NO GREATER LOVE THAN THIS

There are teddy bears… and high school rings… and old photographs that mamas bring.  There’s cigarettes and there’s cans of beer and notes that say “I miss you dear.” And children who don’t say anything at all/ There’s purple hearts  and packs of gum- fatherless daughters and fatherless sons… and there’s 50,000 names carved in the wall/ They come from all across this land… in pickups trucks and mini vans, searching for a boy from long ago. They scan the wall and find his name. The teardrops fall like pouring rain and silently they leave a gift and go/ There’s stars of David and rosary beads and crucifixion figurines and flowers of all colors… large and small.  There’s a Boy Scout badge and a merit pin- little American flags waving in the wind…. and there’s 50,000 names in the wall. Lyrics from a song by George Jones... to which I can only say "amen." Many of us have stood before them in awe…. because they stand for men and women who died for our freedom,  

including my dad's co-pilot and Margaret Shetenhelm's son, Robert- both of whom died in WW2.

Indeed, the graves of those who died for us fill cemeteries throughout our land. Their names are written in stone, but their sacrifice was much bigger than that because there is no greater love than this- to lay one’s life down for another person's freedom. This weekend, we are invited to remember. It is a time to let the voices of those who really did love freedom more than life... speak to us. From the first one who died in our War of Independence to the next young soldier who will die in a foreign land, we have been blessed to walk among seemingly ordinary people who have the stuff of heroes on the inside. They stared evil in the face. They carried the fight to those who would take our lives. They've taken the narrow road, knowing that life is not worth the living if people can't be free. They were Christians, Jews, Muslims, and nothing at all; but they all loved honor and freedom more than life ... and we are called to remember them this weekend!

But as Christians, we are also called to remember the One who laid down his life to save our souls! In a far away place, almost exactly 2000 years ago, a Jew hung on a Roman cross... and died to set us free from the bondage to self and sin. Despite the warnings that the prophets gave, we were never able to love God with all of our hearts or our neighbors as ourselves. So God's Son, considering divinity as something not worth clinging to, emptied himself of it, came down to earth, and lived among us. He taught about God's love, healed the sick, and challenged practices that were punitive and unjust. He was full of beauty and grace, but still, we didn't listen. So, he paid for our sins by his stripes. rose in victory over death, and appeared to Mary and the others, commissioning them to go and tell the "good news" to men and women in every nation. He told his disciples that the Holy Spirit would empower them and help them "remember" what he had said and done. He also instituted the Lord's Supper, saying, "This is my body; take, eat, in remembrance of me," and concerning the cup, "whenever you drink it, do this in remembrance of me."

Remembering is an empowering thing. It keeps us connected and aware of who and whose we are. Remembering is an important thing... but it is NOT as important as living AS IF we remember, which may be why Jesus said, "those who love me keep my word." Those who know me will follow me. Those who love me will keep my words. They will take the same path that I have taken, They will mourn for a broken world, forgive 70 x 7, feed those who need to be fed, make praying a way of life, and lay down their lives for me. When it comes to those whom we love and admire, remembering is more of an embrace than a passing thought and when it comes to the One whom we call Lord, remembering is not a thought at all. It is a way of life. Amen!

O LORD, I WANT TO BE AUTHENTIC

You don't have to know much Scripture to know that Jesus didn't have much tolerance toward hypocrites because they pretended to be something they were not. They were always acting, playing a role that was meant to deceive others and perhaps even themselves. In his day, actors wore masks. They would hold a mask in front of their faces and pretend to be a person they were not. They were called "hypocrites," and on stage, it was all good fun. Some of the actors were excellent pretenders, but off-stage, in a world that relies on trust and authenticity, pretending that you're something you're not... is not worthy of applause. Instead, it merits our condemnation, and that is exactly what Jesus did. He ate with sinners, but he condemned hypocrites. He forgave adulteresses, but he condemned hypocrites. He cried for those who had lost their way and he liberated those who were "demon-possessed," but he condemned hypocrites. There are too many verses condemning hypocrisy to mention in detail, but a couple of examples will be cited. In Matthew 23:27, we find these words: "Woe to you... you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of bones of the dead and everything unclean." Jesus also has harsh words in Matthew 7:5: "You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." Let's be frank: hypocrites annoyed Jesus... and they annoy everyone else. They annoy us because they're phony, and because they lay burdens on us... burdens that they, themselves, do not carry. Sadly, hypocrites also separate themselves from God's forgiving love because all meaningful relationships are based on integrity and trust.

My biggest problem then... is the plank in my own eye. You are not to blame, neither is the world, or my bad luck. In my quest to be understood, accepted. and even loved, the problem is me, my ego, my fear of being real, my hypocrisy! I learned the art of "acting" to get by, and now I find that it keeps me from the very thing I need most... which is to be known and loved anyway. I need to "get real," I confess it and offer this prayer: 

O God, help me live with integrity in everything I say and do. Let me be true to myself, and in that way... free, Give me the courage to practice what I preach. Give me the courage to be vulnerable and the grace to love those who are vulnerable. Teach me to be authentic, Lord, and use the experiences that you give me to shape me into something real.  Let me be what I profess to be, so that I might receive the acceptance I seek. If I preach about mercy, make me merciful, and let it be the same with forgiveness. If I boast about being in your hands, God, let me show that I believe it... by living boldly and daring to love the unlovable, and Lord... if I say that I love my neighbors, show me how to be a neighbor. Lord, let the face that I show others... be my face... so that, for better or worse, others will know the real me. My tears and laughter, Lord, let them be real. O God, let me experience the deep joy of knowing that Christ died for me- for the real me, I mean- just as I am.

"Being me" has never seemed quite enough somehow... but it was enough for Christ, who died for me and who beckons me to throw my masks away and die to him. Believing this... is real freedom... and besides, the masks that I carry have become too heavy to bear.  Amen.

YOU WILL NEVER WALK ALONE

Many years ago, I asked a candidate we were interviewing for the ministry  if he had ever seen the Holy Spirit at work in his church. It was meant to be a challenging question because we don’t give the work of the Holy Spirit much attention in the “mainline church.” But after giving the question a little thought, he said that people in his church seemed to enjoy one another’s company when they gathered at fellowship events. I call this the “reserved” version of the Holy Spirit and in Paul’s letter to the Galatians, we see that the Gifts of the Holy Spirit do include… kindness, gentleness, joy, and love, among others. When the Holy Spirit is alive within a person and moving freely in a group, you will see God’s people at peace and in harmony, as they show His love to one another.

But in the second chapter of the book of Acts, we encounter the Holy Spirit as an agent of renewal, power, and energy. We’ll get to it in a couple of weeks, but it was moment when God’s people were energized and reborn as zealous witnesses to His ministry and resurrection. People who spoke in different languages could understand one another and there was a oneness of purpose that swept through their community. New people joined and old people embraced new possibilities. I am sure that God’s people were kind to one another. They may have also been patient, but they were neither bold nor helpful… until the Holy Spirit swept through them. In this view, the Holy Spirit is a transforming agent of change (which is hardly the church’s strong suit).

Holy Spirit, work within us so that we can love another and come to rest in a place of peace and abiding joy! Holy Spirit, get a hold of us. Wake us up and set is on fire with zeal and a iron-clad commitment to tell and show the entire world that Christ is risen! And then there is a third view of the Holy Spirit, as an unpredictable and wild part of the Holy Trinity. In many people’s eyes God is something like a stern Father who keep yelling at the neighborhood children to behave. Jesus is His loving and understanding Son, who understands that we’re doing the best that we can and who also sticks up for us when his Father gets angry. But they keep the Holy Spirit out of sight, for fear that he will get someone excited about their potential, or challenge them with the truth.

The Holy Spirit, it seems, is a Peacemaker, a radical change-agent, and an unpredictable truth-teller. But in our passage today, we meet the Holy Spirit as a Paraclete, which means someone who is “called to walk alongside.” In ancient times the term “paraclete” often had legal overtones, as in a lawyer who argues your case, but for some time now, it has meant something like, “comforter, advocate, encourager.” When Jesus came up beside Cleopas and his friend on the Road to Emmaus, he showed some of the ministry that the Holy Spirit would be doing after he ascended… when he listened to them, challenged them a bit, and explained Scripture to them… so that their hearts would be warned.

A joy-giver, change-agent, truth-teller, and paraclete- the Holy Spirit is all of these- but today, our attention is turned to our Paraclete. ¹⁵”If you love me,” Jesus said in the 14^th chapter of the gospel of John, “you will keep my commandments. ¹⁶And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever.¹⁷This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.¹⁸”I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. ¹⁹In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. ²⁰On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. ²¹They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”

If you love me you will love one another, Jesus noted, because love demands a response. If you love me, you will live out my words because they will burn in your hearts. As we have journeyed together, I have been your Advocate and I have showed those things that are dear to me- like mercy and justice- and now, I will give you the Spirit of Truth, who will keep my words and work alive in your hearts. He will continue showing you what you must do and reminding you that I am the Truth. There are some who won’t believe this because they are consumed with lies, but you will enjoy a deep and abiding relationship with this Advocate… and it will last forever. Oh friends, I will not leave you orphaned! No I won’t. I won’t abandon you and leave you frightened and vulnerable. I am giving you a Paraclete who will walk alongside you… when you’re dancing with joy and when your sobbing in the darkness. I will walk alongside when your running downhill as fast as you can and when your struggling to get to your feet. You and I will always be in relationship and you will draw strength, knowing that I am in the Father, that I am in you, and you are in me. You will never walk alone because the Comforter will always be at your side. This is the truth. Hold it tightly until we meet again. Amen.

FAITH AND COVID-19

    (Recently a good friend of mine asked me to write some encouraging words that she could share with a group of others. Well, Facebook is filled with inspiring thoughts and sayings, but rather than passing some of them along, I decided to write an honest reflection of my pain, worries, and source of hope at this moment. I am sharing these thoughts below).  

      Dear friend, it’s another day in quarantine and I shouldn’t complain because I have all sorts of time to do things that I love. I can spend time with Sherry and I can work on my family tree and my language studies as much as I like. I am free of interruptions and I can do what I do in a comfortable place. I have a cell phone, a laptop, a large screen TV, quite a bit of toilet paper, and Alexa. I have Facebook too and a new freezer downstairs.
      On Sunday, we were able to "meet" with our family on Zoom and that brought us a lot of joy. In many ways, it is a good life here in Morton and there isn't much to cry about... except for the others. I grieve for those who have died and for the many more who loved them. I'm tormented by the horrible way in which people seem to die from COVID-19 (which is alone and in great pain). My heart breaks for those who eke out a living serving others, knowing that now their diners and salons are closed. I am burdened with grief when I think about the trauma that is taking place in our Nursing Homes. Life wasn't all that good in these "homes" anyway, and now it looks like the staff and residents are just like "sitting ducks." There is so much fear and anguish out there and I haven't even mentioned the poor, who are at risk in many, many ways! 
      When I focus on myself, I'm fine. There's not much that will harm me today, but when I think of others, it's clear the see that there are storm clouds filling our sky. People are fearful. They are restless. They are disoriented and off-balance, and since we live in two distinctly different media worlds now, they see things entirely differently than their neighbors do. People miss the life patterns that they knew. They miss their morning gatherings at the diner; they miss their work places; they miss church events; and they miss their social hours. They miss all of this and more. I do too, but what I wish we had and pray for... is a sense of unity and common purpose. We are in this together and we don't want to miss the chance to get through this together... because we will get through it!
      I am convinced that God will see us through because getting people through tough times in one of God's special talents. I am sure that God will lead us out of the darkness because God is very good at leading people out of dark places. God will provide. (Period) But things will be better if we join in and do our part in community. With this in mind and realizing that I am a flawed and dinged vessel, I would like to suggest that we will feel better, and be of greater us, if we implement these steps:
1. If you are a person of faith, lean on it! Tap into it and trust God. Tap into every day if you need to;
2. Write a gratitude list every morning. An actual and specific list. It will improve your mood and attitude;
3) God talk is healing and empowering. So if you are a person of prayer, pray! Make a list and pray for the people and events on the list;
4) Make it a point to contact others, especially those who are isolated and vulnerable! Make a list of relatives. Get out a church directory. Write down names... and contact them.
5) Don't feel so all alone. Remember that we are all in this together. We all share the same goals. Everyone wants the dying to stop. Everyone wants to get back to work. Everyone wants to root for the Cubs. Everyone wants to be safe and have access to healthcare when they need it. Everyone wants their mom and dad, and other loved ones. to stay out of harm's way. Everyone hopes that there is someone who cares about them and their well-being. We are in this struggle together! 

      Trust in God. Talk to God. Turn to God for strength, perspective, and guidance. Let go of the enormity of this pandemic. It’s too big for  any of us. But we can- each and every one of us- sign up to minister for God. Pray, reach out, stay positive, and trust. Do these things and you will have greater peace until the skies clear up again.

Dry Bones, Empty Graves, and Hope

     When Sarah heard that she would be giving birth to her own baby boy, she threw back her head and laughed out loud. She laughed at the very idea of an old woman having a baby. She had prayed for a son of her own, but as time passed, her dreams gave way to despair and finally, to acceptance. And now, it seemed comical to hear such a ridiculous thing- so she laughed right out loud... and one of the visitors heard her. He heard Sarah laugh, and he asked a question that each of us must answer: is anything too hard for God? Should we pray for things that don't seem possible? Should we believe in things that we can't explain? Is God just in the "comforting" business, or can God also be in the "transformation" and even the "miracle" business?
      Centuries after Sarah heard that she would give birth to a bouncing baby boy, an eccentric prophet was lifted up by the Spirit of God and deposited in a valley of dry bones. The people of God had hit bottom. It was a time of utter despair... and the prophet found himself in a valley of dry bones. The bones were piled deep and he couldn't begin to count them. But it was their "deadness" that was especially sobering. The bones were very dry, not sort of dry, and they were very dead, not  dying! It was a daunting spectacle, but unlike Sarah, Ezekiel did not laugh...when God asked him a question that each of us must answer: can these dry bones live? Can they stand up and dance? Can they take on life and begin again? Well... can they? Is anything too hard for God? And the prophet answered correctly when he said, "O Lord, you know." Speak to them, son of man, and call them back together. That's what God commanded and when His prophet obeyed, the dry bones came back together- foot bone to ankle bone to leg bone- and human forms took shape. And when the prophet was commanded to call the Spirit into them, the bones came to life! They came to life... and stood as a vast army, and with ears of faith, we can still hear their "amens."
      Centuries later still, an ordinary Jew died in a little village outside of Jerusalem. His name was Lazarus and when he became critically ill, his sisters sought help from their friend, Jesus, because they believed that he could heal their brother if he got to them in time. But as it turned out, Lazarus had been dead for four days by the time Jesus arrived. Martha met him first and she expressed a feeling that some of us may have had in our own lives. "Lord," she said, "If you had been here, my brother would not have died." If you had been here, my brother would not have died, and her sister, Mary, said the same thing. It was a time of great grief, and the Bible says that Jesus' heart broke when he saw the emptiness in their eyes and the pain that they were enduring. He sobbed- and he would be overwhelmed with grief again before he resurrected Lazarus- because broken dreams, dry bones, and dead brothers... are worth crying about. Then he told them to roll away the stone that covered Lazarus' tomb. "Oh no," Martha tried to say, "You're too late. My brother's been dead for days and we can smell him from here."
      We can smell him from here. My brother is not only dead-he is rotting. And then, Jesus asked her the same question that he asks us- Is anything too hard for God? Can God resurrect a dead man? Can God restore rotted flesh? Can shattered pieces be picked up and reassembled and become new again? Today, as we get nearer to Good Friday... we come to the question that Jesus asked Martha before he resurrected her brother. "Do you believe in the resurrection?"he asked. And when Martha said that she believed that there would be a resurrection on the last day, Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives  believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?" Mary, Judy, Joan, Dave, Harold, Jack, and all the others... do you believe this? When you get right down to it, is this all there is... or is there life beyond the grave? Is Good Friday the end of it, or will we also dance for joy on some Easter morning? That's the question. What is your answer?

SACRED MOMENTS

       Each life is filled with Kronos time and Kairos time. Kronos time, as in chronology, is the sort of time that we count. It is ordinary time, like going to the grocery store, or doing laundry, or watching TV. But there is also Kairos time, which defies our efforts to measure it, because it’s too deep, too sacred… to be counted or measured.  It is much bigger, than the moment itself and, as often as not, it shapes us in permanent ways... so that we are never the same person again. In the sea of a million moments, a handful of them "define" us because they help us- sometimes force us- to come to grips with who we really are; they transform us, and they set us on a course that changes our entire lives. 

      I remember, like it was yesterday, sitting in Sherry’s one-room apartment, across from what was then Veteran’s Auditorium, in Des Moines, IA., listening to the music of Rod McKuen, as her window fan churned the hot, summer air. It was a modest place, to put it kindly, but it was heaven to me. It gave me peace and a sense of contentment that I hadn't known before… and I remember, too, the overwhelming sense of emptiness that overcame me just before I entered the treatment center… and the weight that was lifted when I said the “Sinner’s Prayer” with Pastor Lu. It was a sacred time- that defined me not only as a friend of Bill’s, but as a forgiven and saved disciple of Christ Jesus. Sherry’s diagnosis of cancer was yet another defining moment… that turned our world upside-down… and forced to live in the now… because there’s no point in buying a 50-year roof… when you have 5 years to live.

      There have been other defining moments, of course, the birth of our daughters, our granddaughters, our grandson, and our great-grandchildren… and the ups and downs of their lives, some of which were transforming in their own way. Life is filled with unexpected drops of joy, unforeseen challenges, and any number of little deaths… in which we lose some part of ourselves. My two younger brothers are gone now, mom and dad are too… and there’s a sadness that goes with being the last one standing. But their dying was a sacred moment nonetheless! Within the myriad of Kronos moments, we all have a handful of defining moments that force us to come to grips with who we are and where we’re going, Many of these are moments when God has broken into our lives in ways that get our attention, reassure us, challenge us, and give us the opportunity to be more than we ever thought possible.
      It's always been so. God is always involved in our lives, and when he chooses, he speaks and acts... if we have eyes that see and ears that hear. Most of Jesus’ moments were Kronos moments. Most of us life was filled with everyday stuff. When he was a kid, he played with the other kids, and when he was an adult, he spent a great deal of time coming and going, sleeping, and sharing stories with his friends... about the people they saw and the things they did on any given day. If you sometimes think that your life is filled with routine, you're in good company... but our Lord's life also had many "kairos" moments! His baptism comes to mind, with his Father’s affirmation of love. His time in the wilderness comes to mind, when he was tested in ways common to all of us… and showed that he had the faith to put the word of God first. His encounter with the Syrophonecian woman comes to mind, where she seemed to persuade him that even the dogs ought to get a few crumbs. Gethsemane comes to mind because it was a moment that called for complete and utter surrender to His Father’s will.

      Jesus had other Defining moments, but so did Father Abraham, who was called out of Ur to follow a God whom he had never worshiped. Moses' life was also defined by kairos moments. If he hadn’t been placed in a little basket, he would’ve drowned or starved as an infant; if he hadn’t killed the abusive Egyptian, he wouldn’t have come to grips with his own identity; if he hadn’t stopped at the very well that he stopped at in Midian, he wouldn’t found his wife… and he wouldn’t have seen the burning bush. he would not have heard God's call! Like all the rest of us, Moses’ life was lived mostly in Kronos time, but it was defined by Kairos time… because it was in those moments that he discovered the way in which he had to go. Moses, Joshua, Joseph, Sarah, Naomi, David, Mother Mary... and all the rest... lived lives that were defined by sacred, kairos moments that came to them in the ordinariness of kronos time...  
      but what God wants us to know today is this: so do we! What are the moments that have defined you? When has God spoken to you? Through whom? With what sort of message? What moments in your life have shaped your journey as a person and as a Christian? How does God speak to you most clearly- in the thoughts that cross your mind, through the nagging pangs that fill conscience, through the tears that burden your soul, through the people placed in your life? And in what ways is God still speaking to you? Are your eyes and ears wide open? Are you looking into the burning bushes in your own life? Are you involved with people and active in places ... that are likely to provide a Kairos moment? In the ordinariness of time, there will be moments that shape our tomorrows and touch the very core of who we are. Some of them will be filled with great joy, some of them may break our hearts, some of them may open doors, some of them may test us to our limits. But they will come- these Kairos moments. They will come and we need NOT be afraid... because God is always with us! 

I WAS RE-BORN IN 1976

When I was in the throes of my spiritual struggles (which had economic, relational, physical, and marital repercussions), my wife was counseling with the pastor of our neighborhood church. She was searching for serenity and hoping for a miracle. I've never been sure of just how long she'd been praying with Pastor Lu before I got involved, but in time...I certainly got involved. I "hit bottom" in the fall of '76,  and Pastor Lu came to visit me on the 6th floor of the Eppley treatment center in Omaha, Nebraska.

I would've welcomed anyone who cared enough to visit me at the time. So, even though I had never talked with a minister in any sort of real way, we talked... about my pain, fears, regrets, and my need for a new beginning. It wasn't a matter of philosophy or theology. It was a matter of survival because my life was out of control! I didn't know where to turn, but Pastor Lu said that he did. He said that I could find both forgiveness and new birth in Christ. He didn't mention joining "his church." He just told me that I would be a "new creation" if I surrendered to Christ, and without knowing that I had never read a Bible,  he cited several Bible passages to support his position.

The verses he cited didn't mean much to me, but I desperately needed a new beginning. I had reached the point where the unknown- whatever it turned out to be- had more appeal than the darkness that engulfed me. So, I accepted my visitor's invitation to accept Jesus as my Lord and Saviour and he led me in a "Sinner's Prayer," which went something like this: "Dear Lord, I know that I am a sinner and I ask your forgiveness. I believe that you died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn my sin over to you and invite you to come into my life as Savior and Lord. I want to trust and follow you from this point forward, and with your help, I will serve you in every way that I can. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for redeeming me and for receiving this prayer. Amen." That was it- a decision, a prayer, a commitment, and that moment was the beginning of a new life for me. In that moment, I was reborn, and Sherry and I began to attend Lu's church after I finished treatment.

All of this took place in the fall of '76. It's been more than 43 years since my late pastor and I sat together on my treatment center bed, and God has never quit blessing Sherry and me. I've been pastoring a "mainline" church for some time now and I've been blessed to serve... many strong Christians who serve and worship Christ as Lord. Most of them came to Christ by growing up in the church and by making the church an integral part of their lives. So, we don't lead many people in the Sinner's Prayer, but I will be forever glad that Pastor Lu did! We don't talk much about "being saved" either, but being saved and born-again is the source of our joy and our power. Rather than beginning with a surrendered life, many people are more likely to struggle with how they can fit Christ into their lives on their terms.

This may lead to a religious life, but it will not lead to a new life! It may lead to some good deeds and proper behavior, but it will never lead to a spiritual transformation because that begins with surrender! In an effort to be "relevant," many churches have turned to marketing, entertainment, and low expectations over the yearsI But being relevant and entertaining is not the issue- rebirth is. Amen.