Pondering "Gravity"

Lately I’ve been pondering John Mayer’s song, "Gravity." There’s a prayer in this simple soulful tune. It’s a prayer that each of us can identify with.

Mayer is bewildered by an invisible force in his life that keeps him from achieving his full potential. He calls this force gravity. It draws him to do the very thing that will destroy the beauty he desires in his life. He’s seen it pull down others whom he considers better than himself and this scares him.

The Bible refers to this power as sin. It’s not the list of dos and don’ts we associate with a Fundamentalist convention or a Sunday school lesson. It’s a force of our nature that is hard to resist. It keeps us from achieving all the good we hope we are capable of and can ruin whatever good we have accomplished.

In his letter to Christians in Rome, the Apostle Paul also identifies the struggle with sin we all face. He laments, “I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.” (Rom 7:15 NLT) He sees the power of sin at work in such a way that it wars against our desires to do what is good and he cries out for a way to find freedom from this dilemma. He then rejoices that in Jesus Christ he has found a way to overcome the power of sin (7:25).

John Mayer does not identify Jesus as the cure for his dilemma, but the last refrain of his song is a plea that each of us can own as our own: "Keep me where the light is." Keep me in place where I can recognize my need for help. Keep me in a place where I can find the cure. Keep me in a place where I’m relying on Jesus every day to set me free from the power of sin and death. Keep me praying each day, “don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.” (Matt 6:13)

Wisdom

My morning reading today was James 3:13 - 18.

13 If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. 15 For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. 16 For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.
17 But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. 18 And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness

It was such a good verse and very affirming I wanted to post it as is, without much comment. This is the type of life I'm hoping to live on a regular basis.

Random Thoughts on a Bridge That Is No More

This blog's been pretty silent for the past six months. We've been busily getting ready for a return to working in campus ministry and a move to another state. Still, the event of the collapse of the 35W bridge here in Minneapolis requires at least some recording of thoughts for future review.

I don't want to overstate any proximity to the event since through much of the construction I had been avoiding the bridge during rush hour. There are many other's who can claim a much closer call than I, but still when such a disaster strikes a location that is so familiar to you it is hard not to consider the possibility of what could have happened.

It's also strange the random nature of the memories and thoughts that come back to you when a place that has been such a regular part of your life is no longer there. These three stand out in particular.

A weekday evening in Mid-June, 2007: It was about 5:00 PM. I missed my normal detour around the construction and ended up in the middle of the slow rush hour flow of the two remaining northbound lanes. It was just after the failed bombing attempts in London and Glasgow and in that moment I had a strange realization of the vulnerability of that situation and how something we take for granted could easily be turned into a place of danger. I said a prayer for safety and quickly put the thought out of my mind until about a month and a half later. Though my thought that day primarily revolved around the possibility of terrorism, it now seems to have been a premonition of what was to come.

About 2:00 PM, August 1, 2007: Ironically I left work early to have my back checked out by my doctor due to a car accident the day before. Again I missed my detour, but the traffic was not as heavy at that time of the day. As I drove across the bridge I looked at the newly laid concrete. Having become weary of all the detours I remember thinking to myself, "Good, it looks like we're making progress toward getting back to normal."

Just over four hours later sitting at home, working through all the paperwork from my own situation, we received a phone call from my mother-in-law to check on us. It was at that moment we would find out that nothing would ever be normal about 35W again.

Evening, August 8, 2007: A week after the collapse my wife and I made our pilgrimage to the river to look at what has happened and somehow connect with this tragedy. As we're stand on the Stone Arch Bridge looking down on the destruction, I catch a glimpse of an ambulance crossing the 10th Ave bridge on it's new route from downtown to the east side and it brings my mind back to a much happier memory and the role 35W has played in our lives.

I remembered back to the very first hours of May 19, 2004 as I sat in the back of another ambulance looking at my wife laying there with our newly born daughter who couldn't wait for mom and dad to get her to the hospital to make her appearance. The freeway was very empty at that early hour and the concrete glistened in the glow of the street lights as we rolled across the bridge and up the Washington Ave ramp on our way to HCMC. It was like the whole world had stopped for this special moment and this was Elaina's time in the spotlight. This definitely was a much happier memory and it is the happier memories of this place that I want to hold on to.

Deconstruction

I was going through my files on my hard drive this weekend and found a text file of a thread I initiated on a message board I once was a part of. I thought some of the comments would be worth posting on this blog. It was from 2004.

Leon Longard
Wed Apr 14, 2004 2:42 pm Post subject: Are we in a
rush to deconstruct?


It may be just me, but often when I discuss postmodern
ministry with others it seems many are in a hurry to
deconstruct everything from the past and assume we're the only
one's who have it figured out. We create "straw man" images of
"the church" and use it to describe everyone whose not in our
camp. We read the latest leadership trends (which is not bad
in and of itself) and fill our literature with the latest
trendy lingo. If we're not careful, we create a whole new set
of code language by which we judge whether or not someone else
is "cutting edge" enough to talk with.
If we take time to listen to others beyond the code speech and
catch phrases, we might find there are other people out there
in some unlikely places whose hearts actually beat with the
same passion we have. They just may say it a little
differently.


matthewD
Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2004 9:36 pm Post subject: i love
deconstruction



i have to say that i love to deconstruct, as anyone can see
from my posts around this idea exchange, however, leon has a
very good point here.

i think we need to be careful with our deconstruction. we are
not any more objective than those we criticize as being
foundationalists...

we are products of our history and our culture. we do best
when we seek to learn from the past, not just to tear it down.
Psalm 1 has very harsh words for cynics, and that's what many
of us deconstructers have become. we need to call wrong wrong,
and to question why the modern church has fallen away from
many important marks of true discipleship, but i sometimes
find myself looking to tear everything apart. if something is
big and successful, my first thought is that they're just
doing clever marketing and playing to the consumer church
mentality. this is not good.

when we deconstruct, we need to be sure to reconstruct. this
is how Jesus works. he deconstructs us through conviction of
sin and repentance, but reconstructs us through reconciliation
and redemption. when we reconstruct, we go back to the pile of
deconstructed parts and find the truth that may have become
hidden or distorted in the past and try to shine it back up
and put it back in the central place it belongs.

we are not better than those modernist foundationalists, but
we can become better than our contemporary culture if we learn
from the mistakes of the past and build on the victories of
the past.

i feel like i've just typed a long string of cliches. i always
come to play here when i'm too tired to think creatively and
communicate intelligibly. hopefully, i said something worth
the time you just invested in reading this.

much love.
_________________
.m.


Leon Longard
Posted: Sat Apr 17, 2004 10:26 am Post subject: a first
century deconstructer



At least you admit it when you're rambling, Matt. Joking
aside, what you said was worth while.

Another passage to look at here is Romans 11. Paul was
definitely a deconstructer in the first century. He was often
accused of tearing down Judaism. I like the warning he gives
to the Gentiles, especially in his illustration of grafting
branches in vs. 17 - 21. It seems like the Gentiles were
starting to get a little proud in their attitude toward the
Jews. He warned them that God could as easily remove them from
the tree and graft the Jews back in.

Pride is always a danger. We need to be careful not to get too
impressed with ourselves. We're not the root, we're merely
branches of a tree that's been around for 2000 years (more if
you include those who have been following God since creation).


matthewD
Post subject: too much consumin going on



here's a noodle to chew on:

why is the north american church going the way of the buffalo?
because we're too interested in playing up to the ever
changing demands of bored christians.

i believe there is some real thinking and rethinking about
what the Church should look like for the future as worldviews
change around us, but the more reading and rethinking i do,
the more dissatisfied i get with the proposed answers. so much
of the emerging church movement has very little to do with
actually answering the questions pre, non, and post christians
are asking. in our media saturated and over-educated society
(yes, over-educated. everyone's a pseudo-intellectual, but
still very much ignorant. over-educated, under-learned.)... in
our pseudo-sophisticated culture, christians get just as
quickly bored with church as the whole nation gets bored with
fashions and music genres.

i'm seriously guilty of this. thanking God for the revelation
as i type.

emerging church culture is trying to beat the boredom, but it
never will. we are fighting a losing battle on those grounds.
we need to shift our focus elsewhere. yes, there are valid
questions on that battlefield, but the main thrust of our
attention needs to be on kicking the boredom out of consumer
christians through real knowledge and real action to fight the
cultural, social, economic demons of our day.

let's get up in arms about AIDS in Africa, and de-facto
segregation in our schools, rather than music styles and
church decor!

i think it may be time to do more and think less. that sounds
dangerous to an analytical mind like me, but i think it may
be true.

am i a nut?


xaelias
Posted: Tue May 18, 2004 1:16 am Post subject:



Nope Matt, rest assured. In good new-fashioned postmodern
relative terms, the nutness is minimal when compared to this
big-boned ball of neurosis.
It's good to see that even though Matt and I don't get to
dialogue as much as I (perhaps we) would like, we're on a
quite similar wavelength. I would, as a matter of mere
linguistics, like to disagree with the "over-educated,
under-learned" in that education is the expansion of the mind
while learning is rote and more like Henry Ford's anti-Semitic
assembly line. Perhaps it should be the other way around:
education, not learning. (And moreover, perhaps I'm splitting
hairs.)

I see too many Christians (and have been doing a fair share of
unwiring during this past year of experimentation and
discipleship with XA here at UWSP) who are so learned in what
to do, when to do it, how to do it and where to do it without
even having a clue as to why. Why is it that we need to serve
and love recklessly (as another similar type, ninshitsu, said
once)? Why is it that people need to come into an encounter
with the spirit/power of God? Who What Where When How, but no
Why. Any self-respecting journalist or student of such
profession will tell you that all six principles of reporting
are necessary to providing a sound news story. If there is no
reason to doing, then there is no rationality and our message
is compromised in its delivery by incomplete and prideful
people who practice an incomplete and prideful religion.

American Christians (perhaps 'churchians' is a better word for
them) know how to do the two fast songs (deemed praise), three
or four slow songs (deemed worship), stand up, sit down, fight
fight fight. There's so much manipulation via conditioning and
social psychology that Christians in this culture are no
different than anyone else. In the immortal words of Zach de
la Rocha through the prophetic voice of Rage Against the
Machine: "Now you're under control, now you do what they told
ya..." (And yes, the real prophets are found where you
wouldn't expect them.)

Consumption (definitively) was considered a bad thing until
20th Century Americans tweaked it to what it is today.
Consumers destroy and have no consideration for the welfare of
the whole. A great resource on this in depth is the video
"Affluenza," probably available in a library near you. A book
sharing the name also exists, but I have yet to read it. Point
being this: Agent Smith was right.

Matt, you're absolutely correct. Christians should seize the
helm of local and global issues: poverty, education, disease,
reconciliation, et cetera. We did for hundreds of years (lest
we forget that we also did many stupid things for hundreds of
years....blood-letting, anyone?) and when we ceased to serve
and started to consume, we also suspiciously lost our
credibility. If a pastor/CEO has a hard time being treated
seriously by Christians after a failure of any kind, how much
more so a Church that has failed continuously for years by
society? (Free Marv Smith.)

It's not about us, but about unrequited service to the people
around us in the name/authority of Christ: in which case, I
say that we shouldn't be in a hurry to deconstruct, but that
it can't happen soon enough. A deinstitutionalized church free
from its cultural idolatry will be infinitely more influential
no matter what post-whatever emerging beavis we live in,
because we've given up on getting ours.

Finally, apologies to Huey Lewis: we don't need a new drug. We
need a good, long time in the subculture drunk tank until
American Christians come to their senses. Then we'll start
making wholesale changes. Until then, the freedom fighters
fight on, Che Guevara-style.
_________________
The Assemblies of God will be stronger when it finds the
courage to raise theological questions for which it may not
have ready answers. - Blumhofer


Leon Longard

Tue May 18, 2004 6:27 am Post subject: Maybe we're
all nuts



Hey Matt and Brent. Glad to see someone chimes in on this
topic every once in a while.

Matt, what you're describing is basically modernism in
post-modern clothing. It's a trend to focus on style (the what
and how) over substance (the why). In Fearless Faith John
Fischer (St John to Brent) said something to the effect of all
we end up with is "our stuff" vs "their stuff" and in the end
we will loose.

Tina and I are now part of a church plant in Northeast
Minneapolis where they are wrestling with how to re-engage the
neighborhood. Still when you're used to an events mentality
it's hard to break old patterns. At a family meeting last
Sunday night we scrapped most of the events on our calendar for
the year and are going to get more involved in neighborhood
level events, such as one leader spends two nights a week
teaching classes at the rec center in her neighborhood. Tina
and I are block club leaders. The pastor has bought a
paintball rental business and is having regular interaction
with a club that is his regular customers.

In Chi Alpha this may mean encouraging our students spend a
certain amount of time involved in another non religious
student group. Everyone has other areas of interest. A couple
of students can team together to help with a floor event (no
strings attached).

Bryan Z
Posted: Sun May 23, 2004 3:37 pm Post subject:



Hey folks, if I may chime into the conversation . . .

I think that Matt has hit on something that is dead on--we are
playing to the whims and wishes of bored Christians, and
trying to be "seeker sensitive" to the pre-Christian, without
ever really offering anything for them to seek (or sense for
that matter). Does anyone really care if the music is like
what we hear on the radio, the preacher wears a tropical shirt
and we use power point?

This is the point that I have reached in my own ministry--I am
tired of catering to church kids, while at the same time my
campus is going to hell around me. I am tired of majoring in
minors and not fulfilling the mandate that God has given us to
reach the lost. The really scary thing is that I don't yet
fully know what Chi Alpha is going to look like in the fall on
my campus. But everything that I (or anyone else in the group)
propose doing will be subjected to one question: WHY?

I kinda like what Earl Creps has to say on this point when he
talks about being missional. Too many churches and ministries
operate with a huge maintenence zone of programs and projects
to make Christians feel better about themselves and only a
small mission zone (where we're actually interacting with
non-believers and helping them move toward believing). What we
need to do is turn that inside out and have a huge mission
zone where we are fulfilling our mandate and a small
maintenance zone where training is offered to help people
fulfill the mission.

The Purchase of the Pure

This morning I was meditating on the first 5 verses of Revelation 14. These verses speak of 144,000 who are spiritually undefiled. They are like pure virgins. They are also described as redeemed from the earth and purchased from among the people of the earth.
The sense I get is that this is not a purity that is achieved. Instead, it is something given to us as unmerited favor.
There is hope for us in this. Even though we may at times feel defiled by the world, God is still making us pure. He is redeeming us from a place that is so contrary to Him and making us blameless.

It's quite obvious from the last couple of posts that I am reading through the book of Revelation right now. This is always a challenging book for me, because in many places it speaks of a part of God's character that I would like to forget some times. God is holy (no concern here) and His holiness does produce wrath at times. Wrath is a reality when we walk against God's holiness and justice.
I'd rather speak about grace than wrath. Still, it is the reality of God's wrath that gives grace it's meaning. When any of us compare ourselves to God's holiness we will always fall greatly short and find ourselves worthy of His wrath. This is the wonder of grace. God offers shelter from His own wrath to anyone who is willing to accept it and trust Him for the power to live a new kind of life.
The broader testimony of Scripture tells me that God's preference is to lavish His grace on people. His wrath is a necessary reality in light of His character and ultimately limits the scope and consequences of our own evil. So, I can trust in God's grace even as I am made aware of the reality of His wrath.

Changing Perspectives

Two days ago I was reading Revelation chapter 6. It's a chapter that speaks of God's wrath being poured out on a rebellious world.
There was a time when I would read a chapter like this with a very ethnocentric and nationalistic interpretation. I don't know that it was racism as much as growing up in a time when we still lived under the delusion that the U.S.A. was God's promise land.
I look at these things differently now. I see that we all must be careful not to be the ones who will end up under God's wrath. Arrogance could make us drunk and oblivious to this possibility. We are like Belshazzar. We are consumed with our own pleasures while the warning of our fall is being written in plane view.

Laodicea

A couple of days ago I was reading Revelation 3. Verse 17 stood out to me.

You say "I am rich. I have everything I want. I don't need anything!" And you don't realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.

Sounds like American culture in many ways. We need The Lord's remedy:
1. Pure gold from Him
2. Garments to cover our shame
3. Ointment to heal our eyes.

Liberation

This weekend we were singing "God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman" at a church we attend. The last two lines of the first verse stood out to me:

To save us all from Satan's power
When we have gone astray.

Here is the essence of the Gospel and something that can speak to a post-modern world. There is a great oppressor, Satan, who keeps us all bound in our own self-destructive and other-destructive ways. The most tragic thing is that humanity as a species turned over the power for him to do this.

Still Christ came as the great liberator. He came to set us free from the power of the oppressor. If all humanity would submit to the One who is liberating us, all injustice and oppression would end.

Sadly, the reality is not everyone will do this. Part of the power of the oppressor is that he has us deceived into believing that oppression is freedom and self-actualization.

So, the story goes on.

Being Lead

On a personal prayer retreat this past weekend the following verse by Rich Mullins stood out to me.

You who live in eternity
Hear the prayers of those of us who live in time
We can't see what's ahead
And we can not get free of what we've left behind
I'm reeling from these voices that keep screaming in my ears
All the words of shame and doubt, blame and regret

I can't see how You're leading me unless You've led me here
Where I'm lost enough to let myself be led
And so You've been here all along I guess
It's just Your ways and You are just plain hard to get
("Hard to Get" by Rich Mullins © 1998 Liturgy Legacy Music)

Am I at a place that I'm ready to be lead again?

I Breath

As I sleep at night, I breath
As I toil each day, I breath
Each breath touches a place deeper than my lungs
It inhales the spiritual essence from which I was created
It exhales a passion to pursue first the things of God

Jack-o-lanterns

I've recently been introduced to the music of Peter Mayer. One song from his Million Year Mind album is John's Garden. It's an allegory of life written about a fictitious conversation in a pumpkin patch.

Farmer John wandered back
And when he reached the pumpkin patch, began to speak
He said "the weather's getting colder
Summer's over and it's almost Halloween
That's the day, the reason you were raised
When everything about your life will change

You will have eyes to see, and for that night, you'll be
A bright lamp burning in the darkness
But remember that candle shines for only the briefest time
In a jack-o-lantern's heart"

The pumpkins held a meeting then
Some were very apprehensive and afraid
"Could this really happen to us?
What could be the meaning?" is what they were saying
"This is home, it's all we've ever known"
Then one bold, outspoken pumpkin spoke

He said
"I don't need eyes to see, it sounds like a lie to me
I like it just fine here in John's garden
And remember that candle shines for only the briefest time
In a jack-o-lantern's heart"

There is much to ask and to ponder in the pumpkin patch
When imposing old October shows up at last

Then a pumpkin from the farther end
Who had been silent up till then
Over the commotion, said
"What would you rather have my friends
A chance to shine, or die here on the vine?
The better way seems very plain to me

You will have eyes to see, and for that night, you'll be
A bright lamp burning in the darkness
And maybe that candle shines for only the briefest time
In a jack-o-lantern's heart
Oh, but one goblin's smile should make it all well worth while
You know you might even see the starlight
And knowing that time is brief, makes it that much more sweet
When you have a jack-o-lantern's heart"

(copyright 1999 by Peter Mayer)

As I listen to this song I think of how many of us seem content and comfortable to live our lives just dying on the vine instead of taking the chance to shine even for a brief moment. If we're willing to cut the ties of our comfort zones to take a chance to shine with new light it will be worthwhile.

Walk the Line

This past week we watched Walk The Line. (With three young children we usually have to wait until a DVD is available at the library.) A while ago a friend had told us how it wasn't a good movie to watch because it spent too much time on the negative aspects of Johnny Cash's life and not enough on the good news. After seeing the movie though I wonder if this is what the gospel (the good news) is all about.

Walk the Line is definitely not a nice clean Gospel film, but neither is the Gospel a clean story in our lives. Like another friend of mine said, "You can't know the good news until you know the bad news." This film presents the story of man whose life had spiraled out of control to a disastrous low point. All his self-effort had failed to hold things together. Still, God gave him a second chance to redeem his life.

The scene (perhaps dramatized) where a soaked Johnny is looking up at June Carter after she rescued him from a lake is very telling. He whispers, "You should have left me." We need to come to a place in life of realizing we don't deserve to have anyone rescue us from drowning before we are ready to accept the unmerited offer of a second chance. This is the Gospel.

Lily of the Valley

Last Thursday I read a devotional on the title of Lily of the Valley as it applies to Jesus. The vulnerability of this title stands out to me. The size of this flower makes it vulnerable to being trampled and ignored. How often do we do this to Christ? Still He is persistent in bringing beauty into our lives.

Tales from the Kingdom of Heaven: The Apprentice

Here is another post from my other blog on Sunday, September 11, 2005:

This Sunday (September 11) we talked about the fourth of five stories Jesus told which illustrate how we should live our lives in light of the ever-present possibility that He could return at any time. You can read about it in Matthew 25:14 – 30.

In this story, a master gives three of his servants a test while he goes on a trip. Two of them succeed and one fails. It reminds me of The Apprentice in that people are tested to see how they handle small challenges to know if they can be trusted with bigger ones. Unlike The Apprentice, though, it’s not cut throat and everyone has a chance to succeed.
The first two servants are motivated by the opportunity and demonstrate diligence by immediately putting what was given to them to work to try to bring a greater return for their master. They were willing to risk loss, but succeeded in doubling what was given to them. They were both rewarded by being given greater opportunities and were invited to celebrate with their master.

The third servant was motivated by fear and an unhealthy understanding of his master. He accused the master of being someone who exploits others. He hid the funds that were given him and brought no increase to his master. He had the little that was given to him taken away and is kicked out of the master’s household. Even if he had risked what was given to him and lost it, I believe the master would have been more merciful to him.

This story shows us that God wants us to take what we have been given (relationships, abilities, finances, etc.) and actively work to increase the influence of His kingdom in this world. We sometimes need to take calculated risks, even if it means we could loss everything. If we tightly hold on to the little we have we probably will not keep it for that long. God will reward our faithful diligence with greater opportunity and joy.

As we closed we pondered the questions, "How much an I willing to risk for the sake of God?"

Tales from the Kingdom of Heaven: The Big Party

Here is another post from my other blob on Sunday, September 04, 2005:

On Friday, August 26, we discussed a story Jesus told about a wedding feast prepared by a king. It is found in Matt 22:1 – 14.

In the story, the king has everything prepared to throw a wedding feast for his son. He sends his servants out to remind those that had already been invited that it is time for the feast to begin. The guests ignore the invitation, so the king sends his servants out a second time with a more enticing description of the feast. This time there is a more violent response to his invitation.

After dispensing justice on those who murdered his servants, the king sends another group of servants out to extend an open invitation to anyone who wants to come to the feast. The banquet hall is filled with people. As he walks through the hall, he notices a person one guests is not wearing appropriate wedding clothes. When the man cannot give the king a reason for his oversight, the king has him cast out of the feast.

In this story, it seems those who were on the original guest list did not place a high value on being a part of the king’s feast. The king showed great patience in extending a second invitation to the same group of people. The violent response illustrates the way many people have responded to God’s prophets throughout history and may be a foreshadow of the way Jesus, the Son of God, would eventually be treated as well. The people’s own rejection of the invitation disqualifies them for the honor of being a part of the celebration.

The open invitation that is extended later illustrates God’s graciousness and His desire to have people enter celebration with Him. He wants to lavish His goodness on all that will enter His kingdom without regard to human standards.

The scene between that king and the man who was not wearing appropriate wedding clothes is a little hard to reconcile with the image of a God who loves all people. Some play down the possibility that the king would have provided appropriate wedding clothes for those who could not buy their own (not specifically mentioned in the story, but assumed by some people). Still, the image fits when you consider that in Christ’s death God provided the means by which all who are unworthy (all of us) can enter into His celebration.

Regardless if there were clothes provided for the guests, the man’s inability to give an answer shows that he himself realized he was without excuse for this oversight. He did not value the gracious invitation he had received to even change into clothes that would be appropriate for the wedding.

The key to understanding this story hangs on the closing phrase "many are called, but few are chosen." Some have used this phrase to defend the idea of an arbitrary predestination by which God selects those who are admitted to heaven. This view reminds me of a line from REM’s "Man on the Moon:" "See you in heaven if you make the list." This story does not express the arbitrary decision of a malicious tyrant trying to create an elite society. It is the broad invitation of a loving and good King that is unfortunately rejected by many.

The challenge for us is to take seriously the invitation of God to enter His celebration. It is an offer of unmerited favor. One person at our gathering wondered if perhaps the reason the guests did not value the feast is that they didn’t see the value in how the invitation was extended to them. When you consider that God’s invitation to us takes the form of Him dying on a messy cross, it does not seem too far from the truth.

As we closed our meeting, we pondered this question together: How seriously, do I take the invitation of God to enter His celebration?

Tails of the Kingdom of Heaven: Day Labor

Here's a post from my other blog on August 11, 2005:
This Friday we discussed a story Jesus told of some laborers who worked for a man who owned a vineyard. Although different groups of workers started at different times throughout the day (one group working for only one hour), they were all given one day’s wage for their work no matter how long they had actually worked. The story is found in Matt 20:1 – 16. For a contextual understanding of the point Jesus was making, we read the incident immediately preceding the story (Matt 19:16 – 30)Jesus book ended the story with the same proverb, "Many who are first will be last; and the last, first." The New Living Translation of 19:30 helps us understand the point of this proverb. "But many who seem to be important now will be the least important then, and those who are considered least her will be greatest then." In the culture and time that Jesus walked the earth, it was commonly assumed that wealthy people would be admitted to heaven because their wealth was evidence of God’s blessing. Therefore, when Jesus said that it is actually very difficult for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, it went against what their society was telling them.The point of the story is very basic. God will hand out His rewards according to His sovereignty. He does not use our standards of fairness. The workers in the story who felt they merited a larger wage than they originally agreed to because they worked longer than their coworkers. Still, it was within the landowners right to reward everyone with a full day’s pay no matter how long they worked.This story has many implications for following Jesus today. Most importantly, there is no place for classism in the Kingdom of God. The sad reality is this does slip into the Kingdom of God at times. At a recent national meeting of one denomination, one of the denomination’s leaders from Africa addressed the people gathered there. He was thankful for the ways that the U.S. branch had assisted in the spreading of the message of Jesus in Africa. Still, he was concerned that some Americans also were unintentionally exporting our ideas of success and celebrity worship. His point was that God’s value was not determined by the size of the ministry.We need to give up our notions of status and blessing. The Kingdom of God is really for the outcasts. This doesn’t automatically disqualify the "acceptable" people. Just as much as a person can take pride in his/her success, someone could also look to his or her poverty or status as an outcast as a thing of pride. In the end, God is the one who sorts out people’s motives.I sometimes wonder if the trouble we have with God’s sovereignty is that we take ourselves too seriously. It is at the heart of the complaint of the workers who worked all day in vs. 12 of the story. Ultimately the Kingdom of God is about God and His glory not us. The comforting reality is that when we start to realize this, we put ourselves in the hands of a loving and caring God who wants what’s best for us. He just likes to liberally spread that blessing around.As we closed our discussion we pondered this question: Am I seeking God only for what I can get out of it or am I concerned with his glory?

Tails from the Kingdom of Heaven: Forgiveness

Here is another post from my other blog on August 3, 2005:

This past Friday we discussed the story Jesus told of a servant who received a great amount of mercy from his king, but he could not find the same compassion in his heart to forgive a fellow servant of a much smaller debt. It is recorded in Matthew 18:21 - 35. It comes on the heals of one of Jesus' followers asking Him how often he should forgive someone who has wronged him.In this story, the first servant owed the king a debt he could never hope to pay back. The king was going to remedy the situation by selling the servant, his family, and all his possessions into slavery in order to recover at least a portion of the debt. The first servant pleaded for mercy. The king had compassion on the servant and cancelled his debt.After this the servant went to a fellow servant and demanded repayment of a much smaller debt. When the second servant asked for more time the first servant refused to forgive his fellow servant. Instead, he had the second servant thrown in prison until his debt could be repaid.When the king heard about this he cancelled his pardon of the first servant and had him thrown in prison until his much larger debt could be repaid. Given the size of the debt the first servant owed he was condemned to prison for life.Reading this story reminds me of a scene from Schindler's List. Oscar Schindler is having a discussion with the commandant of the concentration camp about power. To the commandant, his power over the Jews was based in their fear of him randomly shooting them from the balcony of his chateau. Schindler challenges him with a different view of power. "Power is having the right to shoot and choosing not to."The story Jesus told shows me the centrality of forgiveness in the Kingdom of God. God shows a great amount of mercy and compassion to us. It should produce a deep level of compassion and forgiveness in us toward others. God is more justified than any of us in showing wrath, yet it seems His greatest wrath is toward those who cannot find a place for compassion and grace toward others in their hearts.During our closing time, we pondered this question: Does God's compassion and mercy toward you produce the same response toward others or does it produce pride?

Tails From the Kingdom of Heaven: a Mustard Seed and some Yeast

This is a post from my other blog from a discussion group we were a part of on June 11, 2005:

Last night we continued our series of discussions on the illustrations and stories that Jesus used to explain to the people of His time what the leadership of God is like. Many of these stories begin with the phrase; "the kingdom of Heaven is like," which gives us the title for our series.Last night we discussed Matthew 13:31 - 33. Here Jesus gives two similar illustrations of things that start very small, but end up with much larger results. The first is a mustard seed, which is a very small seed but potentially could grow to be several feet high over time. The second is yeast, which when just a small amount is put in a large lump of bread dough has the effect of permeating and changing the nature of the dough.The first illustration shows structural growth. The people of Jesus' time were looking for a powerful military or political leader to help them throw off their oppressors and rebuild their lost greatness as a nation. He showed that what God was going to initiate in the world would start out small and unimpressive, but it would have great results in the end. So often today, we look for movements that are big to identify with. Yet, what God may be doing in a particular place and time may seem to be unimpressive at first. It just may take some time to grow.The second illustration shows transformation. This is a little harder to measure and to accomplish. As we allow God's leadership to take control in our lives, it should have a transforming affect. As it transforms us and as we gather together with others who are being transformed in a community of faith, we should have a transforming effect on the environment around us. The change on both levels may take time, but we need to trust God that He is bringing it about.One of our participants said that sometimes he feels like the yeast (influencing others for the Kingdom of God) and sometimes he feels like the bread dough (needing to be influenced). We agreed that each of us needs that in different ways at times. As we spent time reflecting on what we discussed, we focussed on the question, "In what ways do I need the Kingdom of Heaven to influence and transform my life?"

A More Deadly Disease

I remembered this poem I wrote in my journal earlier this year and thought I'd post it. I wrote it in response the Jesus' words that are found in Matthew 9:13 in the Bible. I thought of it again today because I was meditating on an account of the same story in Mark 2:17.

A More Deadly Disease
Have you no time for me?
Not that I need you
I know all I need to do
to keep me safe from disease

Have you no time for me?
Not that I need you
But I'm offended by the time
You give the least of these

Have you no time for me?
Not that I need you
Still I wonder if a more
deadly disease has entered me