what I was expecting.” He could have walked out on her and society would have said good for you Joseph! Instead Joseph showed courage. Joseph listened to the dream that God had for his life. It takes courage to listen to God’s dreams. God has dreams for your life - just ask Joseph!

Preaching

Last Sunday I did something that I have been doing for a while. I stood before a congregation and preached. I invited listeners to hear a message that I felt compelled by the Spirit to tell. Sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ is a passion. Every time I stand before the people in a worship context I am amazed at the mystery (or humor) of God. I would have never considered myself, a shy and unsocial teenager, as one who finds his purpose for existence by speaking life-changing truths on a weekly basis. I am always trying to grow in the gift of preaching by reading text books, subscribing to journals, and listening to preachers. I have also never been afraid to experiment with new ways of preaching (with or without notes, using images, first-person, etc). My understanding of preaching is grounded in the concept of a God who speaks life into existence. Life begins with “God said . . .” Bishop Will Willimon says, “This is the way God works, creating something out of nothing, a people out of nobodies, free women and men out of slaves, all on the basis of nothing but words.” My hope every time I stand to speak on behalf of the God of Jesus Christ is that my words may be anointed by the Spirit to bring life into death, hope into hopelessness, love into hate, and forgiveness into brokenness.

Engaging our Vision

Imagine a church where everyone gets along all the time. Imagine a church where every need that you have is being met one hundred percent of the time. Imagine a church where the worship team never misses a note. Imagine a church where struggles do not exist. Imagine a church where the preacher gets it right all the time. Now open your eyes. In the words of my grandmother, “Keep on dreamin’ baby!”

We don’t gather, worship, and serve in a perfect church. And the number one reason is because you are here – I am here!. However this should not stop us from imagining what it can be. Barbara Brown Taylor writes about the importance of imagination in faith. Faith is in many ways putting imagination into practice. Faith fuels the imagination, and imagination fuels faith. We Christians believe in a God that we can’t see. When we let God work in our imagination, we don’t see God, but we see what God is doing in the world. When we let God work in our imagination, then we feel God’s presence in our lives, even during the most difficult moments of loss and grief. Letting God work in our imagination doesn’t mean that we lose touch with reality. Faith fueled by trust and imagination means that we use our whole brains to be more fully in touch with reality. It means that we’re not limited to what our senses tell us.

When our imagination is fueled by faith, then we see new possibilities of living and discipleship. It was a lack of imagination that kept the rich young ruler from selling his possessions and following Jesus. It was his lack of dreaming of what the future could be that kept him from experiencing a taste of that future for him in the present. Because he could not see beyond his check book, he failed to see what a future was available to him. If he had only trusted the words of Jesus and surrendered to Jesus he could have experienced an exciting life of faith. Instead he walked away disappointed, defeated, and discouraged.

The future of our congregation does not depend on buildings or state of the art equipment. Our future rests on our ability to imagine new possibilities and to show a different way of living to a hurting world. We have the best story going. We have the story of God, who created all that is and has revealed himself to us. We have the story of the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We have the story of the Holy Spirit who is present with us right now. Imagine a church community where the number one priority is to tell the story. Imagine a church community where the focus is on living by God’s story. Imagine a church that takes serious Jesus’ command to love our neighbors. Imagine a church where we listen for the direction of the Holy Spirit. Imagine a church that is passionate about living the Jesus way.

If this sounds impossible for us, it’s because it is. We can’t imagine or bring forth a new community by ourselves. The disciples were convinced that this radical way of Jesus was impossible. Jesus agreed it is impossible. He also reminded them that God can do what humans cannot. For God, all things are possible – even moving a church to live the Jesus way.

What is a Jesus way? First, focus on people, community, and building relationships. We are more concerned for people than we are organization. Secondly, the Jesus way is mobile. The church goes to the people. There will be no more sitting back and expecting the people to come to the church. We take the church to the people. Third, ministry is done everyday. Ministry doesn’t just take place on Sunday by the clergy or certain individuals but every baptized believer sees him or herself as a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Fourth, we will not be tied to tradition. Tradition is good if it keeps us balanced. But when it interferes with the Jesus way, it must go. Fifth, the Jesus way is the way of grace. We must be people who take seriously the means of grace. The practice of those means must be a daily part of our lives. Imagine a church where there will be a focus on people and their relationships with God. Imagine creating a community of believers who share a sense of call and vision for ministry. Imagine a church that will strive to be of the Jesus way in all it does and says. Imagine what we can be!

From Palms to Thorns

A story is told of two men walking along a mountain road when a ferocious bear suddenly jumped in front of them. Without glancing back, the first man ran for the nearest tree and scrambled up the branches as high as he could climb. The second man wasn’t as fast and realized he wouldn’t be able to escape the bear. He dropped on the ground and pretended to be dead.

The bear lumbered over to the man on the ground and sniffed around him. The man held his breath and didn’t move a muscle as the bear nosed about his body and his head. Finally, the bear, thinking the man was dead, moved away into the brush. The man breathed a sigh of relief as the man in the tree made his way down the branches and onto the ground.

The first man said, “I noticed the bear whispering in your ear as you were lying there. What did he say?” the second man replied, “The bear told me it wasn’t wise to travel with a friend who would desert me at the first sight of danger.”

Chances are if we have a friend that cuts tail and runs when the chips are down, the so-called friend probably had an agenda. As you reflect on former friends that you had ask yourself, “Why did they hang around me?” Did you have a car and they didn’t? Did you have money and they didn’t? Do you have a membership at the country club and they don’t? Or reflect on your role as a friend, “Why do you hang out with the people you do? Do you genuinely have their best interest in mind?

Holy Week is a week full of contrast. We started out with a celebration. We joined in with the crowd waving palm branches and screaming from the top of our lungs, “Blessed in the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven." As the King rides in on an animal of royalty we shout, we scream, we get excited. With palm branches waving, agendas in hand, and our want lists ready we welcome the King. As you stand in the midst of the crowd you notice a revolutionary who is wanting to overthrow the Romans, he is buying for Jesus’ attention. On the other side is a religious Zealot who would like to befriend Jesus and convince him that religious purity and separation is the way to go. As you look even closer to the crowd you notice your connection to a lot of the people. Hard working, family supporting, tax paying, good citizen living life the best way they know. So caught up in the excitement, you don’t even stop and ask yourself, “Why am I waving these palm branches?” “And who is this man to me?” So caught up in the excitement, we follow the crowd.

Jesus rides in before a hungry crowd. Everybody loves a good parade. We gather because everyone else is gathering. Parades are great to watch from the sidelines. Parades are fun when the passer-bys throw out candy to a bunch of hungry dogs disguised as people. The good thing about parades is that as soon as they are over we can go home and let someone else clean up the mess. Sounds a lot like some of our attitudes of church!

Jesus leads a parade from Palm Sunday to the Cross of Good Friday. He began with a crowd and ends with a handful of committed. The problem is if you are simply following Jesus out of an agenda then you will never be a part of his mission. Our agendas fade out eventually, His mission is everlasting. Jesus shatters agenda’s. Following Jesus simply because we can get something out of it will not get us very far on the road to discipleship. We fall short of the cross and the cross is necessary for resurrection.

The past few years I have learned this myself. I have been confronted with my own reasons for doing some of the things I do. I have had to look long and hard at my agenda. And I noticed that some of my attitude for following Jesus came with ulterior motives. As I continue to let go of those I also continue to accept Jesus on his own terms and more and more experience greater resurrection presence. Resurrection presence is a freeing presence. It is a power that enables us to live in peace that no matter what happens God is in control. But if you continue to hold on to your agenda’s then you will never find this peace.