The Forty-Year-Old Box of Jell-o

A couple of weeks ago, two of our fantastic volunteers at church, Miriam and Pat, were cleaning out our food pantry in the office. Church food pantries require cleaning out periodically or else you end up with a closet full of canned beets. I don't believe anybody actually eats canned beats, so they get donated quite often. After all, the thinking goes, if the people that come to the pantry are hungry enough, they should eat what they get. At one point, Miriam asked me if Jell-O goes bad. She showed me a box of Jell-O that was in the pantry. There wasn't a date on it , but the box looked awfully old. Then we found the offer on the back. Ge $.50 if you buy 12 boxes. Must be postmarked by April 22, 1968!

Now I don't know if that box has been in our pantry for the past 40 years or if someone donated a forty-year-old box of Jell-O. I do know that I plan on keeping this box of Jell-O on my desk for as long as I stay in church ministry. It's a great reminder that we are not ministering in the 1960's anymore. It sounds obvious, but it's easy to forget, especially in a hundred-year old church that had its heydays in the 60's and 70's. We long to go back to there. Heck, I wasn't even around then and sometimes I even long for it! But what we did in the 60's does not touch people of the 21st century with the power of the gospel. 1960's strategies will not transform society and culture in 2009.

It's easy to say "We have some beets and Jell-O (it doesn't go bad does it?) Let's mix it up and serve it. If they're hungry enough, they'll take it." But we're finding out the hard way that they won't and our message of hop is being lost on those that are turning up their nose at our Jell-O and beet salad. May I always be reminded by my 1968 box of Jell-O.

Tearing Down the Altars

That night the Lord said to him [Gideon], ‘Take your father’s bull, the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father, and cut down the sacred pole that is beside it; and build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of the stronghold here, in proper order; then take the second bull, and offer it as a burnt-offering with the wood of the sacred pole that you shall cut down.’

Judges 6:25-26


I've read and heard and been taught this story numerous times, but this little incident has always escaped me. God told Gideon to go tear down the altar to Baal, the altar his father had built. In order to have our own authentic relationship with God, it may be necessary to tear down some of the altars we have been left.

Very often, those who have gone before us have left us altars to small, tribal gods like Baal. And even those of us who have received the awesome gift of an altar to a mighty, awesome God need to rebuild that altar for ourselves, based on our own experience with God.

And when we tear down old altars, others take notice. When it got back to Gideon's dad that Gideon had torn down the altar, his response was "If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been pulled down." I love it!

It's time to pull down altars. It is time to engage God for ourselves.

Abundance

A couple of weeks ago I was surprised by an experience of pure abundance. I was given a bag of candy on the occasion of my second anniversary at the church. That afternoon, I opened up and began eating it.

Now, how often does an adult buy a bag of candy for him or herself? In my case, not too often. And when I do, it usually comes with at least some guilt. Here I had a bag of Dove Promises that were given to me as a gift. They were mine, given to me, with no guilt attached. They were a joy to eat.

It felt good. It felt abundant. I realized that I don't usually live with a sense of abundance. I'm always thinking about what I lack, always looking at the gap. However, the truth is I have been given so much by an awesome, generous God. I can be thankful. I can keep my eyes on the abundance rather than the lack.

From "respectable religion" to "evangelical faith"

In his farewell address after 10 years of ministry, John Thomas, the outgoing General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ, the denomination to which I belong, said that he is "anxious but still hopeful" about what he describes as the transition from "respectable religion" to "evangelical faith."

It was great hearing that from a leader in a mainline denomination. The truth is that most church folk, from the most "liberal" United Church of Christer to the "conservative" Southern Baptist is a defender of respectable religion. They only differ on what respectable religion looks like. Jesus, on the other hand in his teaching and ministry, revealed respectable religion for what it is--impotent, nauseating, dangerous.

For the church to survive, for the church to be involved in what God is doing in the world, we have to do more than transition. We have to oppose respectable religion with the passion of Jesus himself because respectable religion opposes evangelical faith (something else revealed by Jesus in his death). We must choose one or the other.

A couple of days ago I was pulling up to my church. I had stuff I had to take to my office (at the south end of the campus) and to the kitchen (the north end of the campus). As I was pulling in to the parking lot I got confused as to which I wanted to do first. I ended up pulling in to the middle, resulting in me walking to one end and then the other. I was reminded that compromise rarely works.

I want to live a vitalized, evangelical faith. There are too many people hurting and confused. There is too much injustice, fighting, hunger and sorrow to allow respectable religion to have even a toe-hold.

So What About the Mirror?!

This Sunday we talked about an Ordinary Day With Jesus, using different props to show how every aspect of our day can be lived in the presence of and infused with Jesus. One of the props on the altar was a large mirror. However, I completely forgot to talk about it!

The mirror represents the people that we will see in the course of a day--those we know and those we don't. When we look at people, we have the opportunity to look at them with Jesus. We can ask Jesus, what are you trying to do in this person’s life? Is there a way that I can be a part of that? Can I further your work in this person’s life? Could I encourage them? Could I listen to them? Could I speak bold truth to them? Could I love them? Could I touch them? Jesus, could I help you in what you are doing in this person’s life?

I find in my life that sometimes the presence of Christ is obvious in my life. Other times, he can be really hard to find. Turning to the words of Jesus himself, we find there is one place where he can always be found.

"Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” Matthew 25:37-40

Jesus is present in the least of these, in other people. Frank Laubach, the modern Christian mystic had a simple prayer that he would repeat over and over as he was among people: "Can I help you? Can I help you?"

An ordinary day with Jesus will include many opportunities to see Jesus and people. Will I take every opportunity to do so? Probably not. But it is definitely something to practice.

Seth Godin on "The Problem With Non"

Seth Godin's stuff is nearly always right on target for churches. However, today he writes specifically to nonprofits, the importance of our mission, and our paralyzing fear of change--good stuff!

Did you start or join this non-profit because of the non part? I doubt it. It's because you want to make change. The way the world is just isn't right or good enough for you... there's an emergency or an injustice or an opportunity and you want to make change.
These organizations exist solely to make change. That's why you joined, isn't it?
The problem facing your group, ironically, is the resistance to the very thing you are setting out to do. Non-profits, in my experience, abhor change.

Read the rest here.

Volunteering and Quality of Life

Group's website has an interesting article on studies done with senior adult and teenage volunteers.

"A study published by Aging and Mental Health in 2003 showed that seniors who volunteered were significantly more likely than those who didn't to report having high energy, concentration, and engagement."

and

"A study published in The Science of Altruism and Health followed 1,000 teenagers over a five year period, tracking their attitudes and behaviors. Those who spent the most time in various community service efforts were least likely to be involved in violence and pregnancy. They also were least likely to express negative feelings (!) or describe themselves as feeling stressed. As described in Gross National Happiness, "Provocatively, the investigators found that charity and faith tended to interact for extra benefit. Religious, giving teens had higher self-esteem, confidence, and optimism than nonreligious, giving teens."

Good stuff, stuff that people of faith already know, but it is nice to see it verified.

You can read the whole article here.