Christmas Trees and Palm Branches

It seems sort of odd that we’re at the beginning of Lent. We’re still in the shadow of the manger, aren’t we? No sooner have we broken the Christmas toys, put up the Christmas tree, and taken our stuff to the neighborhood swap meet, than we’re watching Jesus try to ride into the city of Jerusalem on top of broken palm branches.

That’s exactly how it’s supposed to be this year, and I'm grateful that Matthew understands this. The first Gospel does not get past the magi's first toddler shower for Jesus until lives are disrupted by the shadow of suffering. The magi brought myrrh-- a burial ointment-- of all things for a baby present. Ominous. Foreboding. When Herod hears about Jesus, he takes his paranoia out on every 1 year old in the neighborhood. Joseph and Mary flee as the memories of the Hebrew matriarch Rachel gush forth in sorrow.

Matthew doesn’t let us get very far into the Christmas story without reminding us that the Christ child can only be understood from the perspective of God's suffering on the cross. So if Lent seems to come a little early, don't be surprised. In Matthew's world, the cross should loom large this close to Christmas.

Acting out for Lent

“All the world’s a stage,” said Shakespeare, but Jesus knew that the moment he walked out from behind the curtain onto the global scene. He saw actors a few miles down the road in the nearby village of Sepphoris. Herod built a huge outdoor arena for the great plays of the ancient world. Actors donned the masks and became someone else. They called them "hypocrites" in Greek or our word in English "actors."

The Pharisees and religious leaders' actions seemed eerily similar to the stage of Sepphoris. The same language of the theater lies behind his warning to us in Matthew 6. It’s the language of the theater. It’s the same experience that you and I could have on Broadway and for a moment imagine a whole new reality. But when acting invades the life of the pious and religious, you have is just a bunch of rubbish.

Lent and Easter can turn into an act. Put a little ashes on the forehead, show off your good stuff, be present and accounted for the next 40 days or so. But all we’ve done is stood in front of the curtain and arranged for all to see us, masking an inner sham.

Matthew 6's secret practices of lent are prayer, fasting, and giving. They actually function as a kind of backstage pass for us. To go into the secret place--behind the curtain--and see where the real action is.

All those fancy things out front-- fancy religious language-- just covers up stage fright. Backstage, we see Jesus at work in us.

When I was on the stage crew at my high school, I learned that the actors not only performed, they built the sets. The janitor came in and fixed lights. The stage crew had to repair things. That’s when you rolled up your sleeves, and the dirt got all over you. The dirt was not just a smear on the forehead or the palm, but all over. You really hadn’t worked on the stage crew until you really were dirty all over.

The same applies for the Christian life. The backstage of life is where Jesus works behind the scenes. It was behind the scenes of the dirt of the Roman rabble, and Jewish corruption, and religious intrigue that Jesus said, "This is for the forgiveness of sins."

Lent tells us you can’t be out in front of the curtain until you've understood the power of dirt. You can’t preach, teach, worship, or put on your Sunday best without rolling in the dirt, understanding your sinfulness, and then a receiving a good spiritual bath of forgiveness that no one can see. You wouldn’t want them to see that anyway. That’s just between you and God. Behind the curtain.

Keeping Secrets

Down here in the real world, it's not the Super Bowl or Super Tuesday, it's Lent. 40 days of slogging through the wilderness of repentance. Secretively. Christians did not make the news again on Wednesday. We were too busy praying for Union University and other tornado-ravaged areas. But for the next few weeks, please don't pay any attention to us. We'd prefer to just go about this business in private.

In Matthew 6, Jesus suggested three practices of the heart that could be verbal icons (to use Charles Talbert's term) into faithful piety. They are giving, praying, and fasting. No doubt Jesus observed their abuse in 1st century Judaism. The public squares were full of the giving for donor recognition, praying at ball games, and fasting for the biggest loser. So Jesus listed them with one condition-- do things that you cannot tell anyone about.

Pray in the closet, and don't come out of it.
Give with such poor communication in your body and organization that your left hand doesn't even feel the right hand.
Fast so that others never recognize it.

No doubt there will be more calls to pray, give, and surrender something over the next 6 weeks or so. But Jesus-- who wasn't much for making headlines-- says, if you pray so much publicly, how long do you need to pray behind closed doors? 7 times, 70 x 7 hours? And if giving is about the IRS and plaques on the wall, how much can you give anonymously this time of year? Can you send the flowers without signing the note? And on the fasting bit, you might need to fast from something chic like email or cell phones. That will certainly inconvenience everyone else-- and they'll know about it. But if you want to do it secretively, try fasting from a sin, addiction, or lust that only you and God know.

Can you keep all that a secret until Easter?

Did You Know?

Did you know that there are.........

2500 Muslims in Knoxville
http://mumford.albany.edu/census/BlackWhite/muslimsortlists/muslim-sort.htm

300-500 Hindu families
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2007/jun/16/for-many-hindus-home-worship-as-integral-as-time/

1800 Jewish people Knoxville
250 in Oak Ridge
http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:xaj0lfCkOvIJ:www.ajcarchives.org/AJC_DATA/Files/2001_6_USDemography.pdf+jewish+population+knoxville+tennessee&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=9&gl=us

What Christians Don't Know Might Help Them

"Know it all Christianity" is about as dangerous as scribes and teachers of the law standing around talking to Herod in Matthew 2. So Christians have to be mindful of speaking about what they know and avoiding what they don't.

Here's what we know-- we believe that Jesus is the way, and we believe that individuals who believe in Jesus have the free gift of eternal life in heaven. It's an individual choice, and the decision is between that person and God.

What we don't know is the spiritual condition of others. When we overspeculate and pretend to know we move toward what Jesus warned about in Matthew 7-- judging others.

Jesus talked about 2 things that would happen but left out signifcant things as well.

He talked about his return but did not tell us when it would happen. We believe he'll return, but we're terrible at predictions.

He described heaven but did not tell us who would be there. He did tell us three things.

1.) That believers would be surprised they were part of the sheep (Matthew 25:40-46)

2.) Nonbelievers would be surprised they were the goats (Matthew 25:40-46).

3.) Not everyone who says the magic words "Lord, Lord" will qualify (Matthew 7:21).

When watching a rich ruler struggle with a decision to follow, an exasperated Peter said, "Who then can be saved?"

Jesus gave us the best answer of all, "What is impossible with men is possible with God."

We live in the tension of believing in Jesus and trusting that God knows the "roll called up yonder." Until then, we share our faith with humility, without judgment, believing that God does the work of salvation. We're just grateful to be a part of that salvation, and the magi give us some indication that God works even through pagan religions to draw people to Christ.

The gospel always surprises. Chuck Swindoll once said that there would be surprises in heaven:

1.) Who's there
2.) Who's not there
3.) That you're there

Book Recommendations

Here's my suggested reading list for Home by Another Way.

This journal provides excellent articles.

Don't miss Billy Graham's comments in Newsweek.

The Challenge

“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” Other than “For God so loved the world,” no statement of Jesus commands more attention and captures the faith of believers over the years. Since the first century, Christians have believed that Jesus is the only way to heaven and lived beside people of other faith traditions. Long before there were Muslims and Mormons, there were Pagans, Polytheists, and Priests. The Romans thought the followers of the “Way” so odd that they labeled them as “atheists” because they did not believe in enough gods.

In the first century, Christians were faithful to their beliefs but remained civil, hopeful, and active in “overcoming evil with good.” From Peter in Cornelius’ house in Acts 10, to Paul on Mars Hill in Acts 17, they shared practices of hospitality, dialogue, and listening that provided platforms for a true Christian witness. We can learn so much from the time when Christianity was the minority religion and people of faith were struggling to gain a foothold in a very secular society. What we learn from the first century speaks volumes to us about how we live with Jesus as the way today.

During this year’s Winter Bible Study, I invite you to journey “Home by Another Way.” The title, taken from the magi’s journey home in Matthew 2, expresses the hope that God has for the world and the challenge for all of us as we live in a pluralistic world. The difficulties are many: we share this planet with people who worship much differently than we. We work and learn beside people from across the globe. How do we work together with all people and at the same time tell the story of Jesus? We know this story has been used for good and evil purposes. How Christians go about living with Jesus as the way makes all the difference.

This conference will discuss several key questions that face our world and the followers of the “Way” today:
Is everyone worshiping the same God?
Should we dialogue with people of other religious traditions, and if so, how?
How do I have a conversation with someone who is from another religious background?
How did the magi (and other pagans in the scripture) find God?
How can people from other faiths come to know Jesus?
How do I keep my religion from becoming evil?
What did Jesus mean when he said, “I am the Way, the truth, and the life?”

On January 12-13, let’s journey together and return home by the Jesus Way.

What Shepherds Do

Shepherds are protectors and seekers. In ancient Israel, they were the gate of the sheepfold. They laid down at the entrance of the pen at night to protect sheep. In the day, they sought out the missing.

Jesus does the same in John 10. Not only does he protect the sheep but he climbs over the fold to seek out ones that no one expected to be in the pen--not even the other sheep.

For ancient Jewish 1st century disciples, Jesus described how he would go about welcoming us--the gentiles-- into the fold. People who would not normally be welcome into the full breadth of temple customs, sacrifices, and other rituals would now by welcome because he was the good shepherd today.

How quickly the Gentile church of today forgets that Jesus is still leaping over our walls to gather in more lambs. Who are they, how is he doing this, and how might that change how we interact with those people we have labeled as "outside the fold"? These questions, and many more will be discussed at "Home by Another Way."

Jesus: the Way

When Jesus said, "I am the way," he told troubled Jewish disciples that through him they would be taken care of when they died. For guys who relied on the temple their entire lives, this was indeed good news.



When Christians say today, "Jesus is the way," it can range from a bumper sticker on the back of a car to an invitation to dialogue with a nonChristian. How we say what we mean, mean what we say, and still show that "God is love"? I will address these questions, and many more, at Home By Another Way.

Home By Another Way Sessions

Home by Another Way: Jesus’ Invitation to the World
January 12-13

First Baptist Church

Trentham Hall and Sanctuary

3:00 p.m. Saturday-12:00 noon Sunday

Session 1: No God but God
3:00 p.m. Saturday
God is One and God is Love, but Father Abraham had Many Sons
Genesis 12, Romans 1
What kind of God is revealed among the various religions of the world? Are they pursuing the same truth? And why should all this matter to Christians?

Session 2: Home By Another Way: How the Magi Come to Jesus
Matthew 2
4:15 p.m. Saturday
What the journey of the magi from pagan astrology teaches us about people of other faiths today

Supper- 5:30 p.m.

Session 3: Keeping Religion from Becoming Evil: The Way we Go About this Matters
6:30 p.m. Saturday
An overview of the major Christian views on the way people come to Jesus and their effects on our lives

Session 4: What Sheep Need from a Shepherd: I am the Way
John 10, 14
8:42 am Sunday
Jesus’ statement “I am the Way….” gave abandoned disciples the information they needed so they did not have to return to Judaism after he left.

Session 5: How Faith in Jesus Teaches us how to Treat Nonbelievers
10:00 a.m. Sunday
Relating to someone who does not share your beliefs using the ancient Christian practices of dialogue, liberty, civility, and toleration.

Session 6: Light for the Way
Acts 20
11:00 a.m. Sunday
How Paul witnesses in Athens changes how we share faith today in Jesus’ Name

Home by Another Way

The Bible is full of people outside the mainstream who inform and change how people come to God.

The Spirit of the Lord falls an ancient sorcerer or magus named Balaam. He blesses Israel and refuses to curse his enemies in Numbers 24.

Midianite priests give Moses advice in Exodus 18.

Magi, successors to Balaam, arrive in Matthew 2, giving gifts to Jesus.

All of these characters participate in pagan religious rituals prior to their role in God's story. All of them enter the story at pivotal times in the history of Israel and the church. Balaam, the Magi, and by implication, the Midianite priests live differently after their contact with God and his people. In each case, the people of God learn something from outsiders that enriches their journey, changes their lives, and affects the world. Both the insiders and the outsiders go "home by another way."

God is always at work drawing people to God's light. How does God go about this process? How does God use the people of God today to be his agents in this process? What can we learn from the outsiders that can help us as we share that light? All of these questions and more will be part of my study entitled "Home by Another Way" at First Baptist Knoxville, January 12-13.

Making Love Happen

(The following posts were originally published for www.followingthestar.com)

Matthew 11:7-11

Love begins when we realize that we cannot make it through life without looking back. When we turn around, we see significant people who made it possible for us to be who we are today.

John the Baptist made Jesus’ ministry effective. John, who was part of Jesus’ extended family, did things that Jesus did not come to do. Like Isaiah’s, he opened doors, prepared hearts, and preached sermons that people had not heard in a long time. He wore just camel’s hair for worship and used the Jordan River for a sanctuary. If Jesus had been that person, few would have believed him. After John’s disciples left, Jesus gave credit to the giant on whose shoulders he stood.

Who made things happen in your life? Who was the person who shared Christ and life with you and made you who you are today? More than likely they sacrificed a great deal of money, resources, and fame so that you could live, breathe, play, and enjoy.

Take time to share love this Advent season with someone who has made it possible for you to live the way you live today. Tell them personally through a note, email, or a personal word of thanks.

Prayer: Thank you, God, that we are not alone and that others have prepared the way for us.

Minding Behavior

(This post was oringally published at http://www.followingthestar.org/)

Matthew 11:2-6

Mind-reading. It happens all the time. People love to take a few actions, tie them together, and “Wa-la!” You know what they’re “thinking.” You hear it in phrases that begin with “Everybody thinks.” “Everybody thinks that I’m a……” “They think that he’s a……..” “She thinks that we’re going to…….”

John the Baptist’s followers were playing the “everybody thinks” game about Jesus. They assumed Jesus was trying to be like him. Jesus reminds John the Baptist’s followers that no one is a mind-reader. You can only read behavior. Here are his actions—healing the blind, curing the lame, treating people with health conditions as people, and sharing good news. Love your mind during Advent, and give your mind a gift. Let someone else read minds, and you focus instead on behavior. No matter what “they think,” there is a world to discover just watch by watching others’ actions. That will tell you everything you need to know about a person.

Prayer: I confess that I’m more concerned about what people think rather than what they do. Help me to see the behavior of others and love them as you do.

The Next Best Thing

(This post was oringally published at http://www.followingthestar.org/)

James 5:7-10

We’re always waiting for the next thing. The semester to end, Christmas to come, school year to break, life to begin. We say, “I can’t wait until…” or “When I get out of school.” James says that while waiting for the next thing, we need the discipline of daily obedience to God.

James uses the example of a farmer who is patient intentionally. He does not throw seed on the ground and hope that the sun and rain will do their thing. He is deliberately patient. He takes responsibility for the land, fertilizing, weeding, tilling, and nurturing. He repairs his equipment, works with the tools, and does everything that he thinks is necessary to be prepared for a good crop.

Like a farmer, we have work to do while we patiently await the “next” thing—graduation, college, marriage, career, etc. We can easily get caught up in the “when I get to…” mode and forget about the gifts of responsibilities.

The gift of showing love rather than gossip to the person who shares a locker. The opportunity to sow secret seeds of kindness to a child or a senior adult. The chance to treat parents with respect and gratitude rather than grumbling and arguing. The next thing you know, we’ve arrived.

Prayer: As I seek your patience, help me focus on today, God, and the gifts that are in front of me.

On the Way with God

(This post was oringally published at http://www.followingthestar.org/)
Isaiah 35:8-10

The hardest thing about getting a driver’s license is waiting for the test. The longest season of life seems to be the months between learner’s and driver’s permits. Our parents watch every move we make. We can’t even back the car out of the driveway with mom or dad or both getting tense.

In a world without motor vehicles, Isaiah imagines another kind of highway that God has created that we have free access to. It’s the Way of God. Like getting a learner’s permit and waiting for the license, as believers we have joined God on the way in this life and await the life that is to come. We drive on this spiritual road through our belief in God, but we do not do so with total freedom. We are not allowed to live with whatever behavior we want to. God invites us on the way of holiness, governed not by the rules imposed by society but from a relationship with a living God who invited us.

This Father is not tense or worried; he enjoys the ride with you; and invites you to continue the journey. The Way lasts a lifetime and ends at an eternal destination.

Prayer: Father, thank you for being the calm presence on the stressful highway of life.

Leaping with the Lame

(This post was oringally published at http://www.followingthestar.org/)
Isaiah 35:5-7

In the ancient world, physical disabilities signified spiritual problems. If you were lame, people assumed your parents did something to cause it. If you could not speak, you possibly said something wrong to mute your tongue.

We might laugh and assume “we’d never do that.” The Facebook world, however, gives into the same mentality. On the surface, you on see what a person looks like but can not know the complete story. We see someone who is obese or gaunt, and we might presume gluttony or anorexia. We look at someone’s ethnicity and presume “good athlete” or “smart student.”

Isaiah imagines a different kind of world-- where water springs up in dry places, when pools are built in the Sahara. This kind of world causes believers to see the lame, mute, physically, mentally, socially, and culturally disabled and to look past the surface of their lives. Isaiah says, “You can’t judge a book….or a person….by her cover.” What we see on the outside is an invitation to us to leap with the lame, to see to the mute, to listen to the blind. And when we do, our hearts are the ones that are changed.

A Drought of Love

(This post was oringally published at http://www.followingthestar.org/)
Isaiah 35:1-4

A full grown tree drinks 200 gallons of water in a region of the country that needs all the water it can get. The simple solutions is to remove trees, right? Unfortunately, the tree is a common nesting ground for the endangered willow flycatcher. Local government is prohibited from removing the trees that drink the water. Unfortunately, when the city of San Angelo dredged the local lake to create a larger place to catch runoff rain water, the sludge held the seedlings of future salt cedars. The workers deposited the gunk along the side of the lake and literally planted seeds of trees that consumed the water.

The water of love can be drained like a Salt Cedar planted beside a lake. When we withhold love from certain neighbors, friends or enemies, the water of love is consumed by the trees of mistrust, hate, and vengeance. In Isaiah, God corrects us with his own purifying love. God uproots the hate, vengeance, and mistrust so that we can be free to love again. Spiritual renewal requires God’s corrective love. Water and love flow when there are no barriers between ourselves and others.

Prayer: Holy God, I confess the deeds that have drained my life of the water of love. Lord, have mercy.

Loving the Alien

(This post was oringally published at http://www.followingthestar.org/)
Psalm 146:5-10

Dora the Explorer was just a cartoon character on Nickelodeon until she became the face of Psalm 146:9 for me. I met her during our Latino Vacation Bible School in 2005 in our gymnasium. When I introduced myself to this young mother with a baby she said in simple English, “I’m Dora…you know like the Explorer.”

Dora accepted Christ at that Vacation Bible School and was baptized that week. At the time, we did not have a Latino pastor in Knoxville; but we promised to take care of the new believers.

A few weeks later, Dora was admitted to a local hospital with pneumonia-like symptoms. The physician told her she needed a heart valve. With no immigration papers, no insurance, and little money, the hospital discharged her. That’s when a church member became the hands and feet of God. She contacted friends in Washington and found a federal grant that would pay for the surgery. A few days later, Dora was re-admitted to the hospital and received successful surgery.

Every Sunday when she worships, she is living proof that God watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless. And most of the time God does it through us.

Prayer: God, give us eyes to see and hands to touch the aliens among us.

Safe Stories

At the beginning of the film, the Never Ending Story, a young boy named Bastian finds himself in an old bookstore, inquiring of the bookstore owner about a special book that he has noticed. “What’s that book about?” asks Bastian.
“Oh this is something special,” says the bookstore owner. “Well, what is it?”
“Look your books are safe,” the owner says, “By reading them you get to become Tarzan, or Robinson Crusoe.”
“But that’s what I like about them,” says Bastian.
“Ah, but afterwards you get to be a little boy again.”
“What do you mean?” asks Bastian. “Listen,” says the man.
“Have you ever been Captain Nemo, trapped inside your submarine while the giant squid is attacking you?”
“Yes,” says Bastian.
“Weren’t you afraid you couldn’t escape?”
“But it’s only a story!”
“That’s what I’m talking about,” says the man. “The ones you read are safe.”

I've treated the Christmas story in years past like a book in a used bookstore. Each year, I have read it, reenacted it, preached it, and imagined it. And I have put it safely back on the shelf and become the person that I always was. But for the story to have any meaning, I must, like young Bastion discovered in the movie, enter the story and become part of it.

Matthew invites us to do just that. He mentions three groups of 14 generations in Matthew chapter 1. The first group is from Abraham to David, the second from David to the exile, and the third from the exile to Jesus. The only problem numerically is that there are only 13 generations listed in chapter 1 of Matthew from the exile to Jesus.

Some scholars suggest, however, that the 14th generation is the church--from the 1st century forward who completes the story. They listen, imagine, and then enter the story, from the moment of Immanuel-- "God with us" until the times is fulfilled while Jesus "is with us always until the end of the age."

Call from the Unwanted

Vocation, or one's calling, as Frederick Buechner reflected, is the place where "Your deepest longing meets the world's greatest need." After studying Joseph's decision this Advent, I would add another layer to the definition. For Joseph, Mary's difficult circumstance became an awakening to a decision to a new kind of righteousness.

Matthew 1:18-25 tells us that Joseph was already known as a righteous man before he chose to be Jesus' earthly father. He was righteous because he abided by the Old Testament purity laws like every other faithful devoted Jewish male. But the purity laws usually forced people to withdraw from the defiled and profane. Mary was viewed by the culture like Bathsheba, Rahab, and a long line of other sinful people. But like these women, their circumstances awakened the call of God in their lives. In Joseph's case, he redefined righteousness for all of us. Instead of withdrawing from those deemed "impure" by the religious. He walked into the place and lived with the person whom the villagers would surely disgrace (as the text says).

Vocation can also be then the moment when you see the world's greatest need, and despite your upbringing, you enter the world of the needy to be the righteousness that they need. What a calling, what a privilege, what a challenge.

When someone in our family or network chooses a lifestyle that scripture deems as "sinful," or when a friend makes a mistake that he will later regret, we have two choices for righteousness-- one that withdraws from them back to the Old Testament view. Or another kind of righteousness-- the kind that causes us to join the crisis. Their choice (or maybe our choices) awaken the call of God on our lives to enter the unwanted, difficult circumstance. And in that moment there is "Immanuel-- God with Us."

And when we are the ones who have made the choice, mistake, and have sinned, the very act of making the mistake can awaken God's call on our lives. It can be a moment-- much as experienced by Bathsheba, Rahab, and many others who have found God in their brokenness, and even God found them.