When We Don't Like It

There is something to be said for obedience no matter the circumstances. When the call of God comes and we respond in faithfulness there is a closeness in our relationship with God that is rivaled by little else. Being obedient is easy when we like what it is God is calling us to, or what we are called to seems to be easy. This is obedience that should be celebrated. What about when the call is hard, and the task is difficult, and we simply do not really like what God is calling us to?

Following and trusting God especially when it is difficult and we do not like it is when obedience really kicks in. I think of some of the people called in the Scriptures, Moses was reluctant and did not want to transition from the Desert of obscurity to the challenger of Pharaoh. Isaiah was convinced God has someone better to be a prophet confronting the people. Even Jesus himself wrestled with God in the Garden asking if there was another way than for him to die on the cross. In the end of these and other accounts of difficult calls the response is the same, "Not my will but thy will." In his book The Great Divorce C.S. Lewis reminds the reader there are two ways people respond to God, those who say my will be done on earth and those who say thy will be done. If obedience through the hard times was easy everyone would do it. The reality is we are so willing to walk our own path instead of the one God is beckoning us down.

What we do when we do not like the situation is more revealing of our relationship with God than when we like what is going on. Take for another example Peter. In the relative safety of wander the Galilean countryside he was able to be very obedient and identify with Jesus, but in the courtyard of the high priest we have a different story. Often we are way more harsh to Peter for his disobedience than we should be. Many of us would have followed suit. I do not like to admit that, but to say I would do anything else would be wild speculation. Thankfully, I do not have to stand in the courtyard of the high priest as Jesus faces trail. I do however have to live my life with the ups and downs it brings my way. The question is not what will I do when I like what is happening and where God is calling me. No, the question is what will I do when I am standing in the place of not liking where God is calling me.

Let's see, I have thrown prophets, Apostles and Jesus into this mix, along with C.S. Lewis. So there is little harm in one more. Look at Jonah. God's call was clear. Jonah's disobedience was clear. The story of Jonah has a tragic ending. Jonah's worst fear comes true, the Ninevehites repent. Then instead of celebrating in the work of God done through obedience, Jonah goes to the edge of the city and whines. In the end Jonah is a bitter man not seeing the glory God called him to be a part of. I wonder how often we miss what God is doing and going to do because we are preoccupied with the ways things have been that we like?

I do not find a God in the Scriptures who keeps things as they have always been. This is true of communities and of individuals. Our obedience to God is celebrated and rewarded with greater opportunity for obedience. Usually the greater opportunity requires us to move into territory we would rather not. Rarely are we called from comfort to comfort. More often we are called from comfort to risk. This is the call of God that drips with one simple question, "Who's will is to be done today?"

When The Future Becomes the Past

I had one of those holy crap moments this morning. I looked at the calendar and realized we are almost halfway through February 2012. I am sure to most of you this has not come as surprise as you have by now stopped writing 2011 on things requiring a date, and your calendars are all on February. My shock was because I had been playing the role of the procrastinator for a good part of December. There were several tasks needing attention but I kept delaying them until I returned from a mission trip to Columbia. Because of this projection of activities I thought I had all kinds of time to get to these activities in the future. My realization this morning was the future of December has become the past of February. What was in the windshield is now in the rear view mirror.

It is with more than our schedule that we do this. There are those changes in our life which we know we need to make. This time of year they are called resolutions and if you are like most you have already failed on most of the resolutions you set out before yourself just a few short weeks ago. There was great intention of change, perhaps even a plan, but there was always tomorrow, better known as the day when I will get started. Then we reach today and find we have not gotten started and the intended start date is not longer in front of us but behind us. Rather than simply starting to change our lives we first lament about the ways we missed the opportunity. Rather than deciding today will be the day we do what we know we need to, we often give up because we feel like we missed the opportunity. In fact, that is what happens most often when the future becomes the past, we simply give up for a later attempt.

As I look around at this glorious mystery called the church I find we suffer from a similar affliction. I do not talk to many people who say there is not need for the church to change. To be clear they are out there, you know the people who think things are just fine and if the church dies with them that is fine. However, most people recognize the church needs to go through a season of adaptation if it is going to be a vital and healthy collection of disciples of Jesus Christ. The challenge is not in recognition it is often in action. Someday we will get started with making changes, or I know we need to change it is just that I know it will make people unhappy if we change things. There is my all time favorite, we want new people to come to the church, we just want them to do it on our terms. In other words sometime in the future.

For many a faithful congregation the future has now become the past and the death rattle has begun. The death rattle is the sound someone makes shortly before they die. I am sure there is a deeply medical reasons for the rattle but all I know is when I am sitting with a family as they say goodbye, I know when I hear that sound the time is short. For the better part of 25 years, some argue longer, the church has seen the need to change and adapt to meet the challenges of being a disciple of Jesus Christ in the present age. For the same time frame it has always been couched in a 3-5 year plan, in the future. Yes change takes time, however it cannot happen unless the first steps are taken.

Let us put an end to the procrastination. Personally, if it is time to do more than think or talk about the gym, get started today. If it is time to do more than stare at the closed Bible on the coffee table, do it now. If it is time for the church to adapt, take the first step today. It will take time. Still the future will once again become the past if we do not make a move.

Wrapped in Love -- Merry Christmas 2011

One of my favorite places to visit in a store during this time of year is the free gift warping area. You know the place I am talking about. It is the place where someone will take the $9.99 gift you bought and make it look like a $29.99 gift. There is something about taking some shiny paper, ribbon and the ability to make a bow, that makes the ordinary and average look extraordinary. Over the past couple of years in our family there has been less and less extravagant wrapping of presents. We went from actual wrapping paper to, the funnies from the newspaper, which moved quickly to just newspaper. From there we made the move to Duct Tape. Note of caution when wrapping things with Duct Tape you want to be careful as it does not remove as cleanly as you would think, just saying. Now for the adults in the family when it is time to exchange gifts for some reason we simply leave it in the store bag and wrap the tails of the bag as tight as possible. It’s kind of funny, no matter what you put inside that store given plastic bag it looks like a cheap gift.

I have noticed it is not just our gifts we give a wrapping. There is the very literal concept of wrapping our bodies in clothing. It is easy to see there are some people who place a high value on the wrapping and others who do not. My idea of an expensive shirt is anything over 12 bucks. While others pay more for their undergarments. In our culture there is an odd value assigned to the wrappings we put on our body.

We could also look at the lifestyle we wrap ourselves with. Perhaps you are a person who on the outside looks like you are living the filet minion life, when in actuality you have a Raman Pride life. You choose to wrap your life in something different than reality. Maybe you are the person who lives right on the edge of keeping it all together but you present yourself as someone who has it all together and under control. I wonder if the wrapping we are seeing right now reflects who we really are?

That brings me to this Jesus baby. Now if we believe the scriptures and prophecies about the Messiah, and we believe this to be Jesus found in the New Testament, what does the wrapping tell us? Look at the passage in Isaiah and the titles given to the Messiah, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. These are some pretty impressive titles that should come with some pretty impressive wrapping. If we take a look at all the expectations there were for the Messiah, He was going to set the people free from the Romans. The Messiah was going to establish Israel as the most important nation once again. This one person, the Messiah, would make everything just as it is supposed to be. With those expectations you would expect some pretty amazing wrapping.

But what do we find, and ordinary baby, in a less than ordinary nursery being wrapped in scrapes of cloth. This is the anti-wrapping station move. The most precious gift or greatest value is given a wrapping that appears to make the gift look like less than it is. At the same time we take the $9.99 gift to get a wrapping to look like a $29.99 item. However there is another wrapping around Jesus that is not as easily seen as the clothes. Perhaps Jesus is more like the gift wrapped in the Wal-Mart bag. Contained in that bag may be something plain and ordinary, just another item off the shelves. More than the object though is the heart and intention behind the gift. My office is littered with gifts that do not look very impressive until you know the intent. Those tatted gifts are handmade, one-of-a-kind masterpieces made especially for me by my children. This changes everything. Those pictures, rocks and other trinkets are wrapped with so much more than paint and paper, they are wrapped with the love of my children.

That baby in a cave, because there was no room in the Inn, was in many ways a normal baby, treated as most babies in that day would have been treated. To look at the baby Jesus you might think he was the equivalent of a Wal-Mart shelf item. Sure we think about the star in the sky and all the pictures which have a halo around Jesus. The star was there, but the baby was still a baby, remember Jesus was fully human and fully God. This means the experience of baby Jesus was similar to other baby experiences. The difference was not the baby but what the baby was wrapped in. Jesus Christ was a gift from God given to you and I, along with all creation and he was wrapped in love. Not just any love, the love the creator has for that which was created. Love that is pure, true and not matched by anyone or anything on this earth or anywhere else.

Christmas might be your favorite time of year and you wish it would come more than once a year. You might be a person who cannot stand Christmas and you wish it would never come. This time of year might be festive and joy-filled for you, or it might be a time of great pain, regret and struggle. Perhaps you are like me and you get almost physically ill to see the god of consumerism on full display. Whether you are Ebenezer Scrooge, Bob Cratchit or Tiny Tim there is one truth of Christmas which remains. God, the Creator of all things, the great parent to all, gave us the gift of stepping out of eternity and into this world. This gift was wrapped in frail humanity that we might experience wholeness. Jesus was wrapped in the ordinary of life that we might experience the extraordinary of life. The Messiah was wrapped in love in order to make a way for all of us to know the peace, hope, joy and love of our God. What is more, this wrapping is shared with us. Through Jesus Christ we are wrapped in God’s love. My Christmas prayer and hope is that you will feel the love of God wrapped around you.

Life Beyond Maintenance

Chances are you are familiar with the following cycle. You have a moment in your journey when you learn a lesson. It might some great spiritual insight, or a simple principle that helps with daily living. Over time this new insight grows cold and once again something seems broken. In an effort to repair what is broken, you seek after wholeness again. As you seek you remember the insight from before and feel whole again. You repeat this cycle endlessly. This is a cycle describing many peoples interaction with church. On the weekend there is a great insight that makes life seem livable, so you follow it. By the next week the struggle is back on. In this mode attending a church gathering becomes a form of maintenance in our lives. With startling regularity we find ourselves struggling with that same old issue once again, even though we preform our regular maintenance.

It could be that all you need is regular maintenance. Like an oil change in a car, there simply needs to be attention paid to keeping things running at their peak. However, there are times when the recurring problem requires more than maintenance, it requires an overhaul. This moves beyond a simple insight to apply to our lives. An overhaul is when we dismantle something and replace it with something more suiting to the result we are looking for. An example might be helpful. So many people tell me they want to experience a closeness with God like they have not experienced, and they are hoping that regular attendance of services will accomplish this end. Over time there is perfect attendance, however there is not greater intimacy with God. It is not because the services are failing to be effective, it is we need an overhaul. There is a need to change some of the fundamental actions and thoughts of our daily lives. Maintenance gives us the ability to manage the struggles without ever really addressing the issue behind the struggle. An overhaul goes deeper, to the root of the struggle.

I have a feeling that most of us go through life managing the challenges we face without ever really dealing with them. We find ways to function daily and keep our challenges in check, yet there are times when the in place maintenance plan no longer works. Rather than do an overhaul, we simply change maintenance plans. We are called by the God of love to do more than live a life on a maintenance plan, we are called to experience a life of fullness.

So how do we make this happen in our lives. First, is be willing to go beneath the surface. When we want to make changes to the way we experience life, we have to be willing to make more than maintenance changes. Feeling overwhelmed by a schedule will require more than a simple correction to the scheduling of my time. After I make changes in my scheduling patters, over time I will return the former place. The challenge is to dig into the question of why I over schedule my life, what are my motives? Or to put it another way, what need within me is being fulfilled by over scheduling.

If more of us began to ask the deeper questions and make the deeper changes in our lives, then more people would experience life beyond maintenance. Fair warning, this is not as easy as maintenance. Moving beyond maintenance will require digging into sections of our lives we may have ignored for a while. It will require us to re-pattern our lives. Old wounds left to fester will have to be reopened for full healing. So many people choose maintenance rather than overhaul because maintenance is safe and relatively harmless. An overhaul will mean great challenge. On the other side of things however, maintenance will keep you locked in the same place. The overhaul will open the doors of transformation.

So I invite you to a life beyond maintenance. Know that the journey will be difficult. Know also you will not journey alone. We have a God who is there with us. This is the truest understanding of Christmas. We have a God who made a dwelling place among us. This is the person of Jesus Christ who promises to never leave or forsake us. No matter what challenge you are facing, or how long you have faced it, you can move beyond maintenance. There is hope in the struggle.

Lessons From Elijah

In this past Sunday's message I talked about Elijah listening for God in the midst of the noise surrounding him. This is a time of year when the noise of life can get extremely loud and we can miss the very voice we are seeking to hear. There are five key lessons to learn from Elijah in 1 Kings 19.

1. Positioned Correctly It seems Elijah knew he needed to hear from God, and needed help from God. Rather than simply keep going in the situation he found himself, he took time to get himself positioned to be able to hear God. I am not saying we need to go off to a cave and listen for God, although that might be it. In the midst of all the noise of life we need to find a place, time and way to connect with the God who loves and calls us.

2.Seeking to Hear Elijah not only gets in the right position to hear God, Elijah seeks God. Once positioned well Elijah could hear God ask why are you here? God knew Elijah was looking for God and for peace. Sure we look for it, but where and from whom are we seeking it? Elijah did not complain to someone else, did not give up of God. In the midst of the noise and chaos, Elijah sought after God.

3. Being Real With God There was no sense of Elijah trying to fool God. There was no pretense of being religious and having it all together. Nowhere to be found was a proper address to God. Elijah simply told God where he was at. The best summary I can offer is Elijah told God, life just sucks right now.

4. Knew What He Was Listening For When the wind blew, the earth shook and the fire raged, Elijah knew those were not the voice of God. Interestingly there are other times in scripture when they were the voice or God, or the voice of God was heard in them. Yet it was the whisper after that contained the voice of God. Only by knowing the voice he was listening for was Elijah able to find what he was looking for.

5. Peace Does Not Mean Easy God tells Elijah to go back the way you came, he came from the people trying to kill him. Elijah seeks God for peace and in the imparting of peace God tells him to go back to the most dangerous place on earth for him. Further, God gives him a task which not exactly the easiest, anoint new kings in places that already have them, and anoint your successor. God says I have got this all covered and you are worried about things which you cannot possibly control. Simply follow what I ask you to do and peace will be your companion.

If you would like to hear the entire message go to: Noise: Hearing Peace

The question is not whether God is still speaking to us, the question is can we hear the voice of God in the midst of the noise. The offer of peace is there, along with the offer of hope, joy and love. I pray we will all have ears to hear what the Lord has to say.

Crisis Of Leadership

It is no small secret the mainline, denominational church in America is in serious decline. Most of the major denominations are now wrestling with the how to remain in existence, not just for the long term, but in the next five years. Consultants have been hired and paid, studies and reports have been released, and all the cash and effort have produced the results that many have known by painful experience, the cause of the decline is found in the area of leadership. Much ink has been and will be continued to be consumed talking about issues like discipleship and evangelism. Books have been written and are being written about how to bolster a children's ministry or how to engage this population or that population. Some have turned to the Emerging Church, or the Missional Church models to find a way out. These are all good things that have been happening and are happening, yet the statistics still point in the same direction. The issue is leadership.

John Maxwell is often quoted as saying, "Everything rises and falls on leadership," the church is no exception to this. When the local congregation I serve is struggling it is more often than not due to a leadership issue with me. During this time of crisis in the church there is a need for strong leadership to come forward and lead, the problem is we have a crisis in leadership. Sure we have all the people in leadership positions, and for the most part they are wonderful people, they just are not very good leaders. They might even be fantastic managers, but they are not good leaders. Talk is on the rise about developing leaders but at least in my tribe, the UMC, talk is all we are experiencing. There are small pockets working to develop leaders but overall there is little progress being made.

Over the past few months I have wondered why something so important get so little attention. When I have asked those in position of leadership I am assured that leadership development is a top priority and things are in the works to address it, however there are many struggles facing the church. Many of you reading this have traveled life longer than I, however, it is clear to be that if something is called a top priority, yet there is no effort in that area it is not a priority. All the other things which are allowed to pull attention away from leadership will continue to get in the way if effective leadership is not applied. That which we spend out time, energy and other resources on is what will grow. When we focus on the fires they will grow. When we focus on the financial woes, they will grow. When we focus on the lose of what was, the lose will grow. If we were to focus on leadership, then it would grow. If we were to focus on mission, it would grow. But it all takes leadership to create a clear focus.

So what are we to do? Edgar Shine would remind us that once a culture is in place, the culture determines who leads. In the mainline church the culture is well in place and the choice for leaders are not leading. Actually, they are managing very well to maintain the status quo. More than just a present day buzz word the status quo is a powerful force which is never neutral. Only courageous leadership will break the cycle.

As for the rest of us who do not lead denominations, or judicatories, what can we do? If you are a leader, then lead. Work at becoming a better leader, develop the leaders around you, and lead the people God has given you care over. A symptom of poor leadership is waiting for someone else to provide leadership. If those who hold a position of leadership will not lead, waiting for them to provide leadership will being about a certain death.

So, search the Scriptures, find the examples of leaders in the Bible who did just that, lead. Allow your life and character to be shaped by the compelling love of Christ. Lead, seeking the justice of God, offering the hope of Christ, and empowered by the Holy Spirit. A crisis as severe as we are experiencing will not be solved by distracted management, it will be solved by leaders who take action. So lead in your life, family, your workplace and your church. Do not wait for someone else to lead.

Let us set our hearts of Christ and follow the path of life that leads to the Kingdom of God being experienced by all the people of creation.

Falling Back

Wow, it has been a long time since I posted something, I needed a few tries to remember the password. Anyway, life has a way of going through seasons and for the last little season my writings been done in other forums. More to come at a later date. Today I have been thinking about the practice of Daylight Savings.

Last week as we were leading into the change of clocks for most of the United States, I heard several people complain about the fact that they lose an hour of sun once we turn the clocks back. Every science teacher should grown at that kind of statement. It is not that we lose any amount of the sunlight, it only get rearranged. Sure for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere the sun is around less during the winter but that has nothing to do with the clocks on the wall it is the little thing called creation.

No matter if we see it as losing an hour of daylight, or we remember our basic science lessons, I am struck by something even deeper about the issue. We are the one of a handful of countries that continue to have the audacity to manipulate this thing called time for our own benefit. Interestingly of the countries who continue to observe the crazy practice, there is a high frequency of countries in the privileged world, meaning North America and Europe with a few other highly developed countries. For most of the world the thought of manipulating the cycle of creation was given up, while others still never bothered. There are many reasons stated for the practice, and the proponents will be loud about how important it is to our economic system and other very treasured things. I say, it is pure audacity and self-interest.

There are many places where we can clearly see the shifting times from the Modern era, the Enlightenment, to the Postmodern era. In world that is increasingly postmodern holding onto this tradition of time change has a strong grasp in the Modern era. During the Modern era it has been common for humanity to rearrange the world and the way it functions for their personal benefit. This is the birthplace of the idea that we gain or lose and hour of sunlight because we change the clocks. Quite simply we could manipulate the clock all we want to and it will have no impact on the amount of sunlight one area gets. Further the claimed benefits of the time change are all steeped in consumerism. We want to maximize the amount of time we can make money, and we do not want to be inconvenienced by this pesky thing called darkness.

If you are still reading this, you probably have that look on your face accompanied by the thought of, okay I think Aaron is loosening his grip on reality and what is most important. You might be right. This is not the most pressing issue we face. The change of the clocks on the grand scheme of things really does not matter, unless you pay attention to the related health issues due to the change. The issue for me is that we as humanity repeatedly manipulate creation for our benefit and pleasure. True we were given stewardship over creation, and we are to enjoy meeting God in creation. However, we are not suppose to change it for our benefit.

In the end, I am sure we will continue to have Daylight Savings because we have always done it that way. I simply wonder if we stop and think about the foolishness of manipulating creation for our benefit, I am sure that doesn't happen any other place of situation, wink, wink, nudge, nudge.