Read Genesis 4:9
The common question when my children get in the car after a long day at school is, "Did you get your clip moved?" Let me explain...a clip is the identifier of good behavior. If your clip is on green, all is well. If it is on yellow, things are quickly moving in a bad direction. If it is on red, well, you can figure that out. Generally my kids always have green clips. But one time, my youngest got in the car and told us that he had his clip pulled. We were shocked. After telling us the story and the teacher confirming it, it turned out that during class one of the kids had tried to get him to give them an answer to a test. His response (loudly I might add) was, "Leave me alone." What do you do? He didn't do anything "wrong." So my words of instruction to him, "Just ignore them. You are only responsible for yourself."
Ooohhh...see how quickly that mentality slips in. From a very early age we tell our children that they are only responsible for themselves. Be independent. Look out for your own interests. Most of it is innocent, an attempt to keep our children out of trouble. But it becomes so deeply rooted in their lives, that they begin to always think about themselves first.
Few of us have really come to understand the depth of community for which we have been created. We have been replicating the statement of Cain ever since he made it..."Am I my Brother's Keeper." We have grown up looking out for #1, taking care of personal interests, establishing private agendas, and making the decisions that best affect "me."
Prisons fill up with men and women, locked away from society to keep them from getting into our way. Poor people are shuffled off to the slums so they don't mess up the beauty of our suburban neighborhoods and gated communities. The elderly and disabled are left to figure out the government support system..."I mean really, its their responsibility." Instead of celebrating one another's successes, we are riddled with envy and jealousy because it takes us out of the spotlight.
Few of us have really come to understand the depth of community for which we have been created. Few of us have really taken the risky step of deeply entering into someone's life and sharing the space of joy and sorrow, of hope and brokenness. Few of us have really been willing to do as Paul says and, "Consider others better than yourselves" or "Don't always think about your own priorities but the priorities of others." Instead...we have neglected the stewardship of our relationships and echo with Cain, "Am I my brother's keeper?"
God...you might have placed relationships, "Into the wrong hands."
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
A Sacred Task
Read Genesis 2:15 (For this Saturday's Sermon Into the Wrong Hands)
So get this...we were placed in the Garden, right in the heart of God’s good creation with a task, “work it and care for it.” From the very outset we were tied to the earth, tied to the physical creation that God had spoken into being and had declared it as good. God had placed into our hands the beauty, splendor, and abundance of the earth.
But the problem is...when we sinned, we ruined it. See, we have this weird belief that sin only really affects our relationship with God. However, that’s not true. Sin affects everything, our relationship with God, with others, and with the earth. Part of the punishment found in Genesis 3 is “toiling in a land filled with thorns and thistles.” That new enmity has blurred our vision. Now we no longer care for the earth. We make a commodity of it. We use it only for our pleasure and our profit. We have very little regard for sacred stewardship of the earth...a task—that remember—we have been created for.
Now we can split an atom and make a bomb that threatens all of what God once declared good. Now we can fill up our landfills with man made products that can take centuries to degrade. Now we can make fun of anyone that is environmentally aware and call them “tree huggers.” Now we can continue to treat the earth as an object to be used, exploited and manipulated with little regard for what God might think about such use. Now we can forget God’s intention for our lives...an intention that included “working” and “caring for” what God had created. But that’s because we know better. In fact, Genesis tells us that we took a bite from a tree that gave us a knowledge we should have never had. Ever since then...we have pretty much determined that we know better than God what needs to happen.
Well God...Could it be that you placed your earth “Into the Wrong Hands?”
So get this...we were placed in the Garden, right in the heart of God’s good creation with a task, “work it and care for it.” From the very outset we were tied to the earth, tied to the physical creation that God had spoken into being and had declared it as good. God had placed into our hands the beauty, splendor, and abundance of the earth.
But the problem is...when we sinned, we ruined it. See, we have this weird belief that sin only really affects our relationship with God. However, that’s not true. Sin affects everything, our relationship with God, with others, and with the earth. Part of the punishment found in Genesis 3 is “toiling in a land filled with thorns and thistles.” That new enmity has blurred our vision. Now we no longer care for the earth. We make a commodity of it. We use it only for our pleasure and our profit. We have very little regard for sacred stewardship of the earth...a task—that remember—we have been created for.
Now we can split an atom and make a bomb that threatens all of what God once declared good. Now we can fill up our landfills with man made products that can take centuries to degrade. Now we can make fun of anyone that is environmentally aware and call them “tree huggers.” Now we can continue to treat the earth as an object to be used, exploited and manipulated with little regard for what God might think about such use. Now we can forget God’s intention for our lives...an intention that included “working” and “caring for” what God had created. But that’s because we know better. In fact, Genesis tells us that we took a bite from a tree that gave us a knowledge we should have never had. Ever since then...we have pretty much determined that we know better than God what needs to happen.
Well God...Could it be that you placed your earth “Into the Wrong Hands?”
Sunday, June 7, 2009
This Coming Week
On Saturday we began our brand new series called Tossed Aside. It was a great beginning to a ten week series. For the next 9 weeks, we will specifically be dealing with 9 parables of Jesus. It is my hope that each day I will provide a scripture and a thought that will begin preparing us for the next Saturday Night.
This coming Saturday the sermon is entitled "Into the Wrong Hands." The question we are going to deal with is... "God, what were you thinking when you left creation, relationships, and your Kingdom in our hands? Haven't we proven that we are ill-qualified to do with these as you would have us do?"
Just a thought, "Have you ever driven a rent-a-car?" Most of us just aren't as careful with someone else's car as we are our own. Why is it that we steward what God has entrusted us with more like a rent-a-car than something to be valued above all else? What might God have us do with what God places in our hands?
More on that...later this week.
This coming Saturday the sermon is entitled "Into the Wrong Hands." The question we are going to deal with is... "God, what were you thinking when you left creation, relationships, and your Kingdom in our hands? Haven't we proven that we are ill-qualified to do with these as you would have us do?"
Just a thought, "Have you ever driven a rent-a-car?" Most of us just aren't as careful with someone else's car as we are our own. Why is it that we steward what God has entrusted us with more like a rent-a-car than something to be valued above all else? What might God have us do with what God places in our hands?
More on that...later this week.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
...Like Kids Playing Basketball Badly
Over the course of the next several months we will be discussing the Parables of Jesus. Parables are those real life occasions in which we can "discover" the reality of the Kingdom of God in our every day experience.
Let me explain. Just a few months ago, I remember standing court side at a basketball game for 5 and 6 year olds. They were adorable...but terrible at basketball. They would pick up the ball and run with it...(there was no point at even calling a traveling penalty). They would all smother the person with the ball...(position? What position?). The more aggressive children would grab hold of the ball and rip it out of the other children's arms and run down the court to throw up a prayer shot...(at that age every shot is a prayer shot).
But that wasn't what caught my attention. There on the court were several kids from all different backgrounds. Here is how I explained it in a sermon I preached shortly after that, "Some were black, some white, some Latino, some rich, some poor, some in traditional families, some with single parents, some on food stamps, some with silver spoons, some from here, some from other places, some whose parents went to church, some whose parents went to the bar, some really good athletes, some not so much..." All that diversity gathered on one court on a Saturday afternoon. And yet they played; they laughed, they tossed the ball back and forth, and they all slapped hands at the end of the game. None of those distinctions seemed to matter. They couldn't care less about skin color or socio-economic class. On the court they were all the same, just kids playing ball.
There standing on the side of the court that day I remember thinking, "Maybe the Kingdom of God is like a bunch of 5 and 6 year old kids playing basketball badly."
Let me explain. Just a few months ago, I remember standing court side at a basketball game for 5 and 6 year olds. They were adorable...but terrible at basketball. They would pick up the ball and run with it...(there was no point at even calling a traveling penalty). They would all smother the person with the ball...(position? What position?). The more aggressive children would grab hold of the ball and rip it out of the other children's arms and run down the court to throw up a prayer shot...(at that age every shot is a prayer shot).
But that wasn't what caught my attention. There on the court were several kids from all different backgrounds. Here is how I explained it in a sermon I preached shortly after that, "Some were black, some white, some Latino, some rich, some poor, some in traditional families, some with single parents, some on food stamps, some with silver spoons, some from here, some from other places, some whose parents went to church, some whose parents went to the bar, some really good athletes, some not so much..." All that diversity gathered on one court on a Saturday afternoon. And yet they played; they laughed, they tossed the ball back and forth, and they all slapped hands at the end of the game. None of those distinctions seemed to matter. They couldn't care less about skin color or socio-economic class. On the court they were all the same, just kids playing ball.
There standing on the side of the court that day I remember thinking, "Maybe the Kingdom of God is like a bunch of 5 and 6 year old kids playing basketball badly."
Friday, May 22, 2009
This is Who YOU Are...
As we move toward our new series on the parables of Jesus, I want you to take a look at this video about the power of God's Word in our lives.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zokdG4TtYwU&feature=related
You may have to cut and paste it to your web bar.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zokdG4TtYwU&feature=related
You may have to cut and paste it to your web bar.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Rock Stacking
I keep a journal. I never did growing up. I always thought that journaling and diaries was something girls did, well...and Doogie Howser (those old enough will remember that show). But when I became a Christian, I found myself constantly writing stuff down. I would write down how I felt about a particular passage in the bible, my prayer concerns, my struggles, and the ways that I felt God has used me that particular day. When I get overwhelmed, I often find myself flipping through the pages of my journals, reading over passages, drawing encouragement from the past faithfulness of God. Inside of me something says, "Hey look what God did back then...Remember, God will do it again."
There is no novelty in this of course. In fact I was inspired to really be serious about journal keeping by reading through the journal entries of others like John Wesley and Mother Theresa. I heard of a Pastor's wife that had an entire closet full of journals that she has used to trace her journey with God.
But even beyond these inspiring folks...it goes back even further, back to the people of Ancient Israel. See, they had a different way of journaling. When God would breathe forth the power of His Spirit into their lives and bring deliverance, liberation, victory, or provision, the people in the camp would stack up some rocks and build an altar to the Lord. Often it will say in the Scriptures, "And those rocks still stand there today." Granted it is a bit more industrious way of keeping a journal than the 8 1/2 x 11 sheets of paper I use, but what a testimony of the need to remember the works God has accomplished in their lives. When they would pass by those places, the elders could point to the rocks and say to the youth of the camp, "Those rocks stand there as a witness to the way God breathed into our lives and showed his faithfulness." In fact the story of the Hebrew Bible is filled with stories of rock stacking.
Rock stacking is a necessary practice in the life of a Christian. It is nothing less than the consistent practice of reflecting on the goodness of God and God's faithfulness in the stories of our lives. It is the encouragement of knowing that the God at work back then is the same God that is at work now. It is the memory that proclaims, "I know things seem big and out of control now...but remember God has always been involved in those overwhelming situations." Whether you keep a journal or not, the question is the same...
What do the pages of your story declare about the faithfulness of God's breath in your life?
There is no novelty in this of course. In fact I was inspired to really be serious about journal keeping by reading through the journal entries of others like John Wesley and Mother Theresa. I heard of a Pastor's wife that had an entire closet full of journals that she has used to trace her journey with God.
But even beyond these inspiring folks...it goes back even further, back to the people of Ancient Israel. See, they had a different way of journaling. When God would breathe forth the power of His Spirit into their lives and bring deliverance, liberation, victory, or provision, the people in the camp would stack up some rocks and build an altar to the Lord. Often it will say in the Scriptures, "And those rocks still stand there today." Granted it is a bit more industrious way of keeping a journal than the 8 1/2 x 11 sheets of paper I use, but what a testimony of the need to remember the works God has accomplished in their lives. When they would pass by those places, the elders could point to the rocks and say to the youth of the camp, "Those rocks stand there as a witness to the way God breathed into our lives and showed his faithfulness." In fact the story of the Hebrew Bible is filled with stories of rock stacking.
Rock stacking is a necessary practice in the life of a Christian. It is nothing less than the consistent practice of reflecting on the goodness of God and God's faithfulness in the stories of our lives. It is the encouragement of knowing that the God at work back then is the same God that is at work now. It is the memory that proclaims, "I know things seem big and out of control now...but remember God has always been involved in those overwhelming situations." Whether you keep a journal or not, the question is the same...
What do the pages of your story declare about the faithfulness of God's breath in your life?
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
We are nearing the end of our Sermon Series "God Still Breathes." As we prepare for our summer at the Well, I thought I would give you a little preview to where we are headed. Starting on the 6th of June, we are going to begin a 10-week series through the Parables of Jesus. The series is called "Tossed Aside." The word parable literally means, thrown alongside. For the sake of this sermon, our title has two meanings. Parables are stories tossed aside life to provoke a challenge, to get a person thinking, to teach and evoke an imaginative response. However, I also think that for the most part the church tosses the parables aside like yesterday's newspaper. They have lost their disturbing effect in our lives. During this series we are going to work to recover the power of parable.
June 6: Not So Fast
June 13: Into the Wrong Hands
June 20: Unlikely Guests
June 27: God of the Grass Roots
July 4: Do As I Do
July 11: Where is Jesus When We Are At Church?
July 18: Justice Retold
July 25: Just Say No
August 1: Not in these Market Conditions
August 8: With Gas Prices Like These?
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