Who’da thunk?

Text of the week: Luke 13:18-19 and Ephesians 3:20-21

Part of my journey this semester began over the summer, with a small parable embedded in Luke’s account of the parable of the mustard seed (see Luke 13:18-19).  So that you don’t feel like you’re reading an exegesis paper, let me just say this: a mustard tree is more like a gnarly, ugly-looking bush — not a majestic tree.  This is not the way Jews envisioned the Kingdom of God showing up.  They would have envisioned something more like a cedar from Lebanon, or an oak, like the oaks of righteousness from the psalmist, representing what the Kingdom would look like.  A mustard tree is a bush — a shrub, even.  This story is easily overlooked because Jesus certainly didn’t mean the Kingdom is like a gnarly, ugly bush. Or did He?

What if Jesus is saying the Kingdom comes in ways we don’t expect —on His time table — to wherever He wants it to come.  I like to call these “who’da thunk” moments.  For instance, when Susan Kizzee walked on this campus as a freshman art major, did she think she would be called to live overseas, doing graphic design for a company with her husband, helping raise funds for their ministry, while at the same time using her artistic talent to beautify a developing office compound in India?  I think we could put that in the “who’da thunk” category.  I’m sure Susan didn’t see that coming, but now wouldn’t have it any other way.  That’s the way God works.

The Kingdom doesn’t always appear in ways that we can predict.  Maybe if we stopped trying to predict how the Kingdom is supposed to come (i.e. telling God how to do His work), we would actually recognize Kingdom work more often.  Early in the semester, we started engaging our imaginations in the process of listening to what God has for us, and now we are right back to where we started.  For us to hear God, maybe we need to think outside the boxes we’ve created for Him.  Maybe we need to remember that this is His work, not ours.  Maybe we need to re-imagine what the Kingdom is about.   Maybe we need to be reminded that it isn’t about us.  And remember, this is most effective and meaningful when it happens in community.

So, we’re back to where we started.  We have come full circle.  We’re looking for “who’da thunk” moments.  We’re looking for the ways that God works in and among us that we didn’t see coming and couldn’t predict, allowing Him to create His dreams for us, as we partner with Him to build His Kingdom.

So, the questions we’ve been asking each other throughout the semester are still there:  What are you hearing?  How is God re-shaping your dreams?  Have you seen any mustard plants lately?

Rediscovering the joy in the everyday

Text for the week: Colossians 3:17 and John 14:1-14

It’s a Thursday morning, and I just met with a student visiting our campus who will be a freshman next fall.  He has a sensitive spirit, and is asking questions about what God would have him do with his life.  I had the privilege of sharing with him that God calls in a variety of ways, and that he didn’t have to buy into the fact that you have to do something big or noticeable for it to be significant.  I also shared with him that he isn’t less of a person if he doesn’t have a classical call to ministry (e.g. pastoral, youth, missions, etc.), but that God can and will use him regardless of how he is wired.

Sound familiar?

I also shared some of the early story of Mother Teresa.   When she left her position as principal at a high school in Calcutta, she thought she was leaving a position of influence.  She was giving that all up to go live and serve among the dying.  What do you think motivated her?  Acclaim?  Recognition?  Title?  I don’t think so.

She saw a need, wanted to do something about it, and did it in Jesus’ name.  Why?  Do we really think she did it for the praise she would go on to receive?  Did she do it so she could be quoted from her speeches given in front of presidents and world leaders?  To give her a platform to write books?  I’m sure one of the things running through her mind was receiving the Nobel Prize for working among the dying, right?  You wouldn’t think there would be much said about someone who goes to live in the slums of Calcutta, to help the dead and dying, would you?

But that isn’t the way the Kingdom works.  The secular world, at times, even acknowledges that.  She didn’t do it for recognition.  There was nothing glamorous about what she was doing.  She was holding hands, washing bed sores, changing soiled beds.  I don’t think she ever believed she was doing anything special.   She wasn’t doing anything you or I couldn’t do.  But it was significant, and there is a difference.

Mother Teresa discovered joy in the every day.  She said, “I have a feeling that we are in such a hurry that we do not even have time to look at one another and smile.”  The joy given from a smile; the difference made in someone’s life because of a birthday party, a card, a word, or a hug.  It’s rediscovering the joy that comes in the mundane, ordinary, everyday experiences in life.  Loving and serving the needs that are around us today — right now.   Never forget, whatever you do now in Jesus’ name, matters.

Community is key

Text for the week:  1 Corinthians 12:12-26 

A friend of mine is executive pastor at a church in Valparaiso, Ind.  He and his wife both grew up around Tuscaloosa, Ala., and her mom teaches at the University of Alabama.  When the tornado ripped through Tuscaloosa and other towns nearby, they felt it.  The same thing happened when hurricane Katrina went through southern Mississippi and Alabama — they were hurt by what happened in their home state and by the devastation that occurred along the Gulf Coast.  They felt it.  Why?  Because it was home.  These were their people.   It affected their friends, their families and their neighbors; and they responded in kind.

I’m not sure how many trips they have taken to Tuscaloosa to help with the repair and rebuilding efforts, but I can guarantee, when they aren’t there physically, they are there in spirit.

Nouwen says, “As individuals we cannot be everything to everyone, but as a community we can indeed serve a great variety of needs.” 

Compassion fatigue

Text for the week: 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 

I get tired of hearing I’m not doing enough, in the middle of my trying to do something.  There is so much pain, hunger and tragedy all the time. How can I help meet all the needs that are out there?  Just thinking about it makes me tired. (See paragraph 2, pg. 77 of Quitting Church)

What would you say if I told you that you didn’t need to?  What if you could be an active participant in the Kingdom of God without responding to every need that presents itself?

Remember what happened this spring with the devastations in both Tuscaloosa and Joplin?  I remember the personal guilt I experienced because not only did I not go, I never felt compelled to go.  Am I heartless?  Some might say yes.  These came right on the heels of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Come on, how much can one person take?  How much can humanity be expected to respond to?

Henri Nouwen says, “When there is no community that can mediate between world needs and personal responses, the burden of the world can only be a crushing burden.  When the pains of the world are presented to people who are already overwhelmed by the problems in their small circle of family or friends, how can we hope for a creative response?”

So, I ask again: How much are we expected to respond to?  All of it.  That’s right — all of it.  Not me, but you and me together.

What are you hearing?

Text for the week: John 10:1-10

There have been a lot of ways that God has been speaking to us this semester.  What are you hearing?

If you are looking for an answer to that question here, I don’t think I can do that for you.  I can’t dream what God will do in and through you. I’m wired differently than you are, and you should be very grateful for that.  But because of that, there is no formula to follow for the “what” to our dreams. Some would like to say it’s as easy as 1-2-3, but I don’t think so.

Of course, there are similarities about all of our dreams — developing a relationship and heart like God’s, living in community with each other, learning to love as God loves and to see as God sees.  I don’t think I need to go through the whole litany of what we believe, but what we believe shapes what and how we dream. 

Your dream is your dream.  But we don’t chase our dreams in a vacuum.  Some of you are studying to be doctors, lawyers, teachers, nurses, pastors, engineers, writers, lab technicians, and a number of other occupational callings.  These are the things you are wired to do.  They fit how you are uniquely created, and what you are created to do.  I believe that we are all passionate about different things. 

I hate math. Sorry, Dr. Atkinson, but I do.  Maybe better stated, I don’t do math.  And I’ve tried — trust me, I’ve tried!  That doesn’t mean math is an evil subject sent from the pit of hell to haunt me all the days of my life. (Maybe I’m still festering over that last test in Dr. Atkinson’s class that cost me my A.)

Just because I’m wired in ways that aren’t conducive to math doesn’t mean I’m wired better than someone else; it just means we’re wired differently.  Because we’re wired differently — or gifted differently, to use the biblical term — we will do different things, but still do them for the Kingdom.  The “what” you dream, matches the “how” you are wired, gifted and created.  How will you use your passions for the purpose of the Kingdom?  That is how you begin to answer the question: What are you hearing?

So how do you make your calling about the Kingdom?  I think that’s found in listening and dreaming.  They go hand in hand, because I believe that we can know for certain that everyone has a calling.  And if what we’ve been saying this semester is true, then God will reveal that to you as you listen, and begin to dream His dreams for your life.

What are you hearing?

25 things

Text for the week: Psalm 19: 7-14

If you didn’t take notes, you’re in luck.  If you missed them, here they are.  I thought, as a reminder of some wise counsel we received this week that we needed to put this to print.  So, I asked Corey if we could have a do-over, and give you his list of 25 things, again.  Here they are:

1.        Floss every night before you brush

2.       Never go grocery shopping while you are hungry.

3.       Change the oil in your car every three thousand miles.

4.       Never buy new technology.

5.       Don’t buy anything with credit except your house and education.

6.       After you graduate, read a book or two a month.

7.       Lay your clothes out the night before — it will save you time in the morning.

8.       Always get the name of the customer service person you are talking to.

9.       Keep an “in-case-I-die” folder.

10.   Be critical in your thinking, but not critical in your spirit.

11.   Finish strong and with character in everything you do.

12.   Love people, all people, regardless of the team they cheer for.

13.   Be careful what you talk about in front of your children.

14.   God first, then family, then the ministry.

15.   Remember that God does not need you, but he really wants to use you to advance His Kingdom.

16.   Let God use you to the fullest.

17.   Remember, you are going to die.

18.   Remember, this side of heaven is not your home, and you will always be homesick.

19.   Have an accountability and prayer partner.

20.   Remember that we are all one.

21.   Be faithful in the little things.

22.   Love the Church.

23.   God’s will for your life is this: to live as Christ.

24.   Remember the most important things in life.

25.   God is enough.

Thank you, Corey MacPherson.  Our lives are richer because God allowed our paths to cross.

Always about the heart

Text for the week:  John 14:1-14

As a young man, I remember searching to remain as close to God as possible.  I didn’t do this perfectly; as a matter of fact, like most teenagers, I was far from it. But God was patient with me as we grew in our relationship with each other.  I remember a conversation I had with my father concerning my continued trips to the altar in our church.  I asked him when I would ever get over the need to come and pray — most times in confession — and I will never forget his answer: “Never.”

That has shaped me in ways that I’ve always been grateful for.  It has served as a constant reminder that God is bigger than me and my ability to “rein Him in.” There is always more for me to know, experience and do.

It also taught me that humility is a part of our journey of faith.  It’s humbling to walk down the aisle to the altar in front of everyone, especially when you might have to walk over 13 people just to get to the aisle.  I’m no different than you — I have to fight my own demons, being more concerned about what others are thinking about me than what God is saying to me at the time.

This reminds me that even in the process of doing good, our faith rests in our hearts, our passions, our desires and our willingness to respond when God calls.

That’s what revival is all about.  It’s about the heart.  It’s about making sure we’re doing what we do from a heart that is shaped by the things of God.  We want to love others, but love them in the right way — the way God loves.  We want to see people as God sees them — even ourselves.  We want to do what God would do if He were here.

 Understanding what this love looks like is vitally important to our faith and relationship with God.  As we examine our hearts this week, let’s remember that it’s always about the heart.  Let’s protect it and allow God to keep and shape it, so we can love, see and do as He would.