I've been drawn into a lot of contemplation about Jesus lately. It is just after Christmas and I frequently enjoy taking time to meditate on the birth of Jesus. This year, I was drawn to a stranger picture of Jesus - being held by Mary and Joseph while they were getting married. In Luke it says that Joseph and Mary were pledged to be married when they went up to Bethlehem. So when they got hitched, there was definitely a baby already in the picture. This is a great challenge to my neat Christian expectations of what our lives "must" look like as Christians - not that we should all run off and have sex and make babies. But that a life following God will look ridiculous and embarrassing in the face of our culture. It would have been so much easier if God had given Mary a nice letter explaining everything to the people of Nazareth, to her family. But no, instead she looks like she had a baby out of wedlock which was even more of a scandal in her day then it is today. A better comparison might be the daughter of a pastor getting pregnant and then claiming she was still a virgin. Who's going to believe her and you know how everybody will be talking! It is crazy to me that this is how God decided Jesus should come into the world. Amid scandal. Suddenly the invitations that God makes on my life don't look so ridiculous any more.
The other thing that has impressed me this season is that our giving of gifts to each other is a lame representation of the gift of Jesus. Here is God giving His son, His most deeply loved son, to live a life of sacrifice, suffering and eventual death. We celebrate by buying little gifts for each other and stuffing our faces with cookies, chocolate, and turkey. I think it is a season of celebration but I also think that our giving to each other is a great representation of how we have watered down our faith and commitment to God. If anything, this should be a season where Christians give radically to those in need because God reached out in our deepest need and gave His very best. Especially when our economy is trashed, we need to be the ones who give radically and sacrificially. To be Christ-like is this indeed.
I'm toying with idea of setting aside another 10% of my income so that when this season comes around, I have an extra $1,200 (yeah, I don't make much) to give away. Wouldn't that be more fun than stressing about gifts to buy for my family? I do really enjoy finding meaningful gifts to give to my family so maybe it doesn't mean abandoning the gift giving, but I think that the majority of the emphasis should be on giving outward. I need to keep wrestling with this.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Sunday, November 30, 2008
"Peace on earth..."
As I was driving home tonight, reflecting on the season and the state of the world I found that Christmas carol on my mind "Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinner reconciled..." I don't know if the Bible ever promises peace on earth before the return of Jesus - in fact I know that it doesn't. This is a whole other topic, perhaps disheartening as we look at the brokenness in our world and long for reconciliation. Does it mean that we stop working to see the Kingdom of God established on this earth? No, for this is our calling. Anyway, that's for another day.
The thing I was really struck by is the way that we often call out for "peace on earth" but we call for it through the idea of tolerance, expressed in the famous phrase "Can't we all just get along?" I see it in the bumper stickers where "peace" is spelled out in religious symbols and when administrators on campus are so worried about giving privileges to one religious group over another that they border on being oppressive.
Tolerance is a load of $h!t. Sorry, I don't have much of a filter today and I'm frustrated with life so it's coming out in this post. Tolerance is our way of saying "I don't really want to get to know you. I'm just going to do my best to put up with you and not offend you." It lacks any real semblance of relationship or openness to change. Tolerance is not love or a step towards peace - it's apathy at it's worst.
The reality is that we don't want to work for peace - we just want it to happen. We want it to be easy. Tolerance is a quick fix - "I'm going to stand in the same room as you and if you promise not to challenge my belief system then I won't challenge your belief system. We'll tolerate each other's presence." But if we aren't willing to engage with each other around the difficult issues in our own lives and our world, if we aren't willing to wrestle over the validity of our belief systems, peace will never be a reality that we even begin to approach. Apathetic tolerance allows our world to spin out of control towards the violent and destructive reality that we are already approaching. Change, not just in ourselves, but in our community requires an enormous amount of effort. It requires heated debate, even arguement. Sociologists and psychologists will tell you that arguement and debate is a necessary component of healthy relationships and accomplishing meaningful work. But we avoid the possible pain in this by calling for "tolerance."
If you want to pursue "tolerance" that's great. But's let be real - tolerance is just a way for us to say "I know things need to change but I am unwilling to put in the time and energy necessary to accomplish this change." In my opinion, to pursue a life of tolerance is to waste this precious life. So when we sing that song "Peace on earth...", let's be reminded that it is a prayer that requires the incredible power of God to transform and we may be called to be the answer to that prayer.
The thing I was really struck by is the way that we often call out for "peace on earth" but we call for it through the idea of tolerance, expressed in the famous phrase "Can't we all just get along?" I see it in the bumper stickers where "peace" is spelled out in religious symbols and when administrators on campus are so worried about giving privileges to one religious group over another that they border on being oppressive.
Tolerance is a load of $h!t. Sorry, I don't have much of a filter today and I'm frustrated with life so it's coming out in this post. Tolerance is our way of saying "I don't really want to get to know you. I'm just going to do my best to put up with you and not offend you." It lacks any real semblance of relationship or openness to change. Tolerance is not love or a step towards peace - it's apathy at it's worst.
The reality is that we don't want to work for peace - we just want it to happen. We want it to be easy. Tolerance is a quick fix - "I'm going to stand in the same room as you and if you promise not to challenge my belief system then I won't challenge your belief system. We'll tolerate each other's presence." But if we aren't willing to engage with each other around the difficult issues in our own lives and our world, if we aren't willing to wrestle over the validity of our belief systems, peace will never be a reality that we even begin to approach. Apathetic tolerance allows our world to spin out of control towards the violent and destructive reality that we are already approaching. Change, not just in ourselves, but in our community requires an enormous amount of effort. It requires heated debate, even arguement. Sociologists and psychologists will tell you that arguement and debate is a necessary component of healthy relationships and accomplishing meaningful work. But we avoid the possible pain in this by calling for "tolerance."
If you want to pursue "tolerance" that's great. But's let be real - tolerance is just a way for us to say "I know things need to change but I am unwilling to put in the time and energy necessary to accomplish this change." In my opinion, to pursue a life of tolerance is to waste this precious life. So when we sing that song "Peace on earth...", let's be reminded that it is a prayer that requires the incredible power of God to transform and we may be called to be the answer to that prayer.
Monday, January 21, 2008
The blessing of the desert
I love Elijah. I love the power of his relationship with God, the ridiculous aspects of his life, all of it. But as I walk in this spiritual desert, Elijah also has something there for me as well. In I Kings 18, Elijah demonstrates the power of God against Baal, and slaughters 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah. At the same time, he prays until a drought is suddenly ended. Powerful things that show that God is with him.
But Elijah's response is fear for his life and he flees into the desert towards the mountain of God. Now as I walk along the border of the desert in my life, I have been searching for understanding of why God leads me into these places, and how I am to live/work/behave in the midst of them. I don't have an answer, but God has given me a smidgen of deeper understanding that the desert is a good place to be through Elijah.
As Elijah flees death, he runs into the desert for a full day. At the end of the day he is exhausted and overwhelmed. He actually prays for death saying that he has had enough. But as he sleeps and waits for death, an angel comes bringing food & water, supposedly to strengthen Elijah on his journey.
What I don't get is why the angel of God couldn't have just carried Elijah through the desert to the mountain of God. God has clearly done that before, say with Stephen in the NT. So why does God make Elijah trek through the desert for 40 days, strengthened only by the 2 meals given him by the angel. It would have been so easy to just transport Elijah there, and then less time would've been wasted and Elijah could be back at work much more quickly. But God is determined that Elijah needs to be in the desert. I don't know what happens, but somehow in that desert, Elijah's desire to die changes and he is willing to walk the path that God lays out for him on the mountain.
One thing that Elijah can be assured of is that God does not want him dead and has not abandoned him. He can look back during those 40 days and remember that God provided food for him, and provided in miraculous ways.
I know only that God has provided thus far, and that it seems that it is a good thing for me to wander in the desert.
Hosea 1:14 (adapted)
"I will woo you into the desert, and there I will show you that I love you."
But Elijah's response is fear for his life and he flees into the desert towards the mountain of God. Now as I walk along the border of the desert in my life, I have been searching for understanding of why God leads me into these places, and how I am to live/work/behave in the midst of them. I don't have an answer, but God has given me a smidgen of deeper understanding that the desert is a good place to be through Elijah.
As Elijah flees death, he runs into the desert for a full day. At the end of the day he is exhausted and overwhelmed. He actually prays for death saying that he has had enough. But as he sleeps and waits for death, an angel comes bringing food & water, supposedly to strengthen Elijah on his journey.
What I don't get is why the angel of God couldn't have just carried Elijah through the desert to the mountain of God. God has clearly done that before, say with Stephen in the NT. So why does God make Elijah trek through the desert for 40 days, strengthened only by the 2 meals given him by the angel. It would have been so easy to just transport Elijah there, and then less time would've been wasted and Elijah could be back at work much more quickly. But God is determined that Elijah needs to be in the desert. I don't know what happens, but somehow in that desert, Elijah's desire to die changes and he is willing to walk the path that God lays out for him on the mountain.
One thing that Elijah can be assured of is that God does not want him dead and has not abandoned him. He can look back during those 40 days and remember that God provided food for him, and provided in miraculous ways.
I know only that God has provided thus far, and that it seems that it is a good thing for me to wander in the desert.
Hosea 1:14 (adapted)
"I will woo you into the desert, and there I will show you that I love you."
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