Change for a Dollar

Last year, Bill Gates, investor Warren Buffett, and Mark Zuckerberg (of Facebook fame) signed the "Gates-Buffet Giving Pledge" in which they promised to donate to charity at least half of their wealth over the course of time. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has already donated $28 billion dollars to charity, and they have pledged to eventually give away 95% of their wealth. A lot of wealthy people don't do that; in fact, few wealthy people do that. One of the criticisms in all the love-fest following the death of Steve Jobs was the fact that he didn't seem to be much of a philanthropist.  Of course, I remember someone telling prospective philanthropists "do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing."  You really do have to admire people like Bill and Melinda Gates who have made a second career out of giving away what they accumulated in their first.

The biggest danger that "Regular Joes" like you and me face when it comes to giving is in thinking that the only giving that makes a difference is that which is done by the wealthy. Sure, Jesus told the story of the widow and her two small coins (Mark 12:41-44), but His point was the size of her sacrifice, not the good that her gift was able to accomplish. Even though their hearts may have been hard and their actually sacrifice was small, surely more actual good was done by the big sacks of gold thrown into the treasury by the Jerusalem fat cats, right? Maybe not. I seem to remember Jesus making the gift of a sack lunch of loaves and fishes go pretty far in helping people. This is God we're talking about, right? Who knows how He can use my gift even though it falls somewhat short of that of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

I ran across the following film parable about the change that our change can do. It's ten minutes long and there isn't a word spoken, but the point it makes is eloquent, And maybe it's message is particularly powerful during this time of the year.



Jesus tells us that a cup of cold water doesn't lose its reward. We have no idea the good that He can accomplish with our small acts of giving and kindness.

Ghosts of Christmas Past

The stale smell of apples reminds me of Christmas. When I was a kid, we’d go to Arkansas for Christmas, leaving as soon as Dad got home for work the Friday before Christmas. We’d eat dinner, open our presents, and clap and cheer… and then put them back under the tree and take off for Arkansas on a 24 hour drive where we stopped only for gas and nothing else. Food was packed in the car, and there was always this big bag full of apples. And by the time we got to Arkansas, the whole car had smelled like too-ripe apples, a smell that still gets to me. But that is part of the ghost of Christmas past for me.

Another ghost of Christmas past was the thumping sound that woke me up one Christmas Eve (actually 2:00 a.m. Christmas morning). I was too old for the Santa thing (or else it would have sounded like reindeer hooves). So I snuck up to the room over the garage and looked out the window to see what was going on, and I saw my Dad and Larry Campbell shooting basketball on the new goal they had just installed to surprise me Christmas morning. Well, I was surprised… I was surprised that Dad could shoot hoops! (I miss you, Larry!)

My most special Christmas memory was the birth of our first child at 8:20 a.m. on Christmas morning. I was up late Christmas Eve playing gin rummy with my sister Sonya, and I had just been dealt a hand only a couple of cards shy of gin when Lynn announced that it was time. I wanted to finish that hand… but everyone else seemed to think that was a bad idea, so off to the hospital we went. With snow falling outside (the last white Christmas we've had, I think) and “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” playing on the radio (which Lynn was not enjoying), little Tressa came into our world to change it forever.

Christmas is different when you have a Christmas baby. Oh, it was a big, big deal the Christmas she was born… in a Catholic hospital! But later it was easy for her birthday to be overshadowed by Christmas itself. Everything is closed, so forget going out to a restaurant and getting “Happy Birthday” sung to you by the wait staff. We had to develop a series of special birthday rules to make sure Tressa birthday remained special-- fruit cake can’t be used as birthday cake, you never combine Christmas presents with birthday gifts (they must stay separate and apart), and under no circumstances can birthday presents be wrapped in Christmas paper! Christmas is different when you have a Christmas baby.

Well, there was little ordinary about the birth of Jesus. He was born of a virgin in a barn and laid in a manger. (When Jesus left a door open and someone said, “Hey, were you born in a barn?” He could say, “Why yes I was!”). And what other baby gets gold, frankincense and myrrh at their baby shower? And while new mothers usually send out birth announcements (what else have they to do),  this time the Father did the birth announcement (Luke 2:8-14). Angels brought to the shepherds “good news of great joy.” The angels use one of the most familiar New Testament words—euaggelizo. What the angels literally said was, “I preach to you a gospel of great joy.” The birth of Jesus is gospel!

We don’t know when Jesus was born, and we aren’t told to make a bid deal about his birthday. But the fact of Jesus’ incarnation, that he really did come in the flesh, is indeed a big deal. It was more or less an accident of history that we started seeing December 25 as the birthday of Jesus. If somehow we decided to follow the Julian calendar and observe Christmas on January 7 (like some do), I don’t think Tressa would mind a bit. But the fact that Christ the Lord was born into our world was certainly no accident. I’m glad we have this special time of the year to remember that fact in a special way.

Christmas with an Attitude

I ran across a list of the 25 “Best Christmas Movies of All Time.” Frankly I was a little surprised that there were 25 Christmas movies, let alone the 25 best ones. Some on the list were the expected classics-- “It’s a Wonderful Life” (#2) and “Miracle on 34th Street” (#3). I had heard of many on the list ( “Christmas in Connecticut” (#7) or “Holiday Inn” (#12), but these were in black-and-white and I’m much too young to remember movies in black-and-white. There were 3 versions of “A Christmas Carol” (one with the Muppets and another with Bill Murray). Actually, the greatest version “A Christmas Carol” was the one starring Mr. McGoo, but you won’t see that one on anyone’s list. “Home Alone,” the most successful movie comedy of all time made the list at #8 (should have been higher). And they did get the #1 Christmas movie of all time right-- “A Christmas Story.”

According to the list, #16 was “Die Hard.” You remember the heartwarming story terrorists who try to blow up a skyscraper… except they’re not terrorists but bank robbers out to steal billions and murder a bunch of people in the process. But then they run into Bruce Willis and hilarious holiday hijinks ensue. But the story takes place during Christmas, so technically it’s a Christmas movie. If “Die Hard” is a Christmas story, then it’s a Christmas story with an attitude!

And John’s version of the story of the birth of Christ is a Christmas with an attitude. Of course, John doesn't have a birth narrative in his gospel; he saves that for Revelation. In John's version there are no shepherds, no wise men, no little drummer boys, and this is anything but a “Silent Night.” What this version has is a dragon! John’s version in Revelation 12 is Christmas with an attitude! There are two main characters here—

• First, there is a pregnant woman clothed with the sun and has the moon at her feet who is very pregnant and cries out because she is in labor. This woman doesn’t look very much like Mary, because in this story she isn’t Mary. She represents Israel, and later in the story she will morph into the persecuted church. We immediately recognize the son she births—“ he will rule all the nations with an iron scepter” (12:5). The child was snatched up to God and to his throne, and the woman fled to a place where she is cared for by God.
  
• Second, there is an enormous red dragon (Satan) who hotly pursues the woman as she is in labor. He has 7 heads (representing power), and 7 crowns (representing authority), and 10 horns (pointing again to more power). The dragon pursues the woman so he can devour the child she is about to bear. But when the child is taken to heaven to God’s throne, the dragon tries to follow to attack him.

Yep, Christmas with an attitude. This Christ child is not born in the obscurity of a barn and laid quietly in a manger. This birth takes place in the midst of a cosmic conflict. Eugene Peterson, in his book Distant Thunder, writes--

This is not the nativity story we grew up with, but it is the nativity story all the same. Jesus’ birth excites more than wonder, it excites evil: Herod, Judas. Pilate. Ferocious wickedness is goaded to violence by this life. (p. 121)

Angels aren’t singing “Joy to the World” because they are too busy in a pitched spiritual battle with the great dragon. And, of course, they defeat him and the dragon is thrown down from heaven to the earth (Rev 12:9, see Luke 10:18). The good news is that Satan was defeated in his attack on heaven. The bad news is that Satan is thrown down to the earth… with us! (Rev 12:12)

But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.

The bad thing about putting on as nativity plays is that there very few roles in the production so someone always has to play a sheep or donkey. This is definitely not true with John’s version of the nativity play here—we all have a part in this production! The great dragon can’t get to the child, and God protects the mother (now a symbol of the church). So what does the Satanic dragon do next?  He comes looking for her children-- that's your part and mine. And God bless us every one!

Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus. (Rev 12:17, NIV)

Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. We know that because Andy Williams sings, “It's the most wonderful time of the year; there'll be much mistltoeing and hearts will be glowing, When love ones are near; It's the most wonderful time of the year."  But the very things that we love about Christmas also become dangers for us.

• Yes, Christmas is time for family… and of loneliness for those without families or who have lost parts of their family. (Perhaps that is why depression is so common during the holidays)
  
• Yes, Christmas is a time for tradition and customs, and it is the time when our expectation often exceed our reality (Another reason why depression is so common).
  
• Yes, Christmas is a time for giving and receiving gifts. And it is also the time that we allow materialism to run amok and run up debts we are still paying off in July!

Christmas is a time when we remember the birth of the child that would change all history. We see Christmas card images of Mary-and-child, shepherds, Joseph, the Magi and the rest.  (I saw a picture of one nativity scene with Tim Tebow bowing before the manger).  We sing the carols and try imagine the angels singing to the shepherds. We tell ourselves that “The True Meaning of Christmas" is in the proclamation of the angels. "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men" (Luke 2:14, KJV). Christmas is a time of peace and good cheer. (Ironic that “Christmas Cheer” for many is what gets slipped into their egg nog!)

But our carols present a one-sided view of the story of that “first Christmas,” the viewpoint of the shepherds, the magi, and the earth! There were things going on surrounding the birth of Christ that were unseen by human eyes on that “Silent Night” outside “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” In Revelation, John shifts our point of view and retells the familiar story from the viewpoint of heaven.

And thus the pastoral serenity of "Silent Night" dissipates into sounds of battle. Viewed from heaven or hell, the reason for the season was all out spiritual warfare. God came down into Satan’s domain to face down the dragon on his own turf, and the old dragon was not about to let that happen without a fight! He used Herod in an attempt to kill the baby Jesus, and he would use many others. All of hell’s fury would be released against that baby boy born that silent and holy night. And as the baby Jesus lay in that manger that night, somewhere in Palestine there grew a tree that would one day be cut down and fashioned into an old rugged cross. It would be that cross that would become ultimate Christmas tree upon which would be hung God’s ultimate gift! So John tells us this Christmas story with an attitude, and we are reminded to always view the manger through the lens of the cross!

RIP Maggie

Last night, we took Maggie to the vet for the last time.  The little pom-terrier mix-mutt was  part of our lives for more than eleven years, and I've had a lump in my throat all day.  I really owe Tracy Brainard an apology.  Years ago she called the church building (in tears) asking for her family to be put on the prayer list because they had just lost a dog.  I think I responded appropriately, but I thought the woman had lost her mind. It's just a dog, right?  No, Maggie wasn't just a dog.  Sorry, Tracy; I understand now.

The picture at right was taken at the pound in Williamsburg where we got Maggie (on one of several visits we had to make before we were allowed to take her home).  They guess-timated that Maggie was 2-5 years old when we got her, so she lived to the ripe old age of 12-16 (and in doggie years, that's... well, you do the math).  She had a good life, but the tumor that had grown from golf ball size through softball size was heading for bowling ball size, and she was deaf and almost blind.  And it was time.  There are many things pets remind us about life-- like that it doesn't last forever.

Angelynn had asked us for a dog since... well, since as long as I can remember.  But we were never going to get her a dog because we're just not dog people.  At some point, Mom told us that we should probably get the child a dog, and Keri started looking at all the area pounds.  And before I knew it, Maggie was living INSIDE our house (which we also said would never, ever happen) and sleeping in our bed (which she continued to do for years until SHE decided she would be more comfortable on the floor at the end of the bed).  I'm still not really a dog person, but I turned out to be a Maggie person.

So I felt like I needed to mark Maggie's passing with something, so Maggie gets one last blog.  I've actually written several about her over the years-- the short piece below was written in March 2008.  It was titled "Maggie the Wonder Dog."

My lunch break yesterday reads a little like an old episode of Lassie. I was home on my lunch hour minding my own business and eating my peanut butter and (no sugar added) jelly sandwich when Maggie started barking. Now usually that means that the mailman has just delivered our mail. There was no mail when I went to the front door, but there was smoke, and lots of it, coming out from behind our across-the-street neighbor's backyard. I got my cell phone and went over to investigate, wanting to make sure someone wasn't barbecuing on a really big grill before I called the fire department. Sure enough, the back yard was on fire. I'm not talking just a little bit on fire; the grass, shrubs, pine needle mulch, split rail fence and several trees were burning and the flames had jumped to the other side of the fence. The smoke was so thick by that time that I couldn't tell how far back it went. 

So I called 911, and 5 minutes later a fire truck pulled up and fireman jumped out and started doing their fireman thing. Fifteen minutes later, a second fire truck pulled up to add its crew to the mix. Firemen were running around grabbing hoses, axes and shovels just like on TV. I watched the show for awhile chatting with another neighbor before going back to work. I went over after supper to chat with the guy across the street and see the damage. It came fairly close to the house, but nothing was really hurt except a fence that he said he has been meaning to replace. If the fire had burned much longer, that could have been very different. 

So Maggie the Wonder Dog saved the day. I still have no idea if she was really barking at the fire or not. She may have glimpsed a squirrel running for its life across the street... which is exactly what any squirrel in the vicinity would have been doing. But there is a good chance I would've have noticed what was going on had she not been barking. So we'll credit Maggie the Wonder Dog with saving our neighbor's house. And then she went out and found Timmy who had fallen down a well.

Good-bye, girl,  Good dog!

Jesus Was an Occupier... of a Cross

I don't get the whole “Occupy Wall Street” deal. According to the movement's unofficial web site, the movement is a protest against “the corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations over the democratic process, and the role of Wall Street in creating an economic collapse that has caused the greatest recession in generations.”  The slogan “we are the 99%” refers to the vast concentration of wealth and therefore power and influence in the top 1% of the population. “Occupy Wall Street” began as a protest rally on Wall Street itself that quickly spread to other cities— locally we had “Occupy Norfolk,” a march that drew literally tens of people (the news said a hundred, but I think they showed the same little group from different angles). Corporate greed and high unemployment seems to be the one thing that these protesters have in common, though some of the rallies that have spread to Europe seem to be more of a place for “football hooligans” to hang out during the off season. Some have compared the OWS movement to the liberal counterpart of the Tea Party movement. I would prefer to combine the best elements of both worlds and create an “Occupy Starbucks” movement.

So why write about something that I admit that I know little about? (If I didn't, I'd never write anything!)  Well, I ran across a speech made by Jesse Jackson to an “Occupy London” crowd earlier this week in which he said, “Jesus was an Occupier, born under a death warrant, a Jew by religion, born in poverty under Roman occupation.” Besides the logical contradiction (Jackson’s statement makes Jesus an “Occupied” rather than “Occupier”), I bristled at the suggestion that Jesus would have been right in the middle of the OWS protests lending his support to the movement.

But then, I also bristle when I read Tony Perkins’ blog “Jesus Was a Free Marketer, Not an Occupier” on CNN’s BeliefNet last week. In Luke 19, Jesus tells the “Parable of the Ten Minas” (Luke's version of the parable of the talents) in which a rich man goes off to be crowned king and gives each of his ten servants a mina (about three months wage) with the command “Put this money to work…until I come back.” (Lk 19:13). Two servants do that—one making 10 minas and the other 5, and as a reward they are made governors of 10 and 5 cities. But one servant hid his in the ground and is condemned for not obeying his master (and now king). Perkins point is that Jesus' parable blesses the free market system and condemns the unproductive servant (who looks a lot like the motley OWS crowd). He writes—

Jesus rejected collectivism and the mentality that has occupied America for the last few decades: that everyone gets a trophy – equal outcomes for inequitable performance. There are winners and yes, there are losers. And wins and losses are determined by the diligence and determination of the individual.

Jesus has the king kill all of political enemies at the end of the parable. (Lk 19:27).  Is Jesus also blessing that kind of political retaliation along with free market capitalism?  The point of the parable is that people thought that the kingdom of God was about to appear (in the form of an earthly overthrow of the Romans). Jesus is telling his disciples that they could not know when the king was coming so they'd better be busy doing His work and being ready for His return all the time. The point isn't how people will be rewarded for their work. Now there is a parable that makes that point-- "The Parable of the Workers in the Field" in Matthew 20:1-16.  There Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who hires workers to work in his fields and then pays them  the same wages whether they have worked all day or only one hour. God’s free-market system is just that—FREE. Grace does means that everyone DOES get a trophy whether they deserve it or not… because none of us can deserve it.

Jesus was neither an Occupier or Free-Marketer. Jesus was Messiah. His message was "the kingdom of God has come near" (Mk 1:15) and "the kingdom of God is within you: (Lk 17:21). Jesus identified with the poor and the homeless (Matt 8:20), so He would be likely be more at home with the OWS crowd than some of them are. But Jesus was also the friend of “tax collectors and sinners” (Lk 15:1), and the tax collectors were definitely not part of the 99% economically. They were social/religious outcasts precisely because they had gotten rich through the economic oppression of the 99%.  And Jesus hobnobbed with them along with poor and homeless.  And Jesus even hobnobbed with those who were definitely the 1% of his society, guys like Simon the Pharisee who were both wealthy and influential (see Luke 7:36-50).

I don’t believe that Jesus would be part of ANY of our political, social or economic movements today— He would not be a Republican, Democrat, Tea-Partier or Occupier...  though he would be happy to hang with any of those folks if they would listen to Him.  Jesus was for people, all people. Jesus was about the breaking of the kingdom of God into the world. He was the Great Physician who had come to heal the sick... all the sick.  He was the Lamb of God who had come to lay down his life for the lost—all the lost. Jesus was too busy touching the lives of people in need to ever have time to occupy anything... except a cross.

Tim, Aaron and Faith in the Workplace

As a lifelong Colts fan, this NFL season was shaping up to be an utter wasteland ( Colts are 0-12), then along came Tim Tebow. Tebow won two national championships and a Heisman trophy in college, but has been routinely panned as not having the skills needed to be a pro quarterback. After going 1-4 at the beginning of this season, the Denver Broncos switched to Tebow and have won 6-of-7 and lead their division. (OK, they have away games at the Bears and Patriots coming up, so the bubble might burst). But I am  pulling for Tebow and the Broncos like I have for no other team since Johnny U. hung us his high tops.

Why? Tebow is a committed Christian who has taken a lot of criticism because of his faith. He kneels during games (panned as “Tebowing”) and thanks Jesus for his success. When asked about his latest comeback win against the Vikings, he told Peter King that he was most proud of the fact he was able to say “hello” in the interview to Blake Appleton, a young fan who is suffering with cancer. He then ended the interview with “Have a good day, Mr. King. And God bless you.” Tebow isn’t the first NFL player to pray or thank God (Kurt Warner, Troy Polamalu, etc.), but Tebow has been mercilessly criticized for his faith. One player taunted him after a sack by striking a prayer pose.

Former Bronco quarterback Jake Plummer said that while Tim is a winner, “I think that when he accepts the fact that we know that he loves Jesus Christ, then I think I'll like him a little better.” Tebow, who comes across as quiet and humble, replied simply, “I feel like anytime I get the opportunity to give the Lord some praise, he is due for it." Football analyst Boomer Esiason was been particularly brutal in assessing Tebow, “He can’t play. He can’t throw.” But then he went on to say—

The kid is a tremendous character kid; If he said he wanted to marry my daughter, I'd be happy… But I wouldn't want him to be my first-round draft choice starting quarterback, which he's not capable of being right now.

(Tim, I have two daughters... I'm just saying). But the Broncos keep on winning, and Tebow keeps on pointing to Jesus. But I just have to think that the criticism he has received has nothing to do with football skills (or lack thereof) and more to do with the audacity of being public (and genuine) about his faith.

That brings me to another quarterback who is a dedicated Christian—Aaron Rodgers. Absolutely no one doubts Rodgers ability to play quarterback—he is the best player in the league and his Packers are 12-0. He went through many twists and turns in his career, and his path to the limelight has been less than meteoric. He once said, "God always has a plan for us, a path. Sometimes we wish we knew it sooner, but He always shows up His way." But Rodgers tales a quieter approach to faith--

I feel like my stance and my desire has always been to follow a quote from St. Francis of Assisi, who said, 'Preach the gospel at all times. If necessary, use words.' So basically, I’m not an over-the-top, or an in-your-face kind of guy with my faith. I would rather people have questions about why I act the way I act, whether they view it as positive or not, and ask questions, and then given an opportunity at some point, then you can talk about your faith a little bit.

OK, so now I’m also an Aaron Rodgers fan— maybe the Packers can play the Broncos in the Super Bowl. These are two very different approaches to bringing one’s faith into a high profile job. Which approach is the best? God definitely wants us to bring faith to our jobs (see Eph 6:5-7, Col 3:23). That faith must shape and mold us at work just as it does in every other aspect of our lives. And the faith that shows up at work just might influence people around us in more ways than we realize.

What's Forever For?

Not since Zsa Zsa Gabor has anyone been so famous for just being famous than has Kim Kardasian. And of course, what she is most famous for recently is having a lavish, made-for-TV "royal wedding" and then filing for divorce only 72 days later. OK, we are used to celebrity marriages ending early and ugly (can anyone say "Charlie Sheen"), but 72 days? We have food in our refrigerator that is older than that! OK, maybe it wasn't totally shocking when Kardasian released the following from her publicist--

After careful consideration, I have decided to end my marriage…I hope everyone understands this was not an easy decision. I had hoped this marriage was forever but sometimes things don’t work out as planned. We remain friends and wish each other the best.

We don't have cable TV, so I have never, ever kept up with the Kardasians. I also never, ever watch the NBA, I didn't know Kris Humphries, Miss Kardasian's 72-day husband. The suggestion has been made that the whole marriage was simply an excuse to have the wedding which promoted the Kardasian brand and made a lot of money in the process. I don't know about that, but I do know that 72 days is a bit too short a time to "give careful consideration" to buying a new car, let alone something as important as one's marriage.

I'd like to say that this can happen only in Hollywood, but that is, of course, not true. The most extravagant and elaborate wedding that has ever been conducted at our church building also has another distinction. This was back when we had pews, and we had to remove the first two rows of pews to accommodate the string ensemble (including a huge classical harp) that provided the music for the wedding. This was (I believe) the first instrumental music that was ever used in a wedding at our building, but that is the the "distinction" I mentioned above. No, sadly, while this was the longest wedding I ever performed, it was the shortest marriage-- the couple stayed together barely 3 months after the wedding. In retrospect, I think the bride (like Miss Kardasian) wanted a big fancy formal wedding-- what she didn't want was a husband.

Yesterday for no particular reason, a old song lyric came to mind. I couldn't remember the song, just the phrase "if love never lasts for ever, what's forever for." Google reminded me that this lyric comes from the song "What's Forever For" written by Rafe VanHoy and recorded by artists like Anne Murray, T. G. Sheppard, Billy Gilman, and England Dan and John Ford Coley, and it was a #1 hit for country singer Michael Martin Murphey in 1982. Lynn often wonders why I can remember obscure things like song lyrics but can't remember to take the trash out on Tuesdays.  (Uhh... I think I did take it out today... I hope).

I think the song's questions resonate in a world in which people get married so that they can have a big wedding and then get divorced way too often and far too easily. "So what’s the glory in living? Doesn’t anybody ever stay together anymore? And if love never lasts forever, tell me, what’s forever for?" It is exactly that forever to which Jesus points when asked to comment on divorce (see Matthew 19:4-6). The reason that God failed to honir Judah's worship was because they failed to honor the forever in their marriages (see Malachi 2:13-16). Both of these texts lead us to ask the same question posed by this old country song, "If love never lasts forever, what's forever for?"