AIDS Memorial Quilt and Service

Saturday night, I had the opportunity to participate in an interfaith memorial service at COMPASS Community Center. It was a moving experience. There were about 8 or 9 faith communities involved. It was also eye- and heart-opening to see the actual portion of the quilt that is currently installed at the center. The panels, representing the lives of those who have been lost to the virus, ooze sacredness.

Using Forced Labor to Build the Temple

Solomon sent word to Hiram, saying, ‘You know that my father David could not build a house for the name of the Lord his God because of the warfare with which his enemies surrounded him, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side; there is neither adversary nor misfortune. So I intend to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord said to my father David, “Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, shall build the house for my name.”….. King Solomon conscripted forced labor out of all Israel; the levy numbered thirty thousand men. He sent them to the Lebanon, ten thousand a month in shifts; they would be a month in the Lebanon and two months at home; Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor.

1 Kings 5:2-5, 13-14 (NRSV)

I came across this story in my scripture reading last week. I am sure I have read it before, but it hit me quite differently this time. King Solomon used forced labor to build the long-awaited temple, the symbol of Gods presence amidst the people of Israel. From the context it is apparent that Solomon had at least a couple of different motives in building the temple. One motive was a passion for the worship of who Solomon perceived as the one true God. Mixed in with that, I imagine, was the desire to create an awesome spectacle that would be the shrines and altars to other gods to shame. Another motive appears to be loyalty to his father David’s memory.

Whatever his motives, Solomon had an awesome ministry vision. It was a vision so big that it required him to force the people of Israel to work on it. I cannot for a moment imagine God, as I understand and experience God, being pleased with such a situation. It is the height of irony to use forced labor to build a shrine to a God who delivered those very laborers’ ancestors from slavery.

As I pursue my vision for ministry it is imperative that I constantly check my motives, constantly seek to be aware of why I am doing what I am doing. However, even when motives are right, it is so very easy to use people in pursuit of a great vision. Between King Solomon and now, institutional religion has been expert in using people to accomplish its purpose. Religion, at its best, can inspire one to become a part of something bigger than oneself. At its worst, it manipulates through dogma and fear, forcing people to labor for the good of the institution.

As I grow in my ministry, may I be ever mindful that my calling is to serve God by facilitating connection between God and individuals, inviting them into their adventure of life with God, not conscripting their labor for my vision alone.

In and Out of Gratitude

Trish and Emerson and I are at my parent's house in Lake Lure, NC for Thanksgiving. As I was laying in bed last night, I was overwhelmed with gratitude.

I have a wonderful wife and a precious son. I have incredible, supportive parents that provided an awesome foundation and start for me. Trish and I have great jobs and the time off to come up here on vacation. We have a car that got us up here. God has provided a place of ministry for me, laying a path in front of me. I get to minister with and to incredible people. God has not only forgiven my mistakes, but in God's incredible grace, has even minimized the consequences and effects of many of those mistakes.

It is out of that gratitude that I live my life. Trying to be "spiritual," trying to "be good," to please God, for me anyway, just doesn't work. But when I think of the blessings I have, when I think of how good God has been to me, I just naturally want to live in relationship with the One to whom I am so grateful.

You Have Found Favor With God!

This morning in my scripture reading I was in the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke, where the angel visits Mary. There is lots of theology and a lot at stake for many in the story of the virgin birth which creates a lot of tension. Setting that aside, a phrase jumped out at me:

Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. (Luke 1:30)

"Do not be afraid" is a typical (and, I  imagine, necessary!) salutation when someone is approached by God or an angel of God in scripture. However, I love the way it is followed up: "for you have found favor with God."

From the context, there is nothing that indicates a reason why she found this favor. It seems that God just chose to bestow it it--and she found it. It was such an encouraging word to me this morning. I have found favor with God. I have found favor with God! There is nothing I have to do to earn it. There is nothing I can do to lose it.

The same is true for you. You have found favor with God. "God," as The Shack  author William Paul Young puts it, "is especially fond of you." So you don't have to be afraid. No matter what happens today, no matter how bad you screw up, no matter what your coworkers say about you, never forget:

Do not be afraid, because you have found favor with God!

How would the world be different today if every child of God chose to live in that truth? What if each of us lived as if we had nothing to prove, nothing to grasp, no mask to hide behind? Therein lies the power of the Gospel.

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.