PLUNGE47

“I pictured my pastor as a salesman or a magician, trying to trick the congregation into believing Jesus could make us new.” – Don Miller, Blue Like Jazz

As Christmas approaches I have become one of the relentless shoppers. Albeit one of those filling the crowded crowd-less internet. And everyday I watch the lightning deals on Amazon. This has resulted in me buying a few ridiculous items. My dad received a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree (which was then used for a sermon illustration). My family  received a boxes upon boxes of tissues at a low price. But beyond that there has not been anything too exciting. I do not have the devotion to get anything that is really wonderful and cheap. I alway find those deals sold out.

Yet I keep watching – which must say something about my valuable time… and last night I hit the jack-pot: an Obama Chia Pet… Seriously, I am kidding. Instead, I was left wondering who would want such a gift? At first glance it seems offensive (imagine the “hair” growing). So what Democrate would enjoy the gift? And yet I can not imagine Republicans lining up to pay for even the deal price of $14.24.

Of course 45% were already claimed when I made my discovery, so maybe I just do not understand this world?

But this is where my problem begins. In my highly skilled profession we set out to convince people of the gospel. Then we are left wondering why no one seems to hear what was spoken. Amen’s and head nods aside, following a sermon, we head home in the same ruts – unchanged.

Logically this seems ridiculous. Christians should live as Christ does – myself included. But in a Chia Pet Society – well, logic is left out of reality. We do things unexplainable. From materialism to racism (and Obama Chia may be a two for one deal! thanks Amazon!). So what is there to do?

Join me in prayer for this Christmas and New Year. That God will plant seeds of truth.

Tim Tebow is my fantasy football quarterback. This is not to make a statement – I would much prefer Aaron Rodgers. Instead his place is the result of injuries and necessity. When you add in his ground game he always scores more than any other quarterback on my team – so he is my quarterback. Though, as I said I would much prefer someone else – hence my dream team’s 5-6 record. I have only the slightest hope of a play-off spot. Unlike the real Tebow who plays in the decrepit AFC West.

Because of this I find myself paying more attention to Tim Tebow. It seems a majority of the press world hates him. Not for anything he does on the field – though they are startled he wins. Instead they hate his constant witness. And I will confess, my first reaction is to cringe. I would rather not see Christians ridiculed in the town square. Plus I wonder if the witness is more show than effect. [Tim Everly sent me a great article on Kurt Warners reaction to Tebow - Which I agreed with Warner.]

Granted the NFL is all about show. Did you see Stevie Johnson’s touchdown dance, pretending to be shot in the leg. He was mocking Plaxico Burress who accidentally shot himself in the leg at a night club. From this perspective Tebowing makes more sense. While it would be ludicrous  for us to bow after a successful job running copies – everyone in the NFL is promoting themselves, so why not blatantly promote Christ?

It is rare for us to lament self-promotion – at least with the NFL. Most of the time I do not even notice. So why all the fuss about Tim?? Really why does anyone care? On this I read another article and it has a great line toward the end, “The level of discourse about religion in this country is frankly embarrassing, a b—— child of political discourse.”

Some might cringe at this quote, but it is truth (unfortunately, it can be true of discourse inside the church!). But because of everyone’s overreaction I am left wondering what is effective witness? As I see it play out in the press, with pro-Tebow and anti-Tebow shouting at one another – my Christian friends seem evenly divided by Tebow, I am left wondering what does God want? How does He want us to witness?

This is the place I think most Christians find ourselves. We want to witness, we know we are supposed to witness, but we are not quite sure how. Plus, what we see happening to Tebow, can happen on a smaller scale to all of us. Just bringing up God can end conversations. Can end friendships.

Now some of us will have answers. Live the life style of Christ. Build relationships. Be more bold in individual relationships, rather trying to shout in the crowd.

And yet, all of the polarization, has left many of us scared. Unsure. We debate all of Tebow’s words, but our own voice of witness is…

silent.

When get so passionate on one side of Tebow or the other we are debating the wrong question. There is no reason to ponder Tebow’s witness. Buying his t-shirt misses the point. Because our support is owed to another. So, instead of the Tebow debate, we should spend time pondering our own witness…

or lack there of.

When was the last time you witnessed to someone? Not invited them to church, but witnessed. Moved beyond an example of actions to words. Words that give meaning to your life. 

As we await the arrival of little Darcy many have reminded us that each child arrives a little quicker. The tongue in cheek comment is I should be ready to deliver (more likely I would pass out). My mom, the first of seven, related the story of her younger sister’s arrival in the upstairs of their house. Of course the hospital, not missing an opportunity, still sent a bill for the delivery. I can only imagine what Gramps said to them over the phone!

Not so long ago every baby was delivered at home. My Granny related the story of another birth. Growing up Granny’s parents did not share details with the children. So Granny, still little, did not know her mama was pregnant. The children did worry as their mom got bigger and they asked why? Granny’s mom responded, “I am filling up with water and if you children do not behave I will pop!” Thankfully, Granny was not around when her mom burst; instead, she remembers being outside when her dad called from the porch, “Do you want to come and meet…”

Can you imagine not having nine months to prepare for the arrival of a baby?

While the world moves faster and faster around us, the ebb and flow of God’s design is slower paced. It takes nine months for a baby to arrive and then years for the baby to slowly learn to be an adult (not that everyone takes advantage of this time). God realizes the importance of the journey, the mistake of shortcuts.

So, when God set forth to bring salvation He could have brought out of the dirt a fully formed person. The messiah could have wandered in from the wilderness and began to preach, “The Kingdom of God is at hand.” What was the purpose of the thirty years before?

For that matter why did the years have to be so challenging? Born under suspicion and into poverty. Soon a refugee… and he was just a toddler. It would be years before he would deliver the message.

There were easier ways. But the best is not easy. God could have snapped His fingers and made us submissive. This would have demonstrated He was God. But He did not come to deliver that message.

Instead He came to deliver the message that He is love. But love is not quick. It can not happen in a snap. Love is a journey. To know someone you must walk and toil together. Even struggle together. And to love, you must be willing to sacrifice.

In this love new life arrived – bursting forth to all of us.

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Rambling on… It is surprising that a faith built on such love: Such preparation. Such work and toil. Such sacrifice. That this faith wants things to be quick. Easy. We want to worship in Spirit and Truth NOW. We want salvation and life change NOW – especially for our neighbors.

And for that matter, we want it all outsourced. Why worry ourselves when we can hire someone to take care of the details? In this way we can arrive and be fed (rather than finding it ourselves)… but it is in this way that we are left with nothing to share.

Faith that delivers life is not easy. It can not be outsourced. It can only happen when we come together with Christ (as he came together with us). To work and toil. To sacrifice. To love.

Are you wondering why the church is not bursting? Why worship seems common? Why is there tension between groups? Or why…  Do not look outward.

It is easy to turn on others. But the answer is not them. The answer is you. Or as you read this – I write it – the answer is to say, “I am the one to deliver new life.”

Then we should ask, “Have I taken time to prepare?”

The Kindergarten Thanksgiving performance was a riot. A complete joy sitting among other parents with camcorders attached to our arms. Ivy had a speaking role and with ease she rattled off her line…

She has every appearance of living for these moments. She danced and smiled with joy on stage. Her teacher even pulled us aside to comment on our little star. Yet before we left, we searched the house for Ivy. I found her in the bathroom overflowing with nervousness.

On the trip to the school, in an effort to get her to speak, I broke out her new favorite CD (the burned CD of the children’s Christmas program). Even then she barely sang along – though I belted out all the lyrics. (Thankfully my girls have not reached the stage to judge my skills – they still dance with me and believe I know what I am doing!)

We all know this strange emotion. This fear of failure. I had thought it would take longer to develop. But pulling into the school I felt for Ivy. We have all been in her shoes – with only adrenaline to carry us forward.

We could remain stuck. Overcome by fear. Living the life of the Super Committee. But there is no reward when we are idle. I suppose failure is avoided… but then so is life.

As we move toward Thanksgiving take the untraveled roads. Move out of your comfortable cubicle. Do the thing that frightens you**. Feel the rush of adrenaline.

Then give thanks. Because come failure or success, victory or defeat, we know our Father loves us. That He is proud of us. And He is belting out the lyrics of our favorite songs,

“The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” ~ Zeph 3:17

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** For me, the question, “what frightens?” is an easy and long list. And it begins with snakes. But I am not calling for us to buy a recorder and become snake tamers (no matter how much having the whole church learn the recorder excites Polly). Instead, what are things you know you should do, but avoid? Like being the first to apologize. Or speaking to your friend about – fill in the blank.

As adults it can be difficult to answer the question of “what frightens?” When we are children we are forced into fearful situations, from starting school to public speaking to … but as adults we can avoid situations. Over time we learn what we are good at, where we are accepted (and by whom) – so we are able to create comfortable cubicles. In these spaces we imagine we are brave, but there is no bravery without fear! When our choices only extend to the edge of the cubicle, the world is too small. Break free. Take the risk. Experience the bravery of overcoming fears.

We all have a memory of the milk slowly becoming solid in someone’s refrigerator (never our own). In these moments expiration dates make sense. Food breaks down – weird things happen. And I can only imagine what happens to the people who drink clumpy milk. And yet we also know that expiration dates are just estimates. An expired can of soda won’t kill you. As a youth pastor I drank my fair share and even gave them out to students (we found a stash of year expired cans in the back of our closet). I am none the worse for wear, nor were the students – though I admit it is hard to judge what causes all the changes taking place inside students!

The Calder’s recently related a story of the arrival of their youngest. Before they could carry her out of the hospital the nurse asked to see their car seat. It was a good seat, it had served well through their first children. It was Kid tested. Experienced you could say. But the nurse only checked one thing – the sticker on the bottom. And the sticker revealed the car seat was not just past its prime – but expired. Therefore the nurse refused to let them take home their new little girl…

And it seems we are in the same predicament (the photos above). I told Meg we should just risk it. After-all nurses get busy. Unfortunately this produced, “what kind of father are you?” look (or maybe the “how did I marry you?” look – they are close to the same). And we are now registered for a new car seat/stroller combo*.

* Why the combo? Well, I had already pushed my luck convincing her our stroller with the broken handle could last one more kid (It pops back in place each time!). But once I started losing, especially with logic could leave our baby at the hospital…  well my victories can be like a house of cards.

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When I related this story at small group, Katie Jo responded by saying, “So some guy can lite-up while carrying the baby out of the hospital, but you can’t take you baby home without a new carseat?!”

This is the way of regulations. They are often good things. But they are never perfect. There are always exceptions.  I am sure at some point our carseat would break and not be safe. But right now we have only used it for two years (one year for each girl). Obviously the regulation was designed with the possibility that it could be in use all six years. And while materials break down over time, I imagine there would be warning signs (like smelling the milk).

Plus, back to Katie Jo’s comment, regulations often miss the most important parts of life. As we took Ivy home I wondered how can anyone let me walk out of here with a child? I had (sometimes have) no clue what I was doing – yet, with the right carseat…

And it is this way with the law. Hence Christ came. He brought salvation, not only for the coming age – but this age. He taught a new way of life. One not bound by regulations, but committed to relationships.

The written law is good as a guide, but true holiness requires much more. I suppose Christ taught us the smell test for life. That we may know what is truly good.

I do not often post on Facebook. Sure there are announcements for my brilliant blogs, but I assume most people are not interested in the random details of my life. Yet occasionally something is so significant I decide to post. Like the day Phoebe finally made it to the potty. After loads of failures (and laundry) our little girl had taken the most important step toward maturity (Think I exaggerate? Walking and talking can not compare. If the person sitting next to you could only do one what would you prefer???). But that moment proved to be a mirage and the laundry continued… and soon defeat set-in. Rhett could save his “Wooooooo Hooooooo” or maybe change the “w” to a “b”!

And now here we are again attempting to teach little Phoebe how to potty. Our plan was to have her trained before Darcy arrives (not just for the ease, but the financial savings of one less in diapers). We are stacked with glorious Halloween candy as incentive. Even more, this morning, while changing her pants I told her she could have anything if she would just potty in the potty. Which I should know from scripture is a silly thing for a dad to say to his daughter (consider Herod and his daughter - or poor John the Baptist, Mark 6:17-29), but potty training can make a drive to Disney World seem worthwhile!

Unfortunately, Phoebe is not at all interested in potty-training. I expect her to be troubled by wet pants. Instead, she would rather me not change her pants! She wants to keep reading her books! The thought of candy is exciting, but not enough to motivate. So here we are wondering if maybe we again just need to wait. At least I know this time to wait to post anything on Facebook.

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We are effected and changed by all kinds of things out of our control. I make plans for Phoebe, but in reality only she can choose to use the potty. And someday she will, but not on my timeline. This is also true of so many other events in life. Terrible things enter our lives. Rarely do we have any control. We certainly try to grab life’s reigns. Unfortunately life is not a trained horse, but wild. And no matter how we pull and jerk, the horse will take us where we do not want to go…

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For Halloween we always carve a pumpkin, then Meg bakes the seeds. Below is the picture of our jack-o-lantern. He watches as Phoebes eats the pumpkin seeds. Completely disconcerting – to him, but out of his control!

The picture is silly, but these moments – moments together – are one thing we can control. We can love and live with our family and friends. We can invite others inside. So while life continues to jerk us here and there – we will not go alone. Instead we have friends and pumpkins seeds for the ride… I just hope the person I am by is potty trained.