Happy Holidays!

Every Christmas, some people get all upset about stores and others who use the phrase “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.” And every year it is couched in terms of an anti-Christian conspiracy. Even when I was a kid, I can remember people saying “Put Christ BACK into Christmas!” As though we even have the power to remove Him from the holiday!

Now, I’m not talking about Christmas trees. Because there is no such thing as a “Holiday tree”, so calling a Christmas tree a Holiday tree is just plain dumb. But, I digress…

Ever since Andy Williams sang “Happy Holidays” it has been a common greeting. And I don’t think Christians need to be offended by it. In fact, here’s how I filter the whole thing: If someone says to me, “Happy Holidays”, I respond, “Thank you!” Period.

Simple, huh?

Unless the person fires off some anti-Christmas or anti-Christian diatribe with their “Happy Holidays” greeting, just receive it graciously. No need to pick a fight. Remember that during this time of year, there are several holidays (and you don’t have to be talking about Hanukah or Kwanza, either): Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years. Some even include Halloween as part of the holidays. In any case, why get upset about it at all? It is easier to say “Happy Holidays” than it is to say “Happy Halloween/Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Years”! Have you considered the printing costs of having four banners made in just over two months?

Oh, there IS a conspiracy to undermine God’s redemptive plan. It is called Evil. And wishing someone “Happy Holidays” does not qualify as evil. I’m sorry. It just doesn’t. There are far bigger loaves and fishes to fry in the Good vs. Evil war.

Government Charity

While I have obvious disagreements with Penn Jillette with regard to religion, I think his take on “government charity” is right on. Here is Jillette’s quote (found in several places on the internet):

“It’s amazing to me how many people think that voting to have the government give 
poor people money is compassion. Helping poor and suffering people is compassion. Voting for our government to use guns to give money to help poor and suffering people is immoral self-righteous bullying laziness. 

“People need to be fed, medicated, educated, clothed, and sheltered, and if we’re compassionate we’ll help them, but you get no moral credit for forcing other people to do what you think is right. There is great joy in helping people, but no joy in doing it at gunpoint.”

Jesus talked a lot about loving our neighbors, including caring for those in need. But He never projected that ethic onto the government, and I think for good reason: it doesn’t work. When we try to assign the government to do our compassion, even in America where the government is supposed to be “of the people, by the people and for the people” (at least according to Abraham Lincoln), we remove from our own personal obligation the need to be compassionate people. As Jillette says, “if we’re compassionate we’ll help them” not vote that others help them.

This is very difficult for people to comprehend, because the government is BIG, and if we want to accomplish BIG things, we get the government involved, right?

There is a distinct difference in quality, if not quantity, when we’re talking about compassion, charity, good works, etc. in relation to government vs. individuals. When a neighbor is in need, it is fundamentally different for me to take on the role of compassionately helping them then it is for the government to do so. Both might address the need, but only the neighbor can show compassion. A government program cannot show compassion, precisely because it is, by necessity, impersonal. No matter how compassionate the government WORKER might be, the actual help provided by the government cannot be compassionate. So when we vote to have government money given to people in need, we may do so out of compassionate intent, but the result is not compassion. Again, using Jillette’s quote, by forcing others “at gunpoint” to likewise provide funds (taxation is enforced, ultimately, by police with guns) is not compassion; it “is immoral self-righteous bullying laziness.”

I understand Dorothy Day also made the point that when the government takes over charitable work, the individual is no longer inclined to do so. I couldn’t find the quote, but Day’s reference was noted by others. I believe that as our government takes on more and more of the “compassion” work, we individuals will take on less and less.

Coerced compassion is not compassion at all; it is coercion.

From Pitt to Matthau

While walking with my pastor-friend, Scott, recently, he suggested an image that has stayed with me. He said that he had gotten to the age where he realizes that, contrary to what his self image has been for years, he is not Brad Pitt in “Troy”; he is more Walter Matthau in “Grumpy Old Men”!

I can most certainly relate.

In fact, I think that for men, this is a common experience of aging/maturing.

The Brad Pitt (who isn’t even old enough to have been my self-image when I was in my 20′s!) identity comes naturally with young age. The feeling that you can do anything, conquer any foe, rescue any damsel whether in distress or not: the feeling that you are invincible. For me I carried that image from age 19 until around 40 when I realized that I was no such thing. At 40 my body began to deteriorate rather quickly. My eyesight suddenly got worse (it had suffered much in seminary when I “read my eyes out!”), my blood pressure got out of control and my blood sugar level became an issue. At 50, other things began to dissipate. Now, at 55 I look in the mirror, expecting to see a young, virile Brad Pitt-ish guy, only to discover an old, grumpy Walter Matthau (whom I loved as an actor, I didn’t know him as a person).

Not that being Walter is a bad thing, it just isn’t as thrilling and, well, virile as being Brad. I’m sure in his day, Walter was plenty virile and that Brad will one day look in the mirror and see some other old codger. It is the way of All Men.

But it is a rather rude awakening. I am sure that I am the last one in my life to have figured this out. People who know me are probably shaking their head as they read this, wondering how in the world it took me so long to see.

To them, I say, “do me a favor: put your lip over your head… and swallow!“

I Can’t Think of Anything to Write

I’m not cut out to be a blogger. Obviously. It has been two months since my last post, and that particular post was written several months previously and had been sitting on my desktop waiting for a revision. Oh well. Thankfully, God did not call me to Blogging, although blogging and preaching are similar enough that one might assume that a preacher can blog and a blogger can preach.

Not necessarily.

I don’t have a problem coming up with a sermon each week. Although, sometimes, my sermons are as helpful as many blogs (no offense, bloggers, but some are quite lame!). That’s a confession of sorts. I could just blog my sermons, but I’m afraid any readers I have may opt out because my sermons are dry reading. I don’t know (and I am NOT fishing for compliments, so don’t bother).

I have a great deal of respect for real bloggers who seem to come up with some really good posts on a regular basis. That’s a gift. I wish I had that gift, but I don’t. Now, when I was on sabbatical last year, I blogged a lot. Ah, perhaps therein lies the answer!

I am at St. Andrew’s Abbey again for a day-away retreat. I don’t have an agenda, but I’m reading and praying (and blogging, sort of). But then, I was up here last month for a week and never blogged. Maybe I just don’t have anything to say? That could be!

So I’ll close this rambling essay and get back to reading. Maybe something will catch my fancy and I’ll come back and write something.

Don’t hold your breath!

I’m Bored!

I know I said it when I was a kid, too. But whenever I did, someone would find something for me to do! I notice it more, now that I’m all grown up, when kids say it. Perhaps it is because I am seldom bored, due to an inexhaustible list of things I want to do but never have time for. Whatever the reason, I decided to think about boredom.

It is ironic, that the same generation which frequently complains of being bored is the same generation whose contemporaries on American Idol frequently choose to sing (and often forget the lyrics for) “I Hope You Dance”! Consider:

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder

You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger

I hope you still feel small when you stand by the ocean

Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens…¹

While lauding the song, many fall into deep despair whenever something or someone is not constantly entertaining them. Like a drug addiction, the user clamors for more and more in order to avoid the dreaded boredom.

I want to yell, “Go read a book!” Wait, I do yell that. Get off Facebook and talk with someone face to face! Get it? Face. Book. There’s wisdom in that name. (But don’t try that with Twitter!)

Gad, I feel old! But come on! Life does not exist to entertain you!

I seriously think that one of the big problems is that we have “liberated” our kids from using their imagination. We give them video games, movies (even on their phones), the internet, television, gigabytes of music at their finger tips, etc. They have instant connection with hundreds of friends via texting and “social networks.” They never have to imagine anything, it is all right there in “living” color. Even reading is becoming multi-media. Don’t get me wrong, I love Kindle, but there is something to be said for letting the imagination fill in the blanks rather than having a machine do it for you.

That said, I think we have a serious problem in our culture. When our youth lose their imaginations, the future becomes unimaginable. Literally. If it is true that boredom is a symptom of the lack of imagination, as I believe it is, then boredom may well be killing ours and their future.

And, of course, there is wisdom in my parents’ method of treating my childhood boredom: chores! I learned not to say I was bored because they would say, “I’ll give you something to do!” That was a quick fix, to be sure, but it worked (at least in reducing the number of times I proclaimed boredom!).

If you are bored, it is nobody’s fault but your own.

_______________________

¹ I Hope You Dance, lyrics by Mark D. Sanders and Tia Sillers, copyright 2000 Uni/Mca Nashville. All rights reserved.

Sunday Afternoon

I’m sitting in my back yard like I did so often last summer during my sabbatical just enjoying the beautiful weather and pondering things. I have the sprinkler watering a brown patch in the lawn, running the pool filter having already watered the garden. Now I’m typing on my PlayBook slate trying to get used to typing on a screen. I like a tactile keyboard better!

I tweeted this morning that I miss waking up on Sunday without the old familiar pressure that comes with being a solo pastor who is “on” every Sunday. I suppose I can look forward to retirement for this, but it does wear on one.

I need to find ways to continue the practices I began last summer. It is so easy to fall back into old habits and patterns! Sabbath is the best way, I believe, but it takes discipline and a little help from others. I spent Sabbath this week visiting my parents, which is good and necessary, but not very restful for me. Oh well! Such is the challenge. It is not easy for anyone.

I need intercessors praying for me. Thank you, friends, for those prayers!

Sabbatical +1

It has been almost exactly a year since I started my sabbatical, and nine months since I concluded it. I am back where it started: St. Andrew’s Abbey in Valyermo, at “my spot” (see picture).

Back in my spot.

It seems very strange!

I was forever changed by the experience, but I have returned to some very familiar habits and practices. I have not kept up my spiritual disciplines. I have tried (more or less) to keep Sabbath, but not consistently. I have not kept up a serious discipline of reading, nor have I kept my morning prayer time well. But being here reminds me of my commitments, so maybe there is hope.

My friend, John, has been given a sabbatical next year and has asked me to share some of my learnings with him as he prepares.

 

THREE THINGS I WOULD DO AGAIN

1. Read books on Sabbath and sabbaticals as I prepare. Some suggestions: The Rest of God by Mark Buchanan, Sabbath by Abraham Joshua Heschel, Keeping the Sabbath Wholly by Marva Dawn. There are many others, but these are a good start.

2. Work out a plan for the sabbatical. However, see point 1 below. Make it realistic and varied. Mix in a lot of open space. One of the best things for me was doing NOTHING! Plan on vacation time with family and friends and some things you love to do, but never make time for (like fishing, golf, baseball, etc.). Plan on some time away to pray, and a conference or workshop or two.

3. Pray. This should have been first, but I will leave it here. In fact, practice Sabbath as a part of your preparation and pray a lot, listening to Abba tell you what you need to do or not do during the sabbatical.

 

THREE THINGS I WOULD DO DIFFERENTLY

1. Don’t plan to do too much. Sabbath (and thus sabbatical) is made for rest. We are to cease from doing work. Sometimes we are tempted to accomplish during sabbatical, but that is work. Set some goals, but be gentle with yourself. Remember that the principle goal of Sabbath/sabbatical is the rest of God.

2. Don’t agree to do any weddings or funerals and don’t go to the church for any functions. Stay away from doing work. Duh!

3. Don’t fall into the trap of believing that the sabbatical will save you or fix you! It won’t. It can’t! Have very low expectations of what will result from the sabbatical. Protect yourself from disappointment. Let God do what He is going to do. You will be refreshed, and that is the best thing about the sabbatical. Well, that and getting closer with Abba.

Local Pastors

In my denomination, The United Methodist Church, we have a term, Local Pastor. It refers specifically to a certain class of pastors who are laypersons, yet trained and deployed to local churches to serve as pastors. The term is also used in general to speak of pastors, lay or clergy, who are serving local churches. But it occurred to me that the term is redundant.

A pastor, it seems to me, is always local. In fact, there is no other kind of pastor but a local one!

Pastors are Shepherds of a group of people (a flock of sheep) called the Gathered (ecclesia, the Greek word translated as church means a gathering). There is another term for persons who over-see a larger area of the church. We call them bishops! The “pastor” on the TV (or the podcast) cannot be your pastor, unless he or she sees you, meets with you, shepherds you. Otherwise, she or he is just a preacher with no relationship to you. The pastor who moves from your church to another local church is no longer your pastor for the same reason. So the term, local pastor, is redundant because there is no other kind of pastor but a local one.

Pastors can be certified, commissioned, or ordained by a larger church body; or they may be simply recognized by a group of people (church). But they are always local, present, in proximity to those they shepherd.

Amen.

Proclamation Vs. Pro-Action

We Christians are truly into proclamation. It really is a part of who we are: we have a Gospel to proclaim, a story to tell, a message to deliver. Unfortunately, our “proclamation” has over-taken our “pro-action” to the point that people are not so interested in what we proclaim anymore (if they ever were). It is one reason why the guy with a megaphone on the corner shouting “Jesus loves you!” is so ineffective in convincing people of Jesus’ love.

In this post-modern age, people are much more interested in how we act, what we do, than in what we proclaim.

The two were never meant to be separated. Jesus said, “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. ” (Matthew 5:16) In a profound way, actions speak louder than words.

The Hebrew prophet, Micah, said it best. “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8) Now, admittedly, in Micah’s time there wasn’t a Gospel to proclaim, at least not to the world in general. The gospel (good news) for the Jews was well known (within that nation), that God had rescued them from slavery in Egypt and set them free. There wasn’t a big evangelism program to bring the nations into “saving relationship with Moses”. But for Christians the three requirements of the LORD stand: do justice, love kindness (or mercy), and walk humbly with God. And, oh yes, if necessary, as St. Francis purportedly said, use words!

As I said, proclamation is a PART of who we are. And we should be well trained in presenting the Truth of the Gospel. After all, most of what the world “hears” as the Gospel is really just a watered down version, a poor substitute for the Real Thing. Most of our hymns are proclamatory in nature, announcing What We Believe, which is good in its own right. But the world, literally, doesn’t want to hear it; the world wants to SEE it in action. That is, if they are interested at all. And if they are, being able to clearly articulate what God has revealed is important. But they are most likely to be interested only if they see the Gospel in action, lived out through people who profess it.

 

 

 

Do Your Job

While walking this morning with my friend and fellow pastor, Scott, a subject that has bothered me for some time came up. Later in the day, in wrestling with customer service folks at our mail-in pharmacy, a common theme emerged. There is a distinct shortage these days of people who actually do their job.

I know. I am one of them!

It is remarkable how we justify our failure to fulfill our job requirements. We blame it on others, on the weather, on the news, on God… We give occasional lip service to our own culpability in the matter, but everyone knows we really don’t believe we are to blame.

As true as this is vocationally, it is more so spiritually.

How often have you heard someone pray, “O Lord, help me to be faithful”? How often have you prayed something like this? I know, we mean “Lord, give me extra strength to be faithful, to overcome the challenges to faithfulness…”, or do we? We also pray, “Lord, help me be obedient.” Really?

God can only do so much. No, I’m not refuting the doctrine of God’s omnipotence. Rather, I should probably say, “God chooses to only do so much.” But you get my drift. The truth is, faithfulness is OUR job, not God’s. Oh, God is faithful, to be sure. In church we just sang one of my favorite hymns, “Great Is Thy Faithfulness.” God is ALWAYS faithful. But we are not, and therein lies the problem.

I think of a child who knows what he/she is supposed to do, has time to do it, knows how to do it, and still doesn’t do it. Take cleaning the bedroom, for instance. How often have you heard your child (hypothetically if you have no children) say, “Mommy (or Daddy) will you help me clean my room?” Now, I’m not opposed to occasionally helping such a child with said task, but if you jump in and do it all the time, guess what will happen? They will never learn how to do it themselves.

God is our Father. And he asks us to be faithful, to be obedient, to pull our own weight, to clean our spiritual rooms. To ask Him to “help us be faithful” is something like a child asking their parent to help them clean their room. Because we won’t truly be faithful until we are faithful in and of ourselves. Inasmuch as we are able, faithfulness is our job; obedience is our job.

And then there’s “Teach us to be prayerful!” JUST DO IT! What are you waiting for? Is your prayer really, “Make me WANT to pray…”? If that’s the case, it is purely a matter of obedience, and God is not going to help us with that. Again, that’s our job. And James (4:17) says, “Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, commits sin.”

Any questions?

So stop whining about being “too weak” to be faithful, to be obedient, to not spend significant time in prayer, or whatever. We are weak, but in our weakness, God’s strength is demonstrated (2 Cor. 12:10). That does not give us an excuse to stop trying! We are called to be faithful to all of God that we understand.

That’s your job. Now, do it!