Christmas Presence

Over the past many years I’ve had my share of Christmas presents.  It seems like they fall into 3 broad groups.

The first group is the largest – these are the gifts that I thought I really, really, really, wanted (or needed) only to have their novelty wear off after a short time.  I wish I could say that this occurred only when I was a child but that isn’t so.  These gifts end up in closets, or garage sales, or garbage cans within a few years or months.  The pleasure and satisfaction associated with these gifts is even more fleeting than they are and they were cast aside as I grew bored with them.

The second group is the present, often from a distant relative, that is useful but certainly not exciting.  I remember these gifts in my childhood as consisting of clothes – sweaters, socks, and so on.  For a young boy, these were anything but fun.  Although I wanted these gifts to “disappear”, they usually stayed around because of their practicality.  But certainly there was no pleasure or satisfaction associated with them, and I would get rid of them as soon as I could.

I have only had about two gifts that fit into the last group. These are the gifts that have continued to give me joy over many years of use.  While I don’t use them daily, I use them at least once a week on average.  They are the “Best Gifts Ever”.  I would never give them away.

Advent is now over, and Christmas is here.  It is the time when we celebrate God’s “Best Gift Ever” to us.  That gift is, of course, Jesus Christ.  But I think the miracle of Christmas – the miracle of the gift – is best summed up in one word – Immanuel.  God promised this gift through his prophets in the Old Testament…”Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14).  Immanuel means “God with us”.  This is the scandalous gift of Christmas.  It is not just that God freed us from our bondage.  It is not just that God found a way for us to be with Him in heaven.  It is that God came down to be with us while we were still sinners.  God set aside everything He is entitled to and dwelt among us as a baby in a barn.  Born to lowly parents, not Kings.  Greeted by shepherds, not priests.  Sought out by foreigners, not by the people He came to.  This is the Christmas present that God gave to us 2000 years ago.  This is what separates Christianity from all other religions, for no other religion’s god sets aside his godhead to enter into relationship with his creation.  Allah does not do this.  Vishna does not do this.  Buddha does not do this.  Only Jesus does this.

So, what to do with this gift?  How to treat it?  We could initially accept it with joy, but not grow into it, eventually casting it off like so many presents of Christmases past.  We could accept it as a “necessity” without finding any joy in it and getting rid of it at the first opportunity.  Or, we could accept it as the Best Gift Ever and use it monthly, weekly, daily – even minute by minute. 

The gift has been given.  God give me the grace to accept it with the excitement, joy, honor, and reverence it is due.

Anticipation part 2

At a recent church planting conference, one statement that really got me thinking was this:  “God doesn’t have a people with a mission.  He has a mission with a people”.  This has several implications:

1)      This takes the focus off of you, and puts it on God.  It’s not about what you want, or what God can do for you.  It’s about what God wants, and what you can do for God.  This is the vertical relationship in our lives.  This means focusing on God, and directing others toward God.  The Bible is full of details about how we should approach God – with fear, with reverence, with worship, with love.

2)      This takes the focus off of you, and puts it on the people that are God’s mission field.  It’s not about you, it’s about others.  This is the horizontal relationship in our lives.  The Bible is full of details about who God’s mission field is.  It seems to deal a lot with widows, orphans, the poor, the sick, the lame, the prisoners – the “lost, the least, and the last”.

3)      You’re not really God’s person unless you’re on God’s mission.  And that mission is crystallized in the junction of a vertical relationship and a horizontal relationship – represented by the cross.

4)      So, the cross should be the center of our focus.  When our eyes are focused on the cross, we are drawn into God’s mission.

So, what does this have to do with being still?  ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!  Because sometimes we’re NOT called to be still.  Last time we talked about the anticipation that comes with being pregnant, and how it is a time of expectation.  It is not really a time of “being still” because there is a lot going on.  That includes telling the world about the pregnancy!  “We’re gonna have a baby!”  Family is told, friends are told, co-workers are told, face-book is told….anyone and everyone is told.  It is also a time of celebration – baby showers with games and gifts and laughter.  So it is a time of anticipation, of proclamation, and of celebration.  Sounds kind of like how we should be approaching the whole “focus on God” thing, doesn’t it?  This advent season, as we celebrate God’s work already done, and anticipate His work yet to come, shouldn’t we also be proclaiming this?  I’m not talking about the “Jesus is the reason for the season” buttons, or the “Let’s put Christ back in CHRISTmas”.  I’m talking about actually sitting down and telling a family member, a friend, a co-worker about what Jesus has done in your life and what Jesus could do in theirs.  I’m talking about inviting someone to join you in relationship with Jesus.  I’m talking about getting out this season and actually touching some of those people that Jesus talks about in Matthew 11:2-5.  Touch them by meeting their needs – money, food, clothing, shelter, freedom from drugs or human trafficking.  And LOVE them.  Hold their hand.  Brush their hair.  Wash their feet.  Hug them.  Walk alongside them.  And most of all, tell them about Jesus as you do it.

There is one more implication in our saying about God’s people and God’s mission…

            5)  If you don’t do the mission, God will find someone else.  In Luke 19:39-40 God makes this abundantly clear – God’s mission (both proclamation and action) will be done.  The fact is, God doesn’t need us to do it…but He does invite us.  That is the wonder of the Christian God – that He invites us into relationship with Him.  Let’s take some time this advent season to anticipate, celebrate, and proclaim that wonder.

God bless,

John

Anticipation

If you’re my age, you probably remember the old Heinz ketchup commercials that dealt with waiting?  First there was the song “Anticipation is making me wait”, but my favorite was this one.  Or, if you’re not my age, you may remember one of the best lines from the Rocky Horror Picture Show:  “I see you shiver with antici…………………………………………………………………pation. (Tim Curry did a great job on that line!)  Anyway, anticipation is definitely the word of the season.  What season you ask?  Glad you asked.  Advent.  Occurring between Thanksgiving and Christmas, it lasts only 4 weeks making it the shortest season of the Christian calendar.  Unfortunately, because of the timing, it is also one of the most overlooked seasons as well.  Between the rush of cooking Thanksgiving dinner, black Friday, Cyber Monday, all the other Christmas shopping, cleaning the house, getting ready for relatives, studying for finals (put that one in there just for you, Becky) and who knows what else, there is little time left to….anticipate.  Yup, that’s what advent is all about.  Anticipation.  Some would say it’s about waiting, but it’s more than that.  It’s about waiting with hope.  But it’s more than that, it’s waiting with a hope of certainty.  Hebrews 11:1 says “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see”.  THAT’S the kind of anticipation I’m talkin’ about!

So what does that anticipation look like?  Well, I’ve seen something like it several times in my life, but I think one of the best examples is pregnancy (no wonder we say the mother is “expecting”!)  The thing about pregnancy is we all know it’s going to end – it is just a brief time before “the big event”.  There are several characteristics of that time:  first (as most moms will tell you) even though it’s a “short time”, it doesn’t always seem that way.  In fact, it can seem to go on forever!  Second, this isn’t just a time of waiting.  Parents spend the time of pregnancy getting ready for the baby.  Building a nursery, choosing a name, buying clothes, etc.  That time also involves keeping the mother healthy – eating a good diet, taking prenatal vitamins, and so on.

This brings us back to Advent, at several levels.  First, Advent sets our minds back to the time “between” the Old and New Testament – the time of waiting for the Messiah, Jesus.  Second, it sets our minds forward to Jesus’ second coming.  In the first instance, we know it was a limited time.  In the second instance, we must rely on that faith mentioned in Hebrews 11.  In the first instance, the Israelites weren’t ready for Jesus.  In the second….?

So…..here’s my question about this advent.  How do I practice the discipline of anticipation?  What can I do over the next 3 weeks (yup, already one week behind!) to anticipate Christmas and everything it represents (past and present)?  I’m still working on that, but I suspect (looking at past blog entries) it has something to do with 1) being deliberate, 2) focusing on Jesus, 3) spending time in God’s presence, and 4) being still (not just physically, but mentally and emotionally).

shivering with anticipation,

John

Barefoot

“We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.”  Hebrews 2:1

Whether in stillness or in movement, I think God wants us to be deliberate in what we do.  This requires a focus – an intensity – about our actions.  This occurred to me the other day while I was doing my chores.  Specifically, scooping up the dog mess in our back yard.  Barefoot.  Now normally, I would be out there with shoes on, moving quickly along on my business of getting rid of “dog business” and not worrying too much about where I was stepping.  But doing this chore barefoot suddenly gave a whole new importance to making sure I didn’t miss anything!  It was not a good time for ADHD to kick in.  I guarantee that I picked up every bit of doggie-doo in that yard.  I was focused, intent, deliberate.  Because it made a difference to me.  Any neglect or daydreaming could result in direct unpleasantness happening to my feet.

So I got to thinking about this.  What if I applied the same philosophy in my spiritual life?  What if I went about in the world with focus and intent, knowing that if I lose my focus, I could end up “stepping in it” so to speak?  After all, the world is full of evil, pain, and suffering.  One wrong step, and that stuff could be on me.  What if I were focused and deliberate in the words that I choose to use?  The thoughts I choose to think?  The places I choose to look?  Reminds me of a song from Sunday School:

O be careful little eyes what you see

O be careful little eyes what you see

There's a Father up above

And He's looking down in love

So, be careful little eyes what you see

O be careful little ears what you hear….

O be careful little hands what you do….

O be careful little feet where you go…

O be careful little mouth what you say…

Even in our stillness we need to be focused and deliberate.  Otherwise, we’re just daydreaming and wasting time.  Let’s look at the day we tend to associate with “stillness”, the Sabbath day.  In the 10 commandments, God tells us to “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy”.  There are two parts to this – memory and action.  We are to remember the Sabbath day.  It is a time of reflection, of memorial.  That sounds pretty focused to me.  We remember it by making it holy.  Literally, we are to “set it apart” from the other days.  Now, unfortunately, we often do that by watching more football on Sunday than on other days, or going golfing, or just sleeping in.  Nice things, but more often than not, they are things that don’t really help us in being still before the Lord and “remembering”.  What about that other time we associate with stillness?  “Quiet time”.  Ahh, yes.  The time that we so often spend listening to music, or telling God what’s on our mind.  When was the last time you actually just sat still in the presence of the Lord, waiting upon Him?  I gotta tell you, I find that very difficult to do.  My daydreaming kicks in overtime!  It seems like quiet time is the perfect time to “take my shoes off” in the presence of the Lord and become focused.

One last thought.  Fortunately, I survived my barefoot expedition in the backyard without any soilage.  But that doesn’t always happen when I go out in the real world.  Sometimes my eyes do wander.  Sometimes I say the wrong thing.  Sometimes I act without thinking.  That’s where that second part of the song comes in:  “There’s a Father up above and He’s looking down in….Love”.  Not anger.  Not hatred.  Not disgust.  Love.  And it is His love that washes me clean from all the doo-doo I step in.

God bless,

John

Watch where you're going

In mountain biking, you learn a simple rule, very quickly.  You will go in the direction you are looking.  You generally learn this rule the hard way – there is a rock in the trail.  You want to avoid it.  You keep looking at it.  You hit it.  Gradually you learn that if you look to the side of the rock, you’ll go by it.  You can use this to your advantage – say you want to run over a mud puddle.  Look at it, you’ll hit it.  Or maybe you want to keep a straight line over a narrow bridge.  Watch your line, and you’ll keep on it.

It seems to me that this applies in how we live out our lives, as well.  Whatever we focus on, we can be sure we’re going to “hit it”.  If we focus on things we shouldn’t be focusing on – sex/lust, money/greed, self/pride – then we can be sure that they will take up major parts of our lives, and they will ultimately change not just our behaviors, but our very character.  I don’t remember who said it (I think I heard Chuck Swindoll talking about it), but the thought goes something like “whatever it is that we think about all the time, we will do.  Whatever we do all the time, we will become”.  Some of us are, perhaps, a little “stronger” in this personality type.  Cynthia Tobias talks about the “concrete random” personality style.  When faced with a broken machine and a sign saying “Please do not attempt to fix the machine, the repair company has been called”, the concrete random person tries to fix the machine.  I know for me a “no trespassing” sign is sure to make me want to see what’s on the other side of the fence.  A big red button with a warning sign is a big temptation to push.

So how does this relate to living the Christian life (and specifically to being still)?  How often have you heard that the Bible is a big list of “don’ts”?  Don’t do this, don’t do that.  Well, that’s true, there are a lot of don’ts in the Bible.  On the other hand, there are also a whole lot of “do’s”.  Do love your neighbor as yourself.  Do love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.  Do care for the widows and the orphans.  So how much time do we spend focusing on all the don’ts, and how much time don’t we spend focusing on all the do’s?  And what is the result of that?  Fallen, judgmental Christians who lack joy and love and are focused on others only to the extent that they can persecute them in order to feel better about themselves.  It seems to me that if we focused on the “do’s” of the Bible, we would be spending so much time bringing the Kingdom of Heaven about here and now that we wouldn’t have time to do the “don’ts” anyway.  Talk about  a change in worldview.  And not just a change in worldview, but a change in world behavior and, ultimately a change in world character.  Ultimately, the only thing we need to focus on is God.  Peter learned that the hard way.  As soon as he took his eyes off of Jesus, and focused on the hazards in his way, he hit the hazards in a big way.  This is where being still comes in.  If I’m focused on God, then I can be still because I’m not focused on all the hazards and turmoil around me.  If I focus on stress, I become stressed.  If I become stressed, I lose faith, and try to act on my own.  If I focus on God, I have the peace that passes all understanding.  If I have peace, then I have faith, and I can let God act.

God bless,

John

Drowning

Well, it’s been a very hectic week.  Just when we thought we might actually have some quiet time, my mother-in-law fell on Halloween night and broke her arm.  We spent all night in the ER, only to have them give us some pain pills, a splint, and send us home.  Now, mom is 80-something.  We brought her down to our area 2 years ago and put her in an assisted living facility so we could better help her during times just like this.  And that’s what we’ve spent the last week doing, my wife and I trading off day and night shift, taking mom to the bathroom, helping her stand up, transporting her to meals and to the doctor, etc.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  I love my mother-in-law, and not just because I love my wife.  And I believe that what I am doing is blessed by God.  I believe it gives my mother-in-law a chance to see God’s grace and love. 

And I believe it gives me the same chance.  Because it’s been a very hectic week.  I spent much of last night (in-between trips with mom to the bathroom) praying.  I started out lamenting the fact that all I had hoped for was a little peace, and feeling put upon by God that I wasn’t getting that.  The image I put forward to God in my prayers was that I was drowning.  God answered back…..  In my (very) early days, I was a lifeguard.  During lifeguard training, they teach you how to deal with people who are drowning.  Drowning people usually are pretty darn active.  They’re thrashing in the water.  They’re trying (literally) to grab you and stand on you to stay afloat.  This generally doesn’t help the life-saving process.  So they teach us how to keep the person still and quiet.  They teach us how to subdue the person thrashing around.  When we begin carrying them to shore, if they thrash, we roll them underwater to get them to calm down again.  In other words, we want them to be still.

My thought to God’s reply was “Wow, God, really?”  And he answered back…..also during that training they teach you that if you are alone in the water, you will quickly get tired and drown if you try to swim like you normally would.  Instead, they teach you the “dead man’s float”.  It involves….being still.  Using as little energy as possible, you can stay afloat – and even travel long distances – in the water over a long period of time.

So I finally accepted the fact that, in the midst of “drowning” in life’s circumstances (whatever it is that the world is throwing at me at the time), I need to be still.  It is then that God can approach me in the water, rescue me, and carry me to safety.  He is right beside me the whole time, if I quit thrashing around long enough to realize it.  It also occurred to me that, like most training, once you have mastered something at a simple level, you learn to do it at a more complex level.  It is easy to be still in the shallow end.  But then you move on to the deep end of the pool and master the disciplines there.

God bless,

John

Lessons from a daughter's homecoming (with Becky's permission)

Lessons from homecomings

This fall, my daughter Becky went off to college.  (Azusa Pacific University – a wonderful school).  The life-changes of being an empty nester was something that I had been trying to prepare for.  But, like most major milestones of life (marriage, children, death of a parent) you can’t really understand what’s in store for you until you live through it personally.  APU in their wisdom recommended that students not visit home for the first month.  During that time Becky began establishing her own life – which is as it should be.  But I was definitely looking forward to her first visit home.  When that weekend came, Becky wanted to spend time with her friends.  Again, this is as it should be.  Nevertheless, it was a very difficult time for me because she WASN’T SPENDING TIME WITH ME!

This got me thinking about several things.  First, it was very hard to let Becky go off to school by herself.  It is one thing to talk about giving things up to God in faith – it is another to have one of those things be your child.  Yet I cannot hold her forever.  One of the greatest gifts I can give her, one of the greatest evidences of my love is to raise her and equip her as best I can for life, then give her the freedom to live it.  What love God must have to allow me the same!  God saved me and adopted me into His house, not as a slave, bound in duty but as His child.  Next, he sanctified me, preparing me for His mission.  Through all this, He gives me freedom to be the blessing He has called me to be.

Next, even though Becky is away at school, I am always there for her.  Even at times when she is not thinking of me, I may be thinking of her.  She is in my prayers daily.  She knows that whenever she needs me, I will be there.  This is even more true for God.  There are so many times in a day that I do not think of Him, but I am always in His mind.  (“See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands” Isaiah 49:16).  How amazing that God should be mindful of me, even when I forget about Him.

Finally, I’m struck by the feelings of jealousy I had about Becky’s time.  When I come to God in prayer and quiet time, then hurry off to work or play, I wonder if He feels like I did with Becky….”Wait, my child – I have longed to spend time with you.  To speak with you.  To be with you.  To hold you.  Do not run off.  Be still, my child.

God bless

Why this, why now?

I suppose one should start off one’s blog with a little background…why this blog, and why now?  

Well, that story begins about 4 years ago when I was getting ready to leave Okinawa and the bishop of the Anglican church wanted to present me with a scroll written in kanji.  His question – what Bible verse did I want on it?  My wife and I discussed it and decided that the message God was trying to teach us in Okinawa was “Be still, and know that I am God”.  A few months later we arrived in San Diego.  I was asked to preach at our old church.  The psalm for that day was psalm 46, which contains the line “Be still, and know that I am God”.  A month or so later I was preaching at what was to become my home parish (Christ the King).  The psalm for that day was psalm 37, which contains the verse “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him”.  Coincidence?  I think not. 

At the time, I thought God was emphasizing the point and I could move on with life.  But over the past 3 years this has continued to be a major recurring – no, major CONSTANT theme.  You’d be surprised how often “Be still” comes up in readings, songs, sermons, plaques, etc!  Over those 3 years I have gradually, reluctantly at times, come to embrace being still.  And I have begun to understand that it is so much more than just “not moving”.  It is not worrying.  It is releasing everything – my fears, my dreams, my sins, my works, my treasures, and most of all myself – to God.  It is trusting in Him. 

This has lately been driven home to me as I went through the discernment process for my calling to the priesthood.  It began with a simple question – what is the difference between secular humility and Christian humility?  Meditation and prayer on that question led to conviction, repentance, and a beginning of a deeper understanding of what it means to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Jesus (Luke 9:23-24).  “Humility” by Andrew Murray, and “When God Takes Too Long” by Joseph Bentz have also been sources of “stillness” for me lately.

I am beginning to accept that the journey is not something to be rushed, or tolerated until I reach the destination.  The journey is life.  The journey continues as God works in me and through me.  It is a thing to be savored, cherished, and enjoyed.  It is also a thing to be shared.  So I hope that you will join me as I learn the Art of Being Still….

God bless