tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27224476149457828712024-03-05T09:01:00.811-06:00Straight-FriendlyA devotional blog for LGBT and other alienated Christians--with occasional personal observations.Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01271248501086241494noreply@blogger.comBlogger1001125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722447614945782871.post-53953384597704002152013-03-31T00:00:00.000-05:002013-03-31T00:00:05.277-05:00Beyond the Graveyard
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The women were terrified and bowed
their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the
living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.” (Luke 24.5)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>The Third Day</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We know the story all too well, which is only proper, as the
entirety of our faith hinges on it. The disciples are struggling to absorb the
blow of Jesus’s sudden execution. They’re hidden out of sight, fearful they may
be next. Before dawn on Sunday, a group of women venture out to Jesus’s
graveside with spices to preserve His corpse. His burial was a hurried affair.
Since He owned no tomb, one had to be borrowed so He could be laid to rest
before Sabbath’s sundown. In the dim shadows of early light, the women return
to complete their task. They find the stone guarding Jesus’s body pushed aside.
He’s gone. Two dazzling figures appear out of the blue, terrifying the women. The
messengers can’t figure out why they’re there. Jesus repeatedly told them He
would be executed and rise again three days later. It’s the third day. They ask
the women, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but
has risen.” (Luke 24.5)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We can forgive the women their confusion. They’ve just
witnessed their beloved Teacher’s gruesome death at the hands of their political oppressors, sanctioned by their religious leaders. In the midst of their grief,
they face the hard reality that they are, for all practical purposes, enemies
of the state and religious rebels. The rush to bury Jesus left their work undone.
The men have gone underground. And their worst nightmare—that someone might
steal Jesus’s body, perhaps as a cruel prank to visit further indignities on
Him—appears to have come true. How can we possibly expect them to be
clearheaded? They’re just doing what they know to do, following ancient
tradition that burdens women with preserving their loved ones’ cadavers. Urgency
and grief leave no room to think things through. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Gospels’ compressed accounts of the Easter story leave
the impression that everything happens quickly: Where is Jesus? He’s not here.
He’s alive! Let’s run back to tell Peter and the rest of the guys. But that
question—<i>Why do you look for the living
among the dead?</i>—can’t be glossed over. It needs time to sink in. As the sun
edges over the horizon, it dawns on the women. Of course. Why would we expect
to find Jesus here, when He emphatically told us He would rise on the third
day? This is the last place He’d be. What were we thinking?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shadows<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why do you look for the living among the dead? It’s a
question that won’t go away—particularly for those of us who find ourselves on
the outs with the political and religious establishment. Our association with
Jesus raises suspicions. We answered His call to follow Him. Yet we suffer
intolerable sorrow as we witness constant attempts to mangle and destroy His
gospel of unconditional love. Some of us go underground, fearing we’ll also be
victims of religious hatred. In defiant grief, many of us summon false bravado
that induces us to withdraw completely from the community of believers. Who
wants to go where they’re not wanted? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But there are just as many, if not more, of us who fall into
the same patterns that brought the women to an abandoned tomb. Although we
don’t fit traditional molds, we persist in trying. We do what we’re told and
risk whatever it takes to get the job done. So we travel silently in predawn
shadows, taking care not to draw notice from anyone in a position to challenge
our faith. We worry about not completing unsavory tasks that diminish our
value. We fear the worst—that we’ll look for Jesus only to discover He’s been
stolen from us. Broken-hearted and confused, we end up in a graveyard, ready to
offer Jesus what He doesn’t need. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even if the men mustered the nerve to accompany Mary
Magdalene and the rest to the tomb, it’s doubtful they would have gone.
Dressing corpses is women’s work. As it turns out, that’s not the work Christ
needed them to do. Their spices and traditions are useless. When the reality of
what’s happened finally dawns on them, the women are tasked with delivering the
news of Jesus’s resurrection. This is a radical reordering of gender roles that
many struggle with to this day. Had these extraordinary women slunk back into
the shadows of tradition and fear, the Easter story might never have been told.
Why do you look for the living among the dead? Why indeed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Free to Live<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If we allow the Easter story to start and stop with Jesus
and the disciples, we reduce it to a magical tale that ends with “they all
lived happily ever after.” This unprecedented event is designed so that all who
embrace it by faith will likewise live happily ever after. To get there, however,
we have to break our addiction to shadows. We have to stop looking for Christ
among the dead. Trips to the graveyard, no matter how sincerely they’re
undertaken, get us nowhere. The Jesus we seek isn’t there. He is alive and well
and present among the living.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Romans 6, Paul tells us, “We know that Christ, being
raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over
Him. The death He died, He died to sin, once for all; but the life He lives, He
lives to God. So you must also consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God
in Christ Jesus.” (v9-11) “Dead to sin” means “free to live.” Jesus
accomplished this <i>once… for all</i>. Easter
lavishes on us a fully inclusive faith that defies every demeaning label and
tradition. The instant the stone rolled away it took the need for shadow-living
with it. No believer has any cause for fear or shame. We are all free to live
out our faith with boldness and clarity. So let’s put the spices away. Let’s forget
our anxieties about being found out and settling for second-best. Let’s quit
trying to do for Jesus what He doesn’t need. We answer a call higher than adherence
to ancient tradition and religious exclusion. We have been entrusted with the
unassailable truth of resurrection. We are alive to God. This is our story to
tell and we can’t proclaim it until we realize the graveyard is nowhere we want
to be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJekIF-QhKwqC8FqLiqft3Blx7xJVQ6pf7LQHgMk-g0wHptxil20BcqZkzkGKj7Hvhznpqh6qlscntzjF7YKCMuGjtxHfIsuH1HnIBkOqQkuy628izjq1-mQGrNSHRTj2Zag1OENYw2liP/s1600/Luke24-5-6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJekIF-QhKwqC8FqLiqft3Blx7xJVQ6pf7LQHgMk-g0wHptxil20BcqZkzkGKj7Hvhznpqh6qlscntzjF7YKCMuGjtxHfIsuH1HnIBkOqQkuy628izjq1-mQGrNSHRTj2Zag1OENYw2liP/s400/Luke24-5-6.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If our search for the
Risen Christ finds us clinging to shadows and abiding by demeaning traditions,
we’re looking in the wrong place.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Post-Script: Benediction</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today marks Straight-Friendly’s 1001th post. When I began
nearly five years ago, I had no idea where it would lead. I certainly didn’t
anticipate this little project would bring so many blessings to my life,
forging tremendous spiritual bonds and lasting friendships with so many kindred
spirits. I cherish every one of you who have supported this effort with your
prayers and encouragement. And I’m grateful to know the work we’ve done together
in this place has helped many who were struggling to find their place in God’s
kingdom.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Crossing this major threshold on Easter Sunday, it seems a
fitting time for Straight-Friendly to take its leave. There are new areas of
ministry I hope to explore, fresh horizons to seek out. While my heart will
always remain with each of you, I feel myself being drawn to people and places
the blog hasn’t reached. Setting it aside will provide time and energy to do
that. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Should the time come to resume S-F—or set out on another
online adventure—the first thing I’ll do is publish a post here. Meanwhile, I
hope to stay in touch with as many of you as possible via Facebook, email, and
other means of contact that have held us together all these years. If you’ve
not found me on Facebook and care to, I encourage you to look me up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I love you more than I can say. I’m grateful for all you’ve meant
to Straight-Friendly’s success and to me. I hold each of you in my heart and
pray God’s bountiful goodness will find you at every turn as you seek God’s
will in all you do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now,
to the One Who is able to keep you from falling, and to make you stand without
blemish in the presence of God’s glory with rejoicing, to the only God our
Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority,
before all time and now and forever. (Jude 1.24-25)<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many, many blessings always,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tim</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01271248501086241494noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722447614945782871.post-1835250317514564432013-03-30T14:27:00.001-05:002013-03-30T14:27:37.329-05:00Dying to Live
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain
of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if
it dies, it bears much fruit. (John 12.24)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Easter expects us to believe the most supernatural event
ever recorded in history. A man is tortured within an inch of his life and
nailed to a cross, where he’s exposed to the elements for nine hours, bleeds
out, and eventually suffocates beneath the pressure of his weight. His body is rushed into a borrowed crypt, with a massive stone
and two guards placed at its entrance to prevent grave robbers from stealing
his corpse. (There’s some wild talk predicting he’ll rise from the dead. So
it’s best all around to ensure his burial site isn’t tampered with.) Two days
later, his friends return to check on the grave and discover the stone has
been moved and his body is missing. That’s when they learn that he has indeed
come back to life and freed himself from the grave—an amazing feat for a man of
uncommon physical strength, let alone someone whose body has been ravaged and
who was undeniably dead.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That’s the story and if we’re to believe in the power of
Christ in our lives and the world, we have to believe that’s what happened. We
can puzzle out all sorts of alternative scenarios. Yet none of them satisfy.
Maybe Jesus never died; maybe He lapsed into a coma and His disciples assumed
He was dead. But if He was buried alive, how could someone in His condition muster
the strength to push back the enormous tombstone? Maybe He was dead and His
followers managed to abscond with His corpse. Then how do we explain the random
sightings that occur in the weeks after His resurrection? Maybe the whole thing
was a hoax. Then how do we explain why this myth has survived two millennia? On
some level, this story was, is, and will always remain very real. And for us to
benefit from all that it represents, we must retire our logical skepticism and
accept its supernatural mysteries by faith.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What’s most interesting is that, six days prior to His
death, Jesus explains the mechanics of His resurrection in the most mundane
natural terms. He compares the process to a planting cycle. A wheat grain is
buried in the ground, where it dies, and resurges to abundant life that produces
more grain, which in turn will be buried, die, and yield even more life. In
this context, the Resurrection is the most natural occurrence known to
humankind. Although we don’t understand the actual phenomenon, the concept of
dying to live is one we encounter every day. It’s what puts food on our tables,
fills our gardens with beauty, and provides shelter in the shade of vast trees
and lumber we use to build our homes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6mhNvc76HQhw-o8UdO-QhNS33SjoN9Zv55aCTp2KcXEarS1mfEx1k76bHY4j35-v42pPIdz16JoS_1xVkroaf5IPyarNk4bh386SgfLf0KjMBvPbfXIcJMP2Na9YENiD9rKUImL063YDL/s1600/seed-germinating.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6mhNvc76HQhw-o8UdO-QhNS33SjoN9Zv55aCTp2KcXEarS1mfEx1k76bHY4j35-v42pPIdz16JoS_1xVkroaf5IPyarNk4bh386SgfLf0KjMBvPbfXIcJMP2Na9YENiD9rKUImL063YDL/s400/seed-germinating.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As we anticipate tomorrow’s Easter celebrations, we listen
closely to Jesus’s explanation, because He expands His story to include us. We
carry in us the seeds of His resurrection. We are the fruit born from His
death. And we must also die so that we too can bear fruit. How does this work?
We can’t really say. All we know is it happens in us just as surely as one
wheat stalk yields hundreds of grains that are sown into the ground, die, and
resurge into new life that produces exponentially more grain.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is the most natural process we know. Yet it is also the
most supernatural transformation we can possibly experience. Our faith is
perpetuated by willingness to release ourselves from the fear of death and all
that it triggers: hatred, competitiveness, insecurity, materialism, and every
other life-limiting woe we cling to in hopes of survival. We arrive at the empty tomb,
astounded by its miracle, while also realizing the very thing that perplexes us
is at work in us. We are dying to live. The resurrection phenomenon doesn’t end
with Jesus at Easter. It resurfaces every day in our lives, in every moment
when we refute the fear of death by placing love for others alongside love of
self and love for God—the Creator Who ordained this astonishing life-death-life cycle—above all.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01271248501086241494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722447614945782871.post-22482570666290953252013-03-29T11:01:00.001-05:002013-03-29T11:01:44.472-05:00Crucial Decisions
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For our sake, God made Jesus to be sin
Who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. (2
Corinthians 5.21)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our word “crucial” is rooted in the Latin word for
“cross”—the same word from which we get “crucifixion.” Over time, “crucial” has
been diluted to mean “urgent” or “essential.” But in its strictest sense, it
implies the right to choose. The geometry of the cross mirrors that of a
crossroads, or intersection, at which the traveler must decide which way to go.
She/he can either continue down the path of origin or go a different way.
Choice is what makes the decision “crucial.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Holy Week narrative is riddled with crucial decisions.
Faced with the option of entering Jerusalem anonymously, like any other Passover
celebrant, Jesus chooses to ride into the city to the acclaim of His followers.
He chooses to purge the Temple of thieving merchants. He chooses to return to
the Temple throughout the week, where He teaches in an open forum, almost
taunting the authorities to arrest Him. He chooses to expose Judas’s treachery at
the Last Supper and then decides to facilitate His own arrest by taking the
disciples to pray in Gethsemane. During His trial, He chooses not to defend
Himself, allowing the crowd’s hatred and suspicion to run its course. Even
while on the cross—where the skeptical thief challenges Him to save
Himself—Jesus meets death at the crossroads and decides to die.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But all of these choices are a subset of a far greater
crucial decision God makes in advance, a choice that ultimately brings us to a
crossroads where we face crucial decisions about the direction our lives will
take. In 2 Corinthians 5.20-21, Paul defines the terms of this decision,
saying, “We entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake
God made Jesus to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the
righteousness of God.” When faced with the prospect of remaining estranged from
us due to our waywardness, God provided a means of reconciliation through the
cross. We've been given a choice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At Christmas, we marvel at the Incarnation, when God
voluntarily takes on human flesh to live among us, as one of us. That is also a
crucial decision. Yet today, as we rehearse the agonies of the Crucifixion, we
see Jesus as more than “one of us.” The brutally maimed Savior has now become <i>all of us</i>. God made Jesus to be sin in
its entirety—each of us at his/her worst and weakest—so that every one of us
might become the righteousness of God. This was inconceivable before Good
Friday, because such a choice was unavailable to us. So, while Jesus remains
the central figure in the Crucifixion narrative, this gruesome story is
ultimately about us, and our decision to be reconciled to God. We stand at a
crossroad that that asks us to choose how we will live. Will we continue down a
path that takes us farther and farther from God’s plan for our lives? Or will
we turn away from selfish, unhealthy living to follow God’s way?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcf-92-XC9b95C1kTH3VcifyQkIqSOtUY64f_j3i5x76VVYPjal2tIvXrZhtboKtdnxKjr8SEEr8XwG9kT8FbcBL9enfzpZzeAUmoV20dJOqOz5VoJMm1Q1twSOG3QaoLpCGwI_Gup9Xs9/s1600/12065709971950095083nicubunu_RPG_map_symbols_Crossroads_Sign.svg.hi.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcf-92-XC9b95C1kTH3VcifyQkIqSOtUY64f_j3i5x76VVYPjal2tIvXrZhtboKtdnxKjr8SEEr8XwG9kT8FbcBL9enfzpZzeAUmoV20dJOqOz5VoJMm1Q1twSOG3QaoLpCGwI_Gup9Xs9/s400/12065709971950095083nicubunu_RPG_map_symbols_Crossroads_Sign.svg.hi.png" width="321" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because of Calvary, no one is denied the right to decide.
Romans 3.22-24 assures us, “There is no distinction, since all have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by God’s grace, through
the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Our right to choose isn’t based on the
nature or extent of our failures and weaknesses. Since we’ve all sinned, we’re
all given the gift of choice—to be reconciled with God or to pursue paths that
distance us from God’s love and acceptance. No one is excluded.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Standing before the cross hands us crucial decisions that we
make every day we live. If we allow the power of what we see to come alive
in us, we will make the right choices.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01271248501086241494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722447614945782871.post-83947051142637289992013-03-28T00:00:00.000-05:002013-03-28T00:00:07.559-05:00Shadows Fall
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What has come into being in Him was
life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the
darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. (John 1.4-5)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first time I attended our church’s Maundy Thursday
service, I was completely unprepared for the emotional wallop it delivered. By
the time it ended and I made my way to the street, I was in shock. I couldn’t
describe the feelings that surged in and around me. And I wasn’t alone. As we
stood on the corner, waiting for the light to change, members of our
congregation searched one another’s faces, as if to say, “What just happened in
there?” Now that I’ve been to the service several times, my initial sense of
being overwhelmed has eased. But the extraordinary feelings of loss remain, and
exiting the service still puts me in an uncomfortable state akin to suspended
animation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They have taken Jesus away, and His absence turns the world
into a cold, dark, and distressingly hollow place. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The service is commonly known as Tenebrae, its name drawn
from Latin for “shadows” or “darkness.” The liturgy is simple: hymns and music
commemorate Jesus’s last night with the disciples while a series of readings
revisit the events of that fateful evening. The sanctuary is candlelit and with
each reading, another light is taken away, so that the church slowly descends
into darkness. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We gather around the table, just as Jesus did with His
disciples, and we remember Him in the cup and the bread, just as He commanded.
Yet the encircling gloom heightens our awareness that this is part of something
much darker than we want to admit. Almost unconsciously, we slip into the
disciples’ mindset and emotions. We hear the same Communion service that, on
the first Sunday morning of every month, beckons us to “share in the Lord’s
death until He comes.” But the gravity of this particular night is nearly
suffocating. This is <i>the last supper</i>.
The disciples will never again break bread with Jesus in His mortal life. When
He washes their feet and takes their hands, they will feel their last touch of
His earthly flesh. When they go with Him to Gethsemane, it will be the last
time they pray together. (And their inability to stay awake will haunt them
forever.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl6TcuF8IycToljWVGTkZlGZIwRZrgZpJsjqAPGjtK66cyZ1soA8OijuC29ANmlnuhmKMySjCVHb1smIpXW6WWGcxVs9QE2f86bpJhyJemR6TIkWoKqpjO3U_Mj1KGMGhFgfgQ3LBY69cI/s1600/tenebrae06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl6TcuF8IycToljWVGTkZlGZIwRZrgZpJsjqAPGjtK66cyZ1soA8OijuC29ANmlnuhmKMySjCVHb1smIpXW6WWGcxVs9QE2f86bpJhyJemR6TIkWoKqpjO3U_Mj1KGMGhFgfgQ3LBY69cI/s400/tenebrae06.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As the sanctuary grows dimmer, our spirits grow heavier. The
final hymn is sung, the last passage read, and then comes the final blow. With
a single candle flickering on the altar—in stubborn hope—the pastors and elders
systematically remove any sign of Jesus from the sanctuary. The communion set
is taken away. The cross comes down. The altar dressings are struck. The
oversized pulpit Bible is removed. We sit in silence, watching symbols
of our faith—and Christ’s presence among us—vanish into the night. The grief is
palpable.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is no benediction. Before the sanctuary is stripped
and left to slumber in the shadows, the pastor tells us we’re free to leave
after the last item is removed. No one rushes out the door. You sit there,
numb, confused, and straining to remember that, in three days, this dark and
lonely place will explode in victorious life. All that’s been taken away will
be returned, and with it there will be banners and flowers and vibrant anthems
of hope and faithfulness and joy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They have taken our Lord. Shadows thicken and sorrow
overwhelms. An aching hollowness carves itself into the marrow of our souls.
They have taken our Lord. But they have not defeated our God. Death is no match
for this great God of love and power. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Don’t fight the darkness. Let it descend. Go there—into that
land of shadow and feel how empty the world becomes when Jesus is taken from
it. But know the story doesn’t end in the dark.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What has come into
being in Him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light
shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it — John 1.4-5<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The shadows may fall. But our Savior will rise. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01271248501086241494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722447614945782871.post-40791134728404859542013-03-27T00:00:00.000-05:002013-03-27T05:42:23.457-05:00Remembering<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All the trees of the field shall
clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of
the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall be to the LORD for a memorial,
for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. (Isaiah 55.12-13)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I write this, PBS is showing <i>Jerusalem: Center of the World</i>, a detailed history of the city.
Much attention is being paid to the sacred sites—for Jews, for Christians, and
for Muslims. It’s fascinating to hear about the need to memorialize key events in
each religion’s story. No one can say for certain
if this or that place is actually where a famous event occurred. The words “legend has it” carry
tremendous weight in the absence of scientific proof. So it is that claiming Jesus died here, was buried there, ascended over here, and so on—without any
reliable evidence—inspires faith and worship. Does accuracy of the claim really matter? Not really, as long as its identification
with specific moments in Jesus’s life encourages belief.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This concept of memorializing our faith interests me. We do a great job of memorializing our lives. We take many pictures,
we return to spots where events transpired, we etch our names into trees
and scroll them into wet cement. But do we recall where we were when belief in Jesus started to make sense? Do we remember our baptism or
confirmation or first communion—or any other rite that solidified our identity
as part of God’s family? Where were we when we decided a cursory relationship
with Jesus wasn’t good enough? What brought us to the place of need for God—and
what was that place? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Every time something significant happens, the ancients
memorialize for it. Sometimes it's nothing more than a pile of rocks.
Sometimes it's an elaborate altar. But the point is very clear: this moment is not to be forgot. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, we’re moving toward the ultimate of all
memorials: Mount Calvary and the site of the empty tomb. But we all arrive there from many different places. We bring an infinite range of personal
experiences. And in our individual pasts, each of us has moments in time that belong to
only us, yet exemplify something universal and powerful and
incontrovertible in their evidence that God loves us.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilkhD-o4mogGewjrbO_7r0kVq8S1RbeLp8R0FnBg7DnHZAI3oZkrZAc5vDMtp3ZEOq3st41kb1zjQE37i1mE8mijMfFnGuma9_Z2YFN9XHfBoWw4ogXd5EGurWQqQBobXDy4T8zXnkbdCM/s1600/tumblr_ln8pezo4Og1qk5nyb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilkhD-o4mogGewjrbO_7r0kVq8S1RbeLp8R0FnBg7DnHZAI3oZkrZAc5vDMtp3ZEOq3st41kb1zjQE37i1mE8mijMfFnGuma9_Z2YFN9XHfBoWw4ogXd5EGurWQqQBobXDy4T8zXnkbdCM/s320/tumblr_ln8pezo4Og1qk5nyb.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Isaiah’s prophecy of God’s intervention, thorns give way
to cypresses and briers are swallowed up by sweet myrtle. The trees of the
fields surge in applause for God’s love and grace. This miraculous turn of
events, of course, presages Calvary’s tree and its restorative power to reunite
humanity with God. The prophet says, “It shall be to the LORD for a
memorial, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.” (Isaiah 55.13)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Holy Week isn’t only about what happens at Calvary. It’s
about what happens in us. Our hearts are sacred sites. Our lives are sacred
stories. As we
stop by the signature sites of Holy Week, let us pause to revisit our own
memorials. We have, all of us, come a very long way, led to faith and called to
love by God’s sweet Spirit. There are moments and people and places that we
associate with grace’s miracle in our lives. We can close our eyes and recall
when thorns vanished and mighty cypress trees rose up, when briers disappeared
and lovely myrtles took root in us. These are our holy places, our memorials.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As we press closer to the cross, may we cherish the holy
moments and places that brought us here. Thank God for grace, for forgiveness,
and for faith’s determination. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01271248501086241494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722447614945782871.post-55639240717201388282013-03-26T00:00:00.000-05:002013-03-26T00:00:06.324-05:00Looking
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now among those who went up to worship
at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida
in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” (John 12.20-21)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of my favorite episodes in the Holy Week narrative turns up in John 12.20-26.
I’m probably drawn to it because it’s so often discarded to focus on more
famous events that transpire during Jesus’s final days. But I love it because
what happens here is a major breakthrough in His ministry—a momentary glimpse
at what the Church will look like and what will be required of it. I believe
this moment gets overlooked because it’s not overly complicated. But what
happens is most unusual.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We start by noting that first-century Judaism holds
tremendous appeal for many non-Jews. The God of Israel is unlike most deities,
in that God remains in constant dialogue with the people. This God is known for
mighty works and exhibits no mortal frailties. So, the power of God is the main
attraction. Quite a few foreigners convert to monotheistic Judaism completely, while a large
group worships YHWH as a God above all gods. At high holidays like Passover,
the mainly Jewish crowd that flocks to Jerusalem is peppered with people from
pagan traditions who come to pay homage to Israel’s God. While their status
prevents them from being admitted into the Temple’s inner court, their faith
compels them to participate in the festival from afar.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It happens that a group of Greeks is in Jerusalem for
Passover. Evidently they’ve heard of Jesus, catching wind that His disciples say
He’s the Promised One. It’s rumored that He raised a man from the dead and He’s
created quite a stir since arriving in town. If, as some say, He is God, they
want to meet Him. They go looking for Jesus. When they find one of His
disciples, Philip, they say, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip needs to clear
this with the higher-ups. He takes their request to Andrew and the two of them
approach Jesus. (For the record, this is the same Philip who, in the Book of
Acts, becomes the first Apostle to baptize a non-Jew—the Ethiopian eunuch—into
the faith. So there’s some poetic foreshadowing underway here, too. Nor can it
go unnoticed another group of foreigners, the Magi, seek the newborn Jesus out.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus’s response is rather curious. He doesn’t ask one
question about the Greeks—who they are, what they want, what they said. Indeed,
there’s nothing in the text that implies their request surprises Jesus at all.
Instead, Jesus reminds Philip and Andrew that His death is at hand. God’s plan
is at work, and this out-of-the-blue appearance by the Greeks indicates the
full extent of what God intends to do. Of course, He will see them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The real point of the story arises in verse 26, where Jesus
says, “Whoever serves Me must follow Me, and where I am, there will My servant
be also. Whoever serves Me, the Father will honor.” The Greeks have come
looking for Jesus. When they meet Him, they’ll find what they’re searching for.
The nonsense about ethnicity, religious background, circumcision—all the criteria
the Temple officials employ to segregate worshippers into “us” and “them”—is
passing away. A New Order is coming into fruition, born of a single Divine Root
that will spring up out of Its burial ground to spread Its branches over all of humanity.
Jesus doesn’t simply invite the Greeks for a courteous chat, as if He’s
campaigning for office and needs to shake as many hands as possible. He welcomes the Greeks’ request to get to know Him, fully confident that their
encounter with Him will transform them into true followers. Finding Jesus puts
them in the right place at the right time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNrekzxGzQl985aSFxfjQG308YV11tLwcCx_H0GWLeIaIeaXWbOYSDBrVehknZbyv2Xxh09MB9uvizVV9oRoeZ7LwtFkYWK0aDmYCIbesPj0q0tpqMyAXm48xhGuEsbC54omAeuusDZp-g/s1600/jesus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNrekzxGzQl985aSFxfjQG308YV11tLwcCx_H0GWLeIaIeaXWbOYSDBrVehknZbyv2Xxh09MB9uvizVV9oRoeZ7LwtFkYWK0aDmYCIbesPj0q0tpqMyAXm48xhGuEsbC54omAeuusDZp-g/s400/jesus.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I sometimes think Holy Week’s epic emotions and tragic
events eclipse what it’s really about: finding Jesus in the midst of chaos and
treachery. We worry about the disciples. We hiss at the villains. We wring our
hands in despair that no one will come to His defense. Yet to the end, from a
group of curious Greeks to the believing thief hanging beside Him, Jesus keeps
welcoming people who, according to tradition, are unworthy of His attention.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As we revisit this familiar story we love so dearly, our
prayer should be, “We wish to see Jesus”—not through the lens of His enemies
nor the frightened eyes of His followers. We wish to see Jesus as He wants to
be seen: welcoming, accepting, willing to see us, regardless who we are or
where we’re from. Inner court, outer court, Jew, Greek, male, female, straight,
gay, saint, sinner—none of it matters. Finding Jesus. Meeting Him. Seeing Him
as He wants to be seen. Being where He is. These are the things that mark us as His followers. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Where I am, there will My servant be also</i>.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01271248501086241494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722447614945782871.post-90744824961247018412013-03-25T11:05:00.000-05:002013-03-25T11:05:34.636-05:00Eyes for Peace
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As He came near and saw the city, He
wept over it, saying, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the
things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.” (Luke
19.41-42)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is no after-party following Palm Sunday’s parade.
Jesus dismounts the borrowed donkey and goes to the Temple, has a look around
at what’s going on, and returns to Bethany. We know what Jesus finds during His
brief stop at the Temple upsets Him, since He goes back on Monday to oust
moneychangers and merchants who gouge holiday worshippers with inflated prices.
He unites two prophetic texts to condemn their criminality, saying, “My house
shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.” And we have
a pretty good idea that Jesus returns the next day intent on shaking things up,
in part because He’s in a foul mood. On His way into the city, He spots a fig
tree that hasn’t yet blossomed. He’s hungry, but the tree has nothing to offer.
So He curses the tree and it shrivels up. This is a side of Jesus the disciples
haven’t seen—their first indicator that there’s been a shift in the atmosphere.
Everybody’s tensed up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before all of this happens, however, Luke captures a
poignant moment that helps us recognize the sorrow Jesus feels for Jerusalem.
He pauses before entering the city and weeps for its decline. Jerusalem, the
proverbial city on the hill, whose world-famous Temple sits atop its highest
peak, has lost its vision. According to Isaiah 56, God has ordained Jerusalem’s
Temple as a site of justice and inclusion. The chapter begins with a divine
command: “Maintain justice and do what is right, for soon My salvation will
come, and My deliverance be revealed.” (v1) The prophet lays out God’s vision
for the Temple, describing a place where eunuchs and foreigners who were
previously excluded would be welcomed and given places of honor. This is where
we find the “house of prayer for all peoples” declaration. (v7) Gender and
ethnic boundaries will be erased. Peace and unity will prevail in the Temple,
which shapes Israel’s social and religious agendas. Jesus is entering Jerusalem
to offer its people salvation and deliverance. But even before He steps inside
the city, He isn’t hopeful. “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day
the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes,” He
laments.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">His reference to blindness invokes God and Isaiah’s
displeasure with how the Temple is being run. In verses 10 and 11 we hear, “Israel’s
sentinels are blind, they are all without knowledge; they are all silent dogs
that cannot bark; dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber. The dogs have a
mighty appetite; they never have enough. The shepherds also have no
understanding; they have all turned to their own way, to their own gain, one
and all.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus weeps because this is an old, old story. The gulf
between the Temple and its people continues to widen. The correctives issued in
Isaiah 56 haven’t been obeyed. People are still turned away from worship. The
rich get preferential treatment. Preachers and teachers continue to serve up
God’s promises, yet they have no vision for what those promises will look like
in a “new Jerusalem,”—the place Jesus has spent three years describing as “the
kingdom of God.” And here He stands, looking at Jerusalem through tear-swept
eyes, the very embodiment of God come to save and deliver Israel from its
religious and political oppressors. Their promised Prince of Peace is with
them, but they can’t see it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We can see it, but do we really understand what we’re
looking at? The cry from Jesus’s heart mourns the loss of community. God has
endowed Jerusalem with power to become a singular place where no one is
rejected, where God’s all-inclusive love can reign supreme. Jesus has come to
offer this amazing gift to a holy place that has lost touch with what makes it
holy. Seeing how many of our own churches reflect Jerusalem’s failure, we too
should mourn. But mourning is not enough. We should walk into our places of
worship with clear eyes for peace. We should recognize where our leaders and
communities have failed and we should decry their resistance to change. God is
calling for a house of prayer for all peoples. The redundant embrace—<i>all peoples</i>—stresses the expectation of
uncompromised inclusion. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG0iZC2g4UCvjfVqCcso5HX8unIkZtnFmW1IlPTQhoQwVk0FgzRewsPVktCe9vG-DRcsA25CuXgT6IxUP58zryj2imRuqiLVsA3YCP5TpfXBq0GA81tymLztVcqwal4fdhH6kFO1rdex38/s1600/cathedral_door.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG0iZC2g4UCvjfVqCcso5HX8unIkZtnFmW1IlPTQhoQwVk0FgzRewsPVktCe9vG-DRcsA25CuXgT6IxUP58zryj2imRuqiLVsA3YCP5TpfXBq0GA81tymLztVcqwal4fdhH6kFO1rdex38/s400/cathedral_door.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Any church or faith community that compromises God’s expressed
vision should be regarded with suspicion. These are blind spots shepherded by
people with no understanding. We will not be fed in these pastures. We will not
find peace in them, even though they sing and preach in the name of Christ. So
why are we there? It behooves every disciple of Christ to seek community among
people who have eyes for peace and understand Who Jesus is. The glory of the
Temple loses its luster when we realize it’s lost its way. The fancy robes and
soaring architecture and showmanship that draw so many inside its walls lose
their magic. When churches prefer some above others and deny entry to eunuchs
and strangers, the ground they stand on is no longer holy. So weep like Jesus
for their blindness. But follow Jesus’s example: declare your displeasure with
their error and when they resist you—and they will—walk away. Find a home where
people with eyes for peace live out God’s vision in tangibly faithful ways.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01271248501086241494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722447614945782871.post-62647435745051597302013-03-24T00:00:00.000-05:002013-03-24T00:00:04.279-05:00A Parade of Our Own Making
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The whole multitude of disciples began
to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they
had seen, saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”
(Luke 19.37-38)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Better</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On a sunny day in late August, a bunch of kids on our block
got together and decided to create our own amusement park. We’d all returned
from our family vacations. The first day of school was coming. Building a
playland would likely be our last hurrah. We pooled a bunch of toys and stuff
from our garages and went to work in an empty lot on our street. Someone found a
stretch of rope that we used to string together a train of old tricycles. Someone else showed up with a spare tire; we rigged a ramp so we
could climb inside the tire and push it over the edge. I pulled out my wagon
and we laid a cardboard track over dirt mounds at the back of the lot. Voilà!
Now we had a rollercoaster! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What we were up to was dangerous, for sure, and someone might
have got hurt if our moms hadn’t stopped us. Even before they shut us down, however,
we’d bumped into the realities of physics. Nothing worked as smoothly as we’d
hoped. Pushing and pulling one another over uneven ground was hard work. Realizing
we didn’t have the energy to keep our makeshift park going, we’d already
figured out the good times weren’t going to last. By noon, it was over and we
went back to our usual play. Still, it was one of the best summer days of my
childhood.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One moment in particular stands out. An older girl from
several streets over pulled up on a fancy purple bike with a sparkly banana
seat and colored streamers on her handlebar grips. While we probably looked
like The Little Rascals, her clothes were clean and her hair was adorned with a
couple of fancy barrettes. Although she was older than us by several grades, we
knew who she was, as she regularly babysat a toddler down the street. She asked
what we were doing and when we explained, she turned up her nose. “I’ve been to
Disneyland,” she said snottily, “and it’s a lot nicer.” I’ll never forget my
buddy, Mike’s, reply: “Yeah? This is better than Disneyland because we made
it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Better and More Powerful</i></b> </span></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My mind races back to that terrific morning when I read
Luke’s account of the Triumphal Entry, reminding me that, in many ways, I lived
out this story in miniature. As Kathryn Matthews Huey points out in her <a href="http://www.ucc.org/worship/samuel/march-24-2013.html">insightful exegesis</a>
of the passage, Luke’s version features several key differences from the other
gospels. First of all, there are no palms, no cries of hosanna in his
retelling. The people lay down their coats to pave the way for Jesus. And the
crowd is comprised entirely of His disciples. No one here can be accused of
praising Jesus on Sunday and shouting “Crucify Him!” come Friday. This is an
impromptu event that takes shape as it goes—a makeshift parade designed to
imitate imperial processions. It is far better and more powerful than any over-produced
Roman pomp because Jesus’s followers make it from scratch. It’s not a show, nor
is it a command performance. It’s an outpouring of love and creativity. And, on
some level, the parade makers surely realize this is their last hurrah. Jesus
has told them He’ll be arrested and executed in Jerusalem. Something inside them
senses their traveling days are over. The weather’s about to change; their time
together is going to end. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A more natural response might compel the disciples to huddle
around Jesus, damping the spotlight that finds Him wherever goes, and settling
into a quiet place where they can savor their last days with Him. But timing is
everything in this story. It’s the week before Passover. While Jesus and the
disciples are entering Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, across town
preparations are underway for another triumphal entry. Pontius Pilate is due to
arrive with garrisons of Roman guards to ensure the holiday excitement won’t
get out of hand. The masses along that parade route will shout, “Hail,
Caesar!” and bow and scrape and clamor to show fealty to their oppressors. This
is where we find the crowd that hasn’t the nerve to save one of its own from
tyrannical injustice. These are the people who do and say as they’re told.
There’s not the slightest hint of freedom or joy at this parade. Meanwhile, freedom
and joy abound at the cobbled-together celebration on the other side of the
city. It’s as if Jesus’s followers say, “What we’ve got is better because we
made it.” They’re absolutely right to say that. This is their parade, built by
their own hands to honor their king. And that’s what makes this ecstatic
display of loyalty to Jesus so dangerous.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Power. Freedom. Courage. Joy.</i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like the vigilant mama bears they presume to be, the
Pharisees are alarmed at what’s going on. They rush to Jesus and demand He put
a stop to this nonsense. Even though this activity places His own life at risk,
He shrugs them off. “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout
out,” He says. (Luke 19.40) He understands what’s really happening. This is a
people’s parade, not a royal procession. The excitement will eventually cool
down, once the disciples discover how much energy is required to keep it going.
For now, however, they need this big moment. Brief and dangerous though it may
be, they need to know what it feels like to make something of their own. They
need to find the power and courage within themselves to create a better
alternative to Rome’s glitzy make-believe. Jesus puts the Pharisees on notice. This
sham government that depends on their complicit support can’t last. They’re on
the wrong side of history. Luke underscores their powerlessness in a very
subtle way, too. After their appearance here, they drop out of the story. From
here on out, Jesus’s fate rests in the hands of their authoritarian leaders.
After all this time nagging at Jesus and trying to discredit Him, the
Pharisees turn out to be nobodies. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">God’s new contract with humanity is signed at Calvary and
guaranteed through Christ’s resurrection. But its terms are fleshed out here,
in this crazy-quilt parade that sets everything in motion. To the natural eye,
its borrowed donkey and ragtag carpeting and motley crew praising an uncrowned
king may look silly compared to Rome’s mighty stallions and yards of purple
silk and thousands shouting praise to an emperor. Yet what’s really going on is
anything but silly. The Gospel of Christ is coming to life in the full exercise
of power and freedom, courage and joy. That is Palm Sunday’s legacy to us.
Power. Freedom. Courage. Joy. We are called to be parade makers, not parade
watchers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc-MAeQ0upyS8CRICRJINSihAQgirbtmHijhHo0v3ngDtEbCs8dan00f9Gea7EkZOKKoycpmWOGX2PrUG86PKXiurCGst3hp9YiT-_49ygNvskNtGyW8K_7uwG-FPhZUNan1ejia-EE8gw/s1600/RossanoGospels_TriumphalEntry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc-MAeQ0upyS8CRICRJINSihAQgirbtmHijhHo0v3ngDtEbCs8dan00f9Gea7EkZOKKoycpmWOGX2PrUG86PKXiurCGst3hp9YiT-_49ygNvskNtGyW8K_7uwG-FPhZUNan1ejia-EE8gw/s400/RossanoGospels_TriumphalEntry.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The disciples’
makeshift parade for their king bursts with unspoken declarations of power,
freedom, courage, and joy.</span></i><o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01271248501086241494noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722447614945782871.post-81817591780030383952013-03-23T02:25:00.001-05:002013-03-23T02:25:50.055-05:00With God's Help
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<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I gave my back to those who struck me,
and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from
insult and spitting. The Lord GOD helps me; therefore I have not been
disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall
not be put to shame. (Isaiah 50.6-7)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How did Christianity morph from a collection of oddballs and
misfits into the communion of conformity we know today? As we read the Gospels
and Acts, we must wonder if we’d be all that happy to see the Apostles in our
sanctuaries, let alone trust them to lead us. Can we imagine Peter, the leather-skinned
fisherman, stepping into our pulpits? What about Paul, whose infamous “thorn in
the flesh” urges him to overcompensate by showing off how smart he is? Would we
attend his Bible class? Let’s not forget the Early Church’s far-flung membership.
When we survey the rolls peppered through the Epistles, we find slaves and
masters, couples and singles, widows and kids, people of all shades and expressions,
every social strata, and a spectrum of personal histories that would give
today’s most progressive faith community pause.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, we understand why early Christians prize
diversity. They belong to Jesus, Who founded His ministry on the radically
inclusive doctrine of God’s unconditional love. But we also have to factor in
the prophetic tradition Jesus comes from, where eccentrics and outcasts excel.
Start with Moses, a Jew raised as Egyptian royalty, a murderer on the lam who
worries about his stammer and works all kinds of miracles with a stick. You’ve
got David, an adulterer and terrible father, who uses poetry as a therapeutic
tool. Elijah’s a manic-depressive, and his student, Elisha, wanders the land in
a raggedy coat Elijah tossed to him while being flown into heaven on a
celestial chariot. And we can’t forget Isaiah, who walks around naked and
shoeless for three years to indicate Israel’s enemies will be stripped of
power. Finally, there’s John the Baptist. He sets up shop in the wilderness,
survives on honey and wild locusts, wears a hairy shirt, and spends most of his
time splashing around in the Jordan River. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With roots dug deep in this wild and crazy tradition, it’s
no surprise that Jesus pays no attention to His followers’ idiosyncrasies and
sketchy pasts. He looks beyond their quirks and shortcomings to see their
potential. Yes, He does this because, as God Incarnate, He loves them without
reservation. But He’s also doing something that we, in an age of Christian
homogeneity, miss. He’s assembling a prophetic community, a far different thing
than starting a religion or organizing a congregation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So how do the first Christians look and act? They’re all
over the map, literally and figuratively. Unlike today, when many Christians
gauge who’s in and who’s out by appearance and behavior, in the first century
both criteria were useless. Indeed, judgments based on surface observations were
highly suspect. The only way to identify a true Christian was by prophetic
witness to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Early Church’s connection to prophesy—i.e., the
articulated mind and will of God—is so solid that first-century believers scour
the Hebrew Bible to confirm Jesus’s legitimacy. His birth and death narratives
are shaped to reflect Messianic clues strung across the texts. This is why
Jesus’s statements from the cross echo Psalm 22 and the details of His torture and
crucifixion mirror Isaiah. In the coming days, we’ll hear these passages and
nod along, thinking, this is what the prophets said and this is how it went.
But something gets lost when we limit the Hebrew texts’ meaning and import to
Jesus alone. And that something is us. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The suffering and rejection the ancients describe are, in
many ways, as universal to every believer as they are specific to Jesus. When
we open Isaiah 50—which figures prominently in many Passion liturgies—and read,
“I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out
the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting,” we can’t forget
the prophet isn’t just talking about Jesus. He’s talking about himself, and
he’s also talking about us. Gratefully, neither Isaiah (as far as we know) nor
we actually experience the physical pain and humiliation he poeticizes. Yet we
all know what it’s like to feel powerless, as conveyed in the image of giving
our backs to those who strike us. We know how it feels to be stripped of
self-worth, which, for Jewish men like Isaiah and Jesus, occurs when their
beards are ripped from their faces.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The violation in these images is so hideous we have to ask
why someone would do such things. Those who go to such lengths clearly have big
problems with whomever they assault. It’s obvious that fear stirs up their
anger since they have to be more afraid of the person they attack than
penalties for their abuse. So what gives rise to such fear and hatred? Well,
let’s see. You have Jesus, the Gatherer of oddballs and misfits. Then there’s
Isaiah, the naked wanderer. And how do we fit into this pattern? By not fitting
into conformist patterns and disrupting norms. Whether in the world or the
Church—which, over the centuries, has grown dangerously at ease with adopting
the world’s ways—we represent something other than normal. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirwZAmASaV13ddUJCL2g8smXQDl9oojm3wgjclWFWnPoTjX8oRT9hsoxwq_HByuQ7cs0kpuUvStaLYzQRGIuVSR75FEI9yqkEjRsg7QxDDJOwAgDhXAD7uFnx2cLQhqQl75JPvsime1GMz/s1600/matte-everybody-welcome_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirwZAmASaV13ddUJCL2g8smXQDl9oojm3wgjclWFWnPoTjX8oRT9hsoxwq_HByuQ7cs0kpuUvStaLYzQRGIuVSR75FEI9yqkEjRsg7QxDDJOwAgDhXAD7uFnx2cLQhqQl75JPvsime1GMz/s400/matte-everybody-welcome_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How dare LGBT Christians expect faith communities to welcome
and embrace them. How dare women honor their callings to ministry and ask to be
respected on par with their male counterparts. How dare the poor and
undereducated and abused and politically radical enter our congregations and
expect to be treated as equals. How dare anyone insist prophetic witness to
Christ’s life, death, and resurrection qualifies her/him for acceptance. All
Christians are supposed to look, talk, and behave alike. Anything that doesn’t
meet acceptable standards is something to fear. And anything that makes people
afraid must be eradicated and stripped of value.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That kind of logic may work for country clubs, social
orders, and political parties. But it bears not one glimmer of resemblance to
the Church’s beginnings and its prophetic roots. Christian communities that
genuinely heed their prophetic calling should be visibly, culturally, and
spiritually diverse. Their commitment to Christ’s gospel of radical inclusion should
be tested. And we who’ve been relegated to the margins are ordained to
challenge the Church’s faithfulness to God’s will.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not even Jesus could accomplish this without divine help.
Nor could Isaiah. And neither can we. That’s why Isaiah’s prophecy doesn’t end
with the backlash against nonconformity. “The Lord GOD helps me; therefore I
have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know
that I shall not be put to shame,” he writes. As we enter Holy Week and witness
the agony Jesus endured to remain faithful to God’s will, we must accept the
same calling for our lives. We will not be disgraced. We will set our faces
like flints, looking at the challenge before us without a moment’s hesitation,
knowing we will not be put to shame. We can’t do this great work we’ve been
given on our own. But thanks be to God, we have God’s help. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This coming week, as we stand before the cross, let us not
only weep for the horrific suffering our Savior endured. Let us weep for what’s
been lost by reducing the Church purchased with His blood to an insiders-only
club. Let us commit our lives to reviving the Early Church’s vision of what a
truly prophetic, radically inclusive faith community can be.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01271248501086241494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722447614945782871.post-64839971918544038532013-03-22T00:23:00.005-05:002013-03-22T00:33:37.461-05:00Baby Snatchers<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are those who snatch the orphan
child from the breast, and take as a pledge the infant of the poor… From the
city the dying groan, and the throat of the wounded cries for help; yet God
pays no attention to their prayer. (Job 24.9,12)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dedicated to the
memory of hundreds of murdered children and those who loved them.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">During Advent our pastor asked a question that has haunted
me ever since. “Can we continue to idolize violence and still believe the
Gospel’s message of love?” She paused to scan the congregation. With a catch in
her throat that fueled the fire of her insistence, she said, “The answer just
has to be, ‘No!’” By idolizing violence, she meant faith in hostility and death
over love’s decisive power to sustain life. This violence runs much deeper than
movie mayhem and gangsta rap. It drills down into the marrow of our social and
spiritual beings. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We participate in a culture that places nearly all of its
confidence in aggression and retaliation. It’s not enough to resolve our differences
in a loving, peaceful manner—in part, because doing so requires tremendous
effort and sacrifice on all sides. No, we opt for the inferior alternative:
settling scores. This compulsion takes root long before we reach for physical
weapons. It’s the product of low biology—what the New Testament calls “the
flesh”—that obsesses about survival and perceives every life challenge as a potential
threat. Darwin optimistically framed this instinct as “survival of the
fittest.” But, at its core, it’s a kill-or-be-killed mentality that goads us to
take preemptive strikes and meet violence with violence. Thus, violence is an
attitudinal issue that, if unchecked, becomes a behavioral problem. Its primary
weapons are hearts and minds; fists, guns, knives, and—most commonly—words are
merely hardware.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Violence always carries hidden costs that ultimately
discredit its effectiveness. Years may pass before the bill comes due. But the
instant our hearts and minds turn to violence—whether physical, verbal, emotional,
or spiritual—the invoice is in the mail and it will arrive bearing interest.
And violence doesn’t care who pays the tab, as long as it’s paid. So when
excess pride in our children causes us to instill in them a ferocious
competitive streak, we shouldn’t be surprised when its attendant anxiety and
selfishness erupt in rage. When paranoia about safety and loss of “what’s ours”
compels us to attack others, we shouldn’t be perplexed when we become targets
of hostility. When fear of losing respect breeds disrespect for others, we
shouldn’t be shocked when what we’re determined to preserve evaporates. Faith
in violence doesn’t just look ridiculous. It is ridiculous. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because violence can’t coexist with love, it provides no
brakes to stop our slide down the slippery slope. The gaps between “venting”
and berating, “defending” and bullying, “winning” and humiliating are not as
wide as we imagine. If we listened more closely to how we talk, we’d get this.
We talk about “letting people have it” and “crushing the competition” and
“butting heads.” Even when we’re on the losing side, we glorify the violence we
suffer, saying we’re “floored” by what was said to us, or “blown away” by
another’s actions. Kids and sports fans have a term for our use of violent
speech—“talking smack,” which gets to the nub of the issue. Saying leads to
doing, and with so much of our language devoted to violence how can we not
admit to its prominence on the altars of our hearts? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Giving violence different names or redefining it to
highlight its extremes won’t remove its place of idolatry. When violence
becomes the thing we rely on for protection <i>and</i>
the thing we most fear, it is our god. What else but a god could persuade us to
wage war in the name of peace, to assert the sanctity of our land by invading
and occupying another, to exhibit self-worth by diminishing the value and
rights of others? These are not instinctive responses to fear and threat;
they’re conscious acts that constitute wholehearted worship of violence. And
don’t be deceived: this god is a filthy liar. Nothing it promises ever pans
out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the 24<sup>th</sup> chapter of Job—which some scholars
believe is the Bible’s oldest volume—the hero’s complaint about the violence of
his day reads like our daily news. Evildoers scam widows out of their property.
Poor parents scavenge to feed their children, while thugs seize fields and
vineyards. (Job’s loathing for this crowd is so vehement that he accuses them
of not having enough sense to come in out of the rain.) Murderers kill the poor
and defenseless. Women are routinely abused. And several times, Job’s focus turns
to children born into a world consumed by violence. “There are those who snatch
the orphan child from the breast, and take as a pledge the infant of the poor,”
verse 9 says. These baby snatchers place no value in human life. Nor do they
bow to the God of love. The violence they worship deadens their senses to the
agonies they cause. “From the city the dying groan, and the throat of the
wounded cries for help,” Job tells us. “Yet God pays no attention to their
prayer.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHSKurYURWPs8_9s4ImRsJHvlFB7X9OjGsk41llufe4HAiJmpifgWfcckJk7P2v9jnE3Cu4SYKF8nkWnxNMfa7eFN4trXd5yoqK8DQVgiB3vJqpRAcrIsVoa7uqO17FzeT8mt0qHqeg2uC/s1600/Picture+3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHSKurYURWPs8_9s4ImRsJHvlFB7X9OjGsk41llufe4HAiJmpifgWfcckJk7P2v9jnE3Cu4SYKF8nkWnxNMfa7eFN4trXd5yoqK8DQVgiB3vJqpRAcrIsVoa7uqO17FzeT8mt0qHqeg2uC/s400/Picture+3.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That last sentence troubles us, as it should. It certainly
vexes Job. The entire chapter begs the question, “Why would God allow this?”
It’s the same question we ask when reading reports of children gunned down in
drive-by shootings and we’re gripped with grief by grade-school massacres. </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Where is God?</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The answer may be simpler,
and closer to home, than we think. We’ve replaced the God of love with the god
of violence. In Matthew 6.24, Jesus explains, “No one can serve two masters; for
a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to one and
despise the other.” A society—including its religious right—that looks to
violence to solve its problems has cast God from its presence. Before God can
intervene, idolatry of violence has to be torn down. Then the love of God will
return and that, in and of itself, will be the answer to our prayers.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Holy Week starts early for me this year, as Walt and I and
members of our church join thousands of Chicagoans for tonight’s CROSSwalk, a
sacred processional honoring the memory of over 800 young humans sacrificed to
violence since 2008. Although the demonstration will be peaceful, it is
intended to confront the idolatry of violence that plagues our city with baby
snatchers, abusers, murderers, and war-makers. It is a fitting start to Lent’s
closing act, when God’s love will challenge violence’s power and rise from
death in decisive triumph.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This evening, as we hear the names of our lost called out—as
we ponder the horrors of homicide and baby-snatching—we’ll want to ask, “Where
is God?” But the answer to that won’t satisfy, because it’s the wrong question.
With repentant hearts, we need to ask, “Can we continue to idolize violence and
still believe the Gospel’s message of love?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The answer just has to be, “No!”</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01271248501086241494noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722447614945782871.post-19001249552976595472013-03-21T00:30:00.000-05:002013-03-21T00:30:33.199-05:00When Love and Faithfulness Meet
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Steadfast love and faithfulness will
meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other. Faithfulness will spring up
from the ground, and righteousness will look down from the sky. (Psalm
85.10-11)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reading the psalms often feels like stumbling on a private conversation in midstream. It’s hard to say exactly what prompted the
discussion. But the closer one listens the keener one’s sense that something’s
happened and the poets are working things out with God. Sometimes the verses
burst with gratitude and praise, leaving little doubt that God has done a
wonderful, altogether unexpected—and perhaps undeserved—favor for God’s people.
Then again, there are psalms that appear to be composed after the relationship with God has completely fallen apart. The writers’ pens bleed with remorse and
pleas for forgiveness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The conversation—the side we hear, that is—in Psalm 85
sounds like a follow-up to a prior one in which the people begged God to
forgive their infidelity. With the repentance taken care of, the poet seeks
God’s help in getting things back on track. “You forgave the iniquity of Your
people; You pardoned all their sin,” he reminds God. (v2) Yet he’s not quite
sure if God’s ready to pick up the pieces and start over, causing us to suspect
something very serious caused this latest flare-up in Israel’s perpetual
on-again, off-again love affair with God. The psalmist
beseeches his Maker with the tremulousness of a faithless suitor hoping to
return to his lover’s good graces. “Will You be angry with us forever? Will You
prolong Your anger to all generations?” he asks. (v5) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What’s more, he and those he writes for are exhausted. The
longing to put the entire nasty episode behind them thrums in the writer’s
panic: “Will You not revive us again, so that Your people may rejoice in You?
Show us Your steadfast love, O LORD, and grant us Your salvation.” (v6-7) The real
question, of course, is, “Is God through with us?” (Massage the lyric slightly,
put a steel guitar under it, and you’ve got a country-western
let’s-give-it-one-more-try hit single.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWNlEOuT8oj4ByfcC5B_wj1hI2B060UyFT9mBuYEC14mqlAn5wRMUWGK3kIk-ZsEc4COze_cxziXiwvilMJIV-8Wcp1gfXRr9smT4lyi-_fvwktZ51hCUnCF9ly9LaFX7s1OwAZG3WBPlV/s1600/please-take-me-back-source.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWNlEOuT8oj4ByfcC5B_wj1hI2B060UyFT9mBuYEC14mqlAn5wRMUWGK3kIk-ZsEc4COze_cxziXiwvilMJIV-8Wcp1gfXRr9smT4lyi-_fvwktZ51hCUnCF9ly9LaFX7s1OwAZG3WBPlV/s400/please-take-me-back-source.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As if to silence his audience’s sobs, the poet
says, “Let me hear what God the LORD will speak, for the Lord will speak peace
to God’s people.” (v8) He goes on to assure his listeners that God will restore
them to right relationship. The closing stanza swells with hope. “Steadfast
love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
Faithfulness will spring up from the ground, and righteousness will look down
from the sky.”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If this conversation sounds familiar, it should. For five weeks now, we’ve trudged across Lent’s desert, wrestling with our failures,
praying God’s forgiveness, and trusting God’s mercy and grace will find us. Confronting
weakness is an exhausting process. We’re desperate to feel the security of
God’s love. By this stage of the journey, we’re liable to panic, wondering why
God would stay with us. But God is ever faithful. All the inner
turmoil that Lent stirs up will be calmed. God will speak peace. “Surely
God’s salvation is at hand for those who fear God,” verse 9 promises.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unknowingly, the psalmist provides a glimpse of where
our journey leads. When love and faithfulness meet, when righteousness and
peace kiss each other, faithfulness will spring up from ground in the form of a
rugged cross. And righteousness will look down from the sky, brimming from the
tender eyes of our Savior. Is God through with us? Hardly. Is God
ready to give it one more try? Oh yes. Always. This conversation that began in anguish weeks ago will end with
the most forgiving kiss we'll ever know.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01271248501086241494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722447614945782871.post-78151668730596525652013-03-20T00:23:00.001-05:002013-03-20T00:26:37.730-05:00Good Sheep<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I lay down My life for the sheep. I
have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and
they will listen to My voice. (John 10.15-16)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Take a moment and flash back on your school days. Pick a
random grade and scan the classroom. Who do you see first? Whose names bubble
up the quickest? When I tried this little experiment, here’s who rose to the
top: the troublemaker, the clown, the pet, the flirt, the rebel, and the
ne’er-do-well. What about the good kids? Where were they? By “good kids” I
don’t necessarily mean the A students or the champs or the leaders of the band.
I’m thinking of kids who did their homework, never caused any grief, and got
along with everyone. They were good friends, good teammates, and did well in their
studies without calling attention to themselves. I imagine they grew up to be
fine parents and neighbors and probably achieved an enviable measure of
success. But, in all honesty, I remember little about them. A few names surface,
and there are several faces whose names I’ve lost. Other than that, I can’t
recall much about them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’d guess you’re better at this game than I, because I’m
terrible at it. But I put it out there to illustrate how easily we overlook
good people. Because we rely on them to do what’s right and hold themselves
accountable and not put themselves out front, we gloss over their virtues. This
phenomenon follows us through life, at work, in neighborhoods, and, especially,
in religious spheres, where two groups stand out: the super-faithful and the
train wrecks. Those are the people we focus on and talk about. It’s just more
exciting to stand in awe of the saints and sit in judgment of the sinners than
to recognize how many good Christians we live with. And this disconnect is
unfortunate, not as much for them as us, because our obsession with extremes
results in a severely skewed—in some cases, badly scarred—picture of the Body
of Christ. There is goodness all around us. But do we see it? And if we see it,
do we take the time to let it sink in? I’m apt to think not. Otherwise, our
impressions of what’s good and what’s not so good about the overall community
of believers would be far less extreme.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In John 10, Jesus, once again, tries to explain His
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be resurrected. But His words don’t seem to stick. So He turns to metaphors
that summon familiar images. He says, “I am the gate for the sheep,” invoking a
leader who must be physically removed and then restored to corral and protect
his flock. It appears that the visual doesn’t quite do the trick, because He expands
on the shepherd analogy. This time around, He adds something new. After saying,
“I lay down My life for the sheep,” He tells the disciples His flock is much
bigger than they suspect. “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold.
I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice,” He says. In the
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than they imagine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCw-V5U52dOFWGQm-0nHvwZcRIvibsy2X5F-hcc4LIPyq4K_u2n9Bl52Ql8f9Ogs4hjCb0JZ4tNmMnqozo7_PaKiXBn5PuqR1kGimQc9OuTtl5SncEoh1fmIPe1QTfR7z2J-W0MZT5B0Rh/s1600/flock-of-sheep.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCw-V5U52dOFWGQm-0nHvwZcRIvibsy2X5F-hcc4LIPyq4K_u2n9Bl52Ql8f9Ogs4hjCb0JZ4tNmMnqozo7_PaKiXBn5PuqR1kGimQc9OuTtl5SncEoh1fmIPe1QTfR7z2J-W0MZT5B0Rh/s400/flock-of-sheep.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chances are these “other sheep” are all around the
disciples. They may even know many of them by face or name. But their
experiences at Jesus’s side have conditioned them to focus on extremes. They’ve
witnessed extraordinary feats of faith, as severely sick and unjustly
marginalized people have reached out for healing and acceptance. They’ve
encountered vile hypocrites and critics who embody all that’s wrong about “organized
religion.” Yet between these two polarities, there is a wide swath of faithful
believers who follow Jesus—not for the miracles and controversy, but simply
because His voice calls to them in very real ways. They’re not stars. They’re
not part of the touring company. But they’re there, even though our fascination
with extremes blinds us to them. And, despite being overlooked, the Good
Shepherd counts them as good sheep.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many theologians read Jesus’s “other sheep” statement to
mean the actual community of faith exceeds religious labels. They suggest it’s
possible that Jesus is saying He claims all who abide by the principles of His
teaching—whether or not they identify with Him by name. Our comfort with that
matters little, however, because the basic idea leads us to realize there is
more goodness around us than we’re apt to see. In the Body of Christ,
superstars are few and far between. But it also turns out that scoundrels are
equally rare. As we prepare our hearts to enter Jerusalem, where we’ll rehearse
the final week of Jesus’s mortal life, we should open our eyes and hearts to
millions and millions of overlooked, seemingly unremarkable Christians
traveling beside us. “I must bring them also,” Jesus insists, “and they will
listen to My voice.”</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01271248501086241494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722447614945782871.post-8705536032402089982013-03-19T01:32:00.001-05:002013-03-19T01:32:43.617-05:00First
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">God proves God’s love for us in that
while we still were sinners Christ died for us. (Romans 5.8)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As Lent beckons us to Calvary and our thoughts turn toward
the cross, I’m reminded of the hymn that says, “Oh, how I love Jesus/Because He
first loved me.” Of all the facets of divine grace exemplified on the cross,
the realization that God loved us <i>first</i>
is the most dazzling for me. It is a decisive love, a love offered in hopes
that it will be returned. But we can never forget that Jesus decides to die a
criminal’s death with no promise that His love for humanity will be rewarded.
It’s more than a selfless act of compassion. It’s a huge gamble—the most
extreme risk a person can take—which makes it the ultimate act of faith. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And we should remember that this sacrifice is not without
hesitation. Moments before He’s arrested, Jesus begs God to release Him from
this fate. Because we’re governed by flesh, we interpret His prayer to be a
plea to save His own skin. Like every human living under Roman oppression,
Jesus has seen the horrors of imperial torture and crucifixion. In Jerusalem,
Calvary is the site for frequent executions. As with other cities where
potential for insurrection is high, the Romans select a spot at the edge of
town to erect a grisly display of supreme authority. The crosses of Calvary stand
as a warning to anyone traveling to and from the city: there is no mercy for
anyone who bucks the system. Jesus knows well what torments await Him after
He’s taken into custody. Then, because we know how gruesome His death is, we
put two and two together and assume Jesus is asking God to spare Him from the
extreme brutality He will suffer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But might there be more to Jesus’s hesitance than escaping
agony? One has to imagine a bigger question looms in His mind. <i>Will dying be worth it?</i> The
mortification of an unjust trial, public mockery, being whipped within an inch
of His life, and then hoisted onto a cross is supposed to result in our
awakening to God’s boundless love. Yet there are no guarantees this will be the
case. Given how much derision He’s faced in life, the odds don’t favor such an
eventuality. It’s more likely He’ll die and be forgot, like every other
troublemaker who meets his end at Calvary. Crucifixions happen all the time.
Why should Jesus’s be any different? “Take this cup away from Me,” He prays—as
if to say, “Don’t put Me through this for no reason.” It’s a huge gamble.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus’s great assent—“Not My will, but Yours be done”—is
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acknowledgement of what must be done to prove that God loved us first. The
reconciliation at the heart of God’s redemptive plan starts with love and
proceeds without any assurance it will be repaid. And the physical agony that
Jesus endures cannot begin to equal the mental anguish rising from the
possibility it could all be for naught. That is the miracle of the cross.
Jesus’s faith in God—even in the terrifying moments when He feels God has
abandoned Him to die alone—is matched by God’s unfailing faith in us. To love
us without any certainty we will return God’s love, it is more than the human
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbzfoyyoMCJsgxECe08lZfmpNi8kO4IxQRmNU-DxXozM0V5cnQ-H5EQAZLLbC3pxaJ3n73BLF58G4DYG4jhJAQ0KIwpA82ExxG8Dxt2CemiV1999xSKJuA9fy9rB7jmBR3Z562oJERihUW/s1600/crossheartlogo1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbzfoyyoMCJsgxECe08lZfmpNi8kO4IxQRmNU-DxXozM0V5cnQ-H5EQAZLLbC3pxaJ3n73BLF58G4DYG4jhJAQ0KIwpA82ExxG8Dxt2CemiV1999xSKJuA9fy9rB7jmBR3Z562oJERihUW/s320/crossheartlogo1.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">God loved us first. It is almost unimaginable. Yet it is
true. And the grandeur of such extreme love becomes the centerpiece of Paul’s
attempt to awaken us to this amazing fact: “For while we were still weak, at
the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for
a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare
to die. But God proves God’s love for us in that while we still were sinners
Christ died for us.” (Romans 5.6-8)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As we approach Holy Week, may awareness that God loved us
first overtake us. We’re moving toward a moment when we will discover love of
unmatched magnificence and trust. The greatest love we can ever know is waiting
for us at the cross. But as the Savior comes into view, let’s not forget that
God waits faithfully for our love to flow upward. May our song
forever be, “Oh, how I love Jesus. Because He first loved me.”</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01271248501086241494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722447614945782871.post-89925764226456241042013-03-16T16:32:00.000-05:002013-03-16T16:32:32.558-05:00Most of All
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I want to know Christ and the power of
His resurrection and the sharing of His sufferings by becoming like Him in His
death. (Philippians 3.8)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Center of Everything</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If our lives were bookshelves, where would the volume called
<i>My Faith</i> be? Would it stand on such a
tall shelf that retrieving it requires too much effort? Would it get tucked
between other familiar titles—<i>My Family</i>,
<i>My Job</i>, <i>What I Do for Fun</i>—where it competes for our attention and often is
jostled out of the way as we reach for something else? Would it be <i>somewhere</i> in all of these stories of our
lives, yet it would take some looking to find it? Would it be stacked nearby,
in the pile of books we intend to thumb through when we find the time?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Or would <i>My Faith</i>
rest at the center of everything, easily within reach, its covers barely able
to contain pages swollen from overuse, the copy smeared from constant
highlighting, the margins tattooed with notes and question marks and
exclamation points? Would it be so vital to everything we do that it never
makes it to the bookshelf at all? Is it the one book we carry with us at all
times, no matter where we go or what we do?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sunday’s New Testament selections (John 12.1-8; Philippians
3.4-14) portray two people whose editions of <i>My Faith</i> are veritable forces that propel their lives. In John, we
see Mary, the sister of Jesus’s close friend, Lazarus, do something that seems
utterly senseless, yet makes perfect sense. In Philippians, we hear Paul
explain his approach to life. Again, what he says sounds illogical. But his
reasoning is solid.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Most Peculiar</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mary’s story is remembered for several reasons: her
extravagant behavior, which comes out of nowhere; Judas’s exaggerated outrage,
which camouflages ulterior motives; and Jesus’s defense of Mary, which, if we
misread it, is somewhat confusing. And the event’s drama is magnified by its setting,
a dinner party. Jesus and the disciples are headed for Jerusalem,
where—unbeknownst to everyone but Him—their travels will end. They stop at
Bethany, a prosperous outlying village, to visit with Lazarus and his sisters.
While Martha puts dinner on the table and Lazarus hosts his guests, Mary
appears with a pound of nard, a costly perfume made from oil pressed out of the
roots of spikenard, a flowering plant from the Valerian family. Nard is
primarily used to anoint corpses, as its sedative properties (like those in
today’s Valerian root extract) are said to enhance the deceased’s restfulness. Mary
empties the nard onto Jesus’s feet and wipes off the excess with her hair. Her
actions are alarming on many levels. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Most obvious, of course, is the expensiveness of her
gesture—which is what angers Judas. He protests her wastefulness, saying she
could have sold the perfume and fed poor people with the proceeds. (The writer
of John is skeptical about his motives, however, saying that, as treasurer of
Jesus’s ministry, he skimmed donations.) Furthermore, Mary’s behavior is totally
inappropriate at a dinner party. Bringing nard to the table introduces an ominous
air to a festive situation; its association with funerals cannot be overlooked.
Then, anointing Jesus and wiping His feet with her hair crosses numerous social
boundaries: male-female, life-death, intimate-public, leader-follower.
Everything about this is most peculiar, unlike anything else we see in the
Gospels.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So Judas’s shock is understandable, even if his motives are
corrupt. No doubt everyone—other than Jesus and Mary—is appalled by her
actions. Jesus’s reply to Judas’s complaint doesn’t ease the tension. “Leave
her alone,” he says. “She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of My
burial. You will always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.”
(John 12.7-8) We can read His response any number of ways that miss His point.
Is Jesus placing His personal comfort above the poor’s needs? Is He saying our
commitment to end poverty is futile? Is He excusing what looks like conspicuous
consumption? Why would Mary to bring augurs of His death to the table in the
first place? Does she know something that no one else but Jesus realizes?
Apparently, she does. In very short order, Jesus will be illegally arrested,
tried, and executed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is vital for Mary to express her faithfulness to Him
before He dies. She anoints His feet, because they are about to travel a rugged
road that leads to Jerusalem and takes a sharp turn up Calvary’s hill. But why
does she towel His feet with her hair? Jesus grasps the symbolism of her
gesture. In physically reclaiming the excess, she shares in His death. It’s about
more than staying with Jesus until the end; active faith emits intentions to remain
with Christ always, in life, death, and life after death. That is, most
certainly, a shocking confession.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>The Story of Our Lives</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, John doesn’t give Mary a chance to explain.
If she could speak, she would echo Paul’s statement in Philippians 3.8: “I want
to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the sharing of His
sufferings by becoming like Him in His death.” Once again, we see a disciple at
Jesus’s feet, pouring out his soul, desiring to get so close to Jesus that he’s
inseparable from Him. Like Mary, Paul recognizes that resurrection is a
miraculous outcome that overthrows the brutality of earlier suffering and the
finality of death. (We cannot rise from what we do not experience.) Paul opens
this passage with startling bravado. “If anyone has reason to be confident in
the flesh, I have more,” he brags in verse 4. He lists all the ways he’s
superior, concluding, “as to righteousness under the law, [I am] blameless.”
(v6) For someone constantly urging his readers to stay humble, his swagger
seems wildly inappropriate. Yet Paul redeems himself in the next verse: “Whatever
gains I had, these I regard as loss because of Christ.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Mary and Paul, we see two individuals of notable means
and privilege. Neither is born into poverty. Both come from strong families and
enjoy the advantages of status. Neither really has anything to prove in
society’s eyes. Still, both implicitly understand that faith matters most of
all. It is so central to their lives that they keep it in handy reach, using it
to frame everything they do and say. Do they realize this will alarm some and
anger others? Of course, they do. But their longing to know Christ in every
way—in suffering, death, and resurrection—surpasses any concerns about how
they’re viewed. They count everything but their faith as a loss. They know that
following Christ through sufferings and death will bring new life to every
aspect of their existence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Which brings us back to the bookshelf. When <i>My Faith</i> becomes the most important
volume in our lives, other books obtain greater meaning and clarity. In our
homes and families, at work and play, we experience resurrection power by
proclaiming victory over suffering and death through faith. The world will
continue to turn. There will always be poor people. There will always be rich
ones. There will always be cruel people. There will always be kind ones. But we
who cherish faith most of all are unshaken by any of this, because our lives
hew to a different story that grasps the relationship between loss and
resurrection. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul poeticizes this, using a seed as his
metaphor. He says: “What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable.
It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is
raised in power.” (v42-43) That’s how faith seizes control of life’s sorrows
and setbacks. That’s the story of our lives.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7rRxvt3R-YO-feAc4orIBCrTMdeiEglMGxq7TW9KKO8Ih_vFbTBF8BbBVV8jl8l4ccq2sGwH1M9EmG1lJjfF7uD5kgqjSEkQAQV1KulHPL_OTdtxhMhvXX_u5jWuMLsvFTN5AhQ9n-0cK/s1600/magdelene_annointing_jesus_feet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7rRxvt3R-YO-feAc4orIBCrTMdeiEglMGxq7TW9KKO8Ih_vFbTBF8BbBVV8jl8l4ccq2sGwH1M9EmG1lJjfF7uD5kgqjSEkQAQV1KulHPL_OTdtxhMhvXX_u5jWuMLsvFTN5AhQ9n-0cK/s400/magdelene_annointing_jesus_feet.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In anointing Jesus’s
feet and wiping up the excess perfume with her hair, Mary shares in His death
and resurrection. That is her story. And if we make faith central to our lives,
it becomes our story, too.</span><o:p></o:p></i></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01271248501086241494noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722447614945782871.post-43596649567671825952013-03-14T00:00:00.000-05:002013-03-14T08:47:40.749-05:00Lived-in Love<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Be imitators of God, as beloved
children, and live in love, as Christ loved us, and gave Himself up for us, a
fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 5.1-2)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The saintly (and sainted) sixth-century pontiff, Gregory the
Great, wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The proof of love is in the works.
Where love exists, it works great things. But when it ceases to act, it ceases
to exist.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That’s a sermon all by itself. Love is much more than an
emotion. It is the thing that prods us to extend ourselves to others, to make
thoughtful sacrifices without a second thought. It cannot be passive, nor can
it be held in reserve. Wherever love goes, love flows.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As Paul suggests to the Ephesians, love is the key to
becoming more like our Maker, which is one of Lent’s most hopeful intentions.
Thus, love becomes the litmus test for holiness in our lives. If the things we
cherish lead to loving attitudes and behaviors, they are godly. If our thoughts
and opinions move us to put love into action, then they are just.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHO2WGme2iSKoPF-kHOTDteZRLD754EcmhAMyhVQwoBdGn-i9LdMIN-nhXcsgE0dEwwy3egrCmWMlhdmAjhW-EYcAVmXH-CxXs8cMOWKXajCjYlO_ckonoNRJdh1ePBqLvckFh6TRle0m0/s1600/Love-In-Action-3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHO2WGme2iSKoPF-kHOTDteZRLD754EcmhAMyhVQwoBdGn-i9LdMIN-nhXcsgE0dEwwy3egrCmWMlhdmAjhW-EYcAVmXH-CxXs8cMOWKXajCjYlO_ckonoNRJdh1ePBqLvckFh6TRle0m0/s400/Love-In-Action-3.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lest we get mired into the gooey shallows of sentimentality
and romance, we need to disabuse ourselves of Hallmark notions about love. Both
Paul and Gregory set high standards for love. Paul defines it by its epitome:
the love of Christ, which reached its height in Jesus’s final breath. Gregory
says love “works great things.” This is not the kind of love that settles for
roses and chocolates. It’s more than kindness and generosity. This is gutsy
love—sweaty love, the sort of love that cares more about what it can accomplish
than the price of its demands. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The fragrance Paul describes isn’t the smell of flowers and
potpourri. It’s the scent that rises from a sacrificial altar, a sweetness
comingled with the stench of burning flesh and death. It is an odor that is
pleasing to God, but not always pleasant to us. So real love’s purpose isn’t
focused on making us happy. Its role is to spur us to self-sacrifice that creates
change. It is the love of God displayed in human ways on a human scale that
nonetheless reflects God’s epic patience, compassion, and forgiveness.
It is decisive and courageous, all-inclusive and farsighted, willing to endure
pain and turmoil in its tenacious pursuit of something greater than what
presently exists. This is the passion Jesus describes in John 3.16: “God so
loved the world that God gave God’s only Son, so that everyone who believes in
Him may not perish but may have eternal life.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While true love doesn’t seek happiness, it miraculously
makes those who truly love truly happy. They don’t need rose-colored glasses to
see God’s love at work, because they live in it. Genuinely expressed love
naturally gives rise to joy and wholeness. Lived-in love activates a life of rich
experience. It turns every thought and deed into an act of worship that pleases
God. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gregory certainly understood this. He devoted his life to
reforming worship to stress the nature of God’s love and was hailed as “the
Father of Christian Worship.” He lent his name to the matchless Gregorian chant
that captures the soul of sacredness. That’s why musicians and singers look to
him as their patron saint.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To live in love is serious work. But despite its toil, it
inevitably fills us with song.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01271248501086241494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722447614945782871.post-36410346515255490962013-03-13T00:00:00.000-05:002013-03-13T00:30:46.775-05:00You Say It<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you have faith the size of a mustard
seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will
move; and nothing will be impossible for you. (Matthew 17.20)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All of this Lenten off-loading and sorting-out has me
surrounded by tall piles of junk. Here’s my short temper, and over there is my pride,
and next to that, my knee-jerk negativity toward people who—in my unqualified
estimation—have no clue about what’s going on in the world. Night before
last I was at they gym, going through my treadmill paces, as one of those “Real
Housewives” shows played on the overhead TV. I was listening to gospel music on
my iPod and couldn’t hear a word they said. But just from the look of them, I
decided I didn’t like these people. I automatically assumed they were silly and
gauche and I thought, “If our paths crossed, I’d get away from them as fast as
I could.” Just that quick, a voice in the recesses of my brain challenged me.
“Really?” it asked. “You’ll go out of your way to talk to a homeless person,
but you’re okay with sneering at <i>nouveau
riche</i> folks? How can that be right?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lent will do that. It has a way of pulling us up short and
highlighting idle assumptions that evidence how much further we have to go to
be like the Lord. Jesus spent a lot of time with poor people. But He showed kindness and hospitality to wealthy and grandiose types, too. If the
Samaritan woman at the well had been a Real Housewife (and she may have been),
He wouldn’t have turned her away. Where do I get off imagining I can do
differently? So there you go. Add unjust attitudes about the privileged few to
my heaps.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After a while, it starts to feel like our shortcomings are closing
in on us. Wherever we turn, there’s another mountain. Our Lenten progress
reaches a standstill, because we can no longer scale the foolishness we pile
up. Our first instinct is to appeal to God’s mercy (the right thing) and expect
God to move our mountains for us (the wrong thing). We want God to serve our
interests as a single-handed demolition crew, blow our weaknesses sky-high, and
clear the way so we can get on with our lives. That’s not going to happen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No sooner had I been chastened for my condescension than my
iPod shuffled up a tune that spoke to my problem. It was a song I’d never
really paid attention to, “That’s How the Lord Works,” by The Thomas Whitfield
Singers. The soloist sang, “I asked God to move my mountains, but instead God
increased my faith.” The choir answered, “That’s how the Lord works; that’s
just like God.” I had to think about that for a minute.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The allusion, of course, is Jesus’s promise in Matthew 17.20
(repeated almost verbatim in Matthew 21.21): “If you have faith the size of a
mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it
will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” We get all excited about
the dramatic proportions of His imagery—a teeny tiny seed of faith can move
impossibly huge mountains. But if we look at enormous piles of our junk, and then
ask God to move them for us, are we truly following the principle Jesus lays
out? “<i>You</i>”—not “God”—“will say to
this mountain, ‘Move,’” He says.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEn33LMXWcZgEMXn-YIYC457lCGaBdWkzlTxSAfwyXAPlxDT_2eEtFKj5tAIGsoL0n8Rl3XjXsHD_oEvLoEMrQ_Smd15gDAlFkXTLhp6FJ1QEa4pgzRzdpY2SUOnB5HaMrWXlL3rFccEJ8/s1600/Mountain_Move.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEn33LMXWcZgEMXn-YIYC457lCGaBdWkzlTxSAfwyXAPlxDT_2eEtFKj5tAIGsoL0n8Rl3XjXsHD_oEvLoEMrQ_Smd15gDAlFkXTLhp6FJ1QEa4pgzRzdpY2SUOnB5HaMrWXlL3rFccEJ8/s400/Mountain_Move.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Moving our mountains is our responsibility. God makes it possible the
instant we confess belief they can be moved. The size of our faith doesn’t have
to equal the scope of our problems. It just needs to plant confidence that
moving mountains is not impossible. Speaking to them acknowledges that we see
them for what they are. We can no longer cloak them in language of denial and
justification. They are mountains. They need to move. “You say it,” Jesus
promises, “and nothing will be impossible for you.”</span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01271248501086241494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722447614945782871.post-36363118592646945892013-03-11T01:24:00.000-05:002013-03-11T01:36:36.576-05:00Repression Obsessions<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I acknowledged my sin to You, and I did
not hide my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,”
and You forgave the guilt of my sin. (Psalm 32.5)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The hit musical <i>The
Book of Mormon</i> is ostensibly about the comic—and cosmic—travails of a group
of Latter Day Saint missionaries who have the bad luck of being assigned to a
Ugandan outpost. But in short order, you gather it’s really about people of all
walks who suffer from having their religion screwed on a little too tight. You
know who I mean. They’re the folks who are terrified of God, terrified of
temptation, terrified of Hell, and, most of all, terrified they’ll get caught
doing something unseemly by people as terrified as they are. And the only way
of managing the terror they’ve chosen to live with is to mask it with
manufactured happiness. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The show quickly dismantles its characters’ clean-cut, cockeyed
(and cocky) optimism with “Turn It Off,” a hybrid show tune and Sunday school
ditty that says:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Don’t feel those feelings!<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hold them in instead<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Turn it off, like a light switch<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Just go click!</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With every conflict a missionary confesses, the answer is,
“Turn it off!” Feeling guilty about not protecting your mother from domestic
violence? Turn it off! Troubled because you left your dying sister’s bedside to
get in line for a new iPhone? Turn it off! Worried about being attracted to
your own sex? Turn it off! But what if these gnawing emotions don’t go away?
“Then you only got yourself to blame. You didn’t pretend hard enough. Turn it
off!" If repression obsessions were unique to Mormons, this cheeky little number
would be lamentably tragic. But haven’t we all, at one point or another, been
told by someone—parents, ministers, teachers, counselors, you name it—to turn
it off? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Repression is no help when confronting confusion and weakness.
It’s a defense mechanism against guilt of both varieties, deserved and undeserved,
and it’s completely ineffective in overcoming either kind. Repression feeds on
guilt. If we stop feeling guilty, the thing we’re trying to conceal has no
reason to hide. As long as we keep it hidden, we won’t come to grips with what
it actually is. It may be something sinful and unhealthy and offensive to our
Maker and those around us. Yet it may also be something holy and life-giving
and essential to our God-given identity and purpose. As long as we refuse to
examine it, we’ll never see exactly what it is.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXU8fnQ4W8KEvtEIIg_bC4H9JmiWTRbz-73ejUFK8M1Bm2x4cKc_cOMAyr94IRr_QLurGWenF336qUt9dtlZWla3ElMVgMpTifL2ZZapZwY4ZfgrDPX4QppvrO2JBVYHw9-7SouuUVVT11/s1600/smart-light-switch_69.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXU8fnQ4W8KEvtEIIg_bC4H9JmiWTRbz-73ejUFK8M1Bm2x4cKc_cOMAyr94IRr_QLurGWenF336qUt9dtlZWla3ElMVgMpTifL2ZZapZwY4ZfgrDPX4QppvrO2JBVYHw9-7SouuUVVT11/s400/smart-light-switch_69.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The only way we can figure out what’s behind our repression
obsessions is by turning the light switch on so we can see what’s really there.
We invite God in and say, “Take a look at this. Here’s what worries me about
it. If it’s wrong, show me the right way. If it’s what You want for me, grant
me the grace to accept it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Psalm 32 models this prayer: “I acknowledged my sin to You,
and I did not hide my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to
the LORD,’ and You forgave the guilt of my sin.” Repression cannot lead to
holiness. Pretending we aren’t struggling won’t open our eyes to truth. If what
we’re struggling with is sinful, we need to see that and invite God to forgive our
wrongdoing and remove the guilt it creates. If it’s something we’re afraid of,
we need to overcome our fear and lead lives of dignity in keeping with God’s
plan and purpose for us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lent is our great sifting season, when we search our hearts
and lay all they contain before God. Whatever’s got us confused and feeling
guilty is not to be hidden away in hopes it will go away. For repression to
work, it needs the thing it wants to bury and it needs the guilt we carry
because of what we’re hiding. None of that is constructive. None of it will
improve our lives. “Turn it off” isn’t the answer. “Turn it on—like a light
switch.” That’s the answer. If we can summon the courage to do that, we can boldly talk it over
with our Maker and bravely heed God's direction for our lives.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01271248501086241494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722447614945782871.post-76691887338341290262013-03-09T12:03:00.000-06:002013-03-09T12:12:02.140-06:00The Extravagant Son<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When he was still a long way off, his
father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him.
(Luke 15.20; <i>The Message</i>)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Easy Recognition<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The beauty of Jesus’s parables resides in their earthiness
and accessibility. His characters are made of clay—flawed, unfinished, and often
thickheaded. Whether central figures or supporting cast members, if they’re not
exactly like us, we know someone like them. And our easy recognition of the
characters, including those whom Jesus introduces as surrogates for God,
enables us to enter His parables from many angles. No matter how many times
we’ve heard these stories, we can always discover something new and revealing
in them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The parable in Sunday’s Gospel (Luke 15.11-32) is usually
called “The Prodigal Son”. Since “prodigal” isn’t a word common to modern
English, we’re apt to infer its meaning based on the son’s behavior, rather
than seek out its true definition to see what Jesus wants to show us. We assume
“a prodigal” is rebellious, ungrateful, devious—in short, a spoiled brat, which
invites our condescension toward this character. But that’s not what the word
means, nor is it what Jesus describes. Jesus’s word (<i>asótós</i>) doesn’t even address the son’s character. It merely
portrays how he lives—loosely, wastefully, in wanton debauchery—after he leaves
his father’s house, his pockets spilling easy money, with no compass for his
life. A better word would be “extravagant,” and when we substitute it for
“prodigal,” the story gets really interesting, because we realize the apple
doesn’t fall far from the tree.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Blanks</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We don’t know what fires the son’s urgency to leave home. All
Jesus tells us is he’s the younger of a prosperous farmer’s two sons. He asks
his father to advance his inheritance, which totals cash equal to one-third of
the father’s holdings. (According to ancient custom, the eldest son is entitled
to twice what his younger brothers receive. Unfortunately, sisters don’t
inherit directly from their father’s largesse; they’re given a dowry and
married off to other families, who agree to support them in exchange for
bearing children.) While it’s not unheard of in Jesus’s day for fathers to
advance their legacies before death, it’s not how things usually go. By design,
this couches a lot of blanks in the first act of the story, as Jesus withholds telling details about the nature of the father-son relationship. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Is the younger son the favorite? So it might seem, given
his dad’s consent to honor his request and the older brother’s outrage when he
returns home. On the other hand, their relationship may be troubled, and the
father relents out of frustration, hoping some real-world experience will help
his son figure things out. (Which is how the story ends.) Then again, the
father’s confidence in his son may be so sure that he’s unworried about how
he’ll spend his fortune. There’s also the possibility the father—like many
others—sees a chance to live out his own dreams of being footloose and fancy-free
through his son. Although there are many potential explanations for their
rather unusual arrangement, they all lead back to two facts: the father loves
his son supremely and, however the story goes, the father has a hand in its
outcome. It is the father’s will—in the strictest legal sense—that enables the
son to leave home. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So the son is not a rebel. He’s not greedy; he only asks for
his share. He’s not deceitful; unlike Jacob in the Old Testament, he doesn’t
trick the father into handing over what he doesn’t deserve. All we know is
something inside him wants to break away. Maybe he’s just tired of living on the
farm and wants to see the world. Maybe he’s lonely and longs for relationships
he can’t find at home. (As we discover, his brother is not his friend.)
Maybe he has delusions of grandeur and runs away to become a rock star. Maybe
he’s a rich kid who’s curious about how the other half lives. In the end, his
reasons for taking off don’t matter because the story is really about how he
squanders his gifts and how that leads to reconciliation with his father.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>A Tale of Horror</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once the son leaves home, we see that he and his father are
more alike than they realize. They’re both extravagantly generous. They both
enjoy a good party. Neither of them seems overly concerned about onlookers’
opinions, as decisions they make are likely to raise eyebrows and draw
criticism. Both are undaunted by risk. In permitting his son to leave, the
father risks not having a second child to care for him in his old age. In
throwing his inheritance to the wind, the son risks not being able to provide
for himself. And that’s what happens. Once he blows his fortune on extravagant
living, it’s as though the universe turns on him. Famine descends on his newly
adopted land. The friends his money bought are gone. He gets work tending
pigs and stares hungrily at the swill he pours into their manger.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s here that Jesus’s story turns into a tale of horror
that chills His listeners to the bone. The Jewish taboo about eating pork means
not one of them owns a pig and very few, if any, have even seen one. Pigs are
monsters—filthy, ravenous beasts that endanger their health and their faith. In
the eyes of Jesus’s audience, landing in a pigpen is worse than hitting rock bottom.
“That brought him to his senses,” Jesus says. The son reckons, “All those
farmhands working for my father sit down to three meals a day, and here I am
starving to death.” Deciding to return home, he prepares a repentance
speech, confessing he’s sinned against God and his father, begging to be taken
on as a hired hand. And that brings us to the story’s final twist.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lavish Love<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The father never loses hope that he’ll be reunited with his
son. “When he was still a long way off, his father saw him,” Jesus tells us.
“His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him.” This means the
father kept waiting and watching for his son’s return. The son starts his
repentance speech. But the father cuts him off before he can offer to hire on
as a common servant. It’s time to celebrate! The father starts issuing orders to the
staff, planning an extravagant party, and moving quickly to restore
everything the son surrendered: the best robe, i.e., the finest garment from
the father’s own closet; the family ring, empowering the son to exercise his
full rights as an heir; shoes, instantly differentiating him from the barefoot
household slaves; and a grain-fed heifer, which the father set apart from his
pastured cows, with the intention of breeding better stock or perhaps offering it in
sacrificial worship. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The father’s lavish love won’t be denied. Naturally, this
angers the older brother, who’s remained faithful the whole time. We get his
resentment and refusal to join the extravagant reunion. While his brother’s
been living the high life, he’s shouldered a lot of heavy lifting. He’s had to
deal with his parents’ anxiety, neighborhood gossip about where the father went
wrong, and servants’ concern about job stability after one-third of the
household assets disappeared. “What are you doing?” the older brother asks. “He
wasted a fortune on prostitutes and you throw him a party? I’ve never given you
a moment’s grief and you’ve never done that for me!” Oh yes, we understand the
older son. Yet that’s why we’re wise to doubt the reliability of his
accusations. Left alone, he’s crafted a hateful fiction about his brother’s
behavior. To some degree, it’s likely to be true. A windfall can make people do
crazy things. What’s missing from his fantasy are the hard times and degradation
the extravagant son encountered. He never stops to ask, “What went wrong to
drive my little brother back home?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The father doesn’t ask, either. It’s irrelevant to him. All
he cares about is that his lost son has returned. Listen to his response to the
elder son’s protests: “Son, you don’t understand. You’re with me all the time,
and everything that is mine is yours—but this is a wonderful time, and we had
to celebrate. This brother of yours was dead, and he’s alive! He was lost, and
he’s found!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Never Far</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How can we not love this story? We can enter it from
virtually all sides, as the son, father, elder brother, servants, and off-screen
characters—neighbors and onlookers, foreigners who sap the son’s fortune, even
the audience who heard the parable for the first time. It is the story of repentance
writ large in bold print, the greatest comeback tale of all time. But if we
leave it at that, I think we miss a central truth Jesus wants us to see.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Regardless how far we stray from home, we are never far from
God. We are, in every way, God’s children and we carry God’s traits with us
wherever we go. That is God’s ultimate gift to us. The extravagance of our
misbehavior is a distortion of God’s extravagant goodness. The generous nature
that often leads us to wastefulness comes from our exceedingly generous God. Our
compulsion to take risks is inherited from a God Who is willing to risk
everything in order to restore us to right relationship. And while we are away
from God, abusing our privileges and channeling our godly traits in wrong-headed ways,
God never stops waiting and watching for our return. How low we sink—how
horrible our lives become—is a matter of choice. From the moment we leave, the
door stays open. Whether anyone else appreciates the bond we share with our
Maker is irrelevant. We can always come home.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus gives us a story riddled with blanks about the
characters’ motives and attitudes. But He does this on purpose to lead us back
to His parable’s defining truth. Just as the father tells the older son, God
says to us, “Everything that is Mine is yours.” Wherever we may be in our
lives—if our feet are firmly planted at God’s table or if we’ve skipped town
and landed in a pigsty—that truth will never change. <i>Everything that is Mine is yours</i>. That’s reason enough to party.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGME0il14AIAX3iBYFA4P4i_M7FwQTGpJ9DSqv3jE-kTMtqcnisM-UIpi7lmnF1gujEvtZlOYFrYox3b_f3Uxrzmgls3XcciYrcQJBte7BWCoEtXulHQ48BzLXcHj8DIkpN2-xVvbiPODU/s1600/prodigal-son.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGME0il14AIAX3iBYFA4P4i_M7FwQTGpJ9DSqv3jE-kTMtqcnisM-UIpi7lmnF1gujEvtZlOYFrYox3b_f3Uxrzmgls3XcciYrcQJBte7BWCoEtXulHQ48BzLXcHj8DIkpN2-xVvbiPODU/s400/prodigal-son.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No matter how far we
stray from home, regardless how low we go, God waits and watches for our
return.</span></i><o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01271248501086241494noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722447614945782871.post-18872940744358310212013-03-08T09:36:00.000-06:002013-03-08T09:36:52.743-06:00In View
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in
the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in
Him may have eternal life. (John 3.14-15)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 40.5pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My Great-Uncle Grady was the stuff of family legend. He pastored
a large, well-heeled Memphis congregation, but you’d never know that by his
demeanor. He was extremely comfortable in his own skin and a magician at
turning phrases. In the pulpit or at the dinner table, he could conjure a wry
remark that put the perfect button on the topic at hand. In a family known for
its gifts of gab, Grady’s knack for distilling a complex situation into a few
words proved mighty handy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In addition to shepherding his flock, Grady stepped into
pastoral shoes whenever sickness and death overshadowed our family. He steered
us through our dark valleys, overseeing arrangements and accommodations,
running errands, scheduling meals, completing paperwork—tending to all the
details so the rest of us could focus on what really mattered: finding comfort,
processing pain, and regaining our strength. In times of crisis, Grady was a
very busy man. While he was off, finishing one to-do list, a new one was
waiting for him when he returned. On one occasion (as the story goes), he
walked in the door only to be told he needed to turn around and see to a fresh
set of needs. To which Grady sighed, “I can’t get anywhere for going
someplace.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I always reach for this story right about now, near the
midpoint in Lent’s progress. The initial blow of being jettisoned into a
metaphorical wilderness has long been absorbed. The reckoning with repentance
and coping with new changes that Lent inspires in us is underway. And in the
middle of all this emotional and spiritual sorting-out, matters of practical
living keep rearing up. There are jobs to go to, bills to pay, errands to run,
spouses and families needing attention. Time is at a premium. Frustration is
high. And we may feel like Grady: we can’t seem to get anywhere for going
someplace.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s a fine time to take a deep breath and remind ourselves
where we’re headed. This desert road steers us to a hillside, to the foot of a
cross, and to a Savior Who waits for us there. When Nicodemus came to Jesus and
asked, “What’s this all about?” Jesus evoked a famous legend, in which Israel’s
wilderness trek was suddenly stopped by an influx of poisonous snakes. They had
been released into their camp because God’s people had become overly concerned
with pragmatic issues. They’d lost their faith in God’s power to sustain them
and began to complain about being stranded in the middle of nowhere. God told
Moses to fashion a serpent, raise it on a high standard, and anyone who’d been
snake-bit needed only to look and live.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0NGo5A2mK7p9M6u0ueOXX6uyT2zLBDDXaW5pB04KGOVgIU3lMaskrmS3IjxUEWmddLIF6DUL6nWUN_z52248zRBSwmvVmILtipZ3VPtIloM6K1LoZnOTL99Ihkt2nr-H-DMq5qYSNGieC/s1600/wp_easter_sunrise_cross.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0NGo5A2mK7p9M6u0ueOXX6uyT2zLBDDXaW5pB04KGOVgIU3lMaskrmS3IjxUEWmddLIF6DUL6nWUN_z52248zRBSwmvVmILtipZ3VPtIloM6K1LoZnOTL99Ihkt2nr-H-DMq5qYSNGieC/s400/wp_easter_sunrise_cross.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The rigors of Lent are no match for the majesty of the
cross. When we’re feeling disoriented, fatigued, frustrated—when we’re tempted to
complain about being stranded in the middle of nowhere—we have only to look
toward the cross and we will live. Keep Calvary in sight. There is healing
there. Love is there. Grace is there. We are going someplace. And we will get
there.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01271248501086241494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722447614945782871.post-13860009562042586902013-03-07T09:40:00.000-06:002013-03-07T09:40:27.868-06:00Staring Back
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My soul clings to the dust; revive me
according to Your word. When I told of my ways, You answered me; teach me Your
statutes. (Psalm 119.25-26)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The evangelical author Ravi Zacharias writes:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Bible is not only written to be
read; rather, it reads us. How incredible that God has a personal interest in
the struggles of our lives and has chosen to reveal Himself through the course
of history in the pages of the Bible.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The concept of the Bible <i>reading
us</i>—staring back into our hearts even as we look into its pages—is nothing
short of revelatory to me. We talk of Scripture as a dialogue of sorts. Delving
into its content is the only reliable means we have of hearing what God wants
to tell us. That’s why our search for guidance constantly leads to the
Bible. Our confidence that it conveys God’s Word brings its messages to
life, and once we’ve pinpointed a passage or theme that speaks to our immediate
condition, we apply its principles to our circumstances.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yet our bond with Scripture is often tenuous at best. For
many of us, there’s a formality with which we approach the Bible that often
stymies our direct connection with what it says. It’s difficult to imagine how
an ancient text can address the complexities of modern life. And the best way
to bridge that gap is to open the Bible with full expectation that it sees us
as much as we see it. While we look for answers it contains, it finds us with
questions about where we are and what we need. This is more than a dialogue. It's a trusted friendship based on acceptance and candor—the meeting of two close
and beloved friends: God and us. It’s a love story.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nowhere in Scripture is this romance more vividly
portrayed than Psalm 119. David is overwhelmed. His enemies have surrounded
him. His own people don’t understand him. He’s coming to grips with realizing that being a hero and king isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be. He opens the
Scripture, where he not only finds the assurance that God is faithful, but he
discovers God’s Word staring back at him, seeing him as he truly
is, understanding his misgivings and weaknesses, and yet loving him with all
the concern and stubbornness of a true friend. “My soul clings to the dust;
revive me according to Your word. When I told of my ways, You answered me;
teach me Your statutes,” he prays.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyeDl486W4DkO6HAf9b5p84G1nR5PTiGGtAFENWbLVrTTdgPWNn801OoLjqvmNu9tEEldcPU73KyYt-822VV4WCFdt0xP2DoZfkM7HeZLQBXKCHnVjzCf9AaCq5gyoLPS7YfxOJJyfhdQe/s1600/bible-heart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyeDl486W4DkO6HAf9b5p84G1nR5PTiGGtAFENWbLVrTTdgPWNn801OoLjqvmNu9tEEldcPU73KyYt-822VV4WCFdt0xP2DoZfkM7HeZLQBXKCHnVjzCf9AaCq5gyoLPS7YfxOJJyfhdQe/s400/bible-heart.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">During Lent’s season of consecration, when we devote
increased time to prayerful reading of God’s Word, we remember that opening its
pages involves more than seeing and understanding what it says. It is an act of
faith that rejoices in being seen and understood. Often, our interaction with
Scripture is less about finding out what we should know and more about
discovering we are known to this God Who has pledged to love and care for us
always. In our daily devotions, we should become sensitive to the liveliness of
the exchange that transpires between Scripture and us. While we are reading it,
it’s reading us.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01271248501086241494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722447614945782871.post-14805130785235437532013-03-05T10:13:00.002-06:002013-03-05T12:14:18.496-06:00More Than Enough<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10.10)</span></blockquote>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
We don’t associate Lent with abundance, but it is there. We cannot escape God’s abundant love and kindness to us. We cannot escape Jesus’s saying that He came to give us abundant life.</div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSfxCIEGjm_1-Ou7iwARjlOhqVgjW_-X3RJ94_1I3SM4IeIEK7ca3NhQve1JagzgZAtBUNtX65dpiH4Er8K9tfEzarNZwsWQEr868VgMQC6qFy8KFSe1sDk0tqYj1jpCWxjFuaW7TmX9NL/s1600/abundant-life2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSfxCIEGjm_1-Ou7iwARjlOhqVgjW_-X3RJ94_1I3SM4IeIEK7ca3NhQve1JagzgZAtBUNtX65dpiH4Er8K9tfEzarNZwsWQEr868VgMQC6qFy8KFSe1sDk0tqYj1jpCWxjFuaW7TmX9NL/s400/abundant-life2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
Abundant. Not just enough—more than enough, more than we need, more life than we can possibly spend on ourselves. And so part of our Lenten search has to come around to this question: what are we doing with our abundance of life? Are we hoarding it, thinking perhaps we’ll run low on God’s goodness and mercy and may have to dip into our private reserves? Have we mislaid it—forgot we even had it, maybe—and it’s just too much trouble to dig it out? Or have we simply lost touch with the abundance in our lives? Have we forgot it’s there for the sharing?</div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
Sometimes we allow Lent to train our focus on what we won’t or can't do. We forget it’s meant to guide our discipline in what we should and can do. The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. The enemy meets us in our deserts, just as it did with Jesus. The temptations it serves up are meant to focus our attention on ourselves. But Jesus also meets us in our deserts. “I came to give you abundant life,” He reminds us.</div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
We have more than enough life for ourselves, more than enough to share. As we walk these final weeks of Lent together, let’s strew life wherever we go.</div>
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Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01271248501086241494noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722447614945782871.post-34867386164830564042013-03-02T13:41:00.001-06:002013-03-02T13:41:46.666-06:00Unique? Yes. Special? No.
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No testing has overtaken you that is
not common to everyone. God is faithful, and God will not let you be tested
beyond your strength, but with the testing God will also provide a way out so
that you may be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10.13)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Compulsion to Feel Special</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because I work mostly from home, I’m privy a universe that
many daytime commuters may never discover. It’s the world of afternoon
television, a thing wholly unto itself. On the chat shows, smug has-been and
not-quite celebrities bemoan the peccadillos of more current and famous stars.
On the judge programs, ex-lovers, former friends, and fractured families drag
each other into court demanding redress for slights and slander. On “Dr. Phil”,
regular-looking folks lay their dysfunction at the good doctor’s feet for all
to see. On the news stations, prattlers and howlers truck in hyperbole and
speculation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To the bank teller at home with the flu or the snowed-in
schoolteacher, picking through TV’s midday buffet can be an eye-popping
experience. It’s a feast of every kind of crazy. What could possibly induce
people to behave so ridiculously in front of millions? Anyone regularly exposed
to afternoon TV knows why. Celebrated or unknown, TV’s workaday denizens think
they’re special. They believe their woes and outrage set them apart. At first,
that would seem to be the case. But over time, a more sorrowful reality
emerges. They are not special. For every betrayed spouse, there are another
hundred queued up with similar stories. Every neighbor suing for property
damage falls between dozens who’ve already been there and dozens more to come.
Every star break-up boils down to the same foibles that have ruined
relationships since the dawn of time. Today’s political kerfuffle will make way
for tomorrow’s flap. In this regard, the surest way to prove how ordinary you
are is to broadcast your “specialness.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I paint this picture not to lament the pathetic state of daytime
TV. It is what it is. Rather, the armchair sociologist in me is fascinated by
how accurately it mirrors the compulsion to feel special. We’re all driven by a
desire to set ourselves apart. Many of us set out to accomplish this in a
constructive manner that can lead to overachievement and false pride. Just as
many of us are convinced that our tests distinguish us from everyone else.
Either way, these self-portraits we create are striped with the supposition
that God should somehow love us more for being “special.” Sunday’s readings, particularly
the New Testament (1 Corinthians 10.1-13) and Gospel (Luke 13.1-9), issue
reality checks that charge us to recognize we’re not as special as we may suppose.
While we may not be pleased to hear it, when we absorb what the texts say, they
deliver really good news.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">This Notion of “Deserving”</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In 1 Corinthians, Paul revisits Israel’s wilderness trek,
noting though the people’s needs were met, their grumbling caused many to be
destroyed. Jesus picks up this destruction theme in Luke, where he recalls
Roman atrocities against the Galileans and the deadly implosion of a tower. “Do
you think these things happened because the victims were worse sinners than
you?” He asks. “No,” He answers, saying, “Unless you repent, you will all
perish as they did.” When we unpeel this onion down to its core, we uncover a
message of sameness. We all cross dry deserts. Any one of us can be random
targets of violence and casualties of disaster. Our tests aren’t reliable
indicators of our singularity, as victors or victims.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These texts yank this notion of “deserving” off the table.
We neither deserve special favor because we’ve done well nor special
consideration because we’re unable to do better. Whatever we’re dealing with,
good or bad, opens avenues for God’s grace to reach us. Individuals who appear
to have everything going their way need God’s grace. Those who can’t seem to
buy a break need it, too. This is the crux behind Paul’s admonition that “no
testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and
God will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing God
will also provide a way out so that you may be able to endure it.” (1
Corinthians 10.13) Whatever we face, we are not the first to confront it. Nor
will we be the last. No one is singled out to suffer. No one is selected to
succeed. Tests come to everyone. And they are given for one purpose only: to
teach us our God is faithful.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">What’s Unique About Us</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is a tough idea to digest. We want whatever we go
through—whether the price we pay for success or burdens we bear at great
personal expense—to say something extraordinary about us. But what’s
extraordinary in this context is that God remains true regardless what we go
through. Our specialness isn’t defined by our circumstances. What’s unique about
us is located in our making—in the specific gifts and flaws placed in each of
us to engender reliance on God’s grace. Because I was born gay doesn’t entitle
me to harbor resentments or indulge in self-pity. Because someone else is
burdened with wealth doesn’t grant license to feel superior or exploit privilege. Wherever we fall on life’s continuum, we will be tested. And the
only way to survive our tests is by turning to God. “Unless you repent…” Jesus
says.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many times I’ve heard people quote Paul’s admonition about
life’s trials and stop at “God will also provide a way out.” That’s magical
thinking that ultimately defeats the purpose behind our tests. To accept this
teaching, we have to ride the text out to the end: “so you may be able to
endure it.” God’s faithfulness is proven in times of testing, not in helping us
escape them. It’s who we are—not what we deal with—that makes us unique. Our
trials are fundamentally no different than everyone else’s. The good news about
not being special is found in the discovery that, regardless who we are, our
God is always the same.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim5Ve6BIM76Qis-qrfISP8nlBy8ypRlEQdAzVmLFTzbfq1QIStdryrAsp6kWFF5ux7Mo7-XOZJwnqs8l96t69DzxT0Ev3BBijwoExOmdGCQfJ3RhkeLWkKHWRfmsnNt2cQZs5G0V0Q1H6B/s1600/depositphotos_4911986-People-silhouette-set.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim5Ve6BIM76Qis-qrfISP8nlBy8ypRlEQdAzVmLFTzbfq1QIStdryrAsp6kWFF5ux7Mo7-XOZJwnqs8l96t69DzxT0Ev3BBijwoExOmdGCQfJ3RhkeLWkKHWRfmsnNt2cQZs5G0V0Q1H6B/s400/depositphotos_4911986-People-silhouette-set.jpg" width="268" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tests and trials offer
no indication of how “special” we are. In fact, they confirm we’re no different
than anyone else. Our making—the gifts and flaws specific to each of us—is what’s
unique.</span></i><o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01271248501086241494noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722447614945782871.post-29572007979115726292013-02-27T12:35:00.002-06:002013-02-27T12:35:23.880-06:00The Love Fast
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Love the Lord your God with all your
heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your
mind; and your neighbor as yourself. (Luke 10.27)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the faith tradition of my youth, it was not uncommon for
pastors to call impromptu fasts. He/she would urge congregants to “turn their
plates over” and devote time ordinarily spent preparing and eating meals to
prayer, Scripture, meditation, and other spiritual pursuits. These fasts were
less about self-denial than carving out space in one’s day to commune with God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That's really what fasting hopes to accomplish. It
turns our attention away from our personal wants and needs so we can realign our
lives with the things that God requires of us. But how can we know
what those things are? The Great Commandment gives us the best place to start.
“Love God with all you’ve got,” Jesus says. “And love your neighbor the same
way you want to be loved.” In theory, that sounds fairly basic. In practice,
however, it gets complicated very quickly, because the actions that Jesus
commands us to take require us to make time to do them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So we look at our days and evaluate how much of them we
spend on ourselves—not only the “nice to have” moments of relaxation and pleasure,
but also the “have to have” times that require concerted effort and sacrifice
to make room for God and others. Can we surrender an hour’s sleep to spend it
in loving communion with our Maker? Can we let go of a task that feels so
urgent to us that we build our day around it and, instead, devote that time to
helping someone else?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaNypMv0vD0xCkQzcTwOLar85B-iIPdhTscbgl37YnO2ifmnBPSAjpvhnh3m0Y1Y3DFJhu8dLh8xIq_zcs07QxSrAY08W5w-wN8i758z0gwY5nThbkjwGTpTglV0iyvGe21Hmm-GB0IAR9/s1600/Plate_Heart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaNypMv0vD0xCkQzcTwOLar85B-iIPdhTscbgl37YnO2ifmnBPSAjpvhnh3m0Y1Y3DFJhu8dLh8xIq_zcs07QxSrAY08W5w-wN8i758z0gwY5nThbkjwGTpTglV0iyvGe21Hmm-GB0IAR9/s400/Plate_Heart.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And what about our hearts? Can we consciously set aside our
need for love and all of its trappings long enough to put God first? Can we
harness our soul’s emotions to draw satisfaction from sacrifice, instead of
searching for gratification—in some cases, going so far as avoiding emotionally
fraught situations—that makes us feel good? Can we reorient our thoughts to
realize the love we offer to others is every bit as important as the love we
seek for ourselves?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These are hard questions that require vigilant attention. They insist on conscious awareness of opportunities to “turn our
plates over”—not merely in the literal sense of a nutritional fast, but in the
figurative sense of carving out time and space for God and neighbor. As we
continue our Lenten progress, it’s vital that we remember God gets no glory in
our sacrifice. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
fast is meant to open windows to express love for God and those around us. A
love fast that turns away from our needs and desires creates a love feast that
will nourish and sustain us long after we depart Lent's season of consecration.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01271248501086241494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722447614945782871.post-32773505356733806312013-02-25T10:03:00.000-06:002013-02-25T10:03:02.363-06:00Onward
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<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let anyone who is thirsty come to Me,
and let the one who believes in Me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of
the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’” (John 7.37-38)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of my favorite Taizé chants repeats this simple verse:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By night we travel in darkness, in search of the living water<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Only our thirst leads us onward<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Only our thirst leads us onward</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The original Spanish of the chant’s last phrase<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">sólo la sed nos alumbra</span></i><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, actually translates as, “only the thirst
lights us,” indicating that a deep inner desire to taste Christ’s living water
somehow illumines us even though we often can’t see our way. In our driest,
darkest hours, Jesus’s promise to quench our thirst becomes the lamp that draws
us to Him.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If we’re feeling parched, possibly even a little listless and disoriented,
at this stage in our Lenten journey, we’re actually in good shape. It means
that all the other refreshments we rely on—good intentions,
determination, and religious pride, for instance—are starting to evaporate. We’ve reached
the point where our thirst can only be satisfied by raw faith in Christ. And
the grand irony of this venture is manifest when we discover that we carry
rivers of living water within us. “Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers
of living water,” Jesus says. But we can’t release the rivers of life and
satisfy our thirst until we reach Christ. “Let anyone who is thirsty come to
Me, and let the one who believes in Me drink.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Only
our thirst leads us onward<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Only
the thirst lights us</span></i><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8LlrhYIoxQnZKxrjMcx5sz-EvxEr-o1DvUv2nzge8_3Iwig-GDH9md0jRiFL8jRYXU5bXsQfhfKNNV6cG6cTAkuT3KMXcO4mKLygcwPB-obrwJEnuQGjH2VhAzOE4XVsN0017K_7A1GsJ/s1600/images.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8LlrhYIoxQnZKxrjMcx5sz-EvxEr-o1DvUv2nzge8_3Iwig-GDH9md0jRiFL8jRYXU5bXsQfhfKNNV6cG6cTAkuT3KMXcO4mKLygcwPB-obrwJEnuQGjH2VhAzOE4XVsN0017K_7A1GsJ/s400/images.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lent’s desert
imagery encourages us to frame it as a daytime activity. (Advent is the
nocturnal quest.) Yet if we’re looking at vast, unmapped, barren
expanses, traveling by day is much the same as traveling by night. We are at
place where all we have to go on resides in us. Now is the time when we let go
of intellect so that instinct can take over. Our heart, full and overflowing
with life-giving water that quenches our deepest thirsts, guides us. It will
lead us to the place where our longing for Christ will be met.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Philippians
3.13-16, we hear Paul’s famous “onward and upward” admonition: “This one thing
I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I
press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ
Jesus. Let those of us then who are mature be of the same mind; and if you
think differently about anything, this too God will reveal to you. Only let us
hold fast to what we have attained.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The water we crave
is already there, waiting for us to reach the place where we’re truly walking
by faith and not by sight. Once we cross that tipping point, we will be
satisfied, refreshed, and renewed. Right now, we have to remember that our
thirst leads us onward.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Only the thirst lights us</i></span></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01271248501086241494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722447614945782871.post-41771970206026540432013-02-23T21:44:00.001-06:002013-02-23T21:47:33.070-06:00Getting Out Alive<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If my father and mother forsake me, the
LORD will take me up. Teach me your way, O LORD, and lead me on a level path
because of my enemies. (Psalm 27.10-11)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Under Siege</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So it’s the Second Sunday of Lent and Oscar night, the one
time during the year when my two greatest passions—faith and film—nod at each
other in passing. (I should clarify: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences doesn’t schedule its awards ceremony to coincide with Lent. Still, the two often overlap.) This year I’ve set a new
personal best in seeing the nominated films. Other than two Foreign-Language nominees and four Documentary Shorts, I’ve seen everything. And
what’s struck me about this year’s slate is the preponderance of movies about
survival. It can be said that virtually all of the Best Picture nominees
portray individuals dealing with traumatic events that threaten their
wellbeing. Not all of them make it out alive. But this theme of facing
horrendous odds is even more pronounced in the specialty categories.</span></div>
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<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In addition to </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Beasts of the Southern Wild</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> (my favorite film of 2012), the Live-Action Short Nominees </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Asad</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Buzkashi Boys</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Death of Shadow</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, and <i>Curfew</i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> present young people whose lives are irrevocably
shaped by trauma, as does </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">War Witch</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
(Foreign Language Film) and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Inocente</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
(Documentary Short Subject), which introduces us to a 15-year-old homeless girl whose
only hope exists in her extraordinary artistic ability.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Literally all the Best Documentary nominees tell
survival stories. Two (</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">5 Broken Cameras</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Gatekeepers</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">) ponder the
Israeli-Palestinian crisis. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">How to
Survive a Plague</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> recounts the genesis of ACT UP, the AIDS activist group
that pressured the government and drug firms to develop effective
treatments. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Invisible War</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> paints
a heartbreaking—and enraging—picture of veterans whose lives are forever
scarred by rape while in the military. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Searching for Sugar Man</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> is the redemption tale of a 70s pop star
presumed dead after his career tanked and he survived poverty as a day laborer
in Detroit.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chasing
Ice</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> (Best Song) is a harrowing documentary that chronicles climate change’s
visible impact on the planet’s survival.</span></li>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The pulse that races through these films beats with
the sense of being under siege. There are no easy answers in these movies.
Forces beyond their characters’ control raise seemingly insurmountable barriers
and we can gauge how we’re feeling about our predicaments by how few of them
earn that old “ triumph of the human spirit" cliché. These pictures have
been chosen for the industry’s highest honor because they speak to us in
urgent, inescapable ways. And what they’re telling us is not overly optimistic.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Souls at Their Extremes</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps the Oscars’ close proximity has filtered my response
to this weekend’s texts. But it seems to me that they, too, present vivid
portraits of endangered survival. The Old Testament (Genesis 15.1-18) recounts
God’s covenant with Abraham, who’s lost all hope of fatherhood. In Psalm 27,
David feels beset on all sides, yet he resists the pressure to give up by
declaring, “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD
is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (v1) In Philippians,
Paul contrasts the waywardness of those who “live as enemies of the cross of
Christ” with the assurance of believers, whose “citizenship is in heaven.”
“Stand firm in the Lord in this way,” he says. Then the Gospel (Luke 13.31-35)
gives us the poignant moment when Jesus predicts His imminent death and mourns
that, had things gone another way, His story might have ended differently.
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem!” He cries. “How often have I desired to gather your
children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not
willing!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everything in these texts feels in flux and uncertain. The
voices we hear are weary and confused. There are deeply struck notes of
trepidation, conflict, and loneliness. The cries come from souls at their
extremes, hanging on to hope against all hope, belief in spite of all evidence
that things are not working out favorably. Abraham is too old to have children.
David is a warrior king in retreat. The fledgling congregation at Philippi is
in danger of being overtaken by heretics. And Jesus is facing certain death
because His own people won’t listen to Him. To a one, these people travel rocky
roads. They’re struggling to survive. And the vivid emotions that enfold them
require turning to the only help they know: a God Who is personally involved in
their lives, Who is a Friend that sticks closer than any sibling, Who will go
with them to the end. There is optimism in these stories, but you have to look
for it, because the situations they describe are bleak.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">God is With Us</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reading the texts—my head swimming with movie images of children,
families, nations, and a planet at grave risk—the stubborn faith that David
proclaims in Psalm 27.10-11 grabbed my heart and lifted it. “If my father and
mother forsake me, the LORD will take me up,” he says. “Teach me Your way, O
LORD, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies.” While conflicts and
confusion that befall us may not achieve the epic scale of Scripture and
movies, they nonetheless bring us to points of crisis when we feel our very
survival is at risk. Loved ones come and go, often laying responsibility for
their departure at our doors. Unforeseen circumstances threaten our inner sense
of self, stability, and strength. Time keeps ticking, stacking up regrets and
disappointments that erode our hope for the future. Opposing opinions and false
ideologies rob our clarity of purpose. The feeling that no one listens to us
creates profound grief.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If we are to survive, we have to know that God is with us.
Those nearest to us may walk away, but the Lord will take us up. When we place
our lives in God’s hands, we pray David’s prayer: “Teach me Your way, O LORD,
and lead me on a level path.” God alone is able to carry us over life’s rocky
roads. Only God can help us stand firm in the midst of chaos. Only God can
provide stability in the time of trouble. If we emulate David’s confidence in
his Maker, we will discover the truth at the end of Psalm 27: “I believe that I
shall see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the
LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!” Whatever
we face, if we place our patience and trust in God, God will take us up. We
will get out alive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJOSUQksXdTf9gaakWmjRmKtOvsMOihy4f8LieraxBcg_84Ygqq4aaJ52tb3vulySsNUlwwt2nYPagS0f85OiXJXhJNlg-lh-w3cmrPKvWB4ncXuRCx-saMchmceAy5uIT0ThpCHX00LoP/s1600/BP2012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJOSUQksXdTf9gaakWmjRmKtOvsMOihy4f8LieraxBcg_84Ygqq4aaJ52tb3vulySsNUlwwt2nYPagS0f85OiXJXhJNlg-lh-w3cmrPKvWB4ncXuRCx-saMchmceAy5uIT0ThpCHX00LoP/s400/BP2012.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Surviving life’s
traumas and terrors is the binding theme in this year’s Academy Awards. And we
see a similar array of survivors in Sunday’s texts.</span></i><o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01271248501086241494noreply@blogger.com2