Is it Christmas yet?

Is it Christmas yet?

Christmas is the season of waiting. You wait for the day, Christmas, to come. You wait in long lines to buy gifts. And if you shop online, you wait each day for the UPS driver to drop something at the front door, all the while trying intercepting it before someone sees the box. And this is just for the gifts you bought for yourself. I think I might be talking about myself here. Needless to say, I hate to wait!

Life often involves waiting, even waiting on God. The practice of prayer often requires a fair amount waiting and patience. Come to think about it, Advent is all about waiting with expectation and hope. The Christmas season turns out to be a wonderful time in fact to explore what it means to wait, because we find ourselves in a posture of waiting as Christmas draws near. 

Often times the practice of prayer and the expectation of Advent get lost in all the trappings of the Christmas season: selecting that perfect gift, giving that gift they never expected, parties, more parties, family gatherings whether you like them or not. Did I mention how I hate to wait?

There are many people waiting in the narratives written about Jesus’ birth in the Bible: Mary and Joseph are the most obvious two, then the shepherd’s, and the Magi last. That’s the end of the story isn’t it? It’s only then, when one reads a bit farther we’re blessed by two obscure figures in Luke’s gospel named Simeon and Anna (Luke 2:22-38 CEB). Luke talks about how Simeon was “righteous and devout… eagerly anticipat[ing] the restoration of Israel” (25). Anna is described as “never [having] left the temple, but worshipped God with fasting and prayer night and day” (37).

Theirs was a spirit of prayerfully waiting patiently. I’m not talking about waiting in a checkout line on Black Friday, but faithfully, over a long period of time, waiting for God to fulfill his promise of sending a Messiah that would redeem Israel—Jesus Christ. God’s plan moves at its own pace and Simeon and Anna exemplify the disciple of prayer.

It’s easy to get frustrated with waiting and give up by doubting God and his goodness. It takes being committed to God’s promise no matter how long the wait. Heidelberg Q&A 117 says it best. “We must rest on this unshakable foundation: even though we do not deserve it, God will surely listen to our prayer because of Christ our Lord. That is what God promises us in his Word.”

God honors persistent prayer and when God is ready to act those who stay in prayer will be the first to recognize and receive his amazing gift.

Think about this:

Imagine what it must have been like for Simeon and Anna to meet Jesus?

What are some situations you are prayerfully waiting for?          

The dark side and Sabbath rest

I wonder why it almost always takes a crisis situation to push us back on our heals , reminding us we are not the all powerful beings we think we are? One of two things can happen in these situations: first, we can recognize them for what they are and learn from them; second, we can let them run rough shod over us and crush us from within.

In these times when our leadership is tested, our dark side tendencies can be our ally. I had to remember this recently, when I was removed from the teaching team at church. My first reaction was wanting to get mad at those that made the decision, to get even, then the blame game starts, then the self-doubt creeps in. It’s never ending cycle if we let it perpetuate.

Well a little over a year ago, I let myself go down that road—letting my dark side take over. No, I didn’t turn into Darth Vader, but it turned out to be just as big a disaster and almost took me out of ministry. I had another situation happen more recently. This time things played out a bit differently. I learned from the previous time that I can’t do all things on my own. I went back to a book I read a long time ago, Overcoming the Dark Side of Leadership. In it I had marked a section called God’s Power in Our Weakness. It talked about how our dark side has a way of identifying our weakness and highlighting how we find our strength in his (God’s) all-sufficient grace.

This is where our dark side can be a blessing and put into focus our great need and reliance on him.

9 He said to me, “My grace is enough for you, because power is made perfect in weakness.” So I’ll gladly spend my time bragging about my weaknesses so that Christ’s power can rest on me. 10 Therefore, I’m all right with weaknesses, insults, disasters, harassments, and stressful situations for the sake of Christ, because when I’m weak, then I’m strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Common English Bible (CEB)

This is not always so easily remembered things are going south, quick, fast, and in a hurry. This is also a fascinating connection point with Sabbath rest and the need to place regularly scheduled spiritual practices into our lives so we can head off those disasters before they bring us over to the dark side. Sabbath can help us in that area and keep us centered on God.

 

Whenever I think of Sabbath, I’m reminded of a quote by Abraham Heschel in his book The Sabbath. He writes, “The words: ‘On the seventh day God finished His work’ (Genesis 2:2), seem to be a puzzle. Is it not said: ‘He rested on the seventh day’? ‘In six days the Lord made heaven and earth’ (Exodus 20:11)? We would surely expect the Bible to tell us that on the sixth day God finished His work. Obviously, the ancient rabbis concluded, there was an act of creation on the seventh day. Just as heaven and earth were created in six days, menuha [rest] was created on the Sabbath. After the six days of creation-what did the universe still lack? Menuha [rest]. Came the Sabbath, came menuha, and the universe was complete” (22).

I strongly feel a more regular focus on Sabbath rest might alleviate some of those dark side moments that consume us so readily. We need to rest in him—all we are is in him.

3 God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all the work of creation. Genesis 2:3

Common English Bible (CEB)

During my Sabbath time this week, I focused on some of the words that embody Sabbath: letting go, rest, ceasing, creating space holy. Out of the word Sabbath and the descriptive words I identified, I drew a picture. I will attach it somehow so you can see it.

It's not quite done, but I thought I better post it before I forgot.

 

Tension

Tension. Tension is something that most, if not all, of us don’t really care to live in and yet it’s something that brings balance and is a great teacher.

We all need to walk the path of spiritual formation--daily reading of the Word, entering into daily prayer and reflection upon the days happenings. I see this approach more habitual; routine; automatic: the practice of steps until it becomes mechanical—part of who you are. Yes, there is the danger of our spirituality becoming a process souly done on our effort. But, there in lies the same danger of our spirituality becoming “willy nilly” and sort of “pie in sky” in that we are unwilling to engage in the process and think God will take care of it in his time.

For me spiritual formation has been an interesting process and one not without tension. It has been hard to peer deep within the core of who I am to see something I don’t like—a sinful person. It’s kind of like those instances when you’re around someone doing a task and something just slips out—a word or a comment. And, it’s like, Where did that come from? Or, That’s totally not me! Well, we just got a glimpse of the person deep within the core of who we really are.

This is why I would advocate a very deliberate and intentional, mechanical if you will, approach to spiritual formation. There are just a lot things we know about ourselves and I think we would agree, as followers of Christ, that sinful nature is one of them. How do we overcome that part of who we are unless we embark upon an intentional journey to engage this core issue of the heart. This is not something that one prayer or one study Bible can get rid of. We are talking about something that cannot be fully overcome until Christ’s return.

Having said that, we can and need to be about taking a proactive approach to our spirituality. Just like in the book of Genesis, we are part of the restoration process and spiritual formation is part of that restoration we are engage in. It is an inward outward focus. Margaret Silf says it so well when she says, “When I move inward toward the center of myself, I move closer to the person I most truly am before God. This is dangerous ground. As I begin to see who I am—truly and without protective masks—I may find serious discrepancies between the person who lives in the Where and person God created me to be, in my deepest self. I will find shame, but I will find glory. I will move closer to the God who dwells in my heart, and the encounter will challenge me in ways I cannot predict. This is the power of prayer. It is the risk of the inner journey” (Silf, 1999; 22).

It is a process that is filled with tension and fear, but out of this comes true transformation through God’s grace.

Power in weakness

The heart of anti-imperial theory is that liberation comes from the victims of the empire. To undermine and eradicate the empire of course requires the appropriate use of power, but in the long run, power in itself is not enough to bring about a humane and humanizing liberation. For this reason, in the Christian biblical tradition, salvation arises from the weak and the small, from the powerless: a barren old woman, a small people, a marginal Jew; even more a suffering servant, chosen by God to bring salvation.... When we think of liberation from the empire today, we have to draw on this same powerful logic of the powerless--Jon Sobrino. We see that the apostle Paul's power is brought to an end in his weakness. He embraces this weakness all the more because that's where Christ's presence is revealed in him in a very real way.

Finding Value

I ran across this quote upon returning from the Dominican Republic and was struck by the fact that I still have to fight against this tendency. "We human beings have a great facility for living illusions, for protecting our self-image with power, for justifying it all by thinking we are the favored ones of God.... How difficult it is for human beings to move from the recognition of the ultimate value of their own particular culture and way of life to the acceptance of the value of other cultures and ways of living" –Jean Vanier. I think this quote speaks to many issues we deal with in our everyday life--politics, social status, and how we view our Christianity.

Media is the message

I’m sure you’ve heard the quote; “The methods change, but the message stays the same.” This is a quote Christian’s use to confront culture and technology. In essence saying, as long as you don’t change the message, anything goes for the methods of communicating it. Media is a tool used for communicating and therefore doesn’t affect the message at all. Well, what if the media was the message?

My son is five years old. This is an incredible time in life for him and one I love to be a part of. At this age he wants to learn everything and learning his letters is something that’s very important to him. Letters, reading and writing are in essence technology. Think of how this invention has transformed entire civilizations throughout history. This invention will affect Trent and also your children as they master this technology.

Think of a person living in a culture with no knowledge or means of writing. What if this person had something to say that would change the course of history forever? This person would have to share this information with others in the community in order to have it remembered and passed on to future generations. This is called oral tradition. The stories in the Bible including the gospels come from an oral tradition.

One of the markers of an oral culture is that it is very tribal or community focused and all the important ideas and traditions are held within the community. Identity is found not in the individual, but in the group as a whole.

What happens when we introduce the technology of writing into our oral culture? The technology of reading and writing demands isolation from the community. It serves to separate us from the others. Then, because we have the ability to write down our ideas, we no longer have the threat of losing those ideas. And so the community is no longer necessary for establishing and maintaining one’s cultural identity. As a consequence, literate societies tend to be very individualistic. Identities are determined by boundaries. My personal identity is determined not by the community, but by where I end and you begin. The concern is with who I am as an individual apart from the community.

These are just a few examples of the shaping power of literacy. Two different cultures — two different value systems and cultural habits determined in large part by the media used to communicate. It has nothing to do with what you say, but rather with what you use to say it.

As the electronic age accelerates at a blinding speed we must not become scared and isolate ourselves. We must study and try to understand it rather then be used by it.

Like Mike

One of the most crucial dimensions of letting go is the recognition that there is no need to change an event or person. This is extremely rare and demands a respect and reverence beyond most of us.

But, we argue, shouldn't we want to change an undesirable happening, or to change a person who obviously needs changing? The answer is, no. We can be there, and God's presence can be there in us and through us, and that's all we can do. Whatever changes are appropriate will occur. But that is quite different from our struggling to change people and trying to change events.
There will be very little celebration and transcendence and lifting of another's burdens when we're hoping to change them and "clean them up." I have discovered through the years that it is very heavy work to get another cleaned up. And it's even heavier to get a community cleaned up.

The task, I think, is to enjoy the other more. To experience the wonder of the person, to be more open, more attentive, to learn from the person or the community, and to revel in the surprises that are given. If the person or community changes, good. If not, you've celebrated who they are. You've lived in the Now. N. Gordon Cosby

Recently I was revisiting this quote by Cosby and it always causes me to think and reconsider things in a different light. The story that comes to mind is a painful one that I call "Like Mike".

Three summer’s ago I was working with the kids from my churches Reaching Higher ministry, which is a urban outreach for at risk kids.. This is a ministry that has been going on for about eleven years now and is centered around three apartment complexes and one neighborhood in Tulare, California. Each summer when school lets out, the ministry season is done and the volunteers take a couple of months off I go out with two other friends and we visit each of the sights over the course of a week. We usually bring something to eat and a football to pass around.

It was about a month into the summer vacation and the kids had gotten into the rhythm of us visiting them and would be waiting for us to arrive each week. This week’s visit was a little different right from the start. Usually my good friend Roman, who was in third grade at the time, would be waiting for me so he could be the first one to hold the football and round up all the other boys for a game. I didn’t see Roman or to many of the other kids from complex. I made my rounds and visited with some of the adults until my friends arrived. It was a typical Central Valley summer day, hotter then blazes, so it really didn’t surprise me all that much not to see kids hanging out by the playground.

My friends arrived and I got the ice chest out of my pickup so we could have some lunch under the trees in the center of the apartment complex. With the prospect of a free lunch all the kids began to make there way to the shade trees. After a prayer and short devotional we began to serve the kids lunch which consisted of bean burritos and water.

Then I saw Roman come riding up with an older boy who I had never seen before. The older boy didn’t want to come near the group and Roman was trying to get him to join the group and at least get some lunch, but he wouldn’t. I walked over to Roman and started to make some small talk. I asked him how things were going and he talked about how this new bike he was riding had been given to him by his new friend Mike. He went on to tell me that Mike had just moved from Oakland into the apartments with his mom and sister. I introduced myself to Mike and then my friends.

Roman was a boy who had no father in his life, who was much younger then his other siblings and was starved for attention, so when I saw him hanging out with this older boy who was seventeen years old I was more then a little worried.

As we all ate lunch I sat with some younger kids and we talked. I asked the kids about this the new boy, Mike. One of the younger girls spoke right up and said that he was a mean boy and like to boss the kids around. I asked the others if it was true and they all said their mom’s didn’t want them around this new kid. After we were done eating I walked over to Roman to talk with him. I asked him about the bike he was riding and he told me Mike had given it to him. This was a nice bike that even I wouldn’t have been able to buy for either of my boys. Even the bike Mike was riding didn’t fit the neighborhood.

By now the boys wanted to play some catch with the football so we all moved over on the grass. I asked Mike if he wanted to play and he did. He stood by me and I was able to have a little conversation with him. He was a boy with something to prove and he told a tall tale of his life back in Oakland.

Our time at the apartments was winding and we were having the kids help us pick the trash from lunch when I heard some cussing very loudly. It was Mike. I asked him if he would mind not using that kind of language around all the little ones who were helping clean up. I could tell he was mad at me and he rode off.

A few minutes later Mike came riding back up. We had just circled up all the kids to say a parting prayer. I asked Mike if he would like to join us. He walked over to me, started to cuss very loudly again and got right up in my face. I told Mike we could talk after the kids left, but I could tell he was trying to provoke me into doing something. My initial reaction was to subdue him and short of him having a knife or gun already drawn there is nothing he could have done to stop me from doing that. I could feel the rage just boiling inside me that was soon to be released on Mike not only for his bad language, but also for what he was doing to Roman, the kids and the complex. Then in that same instance all I could think of was then I would be just like Mike working at and perpetuating the left side of the table, the worldview built on force and retaliation. It still took all I could do to stand down. All eyes were fixed on what was about to happen and nothing did. Mike just got on his bike and road away. Some of the boys came up to me and asked me why I didn’t kick that guys butt. They were saying it not just because they wanted to see a fight, but also because Mike was a guy they were afraid of and they wanted him to feel their pain and fear. My friends and I hung out for a while longer to try to talk through what had happened and how to deal with Mike.

All I could think about that night and the next day was how I was going to deal with this Mike situation. All I could do was pray and ask God to protect those at the apartments and to give me the strength to handle the situation in a Christ like way if confronted again. I really wanted to try to talk with Mike, but felt in my heart that it wouldn’t be a good idea until tensions settled a bit.

Friday morning while reading the paper I noticed a little column off to the side on the front page and it read: “A seventeen year old boy whose name they could not release because he was a minor was found dead in the cemetery early this morning. Apparently he had been stabbed in the Cambridge apartments, because that is where police followed the blood trail.” The first thing that came to my mind was that it was Mike’s body they found in the cemetery. I called a friend at the police department to find out more information and he said he would get back to me. The next day the newspaper had more information and so did my friend. It was indeed Mike’s body that police had found in the cemetery. Apparently, an old brother to one of the families in the apartment complex we visited on Wednesday didn’t like what new kid was doing to the residence and their kids. There is an unwritten law that says you protect those in your neighborhood and you don’t steal from your own. Mike had found this out the hard way. Urban justice had taken its own course.

I didn’t know what to think. Deep down I was glad that the problem had been solved. I know that’s a terrible thing to think, but now the complex was safe again and things would return too normal or so I thought. Mike’s mother and sister were both devastated and alienated. Devastated because they had moved from Oakland to get away from the violence and it followed them. Alienated because of what her son did to the neighborhood and also because a son and brother had to go to jail because of righting a wrong as bad as that seems. Roman was devastated and alienated. Devastated because he had again lost someone who valued and saw purpose in him even if for the wrong reasons. Now just like his father and grandmother someone he cared about left him. He was alienated because Roman was associated with the bad guy, Mike. But I think the neighborhood paid the biggest price because violence is what brought them justice. Not God, not the law, not me, but the unseen system of force and retaliation.

That summer my friends and I were left to pick up the pieces of so many broken lives. We all wrestled with the question and me most of all. “What if?” What if I had done things different? Could I have stopped this by going back to find Mike and talking it through? What if? What If?

I still haven’t to this day chosen to unpack the events of that summer personally, but this quote by Cosby has caused me to consider many things and I do rest assured no matter what I acted faithfully to Jesus’ way that day. Seeing the right side of the table makes a lot of sense now in regards to that summer where it was very hard to like Mike. Later.