A Special Treat

My wife and I are in South Carolina visiting our extended families. In the coming and going between her folks and mine I drive through Greenville. This morning my schedule allowed a mid-morning treat at IHOP with Fr Dwight Longenecker (“Standing on My Head” — see blog side bar).

I have been privileged to meet “live” with Fr Dwight several times, and it is always a joy to share journeys and experience the fresh delight of God at work. In each of us who belong to Him, Jesus is writing a story (a wonderful awareness heightened by C. S. Lewis).

So, a “public” thanks to Fr D for his time and the great fellowship in the Spirit. On this occasion he introduced me to another pilgrim on the way whose past intersected with some of my contacts.

I am reminded again that The Way is well-traveled, the Church is both huge and yet surprisingly intimate, and the Communion of the Saints is around us all the time.

Journey on.....

God and Country

I have been cautious of nationalism for all of my adult life. This was reinforced early on as I began to understand the implications of ultimate loyalty to the kingdom of God, which is now trans-national and ultimately will be the one enduring order once the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of God and of his Christ. My “national anthem” is Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus.

This means I am skeptical of politics. I stop just short of seeing politics as a necessary evil. I wrestle over a decision to vote, and usually when I do I have a keen consciousness that I am choosing between the best of two poor options.

There was much about Obama that caused me to think he was a poor option. His position on abortion, alone, was a major disqualifier for my support. I find it very troubling that he, as President, may appoint one or several justices to the Supreme Court who likely will be chosen from among people who have no commitment to law that is built on Truth.

Yet in spite of all this (and I could say more, but that is not my motivation for this post), I was thrilled and moved as I watched the inauguration today. What “got” me was one of the things which has been most controversial in the past few weeks; it was the prayer by Pastor Rick Warren. Specifically, it was the way he ended the prayer.... as a Christian.

I commend his sensitivity with his phrasing of the One “who has changed my life....” (recognizing that not all who heard his words are Christians). But as he began to speak the different words that diverse people groups use for our Lord, tears of joy came to my eyes knowing that I live in a land where the name of Jesus can be spoken so explicitly in such a public and politically-charged setting. For all the other things that were said on this day, the Name of the King of kings and Lord of lords was exalted.

When Obama’s term of office is concluded (and may God grant him physical protection and a wisdom beyond his own abilities), the kingdom of God will continue to be the one thing that is sure. That’s where I give my allegiance.

The Baptism of the Lord

Today is the Feast of the Baptism of our Lord.

Why was Jesus baptized? (Even John wondered, protesting that Jesus should baptize him instead.)

The Church has dated this Feast at the very end of the Christmas season, showing a link between the birth of Jesus and all that is to come through His ministry.

Just as Jesus came to be the ultimate revelation — the final Word, and to do for us what we could never do for ourselves — save us from our sins, the baptism of Jesus is one more “picture” of Jesus going before us and showing the way to follow.

Just as Jesus died for us, He was baptized for us. In His baptism He was further owning the humanity He shares with us in His Incarnation. In His baptism Jesus was being obedient to the Father as the perfect Son and getting the affirmation from the Father: This is my beloved Son.

Jesus' baptism starts for us what His death and resurrection fulfill.

Our baptism is meant to start in us the kind of obedience that leads us into the fullness of Jesus’ death and resurrection, which is our salvation.

Jesus was baptized for us so we can follow Him.

Christians are people who are following Jesus.

BUFFETINGS

The particular circumstances are ultimately inconsequential, but the past couple of months have had several hard things that made most days feel heavy and sad (not apart from times when a realization of peace and joy are there, yet the “groaning” mentioned in Romans 8 has been the greater reality).

Today’s Office of Readings includes a letter from Raymond of Penyafort that, while saying nothing “new,” speaks with the life of the Spirit into our days when we feel buffeted in this world:

The preacher of God’s truth has told us that all who want to live righteously in Christ will suffer persecution. If he spoke the truth and did not lie, the only exception to this general statement, I think, the person who either neglects, or does not know how, to live temperately, justly and righteously in this world.

May you never be numbered among those whose house is peaceful, quiet and free from care; those on whom the Lord’s chastisement does not descend; those who live out their days in prosperity, and in the twinkling of any eye will go down to hell.

.....If from time to time you feel the sword falling on you with double or treble force, this also should be seen as sheer joy and the mark of love.

....As you drink the cup of the Lord Jesus (how glorious it is!) give thanks to the Lord, the giver of all blessings.

We go into this world following the One who, through His death and resurrection, is leading us into the fullness of a Life we cannot comprehend.

The Shack

I read The Shack earlier this year and was impressed enough to buy a number of discounted paperbacks to give away. Yet I also made it clear that my endorsement was not in toto, and some readers have asked why. A few critics have also asked how I can endorse a book that distorts God (the Holy Spirit is consistently presented as female), and the ecclesiology in the book is abominable. So, I offer the following few thoughts....

Sometimes it is hard for us to comprehend how much God loves us. This is especially hard when we are faced with horrible things in this world. The age-old question is: Why is there evil if God is all-powerful and all-good?

This is an incredible book in the way it brings the reality of God’s presence into a tangible setting that we can understand. Yet, keep in mind that no book gets everything right (except the Bible). Someone has said a person is most often right in what he affirms and most often wrong in what he denies. The affirmations in this book are mostly right-on; the denials in this book are best skimmed over. And for all its power, one should read this remembering it is fiction (when “God” is talking, it’s really the author of the book). The author gets a lot of things right; the author gets some things wrong.

Still, the overall message of The Shack is powerful and we need good vehicles for understanding God’s presence and activity in our lives. So, please read it.... with all this in mind, but most of all with a heart that cries, “Lord, let me know you more fully.”

Christmas

I know that many of my readers are close personal friends; others are people far beyond any normal circle of relationships. But whether you are “close” or “far,” I pray for you a wonderful Christmas filled with the peace that only our Lord can give.

Part of The Office of Readings in this morning’s Liturgy is from a sermon by Saint Augustine. The following words by this long-ago Father of the Church are still powerfully true:

You would have suffered eternal death, had he not been born in time. Never would you have been freed from sinful flesh, had he not taken on himself the likeness of sinful flesh. You would have suffered everlasting unhappiness, had it not been for this mercy. You would never have returned to life, had he not shared your death. You would have been lost if he had not hastened to your aid. You would have perished, had he not come.

Let us then joyfully celebrate the coming of our salvation and redemption. Let us celebrate the festive day on which he who is the great and eternal day came from the great and endless day of eternity into our own short day of time.

For what greater grace could God have made to dawn on us than to make his only Son become the son of man, so that a son of man might in his turn become son of God?

Merry Christmas!

YIN YANG

The Christmas season is a time when the consumerism that surrounds us tries to make new inroads into our souls through its tools of greed, covetousness and envy. This is a time for Christians to be especially vigilant. We are to trust God and remember that “things” do not give what they can appear to promise.

In the Taoist literature of ancient China is a story of a wise man who had many wonderful horses. There was one horse which was so strong, fast and beautiful that the man's neighbor was envious. But one day this horse escaped from the barn and ran away into the hills. The neighbor's envy changed to pity, but the wise man said, "Who knows if I should be pitied or if I should be envied because of this?"

The next day the horse returned to the wise man leading a herd of fifty equally beautiful wild horses with him. The neighbor was once again filled with envy and once again the wise man said, "Who knows if I should be pitied or if I should be envied because of this?" Shortly after he said this, his only son tried to ride one of the wild horses, fell off of it and broke his leg. The neighbor's envy once again changed to pity, but the wise man responded by saying, "Who knows if I should be pitied or if I should be envied because of this?"

The next day an officer of the emperor's army came to draft the man's son for a dangerous mission, but since the son's leg was broken, he could not be recruited for the assignment which meant almost certain death. The neighbor, whose own son was taken in the place of the injured young man, envied the wise man — and once again the wise man said, "Who knows if I should be pitied or if I should be envied because of this?"

The story goes on and on with similar twists that shift the neighbor's feelings from envy to pity and then back again. The wisdom of this man makes it clear that things are not always what they seem to be, and that what we desire is as likely to bring us pain and trouble as happiness and contentment. How many times do we see people destroyed by the very traits we admire and perhaps covet? How often do we encounter people who are too attractive or wealthy or talented for their own good because they have not learned discipline and humility?

God invites us to believe that none of the ways we exalt ourselves among ourselves matters. God invites you to believe that He loves you simply because He is God and you are you. And when we believe that, there is an effect: we begin to believe that our wholeness and our happiness is not dependent on what other people have. If you think that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, it is probably because you are not properly caring for the grass on your own side. Jesus promises to be with those who invite Him into their lives, and He then promises to let His life so blossom within us that we will not need to worry about what others have and what they are doing.