Day of the Lord

Talk about having your basic “bad day.” Ashley Swendsen was enjoying a nature stroll on a hiking trail in Colorado Springs. The trail is posted with warnings about possible flash floods, but was no warning about what to do if you meet a bear. That is exactly what happened, and she did exactly what you aren't supposed to do-- she RAN. The bear actually chased her for about 20 seconds and got as close as a couple of feet until Swendsen made it out to a street… where she was promptly hit by a passing car! Yep, she outran a bear but she couldn’t outrun a Chevy. Thankfully, the car wasn’t going too fast, but she was bounced over the hood. The bear ran off one way and the car drove off another. Swendsen survived her adventure; BTW, she is also 6 months pregnant. She says that their child’s middle name will be “Bear.” Officials hunted down the bear and killed it; they are currently hunting down the hit-and-run driver.

When I read that story, I couldn’t help but think of Amos 5:18-19. Amos is warning those Israelites who were looking forward to the coming Day of the Lord. In the OT, the Day of the Lord was that time in time when God would judge a nation and bring it down. Israel thought that meant its enemies would be destroyed, so many Israelites looked forward to that time. Amos warned them that when God came in judgment, it would be to judge them—

18 Woe to you who long for the day of the LORD!
Why do you long for the day of the LORD?
That day will be darkness, not light.
19 It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear,
as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall
only to have a snake bite him.

There was to be no escape from God’s judgment. It would be like you were running from a lion only to run smack dab into a bear. And then somehow you escape from the bear only to rest your hand on the wall in your house (whew!) and be bitten by a snake. When God comes for you, there is no escape. And when God judges, He judges us all.

Statues and Restoration

On Monument Avenue in Richmond, there are dozens of statues of confederate war heroes on their horses. (The old idea whether the horse and one or both legs raised depends on whether the hero was wounded or killed in battle is a myth). These statues are uncannily realistic, from the snarl on the horse’s face and the fire in its eyes to the muscles that ripple under its skin. Every detail of the battle gear and uniform of the honored soldier is faithfully reproduced. In fact, sometimes there is only one difference between the statue and the real thing. The statue is not alive! No matter how perfect the form and faithful the likeness, a stone horse is just not the same as a living one.

My religious tribe talks a lot about restoration. We came from a back to the Bible frontier movement variously known as “The Restoration Movement” or “The Stone-Campbell Movement.” Believers were prevented from worshiping together because of their various denominational creeds and traditions. A "closed communion" in which one had to prove that he or she was a member in good standing of a particular church before being allowed to the Lord's table is one way this division was seen. The genius of Restoration was the desire to set aside human creeds and traditions to focus only on scripture so that the barriers to unity would cease to function. Paul seemed to think that Jesus was interested in tearing down walls of separation (Eph 2:14). If we could just go back and just be Christians only, the divisions caused by human traditions would cease to have hold.

So we set about “the Restoration of the Ancient Order.” We wanted to recreate the New Testament church that existed in the book of Acts. The organization, doctrine and worship of the church were fully restored, and thus we became “The New Testament church.” Or simply "the church." By that time, we weren't really all that interested in creating unity among all believers but showing that we were the right church and everyone else... well, was the wrong church. We still talked a lot about the "Restoration Movement," but we pretty much had stopped moving anywhere. Restoration had been completed.

Even if you grant that we "restored" the essential organization, worship and doctrinal details of the first century church, that is not the same as restoring the church. The church as it was called to be in the first century was saturated in the unity of the Spirit, the love of Christ and the peace of God. The kingdom of God was about "righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Rom 14:17). That's not form; that's fire. The church was not about what humans did but about what God had done and was continuing to do. To “restore” a church based on only forms and formats, doctrines and dogmas is to build a statue of a horse that has no life in it, no fire. What makes a church the church is the life that comes from the God we worship, the Savior we serve and the Spirit who fills us both corporately and individually.

Without the fire of the first century church, there is no restoration.

Angels Watching Over Me

I’ve never really thought that much about angels. I guess I was raised in a church that left the impression with me that while God used to do miracles, he now does Bible. And if you aren’t going to do miracles, then you don’t need a bunch of angels hanging around. I assumed that the reason the angles are always around the throne worshiping in Revelation is that God really doesn’t need them much any more, so they have extra time to worship. Of course, the whole book of Revelation has angels buzzing all over the place. I just never thought about angels.

Well, guess who is teaching a class on angels on Wednesday nights? Yep. In fact, the main reason I chose to teach this class was that I really did need to think and study some about the topic. So I might as well share what I learn... right? In other words, take the guy who is totally ignorant on the subject and let him teach.

The first thing that struck me—angels are all over the Bible. I mean they are all over it (how did I miss that?) The English word “angel” appears 305 times in the NIV— Revelation (77x), Luke (24x), Acts (22x), Zechariah (20x), Matthew (19x), Judges (17x), Genesis (15x), Hebrews (13x). And that’s not counting cherubim, seraphim, heavenly hosts or a host of other words used for angelic beings. Whereas 63 of 73 uses of the word “demon” appears in the gospels, the appearances of angels are spread all throughout the Bible.

And they appear doing a lot of different things. The word “angel” in both Hebrew (malak) and Greek (angelos) means “messengers.” Angels are God's messenger service, and a lot of familiar angel stories indeed have angels bearing messages... like announcing the birth of Jesus and telling Lot to get out of Dodge (actually it was Sodom). But angels are said to do a lot of other things as well—

• Provide protection during the exodus (Exo. 14:19)
• Fight and defeat the Canaanite enemies (Exo. 33:2)
• Prevents Balaam from going where he should not (Num 22:32)
• Rescues Daniel by shutting mouth of the lions (Dan 6:22)

Angels are messengers, but they are also ministering spirits that serve us (Heb 1:14). I don’t know that I have ever received a message from an angel, but somehow angels are there to serve those who believe. And when the church assembles to worship, somehow we are there with a whole bunch of angels (Heb 12:22). I don’t know exactly how angels do their ministering thing, but somehow it makes be feel better that they do.

So maybe Amy Grant was right after all?

The End of Christian America

Newsweek reported this past week on a recent study that revealed a decline in religious influence in our country. The title of the article was as catchy as it was overstated—“The End of Christian America.” The message of the study the article stresses is that the number of Americans who claim no religious affiliation has nearly doubled since 1990, rising from 8% to 15%. The article points to “an old term with new urgency: post-Christian.” Post-Christian means that we live in a world (or country) where there is no longer a Christian presumption.

The American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) covered by Newsweek found that the percentage of self-identified Christians has fallen 10% points since 1990, from 86% to 76%. By contrast, the Jewish population is 1.2% and Muslims are 0.6%. The article also pointed out that “the number of people willing to describe themselves as atheist or agnostic has increased about fourfold from 1990 to 2009, from 1 million to about 3.6 million.” So we have twice as many atheists as Episcopalians in the United States.

So... what do you think when you hear people talking about “The End of Christian America” or the "Rise of Post-Christian America?" What is your first and best response when people suggest that the political and social influence of Christianity on our country is on the wane? Would it surprise you to hear some believers responding with, “It’s about time?” Some believers point out that one of the great enemies the kingdom of God has had to face in recent years as been the allusion that it (God’s kingdom) fits in so well with the kingdoms of the earth. In a recent blog, Greg Boyd lists 6 reasons why the church should not weep too much over the demise of American Christianity. The bullets below are summaries of his points; read his blog for the full discussion—

1. America has never been (or will be) a “Christian” nation. All nations of the world are ruled by Satan (Lk. 4:5-7; 2 Cor. 4:4; I Jn. 5:19). No earthly country is capable of being Christian in the sense of loving enemies, doing good to those who mistreat it or blessing those who persecute it (Lk. 6:27-35). By applying the term “Christian” to America, we’ve watered down the meaning of Christian.
   
   
2. Most American’s who identify themselves as “Christian” to pollsters actually mean they are “American” in terms of core values and lifestyle choices. A majority of people assume they are “Christian” by virtue of being American or because they prayed a certain prayer or go to Church once a year. If fewer people see themselves as “Christian,” this is one less illusion we have to confront as we invite folks into the Kingdom of God.
   
   
3. If Evangelicals lose all their political clout, we may be less tempted to lust after political power, which means we may have one less distraction from actually doing what God called us to do — namely, manifesting God’s reign by how we humbly live, love and serve.
   
   
4. The Kingdom has always (only) thrived when it was on the margins of society. The Kingdom is, by its very nature, a “contrast society.” If Christians lose all their power and position in society and become marginalized, this can’t help but be good for the Kingdom. If Christians become persecuted, it likely will be even better.
   
   
5. American as “Christian nation” was never deeper than the thin veneer of a shared civic religion. Many think being “Christian” is focused on preserving this civic religion (prayer in school, 10 Commandments on government buildings, a “Christian” definition of marriage within our government, etc.). This veneer of civic religion causes many Jesus followers to not notice the many foundational assumptions that permeate American culture are diametrically opposed to the values of the Kingdom.
   
   
6. If Jesus followers are more marginalized by culture, that may drive us together in fellowship and help us to finally get it that the Kingdom of God is inherently communal. It is very difficult for many to embrace radical Kingdom community when we can get along very well (by American standards) without it. The demise of American Christianity would serve us well by stripping us of the privilege of individualistic living.

Peter addressed the Christian to whom he wrote as "God’s elect, strangers in the world" (1 Pet 1:1). He later called them "aliens and strangers in the world" (1 Pet 2:11). The Hebrews writer says that one of the characteristics of people who live by faith is that they see themselves as "aliens and strangers on earth" (Heb 11:13). Those who live in the kingdom of God will never quite fit into this world. We are called to follow Jesus "outside the camp" of this world "bearing the disgrace that he bore" (Heb 13:13). The more we fit into the power structures of this world, the less we are living the principles and power of the kingdom of God.

A Special Day

OK, so I should have written this reflection yesterday. But Lynn was off yesterday and we spent the day together. It may be OK for me to take my time to blog, but its not OK to take her time!

What a day we had Sunday! We had more people here for worship than we had places to put them-- we literally put out every chair we had and still didn’t have enough room for all. The singing was outstanding even though we did several less-than-familiar songs. We were so full that we had to move people off the front row to make space for T.J. and Kellie when they came forward to be baptized. Of course, seeing them confess their faith and have their Daddy baptize them put an exclamation point on our day of worship. Well, that and me forgetting to turn my mike off and then singing “Rabboni” along with the praise team!

We had a lot of people stay for the egg hunt and the pot luck. I have never seen so much food… nor tried so diligently to make large portions disappear. All in all, this was a great day. It was a long day, but a great day.

A quick check through my old sermons (something I can only rarely bring myself to do) revealed that about half of my sermons on the resurrection were preached on or near Easter Sunday. It hasn’t been all that long that have been comfortable enough with "Special Days" to make a big deal on Easter, but we’ve always been open to sermons on the resurrection. When I was in school, one of my professors suggested preaching on the birth of Jesus on Easter and His resurrection on Christmas. That always smacked of being a bit of a wise guy to me… that’s why I liked it! I am glad that we aren’t as paranoid of special days and “traditions” as we used to be. A special focus service on the resurrection can be helpful, and Easter just seems to be the best time to do that. Yesterday was a good example.

How to Stop an Indian Attack

When I was a kid, it was just expected that little boys would play “Cowboys and Indians.” This was in the days before political correctness… or historical correctness! There is an old saying, “History is written by the victors.” Or Hollywood! Movie and TV westerns created many myths—like scalping being invented by indigenous peoples (they learned it from the French). One of “facts” that I remember from movies is how to thwart an Indian attack-- just shoot the chief. Once the chief is out of the way, then the rest will just stop and give up. Evidently, Native Americans need a leader, so if you can eliminate the chief, the rest will scatter. Of course in the movies, that was usually pretty easy because the chief always rode up front and wore a huge headdress that just shouted, "Shoot me." And then the cowboys always had those magical Winchesters that never ran out of bullets!

The Jewish leaders subscribed to this TV western myth when it came to Jesus. They thought that if they could kill Jesus, his disciples would scatter. All they had to do was trump up some charges, pay witness and manipulate the legal process, and both Jesus and his movement would die. When they arrested Jesus, it looked like their plan worked because all the Indians did indeed scatter (Mk 14:50). In fact Mark tells of one young man (maybe himself) so intent on getting way that he ran right out of his clothes (Mk 14:51). They surely thought that the public, horrific execution of Jesus had ended his movement and their problems.

Imagine the shock of the Jewish establishment when Christ's movement grew further and faster after his death than it had before. Three thousand responded to Peter’s first sermon... a sermon on the resurrection, “Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay” (Acts 2:31). More (5000 men) responded in Acts 3 to a very similar resurrection sermon, “You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this” (Acts 3:15). The whole thing was getting out of hand, so the Sanhedrin called in the apostles in an effort to intimidate them into silence. What they got was the very same sermon, “Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead” (Acts 4:10).

Christianity spread because of the message of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now first century people were not pushovers when it came to resurrection stories. They were not unsophisticated bumpkins or uncritically superstitious louts who would fall for anything. In fact, many Jews (like the Sadducees) didn’t believe in any resurrection any where at any time. Greeks were as likely as people today to see resurrection talk as a joke (they “sneered” in Acts 17:32). The idea of Jesus’ resurrection was not an easy first century sell at all! But that story spread like wildfire and filled the earth largely because the people who preached it were so radically changed by the message.

What keeps Christianity from spreading today is not that the message of the resurrection sounds too weird to modern, critical ears. The problem may be that those of us who believe it simply are not as changed by it not obsessed with it as were the first believers. The problem is not with the message of Easter; the problem is us.

On Sinking Ships

By a wide margin, the highest grossing motion picture of all time is Titanic. Well, that makes sense. It is really two movies in one— a mushy love story sandwiched inside a disaster flick, a soap opera with a body count. It is the story of Jack, a fun-loving, self-absorbed penniless artist and Rose, a sad, suicidal socialite who is being forced to marry a man whom she did not love. These two people are about as different as night and day, but the boy from steerage accidentally meets the girl from the first class, and they fall immediately and deeply in love. Unfortunately, they don’t live happily ever after; after all, this is the Titanic. During the sinking of the great ship, Jack dies so that Rose can live.

Marc Newman uses the movie Titanic to make a point to college students about the nature of true love. The question Newman asks his students to debate in class is this— “Given what we know of Jack’s character, do you think that he and Rose would have had a successful marriage?”

When push came to shove, Jack was able to make the single grand gesture to the beautiful woman, and give his life that Rose might have a chance to live. But could Jack, would Jack, have married Rose? And if so, could he have put up with the daily self-denials that are required to maintain a marriage over fifty years, when his lover is no longer young and nubile? G.K. Chesterton commented that many people say that they will do anything for love, except sacrifice for it.

Is it possible that dying for the one you love in a blaze of glory is not nearly as difficult as living and sacrificing for them daily? I think Newman is on to something there. The greatest barrier we face in our relationships in marriage, in the church and with God is the daily grind, the ongoing continuing sacrifice of bending and yielding our wills to that of another. The reason so many relationships are sinking ships is that we refuse to really die to self.

Good News and Bad News

The Good News: When I filled out my brackets before the NCAA olledge basketball tournament began, my Final Four were... well, never mind, that's not important now. But my final two teams were North Carolina and Michigan State playing in the in the championship game. Tomorrow night, North Carolina will play Michigan State in the championaship game. They could have saved a lot of trouble and drama if they would have just asked me! Oh, just so you know, I have North Carolinia winning it all.

The Bad News: While I'm writing this, Turbo Tax is installing itself on the computer. Tomorrow is the day I do my taxes. Well, unless an emergency comes up... like I have to wash my car or something. But then I'll have plenty of extra time since I don't have to actually watch the basketball game.

Meeting God at the Shack

I finally got around this week to reading The Shack, by William P. Young. The book was published in 2007 and spent much of 2008 on the best seller lists despite a marketing budget of about $300. Young wrote the story to explain his faith to his children, and it grew from there first into a screenplay (I hope they do make the movie!) and then into the novel. Much of the book is a theological conversation between Mack, the main character, and God. Their conversation is hung on what happens earlier in the novel.

Four years earlier, Mack (short for Mackenzie) takes his children on a camping trip at the end of which his youngest, Missy, disappears. A frantic search fails, and it is discovered that Missy was abducted by a pedophile serial killer known as “The Little Ladykiller” who had abducted other little girls at various parks. None of the bodies were ever found, but at each abduction scene, the killer leaves a ladybug pin, adding a dot to the ladybug to represent the next girl. Missy was the fifth dot, and her bloody dress was found inside an old “shack” (hence "The Shack") found deep inside the park. Mack is devastated by his loss and grief, and his life is dominated by what he calls “The Great Sadness.”

Mack mysteriously received a note inviting him back to the shack for a weekend, a note signed by “Papa,” his wife’s pet name for God. After internal debate and borrowing a pistol from a friend (the note could be from the killer), he goes to the shack. The killer isn’t there— but God is. God appears in the novel as Papa, a rotund, jolly African-American woman. Jesus is a young Jewish man with a big nose and dressed as a carpenter. Finally there is Sarayu, an Asian woman shimmering in light and wind that represents the Holy Spirit. Most of the rest of the book are conversations between Mack and the Trinity and the Trinity and Itself.

God as a black woman? (If it bothers you that God is not white, that can be a whole other blog). Mack’s father was a abusive man church deacon drank excessively and beat his wife and family relentlessly. Mack couldn’t relate to God as father until we worked through this anger with his earthly father. At the end of the book, God does show up as an old white man with a flowing beard to that represent Mack’s healing and readiness to accept God as heavenly Father. So Mack spends much of the book feeling a bit distant from Papa but is instantly drawn to Jesus.

Are there theological problems with the book? Well, duh! Much of the book revolves around the relationship of the Trinity with Itself as a model for human relationships. Trying to explain Trinity is impossible; trying to embody it characters in a story is not any easier! The other underlying issue of the book is explaining the so-called “Problem of Evil,” not exactly an easy nut to crack. The book does flitter on the edge of universal salvation and there is no real handling of God’s righteousness and judgment of sin (sin is seen as its own punishment). The book is built on an “Open Theism” where God limits His foreknowledge so that he can enter in relationship with us in the now. (See the review by Greg Boyd). Many of the negative reviews I’ve read are from Calvinists, and I can understand why they don't like it. The God in “The Shack” is not a God who determines all events beforehand and who has the sheep and goats predestined before creation. Papa is a God who created human free will and who seeks relationship with us despite our often wrong-headed free-will choices... and He works through those choices. If you want some deeper theological insights on the Shack, read this blog and this blog by my old camp buddy John Mark Hicks.

OK, as Roger would point out, I really didn’t READ the book; I listened to it as an audiobook, mostly while painting our utility room. I was up until almost 1:00 a.m. Tuesday night, not because U was ionto the painting, but because I simply didn’t want to stop listening to the book. The story went straight to my heart, and I must confess several points of putting down my brush, sitting on the ladder and laughing and crying all at the same time (OK, my eyes teared-up; I don’t really cry). The story grabbed my heart with a fist of grace. It reminded me (and I can forget) of a God who says, “I am especially fond of you.” Church folks like me can sometimes lose God amid the rules, liturgy, doctrines, services, sermons, committee meetings and the like that is church. Sometimes we need to be subtly reminded of what faith is all about. And this book was about as subtle as a 2x4 upside the head.

At one point, Mack asks Jesus at one point if all roads lead to Him (again skittering on the edge of universalism). Jesus responds, “Most roads don't lead to anywhere. What it does mean is that I will travel any road to find you.” Wow! Jesus really did that, didn’t He? In explaining why so many evil things happen in the world despite Divine power and presence, Papa (God) says,

Mack, just because I work incredible good out unspeakable tragedies doesn't mean I orchestrate the tragedies. Don't ever assume that my using something means I caused it or that I need it to accomplish my purposes. That will only lead you to false notions about me. Grace doesn't depend on suffering to exist.

I said something like that in a sermon last month... just not as well. Evil is the result of man’s evil free choices, choices that God does not overrule because He loves us so much he respects our choice.

Are there problems with Young’s view of God? Sure. The book is ultimately metaphor, and any metaphor falls apart when it’s pushed too far. I’m preaching through Amos right now, and the God of Amos is not the jolly Papa but a hungry Lion ready to tear His rebellious and wicked people to pieces. Aslan the Lion, the Christ-figure in C.S. Lewis's Narnia, has teeth. When you are dealing with God, it is best not to forget the teeth!

The reviews I’ve read of the book are of two types—those who absolutely loved it were drawn to God by it AND those who hated it and saw in it false theology and religious error. Put me squarely in the first camp (with an skinted eye on the second). Put it this way, I’ve ordered 3 more copies—one for each of my girls and another to just to have around to loan out. To borrow a line from Jim McGuiggen, “Everyone should be forced to read The Shack… if they want to.”

Two Masters

A couple of years ago, I wrote a blog on Ann Holmes Redding has been an Episcopal priest for now almost 20 years and then also embrace Islam. She was defrocked Wednesday when she completed her conversion as a Muslim. She was upset that she was removed from her position as priest because she sees no conflict between Christianity and Islam.

Both religions say there's only one God and that God is the same God. It's very clear we are talking about the same God! So I haven't shifted my allegiance.

She seems to sincerely believe that it is perfectly logical to be both and that she can't understand why some people want her to choose.

The church interprets my being a Muslim as 'abandoning the church' and that [there] comes an understanding that you have to be one or the other... It simply hasn't been my experience that I have to make a choice between the two.

I would suggest that she did make a choice. Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." You cannot say that there is one God and "Mohammad is His prophet" and then at the same time accept Jesus as Lord. You can't serve two masters.

That seems pretty straightforward and simple. If you become a Christian, you can't be a Muslim. And visa-versa. So I'm not pushing the profound meter too dramatically this morning (as if I ever do). But what about being a Materialist Capitalist and being a Christian? The "master" we must choose Jesus over in Matthew 6:24 is MONEY. The God we can't worship if we worship Jesus is those green (and now brown) things with pictures of dead presidents. I wonder if God sees our obsession with materialistic prosperity while also being Christian as just as bizarre as when we see someone who claims to be both Muslim and Christian. We really do have to choose who is Lord... and them follow Him. Or it.

Stand Still

Do you have a boring job? I love my job, but I have to admit that sometimes I get sleepy at work. The other day I had to quit working on the sermon I was writing and get up and move around (a much needed straightening of my office). Its not a good sign when you fall asleep writing a sermon; it likely means that people will fall asleep listening to it! If you fall asleep at your job, here are some good excuses that you can use on your boss--

• "It’s OK, I’m still billing clients."
• "They said at the blood bank this might happen."
• "Whew! I must have left the top off that White-Out!"
• "I wasn’t sleeping—I was meditating on our vision statement."

Falling asleep may not indicate that our job is boring; it may just be reminding us that we aren’t getting enough sleep. I’m told that the average adult needs 8 to 8.5 hours of sleep each night and teens 9 to 9.5 of sleep! Do you know anyone who actually gets that? I usually get about 6.5, so I’m an hour or so in deficit. Last night it was a lot less because I was up until almost 1:00 a.m. painting. Actually, I kept painting because I was listening to The Shack audiobook, but I’ll write about the book another time. (If you’ve ever wondered whether you can paint, laugh and cry at the same time, you can).

Our culture doesn’t rest well. Some cultures take 2 hours in the middle of the day for lunch and a nap ("siesta" in Hispanic countries, "bhat-ghum" in parts of India or "xiuxi" in China). If we had two hours off in the middle of the day, we would be invariably work out, run errands, go shopping… or maybe get a part time job! We just don’t rest well. When we take a vacation, we need a vacation to rest up from the vacation. Mondays are, well Monday, because we rush so much during the weekends that it wears us out.

It has been a long time since we made the mistake of seeing Sunday as “the Sabbath.” Technically, Sunday isn’t the same as the Sabbath, but maybe we would be better off if we treated in that way. Maybe we need to spend more time quieted before God. Psalm 131 says--

1 My heart is not proud, O Lord,my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me.
2 But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother,
like a weaned child is my soul within me.
3 O Israel, put your hope in the Lord both now and forevermore.