“Look!” The Fourth Sermon in a Series Called “The 2017 Summer Stretch,” Preached at First Church Coral Springs on July 16, 2017

“Look!” The Fourth Sermon in a Series Called “The 2017 Summer Stretch,” Preached at First Church Coral Springs on July 16, 2017

Last Sunday, we watched a video, in which the Kid President advised us, “Before you say something about the BBQ sauce on someone’s else’s shirt, take a look at the BBQ sauce on your own shirt.” I don’t know about you, but that sounded very familiar to me.

Like when Jesus said, in Matthew 7:1-2, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” 

I like the way The Message versions says it, “Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults— unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging.”

James adds, “There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?”  James 4:12

And, in the words of the great prophet, Bob Marley, “Who are you to judge the life I live?  I know I’m not perfect… before you start pointing fingers… make sure your hands are clean!”

Confession:  I judge people all of the time.

I judge people for what they wear.  I judge people for how they talk.  I judge people for how they spend money.  I judge people for how often they miss church, or if they don’t go to church.  I judge people for how educated they are, or not.  I judge people for where they are from.  I judge people for how they drive.  I judge people for talking too loud on their phones – I don’t need to hear that.  I’ve judged old people and I’ve judged young people.  I even judge people for judging people.

I’ve judged other Christians.  I’ve judged non-Christians.  I’ve judged other pastors.  I’ve judged the President.  I’ve judged family members.  I’ve even judged some of you – most of you – maybe, all of you!  Maybe, I’ve judged you this morning.

And, I know for a fact, you judge me to.  It just goes with the territory of being a pastor.

We are judging, judgmental, judge-ful, judgers!  And, Jesus says… “in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”  For a bunch of judging judgers, this is NOT good news!

And, to make matters worse, we feel so superior and self-righteous when we do it.  That’s called pride – and it’s a sin – and it’s gross.

Years ago, when I started a church in Port St. Lucie, I intentionally marketed our church as a place for people that didn’t normally feel welcome in church – because of their pasts, or because of how they dressed, etc.  And, that’s who came.  I had clean-cut professionals, and scruffy blue-collar laborers, bikers, builders, landscapers, construction workers, tradesmen, addicts, the bankrupt, poor people, divorcees, former-inmates and current-inmates, a tug boat captain and a Coast Guard officer, a former stripper, a bunch of punk kids from the neighborhood – and everything in between.  In order to help anyone and everyone feel welcome, I grew my hair out long, had my ears pierced, got a tattoo, and wore jeans and t-shirt.  Lots of “church people” came to our church, got one look at me, and never came back – and that was fine.  Lot’s more came, who wouldn’t feel welcome in any other church, looked at me, and stayed.  I always figured if someone couldn’t handle my long hair, then our church wasn’t the right place for them.

Later, when I became a campus minister, I still had long hair and earrings.  But, that created a problem I didn’t expect.  As a campus minister, I preached in churches, like ours, to raise money to support our ministry.  Time after time, I showed up at churches, where I was scheduled to preach on a Sunday morning, robe and Bible in arm, and was completely ignored.  Now, I’m not easy to miss – especially with long hair.  At one glance, you know if I am a regular attender, or not.  Time after time, it was obvious that, until they found out I was the visiting pastor, that I was not wanted or welcome.

I eventually had to cut my hair, because it was getting in the way of raising money for my campus ministry.

The truth is, the only reason I don’t have long hair today is that it’s just too much trouble to grow back, it’s too hot in South Florida, and I don’t want to deal with the complaints.  And, that there would be complaints, is a major problem!  I always tell people; I still have long hair in my heart!

In 2012, a book was written, called UnChristian, based on an extensive study of non-Church-going young adults conducted by the Barna Research Group.  The book reveals that nearly 9-out-of-10 young adults believe that the Church is too judgmental.  Conversely, less than half of those surveyed, including church-goers, believed that churches love unconditionally.

Isn’t the message of Gospel of Jesus Christ that – in spite of our failures, flaws and shortcomings –  Christ loves us, died for us, and saves us, even when we fall way short?  Why do so many people think that the message is, “Jesus will love you, when you stop being a sinner.  We, the Church, will love and accept you when you look like us, act like us, think like us, and get your act together”?

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard Christians justify judging others by saying, “Love the sinner, but hate the sin,“  as though they’re quoting Scripture.  They aren’t.  It isn’t in there!

Instead, I especially like what Tony Campolo says… “Jesus never said, love the sinner, but hate his sin… He said, love the sinner and hate your own sin.”

Jesus asked, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?   You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”  (Matthew 7:3-5)

In other words, “before you hate the speck in your brother’s eye, hate the log in your own!”

Now, listen to me.  Jesus is NOT condoning walking around with sawdust in our eyes.  He is NOT endorsing having eyeballs covered in sawdust.  He is NOT saying that sawdust in a person’s eye is not a problem.

The greater problem is the people who are so quick to see, judge, reject and publically condemn the sawdust in another person’s eye, while they are walking around with a log, or a plank, in their own.

Here’s the image.  Sawdust in your eye is a problem because it impairs your sight.  Jesus talked a lot about spiritual-blindness, and having eyes to see the truth.   Good vision matters – physically and spiritually.  But, comparably, a log or plank in your eye is a far greater impairment than a little sawdust.  If a little sawdust impairs vision, then a log is blinding!

If I’m blind, because I have a log in my eye, how can I see the sawdust in your eye accurately?  If I’m blind, because I have a log in my eye, how can I see accurately enough to assist you with removing the sawdust from yours?  If I’m blind, and have a log sticking out of my eye, how can I possibly get close enough to you to help you with your sawdust – my log will just hit you in the face!  And, if I’m blind to the fact that I have a log in my eye in the first place, then I’m in absolutely no position to say anything to anybody about anything!

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “Judging others makes us blind, whereas love is illuminating. By judging others, we blind ourselves to our own evil and to the grace which others are just as entitled to as we are.” 

Think about that log in your eye, standing between you and the person you’re judging.  That’s what judging does – it distances us.  I can judge you without bothering to know you.  I can judge you without knowing your history, your story, your background, your pain.  I can judge you without getting my hands dirty.  I can judge you easily, without having to do the harder work of self-examination.  I can judge you from a distance, without any intention or desire to help you with your sawdust.  I can just feel safely smug and self-righteous, by keeping my distance.

So, what’s your log?

Is it pride?  Insecurity?  Fear?

Is it self-centered, self-focused, self-righteousness?

Is it an inability to feel empathy or sympathy?

Is it hate?  Jealousy?  Immaturity?

Is it a lack of mercy?

What’s your log?  And, what are you going to do about it?

We can never forget that the opposite of judgement is not acceptance.  Let me repeat that.  The opposite of judgment is not acceptance.  The point of this passage is not to accept the sawdust in other people’s eyes.  Sawdust in eyes is a problem!  The opposite of judgement is self-examination.  Before I judge someone else’s shortcomings, I need to take a good hard look at my own.

Is my own spiritual house in order?

Am I sin free?

Am I doing/being all that I have been called to be?

Am I seeking God?

Do I have any skeletons in my closets?  Any unresolved conflicts?  Any brokenness?  Any shortcomings?  Any failures?

We can never forget that Jesus was judged, too.  Jesus was constantly being judged by the religious leaders, for…

  • Breaking rules, like healing on the Sabbath.
  • Associating with sinners – like tax collectors and prostitutes.
  • Being from Nazareth – nothing good comes from Nazareth.
  • Being the son of a carpenter – not a rabbi.
  • Forgiving sins.
  • Touching and healing the untouchable.

In response, Jesus had a few words for the religious leaders, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. You blind guides!  You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.   Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.  Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? (Matthew 23, selected verses)

In contrast, Jesus was amazingly gentle with others – those, whom the religious leaders were quick to judge and condemn…

  • Zacchaeus, the tax collector…
  • The woman, caught in adultery…
  • The prostitute, who anointed his feet…
  • The sick, the blind, the deaf, the lame…
  • Children…
  • The demon-infested…
  • Foreigners…
  • The poor…

Nadia Bolz-Weber writes, “Every time we draw a line between us and others, Jesus is always on the other side of it.”

The Pharisee’s judgement of Jesus ultimately led to his crucifixion.  But, from the cross, Jesus said, “Father, forgive them.  They don’t know what they are doing.” 

Even dying, he didn’t judge.  And, if Christ is for me, who do you think you are to judge me?  If Christ is for you, who am I to judge you?

Jesus said, “First take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

The point is, before you have any business pointing out the speck in someone else’s eye, you need to deal with the plank in yours.  My first spiritual responsibility is to be aware of the log in my eye, and to do all I can to remove it.  Such spiritual awareness only comes with humility.  Such spiritual awareness only comes from surrender, confession, and repentance.

The truth is, there is no place for smugness, or self-righteousness, or priggishness for a truly humble Christian.  ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  ALL are sinners in need of a savior.  EVERYONE has sawdust in their eyes.  EVERYONE needs Jesus.

The more you become aware of the log, or logs, rolling around in your own eye, the less you are likely to judge, and the more likely you are to say to someone with sawdust in their eyes, “Me too.  I get sawdust in my eyes too.”

And, the more we become aware of our own logs – how many there are, and how hard they are to remove, how blind we can be so much of the time –the more compassionate we are likely to be.

Think about it.  If I have sawdust in my eye, I hope you won’t point your finger and condemn me for it.  I hope you will feel compassion for me, and offer to help.

It’s those who are most aware of their own logs, who know the pain and burden of them.  It’s those who are most aware of their own logs, who’ve felt the guilt and shame.  It’s those who are most aware of their own logs, who’ve felt the most helpless at removing them.  And, it is those who are most aware of the logs that have been removed, who are most grateful, and most likely to offer compassion and grace to others.

Makoto Fujimura writes, “Compassion can be made available to those willing to wade into the uncertain, muddy territory of the human heart.” 

            So, back to my question.  What’s your log?  What’s the log that is blinding you to God’s mercy and grace – for you and for others?  What’s your log?

Bless – The Third Sermon in a Series Called “The 2017 Summer Stretch,” Preached at First Church Coral Springs on July 9, 2017

Bless – The Third Sermon in a Series Called “The 2017 Summer Stretch,” Preached at First Church Coral Springs on July 9, 2017

I’m friends with a Nazarene pastor named Jay.  We worked on our doctoral degrees together.  On the whole, Nazarenes tend to be pretty conservative about lots of things – especially their behavior.  Historically, they don’t go to movies, don’t drink, don’t dance, don’t wear jewelry, don’t gamble, etc., etc.

            While I try to be careful about what I say and how I say it, I can get in silly moods and say some foolish stuff – not hurtful, not mean, not inappropriate, not offensive – just goofy.  While my friend is a fun guy, and we laugh easily, he has a line he doesn’t cross.  More than once he has quoted Matthew 12:36 -37 to me, “But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

            Actually, he shortened it, just saying, “Every word.  Every word, my friend.”

Other versions say, “every idle word” or “every careless word” or “every useless word.”

The Bible actually says a lot about the kind of words that are not becoming for Christians to say…

  • Misusing the Lord’s Name
  • False Witness
  • Gossip
  • Meaningless Talk
  • Malicious Talk
  • Unwholesome Talk
  • Foolish Talk
  • Coarse Joking
  • Obscene Talk
  • Deception
  • Ignorant Talk
  • Corrupt Talk
  • Smooth Talk
  • Sinful Talk
  • Lies
  • Slander
  • Seductive Words
  • Perverse Words
  • Empty Words
  • Quarreling
  • Boastful Words
  • Defiant Words
  • Blasphemy
  • Grumbling
  • Cruel Words
  • Rash Words
  • Words of Hatred

There are also a number of good words, that we are supposed to say, which I will get to in a moment.  But, for now, back to Matthew 12:36, “Everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.” 

I can honestly say that when I imagine Judgement Day, and giving an accounting of my life, I tend to think about the deeds I have done and the deeds I haven’t done – the sins I have committed, and the good works I have omitted.  But, Jesus says that we will also be judged for every word which we have spoken.  EVERY WORD!

An image popped in my head the other day of a funeral service, and the public reading of everything the deceased has ever said – how many times they’ve gossiped; how many times they’ve cussed; how many times they’ve complained about the pastor; how many times they’ve been ugly or critical; how many times they’ve used the Lord’s name in vain.  For many of us, that would be a pretty lengthy report!

According to the Bible, what we say and how we say it matters a lot – enough for us to be held accountable to our words on Judgement Day!  If that doesn’t give you pause to consider your words, I don’t know what will!  That ought to be more effective than threatening to wash someone’s mouth out with soap!

John Calvin, the Church reformer said, “I consider looseness with words no less of a defect than looseness of the bowels.”

I grew up in a conservative home.  We didn’t go to church very much.  But, I was raised with a high standard of morality – including my language.  I was not allowed to cuss, or use bad language in any way.  In fact, I wasn’t even allowed to say things like gosh, golly, dang, or darn, as they were close to bad words – sort of.  My High School best friend made fun of me for frequently saying, “dadgummit” – I don’t even know how that one snuck into my vocabulary!

When I started a church in Port St. Lucie, one summer I offered my congregation the opportunity to put me to work.  One day each week of the summer, I was available to go to work with anyone who could work it out with their employer, and I would work for one day for free.  I rode with the Coast Guard.  I rode with Animal Control.  I worked in a kitchen in Jupiter – and others.  My desire was to experience the lives of my members.  It was great.  But, the biggest surprise from that experience was how much people cuss in the real world.  In the church, I don’t hear that a lot.  But, in the secular work place, I was amazed how much people cuss – all of the time.

While I’m not an advocate for using obscene language, I’ve also heard some supposed Christians say some pretty awful things without using four-letter words to do it.  So, we are not just talking about R-rated language.  We’re talking about anything said that is ugly, degrading, or just rude.

The point, of course, is the intent.  Are my words rooted and grounded in love?  Or, are they at best thoughtless, or, at worst, intentionally negative and harmful.

Why do words matter so much?  Proverbs 18:21 says, “The tongue has the power of life and death.”  Words have power.

When we were kids we were taught, “Sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me.”  That’s a ridiculous lie!  Sticks and stones might hurt and leave bruises.  But, cuts and bruises heal.  Words wound.  Words wound deeply.  Some words wound permanently.

Have you ever noticed how hard it is to remember the many nice things people say about us, but we can easily remember ugly things that were said?  Why? Because words have power, and ugly words seem to be particularly powerful.

A few days ago, I recalled an instance from my childhood.  I had made my father angry about something, which led to him following me outside, and accidentally locking us out of the house.  In his anger at the situation, and me, he said, “Get out of my sight.  I’m sick of looking at you.”  When I remembered it the other day, over 4 decades later, I wept.

Sticks and stones.

Gary Chapman writes that words can be either seeds or bullets.  When we speak words of encouragement, love, affirmation, gratitude, and kindness, we plant seeds in a person that can grow to become something beautiful.  But, when we speak words that are hurtful, condescending, destructive, belittling, and ugly, they can be like bullets that wound, injure and possibly even kill and destroy.

So, let’s do some honest self-assessment.  What kind of seeds are you planting – and in whom?  And, what kind of bullets are you shooting – and at whom?  In whom are you sowing seeds of blessing?  At whom are you firing bullets that injure and curse?

Maybe that’s another image.  On Judgement Day, will there be more evidence of the seeds you have planted through your words?  Or, will there be more evidence of the destruction you have caused by your word bullets?

Here’s another image.  Joyce Landorf Heartherly wrote a book called Balcony People.  She writes that we all need balcony people in our lives.  They are the ones who believe in us, encourage us, and cheer us upward.  But, many of us also have basement people in our lives.  They are the ones who insult and discourage us, and drag us down.  Her challenge is to be a balcony person for someone else – and to avoid being a basement person!

Biblically speaking, we are talking about blessing and cursing.  In the Bible, when a blessing or a curse was spoken over a person, it was believed that those words had power, and could not be taken back.  Blessings build people up.  Curses tear people down.

James 3:3-12 says, When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.  Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.  All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind,  but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.  With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?  My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

Well, frankly, that’s pretty discouraging.  James does not provide any hope of controlling our tongues at all!  He just names the problem as hopeless, and then tells us that we shouldn’t do it!  That’s a major problem!  If we will be judged for our words, and we can’t control them, we are all in big trouble!

While James doesn’t give us much help, thankfully other verses of scripture do.  For instance,

  • “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Ephesians 4:29
  • “Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips.”  Proverbs 4:24
  • “Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” Proverbs 16:24
  • “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.” Romans 12:14

The point is, we have to be very intentional about what we say and what we don’t say.  We have to develop self-control when it comes to things like gossip, grumbling, complaining, criticizing and cussing.  And, we have to be intentional about speaking words of encouragement, affirmation, and blessing – words rooted in love.

We may have to learn new habits and break old ones.  If you’re not in the habit of blessing, it may mean you need to learn a new language.  Or, you may have to relearn what we learned as children –  “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”

            James is very clear that getting control of the tongue is hard.  But, this is the 40-day Summer Stretch!  And, I can’t think of anything that deserves more effort than controlling what we say, and what we don’t say.

Let me be very clear.  This does not mean that difficult, truthful, sometimes painful conversations can’t happen.  Sometimes, those conversations are necessary – even if they are hard.  Sometimes, avoiding difficult conversations is the worst thing we can do, and only makes the problem worse.  But, difficult conversations must be for the purpose of working through a problem, and offering forgiveness, and seeking reconciliation, and rebuilding what is broken.  They can never be for the purpose of hurting, or belittling, or tearing down.

In the village where I work in Guatemala, they speak a Mayan language called Quiche’.  The first word I learned in Quiche’ was “utz.”  It also seems to be the most frequently used word, in a variety of ways.

“Utz” simply means good.  If you like something, it is “utz.”  If you feel good, you are “utz.”  If you are healthy, you are “utz.”  When you greet someone, you say, “utz, uwuch?,” which basically means, “are you good?”  To which you respond, “utz.”  Or, if you are really good, you might say, “pudu utz,” or, more often, “utz, utz, utz.”  Or, if it’s really good, you might say, “pudu utz pin pin,” which means it is the best of the best!

When you are welcomed, you hear, “utz a patik,” which basically means, “good for you to come.”  If something is beautiful, it is “utz kakyak.”  If you like something, you say, “utz kinwilo,” which literally means it is good for you to look at.

If you want to know if you have done something correctly, you might ask, “utz?’  To which you will most likely be told, “utz.”  In essence, you spend the day asking and saying over and over, variations on a theme of “good.”

What if, at the core of everything we ever said was simply, “good?”

The Unquenchable Thirst of Grief

The Unquenchable Thirst of Grief

I recently led a memorial service for a 23-year-old man, whose family attends my church.  23-years-old is obviously too young to die, so his death was unexpected, a terrible shock, and particularly tragic.  After years of addiction, successful recovery, and then a recent relapse, he died of a drug overdose.  Tragic.

Exactly one year prior to the memorial service, I was moving in to my new home and job in Coral Springs.  As this young man was living in Boston, and I’ve only been at my current church for a year, I never had the opportunity to know him.  As a pastor, I find that leading memorial services on behalf of strangers is difficult – even more difficult than for those I personally know.  A memorial service is a very personal thing, and it’s impossible to speak personally, with any credibility, about a stranger.

So, instead of talking about the all-too-short life of this young man, I felt led to speak as a father of a 23-year old daughter and a 22-year-old son.  I spoke from the perspective of what I might need to hear from a pastor if the roles were reversed, and I was the grieving parent.

This is what I said…

Though I’ve never experienced this particular kind of grief – the loss of a child – I believe that the one common reality for all humans is that we will experience grief.  We will all experience loss.  We all hurt.  Scratch the surface of any human being, and you will find some degree of pain and suffering inside of us.  Everyone.  All of us.  No exceptions.

When I am in pain, when I doubt, when I’m uncertain, I’ve found comfort and strength in the honesty of Psalm 42…

As the deer longs for streams of water,
so I long for you, O God.
2 I thirst for God, the living God.
When can I go and stand before him?
3 Day and night I have only tears for food,
while my enemies continually taunt me, saying,
“Where is this God of yours?”

4 My heart is breaking
as I remember how it used to be:
I walked among the crowds of worshipers,
leading a great procession to the house of God,
singing for joy and giving thanks
amid the sound of a great celebration!

5 Why am I discouraged?
Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God!
I will praise him again—
my Savior and 6 my God!

Now I am deeply discouraged,
but I will remember you—
even from distant Mount Hermon, the source of the Jordan,
from the land of Mount Mizar.
7 I hear the tumult of the raging seas
as your waves and surging tides sweep over me.
8 But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me,
and through each night I sing his songs,
praying to God who gives me life.

9 “O God my rock,” I cry,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I wander around in grief,
oppressed by my enemies?”
10 Their taunts break my bones.
They scoff, “Where is this God of yours?”

11 Why am I discouraged?
Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God!
I will praise him again—
my Savior and my God!

I deeply appreciate the Psalmist’s honesty, vulnerability, rawness, and questioning.

The Psalmist compares himself to deer in the desert, desperately searching for a drink of water.  Often, in my opinion, this Psalm is incorrectly used as inspiration for prayer or worship, as though this is a gentle thirst.  This is no gentle thirst!  This animal is parched and may not survive. This is the desperate search of an animal clinging to life, in need of water where there’s not even a puddle.

As the deer longs for streams of water,
so I long for you, O God.
I thirst for God, the living God.
When can I go and stand before him?

 Just as the deer pants desperately for water, the Psalmist is desperate for God – a God that feels far away.  Desperate for answers.  Desperate for comfort.  Desperate for a sense of God’s presence.  And, none can be found.

Day and night I have only tears for food.

 Throughout the Psalm, you can hear the anguish the Psalmist is enduring…

  My heart is breaking
as I remember how it used to be:

Why am I discouraged?
Why is my heart so sad?

Now I am deeply discouraged.

 I hear the tumult of the raging seas
as your waves and surging tides sweep over me.

“O God my rock,” I cry,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I wander around in grief?

Six times, the Psalmist asks “why?”  The most common question I’m asked following any tragedy is, “why?”  We desperately need to make sense of the pain or loss.  We desperately need to hear something to make it “ok.”  Nothing anyone could possibly say could make a tragedy “ok.”  And, yet, we ask.  We can’t help but ask.

Even for Christians, who believe in Heaven and eternity, death is still an enemy.  Even for those of who believe that Jesus defeated death on the cross, and rose from the dead, it is still an enemy that we must face before we can pass from this life to the next.  It is still an enemy that robs us of people we love, and long to be with. The enemy has been defeated.  Yet…

Death undeniably shakes our foundations.  Death pushes us to confront mysteries we can’t possibly comprehend. Death makes us ask questions about justice – “how can this be right?  How is this fair?”  Death makes us question the goodness of God.

“Whys?” are normal.  Inevitable.  Yet, there are no meaningful answers.

 Yet, peppered throughout this Psalm our words of faith…

 I thirst for God, the living God.
When can I go and stand before him?

 I will put my hope in God!
I will praise him again—
my Savior and my God!

  But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me,
and through each night I sing his songs,
praying to God who gives me life.

 I will put my hope in God!
I will praise him again—
my Savior and my God!

The key, I think, is that even when we doubt God’s goodness, God’s presence, or even God’s existence, direct those doubts to God. Don’t turn your back on him.  Direct all of your pain, emotion, and questions AT God – not away from him.  He can take your worst anger.  He understands.  He hurts with us too.  He gets angry too.  He grieves for tragic loss too.

Though I undeniably struggle sometimes; though there is so much I don’t understand and can’t explain; I believe 3 things with all of my heart and soul.

  1. There is a God.
  2. He is good.
  3. He is for us, and not against us.

 If we cling to those things, even when we go through the darkest valleys of this life, those simple truths will get you through.

 I think, if the roles were reversed, and I were the one in mourning, I would need to hear a pastor say…

 Everything you are thinking and feeling is ok – including anger and doubt toward God.  The pain, the terrible sadness, and the grief is NORMAL.  It doesn’t feel normal.  But, how could you expect to feel anything else in a moment like this?

 It’s ok not to be ok – any time soon.  You will be.  But, it will take time.

 It’s ok to yell, scream, cry, and even cuss if you need to – even if it’s toward God; even if it’s toward the one who has died.

 And, most importantly, God is with you.  He knows that, if you had the choice, you would choose to be with the one who has gone.  God gets that.  But, God is with you none-the-less.

 And, you can be sure, even now…

There is a God.

He is good.

He is for us, and not against us.

 

Q&A

Q&A

I’m spending this week at the Warren W. Willis United Methodist Youth Camp, in Fruitland Park, Florida, as the Senior High pastor.  I didn’t attend this camp as a camper.  But, I’ve been coming to this camp as an adult volunteer (primarily as the Senior High pastor) for one week each summer, almost annually, for the last 27 years.

Some years, the pastors lead a Q&A time with the campers, answering questions they have written down during their small group time.  This is my favorite time of the week!  Each year, I’m asked if I want to read over the questions ahead of time, which I always refuse.  I don’t want to present prepared responses.  I told the youth today that I wanted them to imagine meeting me at the local Starbucks, sipping iced frappuccinos together, and chatting about life and faith.

As always, the youth asked substantive, meaningful, challenging questions.  But, two themes emerged from the today’s questions that troubled me.  They were in essence…

  • Questions about being a “good” Christian.
  • Questions about going to heaven.

I suspect that there’s some overlap in these questions.

To be honest, I don’t think I even know what a “good” Christian is.  Yes, there are “good” things for Christians to do – Bible study, prayer, worship, service, etc.  But, I don’t think those things necessarily make someone a “good” Christian.  I can sincerely desire goodness – and I do.  But, I can honestly say that if there is anything good about me, Jesus gets the credit.

I think they were really asking, “What is expected of me?” and “What about when I’m not ‘good’?”

They also seemed to want to know the minimal requirements for getting into heaven.  And, what can keep you out.

The truth is, I hear lots of Christians talk this way.  And, I don’t really get it.

I shared with the campers that I think being a Christian is kind of like marriage.  I love my wife. I have a relationship with my wife that is really important to me.  I want to be a good husband for my wife.  Sometimes I am.  Sometimes I’m not.  I’m pretty sure I’m a better husband today than I was when we married 27 years ago.  But, I’m still not as “good” as my wife deserves.  Hopefully, in another 27 years, I’ll be better at being a “good” husband than I am now.  I really do hope so.

The point of the Christianity is NOT about a spiritual score card or the minimal requirements for getting into heaven.  The point of Christianity IS about a relationship with Jesus.  Everything about being a Christian is about entering into that relationship and growing in that relationship.

One question, today, was “How often should good Christians pray?”  My response was, “How often should I talk to my wife to be a good husband?”  If I ask my wife what the minimal requirements are for checking in and conversing with her, I’ve kind of missed the point of marriage.  Because she is my wife (and my best friend), I want to spend time with her.  I want to talk to her.  I want to listen to her.  I think that’s what prayer is supposed to be too.

Frankly, even as a full-time professional pastor, I’m not sure that I’m a very “good” Christian, if that means fulfilling certain Christian duties and obligations.  But, I do sincerely love Jesus and I do really enjoying spending time with him, which leads me to worship, and pray, and serve, etc.  And, I’m pretty confident that our relationship is eternal.

I hope that’s enough.  I’m pretty sure it is.

Why Superheroes Wear Masks…

Why Superheroes Wear Masks…

 

When I was a kid, I loved to watch Florida Federation Wrestling.  I know it was fake.  I knew, then, that it was fake.  But, I loved the action.  I loved the moves.  But, mostly, I loved the characters.

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In particular, I remember the “bad guy” wrestlers that wore masks.  There was always a lot of mystery about who was behind the mask.  Every time one of them wrestled, the hope was that they would lose, and that the victor would successfully pull off their mask and reveal who the mystery wrestler was – before being hit over the head with a folding chair by one of the masked wrestler’s friends.

When I was a kid, I was also a fan of the rock band KISS.  Their music was never really that great – but those costumes and that make-up was awesome!

kiss

I still remember when they took off the make-up for a few years, revealing real faces.

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I was glad when they put the makeup back on!

I’m also a fan of comic book superheroes.  I was, when I was a kid.  And, I still am.

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Like masked wrestlers and KISS, many superheroes wear masks to conceal their true identity.

The primary reason that superheroes conceal their true identities is to protect the people the people they love.  After all, if the Joker found out the Batman is Bruce Wayne, he might blow-up Wayne Enterprises. If the Scorpion found out that Spiderman is Peter Parker, he might kidnap Aunt Jane.  And, so forth, and so on…

mascaras-de-superheroes-D_NQ_NP_20373-MLA20189128826_102014-FThe point is, even with their amazing super-powers, superheroes wear masks to protect their weaknesses and vulnerabilities – namely, the people they love.

Superheroes aren’t the only ones who wear masks.  We all do.  All of us wear some kind of mask to hide and protect our weaknesses, fears, and vulnerabilities.  Sometimes masks are pretending to be something we’re not.  Sometimes masks are hiding secrets we’re ashamed of.  Sometimes masks are presenting a better image than is actually true, like the fantastical/fictional lives portrayed by many of us on social media.

We wear masks to hide our shame.  Shame is a lie, whispered in our ears by our arch enemy…

  • I’m the only one.
  • I’m not good enough.
  • You won’t like me.
  • I’m all alone.
  • No one cares.

hiding

The first humans to attempt to hide their shame was a couple named Adam and Eve.  They did something they weren’t supposed to do, and were so ashamed of their mistake that they hid in the bushes – from God.  It’s really hard to hide from God.  God has x-ray vision.

Adam and Eve’s shame was revealed, and they paid the consequences for their mistake.  But, the consequences were pretty bad for them, and for everyone that has come after them.  One of the consequences is that we’re still ashamed and we think we still need to hide.

But, the Bible says, that when we hide in shame, that God comes looking for us.  When Jesus came, he was searching for people hiding from God.  The story is a bit complicated, but the Bible says that Jesus took our shame away from us when he died on the cross, and when he beat death by coming back to life.

Earlier, I mentioned superheroes wearing masks to conceal their true identity.  Most superheroes started life as average, normal people, only discovering later their superpowers.  But, there is an exception.

Superman.

Superman has always been Superman.  Actually, his real name is Kal-el.  He is a refugee from the planet Krypton.  On Krypton, Kal-el wouldn’t have had superpowers, because Krypton had a red sun.  But, under our sun, Kal-el has remarkable super-powers.  From an early age, Kal-el’s adopted parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent, felt like they needed to protect Kal-el’s alien identity.  So, they named him Clark, and over time Clark Kent adopted a human identity to conceal that he is actually Superman.

Superman doesn’t wear a mask.  Clark Kent does – thick glasses, social awkwardness, and general nerdy-ness.

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Bruce Wayne puts on a mask to become Batman.  Superman puts on glasses and a business suit to become Clark Kent.  See the difference?

How many of us do the same?

You and I are more like Superman than Batman.  How cool is that?

We are sons and daughters of God, made in his image and likeness, invested with incredible abilities and potential.  But, because we feel insecure and ashamed, we put on masks to conceal who God created us to be.  By doing so, we hide from the world and ourselves who we really are.

There’s no more need for hiding in shame!

Romans 8: 1 says, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

But, in spite of our new freedom in Christ to rip off our masks, most of us are still hiding.  Even though we have nothing to be ashamed of, because of Christ, most of us still FEEL pretty shameful.

Which leads me, at last, to one of my favorite quotes, by Marianne Williamson.  She writes, Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

So, take off your mask.  Lay down your shame.  Cast off your fear.  Come out of the bushes.  You are a child of God, with nothing to be ashamed of.  Let your light shine!  Be who you are!

Leap: The Second Sermon is a Series Called “The 40-Day Summer Stretch,” Preached at First Church Coral Springs on Sunday, June 25, 2017

Leap: The Second Sermon is a Series Called “The 40-Day Summer Stretch,” Preached at First Church Coral Springs on Sunday, June 25, 2017

Aquaphobia

Many of us have one phobia or another.  A phobia is an irrational fear, a kind of anxiety disorder in which the individual has a relentless dread of a situation, living creature, place, or thing.  According to Phobialist.com, there are at least 350 known, documented, verifiable phobias.  According to Medicalnewstoday.com, the 5 most common phobias in the United States are…

  • Social phobia – fear of being in places with a lot of people
  • Agoraphobia – fear of being somewhere with no support, away from home, open spaces
  • Claustrophobia – fear of being in constricted, confined spaces
  • Aerophobia – fear of flying
  • Arachnophobia – fear of spiders

Most phobias are more-or-less individualized.  My phobias are different than your phobias.  But, I’d argue, that there’s a generalized phobia that seems to affect Israel throughout the Bible; aquaphobia – fear of water.

  • In Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” Water pre-existed the Creation story, and represented chaos, darkness, and the absence of God.
  • In Genesis 6, God destroyed every living thing on the Earth with a flood.
  • When Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, they got stuck between the Egyptian armies and the Red Sea. God parted the waters so that they could walk through on dry land.  But, Pharaoh and his army were drowned.
  • Ancient Israelites believed in sea monsters called leviathan.
  • Jonah was swallowed by a whale.
  • Historians have noted that ancient Israel never had a navy.
  • And, by the way, we forget sometimes that the symbolism of Baptism represents drowning the old person, and raising a new person to new life.

The Israelites feared water.

But, more often than not, God pushes us to confront our fears and to trust him.

Sticking your toes in the water…

Joshua 3 tells the story of when Israel, after centuries of waiting, was about to enter the Promised Land.  The problem was, they were on one side of the Jordan river, and the Promised Land was on the other.  And, to make matters worse, the river was higher and wider than usual.  Joshua 3:15 says, “Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest.”

            Joshua gave the following command,

“This is how you will know that the living God is among you... See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you…  And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord—the Lord of all the earth—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap…”  As soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away…  So the people crossed over opposite Jericho.  The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground. (Joshua 3:9-17)

Notice, the river didn’t stop flowing until AFTER they stepped into the water.  As long as they stood on the shore, the river kept flowing.

After everyone had passed through the Jordan on dry ground, Joshua had a monument of stones built in the river, as a reminder for future generations of what God had done.  Joshua said, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over…  He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.” (Joshua 4:22-24)

The stones were a visual reminder that God is strong and God fulfills God’s promises. God can be trusted.  The stones were a reminder that God is bigger than our fears.  The stones were a reminder that God is worthy of our faith.

But, they never would have known that if they hadn’t faced their fears, and stuck their toes in the water.  They had to get their feet wet.  They had to take the first step.

You and I have to be willing to take that first step, and get our feet wet too.

            Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Faith is taking the first step, even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”

Faith, Trust, Fear…

            Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” 

            2 Corinthians 5:7, “For we live by faith, not by sight.”

            We trust what we know.  We trust evidence and proof.  We trust our possessions.  We trust what we see.

But, we’re called to faith.  Faith is trusting in a God we can’t see.  Faith is based in belief more than evidence.  Faith requires trust – not in what’s tangible and provable – but, in God.  And, faith is only faith if we act on it.  You have to take a leap.  You have to get your feet wet.

How will you know you can do it?  You won’t, until you try.

How do you know for sure what God wants you to do?  You won’t. until you try.

How do you know you’ll have enough money, or time, or talent?  You won’t, until you try.

You won’t know until you act on faith.  That’s why it is called a “Leap of faith.”

            Maya Angelou wrote, “It is this belief in a power larger than myself and other than myself which allows me to venture into the unknown and even the unknowable.”  

            But, faith in the absence of visible evidence is really, really hard.

            Another story from the Bible is the time the disciples sailed across the Sea of Galilee, at night, and Jesus came to them walking on water.  Matthew 14:26-27 says, When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.   But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

            Notice – their first assumption was that Jesus was a ghost.  After all, remember, water is a scary place. But, this is no ghost – it’s Jesus.   Jesus speaks to the phobia – “Don’t be afraid.”

            Then something surprising happens.  Peter said, “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water.” “Come,” he said.  Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”  Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

“You of little faith” seems a bit harsh to me.  Besides Jesus, Peter’s the only human I know to successfully walk on water – even if only a few steps.

That’s more than I can say.  What about you?

Paulo Coehlo writes, “Pitiful is the person who is afraid of taking risks. Perhaps this person will never be disappointed or disillusioned; perhaps she won’t suffer the way people do when they have a dream to follow. But when that person looks back – and at some point everyone looks back – she will hear her heart saying, ‘What have you done with the miracles that God planted in your days? What have you done with the talents God bestowed on you? You buried yourself in a cave because you were fearful of losing those talents. So this is your heritage; the certainty that you wasted your life.’” 

All of the focus is on Peter, who took a few successful steps on the water, but sank when he became afraid.  All of the attention is on his lack of faith.  But, what about the others, who never left the boat in the first place?  The others couldn’t let go of the safety and security of the boat – of what seemed solid and reliable.  Walking on water never even crossed their minds.

I have friends who love to bungee jump, and to jump out of airplanes.  They love the experience of free fall, and they love the adrenaline.  I think they’re nuts.  The only way I’d jump out of our perfectly good airplane is if it was on fire and going to crash – and even then, I’m not sure!  The bottom line is that I don’t trust the bungee cord or the parachute enough to jump.  The thrill for me is not worth the risk.

I think that’s a wise choice.

But, spiritually, a lack of trust can be crippling.

Let me ask you a question – what’s your boat?  If a boat represents the tangible things that give us security, and if faith is in unseen things – like a man walking on water – what are the securities you cling to?  A job?  Your health?  Your savings or retirement plan?  Your spouse?  Your connections?  Your government?

What’s your boat?

Don’t get wrong.  There’s nothing wrong with working hard, or saving for the future, or investing wisely, or growing in your career, or having people you can rely on.  But, they do become a problem when we trust them more than Jesus.  Listen to me – nothing in this world is more trustworthy than Jesus.

And, Jesus doesn’t call any of us to only live lives of safety and security.  Jesus invites us to confront our fears and take leaps of faith, that require faith in him and not in ourselves.  Jesus invites us to stick our toes into waters that are scary and may seem dangerous.  Jesus challenges not to give into our fears and phobias, and to trust him.

So, if water represents danger, fear and risk – what are you afraid of?

Pope John 23 said, “Consult not your fears but your hopes and dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what is still possible for you to do.”

The Partial Credit Club

            It seems a little unfair to me that Peter doesn’t get more credit for trying.  Just stepping out of the boat was courageous, even if he sank.

My High School Algebra teacher was Hank Pfingstag.  I actually ended up becoming his pastor later.  I really like Hank, and really liked him as a teacher.  He was funny, and kept us interested and entertained.  But, he was hard.  It wasn’t unusual for most of the class to fail his tests.  As he handed out our test scores, he would say, if you had a higher “F” than others, “Congratulations – you got a good F!”

Mr. Pfingstag made us show all of our work.  Most of us did “most” of the work right, and “almost” got the right answer.  After every test, a group of us would argue for “partial credit” – desperately pleading to get out of the “F” zone.  Mr. Pfingstag called us the Partial Credit Club – but he never once changed our grades!

I think Peter deserves to be in the Partial Credit Club.  I’d like to believe that I deserve to be in the Partial Credit Club, sometimes, spiritually speaking, for at least trying to live by faith.

What about you?

I want to leave you with two images this morning.  Imagine God has a great promise for you – a Promised Land, if you will.  But, to have it, you’ll have to cross a river of fear.  Are you going to go for it?  Or, are you going to stay on the safe side of the river, missing out?  Imagine Jesus reaching out his hand to you, but you have to walk on the water to reach him.  You can do it, with faith.  Are you going to step out on the water, or are just keeping your seat in the boat?

It’s time to get out of the boat!

 

 

Ancient-Future

Ancient-Future

I recently listened to a program on NPR called, In Salt Lake City You’ll Find Mormons Who Meditate.  You can read the transcript at In Salt Lake City You’ll Find Mormons Who Meditate

In summary, the story is about a man who grew up Mormon, left the Mormon faith as a young adult, learned about Buddhist Mindfulness (meditation), while visiting Salt Lake City felt a calling to return to Mormonism, and now leads Mindfulness experiences for fellow-Mormons.  This seems to be particularly attractive to young adult and dis-affected Mormons.

I’m not Mormon, and I don’t practice Buddhist Mindfulness.  But, I am part of a Christian denomination (United Methodist) that seems to be less and less attractive/relevant to more and more people.  I am also very familiar with ancient Christian forms of contemplation and meditation, particularly from the mystical side of the monastic traditions, that have some parallels to Buddhist practices.

As I listened to this radio broadcast, I couldn’t help but wonder if the Mormons have discovered something that might also be appealing and appropriate in my context and tradition.

I wonder if mainline Christianity has become too focused on programming, structure, institutional bureaucracy, rules, and doctrine?  I wonder if we’ve neglected something that people are hungry for – ancient practices that help people connect with God in deeper, richer, more personal, and more experiential ways?

Christianity has a rich tradition of…

  • Prayer
  • Journaling
  • Silence
  • Solitude
  • Meditation
  • Contemplation
  • Listening
  • Mysticism
  • Spiritual Direction
  • Spiritual Disciplines

But, if I am honest, most of that tradition has been lacking in the churches and ministries I’ve led, beyond occurring in limited way in small groups or by individual practitioners.

I can’t help but wonder what we’ve lost by ignoring these spiritual treasures.  And, I can’t help but wonder if our Mormon friends might have discovered something really important.  I can’t help but wonder if a future for main-line Christianity is a return to ancient spiritual practices.

I wonder.