Missing the Point

The Presbyterian Church (USA) missed it.  The denomination (of which I am a member) has been debating the issue of sexuality in one form or another for almost twenty years.  The debate was not substantively different than the one going on outside the church;  one side making the argument that love is love while the other unable to shake the idea that homosexuality is just not right.  The most recent outcome of this denominational debate was a recommendation changing the church’s Book of Order effectively redefining marriage to include two people of the same-sex.  Additionally it allowed for pastors to use their own discretion in performing any such marriage.

Scripture is clear on two things:

1. God’s unconditional love for us has no bounds (certainly none based upon our sexuality) and we are to love one another in the same way.
2. At best, homosexuality is something God gives us over to when we fail to acknowledge God is God 1; and at worst it is one of several forms of sexual sin. 2

In the gospel of John, Jesus gives us a powerful example of His wisdom, grace and mercy amongst a backdrop of sin.  It is a story of a woman caught in the act of adultery, a man with whom she committed the act (who is inexplicably absent), and a group of self-righteous scribes and Pharisees who bring the woman to Jesus for their own self-serving purposes.  The woman, by law, is to be stoned for her actions.  Jesus stoops, writes on the ground and declares that the one among the crowd who is without sin should cast the first stone.  One by one, beginning with the oldest, they leave until only Jesus remained with the woman.

Jesus looked up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go and do not sin again.

Love?  To be sure. And make no mistake, the law was fulfilled as well.  Jesus paid for her sin and everyone else’s (yours and mine too) on the cross.  God’s grace and love is unbounded and free but it does not come “cheap”!  When we try and take something that is sin and say it is not, we cheapen our understanding of that grace and we fail to acknowledge that God is God.

In the midst of the debate about sexuality lies a group of people whom God loves dearly. Sinners.  Sinners who are heterosexual and sinners who are homosexual.  Sinners who are hiding.  Sinners who are self-righteous and use religion for their own self-serving purposes.  Sinners who desperately need to know the redeeming grace of our Lord.  In the midst of the debate about sexuality we missed an opportunity to be a witness; a people of grace and truth.  May Jesus lead us in that way and may we have the courage to follow.

1 - Romans 1:22-27

2 - 1st Corinthians 6:9-11

Salt and Light

A friend of mine passed away this week.   She was ninety years old.   I came to know her a bit over fourteen years ago when she was seventy-six .  Seventy-six years old…   It is an age where most of us hope to be retired, living comfortably and looking forward to a more restful, less-hectic pace.

Hers was a life well-lived.  As I reflect back on my relationship with her,  I realize that understanding who she was is only possible by knowing who God is.     She didn’t just possess faith, she walked with God.  Her everyday activities even the ordinary stuff of life was submitted to Him.  She didn’t simply fill up an hour with busyness or just let it happen, she asked God what He wanted her to do with it.   She trusted.  She prayed.  She listened.  She baked.  She encouraged.  She wrote.  She gave.  She taught.  She grew in wisdom.  She shared wisdom.   She took time to be with you.  She invited you in.  She helped.  She loved and was loved.   She lived the abundant life that Christ came to give us and never presumed to be something special.

Her life was touched by the love of Christ and transformed.   Her life touched mine and so many others.  As a result, our own faith is strengthened or perhaps even better our hearts find the glimmer of hope that enables us to believe in God’s amazing love and ourselves be transformed.

Thank you Lord for my friend.   Grant that we may be the kind of salt and light that leads others to you.

It is what you're thinking

I was listening to New Life on the radio the other day.  The crew was responding to a caller who was struggling with lust in his life.  The caller was 20-years old.  It says something that he is male, that age, able to recognize a problem and seek help to do something about it.

As a part of their response to the caller they told the story of a man who was 65 years-old before he began to effectively work on his own lust problems.  This 65-year old shared how he was changed.  He said that one of the tools that God used to change him was memorization of scripture.  Over time, this absorption into God's word began to work in his heart to the point where one day he found himself soaking in a hot tub at a hotel one evening when two women in bikinis approached him.  His first thoughts upon seeing them were "I wonder if their husbands love them?" and "I wonder if they know the Lord".  His next immediate thought was "Wow!  That was different!".  He realized that over time God had transformed him from seeing women as objects to satisfy his lustful desires into someone who saw them with God's eyes - as people, not objects.   It was an amazing story of transformation and one entirely consistent with the message of Romans 12:  "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.". 

I've never been one to embrace memorization, thinking of it more as the stuff of religion rather than way to ingest the vital bread of life.  I want that to change.  Here are two:

I will meditate on his precepts and consider his ways - Psalms 119:15

Commit your way to the lord.  Trust in him and he will do this.  He will cause your righteousness to be like the dawn and the justice of your cause to shine like the noonday sun. - Psalm 37:5-6

May it be - all for God's purpose.

Jerry Sandusky and Grace

This past weekend Jerry Sandusky’s life fell apart. He was arrested on charges of alleged sexual abuse of several minor (child) victims. This could be the best week of Jerry Sandusky’s life.

To know the details of the charges against Sandusky is to experience outrage and disgust. Over a period of several years, at least 8 young boys were molested by a man who used his connections with The Second Mile to gain access to his victims. The acts perpetrated on the victims described in the grand jury’s findings are sickening.  As a parent, there is little in the way of retribution that I would consider to be too extreme in dealing with this man.  In today’s media rich world, amidst the countless accounts and commentaries of this story I have seen none that express even a hint of sympathy for the man who committed these crimes.  That is as it should be.

As Sandusky sits in jail tonight he knows the truth of his actions. What has previously been artfully sidestepped, ignored and otherwise swept under the rug is now out in the light for all to see. His wife, his family, his neighbors, his friends are all now nauseatingly aware of the darkness living inside the man. That too is as it should be. It is only in the light of the truth that he can acknowledge what he is. And only there can his life be changed.

You and I are not too different from Sandusky. To truly understand the holiness of God is to understand that you, I and Sandusky are all but indistinguishable when standing in the piercing light of God’s presence. Isaiah felt that in full force.    I know a good many people who just can’t fathom that.  I struggle with God about it as well at times.  There is only one way out of that mess.

The good news is this.  The immovable object of God’s judgment meets the irresistible force of God’s grace in the activity of the cross. There all the retribution that you and I and Jerry Sandusky deserve is laid out. There all the love, the grace, the mercy and peace that none of us deserve is so lavishly given.  The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.  

Can you hear me now?

So here's the thing.

I'm not for sure if I'm doing what I should be doing. I know people and have heard of others who at some point in their lives got this calling to do something in particular; be a pastor, write a book, host a radio show, whatever. Then I read about Moses and Jonah and Samuel and others who clearly heard God ask them to lead or to speak or to act in some very specific way that forever changed the path of their lives. Then I think, "Okay. Did I miss something? Was that bush on fire and my only thought was to call 911?" .

What I do know is that God has called me to follow Him; to walk in obedience. That's fine. And if I know that what He wants from me is to simply to do that (follow Him at work, in my home, at church, etc.) , then great! I can be happy with that. But if there's something more that is being asked then I may just need a new set of ears to hear more clearly. In the meantime, I'll be as faithful as I can and wait.

Work and work

We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. - 1 Thessalonians 1:5

I work with the youth of our church. I also work in information technology. How does this verse from Paul apply? There is no question that my work with the youth is produced by faith. Although I have been doing it for over 20 years I have little clue about what I'm doing. Week by week I've learned to let go and trust God that what I have to share that week will be meaningful and that it is what suits His purpose. Without question I love these kids, that has been a constant and a source of joy. The endurance I have must come from the holy Spirit as year by year I tell myself I don't have anything left to give and yet God has been faithful. But what about my "real" job?
I love technology. I've always had a knack for understanding it and enjoy that it can be used to help others get their job done more efficiently and effectively. I'm struggling though with the idea that Paul's words would apply here. Is my work here produced by faith, prompted by love and sustained by the Holy Spirit? Can it have the same kind of meaning in God's kingdom that my work with youth has? I'm praying about that.

It Really Makes a Difference

For quite some time now I've been told and have been telling others that it is important to spend time with God. Quiet Time, devotional, whatever you want to call it. It only makes sense of course. If you are in a real relationship with someone then you spend time with them; sharing what's going on in your life and listening to what they have to share.

For the past couple of weeks, God has provided a time for He and I to be alone. I have "started" this process dozens of times in my life. This is the first time I've maintained any consistency. Three weeks!. I'm almost embarrassed to claim some form of victory in that length of time. But it is what it is and it has made a difference. I look back at the end of my days and can reflect on a change in my days. Where they were once scatterred and unfocused, there has developed a purpose. There are moments that God catches me to be obedient in or to stop and pray about. There is fruit, or at least places where the seed for fruit has been planted. Spend time with Him. His promise is to bless it.