and so, I found my opening sermon illustration at Starbucks . . .
Got to the office about 10 this morning, answered a couple of phone calls, and then moseyed over to the south office. Ordered my Caramel Machiato, and found a place to sit - someone was sitting in my usual chair (I claimed it yesterday, don't you know). Opened up the Lectionary Homiletics mag from 6 years ago (because it dealt with the Jeremiah passage) and waited for my drink to be delivered to me.
A group of experienced adults (how's that for tact) entered, began moving chairs around a table, and went to order their coffee. Then they sat down, their drinks were delivered, and they immediately started to gripe. "This is way too strong for me!!!!!!!!!," exclaimed one lady.
I began to reminisce about my trip to England in 1987. On the plane, the flight attendant asked me if I wanted my coffee American style or European. I asked what the difference was, and she proclaimed "Americans drink their drinks backwards from Europeans - Americans want their coffee weak, diluted with cream and sugar, and they want their tea straight."
Over the years, I have come to appreciate the wisdom of her observation. The longer I live, the stronger I tend to prefer my coffee. So, I couldn't help but smile (internally) at the recalcitrance of these "experienced" adults who prefer lightly colored water to coffee.
It occurs to me that our recalcitrance to change and other possibilities, especially as Americans (who exercise our freedom - to be right or wrong - with great bravado), makes the faith walk ever so much more difficult. God desires an inner change, and we respond with outward resistance.
Heading toward a sermon . . .
"You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart."
This thought couples with Jeremiah 31:31-34 quite nicely, and is the direction I am intending for the sermon this week. Jeremiah says that God says, "I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts." I like that image.
I've entitled the sermon "Intra-cardia Faith." I'm thinking about this idea of God writing God's law on our hearts and teaching wiscom to our secret hearts. We know what we think. God knows what we think. We may as well cut to the chase and meld our heart toward the heart of God. It makes sense. And in some strategic sense, it even works toward and understanding of our freedom according to the design of God - not that we are obligated toward God's law, but that we learn to desire the parameters of God's law. Or something like that . . .
about 1/2 point Calvinist
Calvinism is all the rage, especially among neo-orthodox Baptists. I do not count myself among the latter - my Baptist heritage would speak to principled belief which shies away from neo-orthodoxy. Anyway, be that as it may, I have been asked to speak from time to time about my understanding and belief in Calvinist doctrines. I usually respond by saying that I am "about 1/2 point Calvinist." Let me explain.
Five point Calvinism is most easily explained through the acrostic T.U.L.I.P. Those speaking points refer to these ideas. "T" - Total depravity - the idea that man, in his essence, is without any hope, totally depraved, in need of salvation from without; "U" - unconditional election - God chooses whom God will redeem, apart from any determinable concept other than God's choice; "L" - limited atonement - Christ died for those who will be saved (meaning that Christ did not die for those who will not be saved); "I" - irresistible grace - any resistance man might attempt to effect in response to God's offer of salvation is without power (we cannot resist the grace of God); and "P" - perseverance of the saints - any person who God has chosen for salvation will ultimately persevere to the end, and will receive salvation. Many would argue and/or disagree with my analysis of these doctrines, but this brief explanation captures the general sense of the overall doctrine.
I don't buy any of the last four of those doctrinal ideas, and so I think that I am about 1/2 point calvinist - my belief comes from Psalm 51:5 - "Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me." The psalmist indicates that we were born in sin. We possess a nature that is sinful. None of us were born without this nature. Romans 3:23 - "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Another proof-text.
I swallow about half of that. As a student of educational psychology, I acknowledge the role of "nature" in the development of the individual. But I also acknowledge the role of "nurture" as well. That is always the debate in ed. psy. circles - "Nature vs. nurture." And to further complicate the issue, I see man's goodness and badness in both "nature" and "nurture." I am not a proponent of the idea that man has no good within him with which to respond to God - we are given faith capacity with which to respond, thus, for me, discounting this idea of "total" depravity.
This verse from psalm 51 reminds us of our need for God. It also reminds me of our ability to respond to God.
One and One (to go)
When I installed the site meter on the two weblogs, I started keeping track of where my visitors came from. Some time ago, I reached the point where six of the seven continents had been accounted for (still waiting on those Antarctic bloggers to check me out). This morning, two states checked in (South Dakota and Rhode Island) and now all I'm waiting to complete my United States readership is Alaska (come on, you frigid nose rubbers).
I am also keeping track of countries, and to date I have heard from people from 46 different countries.
Ain't this interesting???
Our Sin - what is known
"For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment."
Two always know of our sin. We know. God knows. We hide our sin from others, but we do not hide our sin from God, or from ourselves. Sin is embarassing. At the same time, sin is choice that exemplifies the autonomy of the individual. While autonomous choice is not sin, nor is it embarassing, rebellion is sin, and exposed rebellion to God is certainly embarassing. Ask any sinner.
I would say that for the most part (the vast, most part), we know our sin. We know when we do, think, or say the wrong thing. We also know when we fail to do, think or say the right thing. That is the very definition of sin. Especially during Lent, we know our sin. We spend these 40 days taking a look at ourselves, and what we see, we don't like. How could we?
And while we do sin against one another, our sin is always against God. God is righteous, we, in our sin, are not. So according to the psalmist, God is both just and blameless when God passes judgment on our sin.
This analysis of sin has something of a "matter of fact" sense to it. Sin is definitely a problem.
THE Lenten Psalm - 2006
"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me."
I put part of this passage on the marquee at the beginning of Lent. Create in me a clean heart, O God. I hope that has been the prayer of our congregation for these days. Lent is starting to wind down. This coming Sunday will be the 5th Sunday in Lent, and then the next Sunday is Palm Sunday.
Part of the mystique of growing up Baptist is our lack of sensitivity to the idea of confession - any kind of confession, really. We don't like public confession. We don't like repetetive confession - going back to God with the same old, tired things day after day. We don't like to enumerate our sins. Mostly, we just like to remind ourselves that Jesus saved us, and that we don't have to worry about our sin anymore. It is a backlash to Catholicism, I'm sure . . .
But that response to our sin isn't honest. It certainly doesn't square with the testimony of the Psalms. Psalm 51 starts out - "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin." The psalmist speaks as though forgiveness is anything but a forgone conclusion. His is a testimony of a continued relationship with God in which the sinner goes back to God as occasion requires and asks for forgiveness.
So I live in this tension - a tension between knowing that my sins are forgiven, and knowing that I must ask for God's forgiveness. Sometime back, I tried to reconcile that in my mind by suggesting that what we really ask for is that God help us appropriate the forgiveness to our lives that is already ours. This Lent, that explanation doesn't feel quite right.
I plan to write about this psalm for the whole week.
Back to the basics
The discipline of Lent takes me back to the basics. Daily introspection, prayer, bible reading, taking on additional disciplines - all of these thing remind me of a faith of my youth.I will admit that I am more uncomfortable with the dichotomy this year. I want to continue on in my maturing faith - one that is steeped in free-form practice and thought. But Lent - especially this Lent - seems to be taking me back to a place where I practiced - emphasis on the word "practiced" - something more simplistic.
Maybe that's okay from time to time. I'll use a hunting analogy. My English Pointer, Crockett, loves to roam. We hit the ground, and he's off hunting his quarry. Every now and then, he comes back around to see what I'm up to - to check in with the "hunter with the gun." Tomorrow is the Lord's Day. I wish you blessed worship.
Lenten Prayer
I started enjoying reading other people's prayers a few years ago - I think it is an incredible thing to write a prayer, to pen thoughts focused toward God that people might read, appreciate, understand, and perhaps know the same thoughts.I ran across this prayer this week - you wouldn't necessarily describe it as a Lenten prayer, but it serves as such for me this day . . . this season.Prayer
Eternal God,
light of the minds that know you,the joy of the hearts that love you,and the strength of the wills that serve you:grant us so to know you that we may truly love you,so to love you that we may fully serve you,whom to serve is perfect freedom. Amen.Augustine of Hippo, 15th Century Bishop
a day off . . .
Thursday is supposed to be my day off - I rarely take all of it. Today I was able to keep myself away from the office until about 3:30.
There was nothingness today. That is, after the excitement and commotion. Chelsea was leaving for San Antonio this morning. Dropped by the house to give us a kiss, and then called her mother less than five minutes later to say she had slid off the road getting out of our subdivision. I pulled on clothes, drove to where she was, and then called my friend with a much bigger truck. Ronny drives a F250 diesel - obviously 4-wheel drive. He snapped her out of the bar ditch quick as you please, and she was on her way.
She made it to San Antonio.
I need a bigger truck.
Then there was the nothingness of the day. Sleep, reading, a little TV - quite a relaxing day. Nothingness.
Those days are good for the soul - occasionally - just occasionally.
The nothingness this day reminded me of the tomb that held Christ. Dark - quiet - nothing.
It's good to remember things like this during Lent . . .
It turns out Starbucks doesn't need a chaplain, but . . .
I did get a cup of coffee for the trouble of asking. I'll save the cup on my bookshelf, along with all the other magnificent memorabilia I keep there.
It turns out the manager knows my friend Tim Youmans. Blogging is a small world. I told her that I was just 100 yards away, and that I had been blogging about this for months. She asked my blog name, and I told her. She said, "You're friends with Tim Youmans, aren't you?" Blogging is a small world.
Another story. This last Sunday, sister Tracy was in town, and she (Thankya darlin) got to meet Leslee (Fresh Cut Flowers). A reunion of blogging pals who had never met face to face. Cool.
So, here's the spiritual twist. Lent - the spiritual discipline of - is a common (catholic) experience. We, each of us, take a look at ourselves - introspection - for the purpose of coming to a greater awareness and appreciation for the sacrifice of Christ and His resurrection. I'll let you put the rest of the story together for yourself . . .
Back to the grind . . .
After most of the week off from blogging (due to my work with the Marquette Students on the Habitat house), it's back to the grind . . .Some observations from the week and the weekend - hopefully spiritual in nature. The week was tremendous - the Marquette students accomplished so very much, and friendships were established. They painted the inside of one house, and framed the floor level of another - all in all a pretty good week. As they prepared to roll out of town, they gave me a picture of all of us gathered in front of the house we framed - I love these annual pictures - they give me so much to remember. I spent a week with Catholic students, and come away blessed. Catholics know so much more than do we Baptists about serving others - they come by it rather naturally. It is always a privilege.The weekend was tremendous. My childhood pastor, Dr. Presnall Wood, was our guest speaker at Cornerstone. I haven't been able to spend much time with Dr. Wood since college - it was good to listen to him preach. He did a thing for us on Separation of church and state - we did get it on DVD. I think he was impressed with Cornerstone. Much of my extended family was here - Tracy and her bunch came over from Hereford, Rusty and his two kids came down from Wichita, and Mom was here. The church had a blast, and all is well with my soul . . . except . . .back to the grind. Lent isn't over. I am re-determined to practice the discipline of self-introspection. Last night I watched "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" - we are viewing this as an assignment for our Pastor Peer Group meeting in two weeks. I love the line at the end of the trial of the local parish priest. "Father, I pronounce you guilty. You are free to go." Watch the movie - you'll be touched. Just don't watch it before you go to bed.Starbucks opens Friday, March 31. Hiring new employees. I wonder if they need a chaplain . . .???
Missing the Mark
A part of the definition of sin that they told me when I was a child was that of "missing the mark." Well, my intended goal for Lent this year was to blog every day, save Sundays, on something spiritual. Thus far, I have accomplished half of that goal - every day that I have actually blogged, I have said something at least quasi-spiritual.
Sunday afternoon, I hooked up with the Marquette students who are in town working with our local Habitat chapter. Monday morning we started framing a new house. Monday night I could not move. Tuesday morning was worse - Tuesday evening even worse than that. I am really out of shape for this kind of intense physical labor. Today it got a little better, but I've been taking naproxen sodium for two days . . .
I will say two spiritual things. First, these kids are great. We speak of the way that our young people are so bad - well, I tell you it isn't all true. Here we have 15 great kids, taking their spring break on a mission trip to build a house for someone else. Great kids - they breathe a little life into my tired soul every year.
The second thing is this. About Sunday, I ran in to the Lenten wall of failure. By that I mean that I had been working at identifying areas of my life where sin had crept in, and by Sunday, I had just about enough - and started to remember that working at removing my sin is hard work - I almost want to give up and give in, and then I remember to lean on the grace of Christ. We are saved by His grace - not by our work - even our work at not sinning. That's good news.
The Lenten Easter
They say that every Sunday during Lent is like a little Easter. If that's the case, today I've felt a little like I'm waiting for the tomb to open, letting Jesus out so He can minister to me again.
Lent is hard work - at least the introspection part of it. After a while, you've swept out the obviously dirty corners of your life, and it's time to do the deep cleaning. That's about where I am right now. I've looked at the stuff stacked on the tables, but I've yet to go take a look under the bed, or behind the chest of drawers, or God forbid, look in the closet. Not even gonna talk about tackling the garage.
In our lives, stuff piles up. We let a little garbage start to gather, and sooner than you think, things are a real mess.
In the coming week, the students from Marquette University are going to be helping with our Habitat project. They take their spring break to come down here and help frame a house. I'm looking forward to it - they always breathe a little life into my Lenten journey.
Enjoy your little Easter tomorrow.
Friday Potpourri
Just catching you up on three or four things. STARBUCKS - they put the sign up today. 100 yards from my doorstep at the church.
The boys lost last night to the #1 team in the state, Edmond Santa Fe (defending state champs), ending their season @ 20-6. I want to thank the Enid Plainsmen for a memorable season. You were a joy to watch.
RAIN - we had rain over the last two days, and there is more scattered through the forecast over the next week.
Marquette Students arrive tomorrow for a week on the Habitat site. I rotated off the board this year, and so next week will be my contribution to Habitat for the year. This is always a highlight to my year - these students take their Spring Break to come and work with us on a house. We will plan to frame a new house over the course of a week.
Lenten Devotion - Interest
It has finally rained in Northwestern Oklahoma. We were beginning to wonder if God knew where we were any more. I tell you, rain is one of those commodities that you can start to take for granted sometimes. Other times, like in the northeastern part of the country this year, you can have too much of a good thing. But when you haven't had significant rain in 4 months - well, let's just say that it captures your attention.
Anyway, we've started getting rain, and I am overwhelmed with gratitude. Over the last 48 hours, we've had an inch or so, and there is the promise of more in the future.
Devotion surrounds interest in God. We are interested in that to which we are devoted. During this drought, I found myself watching the weather forecast with more regularity - even though it came up lacking night after night. When we express our devotion to God, interest in God, our relationship with God, all the things of God - these become matters of great interest. To put it in the negative - people who are not interested in God and the things of God will not be devoted to God.
I'm four days into this discussion of devotion. So far I've noticed that time, focus, conviction, and interest are connected to our devotion.
Lenten Devotion - Conviction
I was so very happy last year when our new Episcopal Rector moved to town. We have similar interests and personalities, and have become friends. Steve writes a column for their church paper once a month, and I just read his article for this month. Expectedly, he talks about Lent, and I want to share his opening paragraph.
Lent - it's such a serious and ponderous time, one that so often catches us out-of-mood. Of course, that's the point. When we become comfortable with our routine, comfortable whether it's healthy or unhealthy, Lent comes along and asks us to look at life in a different way. Lent is a matter of balance. We are drawn to that which affirms us, and we avoid that which convicts us. Lent convicts.
I have spent much of the day thinking about the conviction that surrounds our devotion. I had been thinking about conviction in a different sense of the word - commitment to, allegiance, and so on. But Steve's words caught me up short. Conviction speaks to something deeper - something captivating. I could mention parallel words - purpose, hope, promise - these are words that touch on conviction and devotion as concepts. Devotion requires conviction. We find purpose of belief, hope in that to which we are devoted, and a promise of a better life, relationship, existence as a result of our devotion.
Lenten Devotion - Focus
Tiger Woods is known for winning golf tournaments - lots of them. Those who watch him with rapt attention notice that Tiger is also known for being able to focus. When he crouches to examine his putt, he has a stare - a focused stare - that is almost eerie. Golf announcers say that they've never seen anything like it.
We could call it "Spiritual ADD" - the seeming inability of people of faith to actually focus their faith on God. We talk about God, we sing songs of praise about God, but we have the hardest time focusing our attention on God.
Devotion requires focus. You can't be devoted to something that you are'nt focused on. That's true in our jobs, our recreational pursuits, our relationships. It is certainly true of our relationship with God. Devotion to God requires focus.
I am trying to focus during these days on God. It isn't easy.
Interesting Post . . .
My friend, Tim Youmans, has written an interesting post on his blog, Anabaptist Monk. I encourage you to read this post, and then I hope that a discussion ensues on the Cornerstone Universe blog. Thanks, Tim, for your insight and bravery.
Lenten Devotion - Part One
Once a month I attend a Pastor's Peer Group meeting in the Oklahoma City area. It takes pretty much the entire day. Generally I leave Enid before 9:00 am, and return sometime after 3:30 pm. On the trip to and from, I make use of the window time by catching up with friends via cell phone. All in all, it's generally worth the investment of my time each month.
Devotion. Devotion requires a commitment of time. I could say that I am a part of this group, but if I don't attend - don't take the time to make the trip and actually be with the other guys - can I really claim to be a part of this group.
Perhaps the simplist observation of devotion is that devotion requires a commitment of time. So, I have to ask myself - am I devoted to God.
For a full-time minister, the idea of devotion has to go beyond the 40 hour work week. Certainly I think about God - a lot - but much of that is simply part of the job. What sort of devotion do I have to God? Do I give of personal time? Do I invest time daily in maintaining the relational aspect of my faith walk? Would I still serve God, even if I were'nt a minister? All good questions.
Lent reminds us that devotion takes time. For the believer, we do not give of our time to God grudgingly - rather, we look with anticipation to those moments and hours we can spend with God in prayer, praise, study and service.
A Lenten thought
I went to the online devotional site I like to use during Lent, and worked my way through the material for this evening. I don't always get as much as I might out of those experiences. But this evening . . .I wrote this week that I was wondering what to put on the marquee. My assumption was that the message of Lent would be different than the message of Epiphany.There, tonight, on the page before me, was scripture from John which reminded me that Jesus said, "I am the light of the world."The message of Lent builds on the message of Epiphany which builds on the Message of Christmas and Advent. It goes something like this:You waited, in darkness, in hope . . .And then Christ came - The light of the world.so make your hearts readyEach line represents the message of a single season. Combined, they present the message of christian hope which is ours.
AREA CHAMPS !!!!!!!
The Enid Plainsmen won the Area Tournament this evening. They defeated Tulsa Memorial by 4 points in what was the most exciting game of the season. Our boys were actually down by 21 points midway through the third quarter when they started their comeback.
Congrats to the Plainsmen. State Tournament begins this next week.
What Lenten message to put on the marquee . . .
I've gotten lazy about the church marquee. Not that folks are complaining, mind you. Most people I hear from about our marquee rave about the messages we put out there. But I've gotten lazy - on the south side of the board, I post the sermon title each week, and on the north side I keep a seasonal statement - the present statement has been up for two months. It reads "The light of the world is Jesus" - a reflection of the general theme of Epiphany.
But now we are in Lent, and I need to change the message. What to put . . .I think I'll go with the words from Psalm 51 - "Create in me a clean heart, O God."
Therein lies the message of Lent - at least for my life this year. A clean heart is a creation of God - we can't do it. We try, but we come up woefully short of our goal. God desires that we approach God with clean hearts, and God is willing to process that life with us. God starts the process - as a result of our desire and request.
Lent is like . . .
As I said yesterday, Lent was not a part of my faith or ecclesiological experience as a child. We were Baptists. More than that, we were Texas Baptists. It wasn't that we were'nt liturgical - we practiced every bit as much liturgy as did the more mainline denominations - we just wouldn't admit it. Our liturgy was somewhat more casual, but we did practice a liturgy.No, I think the form of Baptist expression under which I was spiritually educated shied away from following the seasons of the Christian calendar mostly because that practice seemed so Catholic - and Baptists had quite a fear of anything Catholic. I never did understand that distance - I actually asked quite a number of questions during my childhood years. Two of my best friends were Catholics, and one of them actually attended my church from time to time, and would enter into conversation on the difference between Baptists and Catholics. It has been in the last 20 years that I have realized that the word Catholic comes from the word catholic (notice that one version of the word is capitalized). "catholic" means "common" or "universal" - and while I do not believe that everyone is already saved, I do believe that everyone does have a faith pilgrimage. I also believe that everyone, as the scripture teaches, has sinned, and fallen short of God's best for their lives. It is in that spirit that I have entered into the "catholic" faith.Lent, for me, is like a good spring cleaning. Most believers wander through this Christian life, finding times of greater devotion and times of lesser devotion. Just like the dust in our homes, time allows things to creep into our lives that prevent us from "breathing easy" in our Christian life expressions. Lent is a focused time of self-introspection - something that is necessary for every Christian life.
As Lent begins, I am asking God to help me sweep out the corners and crevices of my spiritual life. Too much has accumulated. Too much clutters my spiritual pilgrimage.
Lent - 2006
As a Baptist, I heard so very little about Lent as a child. I entered this discipline just 8 years ago, and have found it to be the backbone of my spring spiritual pilgrimage. That first year, rather than giving up something for Lent, we spoke of taking on something. This Lent, I have determined to write something of a spiritual nature each day of the journey (Sundays excluded).There is no more poignant expression of the sorrow that is ours than the 51st Psalm. Our choir does an anthem by Ruth Elaine Schram entitled "Fall, Slow Tears" that perfectly voices my heart for this day. May your Lenten experience be deep and blessed.
Fall, slow tears,
and drown all my doubts and fearsand wash away my sin and shamein the flood of forgiveness and mercy.Weep, sad eyes;my soul in repentance cries.Create in me a clean heart, oh God,and renew a right spirit within me.Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.Take all my iniquities upon you.Have mercy on me,have mercy on me.
Fall, slow tears,
and drown all my doubts and fears
and wash away my sin and shame
in the flood of forgiveness and mercy.Fall, slow tears;weep, sad eyes;fall, fall, fall, slow tears.
