Perspective: Why I Still Believe in Santa Claus

Merry Christmas from the Wayside!

I share these thoughts, hoping they are of help to someone else.

Why I Still Believe in Santa Claus

Scripture:

Then Jesus said to His host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

Luke 14:12-14 (CEB)

And in our world of plenty

We can spread a smile of joy

Throw your arms around the world

At Christmastime

From "Do They Know It's Christmas" by Band Aid

In my all-time favorite Christmas-themed television commercial, a little boy walks up to a marine in a dress blue uniform and says, "Excuse me... Excuse me, are you Santa Claus?" The marine doesn't say a word, remaining completely still and stone faced. The boy then says, "I heard you might be him." There is still no response from the marine. The boy then says, "If you are him, here's my list." The marine then discretely opens his hand to receive the boy's Christmas list. The boy gives the marine his list and walks away whispering, "He is Santa Claus."¹

This commercial is, of course, promoting the Toys for Tots program, which was started by Major William L. Hendricks in 1947. Run by the United States Marine Corps Reserve, this program collects and distributes toys for children whose parents cannot afford Christmas presents.² Though people do not always agree on which military actions are right, I believe that the Toys for Tots program is one military operation that all of us can approve.

I think that this poignant television commercial makes an interesting statement about the identity of Santa Claus.

When I was a child, on Christmas mornings I would find around the Christmas tree a bunch of unwrapped gifts that were not there the night before. Supposedly the gifts were brought by Santa Claus during the night. As the story goes, Santa Claus, usually depicted as a jolly, somewhat-fat man wearing a red suit, lives at the North Pole and builds toys with a staff of elven workers. On Christmas Eve, he sets out on a sleigh pulled by eight flying reindeer to deliver the toys to the well-behaved children of the world. Some news and weather stations even track Santa's movements.

Eventually I came to realize that it was, in fact, my mother who left the gifts around the tree during the night and enjoyed the milk and cookies I left for Santa.³ Nevertheless, I still believe in Santa Claus, though not in the same way I did as a child.

Nicholas of Myra was born to a wealthy family in the third century A.D. in Asia Minor, the region now known as Turkey. When he lost his parents at a young age, he was taken in by his uncle, a bishop in the church. Nicholas himself became a priest, and, while he was still young, he became the bishop of the town of Myra.⁴ Nicholas was a man who loved God and understood that what a person does for someone in need the person does for Christ, for he used the wealth he inherited to help the poor.⁵ In fact, he was known most of all for his acts of charity.

One story tells of a man who had three daughters. Because the man could not afford to provide dowries for his daughters, they would have probably remained unmarried and would have likely ended up becoming prostitutes to survive. Nicholas learned of the family's plight, and, and on the nights before each daughter came of marriageable age, he secretly threw a bag of gold into the house. When the youngest daughter came of age, the father awaited the secret benefactor so that he might thank him. When he confronted Nicholas, Nicholas told him to thank God instead.⁶

Eventually Nicholas was canonized as a saint, and December 6, the Feast of St. Nicholas, became a day when people would do anonymous acts of kindness for people in need.⁷ The name Santa Claus is derived from the name Saint Nicholas, and it is from the ancient stories of St. Nicholas that our stories of Santa Claus evolved.

Nowadays Santa Claus has become a symbol of materialism at Christmas. Shopping malls and retailers around the country host men dressed as Santa Claus in mock "Santa's Workshops" as a ploy to get parents of young children into stores to do some shopping. Children tell these Santa look-alikes what toys they want for Christmas, and the parents, in turn, buy these toys for their children. Retailers start this process earlier and earlier each year. This year, the "Santa's Workshop" at the mall in my town was actually set up a few days before Halloween.

I think that Christians need to reclaim Santa Claus - or St. Nicholas - as a symbol of acts of kindness toward those in need. I think that at Christmas we need to remember not only the good children - namely one's own children - but also the children of the needy. Author and pastor Adam Hamilton recommends giving to charity at least the same amount of money one spends on presents for one's friends and family.⁸ One charity I like to support at Christmas is Triune Mercy Center, a non-denominational church in my town that serves the homeless and the needy.⁹

In Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul, writer William J. Lederer tells the story of a time he was stuck in a California airport terminal on Christmas Eve, trying to get home to Honolulu. William has been asked to write a story titled "Is there a Santa Claus?" for the children in his neighborhood, and he is was worried about answering the question honestly. Amid the panicked masses in the airport terminal, he watches an older, jolly, round man offer people cheerful words of encouragement and give people hot coffee and other amenities from a homemade pushcart. He decides to assist the odd old man and learns that the man spends his vacation time at Christmas each year helping stressed travelers. The writer is able to honestly tell the neighborhood children that there is indeed a Santa Claus.¹⁰

I still believe in Santa Claus, because, when we follow the example of a saint who has gone before us, the saint lives on in us. The real Santa Claus is not some magical person who lives at the North Pole or some man in a red suit at a local shopping mall. The real Santa Claus is a person who cheerfully serves irritable and panicked people in a crowded airport terminal, a marine who delivers toys to needy children, or any person performs any act of kindness for someone in need.

In recent years, as more and more people have started saying "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas," many people have been fighting to "keep 'Christ' in Christmas." In my opinion, we cannot truly keep Christ in Christmas unless we remember the poor, the hungry, the sick, and the lonely, because these are the people with whom Christ directly identifies.¹¹ Christ says, "I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you gave me clothes to wear. I was sick and you took care of me. I was in prison and you visited me... I assure you that when you have done it for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you have done it for me."¹²

May you have a merry Christmas, and, as you spend some time with your friends and family, may you also remember the needy in your midst.


Notes:
1 - You know you want to watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3k1SOE760Y
2 - Wikipedia: Toys for Tots
3 - Actually, my mom hates milk, so she may have poured the milk down the drain.
4 - Wikipedia: Saint Nicholas (Section: Life)
5 - St. Nicholas Center: "Who Is Saint Nicholas?"
6 - Wikipedia: Saint Nicholas (Section: Legends and Folklore)
7 - Wikipedia: Saint Nicholas (Section: Formal Veneration)
8 - Adam Hamilton. The Journey: Walking the Road to Bethlehem. 2011, Abingdon Press. ch 3
9 - http://triunemercy.org/
10 - William J. Lederer.  "Is There a Santa Claus?" Published in Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul. 1997, Health Communications, Inc.  pp 84-88
11 - For more thoughts on this subject see my previous Christmas perspective, "How to truly keep Christ in Christmas."
12 - Matthew 25:35-36,40 (CEB)


If you have any feedback, thoughts, stories, or even arguments to contribute, please leave comments.

Introspection: There Is No Wonderwall

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.

There Is No Wonderwall

Scripture:

Therefore, my loved ones... carry out your own salvation with fear and trembling. God is the one who enables you both to want and to actually live out His good purposes.

Philippians 2:12-13 (CEB)

But "happily ever after" fails

And we've been poisoned by these fairy tales

From "End of the Innocence" by Don Henley

One Tuesday evening a few years ago, I attended one of the Furman Wesley Fellowship's weekly meetings. I do not remember the topic of discussion for the evening, but I remember that we went off on a tangent when one girl mentioned the song "Wonderwall" by the British rock group Oasis. She suggested that the song could be understood in a spiritual light. I had never heard the song, and I did not really think too much about the discussion afterward. Not long ago, this particular song was brought to my attention again. When I went to my Bible study group's Halloween party, I watched three women play the video game "Rock Band" and saw them "performing" this very song. A few days after that, I heard the song on the radio.

I decided to purchase this song on the Internet, along with "Champagne Supernova," another song by the same group. What strikes me the most about "Wonderwall," aside from the beautifully haunting keyboard solo at the end, is the chorus.

Because maybe

You're gonna be the one that saves me

And after all

You're my wonderwall

I'm the type of guy who actually pays attention to song lyrics. In fact, if I listen to a song enough times, I will memorize the lyrics. Remembering what my friends said about "Wonderwall" a few years ago, I naturally decided to research the meaning of the song. I found that the song has a rather interesting story.

"Wonderwall," recorded in 1995, was written by the group's lead guitarist Noel Gallagher. He claimed in a 1996 magazine interview that the song was about his girlfriend.¹ The two married in 1997, but, around four years later, they divorced. After the divorce, Gallagher began to claim that "Wonderwall" was never about his girlfriend at all. He said, "It's a song about an imaginary friend who's gonna come and save you from yourself."²

At first Gallagher claimed that the words he wrote were for his girlfriend, but, years later, he claimed they were about "an imaginary friend," in other words, someone who doesn't even exist. Perhaps he was being truthful when he said that the song was never about his girlfriend, but I cannot help but read a certain disillusionment into this story. I cannot help but wonder if this artist came to a very painful realization in the years after he wrote the song.

This is a kind of disillusionment that hits very close to home for me.

I believe that many of us have fallen for a very flawed understanding of romantic love - an understanding that is as destructive as it is unrealistic. This sentiment is quite prevalent in our culture: we hear it in love songs and see it in romantic movies.

This particular line of thinking can been seen well in the 1996 film Jerry Maguire when the titular character, played by Tom Cruise, tells the woman he loves, played by Renée Zellweger, "You complete me."

Our culture leads us to believe that there is someone out there who will "save" us from something, "complete" us in some way, or bring us true happiness. It's only natural that we would want to believe this way because we are all painfully aware that we are flawed, imperfect, incomplete, fractured, and broken. Perhaps it could be said that sometimes romantic love is presented like a math equation.

We are taught by our culture that romantic love is a path to wholeness. We are led to believe that two people, when they fall in love, somehow complete each other in the same way that two halves equal a whole. Some people even refer to their significant others as their "better half."

What if romantic love is less like an addition equation, and more like a multiplication equation. After all, did God not say to Adam and Eve, "Be fruitful and multiply"?³

What if two broken people seeking completeness in each other do not make each other whole but rather leave each other feeling all the more fractured, broken, and empty?

I believe that many of us seek romantic love or marriage as a cure to all of life's problems. I have to admit that I am guilty of the same thing. I often feel lonely and insecure, and I keep hoping to meet a woman who will save me from my loneliness and prove to me that I have no reason to feel insecure about myself. The problem with this line of thinking is that, when two people build a relationship with each other, they bring their problems into the relationship with them. I wonder if so many people get divorced because the people they married were unable to meet their unreasonable hopes and expectations.

The problem is that we seek saviors instead of partners,

and that is way too much to ask of another person.

I think that romantic love and wholeness are both very good things to seek in life, but I also think that one should not seek romantic love as a means to achieving wholeness. If a person is not complete without a significant other, he or she will not be complete with one. Another person cannot save you, fix you, or make you whole. There are simply some things that must be worked out solely between an individual and God.

In my case, I need to take it to heart that finding a girlfriend will not solve any of my problems. If I feel isolated and insecure without a girlfriend, who's to say that I won't feel isolated and insecure with one. If anything, these problems have sabotaged my search for a romance: after all, people can smell desperation, and people know when you're needy. I must deal with my loneliness and insecurity apart from my search for a girlfriend.

I believe that the pursuit of romantic love is not a search for someone to make one complete but a search for someone with whom to share one's life. A marriage is not two people becoming whole with each other but two people pledging to share their whole lives with each other. I once heard my philosophy professor say that one cannot share one's life with another person unless one has a life to share. Marriage is about sharing all aspects of life: the better and the worse, sickness and health, wholeness and brokenness. Marital love, like all kinds of love, "bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."⁴

In a marriage, when one person experiences brokenness, it is felt by both. One song that I think describes marital love well is "Her Diamonds." This song was written by Matchbox Twenty frontman Rob Thomas for his wife who suffers from an auto-immune disease. The song describes her struggles with the disease and his own struggles trying to comfort her and trying to be strong for her.⁵

By the light of the moon

She rubs her eyes

Sits down on the bed and starts to cry

And there's something less about her

And I don't know what I'm supposed to do

So I sit down and I cry too

And don't let her see

According to the song, when Thomas sees his wife in pain, he doesn't know what to do but to suffer with her. This is the literal definition of compassion.

We are all broken, and we all want to be made whole, but we cannot expect another person to achieve this for us. St. Paul writes that each of us must work out his or her own salvation with the utmost diligence - or, in his words, "fear and trembling." If you seek healing from your brokenness, I urge you to offer your brokenness to God. Please realize that I am not offering God as some pat answer. The journey to spiritual completeness - called sanctification by some - is long and difficult, but I do believe that God will lead us to healing and wholeness if we are willing to follow.

I like the song "Wonderwall." I like it not as a love song, but as a reminder that wholeness is not found in a companion but on a personal journey with God.


Notes:
1 - Wikipedia: Wonderwall (song)
2 - BBC News World Edition: "Noel: Wonderwall 'not about Meg.'" October 17, 2002.
3 - That was a tongue-in-cheek reference to Genesis 1:28.
4 - 1 Corinthians 13:7 (NRSV)
5 - Wikipedia: Her Diamonds


If you have any feedback, thoughts, stories, or even arguments to contribute, please leave comments.

Sermon: Not of This World

Delivered at Bethel United Methodist Church in West Greenville, South Carolina on November 25, 2012 for Christ the King Sunday.

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.

Not of This World

Scripture:

Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?" Jesus answered, "Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about Me?" Pilate replied, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed You over to me. What have You done?" Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not from this world. If My kingdom were from this world, My followers would be fighting to keep Me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, My kingdom is not from here." Pilate asked Him, "So You are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."

John 18:33-37 (NRSV)

Heal my heart and make it clean

Open up my eyes to the things unseen

Show me how to love like You have loved me

Break my heart for what breaks Yours

Everything I am for Your Kingdom's cause

As I walk from earth into eternity

From "Hosanna" by Brooke Fraser

Many congregations order their worship around the liturgical calendar. By observing the various seasons and holy days of the Christian calendar, congregations around the world essentially reenact the entire Biblical history of the Church over the course of a year.

During the season of Advent, we look around us and see that the world is not as it should be, and we remember that we, like the ancient Israelites, are waiting for our Messiah to come into the world to set things right. At Christmas, we join with the shepherds and heavenly choirs in welcoming Jesus Christ, our newborn King, into the world. On Epiphany Sunday, we watch as astrologers arrive to pay homage to a young Jesus, presenting Him with extravagant offerings of myrrh, incense, and gold.

After Epiphany, we remember the Baptism of the Lord, and travel with Jesus to the Jordan River. We see the heavens open; we hear a loud voice call out, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased"; and we see the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus in the form of dove. On Transfiguration Sunday, we hike up a mountain with Peter, James, and John, and we fall to the ground as we see a glowing, radiant Jesus speaking with Moses and Elijah.

During the season of Lent, we follow Christ into the wilderness where, over the course of forty days, we confront our own weaknesses, temptations, and demons, knowing what lies ahead of us.

On Palm Sunday, we follow Christ as He rides into Jerusalem on a donkey, greeted with the accolades of the people. We see palm branches waving in the air and hear shouts of "Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!"

On Maundy Thursday, we sit around the table with Jesus and watch Him break bread and give it to us, saying, "This is My body." Then we see Him pass around a cup of wine to us, saying, "This is My blood." Throughout the meal, we feel the weight of a bag of silver in our pockets. Afterward, we watch as Christ is arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. On Good Friday, watch the man who was supposed to be our Messiah languish on a cross, crying out, "My God! My God! Why have You forsaken me?" We see the sky turn black and feel the earth shake beneath our feet as we watch Him breathe His last breath.

On Easter Sunday we run with Peter, John, and Mary Magdalene to Jesus' tomb and find it opened and empty, and just when we least expect it, our eyes are opened and we see that Christ our Lord has risen and that not even death could stop Him. On Ascension Sunday, we watch our Lord disappear into the clouds as He tells us that we will be His messengers to the whole world. On Pentecost, we hear a mighty rushing wind and we see the Disciples baptized by tongues of fire, and we remember that it is by the power of the Holy Spirit that we carry the Good News of Jesus Christ throughout the world.

Throughout the rest of the year, we remember that, as a friend of mine would say, we are somewhere between the Book of Acts and the Book of Revelation. We stand with Peter, James, John, and Paul, trying to figure out what it means to be the Church, the Body of Christ.

On All Saints Sunday, we remember all the saints who have come and gone before us, the "great cloud of witnesses," the great multitude who have come out of the great tribulation that is this life and have washed their robes clean.

Today, on Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday of the liturgical calendar, we come full circle. Again we look around us and see that the world is not as it should be, and we remember that we are waiting for our Messiah to come back into the world to set things right. We await the day when heaven and earth are made new and when the new holy city comes down from heaven like a bride walking down the aisle toward her groom. We await the day when God's home is among humans and when God brings healing to all nations and wipes the tears from our eyes.

---

Today we return briefly to a scene from Good Friday. The night before, Jesus had been betrayed by one of His own disciples, arrested in a garden by soldiers and temple guards, and taken before the high priest for questioning. Now it is early in the morning, and Jesus has been taken to be tried by Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor.¹ Pilate asks Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?" Jesus responds, "Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about Me?" Pilate fires back, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed You over to me. What have You done?"

Jesus then says to Pilate, "My kingdom is not from this world."

It is this statement I want to examine this morning. What did Jesus mean when He said that His kingdom is not of this world?

Jesus goes on to say, "If My kingdom were from this world, My followers would be fighting to keep Me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, My kingdom is not from here." At first, it might sound as if Jesus is saying that, because His kingdom is not from this world, He has nobody to fight for Him. On Good Friday, we typically criticize the Disciples for running away like cowards when Jesus is arrested, tried, and executed, but, if we read the stories of Jesus' arrest carefully, we will see that the Disciples' first impulse was to draw their swords and to strike.² Peter even attacked one of Jesus' captors, cutting off his ear. The Disciples were ready, willing, and able to fight, but Jesus said to Peter, "Put your sword back into its sheath."³

Earlier in the Gospel story, Jesus feeds five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish, and, somehow, the people manage to scrape together twelve baskets of leftovers. When the people see this feat, they realize that Jesus is indeed the Messiah foretold by the prophets. Jesus has to get away from the people at this time because He knows that they intend to "take Him by force to make Him king."⁴ Not only did Jesus have disciples willing to fight to protect Him, He also had followers willing to take on the whole Roman Empire to make Him king!

When Jesus told Pilate that His kingdom was not of this world, I believe that He meant that His kingdom is fundamentally different from the kingdoms of this world. Jesus once said, "You will hear of wars and rumors of wars."⁵ If we want to see Jesus' prophecy realized, all we have to do is to open the newspaper or to turn on the news, because the kingdoms of this world operate on violence. Historically, the kingdoms of this world have worked out their disputes by going to war. Maybe Jesus refused to let people fight for Him because His kingdom does things differently from the kingdoms of this world.

In Jesus' day, there was within the hearts of the Jewish people a hope for a messianic age of peace. The Greek phrase often used in the New Testament to refer to life in this coming age is zoe aionios, which literally means "life of the age." This phrase is typically translated into English as "eternal life." To the Jewish people, the "present age" was marked with suffering, oppression, and violence, but the "age to come" would be an age of peace, justice, and healing.⁶ When Jesus performed miracles - feeding five thousand people with a sack lunch, for example - people began to realize that He was the Messiah who would usher in the coming age of peace.

Jesus had people willing to fight for Him, but He had nobody willing to suffer with Him. The Jewish people expected their Messiah to be a great warrior king who would ride into town on a white horse and liberate the people from the oppression of the Roman Empire. The Messiah they got was a humble rabbi who rode into town on a modest donkey and died on a Roman cross. We often call the week preceding Easter Passion Week. The word passion literally means "suffering," but, in our day and time, we typically associate passion with love. These two meanings are not unrelated, for it is only by love that one is able to suffer for another person. Jesus' kingdom, the Kingdom of God, could not be brought into the world through violence, but only through God's love and Christ's suffering. Christ fought, not political oppression, but the oppression of sin and death. Christ drank the cup of sin and death when He suffered and died on a cross, and He triumphed over them when He left behind an empty tomb.

When we celebrate Holy Communion, we "declare the mystery of faith" that "Christ has died," that "Christ is risen," and that "Christ will come again." Today, on Christ the King Sunday, we focus on the last part of this mystery. Like the ancient Israelites, we realize that our present age is plagued with violence, poverty, oppression, and suffering, and, like the ancient Israelites, we look forward to the day that our Messiah comes "in final victory" to usher in the coming age of peace foretold by the prophets.⁷

The prophet Isaiah makes the following prophecy about the messianic age of peace:

In days to come

the mountain of the Lord’s house

shall be established as the highest of the mountains,

and shall be raised above the hills;

all the nations shall stream to it.

Many peoples shall come and say,

"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,

to the house of the God of Jacob;

that He may teach us His ways

and that we may walk in His paths."

For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,

and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

He shall judge between the nations,

and shall arbitrate for many peoples;

they shall beat their swords into plowshares,

and their spears into pruning-hooks;

nation shall not lift up sword against nation,

neither shall they learn war any more.⁸

The reign of Christ will be the end of the injustice that is so prevalent in the present age. If you pay attention to the news, you will see story after story of people being victimized and exploited. Isaiah says that, in the age to come, the Lord will be judge and arbitrator. Gone will be all injustice and all perversions of justice. The reign of Christ will also be the end of all violence. Isaiah prophesies that people will no longer go to war with each other, nor will they even learn how to fight. Swords and spears will be turned into plowshares and pruning-hooks. To put this in modern language, bombs, tanks, and guns will be dismantled, melted down, and recycled to make tractors.

Isaiah also offers this description of the world when the Messiah reigns:

The wolf shall live with the lamb,

the leopard shall lie down with the kid,

the calf and the lion and the fatling together,

and a little child shall lead them.

The cow and the bear shall graze,

their young shall lie down together;

and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,

and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.

They will not hurt or destroy

on all My holy mountain;

for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord

as the waters cover the sea.⁹

The reign of Christ will be the end of oppression. Isaiah envisions creatures normally in predator-prey relationships eating and resting together. The strong will no longer take advantage of the week, nor will the wealthy take advantage of the poor. Former politicians and business tycoons will befriend people who were formerly homeless. Former CEOs will sit down to dinner with the former assembly line workers who once made them rich.

St. John once had a vision of the age to come when heaven and earth are made new and when New Jerusalem is established on the Earth.¹⁰ In the midst of this vision he heard a loud voice saying,

See, the home of God is among mortals.

He will dwell with them;

they will be His peoples,

and God Himself will be with them;

He will wipe every tear from their eyes.

Death will be no more;

mourning and crying and pain will be no more,

for the first things have passed away.¹¹

The reign of Christ will be the end of death, sadness, and pain.

When we look at the world around us, the reign of Christ seems far, far away, but, then again, maybe it is closer than we think. Jesus once said, "The Kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or 'There it is!' For, in fact, the Kingdom of God is among you."¹² The Kingdom of God is sometimes described as both "'Already' and 'Not Yet.'" Though it can be understood as a time in the future when God reigns on the earth, having done away with injustice, oppression, violence, and death, it can also be understood as simply the place where God reigns. John Wesley once defined the Kingdom of God as the "happiness and holiness" that is "the immediate fruit of God's reigning in the soul."¹³ If God reigns in our hearts, then we are the citizens of the Kingdom of God.

When Christians speak of the end times, the conversation often turns to the subject of readiness. Some have used the books of Revelation and Daniel and various teaching of Jesus and St. Paul to piece together a timeline of events that will precede the return and reign of Christ. Some believe that, at some point, all true followers of Christ will be spontaneously taken to heaven in an event called the Rapture. Those who remain will face a seven-year period of hell on earth called the Great Tribulation, during which the world will be subject to an evil ruler called "the antichrist" or "the beast." This period of time will end with the Battle of Armageddon, after which Christ will return to reign on the earth.

People who strongly believe this way take great measures to make sure that people are ready for the end times. In the 90s, two authors started writing a popular fiction series to educate people about end-time events. Some look to current events as signs that the end times are near, and some try to figure out who the antichrist might be. Some have even made videos to instruct the people who will be "left behind" after the Rapture. Not long ago, one man thought he had found a formula in Scripture to calculate the exact date of the Rapture. Many people believed him, and they left everything behind and devoted their lives to warning people. This date passed over a year and a half ago.¹⁴ This man was not the first to make such a mistake: years earlier someone else wrote a book titled 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988.

I don't believe that such measures are the best ways to prepare for the reign of Christ. First of all, it is important to remember that the popular framework of end-times events is simply a theory based on a particular interpretation of Scripture. The truth is that we really do not know what will happen between now and the day Christ returns. Second, it is pointless to try to figure out when Christ will return. Christ Himself said that even He, the Son of God, does not know when that day will come.¹⁵

Perhaps there is a better way to prepare for the reign of Christ.

When Jesus began His public ministry, one of His first messages was, "Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near."¹⁶ The Greek word metanoia, which is translated into English as "repentance," literally means "changing one's mind."¹⁷ The Kingdom of God is fundamentally different from the kingdoms of this world. When Christ reigns, the world will operate very differently from the way it operates now, so we will need to change the way we think about things. St. Paul writes, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God - what is good and acceptable and perfect."¹⁸

I think that the best way to be ready for Christ to reign on the earth is to let Christ reign in our lives right now. The words we pray so often - "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done [on] earth, as it is in heaven"¹⁹ - should not be for us a wish for the future but a mission statement that guides everything we do today. We must show other people what it means to live as citizens of the Kingdom of God.

One day, some parents were bringing their children to Jesus. The disciples tried to send them away, but Jesus said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the Kingdom of Heaven belongs."²⁰ In Jesus' time, children had low status in society, but in the Kingdom of God, social status does not matter. I believe that Children are actually more ready for the Kingdom of God than the rest of us. When we are young, we are idealistic, but the grown-ups around us scoff at our innocence, saying that someday we'll understand how the world really works. Inevitably, the world squishes the spirit out of us, and idealism gives way to cynicism. Little Children have not yet conformed to the patterns of this world, and, as citizens of the Kingdom of God, we must reclaim the childlike hope, wonder, joy, and love we once knew.

Today, on Christ the King Sunday, we remember that the present age will someday come to an end and that Christ will someday return to reign on the earth in an age of peace. May we all let Christ reign in our hearts today, ready for Christ to reign over the whole earth. May we all live as children of the Kingdom of God, and, when we are inevitably reminded that the world is not as it should be, may we also remember that Christ makes all things new.

Christ says, "Surely I am coming soon."

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!²¹


Notes:
1 - John 18:1-32
2 - Luke 22:49
3 - John 18:10-11 (NRSV)
4 - John 6:1-15 (NRSV)
5 - Matthew 24:6 (NRSV)
6 - N.T. Wright. "Going to Heaven?" Published in The Love Wins Companion. 2011, HarperOne. pp. 33-35
7 - Quoted phrases are taken from Holy Communion liturgy.
8 - Isaiah 2:2-4 (NRSV)
9 - Isaiah 11:6-9 (NRSV)
10 - Revelation 21:1-22:5
11 - Revelation 21:3-4 (NRSV)
12 - Luke 17:20-21 (NRSV)
13 - John Wesley. Sermon 7: The Way to the Kingdom. Part I, Paragraph 12.
14 - Tiffany Stanley. "No Rapture, Just Judgment." The New Republic, May 23, 2011.
15 - Matthew 24:36
16 - Matthew 4:17 (NRSV)
17 - Wikipedia: Metanoia (Theology)
18 - Romans 12:2 (NRSV)
19 - Matthew 6:10 (KJV)
20 - Matthew 9:13-15 (NRSV)
21 - Revelation 22:20 (NRSV)

The painting of the Transfiguration was painted by Lodovico Carracci in 1594.  The painting of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse was painted by Viktor Vasnetsov in 1887.

If you have any feedback, thoughts, stories, or even arguments to contribute, please leave comments.

Sermon: In Tune with Christ

Delivered on November 18, 2012 to complete a lay speaking course.

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.

In Tune with Christ

Early Audio Version

Scripture:

If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

who, though He was in the form of God,

did not regard equality with God

as something to be exploited,

but emptied Himself,

taking the form of a slave,

being born in human likeness.

And being found in human form,

He humbled Himself

and became obedient to the point of death -

even death on a cross.

Therefore God also highly exalted Him

and gave Him the name

that is above every name,

so that at the name of Jesus

every knee should bend,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue should confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

Philippians 2:1-13 (NRSV)

Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are My Son, the Beloved; with You I am well pleased."

Luke 3:21-22 (NRSV)

Take this world from me

I don't need it anymore

I am finally free

My heart is spoken for

From "Spoken For" by MercyMe

The piano is a fascinating instrument. Reduced to components, the piano is a collection of keys, hammers, metal strings, pedals, and other various and sundry parts housed in a wooden cabinet. The mechanics of a piano are rather simple: the depression of a key triggers a hammer to strike a metal string. The resulting vibration of the string generates a sound called a note. Pedals can be used to alter the notes produced by the vibrations of the strings. These notes are, in themselves, mere noise, but, when a person plays an assortment of these notes in the right sequence and with the right rhythm, she can make beautiful music.

Of course, a piano can only live up to its potential if it is properly tuned. A piano tuner tunes a piano by adjusting the tension of the strings so that they produce the proper pitch when struck. A piano tuner will need a standard pitch for reference, and he can create this standard pitch by using a tuning fork.¹

Evangelist A.W. Tozer once mused,
Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers meeting together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become "unity" conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship.²
It was this very sentiment that was running through St. Paul's veins as he composed his letter to the Church in Philippi while imprisoned. In this letter, he joyfully calls the Philippian Christians to "be of the same mind, having the same love," serving each other in humility.

Paul does not simply call the Christians in Philippi to be of the same mindset but to take on the very mindset of Christ. Biblical scholars believe that Paul, in his letter, is actually quoting an early Christian hymn to describe the life of Christ and the motivations that drove Him. This hymn reminds us that, though Christ was "in the form of God," He did not cling to His divinity but rather left behind the glory of heaven to be born as a human being. He did not exalt Himself but instead became a servant to all people, putting aside His own will for the good of humanity. Christ loved humanity so much that He, the Son of God, was willing to die the death of a criminal. It is this humility - this self-emptying of Christ - that Paul calls us to emulate in our own lives.

The concept of humility has gotten a bad reputation in our society, and I think that much of the problem is that people often do not understand what humility really is. First of all, humility is not self-hatred. Jesus said that the second greatest commandment is, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."³ If we take Him at His word, then love for oneself must be a precondition for love for another person. Humility is also not self-deprecation or low self-esteem. To have such an attitude about oneself is to believe a lie, a false testimony against oneself. God created human beings in the image of God and called them good.⁴ The psalmist David proclaimed that human beings are "fearfully and wonderfully made," knit together by God.⁵ To defame a masterpiece is to insult the Artist.

I believe that humility is actually the healthiest understanding one can have of oneself. C.S. Lewis, in his innovative work, The Screwtape Letters, defines humility as a type of self-forgetfulness. For example, Lewis describes a humble architect who "could design the best cathedral in the world, know it to be the best, and rejoice in the fact, without being any more (or less) or otherwise glad at having done it than he would be if it had been done by another." According to Lewis, God "always gives back to [people] with His right hand what He has taken away with His left." When people surrender their flawed self-love to God, God gives back to them "a new kind of self-love" which Lewis describes as "a charity and gratitude for all selves, including their own."⁶

From the dawn of human existence, humans have been locked in battle with each other for importance. It is this striving for significance, this "rat race," that often drives us to do many of the things we do and to seek many of the things we seek, from our career choices to our hobbies to the relationships we seek. In our society we are taught from a young age to be competitive, to make a name for ourselves, to "look out for number one," and to beat out the competition whatever the cost. Those in the business world often find themselves climbing the "corporate ladder," pulling down those above them to get ahead and kicking those beneath them to stay ahead. Our culture teaches us to value things like fame, fortune, influence, and status. Advertisers use this struggle for importance to their advantage, telling us we need certain products to "keep up with the Joneses" or to be more attractive to the opposite sex.

I can feel this struggle for significance in my own life, for I too find myself in competition with the people around me. My workplace is next door to a bowling alley, and this year my coworkers and I started bowling during lunch. This fall, we even started a bowling league so that we could bowl for a cheaper price. There are no stakes and no prizes to be won: we only bowl for fun. Nevertheless, sometimes, when we bowl, I find myself secretly checking the scores to see if anyone is doing worse than I am.

The battle for importance saturates our culture. Paul reminds us that, as followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to be countercultural, disengaging from the struggle for significance and taking on the self-emptying mindset of Christ.

The self-emptying spirit that Christ exhibited in His life is sometimes called kenosis by theologians. Jesus' epic duel with Satan just before the beginning of Jesus' public ministry is an excellent example of this kenosis. Three times Jesus is tempted to serve Himself, and three times Jesus defeats this temptation, quoting Scripture. Jesus has been fasting in the wilderness for a long time, so naturally He's hungry. Satan appears and tempts Him to perform a miracle to feed Himself by turning a stone into bread. Jesus replies, "One does not live by bread alone." Next, Satan shows Jesus the kingdoms of the world and promises to make Jesus the ruler of the world if He would only bow down to him. Again, Jesus refuses Satan, saying, "Worship the Lord your God, and serve only Him." Finally, Satan whisks Jesus off to the top of the Temple in Jerusalem and dares Him to jump and to let the angels catch Him as the Scriptures said they would. The Temple is central to Jewish life, so this spectacle would be seen by many people. Jesus could make a name for Himself as a man sent by God and generate some publicity for His upcoming ministry. For a third time, Jesus refuses Satan, saying, "Do not put the Lord your God to the test."⁷

When Christ fought temptation, He fought three things that we as humans encounter in our own struggle for importance. When He refused to turn a stone into bread, He fought the exploitation of power for personal gain. When He refused to bow down to Satan in order to rule the world, He fought worldly ambition. When He refused to jump from the temple so that angels would catch Him, He fought self-glorification. The humble, self-emptying spirit that Christ expressed in the midst of temptation was evident in the rest of His ministry. Christ only performed miracles out of love for other people. Christ never sought to bring attention to Himself: at times, He even avoided crowds and told people not to tell anyone what He had done for them. Christ sought only to bring attention to God. Christ had no ambition on this earth except to usher in the Kingdom of God and to bring people into this Kingdom.

We often look at Christ's battle with Satan as an example of countering temptation with knowledge of God's Word.⁸ Studying, understanding, and contemplating Scripture is vital to the journey of faith, but I wonder if maybe something else sustained Jesus in this time. Immediately before Christ fasted wilderness, He went to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. John lowers Jesus into the water, and, as Jesus comes up out of the water, He sees the heavens ripped open hears the voice of God calling out, "You are My Son, the Beloved; with You I am well pleased." I wonder if Christ saw no need to struggle for significance because He knew He already had significance as God's beloved Son. Perhaps Christ was so secure in who He was before God that He did not want any of the things Satan offered Him. Christ was able to stay out of the battle for importance and to instead live for others, devoting His life to healing the sick, befriending the friendless, and proclaiming a message of hope.

The hymn which Paul quotes in his letter reminds us of Christ's downward journey from godhood, to humanity, to servanthood, to death on a cross. This hymn also tells us of Christ's upward journey, for God has exalted Christ, giving Him a name above all others, a name at which all people will eventually bow. This hymn reminds us that Christ did not struggle to gain importance but rather received His importance from God. As Christians, we are called to emulate the life of Christ, not only in His downward journey but in His upward journey as well. As St. James puts it, "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you."⁹ When we put aside our struggle for significance, we are free to accept our significance from God as beloved sons and daughters. When we are secure in who we are before God, we are liberated from the vain ambitions of this world.

When we are free from the vanity of this world, we are free to follow our calling as the the Church to continue the work Christ started two thousand years ago. We, the Church, have been called the "Body of Christ," and Christ Himself is the head of this Body.¹⁰ We have also been called the "Temple of the Lord," built around a single Cornerstone which is Christ.¹¹ Christ alone is our standard. Maybe the Church could also be compared to musical instruments in a symphony orchestra, called to make beautiful music in the world. We can only make this beautiful music if we are in tune, not only with each other, but with Christ Himself.

May you realize that you do not need to struggle for importance, because you already are important. You are a beloved child of God, for whom Christ was willing to leave the glory of heaven to seek and to save. May you be secure in this knowledge, free to leave behind the vain ambitions of this world and free to be Christ's hands and feet. May you live your life in tune with Christ.

Amen.


Notes:
1 - Wikipedia: Piano Tuning
2 - A.W. Tozer. The Pursuit of God.
3 - Matthew 22:39 (NRSV)
4 - Genesis 1:26-27,31
5 - Psalm 139:13-14 (NRSV). David actually said this of himself, but I believe it applies to all humans.
6 - C.S. Lewis. The Screwtape Letters. Ch. 14
7 - Luke 4:1-13 (NRSV)
8 - The verses Jesus quotes are Deuteronomy 8:3, Deuteronomy 6:13, and Deuteronomy 6:16.
9 - James 4:10 (NRSV)
10 - Ephesians 1:22-23
11 - Ephesians 2:19-22

The image of the inside of a piano and the image of a tuning fork are public domain.


If you have any feedback, thoughts, stories, or even arguments to contribute, please leave comments.

Introspection: I've Always Been Thirsty

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.

I've Always Been Thirsty

Scripture:

Drink this water, and your thirst is quenched only for a moment. You must return to this well again and again. I offer water that will become a wellspring within you that gives life throughout eternity. You will never be thirsty again.

John 4:13-14 (The Voice)

I love the LORD, because He has heard
my voice and my supplications.
Because He inclined His ear to me,
therefore I will call on Him as long as I live.

Psalm 116:1-2 (NRSV)

I wonder if all my longings

They could shape me out a ship of hopes

To carry me

On these seas of homeward journeying

I yearn for home...

To come gather me

From "Yearn" by Pádraig Ó Tuama

Every week, I attend a young adult Bible study at a church downtown, but recently I joined another Bible study at my own church. At first, I decided against participating in this Bible study, because I feel like I have enough going on in my life at this time and because the group meeting sometimes conflicts with other things I would like to do at the time. My pastor, ever the butt-kicker, convinced me, ever the people-pleaser, to join it anyway. This study has proven to be less informational and theological and more personal, emotional, and reflective. In the first week, I was glad I had joined, for this study has given the chance to reflect on my entire journey of faith.

Looking back, I came to realize that I've always been thirsty.

Some Christians understand the life of faith as a journey, but many Christians tend to focus on the destination of the journey rather than the journey itself. This tension can be seen in the controversies regarding a certain book that was released last year. The author of this book challenged conventional understandings of heaven and hell and encouraged his readers to dig deeper and to question further, saying that both God and the Church are big enough to contain the many different beliefs on the subject. Numerous other authors wrote books in rebuttal to this author, one of whom even said, "We can't afford to get it wrong!"¹

It was such questions that marked the beginning of my faith journey, for I too was focused, not on the journey, but on the destination, namely where I would go when I died. When I was very young my understanding was that good people went to heaven when they died and that bad people went to hell. In the second grade, I started attending a Christian school attached to a church that was very conservative theologically, socially, and politically, and I learned that if I did not repent of my sins and believe in Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior, I would be tormented forever and ever in hell. For this reason, I asked God to save me.  I couldn't "afford to get it wrong."

I attended that same school until I graduated, and the entire time my heart was haunted with doubts about my own salvation, fears about "getting it wrong," and questions about the nature of God. I actually "got saved" a number of times. At some point, either in high school or after I graduated, I decided to forget about the afterlife, to trust in God, and to try to do what God wanted me to do.

Despite my own wrestling with the afterlife, I felt that the fear of hell was a selfish motive for seeking God. I wondered who would even give a rip about Jesus Christ if there was no heaven or hell, and I felt that most Christians were only concerned about pulling their own fat out of the fire. I felt that Christians should have the attitude of the Muslim saint Rabia Basri who carried around a torch and a bucket of water, saying, "I want to put out the fires of Hell, and burn down the rewards of Paradise. They block the way to God. I do not want to worship from fear of punishment or for the promise of reward, but simply for the love of God."²

If the fear of hell and the desire for heaven are bad motives for seeking God, what then is a good motive? Maybe I thought that a proper motive for seeking God would be, at the very least, gratitude to God for creating us and providing for us. Maybe I thought that a sense of duty or altruism should fuel our striving for God. Perhaps God created each of us for a purpose, and perhaps our fellow human beings desperately need for us to carry out that divinely-given purpose.

The truth is that such motivations have never been characteristic of my own journey of faith, even after I decided to forget about the afterlife.

I graduated from high school knowing that I needed to be a Christian, but I wasn't sure I actually wanted to be a Christian. I felt that, if I were to truly sink my teeth into Christianity, I wouldn't enjoy my life very much. Somehow I got it into my head that everything fun and free-spirited, from dancing to fashion to enjoyable music, was somehow sinful. Plus, I didn't particularly want to be like the "real Christians" I knew, for I thought that they were stuffy, puritanical, judgmental, and self-righteous.

My outlook about Christianity changed completely during my junior year at Furman University. At the beginning of the school year, I learned about the Wesley Fellowship, the United Methodist group on campus. To be honest, I joined the group hoping to find a nice Christian girlfriend. Though I never found a girlfriend in the group, I found something I never had before. I found Christian young people whose company I enjoyed, young Christians whom I actually wanted to emulate. I found Christian peers who were serious about their faith but didn't exhibit the negative Christian stereotypes. I never really had a youth group at my church, so this group was like a breath of fresh air.

During my time with the Wesley Fellowship, I began to see that a Christian life could indeed be very enjoyable and that following Christ was not about rules or pious stuffiness. It was this group that introduced me to both the joy of mission work and the fun of contra dancing and swing dancing. This group meant so much to me that I didn't leave the group when I graduated. In fact, I was involved with this group longer as an alumnus than I was as a student.

With the Wesley Fellowship, I went on retreats, participated in Bible studies, served my fellow human beings on mission trips, and gathered weekly for worship and fellowship. My primary motive for doing these things was not to serve God, to serve other people, or to grow spiritually. I did serve God and others, and I did grow spiritually, but I did all these things, first and foremost, to be with my friends. This group saw me through some really rough times.

In 2007, I graduated from Furman University with a bachelors degree in computer science, and by September of that year, I was offered a job as a computer engineer with a small company in my town. This company happened to be a casino vendor that leased video poker machines and video slot machines. At first, the concept of working in the gambling industry didn't bother me. Though I realized that gambling is never the best use for one's money, I did not find it problematic if someone had a little extra money and wanted to gamble for fun. After I accepted the job, I began to worry about what my friends would think, especially since the United Methodist Church takes a strong stance against gambling.

Accepting that job was a choice I lived to regret, for I did not find satisfaction in my work, but rather shame. I hated telling people what I did for a living. I hated the fact that I worked for a company that benefited from the sickness of compulsive gamblers. Sometimes I even provided people justifications for my working in this industry when nobody asked for any. I couldn't take my job seriously, and, around a year after I took the job, after my first major crunch period, I came to realize that my employers wanted more from me than I wanted to give them.

I desperately wanted out, but simply quitting a job can be a rather condemning thing to put on a résumé. With my back against the wall, I turned to God. Every day before work, I prayed that God would call me away from my job. In the meantime, I began to flirt with a new vocation. I was unsure that I wanted to be a computer programmer any longer, and I began to wonder if I had been dodging a call to ministry. To explore my potential new calling, I became more active in the Church: I began preaching and teaching Sunday school, and, in a very small way, I helped with the start-up of a Hispanic church. I also started blogging so that I could continue writing when I didn't have the opportunity to preach.

Months passed, and God answered my prayers, giving me a legitimate reason to leave my job. The company for which I worked bought another company, consolidated offices, and moved all operations out of state. I was unwilling to relocate, so I was laid off. I still hadn't determined whether or not I was called to ministry, so I looked for another job as a computer programmer. This time, I was more intentional with my job search. I was offered another programming job at Greenville Technical College, the first place I applied. God delivered me from a job that brought me shame and gave me the opportunity to use my skills to serve other people. I have been working at this job for three years now.

When I took the job at Greenville Tech, I had been out of college for nearly two and a half years, but I was still attending the Wesley Fellowship at my alma mater. I never really felt unwelcome, but I became aware of a nagging feeling that I no longer belonged with the group. Over time, the community that once felt like a home to me began to feel more like an exile. When I could no longer endure the feeling of being half-in and half-out, I decided that it was time to leave.

Months earlier, my mom had found the website of a young adult Bible study group called B.Y.O.B. (Bring Your Own Bible) at a large United Methodist church downtown, so I decided to check it out. I walked into the room where the group meets, and I was home. The transition from one community to another was very easy. The group meets regularly on Tuesday nights to discuss the book or Scripture we have been studying, and we go out for dinner afterward. What I no longer had with my college community, I have once again with my new community.

Like the Wesley Fellowship, B.Y.O.B. has given me opportunity to learn and to serve others, but service and spiritual growth have not been my motivations for my involvement with this group. I find myself doing the things I do in order to be with my friends, as was the case when I was involved with the Wesley Fellowship.³

I look down on Christians who think of Jesus Christ as their "get-out-of-hell-free card," but, looking back, I have to admit that my own walk of faith has been no less selfish. When I was in school, I too sought Christ as a means to avoid eternal damnation. My involvement with my Christian community in college and with my current Bible study group has been a means to connect with other people. When I turned to God when I worked in the gambling industry, I sought to escape from the shame and meaninglessness I felt in my life. I never sought God for God's Own sake: I always sought God because I needed something.

But maybe the "selfishness" of my journey of faith is not necessarily a bad thing.

One day, Jesus sat down to rest at a well when a Samaritan woman came to draw water. Thirsty, He asked her for a cup of water. Jews and Samaritans typically hated each other, so the Samaritan woman was surprised that Jesus, a Jew, would even speak to her, much less ask her for water. Jesus then said to her, "If you recognized God’s gift and who is saying to you, 'Give Me some water to drink,' you would be asking Him and He would give you living water." He went on to say, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks from the water that I will give will never be thirsty again. The water that I give will become in those who drink it a spring of water that bubbles up into eternal life."⁴

Of course, Jesus was speaking metaphorically. He was not offering the woman literal water to quench physical thirst: He is offering her something to quench the thirsts of her soul. The subject of the conversation changes as Jesus brings up a trail of broken relationships in the woman's life.⁵

Shane Hipps, one of my favorite preachers, once linked spiritual thirsts to emotions we often consider negative:
Pay attention to your emotional life, and it'll be an indication of your thirst. Are you angry? That is a thirst for justice. Are you lonely? That is a thirst for companionship, for connection, for love. Are you anxious? That is a thirst for peace. Are you fearful? That's a thirst for security. Are you racked with guilt over some sin? That is a thirst for absolution, for forgiveness, for mercy. When you have these feelings allow them to surface because they are the key to feeling the thirst, and you must feel the thirst in order to have it quenched by this Master, by this Jesus.⁶
The Samaritan woman Jesus met at the well was thirsty for love.⁷

The term "Living Water" has a become a popular metaphor in Christian circles to describe what Christ offers to each and every individual. It's interesting that Jesus used water as His metaphor.

Nobody drinks water for its own sake.

Nobody drinks water because it's the right thing to do.

Nobody drinks water because it will make the world a better place.

People drink water because they're thirsty.

People drink water because they need it.

People drink water because they'll die without it.

I have been thirsty my whole life. When I asked God to save me because I was afraid of going to hell when I died, I was thirsty for security. When my loneliness drove me to attend Bible studies, small groups, and mission projects, I was thirsty for friendship. When I prayed for God to deliver me from a job that brought me constant shame, I was thirsty for dignity. When the meaninglessness of my job drove me to begin exploring a future in the ministry, I was thirsty for purpose in life. Are the things I sought not of God? Are these things not needs that God built into my very nature as a human being, needs just as natural as the need for water? I wonder if, at the heart every pursuit in this life, there is ultimately a thirst for God.

I've always been thirsty, and God has always been there to offer me clean, cold, refreshing, living water. The Christian school I attended instilled in me a fear of hell, but God used my time there to give me a knowledge of the Bible that has served me greatly since I began preaching and teaching Sunday school. In the Wesley Fellowship and in B.Y.O.B., God gave me Christian friends. For a time, I prayed for a girlfriend, and God gave me healing from wounds that had alienated me from women. Even my job in the gambling industry was a gift from God, for it woke me up from the utter lack of intentionality that had described my life. I've always been thirsty, and, no matter how hard I try, I will never be able to do for God as much as God has done for me.

In all this time, nothing has changed about my spiritual journey, for I am still thirsty. For more than a year now, I have had this recurring feeling that I am about to break under the weight of something. I am actually beginning think that this something is actually a bunch of somethings piled up on each other: the expectations I think people have for me, the expectations I have for myself, frustration that I constantly fall short of these expectations, and anger that things in my life seem to constantly go wrong. I am tired, and I want rest from all of it. Right now, I am thirsty for inner peace, and I think that God is calling me to pray for this peace.

We are all thirsty people. There is nothing wrong being thirsty or admitting that we are thirsty, for it is in our nature as human beings to have certain spiritual needs. Whatever your thirsts right now, I encourage you, the reader, to pray for the living water Christ promised to quench your thirsts. "The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is [God's] faithfulness."⁸


Notes:
1 - I am not going to cite the specific books here. You can probably figure them out on your own.
2 - Wikipedia: Rabia Basri
3 - In case you're wondering, yes, I'm still seeking a girlfriend.
4 - John 4:4-15 (CEB quoted)
5 - Jonh 4:16-18
6 - Shane Hipps. "From the Belly." Mars Hill Bible Church Podcast, 04/18/10
7 - Shane Hipps. "Stay Thirsty." Mars Hill Bible Church Podcast, 04/11/10
8 - Lamentations 3:22-23 (NRSV)

The image featured in this introspection is public domain.


If you have any feedback, thoughts, stories, or even arguments to contribute, please leave comments.

Introspection: Quoth Charlie Brown, I Got a Rock

Dedicated to all my friends from B.Y.O.B. (Bring Your Own Bible).
Thank you for challenging me over the past two years.

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.

Quoth Charlie Brown,
"I Got a Rock"

Scripture:

If some have cause to celebrate, join in the celebration. And if others are weeping, join in that as well.

Romans 12:15 (The Voice)

If I could be like that

I would give anything

Just to live one day

In those shoes

If I could be like that

What would I do?

What would I do?

From "Be Like That" by 3 Doors Down

It has been nearly two years since I joined my current Bible study group. A number of times over the past two years I have found myself spiritually challenged by the books and Scriptures we have studied. Last year, we studied the book Crazy Love, in which Francis Chan puts forth a high standard for being follower of Christ.¹ To me, this standard seemed darn near impossible to attain. A number of times, I found myself wanting to put the book down and yell out, "ALRIGHT, I GET IT! I'M NOT REALLY A CHRISTIAN!"

During the summer, two good friends of mine led the group through the book The Gospel According to Peanuts. This book, written by Robert L. Short, examines the spiritual themes of the Peanuts comic strip. To my surprise, this work presented the "Li'l Folks" in a much more negative light than one might expect. We discussed Charlie Brown's anxieties and insecurities, Linus's unhealthy attachment to a security blanket, and Sally's incessant fawning over Linus, Sally's "Sweet Baboo." We also discussed the wisdom and Christlikeness of Snoopy.²

For some reason, I seemed to relate to Charlie Brown more than I related to the rest of the cast. One day I made the comment that Charlie Brown's insecurities stem from the fact that he compares himself to his peers. I think that an iconic scene from the 1966 Halloween special It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown demonstrates perfectly what I mean. In this scene, Charlie Brown and his friends go out trick 'r treating. After they visit each house they look in their bags and tell each other what they received.

"I got five pieces of candy!" says Lucy.

"I got a chocolate bar!" says another child.

"I got a quarter!" says another.

Charlie Brown looks in his bag, pulls out the contents and sadly says, "I got a rock."³

Charlie Brown's statement - "I got a rock" - says it all. His trick 'r treat bag is a microcosm of his life. Charlie Brown looks at the other kids, then looks at himself, and feels as though he is lacking.

Other kids aren't called Blockhead all the time.

Other kids can manage to get a kite into the air.

Other kids play on baseball teams that actually win a game once in a while.

Other kids don't constantly get the football jerked out from in front of their feet by some snotty girl and end up falling on their backsides.

Other kids don't get rocks in their trick 'r treat bags.

To be honest, I don't really know what was going on in Charles Schulz's mind when he created the character Charlie Brown. I made my analysis of Charlie Brown, having read myself into his story, as I do with most stories. One of my many character flaws is that I am quite often guilty of comparing myself to other people. So often I look at the lives of the people around me, look at my own life, and feel like I "got a rock" when everybody else got good stuff.

The office building where I work is next door to a bowling alley, so, during the summer, I often bowled during my lunch break. I am not a very good bowler, but one day I was on a hot streak and bowled five strikes in a row. My final score for the game was 195, which is actually a very good score. I have never been skilled at sports whatsoever, but this one good score prompted me to join a bowling league with my coworkers for the fall. Lately I have not been bowling very well, and I find myself looking at my coworkers' scores to see if anyone is doing worse than I am. A number of times, I have been the one with the lowest score.

I have come to the conclusion that nothing good can result from comparing oneself to one's peers. If a person thinks he is better than other people, he is being prideful. If a person thinks he is inferior to other people, he runs the risk of becoming envious. In either case, the results are "deadly." Though I am sometimes guilty of pride, I more often find myself "green with envy" of other people.⁴

I'm sad to say that the disease of "Facebook envy" has infected my soul. I look at Facebook and see friends that are now "in a relationship" or are engaged, and I remember my own chronic singleness and begin to wonder if there are monasteries for Methodists. I see friends who are getting their master's degrees or are setting out on great adventures in life and remember that I am, by my own volition, a "working class hero" who jockeys a desk day after day. I see all the friends my own age who now have children of their own and feel like I have been completely left behind.

Sometimes I feel like I'm running a race, watching people run past me when they were already ahead of me in the first place.

When I am honest with myself, I have to admit that I have a lot going for me. I am intelligent and honest, and I have been told that I am a pretty good writer. Sometimes, though, I think that, given the chance, I would trade some of those things away if I could only have what other people have. Essayist Joseph Epstein once noted, "Of the seven deadly sins, only envy is no fun at all." I'm beginning to think he was right.

As I stated earlier, my Bible study group has challenged me a number of times since I joined. Earlier this year, we studied the Letter to the Romans. This study was itself a challenge, for I had to face a number of my own lingering questions about God, salvation, and atonement. My lenten series of blog posts this year came from my own wrestling these questions.⁵

When my group studied the twelfth chapter of the letter, I was presented a new challenge. Amid a series of exhortations to the Christians in Rome, St. Paul writes, "Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep."⁶ It's the former of the two instructions that gives me trouble, for, while those around me are rejoicing about accomplishments, relationships, and new adventures in life, my own "green-eyed monster" awakens to remind me that my life is not like I want it to be.

I think that a cure for both envy and pride is humility. Humility is not, as many people mistakenly think, self-deprecation or low self-esteem. During the fall of last year, my group studied The Screwtape Letters. In this work, C.S. Lewis paints a beautiful picture of humility as a type of self-forgetfulness. He describes a humble architect who "could design the best cathedral in the world, know it to be the best, and rejoice in the fact without being any more (or less) or otherwise glad at having done it than he would be if it had been done by another." According to Lewis, a humble person is "so free from any bias in his own favour that he can rejoice in his own talents as frankly and gratefully as in his neighbor's talents - or in a sunrise, an elephant, or a waterfall."⁷

When I went bowling this week, I decided to forget about competing with anyone and to instead bowl in the moment, focusing on my technique, treating the game as just another practice game. I decided to be happy when other people bowled strikes and spares and to be patient with myself when I threw the ball into the gutter. I was happy with the results, for I bowled better this week than I had in previous weeks.

Perhaps this should be my approach to life in general, to forget about how my life compares to the lives of my peers, to celebrate with my friends when they have cause to celebrate, to let my friends celebrate with me when I have reason to celebrate, and to live in the moment, forgetting about where my life is going and focusing on the task at hand. As so many people who have gone before me have said, life is not a race but a journey.

I have come to the conclusion that people were never meant to be compared to each other, for we are all as unique as leaves, clouds, and snowflakes. Each person has a different path to take in life, and each person travels on this path at his or her own pace. To you the reader, I encourage you to be yourself and to not compare yourself to others. Love yourself for who you are, and love other people for who they are. When other people have a reason to celebrate, join them, and offer them the same opportunity when you have a reason to celebrate. I will try to do the same.


Notes:
1 - Francis Chan and Danae Yankoski. Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God. 2008, David C. Cook Books.
2 - Robert L. Short. The Gospel According to Peanuts. 1965, Westminster John Knox Press.
3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tIhwITwhSg
4 - I'm beginning to think that my observation about Charlie Brown may be a little more astute than I originally thought. A few years ago, I learned that, according to the enneagram personality model, I am a Type Four, otherwise known as the "Individualist," the "Romantic," or the "Artist." Fours are creative, feel unique among their peers, seek authenticity, and fear insignificance. Fours are also prone to envy. Proponents of the enneagram personality model often type Charlie Brown as a Four as well. I guess it takes one to know one.
5 - Perspectives for Lent 2012: "Looking Towards the Cross"
6 - Romans 12:15 (NRSV)
7 - C.S. Lewis. The Screwtape Letters. Ch 14

The image featured in this introspection is from the 1966 Halloween special It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.


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