Giving and Receiving / Closed Hand or Open Hand?

I had a conversation the other day that troubled me.  It forced me to check my priorities.  It comes down to giving and receiving.

I have to thank Mark Driscoll for giving me this image of Closed and Open Handed

In life we can be a closed handed or open handed.

I think the tendency is to look at our lives and our accomplishments, careers, family, stuff, dreams and aspirations and put them in a closed hand.  This is my stuff, this is my career, this is my time, this is my money.

I don’t think this is gospel living at all.

We don’t own the gospel we receive it.  And we can’t receive anything with closed hands.  If we are so focused on holding on to our stuff then we will miss out on receiving the things that God wants to bring into our lives.

If we live with an open hand we realize that all the things that are in our lives are temporary and we are not owners but stewards.

It’s not your time, it’s not your money, it’s not your family, it’s not your career, it’s not your stuff.  All things things are gifts from God.  If you want to honor God with your whole life then you need to hold all these things with an open hand.  You have to be willing to let go of some things to receive something else.

If I am not willing to give these blessings back to God then I should not expect to receive any other blessings from God.  If I hold on to these blessings to tightly, I will kill them.

So who are you?  Are you a closed hand or an open hand person?

Brussels Sprouts and Jesus

I had a recent conversation about sharing the good news with people who are not Christians.  Just that term, sharing the good news is problematic.  It has so much baggage associated with it.  So do evangelism, witnessing, etc.  When we use terms like this we bring our baggage into talking about Jesus into these conversations.  We bring our fears, anxieties and insecurities.

And you know what.  The people we are talking to have their own problems with the Gospel too.  I think it usually is because they have had a bad, painful, hurtful, or just plain awkward presentation of the Gospel.

It’s kind of like brussels sprouts.  Growing up I did not like brussels sprouts.  They were gross and I didn’t ever want to eat them.  I knew this to be true because of th bad presentation of brussels sprouts that I grew up with.  They were gross and they were always going to be gross.

Then one day I ate brussels sprouts that were prepared really well, and presented with care.  It changed my perspective on brussels sprouts.  It all came down to the preparation and presentation.

I think when it comes to talking about Jesus, we need to take greater care in our preparation and presentation.  We prepare through prayer and building our own relationship with Jesus.  And the presentation cannot simply be a quick and careless discussion.  If we are going to change the way people think about the Gospel we need to take care with our presentation.

The greatest presentation of the Gospel is a life that supports our words.  If you want people to try something that they think they won’t like, you have to change the presentation.  You have to give them a reason to try something old in a new way.

Research, Writing And Conversation Partners

I write this as I am sitting in a Barnes & Noble Cafe.  I’ve spent the last two hours reading a book called Holy Laughter.  It’s a collection of essays edited by M. Conrad Hyers.  There are several thought provoking chapters in this text, and I’m glad I found it.  Over the past few months I have been trying to get my hands on as many texts by Hyers as I can, he has done a lot of work on Comedy, Humor and Christian Faith.  Hyers is rising as one of my primary conversation partners as I begin writing my thesis.

Whenever I am writing I am aware that I am not working entirely in my own mind.  But I am interacting with a world of ideas.  I often feel like I’m hosting a dinner party and the guests include, Barth, St. Paul, Nietzsche, C.S. Lewis, Marc Maron, St. Mark, Jesus, Jim Gaffigan, N.T. Wright and a host of others.  All of these people I have been reading about, listening to, and I’m trying to help them see how they are connected and similar to each other.

The challenge at such a dinner party is that a Nietzsche and Lewis really disagree on some fundamental beliefs, and so I feel like my nice dinner could explode at any minute with food flying and fists crashing into my face.

But on the other hand, the conversations that are possible when bringing all these thinkers together is enlightening and exciting.  And I want to tell people about the connections that were made between two disparate conversation partners.  The challenge is putting the synthesis of ideas that happens in my imaginary dinner party into words that are accessible to people who weren’t there.

That’s essential the challenge of writing.  Be it a sermon, a paper, a thesis, even a joke, if I can’t share the connection that are being made in my head, then all is lost, and the dinner party was a waste of everyone’s time.  Well not everyone’s time because so far Nietzsche has remained civil and Maron hasn’t alienated everyone else by dealing with all his own issues. And Gaffigan keeps the conversation light by pointing out the absurdity of seafood.

Anyway.

Super Heroes in Seattle

As somebody who grew up reading comic books and still enjoys a good graphic novel today.  I remember asking myself as a young man, what would it take to actually become a crime fighting vigilante.  I realized early on (around 4th grade baseball when I really sucked and didn’t get a hit all season) that I would never have the skills required to roam the streets fighting crime and dispensing immediate justice on the hordes of villians that terrorized my quaint Kirkland neighborhood.

Even though my dreams were crushed early that did not mean that super heroes would not emerge some day, some where.  And now they have.  In Seattle of all places.  The video above recounts an event where Phoenix Jones stopped a car burglarly in process.  This happened in Lynnwood.  That’s where I live.  I will sleep better knowing that this guy is out there.  His arsenal is not as impressive as Batman’s but even Bruce Wayne had to start some where.

Now . . . about those super powers he’s lacking.  I will immediately begin research on radioactive bugs . . .

Getting Over Myself, or, Let Jesus Do His Work

I recently came across a website for a ministry that my gut reaction to was, “Really?!”

It had something to do with men beating each other up in tight shorts and Ed Hardee style clothes.  I’ll be the first to admit, I really don’t get the appeal of UFC or MMA or any of those things.  I never enjoyed seeing people in real life get punched in the face.

So when I saw this ministry I scoffed.  My attitude was simply, “Is this what Jesus really wants his church to be doing?”

But then I remembered that the people who love MMA and UFC and all that are also loved by Jesus.  And while I will probably never watch a fight or go to anything like that, that doesn’t mean that Jesus would stay away too.  The Gospel of Jesus needs to be worked into all areas of life.

My opinions about cultural trends are not the same as Jesus’ opinions.  I need to get over myself and let Jesus do his work through those guys, and pray that Jesus also continues to do his work through me.

I realized that my attitude at seeing this UFC outreach was very pharisaical.  Jesus did ministry differently than the religious establishment of his day.  I need to get out of his way and let him continue to do his work.

Here are some things that I think are untapped areas of outreach

Comedy – Not christian comedy clubs but christians going to comedy clubs and being friends with comedians.  Even the post op transgendered individual.  Comedy = tragedy + time.  How can we love people who get on stage and talk about their pain every night?  How can christians do Comedy where they talk openly about pain and the foibles of humanity?

Comic Books – Not christians making comic books about the end times, angels, or whatever.  What if Christians actually had conversations about Batman, X-men, Superman, etc. What if Christians got really good at drawing and writing for these stories instead of trying to do something “christian”.

Literature – I’d love to write a book to a mainstream audience that tells a redemptive story, without being pigeonholed into the Christian Section of the Christian Bookstore. Tolkien and Lewis were able to do it.  Can Christians do that today?  Can we write fantasy stories, or even a murder mystery that’s redemptive?

What else?

What are the things that you think are great opportunites to reveal redemption to the world?

The other question is will our churches let Christians do these things?  Will we get out of Jesus’ way?

God Is Near: Some things I’ve been reading

From Henri Nouwen, The Living Reminder: Service and Prayer in Memory of Jesus Christ

We have inherited a story which needs to be told in such a way that the many painful wounds about which we hear day after day can be liberated from their isolation and be revealed as part of God’s relationship with us.  Healing means revealing that our human wounds are most intimately connected with the suffering of God himself.  To be a living memory of Jesus Christ, therefore, means to reveal the connections between our small sufferings and the great story of God’s suffering in Jesus Christ, between our little life and the great life of God with us.

I love this.  God know our suffering, because he too suffered.  We don’t have to sit in isolation over our pain.  You are not alone!  God’s not done writing your story!

From David Benner, The Gift of Being Yourself (41-42)

The omnipresent God whose name is immanuel is not distant but nearer to us than we can imagine. God is not alien to the circumstances of our lives but comes to us in them.  Our Challenge is to unmask the Divine in the natural and name the presence of God in our lives.

—-

Richard Rohr Reminds us that “we cannot attain the presence of God.  We’re already totally in the presence of God.  What’s absent is awareness.”  This is the core of the spiritual journey — learning to discern the presence of God, to see what really is.

Even if you’ve left God, he hasn’t left you.  Even if you doubt him, God doesn’t doubt you.  My hope as a pastor is that I can help people realize that God is in the ordinary, the extraordinary, the painful, and the joyous experiences of their life, and everywhere in between.  God is there.  My prayer is that the Holy Spirit will help us to be more aware of what God is up to and his presence in our lives every day.

 

On The Cross

Another quote from Miroslav Wolf in “Free of Charge”:

On the cross, God is not setting up the terms of a contract that humans need to fulfill in order to get what they want. Neither is God saying on the cross, “I died for you, now you’ve got to do what I tell you.” Instead on the cross God’s own self is given for the sins of humanity.

God’s goods are not for sale; you can’t buy them with money or good deeds.  God doesn’t make deals. God gives.

Unexpected

This excerpt is from “Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace”  by Miroslav Wolf.

Even when we look in the right places with a ready heart, we still might miss the one true God. We need to be willing to let our very effort to know God slide out of our hands, opening them to God’s continued and unexpected Revelation.

Where are you looking for God? Volf reminds us that we need to look to Jesus as revealed in Scripture.

Is your heart ready to see God?

How is God showing up in your life in unexpected ways?

Living The Comic Life

On Sunday I had the privilege of preaching at Creekside and sharing a bit about what I am researching for my thesis at Northwest University. I’m writing about Humor as a Prophetic device and in this sermon I’m talking primarily about how Comedic stories follow a similar plot line, and how it matches up with God’s redemptive history and God’s future plans as I see them revealed in the Bible. Good Times.I’d love to hear your feadback.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

New beginnings

Playoffs!

I will be among the first to say, there is no way that the Seahawks should be in the playoffs. It’s crazy. They had a 7-9 season, their starting QB has been hurt pretty much all season. It’s all crazy!

But now it doesn’t matter. Every game the Seahawks play in the playoffs is really the only game that matters for them. Their record doesn’t matter anymore. Each week they get to play like it’s a new season. The goal is simply to move forward. The psychology of the season changes when we get in the playoffs. 7-9 simply doesn’t matter anymore.

So while all of those things are true for the Seahawks the challenge will be convincing the team that 7-9 doesn’t matter. The fans believe it. We are cheering for the Seahawks. We believe that 7-9 doesn’t matter anymore. All that matters is the next game. Play for that game.

2011 is a new year, it’s an opportunity to start over. To change some things in your life. To heal some relationships, to improve your health. 2010 is over, you can’t change it, and you can’t dwell on it. We have to look at the new year like it’s the playoffs. The only thin that matters is now is what’s in front of us.

Whenever I go to Qwest Field I’m amazed how loud it is. The fans know that their volume can make a difference in the outcome of the game. When I think about how loud it is at Qwest field I also think about how loudly all of Heaven is cheering us on. I want to challenge you this year to live a Hebrews 12 year. Heaven is cheering you on!

Hebrews 12

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

God Disciplines His Children

4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”[a]

7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13 “Make level paths for your feet,”[b] so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

Warning and Encouragement

14 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. 16 See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. 17 Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done.
The Mountain of Fear and the Mountain of Joy

18 You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; 19 to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, 20 because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.”[c] 21 The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”[d]
22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

25 See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”[e] 27 The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.

28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our “God is a consuming fire.”[f]