The Easy Stuff

 Someone asked Jesus what the most important commandment was. You probably know the story. Depending on the gospel account, this was a legitimate question or an attempt to subject Jesus to shame. After all, how could he answer that without saying some other commandments weren't as important?

Jesus answered beautifully. The most important commandment is you shall love God with everything you have and are. But, he said, there is a second one that is like that one in importance. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Jesus then said that on these two commandments hang all the law and all the prophetic writings.

Sometimes people seem to think that loving God and caring for one another is the easy stuff. It's like we have that part mastered already... or at least if not mastered, we understand it. Surely there must be something else in there that's really important. Surely there is something more that God asks of us.

I confess, I spend almost all of my time emphasizing those two commandments. I imagine at times I sound like a broken record. But the fact is, we don't really get it. 

You aren't loving someone while you stand idly by when they do not experience justice. You aren't loving someone when you choose who to care for based on their skin color. You aren't loving someone when you see them in pain and you do nothing or you pile on.

Loving God and loving others isn't the easy stuff. A rule about what you can or can't eat--that's easy. It's a yes or no situation. Seeing someone for who they are, loving them in spite of any differences, and in fact in spite of whether they love you--well, that is harder than anything else. That's why so much of the law and the prophets are about these things, and why Jesus still had to tell us and why we still need to be reminded.

Faithful following of Jesus isn't about getting something for yourself. It's not about what you get out of it. It's not about personal growth, although I expect that will happen. It is about overcoming our own self importance to rely on God and overcoming out own greed so we can truly love others. It is actually wanting for others the same things we want for ourselves.

I don't know about you, but I don't think that's the easy stuff.

At least, that's the view today.

Church and Controversy

 I am teaching a class right now on the history of the Church since the formation of the Church in Acts. Today I am reading about the Iconoclasm Controversy of the Eastern Church in the 8th century. I know everyone reading this message just perked up and got very interested.

In the past several weeks we have been talking about other controversies. Some of them are, the type of substance of the Son. Is it the same as the Father? Th number of persons/wills in the Son. Is there one person? Two persons? One will? Two wills? One mind? Two minds? Are there two, but one of them is totally in control?

Today's subject has to do with paintings, because statues were just ruled out all together. But with paintings is it proper to have them? Is it proper to venerate them? Do they represent the things they are a painting of directly or indirectly?

These things involve people fighting over things that they are trying to understand and have no way of being certain that they are right. How can we possibly know the inner psyche of the Christ? And yet they not only condemned each other for their opposing thoughts, sometimes they resorted to violence, and they told others they were going to burn for eternity because of their disagreements.

Does any of that sound familiar?

I am sick of the fighting in the church. I am sick of one group of people telling another group of people they don't belong because they think differently from the ones in power in that area. And I am grieved that these attitudes cause division in our global church, but closer to home, in my own denomination, where some are trying to separate from others on matters that they are both convinced they are right on.

We should all be in this together, looking out for each other, doing what I see Jesus doing in scripture, bringing those who have been left out back into relationship. We follow Jesus as the great example of love, but so many seem to be missing love in their dealings with others. 

Hateful language is spoken in public. People are being surveilled to make sure that there is evidence to defame them later. I don't see in this a spirit of Love nor do I see the face of Christ.

Let's get back to basics. Love your neighbor. Do not judge. And don't condemn others for something you think you know but cannot possibly be certain of.

It's been done since at least the council of Nicaea in 324, and over the centuries the things those folks fought about has gone one way or another based on the prevailing wisdom. Let's not cut ourselves off from one another, especially when history has shown how harmful that is to the Church.

Anyway, that's my view today.

This or That

A good friend who was once a political consultant told me how a political race is often run. He said the goal is to find an issue--it doesn't really matter what that issue is--about which people disagree. The best issues for this are things that cause deep emotions, but, actually, anything will do, because the emotions can be heightened later. The next step is to choose your side on this issue (it is telling to me that the choice of which side comes only after the divisive issue is chosen). Once you have chosen your side, the thing to do is drive a wedge between yourself and the opponent. The wider the gap, the better. As you are doing this, be sure to make your side look good and the other side look as bad as possible.

He didn't say this, but I imagine using the worst possible rhetoric is preferred. Comparing people to Hitler or Stalin or using other deeply loaded terms is a good thing for getting your political views to be heard and to get publicity toward being elected. But in reality, it's all nonsense. That isn't to say that every bit of those political views is nonsense, but the idea that there is no tenable view somewhere between the two extreme views is ridiculous.

I hesitate to even use any examples, but so many news stories have these kinds of issues in them. What is alarming to me is to know that when we are incensed about these issues, when we are stoked to great passion, passion enough to hate others over their views, it is all a type of theater. One thing about being a citizen of democracy is, I think, the idea that we can come together and solve problems together, joining forces and sharing wisdom. But the current climate is less rule by majority than force your will on the minority. I don't think it is healthy, and I don't think it can last.

Speaking from the position of pastor, people leave churches over disagreements over things in the church, sometimes seemingly small things, because there seems to be no way that different views can coexist in the same place. I had a friend lately who had been close to another person, but that person has decided to distance themself from anyone who doesn't share their political views. 

To me that is a sad commentary. How do we grow if we are never presented with alternatives to our own point of view? For churchgoers, is it really possible to find a place where everyone agrees on everything? If not, will it be a revolving door of moving from community to community, checking out once the pastor or someone else in the church says something you disagree with?

I don't think our relationships are supposed to be that shallow. I think there are alternatives to the this or that way of thinking. There are positions in between. There are thoughtful ways to coalesce different ideas of morality. There can be acceptance among different viewpoints as long as each party is willing to be respectful and listen.

My hope for the future is that we can leave the gap creating, wedge driving type of public rhetoric behind and have some meaningful, respectful conversations. We don't have to follow our elected leaders into hatred, disrespect, and divisiveness. There is another way.

At least, that's the view from where I stand today.

Gratefulness

 Do you ever get a little bit down? I do sometimes. I get overwhelmed. I get scared about the future. I get frustrated with the present. I get rueful about the past. I get mad or sad or disappointed in the people around me.

Maybe you feel a little bit like that right now. A few years ago I turned a phrase that I was proud of: Try this year to enjoy the holidays instead of letting the holidays enjoy you. But I find that, almost inevitably, I end up rushing through from November 1 to January 1, chasing down all the stuff I meant to do and not ever really observing the season.

That's one reason this blog post about gratefulness is a week early. After all, next week is Thanksgiving, but I am going to take some time off next week and rest and prepare for the Advent season, so I won't be writing a blog next Wednesday.

Another reason this post is a week before Thanksgiving is that we really need to start early to make any sense of Thanksgiving. My family, like many of yours, I imagine, has a tradition of saying something for which we are thankful around the table before our Thanksgiving meal. It is good to share those things then, but it would also be good to share them all the time.

I am thankful for my family. I have an incredible wife and two fabulous children. We have two dogs at home and one that went to college. I am thankful for my parents and Joy's parents and our extended family.

I am thankful that I have work that allows me to have a nice home and many extra things that I take for granted. I am thankful that the work I do is meaningful to the people with whom I share it. 

I am thankful that I have relatively good health and am able to do lots of things that I don't usually even notice as abilities.

I am thankful for the many people around me to work to make sure that my work and life is better.

There are many more things for which I am thankful. My list is certainly different from yours, but having taken time to jot down a few of the things for which I'm thankful, those irritating things that I mentioned at the beginning of this blog have migrated to the back of my mind.

It seems simplistic to say this, but that really is a practice that would help us to be more fulfilled in our daily lives. Just taking time to call to mind all the things we are grateful for can change a frustrating day into a beautiful one.

I pray it may be so for you. 

Winter and Growth...

I had a wonderful lunch with a good friend and fellow pastor yesterday. That's something I rarely do, unfortunately. We had great and very honest conversation about things going on in our personal lives, our family lives, and in the lives of our congregations. After speaking with my friend, as I was driving home, I had a vision.

As those in the Middle Tennessee area will know, the past few days have been a foretaste of the cold air of Winter. I have been watching for the temperature to fall below freezing, because we have some banana tree plants in our backyard. This year we got some tiny bananas! First time! So I wanted to be prepared to cut them down when the cold weather got here and see if we have anything to eat. 

An interesting thing about these banana trees... the stalks are not like trees we would normally think of. They are much less rigid. This morning, when I did harvest those bananas (harvest is probably not the best word... That makes it sound like a huge crop or something...) I just pulled on the stalk they were on and it broke off in my hand. 

As seemingly fragile as this might be, these same banana trees were planted near to a paved walkway in our backyard. They grew up around it, through it, and over the top of it. The pavers are standing on their sides because of the growth of these seemingly fragile plants.

Every winter the banana tree plants die. But if I cut them off at ground level and then take a little care to cover them with sand or soil, in the Spring they come back to life. These particular plants started with two given by a member of our church choir about two years ago, and now we have dozens of these plants, springing up, breaking the pathway, and giving us fresh (if tiny) bananas.

We all go through seasons. Maybe this is a season of winter in your life. Maybe it is a season of winter in your career or in your emotions or in some other part of your life. Spring is coming. It always does.

And with the Spring comes new growth. That new growth may tear down some of the things that are established in your past--like my paved walkway. Maybe those things are ready to be torn apart and replaced by something living, something growing, something beautiful. Sometimes we have to let those old things be torn apart so the new can appear.

Winter stays for a season. It's a bit more predictable in the seasons of the year, but it still only stays for a season in our lives. When the Winter is past, new growth comes. 

Get ready for Spring!

You Need the Church, too...

A few weeks ago I wrote about why the Church needs you. I was especially writing to those who have walked away from the Church because they don't think the Church is doing enough Jesus work in the world. For me, Jesus work is the work of loving all, accepting others as people made in God's image, and working toward justice for all people. This means economic justice, justice on the basis of gender and sexuality, justice on the basis of race, and ethnicity, and justice for all people--not just people like ourselves or people who live near us, but everyone all over the globe. For people who believe in these values but don't see that in the work of the Church, the Church needs you so it can get back to that Jesus work.

You need the Church, too. You need the Church because being a follower of Jesus has never been an individual path. Being one of Jesus' followers has always meant working through community to bring about the goodness of God's love and justice into the world. From the beginning, the group of Apostles worked together, fought about certain things, came to agreement through debate and lots of listening, and then went out and did the work together.

As many others have pointed out, the cross, the symbol of the way of Christ, has a vertical beam and a horizontal beam. Sometimes we can be so focused on that vertical beam, our relationship with God or with Christ, or the Spirit, that we forget about the horizontal beam, the relationships we are to have with other humans. It's not just me and Jesus, or me and God, it's all of us together trying to follow that path as community. When we leave out community, we are missing an important part of who Jesus called us to be.

Christ's message to the disciples when he was leaving them was to be one as Christ was one with the first person of the Trinity. Jesus understood that none of them could do this alone. He also understood that one person will miss important issues that others will notice. If I go my own way and don't ever have relationship with the stranger in my land, I can forget how important hospitality is in the work of God's people. That's just one example. I have my own understanding and experience of God, and it is perfectly valid in its own right, but it is incomplete because I cannot understand others' connection and relationship to God. Being in community helps me to do that, and that helps me to have a richer understanding of who God is and how God relates to all people.

So, the Church definitely needs you. But you need the Church, too. Not the institution, not a particular denomination, but a loving, accepting community that helps to keep you engaged in God's work and helps you see other ways God works through other people.

At least, that's the view from where I stand today.

God bless you!

Vulnerability

Friends, it is a rough world out there. It seems like people are out to get us. It is common to see fierce arguments and hateful language on social media, things that I'd like to think people would never say about each other if they were in the same room. In the midst of all that, it is hard to allow our true, honest selves to be seen or heard. It is just too painful to reveal something about ourselves and then have someone else stomp on it with fellow commenters egging them on.

We are missing something in all of this, and it is the ability to be vulnerable. 

Vulnerability may seem like something to avoid. It opens us up to ridicule and attack. For some, it makes us fear that others will view us as weak, as incapable of dealing with difficult or even pretty innocuous situations. Some fear loss of status, loss of face, even loss of their job if they are willing to become to vulnerable.

And so, we don't really know anyone. What I mean by that is, if we are unwilling to be our authentic selves before others, then no one ever knows who we truly are. That may be a way to protect ourselves, to cope in a difficult world, but it is robbing us of something that we need as humans to be fulfilled: intimacy.

That's a hard thing to come by. If you have more than a few people who know your true self, with whom you have a level of intimacy, I would say you are fortunate. I think there are some who have no relationships like this, because the fear of vulnerability makes it impossible.

I know these are just words. They are just one person's opinion. But we need to allow others to be vulnerable with us and we need to be vulnerable with them. We need to let our guard down so we can have the types of relationships that humans, social creatures that we are, are meant to have. We need to make safe space with others so they can experience those relationships with us.

I don't pretend it's easy. I wouldn't come here and bare my weaknesses and fears openly. That's too vulnerable. But on a smaller basis, we have to do this, because not doing it is leading to deeper division and all kinds of health concerns for all of us.

At least, that's how it looks from where I stand today...