Believing the Unbelievable

And Mary said, "Behold I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her. (Luke 1:38 ESV)

Today we have the "War on Christmas." In this so called war, Christian extremists and non-Christian extremists fight back and forth about issues like "Merry Christmas vs Happy Holidays," was there really a virgin birth, did Jesus even exist, and if he did he wasn't actually born in December, and blah blah blah.  Everybody wants the "facts" on their side and everybody wants to be right, despite the fact that nobody is going to change anybody's mind.  Meanwhile any actual meaning in the season beyond getting that new flat screen tv is lost in the shrillness of the argument.

Let's take for example the two children whose conceptions are detailed in Luke 1.  First we have Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah, and older couple who have been trying to have a child their whole life but who have never conceived.  An angel appears to Zechariah and says 'Hey guess what, your wife is finally going to be pregnant and the child is gonna be a pretty big deal, kind of like Elijah." Well, Zechariah has a bit of a laugh to himself and asks the angel how he knows that he can trust his words since Elizabeth is thought to be barren and they're both pretty old.  The angel then strikes Zechariah dumb until the time that the baby is born.  Now it's not out of the realm of possibility that a woman in her 40s or early 50s gets pregnant.  Highly unlikely perhaps, but possible.

The second woman to conceive in Luke 1 really does conceive in impossible circumstances.  The angel Gabriel appears to a teenage Jewish girl, a virgin, and tells her that she will bear a child as well, and he's going to be a REALLY big deal, in fact, he's going to be the one spoken of by the prophet Isaiah among others.  This event is captured in a more modern setting in the painting above: "Annunciation" by John Collier.  It's also on this month's issue of "The Upper Room" and it gives a look at what Gabriel and Mary might look like if these events took place today.

Of course, you are skeptical, as is Mary, who point blank asks Gabriel how this can happen since she is a virgin.  She's engaged to a man named Joseph, but they're not married yet and haven't had sexual relations.  She knows how the birds and the bees work, so to speak, and so do we.

And that's just part of what makes the Christmas story wild, fantastical, and perhaps one might say: impossible.  We can bring in the arguments and the debaters from both sides and argue for hours over stuff like this.  You just don't get pregnant without having sex. Period.

But if we're missing part of the point of the story....?

In chapter 15 of "We Make the Road by Walking" that's exactly what Brian McLaren suggests that we're doing.  We get so caught up in dealing with whether the events told in the Bible actually, literally happened that we miss the bigger point of the story, and the Christmas story is no different. What if God and the writer of this passage is trying to communicate a bigger point?

What if that bigger point is that maybe we should believe in the "impossible?"

The other night I was having a conversation with a coworker of mine. She's only 17 years old, a couple of years older than Mary in our story, and is just really starting to become aware of a lot of what is going on in the wider world.  Specifically we were talking about how you make a difference in the world.  She was saying that she had always wanted to make a splash, to really go out in the world and make a difference for good, but when she looks around, it seems impossible that one 17 year old girl from Utah could make a difference.

I've been there.  At one point I thought I was going to be a pastor.  I though I was going to make a splash and make a difference.  However the more I looked at what was going in the world and in my life, the more I became convinced that it was impossible.

What if Martin Luther King Jr thought that making a difference in race relations was impossible? What if we thought that traveling in space and going to the moon was impossible?  After all, it was for much of our history.  What if people like William Wilberforce and John Wesley thought that ending the slave trade was impossible?  What if people in the 1940s thought that defeating Hitler was impossible, as some actually did?

Without great people taking these great steps, it's hard to tell where our society might be.  What does that have to say to a 17 year old Utah girl, a 36 year old former-future pastor, or a young teenage virgin from Nazareth?

For McLaren one of the big points in the story is: believe in the supposed "impossible," and I agree. As Gabriel says in the story: "For nothing is impossible with God."  If we don't open our hearts and our minds to both the possible and the supposed impossible, we may very well miss our chance to make a difference for ourselves and the world around us.

For Christians this can be a central theme of Advent.  As we wait for the coming of the Lord, we can examine ourselves and open our hearts and minds to the will of God as Mary did, and indeed as her son did as well.  In the end our response should be "Behold I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word."

What do you think?  Do you believe in the impossible?  Can you give up your longing to "know" and and dare to believe the unbelievable? That might be a tough call for you, but I think even if you can't right now, the message of this beautiful story rings true: think big and open your heart because you never know what might happen!

The Prayer Room: 12/14/14, Third Sunday of Advent

"Come now, let us argue it out, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be like snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool." Isaiah 1:18 (NRSV).

It's been a rough week for me, personally.  Not only are there all the family pressures and stresses that come with the holidays, but when you work in the business I work in, well, extra long hours on your feet, dealing with cranky people, start to take their toll as well. It all kind of caught up with me this week as I've been sickly and really run down.  I even missed a day of work for the first time this year! I like to think that my quest to give myself a Christmas attitude adjustment has gone well, but it's been tough the last week.

But now it's time to look on to the week ahead.  In most Christian traditions, the lone pink candle on the advent wreath is lit for the the third Sunday.  This usually represents joy or hope.  However, in the devotion I've been following based on the works of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the third candle represents redemption, which I think is a close cousin of joy and hope.

Redemption is the crux of the issue, the reason for joy and hope.  Last week I focused on the great mystery of the Incarnation, God coming as man.  This is indeed something to be in awe of and celebrate, but it's just the beginning of the story.  The grand, final chapter of the story of Christ on earth is his redemptive work on the cross for you, for me, for everyone.

However, we often make a bit of a mistake when we stop there.  "Well our sins are forgiven, so oh well."  Christ's redemptive work is also meant to be transformative.  When we just accept redemption and go about our business, we're also only getting half the story that Christ desires for us.  Bonhoeffer refers to this as "cheap grace."  It's when we realize how costly the grace of Christ crucified is, that we can really start to turn inward and make changes in our own lives that will hopefully help us make a difference in the lives of others, indeed in the life of the world as a whole.

Advent can help us do that.  As we wait to celebrate the birth of Christ, we turn inward and examine ourselves, preparing our hearts, bodies, and minds for this sacred season.  I invite you to join me this week in remembering, with joy and hope, the redeeming work of Christ which was not cheap, that cost him his life to save ours.

WITH GRATEFUL THANKSGIVING:

--For life of Christ, Son of God made man, born of Mary, crucified, died and buried.  

--For his resurrection on the third day completing his redemptive work. Christmas always leads to Good Friday and to Easter Sunday.

--For those who give of their time, money, and resources to help those who are less fortunate at Christmas and throughout the year.

IN PRAYERFUL CONCERN:

--For my uncle Greg, who will be undergoing full brain radiation this week in an attempt to kill multiple tumors.

--For those who feel the pain of depression, rejection, and loneliness more acutely during the holiday season.

--For those who are spending their first Christmas after the death of a loved one.

--For those who are traveling to visit family this season, and for their safe return home.

DEAR FATHER:

Thank you so much for this wonderful time of the year.  Give us the strength and wisdom to live in peace and make inroads for reconciliation as we gather with family and friends to celebrate the birth of your son, Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray:

Our Father who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever.
A-men.

The Prayer Room: 12/7/14, Second Sunday of Advent

"The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." (Isaiah 11: 6-9 NRSV)

My heart is kind of heavy as I sit down to write this week.  Last week I talked about how peace, healing, and reconciliation were already weighing heavily on my mind after the events in Ferguson, Missouri.  Well, this week we got the news that another police officer, this time in New York City, would not be charged in the strangling death of another unarmed African-American man.  If the sense of injustice wasn't high enough after the Michael Brown case, it's even higher now.

I honestly don't know what we do now, or where we go from here.  I can't say as I'd blame any African-American individual for being afraid of an encounter with the police, and I can't say as I'd feel any different if I were in their shoes. There seems to be so much hurt, so much hate, and so much violence.

The verses above from Isaiah 11 came up in my readings this last week for Advent, and though they've long been a favorite of mine, they hit me even more in light of events that are happening right now.  The imagery is striking: lambs and wolves lying together, little children playing near the lair of snakes.  If you stop and think that children in the Bible often symbolize innocence and purity, and that serpents often represent evil, well it's even more striking.  

This is of course the Biblical ideal, the promise of the world governed by Christ as the Kingdom of God.  "They WILL NOT hurt or destroy on all my Holy Mountain."  I think too often we as Christians just sit back and think of this as an ideal only to be achieved later, after the Second Advent, but I don't think Christ would have us sitting around, waiting.  What good is faith if all we do is sit back and wait for some kind of "eternal reward?"  The answer is: not much.

Instead I truly believe that as Christians we are called to bring forth ideas into this world that serve the Kingdom NOW.  I'm not talking about enforcing some kind of conservative political or theocratic dogma either.  I'm talking about Christians, the body, hands, and feet of Jesus Christ stepping into the world and working for healing, peace, and reconciliation. I'm talking about Christians standing with those who are marginalized or who are victims of violence and oppression.  It's not going to be easy, but I pray that God will give me, and each of us, the backbone to really go out and to try to turn this torn and broken world into the Holy Mountain of the Lord.

JOYS AND THANKSGIVINGS:

--For victim's advocates and those who work tirelessly in the favor of those who have been wronged or marginalized.

--For candles, decorations, music, and all that reminds of the joy that the Christmas season can bring.

--For the incarnation and example of Christ, the Word made flesh.

CONCERNS AND PETITIONS:

--For all victims of violence, hate, and discrimination.

--For healing, justice, and reconciliation to be brought to our country in light of recent events.

--For those who become depressed and downtrodden, since they often go even more unnoticed this time of year.

--For those who will be traveling over the holiday season.

LORD God, we ask that now, in this time of great hurt and great divide, that you would give each of us a measure of your peace, the peace that passes all understanding.  Grant us the power and strength to stand FOR all of your Children and AGAINST injustice.  Grant to us the knowledge of you and your Kingdom as the waters flow over the sea, as the prophet of old foretold.  Bring us healing and reconciliation in this sacred season as we look forward to celebrating the birth of your Son, Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray:

OUR FATHER, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.

Deliver us, Lord, from every evil and grant us peace in our day.
In your mercy keep us free from sin and protect us from all anxiety
as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our savior:
Jesus Christ

For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever, A-men.

Advent: We're Not the Only Ones Who Wait

Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me. (Revelation 3:20 NRSV)

Christians are quite familiar with the concept of "waiting" during Advent, that's what the season is for, after all.  We wait in hope not only to celebrate the first Advent, the Incarnation of Christ, but the second Advent, when we believe he will return to Earth.  Of course when I was a kid it was about waiting for Christmas morning and presents, if I'm honest with you!  We make a nice show out of our own waiting at Advent, but I wonder, are we the only ones waiting?  I think not.

Think about a time when you got somebody what you might consider the "perfect gift" for Christmas. How do you feel as you wait for Christmas day and the opportunity for that person to open it: excited, nervous, expectant?  One year my wife got me a portable weather station (I'm a weather geek), and she was so excited to see my face light up when I opened it.  I trust that I didn't disappoint her!  

Well in the Advent study that Pastor Gary is presenting at our Church this Advent, he portrays God that way.  God has procured for us this great gift, and he's just waiting to see how we respond once the gift is no longer "under wraps," so to speak.  Of course the gift was originally given some 2000 years ago, and it was the gift of his son, indeed the gift of himself, Jesus Christ. God waits in excited anticipation to see how each and everyone of us responds to this special gift.

Which brings us to the matter of Christ himself.  In the book of Revelation Christ says that he is standing at the door knocking, waiting for us to open the door to him.  This is also a familiar image in Christianity, so much so that it has often become cliche, but make no mistake, Christ is waiting, and he is expectant of us everyday of our lives.  Consider this:

"Jesus stands at the door knocking.  In total reality, he comes in the form of the beggar, of the dissolute human child in ragged clothes, asking for help.  He confronts you in every person that you meet.  As long as there are people, Christ will walk the earth as your neighbor, as the one through whom God calls you, speaks to you, makes demands on you.  That is the great seriousness and great blessedness of the Advent message. Christ is standing at the door; he lives in the form of a human being among us.  Do you want to close the door or open it?"

                                                                                             --Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Does those words give any of us pause?  Do they convict any of us in the slightest?  Here Pastor Bonhoeffer ties in the meaning of Advent to the seminal message of Christianity.  For so many of us, accepting Christ means "opening the door to hearts" so to speak, and inviting him into our lives. That is indeed the first step, but the journey ahead for those who would truly follow Christ is long indeed.  

Christ is there, confronting us in everyone we meet, everyone we hear about.  He waits, and how do we respond?  Christ is present in a young African American man who has been killed by a police officer and left on the street in the open for four hours.  Christ is present in a man who was strangled to death by a New York City officer.  Does that tie this is to everything that's going on around us? Christ presents himself to us in everyone, no matter race, creed, gender, disability status, sexual orientation, or any other qualifier.  He waits to see how we react to him, to see if we will truly continue to open up our lives to him, again and again. It is a constant, active process, where we must remember that an injustice done to anyone is an injustice done to Christ.

So what do we do?  How do we open the door?  It starts by recognizing the validity of each and every human life.    Once we have done this, this fundamental belief should invade every aspect of our lives.  It should inform how we talk to others and treat others around us. It should govern the way we give of our time and resources.  Even just dropping a few coins in the Salvation Army bucket helps, and that's a great way to start, but I encourage all of us to look for other ways that we can reach out to our community.

Finally it should also inform how we vote and how we interact in the political life of our nation.  We should be holding candidates' feet to the fire on these issues, trying to get meaningful change that can help all of us.  We need to be asking the questions:  What do we do about the poor?  What do we do to erase the blight of racism in our country?  How do we confront and change this culture of violence?  

I truly believe that Christ calls us to be active in the lives of those around us everyday and in the life of our country.  I invite you to use this Advent/Christmas season as a springboard to do both in your life.  Christ is knocking, waiting.

The Prayer Room--11/30/14--First Sunday of Advent

For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6 NRSV)

So it's not quite December yet, give it a few hours, but today is the day when Christians of many traditions begin to look forward to celebrating the birth of Christ with the Christmas holiday.  It's the first Sunday of Advent.  During Advent the focus of Christian tradition is twofold.  First we wait in anticipation of the commemoration of the Incarnation which we celebrate on Christmas, but we also focus on being ready for the second Advent, hopeful for the return of Christ to the world.

I have many memories of Advent from growing up.  My family gathered around an Advent wreath every night reading devotions, looking up Bible verses, and singing Christmas songs as my younger sister and I took turns lighting the candles.  Not observing this custom in recent years has left me feeling somewhat empty throughout the holidays, so I'm really looking forward to returning to the practice this year.

As we move through the Advent season peace and reconciliation are going to be on my mind a lot. We've all seen the consequences of violence, discrimination, and hatred sprawled across our tv screens in recent days and weeks, and for me it's only natural to turn to Him named as the Prince of Peace for help. I invite you all to join me in making these central themes of your spiritual discipline this season and I ask God's blessing on all of us as we make our way through the next four weeks.

JOYS AND THANKSGIVINGS:

--My uncle Greg got some good news this week as full body scans revealed no further cancer in his body.  He still has a spot in his brain that needs to be dealt with, but his doctors seem to be cautiously optimistic that this can be done.

--For those who will be taking time out of their own lives and holiday celebrations to serve the poor and needy in this season of so much abundance, yet so much need.

--For the blessings that most of us receive day in and day out, things that we can easily take for granted: food, shelter, heat, electricity, health, and safety.

--For this season of Advent, when we can work to make ourselves more like the man whose birth we celebrate and whose return we hope for.

CONCERNS AND PETITIONS:

--For the people of Ferguson, Missouri and those affected by the events in that community, that the people and the police can work together toward meaningful reconciliation, reform, and healing in that deeply scarred place.

--For those people who still feel the sting and injury of discrimination based on race, gender, creed, sexual orientation, or any other facet of their life.

--For all of us in community around our town, state, nation, and world, that we can work together to end these types of discrimination and violence, eventually bringing out healing and the peace of Christ.

--For men and women in the armed forces who will not be spending the holidays with family this year.

--For those observing the disciplines of Advent, that it may bring joy and meaning to their lives.

WONDERFUL COUNSELOR: We ask that your Holy Spirit move among each and every one of us throughout the holiday season, showing us ways to better ourselves and the world around us.  Help us to live the principles of your Kingdom, as modeled by Christ, throughout Christmas and the days beyond.

MIGHTY GOD: We ask that you give us hearts for worship, hearts for you alone during this season of Advent.  Help us see the paradox of the Creator of the Universe being born into our broken and damaged world in a simple, dirty stable to a young and bewildered couple.  

EVERLASTING FATHER: Draw us closer to your side as we wait in joyful hope to celebrate the birth of your son.  Give us comfort when sad, guidance when directionless, and grace and forgiveness when we fall short of the ideal in which you call us to live.

PRINCE OF PEACE: Bring your peace and healing to all who are torn by violence, discrimination, hate, and war.  Help us as your children to work tirelessly in your name to bring about this peace and your Kingdom.

We ask all these things in the name of JESUS CHRIST, who taught us to pray:

OUR FATHER who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever.

A-men.

Thanksgiving 2014

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NRSV)

It's a little after 9 AM on Thanksgiving morning, and I'm sitting here with what will probably be the first of a couple of cups of coffee.  I didn't sleep well last night, so I got up early and watched the sun creep over the Wasatch mountains to the east.  I work nights, so that's not a sight I see very often.  It was very beautiful though.

I think it's easy for Thanksgiving to either become a cliche or disappear totally as it's swallowed up by the enormous glut of greed that kicks off the "Christmas shopping season."  When we do still take the time to gather round the table as family and friends, often we make a show out of talking about what we're thankful for, but I wonder, do we really consider it?  I'm not sure that I do.  It seems in our society we always WANT more and more.  Even when I pray I have a much easier time coming up with things that I WANT from God as opposed to be being grateful for what I do have.

So I tried to give it some serious thought as I sat here this morning.  Of course I'm thankful for all the things that we so easily remember: my family, my friends, the roof over my head, the food on my table, my job, and the things I do for fun.  However I also came up with two other things that I may not have thought about much over the last couple of years.

The first of these things that I'm thankful for is the mistakes I make in life.  Now this might sound a bit on the odd side, but it's true.  I think that in our mistakes we see the biggest opportunity for growth and learning.  Certainly it's not always easy to learn from mistakes.  Sometimes it takes a huge effort, and that it something I lack occasionally.  I hope to change that both now and in the future though. Through recognizing mistakes and the powerful opportunities that they can present, I believe that there is a great chance to latch on to large strides of personal growth.

The second thing is the love of Christ that I've rediscovered in recent months.  It has helped my change my attitude on so many fronts, or at least given me the potential to change it.  I've started to see the world through the lens of Christ's love and mercy, both for me and for others, for the first time in a few years.  In recent years I was always a negative Nancy, a troll so to speak.  I was that guy who would jump on twitter or facebook on Thanksgiving morning and and try to give everyone a guilt trip over certain facts of American history.  You know the kind of person I'm talking about.  "Oh that's nice that you're having a huge meal today, celebrating the fact that your ancestors wiped out a whole people." In my mind, I was giving people perspective.  In reality what I was doing was turning people off to me and anything worthwhile that I might have had to say.  I was so negative all the time.

Don't get me wrong, I still am sometimes, but I have noticed a marked improvement.  When love and mercy for everyone started to become my focus more and more, I started to find meaning in places that I never knew existed, even on a holiday that ignores some pretty dark moments in history.

In the end things in the past should be remembered so that we can indeed learn from the mistakes we've made, but beginning to see the world through love and mercy instead of constant negativity allows us not only to remember the past, but to shape the future in ways that are good for everyone. Through this we can exchange guilt and derision for reconciliation and forgiveness, and for that I'm truly thankful.

I hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving and a wonderful holiday season!

The Prayer Room--11/23/14, Last Sunday After Pentecost

A man kneels and prays at a makeshift memorial for Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. (Photo: CBS News)

Many of us will turn our hearts to Thanksgiving this week, and we should definitely do that. Most of us will never know what it's like to be truly hungry.  Many of us will never know what it's like to not have a roof over our heads.  Many of us will never be a victim of violent crime.  Those of us who are fortunate in these and other respects should give thanks for the blessings in our lives.

But we need to remember that this isn't the same for everybody.  In particular I'm thinking about the people of Ferguson, Missouri.  Most of us will be familiar with the events of August 9, 2014, when Michael Brown, an African American teenager, was shot and killed by Darren Wilson, a white police officer.  This sparked racial tensions throughout not only the Ferguson area, but in different places all over the country as well.  It also raised the specter of violence in our society and concerns about the legitimacy of the use of deadly force by police officers.  In short, this incident has become about more than just the particular facts of the case.

Look, I don't know what happened.  I wasn't there, and I haven't seen the evidence.  Perhaps the only person who REALLY knows is officer Wilson himself.  However, this doesn't make the questions that have been asked and the issues that have been raised less valid.  The issues will have to be faced and these greater questions will be have to be answered going forward.  They're not going to go away. 

Many people believe that the church has a role to play here, not only in the larger sense of confronting these big issues, but in the smaller sense of helping the community of Ferguson throughout the days ahead.  The grand jury that will decide whether or not to indict officer Wilson will be announcing their findings soon, likely in the next couple of days.  Most legal experts have said that they don't believe that Wilson will be indicted for killing Brown, and it's quite likely that this is going to cause a great deal of strife in that community which has already been through so much.  There might be some pretty bad things going on there while most of us focus on turkey, football, and family this week.  I pray that this won't be the case, but I fear it will be. 

So I ask that we all keep the people of Ferguson in our prayers and thoughts this week and ask Christ to bring about peace in this situation.

JOYS AND THANKSGIVINGS

--For family and friends that gather around us and support us not only in the good times, but in the bad.

--For the blessings that we each receive in our lives every day and every year.

--For those who will be working to provide a thanksgiving dinner to people who are homeless or less fortunate.

CONCERNS AND PETITIONS

--For those who don't have family and friends, or who are separated from them for Thanksgiving and the holidays.

--For those who will be experiencing the first Thanksgiving after losing a loved one.

--For those who will be traveling throughout the week.

--For the people of Ferguson, Missouri, as they try to cope with the ramifications of the events taking place in their community.

--That Christ will grant us his peace and help to look past race, gender, sexual orientation, and the like and see the humanity in each and every one of his children.