For reasons that will become apparent, the following song lyrics have been playing in my head for the last couple of days.
Oh, Shine on, shine on, harvest moon
Up in the sky;
I ain't had no lovin'
Since April, January, June or July.
Snow time ain't no time to stay
Outdoors and spoon;
So shine on, shine on, harvest moon,
For me and my gal.
I would think that many of you know these lyrics, as well. They are the chorus to a “Tin Pan Alley” song that premiered one hundred and two years ago at the Ziegfeld Follies. This song, which was first sung in 1908, has been recorded by dozens of artists over the past century.
The song refers to what is known as “The Harvest Moon”. Generally speaking “The Harvest Moon” is the full moon which is closest to the autumnal equinox, the first day of Fall. This year Fall will begin on September 23, which is also the day of the Harvest Moon.
The song, “Shine On, Harvest Moon”, while kind of catchy in its own way, propagates the myth that the Earth’s moon actually shines by itself. The moon does not give off any light of its own. The moon soil and rock color was reported by the astronauts who landed there, over a generation ago, as grey. The moon only appears to shine because it reflects the light of the sun. Most people know this, I hope, but it bears repeating.
I started humming “Shine On, Harvest Moon” because of something I heard during our family’s morning devotions. We are reading from Christian author, Max Lucado’s book, “It’s Not About Me”. Pastor Lucado recounted the story of Nicolaus Copernicus, the great Polish astronomer. It was Copernicus, a Catholic priest, who first formulated what is known as a “heliocentric cosmology”, which argues that the Sun, and not the Earth is at the center of our solar system. Prior to Copernicus’ time people believed that the Sun revolved around the Earth and not the other way around.
Pastor Lucado went on to say that seen from outer space the Earth, the Moon and the other planets all seem to shine with their own light, when in fact all that these heavenly bodies are doing is reflecting the light of the Sun. He then went on to point out that Christian people are called to reflect in the lives the light of the Son of God in all that they do and say. All this got me to thinking about Copernicus, the Moon and the “Tin Pan Alley” song of 1908.
I will not presume to steal any of Max Lucado’s ideas. I’ll merely expand of them just a tad. Sometimes we Christians, after we have done something that we know we should, like feed the hungry, offer forgiveness to a former enemy, visit the lonely or tell others about our faith in Jesus Christ, we forget that it’s not really us who is doing these things; it is Jesus Christ who dwells in us who is doing these things. Blessed St. Paul the Apostle wrote, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13).
When we do the things that Christ calls us to do, (see Matthew 25:31-46), we are reflecting the love of Jesus Christ in our lives like the Moon reflects the light of the Sun. Maybe it would be good to think of ourselves as moons or planets circling around the Son of God. We do not shine with our own light. Without Christ in our lives we are as dead and barren as the surface of the Moon. But, with Christ in the center of our lives we can reflect the light of Christ, the very love of God, in our dealings with all people.
I heard of a congregation that used to give out something they called the “Layman of the Year” award. This particular group of Christians would vote to select that one person who they thought best showed the love of Christ in his or her witness to the gospel. They gave this award to inspire others. Their motives were not bad. Maybe just a little misguided.
One year they selected a very devout and faithful man to receive the award. The presentation of the award took place at an annual church supper and no one except for the pastor and several other leaders in the congregation ever knew who was going to receive the award at the dinner. When the man’s name was announced and he was called forward to receive the award he shocked everyone present by refusing to accept it. “I was only doing what Jesus wanted me to do. This award isn’t mine. It belongs to him.”
The man in question had a good grasp on what it meant to be a person who reflected the light of Christ in his life. It wasn’t about him. It was about Jesus. As I understand it that congregation never gave out the award again.
Our lives are to reflect the glory of the Son of God. We are to reflect Christ’s light. Maybe when you look at the Harvest Moon on September 23 you might think about that. I know I will.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Thinking About Psalm 24
Recently, my family traveled to Montana for our annual family vacation. We spent about ten days in and around Glacier National Park, which is located in the northwestern corner of the state. Glacier, and the surrounding area, is absolutely stunning. The high, rugged snow capped peaks of the National Park have been referred to as “America’s Alps”.
Glacier is filled with all kinds of marvelous wild life. During our forays into the park we saw mountain goats, big horn sheep and mule deer. I was more than a little disappointed that we never saw either a black bear or a grizzly bear. As a matter of fact, my family told me to stop saying, “Now if I were a bear, I think I’d be standing right over here.” I would utter those words whenever we drove or hiked past a clearing in the woods that looked like it should be populated by a bear. (Truth be told, the only way I wanted to see a grizzly was from the safe confines of my car. Grizzlies have killed and mauled people in Glacier.)
While hiking around and driving around Glacier National Park the words of the 24th Psalm kept echoing in my head; “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it”. I said those words out loud as I was hiking down a snow covered mountainside. Across an alpine valley I saw sheer mountain cliffs, glowing with an impossibly beautiful orange color in the afternoon sun. I had just seen, standing within four of five feet of me a female mountain goat and her kid. (Some of the animals in the park are so used to people they will wander right up to you.) I was so inspired by what I saw that I started to sing “This is My Father’s World”. No one, except for God, was around to hear my praise.
After being in such a beautiful place it is more than a little hard to return to the normal work-a-day world. While waiting in the line to be poked and prodded by the TSA inspectors before boarding our return flight home, I found it hard to believe that a mere two days before I had been in such a marvelous place. Looking at my fellow harried travelers, taking off their shoes before going through the airplane screening devices, the words of the 24th Psalm seemed faraway and distant to me.
It is easy to believe those words, “The earth is the Lord’s” when you are looking at a beautiful landscape, be it lofty mountain peaks or the pounding surf of the ocean. Yet, those words are true when you are standing in line in an airport or in the grocery store. Those words are true when you are driving. Those words are true at all times and in all places.
Everything, absolutely everything in this world of ours does indeed belong to God, who fashioned us and created us. After returning from Glacier I realized that when those words are confined to praise at the goodness of God’s creation they are kept somewhat safe and distant. The words of David in the Psalm are radical and challenging precisely because of what they say, “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world and those who live in it.”
That’s pretty heady stuff. As I write these word to you, I see scattered across my desk the following items: the computer screen and keyboard, the case for my reading glasses, my cell phone, a pen, some business cards and a container of paper clips. (There is actually more, my desk, at the moment is very cluttered.) Do the words of the Psalm mean that all that stuff I listed is God’s? Are the words to be taken so literally that they mean that my new Glacier National Park coffee mug is the property of God? After all, I shelled out the cash for the mug. Wasn’t that my money that bought the mug?
The Psalm is pretty clear, it seems to me. Sure, those lovely mountains in northwestern Montana belong to God, but so does the clutter on the desk belong to God. I merely get to use the paper clips, drink my coffee from the mug, (Opps! The coffee in the mug is God’s, too.), and borrow the cell phone. All the things that we think we have and we think we possess belong to God.
This realization, and it can be a hard one, might just lead us to be better stewards of what God gives to us. To realize that everything we have belongs to God, who in his great goodness and love gives us things for a time, should fill us with a profound sense of awe and gratitude. I felt a profound sense of awe and gratitude when I looked at those stunning mountain peaks, why don’t I feel the same sense of awe and gratitude when I’m sipping my coffee?
Psalm 24:1 can help us to recover a proper sense of awe and gratitude for all that God has done for us. As Luther reminds us in the Small Catechism, the daily bread that we pray for in the Lord’s Prayer includes, but is not limit to, “everything that belongs to the support and wants of the body, such as meat, drink, clothing, shoes, house, homestead, field, cattle, money, goods, a pious spouse, pious children, pious servants, pious and faithful magistrates, good government, good weather, peace, health, discipline, honor, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.” All of these things, and much, much more come from and belong to God, who loves us so very much that we gives us even mundane things like computer keyboards, coffee mugs and cell phones.
I need to live out my life in realization of Psalm 24:1. All of these marvelous and mundane things belong to God. God is so very good to me that He gives me all things. For this I should always honor, praise and glorify His Holy Name. And so should you, as well.
Glacier is filled with all kinds of marvelous wild life. During our forays into the park we saw mountain goats, big horn sheep and mule deer. I was more than a little disappointed that we never saw either a black bear or a grizzly bear. As a matter of fact, my family told me to stop saying, “Now if I were a bear, I think I’d be standing right over here.” I would utter those words whenever we drove or hiked past a clearing in the woods that looked like it should be populated by a bear. (Truth be told, the only way I wanted to see a grizzly was from the safe confines of my car. Grizzlies have killed and mauled people in Glacier.)
While hiking around and driving around Glacier National Park the words of the 24th Psalm kept echoing in my head; “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it”. I said those words out loud as I was hiking down a snow covered mountainside. Across an alpine valley I saw sheer mountain cliffs, glowing with an impossibly beautiful orange color in the afternoon sun. I had just seen, standing within four of five feet of me a female mountain goat and her kid. (Some of the animals in the park are so used to people they will wander right up to you.) I was so inspired by what I saw that I started to sing “This is My Father’s World”. No one, except for God, was around to hear my praise.
After being in such a beautiful place it is more than a little hard to return to the normal work-a-day world. While waiting in the line to be poked and prodded by the TSA inspectors before boarding our return flight home, I found it hard to believe that a mere two days before I had been in such a marvelous place. Looking at my fellow harried travelers, taking off their shoes before going through the airplane screening devices, the words of the 24th Psalm seemed faraway and distant to me.
It is easy to believe those words, “The earth is the Lord’s” when you are looking at a beautiful landscape, be it lofty mountain peaks or the pounding surf of the ocean. Yet, those words are true when you are standing in line in an airport or in the grocery store. Those words are true when you are driving. Those words are true at all times and in all places.
Everything, absolutely everything in this world of ours does indeed belong to God, who fashioned us and created us. After returning from Glacier I realized that when those words are confined to praise at the goodness of God’s creation they are kept somewhat safe and distant. The words of David in the Psalm are radical and challenging precisely because of what they say, “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world and those who live in it.”
That’s pretty heady stuff. As I write these word to you, I see scattered across my desk the following items: the computer screen and keyboard, the case for my reading glasses, my cell phone, a pen, some business cards and a container of paper clips. (There is actually more, my desk, at the moment is very cluttered.) Do the words of the Psalm mean that all that stuff I listed is God’s? Are the words to be taken so literally that they mean that my new Glacier National Park coffee mug is the property of God? After all, I shelled out the cash for the mug. Wasn’t that my money that bought the mug?
The Psalm is pretty clear, it seems to me. Sure, those lovely mountains in northwestern Montana belong to God, but so does the clutter on the desk belong to God. I merely get to use the paper clips, drink my coffee from the mug, (Opps! The coffee in the mug is God’s, too.), and borrow the cell phone. All the things that we think we have and we think we possess belong to God.
This realization, and it can be a hard one, might just lead us to be better stewards of what God gives to us. To realize that everything we have belongs to God, who in his great goodness and love gives us things for a time, should fill us with a profound sense of awe and gratitude. I felt a profound sense of awe and gratitude when I looked at those stunning mountain peaks, why don’t I feel the same sense of awe and gratitude when I’m sipping my coffee?
Psalm 24:1 can help us to recover a proper sense of awe and gratitude for all that God has done for us. As Luther reminds us in the Small Catechism, the daily bread that we pray for in the Lord’s Prayer includes, but is not limit to, “everything that belongs to the support and wants of the body, such as meat, drink, clothing, shoes, house, homestead, field, cattle, money, goods, a pious spouse, pious children, pious servants, pious and faithful magistrates, good government, good weather, peace, health, discipline, honor, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.” All of these things, and much, much more come from and belong to God, who loves us so very much that we gives us even mundane things like computer keyboards, coffee mugs and cell phones.
I need to live out my life in realization of Psalm 24:1. All of these marvelous and mundane things belong to God. God is so very good to me that He gives me all things. For this I should always honor, praise and glorify His Holy Name. And so should you, as well.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Secret Supper
Several weeks ago I was in a Dollar Tree store. I love Dollar Tree stores and Big Lots stores. Big Lots sells lots and lots of movies. Some of them are real stinkers. But, every so often I find some gems. I love the Dollar Tree stores because I am able to find some really good books for only a dollar a piece. Generally speaking, these are books that are publishers’ overruns. Thomas Jefferson said, “I cannot live without books”. Neither can I. So, every week I browse through Dollar Tree looking for interesting stuff to read. Several weeks ago in a Dollar Tree I found a great book.
“The Secret Supper” is a work of historical fiction by a Spanish author by the name of Javier Sierra. Senor Sierra spins a ripping good yarn centering on Leonardo da Vinci's “The Last Supper”. Like American author Dan Brown in “The Da Vinci Code”, Sierra tells as story of coded messages and supposed symbolism to be found in the painting. The book is part murder mystery and part art history.
I don’t know if any of what Sierra says about the painting or da Vinci is true, I just know that I immensely enjoyed this book and was really happy that I found such a gem for only a dollar. Sometimes, truly, life’s simple pleasures are the best.
After reading the “Secret Supper” I went off looking for other books by Sierra. When I find an author of fiction I like I read everything they have written. For a mere five dollars I found another book of Sierra’s in a local chain book store, “The Lady in Blue”.
This book is wonderful as well; as the British would say “a ripping good yarn”. Mr. Sierra tells a story based on supposed fact about a Spanish nun by the name of Maria de Jesus de Agreda. Sister Maria was believed to possess the gift of bilocation; that is the ability, or gift, of being in two places at the same time. Sister Maria de Jesus was believed, by some, to have brought the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Indians for New Mexico in the early 1600’s while still locked away in her cloister in Spain.
Indian people in New Mexico reported having seen a mysterious “Lady in Blue” (Sister Maria’s order wore blue habits) who spoke them of a new Sun God, actually the Son of God, who would replace their old gods. The stories go that when the first Spanish missionaries arrived in New Mexico in the early 1600’s they met Indians wearing crosses around their necks.
Let me here make a disclaimer before I go on: I am not saying that I believe that Sister Maria did indeed travel to the New World through bilocation.
Javier Sierra’s novel weaves Sister Maria’s story, bilocation, spies, and time travel altogether in a great story. This past Sunday afternoon after church I read over a hundred pages from the novel. I couldn’t put it down.
A day or two before picking up “The Lady in Blue” I finished reading a wonderful biography about Albert Einstein by Walter Isaacson. My daughter gave me this book for Christmas and it was wonderful. I learned all kinds of fascinating things about Einstein and modern physics. Space does not permit me to go into all that I learned from this book. Suffice it to say that the universe that Dr. Einstein described through his theories is a place of great wonder and surprises. Einstein believed that God had constructed a universe where time and space behaved in ways that we can hardly imagine. (A note here, Einstein did believe in God, however, he did not believe that God was too very interested in the day to day affairs of human beings.)
Reading Isaacson’s and Sierra’s fine books in the space of just a few days got me to thinking all kinds of interesting things. And please don’t think that I’ve gone off the deep end here! According to Einstein it might be possible to slow the march of time down to a crawl the closer one traveled to the speed of light. According to some other physicists, who Isaacson mentions along the way, it might just be possible, in theory, at least to travel back in time. According to the legends concerning “The Lady in Blue” a person, gifted by God might just be able to be in two places at once.
Again, please don’t think I’m cracking up. I’ve once again be seized with a wonder at God’s marvelous creation. Do you know that when you stand outside on a dark winter night and see the stars winking at you from the clear, cold night sky you are, in fact, looking back in time? The light of those stars you see above you took, in some cases, thousand of years to reach your eyes. When you and I look at the sky at night time we are looking back into time. That concept fills me with a certain awe.
Maybe it would be possible for a human being to be in two places at once, if that’s what God wanted to happen. Again, that doesn’t mean that I believe the story of “The Lady in Blue”, it simply means that given all I’ve learned about how wonderful and wonder filled God is, I believe that it certainly would be in the realm of possibility for God to have that nun in two places at once. If Jesus could change water into wine and alter nature itself when he stilled the storm, would there be anything that God could not do?
Of course not! God can do anything. Maybe he did send Sister Maria onto New Mexico. I mean it’s possible. I believe it’s possible. I not sure it happened. But, with God all things are possible, aren’t they?
That’s really my point in writing this. I believe that with God all things are possible. God, because He is God, is not limited by anything. God can and does amazing things. The amazing things are all around us. His creation overflows with wonder. With God nothing is impossible. Why, God can even raise people from the dead. And that is precisely what He will do with us. It’s strange to me, reading a biography and a work of historical fiction help me to believe and see that more firmly and fully.
I wonder what other books I’ll discover on my next visit to The Dollar Tree.
“The Secret Supper” is a work of historical fiction by a Spanish author by the name of Javier Sierra. Senor Sierra spins a ripping good yarn centering on Leonardo da Vinci's “The Last Supper”. Like American author Dan Brown in “The Da Vinci Code”, Sierra tells as story of coded messages and supposed symbolism to be found in the painting. The book is part murder mystery and part art history.
I don’t know if any of what Sierra says about the painting or da Vinci is true, I just know that I immensely enjoyed this book and was really happy that I found such a gem for only a dollar. Sometimes, truly, life’s simple pleasures are the best.
After reading the “Secret Supper” I went off looking for other books by Sierra. When I find an author of fiction I like I read everything they have written. For a mere five dollars I found another book of Sierra’s in a local chain book store, “The Lady in Blue”.
This book is wonderful as well; as the British would say “a ripping good yarn”. Mr. Sierra tells a story based on supposed fact about a Spanish nun by the name of Maria de Jesus de Agreda. Sister Maria was believed to possess the gift of bilocation; that is the ability, or gift, of being in two places at the same time. Sister Maria de Jesus was believed, by some, to have brought the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Indians for New Mexico in the early 1600’s while still locked away in her cloister in Spain.
Indian people in New Mexico reported having seen a mysterious “Lady in Blue” (Sister Maria’s order wore blue habits) who spoke them of a new Sun God, actually the Son of God, who would replace their old gods. The stories go that when the first Spanish missionaries arrived in New Mexico in the early 1600’s they met Indians wearing crosses around their necks.
Let me here make a disclaimer before I go on: I am not saying that I believe that Sister Maria did indeed travel to the New World through bilocation.
Javier Sierra’s novel weaves Sister Maria’s story, bilocation, spies, and time travel altogether in a great story. This past Sunday afternoon after church I read over a hundred pages from the novel. I couldn’t put it down.
A day or two before picking up “The Lady in Blue” I finished reading a wonderful biography about Albert Einstein by Walter Isaacson. My daughter gave me this book for Christmas and it was wonderful. I learned all kinds of fascinating things about Einstein and modern physics. Space does not permit me to go into all that I learned from this book. Suffice it to say that the universe that Dr. Einstein described through his theories is a place of great wonder and surprises. Einstein believed that God had constructed a universe where time and space behaved in ways that we can hardly imagine. (A note here, Einstein did believe in God, however, he did not believe that God was too very interested in the day to day affairs of human beings.)
Reading Isaacson’s and Sierra’s fine books in the space of just a few days got me to thinking all kinds of interesting things. And please don’t think that I’ve gone off the deep end here! According to Einstein it might be possible to slow the march of time down to a crawl the closer one traveled to the speed of light. According to some other physicists, who Isaacson mentions along the way, it might just be possible, in theory, at least to travel back in time. According to the legends concerning “The Lady in Blue” a person, gifted by God might just be able to be in two places at once.
Again, please don’t think I’m cracking up. I’ve once again be seized with a wonder at God’s marvelous creation. Do you know that when you stand outside on a dark winter night and see the stars winking at you from the clear, cold night sky you are, in fact, looking back in time? The light of those stars you see above you took, in some cases, thousand of years to reach your eyes. When you and I look at the sky at night time we are looking back into time. That concept fills me with a certain awe.
Maybe it would be possible for a human being to be in two places at once, if that’s what God wanted to happen. Again, that doesn’t mean that I believe the story of “The Lady in Blue”, it simply means that given all I’ve learned about how wonderful and wonder filled God is, I believe that it certainly would be in the realm of possibility for God to have that nun in two places at once. If Jesus could change water into wine and alter nature itself when he stilled the storm, would there be anything that God could not do?
Of course not! God can do anything. Maybe he did send Sister Maria onto New Mexico. I mean it’s possible. I believe it’s possible. I not sure it happened. But, with God all things are possible, aren’t they?
That’s really my point in writing this. I believe that with God all things are possible. God, because He is God, is not limited by anything. God can and does amazing things. The amazing things are all around us. His creation overflows with wonder. With God nothing is impossible. Why, God can even raise people from the dead. And that is precisely what He will do with us. It’s strange to me, reading a biography and a work of historical fiction help me to believe and see that more firmly and fully.
I wonder what other books I’ll discover on my next visit to The Dollar Tree.
The Way
About fifteen years ago I went backpacking in Yosemite National Park with some friends. I had traveled from Florida, where we were living at the time, to Los Angeles where one of my friends picked my up. Though it was 6 PM in the evening in LA my body was still on Florida time, so it felt to me as if it was 9 PM. My friend George and I drove something like seven hours to get to Yosemite.
We found our other friends waiting for us in a parking area atop Glacier Point. This overlook is stunning and provides you with an incredible view of Yosemite Valley. That night there was bright full moon and it bathed the entire valley with bluish light. Looking out from Glacier Point we could the incredible sheer rock walls that surround the valley and the numerous waterfalls thundering down into the valley below.
All of us climbed into the vans and went to sleep. We wanted to start our six day hike early the next morning. I didn’t sleep too well that night in the back of George’s van. I tossed and turned, trying to get comfortable. I was still tired out from my airline flight and the seven hour drive to the national park.
It seemed that I had just closed my eyes. It was time to get up. We drove another three hours to the other side of the park to begin our hike. I was dead tired and as we climbed a switchback trail to an altitude of nearly 12,000 feet I noticed I was having trouble breathing (so was George, of course, he was a smoker) and I just felt kind of strange; not just tired, mind you, but strange. What I didn’t realize was that I was in the first stages of altitude sickness.
When we got to the top of the switchback trail we were greeted by a boulder field. The park service had done its level best to mark a trail through this immense flied of rocks and boulders that had been deposited so many years before by the glaciers. Yet, the trail was hard to make out and before long the five of us were lost; only we didn’t know that we were lost because all five of us were suffering from altitude sickness.
Altitude sickness is a scary thing. Your ability to think and reason becomes imparted because the brain isn’t getting enough oxygen. The big mistake we had all made was beginning our hike without giving our bodies’ time to get used to the high altitude.
We stumbled around that boulder field not really knowing that we had lost our way. We thought we were on the right trail. We thought we knew where we were. It very slowly dawned on us that we had no clue as to where we were. About the same time we all came to the realization that we had altitude sickness. We made camp. Ate some cold trail mix and went to sleep. We slept for over twelve hours. When we awoke our bodies had adjusted to the altitude. We consulted our maps and compasses and found that we were seven miles away from where we thought we were.
We had lost our way.
The night before Jesus went to the cross Jesus said with his disciples and told them that he was going to be leaving them soon. He was going to go to prepare a place for them in His Father’s House. In that house Jesus said, there were many “dwelling places”; that is places where the disciples would live with Him through all of eternity. Not so much individual rooms, but a place of never ending life for them.
Jesus said to them, “and you know the way to the place where I am going”. It was Thomas who said to Jesus, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” It seems the Thomas was looking for some kind of a road map to find the place where Jesus was going. If he could get a map he would find his way to this marvelous place Jesus was speaking of. He did want to know the way to that place, just as my friends and I wanted to know the way through the boulder field in Yosemite.
If Thomas was looking for physical directions then he was undoubtedly disappointed because of what Jesus said to him next. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
I wonder how many of us have really thought at all about Jesus calling himself “the way”. There are reams of sermons on Jesus calling himself the good shepherd, the vine, the Son of Man, but, not too many, I’ll wager on Jesus calling himself “the way”. I don’t know this for a fact, but, I can’t remember hearing too much about this.
Actually, this notion of Jesus calling himself “the way” is rather Jewish. The rabbis of Jesus’ day said that when God in his goodness had given his people the law he had provided them with a safe way through life. The good rabbis likened the law to the dry way that God caused to open in the Red Sea when Moses led the children of Israel out of their slavery into the freedom of a new life. By walking on that dry way, neither moving too far to the right or too far to the left where the walls of water were, but by walking on the dry way the children of God found and had safety. To follow God’s way, the rabbis rightly taught was to have life in itself abundance.
If Jesus is calling himself the way it would seem to be the case that Jesus is saying to us, if we have ears to listen, walk in me and you will find your life. Now, that doesn’t mean that through the following of all kinds of rules and commandments we are going to find this life that Jesus wants to give to us. No, it means that falling into the arms of Christ, being embraced by He who is the Way, that we find the true life that we are seeking.
The problem is that all of us are sick with sin, just as I was sick because of the change of altitude. Because of that sickness we have, it’s easy to get distracted and in a sense lose the way, that is, our connection with Jesus. This happens to me when I’m not grounding myself in prayer, Bible reading and worship. When I am not doing those things I lose my way in life. I cease to be grounding myself in Jesus.
This time of Lent through which we are now moving is that time of the church year when we are to be connecting ourselves with He who is The Way. We do that through prayer, through acts of mercy, through Bible reading and through worship. When we are not doing those things we wander away from the safety of the Way through life who is Jesus Christ.
Let calls all of us to follow the way, not our ways, but God’s Way, Jesus Christ.
We found our other friends waiting for us in a parking area atop Glacier Point. This overlook is stunning and provides you with an incredible view of Yosemite Valley. That night there was bright full moon and it bathed the entire valley with bluish light. Looking out from Glacier Point we could the incredible sheer rock walls that surround the valley and the numerous waterfalls thundering down into the valley below.
All of us climbed into the vans and went to sleep. We wanted to start our six day hike early the next morning. I didn’t sleep too well that night in the back of George’s van. I tossed and turned, trying to get comfortable. I was still tired out from my airline flight and the seven hour drive to the national park.
It seemed that I had just closed my eyes. It was time to get up. We drove another three hours to the other side of the park to begin our hike. I was dead tired and as we climbed a switchback trail to an altitude of nearly 12,000 feet I noticed I was having trouble breathing (so was George, of course, he was a smoker) and I just felt kind of strange; not just tired, mind you, but strange. What I didn’t realize was that I was in the first stages of altitude sickness.
When we got to the top of the switchback trail we were greeted by a boulder field. The park service had done its level best to mark a trail through this immense flied of rocks and boulders that had been deposited so many years before by the glaciers. Yet, the trail was hard to make out and before long the five of us were lost; only we didn’t know that we were lost because all five of us were suffering from altitude sickness.
Altitude sickness is a scary thing. Your ability to think and reason becomes imparted because the brain isn’t getting enough oxygen. The big mistake we had all made was beginning our hike without giving our bodies’ time to get used to the high altitude.
We stumbled around that boulder field not really knowing that we had lost our way. We thought we were on the right trail. We thought we knew where we were. It very slowly dawned on us that we had no clue as to where we were. About the same time we all came to the realization that we had altitude sickness. We made camp. Ate some cold trail mix and went to sleep. We slept for over twelve hours. When we awoke our bodies had adjusted to the altitude. We consulted our maps and compasses and found that we were seven miles away from where we thought we were.
We had lost our way.
The night before Jesus went to the cross Jesus said with his disciples and told them that he was going to be leaving them soon. He was going to go to prepare a place for them in His Father’s House. In that house Jesus said, there were many “dwelling places”; that is places where the disciples would live with Him through all of eternity. Not so much individual rooms, but a place of never ending life for them.
Jesus said to them, “and you know the way to the place where I am going”. It was Thomas who said to Jesus, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” It seems the Thomas was looking for some kind of a road map to find the place where Jesus was going. If he could get a map he would find his way to this marvelous place Jesus was speaking of. He did want to know the way to that place, just as my friends and I wanted to know the way through the boulder field in Yosemite.
If Thomas was looking for physical directions then he was undoubtedly disappointed because of what Jesus said to him next. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
I wonder how many of us have really thought at all about Jesus calling himself “the way”. There are reams of sermons on Jesus calling himself the good shepherd, the vine, the Son of Man, but, not too many, I’ll wager on Jesus calling himself “the way”. I don’t know this for a fact, but, I can’t remember hearing too much about this.
Actually, this notion of Jesus calling himself “the way” is rather Jewish. The rabbis of Jesus’ day said that when God in his goodness had given his people the law he had provided them with a safe way through life. The good rabbis likened the law to the dry way that God caused to open in the Red Sea when Moses led the children of Israel out of their slavery into the freedom of a new life. By walking on that dry way, neither moving too far to the right or too far to the left where the walls of water were, but by walking on the dry way the children of God found and had safety. To follow God’s way, the rabbis rightly taught was to have life in itself abundance.
If Jesus is calling himself the way it would seem to be the case that Jesus is saying to us, if we have ears to listen, walk in me and you will find your life. Now, that doesn’t mean that through the following of all kinds of rules and commandments we are going to find this life that Jesus wants to give to us. No, it means that falling into the arms of Christ, being embraced by He who is the Way, that we find the true life that we are seeking.
The problem is that all of us are sick with sin, just as I was sick because of the change of altitude. Because of that sickness we have, it’s easy to get distracted and in a sense lose the way, that is, our connection with Jesus. This happens to me when I’m not grounding myself in prayer, Bible reading and worship. When I am not doing those things I lose my way in life. I cease to be grounding myself in Jesus.
This time of Lent through which we are now moving is that time of the church year when we are to be connecting ourselves with He who is The Way. We do that through prayer, through acts of mercy, through Bible reading and through worship. When we are not doing those things we wander away from the safety of the Way through life who is Jesus Christ.
Let calls all of us to follow the way, not our ways, but God’s Way, Jesus Christ.
Easter-So What?
On Easter Sunday I will stand before you and loudly say, “Christ is Risen! Alleluia!” Hopefully, you will remember to respond with “He is Risen, indeed! Alleluia!”
I have celebrated twenty-six Easters as a pastor in the church. Every time that I’ve greeted people at the beginning of worship with those glorious words I’ve had to playfully say, after the peoples’ rather tepid response, “Oh, come on we can do much better than that! Let’s try that again! Christ is Risen! Alleluia!” The second response of the people is usually much loader and more joyful.
It may be the case, and I really do hope that this is the case, that I’ve merely caught people off guard. I hope it is the case that folk have forgotten this earliest of Christian greetings since the last Easter season. I hope that’s why when I first offer the greeting people are thinking, “Let’s see. What is it I’m supposed to say?”
The terrible alternative would be that the rather lukewarm response that I first receive is because some people really don’t think that the resurrection of Jesus is a big deal at all or they don’t quite believe that the resurrection of Jesus really matters much at all in their lives. I shudder, quite literally, to think of people, supposed Christian people holding such a view.
I recently finished reading a remarkable book, “A Renegade’s Guide to God”, by Pastor David Foster.
As a small aside I must tell you how this book came into my hands. I truly believe that God guided me to this book. Some of you reading what I’m about to relate will think me to be a nutcase, saying, “Yeah, right. You really think that God ‘guided’ you to read a particular book?” To which I will say “yes”, with no apologies.
My son and I were returning from a day of snow tubing with his Cub Scout Pack. We were on the interstate at Coldwater, Michigan. There is a Big Lots in Cold Water. I admitted in a previous article how I haunt Big Lots and Dollar Trees for closeout books and DVDs.
We walked into the store and I spied books on sale. I saw Pastor Foster’s book. I picked it up, looked it over and put it down. I thought, “I’ve got more books than I know what to do with.” I wandered over to the DVDs and didn’t find anything that really sparked my interest.
“Come on, David”, I said to my son. “We need to get back home.” I was moving towards the store’s exit when I just felt that I needed to buy that book. I returned to the book bin, picked up the book and bought it.
I began to read the book that next Sunday morning, very early, in my study before our first worship service. As I read I had this sense that God had wanted me to read this book. (Okay, some of you might think all of this is over the top and I am quite comfortable with whatever assessment you bring to my story.)
Pastor Foster makes a number of rather startling observations about modern day Christianity. You will have to read the book yourself to see what I mean. Yet, one observation that he makes that really hit me over the head like a two by four is that many, many Christians live out their lives as if Jesus had not been raised from the dead and even if those same Christians do believe Christ was raised from the dead their lives do not seem to reflect any real joy at so great a thing. Further, Pastor Foster observes that too many Christian people lead lives that don’t seem to have been transformed at all by the earth shaking event of the resurrection. I am reminded of Henry David Thoreau who said, "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation...."
There are too many Christian people whose lives prove what Thoreau said. Many Christian people live as if Christ had not been raised from the dead. This is what Pastor Foster contends in his book. We say that Christ has been raised from the dead and yet to outsiders and insiders it appears that we really don’t believe the news that the angels told the women at the tomb that first Easter morning.
People who have no joy in their lives, and here I mean Christian people without joy in their lives are behaving as if the resurrection is a sham or did not happen. Knowing that Jesus has raised from the dead and that we too will be raised from the dead should set our hearts soaring. We should not be glum people. We should not be dour people. We should be people who smile and laugh and sing and joke and giggle and dance!
If Christ has been raised the whole world has been changed. Nothing will ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Because he was raised death has been utterly defeated and the world is now a glorious place. New possibilities for us abound. Our food should even taste better. Our sleep should be sounder. Our waking moments should be energized with joy.
I can’t make anyone into a joyful Christian. I can’t force great happiness on anyone. If I could I would. But, I can suggest to you that you pray to God with great fervor if your life is not marked with joy. Pray to Christ Jesus to fill you with joy at the good thing that he has done for you. Ask Jesus to come into your heart today and help you to live as a wonderfully goofy kind of person who has been seized with joy and wonder at all Christ has done for you.
Don’t spend another day in despair or sorrow or pain or anger or desperation. Christ rose from the dead! The resurrection of Jesus changes everything! Let it change you. Let it fill your heart up. Hold on to the resurrection in all things and you will find an unbelievable life.
I have celebrated twenty-six Easters as a pastor in the church. Every time that I’ve greeted people at the beginning of worship with those glorious words I’ve had to playfully say, after the peoples’ rather tepid response, “Oh, come on we can do much better than that! Let’s try that again! Christ is Risen! Alleluia!” The second response of the people is usually much loader and more joyful.
It may be the case, and I really do hope that this is the case, that I’ve merely caught people off guard. I hope it is the case that folk have forgotten this earliest of Christian greetings since the last Easter season. I hope that’s why when I first offer the greeting people are thinking, “Let’s see. What is it I’m supposed to say?”
The terrible alternative would be that the rather lukewarm response that I first receive is because some people really don’t think that the resurrection of Jesus is a big deal at all or they don’t quite believe that the resurrection of Jesus really matters much at all in their lives. I shudder, quite literally, to think of people, supposed Christian people holding such a view.
I recently finished reading a remarkable book, “A Renegade’s Guide to God”, by Pastor David Foster.
As a small aside I must tell you how this book came into my hands. I truly believe that God guided me to this book. Some of you reading what I’m about to relate will think me to be a nutcase, saying, “Yeah, right. You really think that God ‘guided’ you to read a particular book?” To which I will say “yes”, with no apologies.
My son and I were returning from a day of snow tubing with his Cub Scout Pack. We were on the interstate at Coldwater, Michigan. There is a Big Lots in Cold Water. I admitted in a previous article how I haunt Big Lots and Dollar Trees for closeout books and DVDs.
We walked into the store and I spied books on sale. I saw Pastor Foster’s book. I picked it up, looked it over and put it down. I thought, “I’ve got more books than I know what to do with.” I wandered over to the DVDs and didn’t find anything that really sparked my interest.
“Come on, David”, I said to my son. “We need to get back home.” I was moving towards the store’s exit when I just felt that I needed to buy that book. I returned to the book bin, picked up the book and bought it.
I began to read the book that next Sunday morning, very early, in my study before our first worship service. As I read I had this sense that God had wanted me to read this book. (Okay, some of you might think all of this is over the top and I am quite comfortable with whatever assessment you bring to my story.)
Pastor Foster makes a number of rather startling observations about modern day Christianity. You will have to read the book yourself to see what I mean. Yet, one observation that he makes that really hit me over the head like a two by four is that many, many Christians live out their lives as if Jesus had not been raised from the dead and even if those same Christians do believe Christ was raised from the dead their lives do not seem to reflect any real joy at so great a thing. Further, Pastor Foster observes that too many Christian people lead lives that don’t seem to have been transformed at all by the earth shaking event of the resurrection. I am reminded of Henry David Thoreau who said, "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation...."
There are too many Christian people whose lives prove what Thoreau said. Many Christian people live as if Christ had not been raised from the dead. This is what Pastor Foster contends in his book. We say that Christ has been raised from the dead and yet to outsiders and insiders it appears that we really don’t believe the news that the angels told the women at the tomb that first Easter morning.
People who have no joy in their lives, and here I mean Christian people without joy in their lives are behaving as if the resurrection is a sham or did not happen. Knowing that Jesus has raised from the dead and that we too will be raised from the dead should set our hearts soaring. We should not be glum people. We should not be dour people. We should be people who smile and laugh and sing and joke and giggle and dance!
If Christ has been raised the whole world has been changed. Nothing will ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Because he was raised death has been utterly defeated and the world is now a glorious place. New possibilities for us abound. Our food should even taste better. Our sleep should be sounder. Our waking moments should be energized with joy.
I can’t make anyone into a joyful Christian. I can’t force great happiness on anyone. If I could I would. But, I can suggest to you that you pray to God with great fervor if your life is not marked with joy. Pray to Christ Jesus to fill you with joy at the good thing that he has done for you. Ask Jesus to come into your heart today and help you to live as a wonderfully goofy kind of person who has been seized with joy and wonder at all Christ has done for you.
Don’t spend another day in despair or sorrow or pain or anger or desperation. Christ rose from the dead! The resurrection of Jesus changes everything! Let it change you. Let it fill your heart up. Hold on to the resurrection in all things and you will find an unbelievable life.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Explaining the Unexplainable
This past weekend my son's Cub Scout Pack took a trip to the National Air Force Museum at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. My son, who was celebrating his eighth birthday that day, had been looking forward to this trip. I had told him that we would see all kinds of airplanes and even some space capsules.
The Air Force Museum is, as far as I am concerned, the best air museum in the United States. I have visited the museum several times over the last several years. The aircraft displayed span the entire history of manned flight. The museum is laid out chronologically. You start your visit by seeing an airplane that the Wright Brothers prepared for the US Army. You then move into galleries that display aircraft from the First World War, the 1930's, the Second World War period, the Korean War, etc. The museum does an excellent job of presenting the history of military aviation.
My son was fascinated by all that he saw. It was a thrill for me to tell him about the various airplanes. Aviation has always been a passion of mine. My son was particularly interested in the B-29, the imposing Superfortress. My father-in-law, his grandfather, served as a navigator on a B-29 and flew combat missions over Japan in the Second World War.
The particular B-29 that is on display in the museum is named "Bockscar". This aircraft dropped the so-called "Fat Man" atom bomb on Nagasaki, Japan in August of 1945. Displayed next to the B-29 is mock-up of the "Fat Man" bomb. I tried to explain to my son the awesome and terrible power of that bomb.
As we continued our visit of the museum we saw other airplanes that were capable of delivering nuclear weapons. Mock-ups of these weapons were displayed in front of the airplanes. Some of these bombs were truly immense. Some were the size of small cars. I wondered how the airplanes could possibly get off the ground carrying such weapons.
My son asked me about these bigger bombs. He wanted to know how powerful they were. I told him that the nukes developed after the bombs dropped on Japan cold destroy a whole city the size of Chicago.
He then wanted to know if these bombs had ever been dropped. I told him that thankfully only the two smaller bombs had ever been used.
He then said, "Well, Daddy, if they were never used why were they ever built?"
I said, "Well, you see the Russians started building nuclear weapons also. We never wanted them to use their bombs against us or our friends so we build these bombs."
He looked at me.
I went on, "You see we thought that if we built these bombs the Russians would know that if they ever tried to destroy us, we'd destroy them right back."
His blue eyes got wider.
"We built bombs because they build bombs and the more bombs we built the more they built. But, we kept building them so they would never use theirs and they kept building theirs so we'd never use ours."
Have you ever attempted to explain the military doctrine of "Mutually Assured Destruction", the MAD doctrine to an eight year?
My son said, "That's pretty weird Daddy." And he gave me a look.
I said, "Yeah, pretty crazy isn't it?"
We wandered over to look at the Apollo 15 command ship.
Come to think of it, it was pretty weird wasn't it?
The Air Force Museum is, as far as I am concerned, the best air museum in the United States. I have visited the museum several times over the last several years. The aircraft displayed span the entire history of manned flight. The museum is laid out chronologically. You start your visit by seeing an airplane that the Wright Brothers prepared for the US Army. You then move into galleries that display aircraft from the First World War, the 1930's, the Second World War period, the Korean War, etc. The museum does an excellent job of presenting the history of military aviation.
My son was fascinated by all that he saw. It was a thrill for me to tell him about the various airplanes. Aviation has always been a passion of mine. My son was particularly interested in the B-29, the imposing Superfortress. My father-in-law, his grandfather, served as a navigator on a B-29 and flew combat missions over Japan in the Second World War.
The particular B-29 that is on display in the museum is named "Bockscar". This aircraft dropped the so-called "Fat Man" atom bomb on Nagasaki, Japan in August of 1945. Displayed next to the B-29 is mock-up of the "Fat Man" bomb. I tried to explain to my son the awesome and terrible power of that bomb.
As we continued our visit of the museum we saw other airplanes that were capable of delivering nuclear weapons. Mock-ups of these weapons were displayed in front of the airplanes. Some of these bombs were truly immense. Some were the size of small cars. I wondered how the airplanes could possibly get off the ground carrying such weapons.
My son asked me about these bigger bombs. He wanted to know how powerful they were. I told him that the nukes developed after the bombs dropped on Japan cold destroy a whole city the size of Chicago.
He then wanted to know if these bombs had ever been dropped. I told him that thankfully only the two smaller bombs had ever been used.
He then said, "Well, Daddy, if they were never used why were they ever built?"
I said, "Well, you see the Russians started building nuclear weapons also. We never wanted them to use their bombs against us or our friends so we build these bombs."
He looked at me.
I went on, "You see we thought that if we built these bombs the Russians would know that if they ever tried to destroy us, we'd destroy them right back."
His blue eyes got wider.
"We built bombs because they build bombs and the more bombs we built the more they built. But, we kept building them so they would never use theirs and they kept building theirs so we'd never use ours."
Have you ever attempted to explain the military doctrine of "Mutually Assured Destruction", the MAD doctrine to an eight year?
My son said, "That's pretty weird Daddy." And he gave me a look.
I said, "Yeah, pretty crazy isn't it?"
We wandered over to look at the Apollo 15 command ship.
Come to think of it, it was pretty weird wasn't it?
Thursday, September 3, 2009
To Tell The Truth
Some of you will, I hope, recognize that the title of this offering recalls the popular TV show of years past. This will not be a review of that TV show. Instead, I'd like to tell you of a fascinating scene that I saw while watching an episode of "Smallville" with my daughters.
For those of you don't know, "Smallville", now in its ninth season, tells the story of Clark Kent before he embraces his identity as Superman. The writing is remarkably cleaver and witty. Superman fans, such as myself, delight in phrases characters speak and situations which relate back to comics and previous Superman shows and movies. For example, Clark Kent on his first day of work at the Daily Planet changed clothes in a phone booth, recalling the old black and white TV show and early comic books.
In the fifth episode of season eight, Clark and Lois Lane investigate a series of murders of newly engaged couples. It seems that a psychotic jeweler, whose wife had left him for another man, has been kidnapping couples. He would then take them to a basement underneath his store. He would then place the man and the woman in a pair of homemade electric chairs facing one another. Not only that, but each person was connected to a lie detector.
Our psycho jeweler would then ask the man if he had ever cheated on his future wife. If the fellow lied, and the lie detector revealed the lie, the wife-to-be would receive a huge electric shock.
The ghoulish jeweler would inform the horrified husband-to-be that it was his lies that would cause the woman who loved and trusted him to suffer.
Clark and Lois get hooked up to the machine. Clark's superpowers are countered because the jeweler is wearing a bracelet studded with kypronite. The mad jeweler asks Lois if she loves Clark. Because Clark is hooked to the electric chair his powers have left him; if Lois doesn't tell the truth he could receive a shock that would kill him.
Clark pleads with Lois to simply tell the truth.
"Well", says the ghoul, "Do you love him?"
Lois whispers out, "Yes".
The machine does not show a lie. Clark receives no shock and is able to escape from the chair and safe Lois and himself from further harm.
Later Lois claims that she was able to slip a sensor off of her finger before she was asked the question, thereby denying that she really loves Clark. No matter, the storyline of "Smallville" has been advanced. What neither Lois and Clark realize, but what all fans of current day Superman comics know, is that they will indeed marry in the future.
I think that this episode of "Smallville" is one of the best of the show's eight year run. This episode could be shown in Bible Study classes, Sunday School Classes and confirmatioin classes because it speaks to a general truth. Our lies really hurt the ones we love more than they hurt us.
Imagine the man who has an affair. In order to sucessfully cheat on his wife he must tell lie after horrible lie. Perhaps, he misses a child's school program to be with his mistress. Undoubtedly he tells his child a lie. He had to work. Traffic kept him from getting to the program. When his lies are found out think of the incredible suffering and pain that will come to his children.
During the Monica Lewinsky affair a good friend of mine said that he couldn't believe the pain that Bill Clinton's adultry and lying had caused to the President's daughter. "How could he do that to her?", my friend wondered.
Our lies most harm the ones we love. The ghoulish jeweler was teaching a frightening lesson in turth telling. I wonder how we would conduct ourselves if our children, spouses and friends were jolted with electricity every time we told a lie and misbehaved ourselves. If we saw suffering in front of us how would we live?
For those of you don't know, "Smallville", now in its ninth season, tells the story of Clark Kent before he embraces his identity as Superman. The writing is remarkably cleaver and witty. Superman fans, such as myself, delight in phrases characters speak and situations which relate back to comics and previous Superman shows and movies. For example, Clark Kent on his first day of work at the Daily Planet changed clothes in a phone booth, recalling the old black and white TV show and early comic books.
In the fifth episode of season eight, Clark and Lois Lane investigate a series of murders of newly engaged couples. It seems that a psychotic jeweler, whose wife had left him for another man, has been kidnapping couples. He would then take them to a basement underneath his store. He would then place the man and the woman in a pair of homemade electric chairs facing one another. Not only that, but each person was connected to a lie detector.
Our psycho jeweler would then ask the man if he had ever cheated on his future wife. If the fellow lied, and the lie detector revealed the lie, the wife-to-be would receive a huge electric shock.
The ghoulish jeweler would inform the horrified husband-to-be that it was his lies that would cause the woman who loved and trusted him to suffer.
Clark and Lois get hooked up to the machine. Clark's superpowers are countered because the jeweler is wearing a bracelet studded with kypronite. The mad jeweler asks Lois if she loves Clark. Because Clark is hooked to the electric chair his powers have left him; if Lois doesn't tell the truth he could receive a shock that would kill him.
Clark pleads with Lois to simply tell the truth.
"Well", says the ghoul, "Do you love him?"
Lois whispers out, "Yes".
The machine does not show a lie. Clark receives no shock and is able to escape from the chair and safe Lois and himself from further harm.
Later Lois claims that she was able to slip a sensor off of her finger before she was asked the question, thereby denying that she really loves Clark. No matter, the storyline of "Smallville" has been advanced. What neither Lois and Clark realize, but what all fans of current day Superman comics know, is that they will indeed marry in the future.
I think that this episode of "Smallville" is one of the best of the show's eight year run. This episode could be shown in Bible Study classes, Sunday School Classes and confirmatioin classes because it speaks to a general truth. Our lies really hurt the ones we love more than they hurt us.
Imagine the man who has an affair. In order to sucessfully cheat on his wife he must tell lie after horrible lie. Perhaps, he misses a child's school program to be with his mistress. Undoubtedly he tells his child a lie. He had to work. Traffic kept him from getting to the program. When his lies are found out think of the incredible suffering and pain that will come to his children.
During the Monica Lewinsky affair a good friend of mine said that he couldn't believe the pain that Bill Clinton's adultry and lying had caused to the President's daughter. "How could he do that to her?", my friend wondered.
Our lies most harm the ones we love. The ghoulish jeweler was teaching a frightening lesson in turth telling. I wonder how we would conduct ourselves if our children, spouses and friends were jolted with electricity every time we told a lie and misbehaved ourselves. If we saw suffering in front of us how would we live?
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