Interruptus

A poem for the first Sunday of Advent

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the most wonderful time of the year,

Prepare to be filled with Christmas cheer,

Raise your glass of Eggnog high as Old St. Nick flies through the sky.

And don’t delay your festive shopping; the malls around the town are hopping;

With stressed out folks in need of rest, all searching for the gift that’s best;

While pasting on a laboured smile and humming songs of infants mild.

But there’s no time to contemplate – because if you do you might be late

For practicing the Christmas play, with all the kids at church today.

For little Sally needs her wings and halo if she’s going to sing,

And little Johnny (in need of sleep) refuses to portray a sheep –

He throws a tantrum in the car as he and sister start to spar,

You turn around and raise your voice and warn the kids they have a choice,

That they can whine, and pout and bray, but there won’t be gifts on Christmas day

They’ll end up on the naughty list – and as you start to shake your fist,

You hear a horn and then a squeal as you turn around and grab the wheel –

A narrow miss, too close a call – those winter tires you must install –

As traffic slows down to a crawl 

And little sally starts to bawl, 

You wonder is it worth it all?

For every year it gets more tense – the Christmas season makes no sense!

You’re tired and stressed and burning out – this cannot be what it’s about,

Not presents, shopping, cards or cheer, not carols, cookies or reindeer,

And as you pull into the church, the Holy Spirit says to search –

To open up the Word of God and know the path that Jesus trod,

To hear his claims for why he came – for what those Angels did proclaim,

The miracle of God made flesh – the Father sends his own, his best.

To understand the real reason for what we call the Christmas season –

But just as you begin to ponder a voice is heard from over yonder,

Johnny’s late, his scene is on – they need the sheep upon the lawn,

And sally’s wings won’t fix themselves – everybody needs your help

And just like that the moment’s past – a Christmas peace that doesn’t last

A busyness that’s unsurpassed

A pile of presents now amassed

A boy who thinks he’s been miscast

A conscience that has been harassed

How does this honour the first and the last?

Applying for a visitor's visa to Swaggerville

So in the lead up to the 99th Grey Cup this weekend I faced a conundrum. The Riders weren't even close to being at the party and neither was my back-up team the Argonauts. I have been forced to choose between two teams that I have little love for on this Sunday's big game. So I threw the question out to Facebook for the definitive answer of what I should do. Unsurprisingly the answers were conflicted.

The standard answer from within Rider Nation was that I should always, and above all cheer AGAINST Winnipeg. There was no question that the Lions should be my surrogate team going into this Grey Cup. Some were even aghast that I would even consider this a dilemma.

Honest and true B.C. fans appealed to my sense of western pride and talked about how special it is when the host city gets to the Grey Cup and how fitting it would be for the Lions to win at home.

Winnipeg fans (mostly Aaron Gerrard) lobbied hard for all the good reasons why the Bombers were the natural choice for me to cheer for including - championship drought, quality of personalities on the team,  and the fact that Swaggerville is actually the most similar place to Rider Nation (which is why we normally hate them so).

The few independent voices in the discussion leaned toward Winnipeg as well citing things like geographic proximity (you cheer for who's closest to you) and the fact that Winnipeg is the underdog in this match-up. So what was I to do?

Well after much deliberation I have decided to humbly apply for a visitor's visa to Swaggerville for Sunday's game. And in my defense Rider Nation I'd like to explain why:

1. The advocates of cheering for the bombers ran a much more 'positive' campaign. I'm trying to break the habit of cheering against teams and instead choosing who to cheer for. I've even found a way in recent years to cheer for the Habs as a Leafs fan  (although I still make, and always will make an exception for the Ottawa Senators - my sanctification still has a long way to go) . The voices telling me to cheer for the Lions (mostly Rider fans) were basing their decisions solely on rivalry. That doesn't appeal to me.
2. I have more of a connection to the Bombers - not just by current geography, but my Step-Father's family is all from MB and this would be the first time in a long time that I could cheer for Winnipeg along with my Step-Dad and my brothers (who have been raised to cheer for the Bombers). Family unity plays a role in this decision.
3. The Leafs game that night against Anaheim isn't televised in Saskatchewan.
4. I like cheering for the underdog - it's satisfying when the little guy wins (for a more thorough explanation of why check out this post about the nature of power and heroism in transformers - it's rivitting I promise)
5. With Pastor Waylon already cheering for the Lions (and cheering for them over the Riders may I add) I think it's important for balance in the church to cheer for Winnipeg.

Okay, that last reason was hooey - I just don't want to live with my new Youth Pastor gloating. ;)

So there you have it. Please don't kick me out of Rider Nation for my choices - I've made them with a clear conscience. I'm only applying for a temporary visa to Swaggerville. I'm looking forward to next season when I can come home again.

Blessings on your week,

Chris

The changing face of a God who does not change

So I'm working on my first advent message today, naturally thinking on all things incarnation. I've been pondering and reading through passages like Philippians 2, John 1 and wondering what transformation has occurred in the second person of the Trinity in order for the Word to be made Flesh?

It really has nothing to do with my sermon (which is actually on Matthew 10, and specifically verse 34) but it's got me thinking: If the Word was made flesh as a consequence of the incarnation, and he exists forevermore with a corporeal existence (which Paul clearly states in 1 Corinthians 15 and is referenced in many other places), and if we are not to fall into heresies like Docetism that question the real humanity of Jesus Christ - does this mean that the unchanging God - on that first Christmas actually changed?

I'm not making any declarative statements here - just musing out loud. How do the implications of the incarnation play out in light of passages like Malachi 3:6, "I the LORD do not change." or James 1:17, "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows" among others? I haven't taken the time to study this in depth yet, but if someone out there wants to join me in the musings I'd welcome the discussion.

Blessings on your day,
Chris

100 beginnings

Wow! When I made my third attempt to start a blog earlier this year I had hoped that one day I might reach this milestone but I really didn't believe it would happen. But here I am today, eight months later celebrating 100 posts!

To celebrate this milestone I've compiled a list of my favourite entries of the last 8 months. These are the posts I'm most proud of and that I've received the most feedback on. Thanks to all of you reading this for helping me get here by continually encouraging me to keep blogging. I look forward to celebrating the 200 post threshold within the next year!

With thanks,
Chris


March 2011
What's Really Important
Low
The Wagon, the train and the nature of heroism

April 2011
Thoughts on Discipline
The Cult of Christmas

May 2011
What type of Kingdom are we building?
Disposable Jesus

June 2011
The Moon is Darker than I Thought

July 2011
Jesus please change the world - even if you have to start with me

August 2011
Mitt Romney and the politics of poultry
Pride

September 2011
Confessions of a Pastor just trying to get it right
Me thinks thou dost protest too much

October 2011
ThanksLIVING
What are you doing with God's stuff (Supplemental)

Shame

And Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he returned to the temple. All the people gathered around him, and he sat down and taught them. The legal experts and Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery. Placing her in the center of the group, they said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of committing adultery. In the Law, Moses commanded us to stone women like this. What do you say?” They said this to test him, because they wanted a reason to bring an accusation against him. Jesus bent down and wrote on the ground with his finger.

They continued to question him, so he stood up and replied, “Whoever hasn’t sinned should throw the first stone.” Bending down again, he wrote on the ground. Those who heard him went away, one by one, beginning with the elders. Finally, only Jesus and the woman were left in the middle of the crowd.

Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Is there no one to condemn you?”

 She said, “No one, sir.”

  

Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on, don’t sin anymore.”

John 8:1-11 (CEB)

The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle; that is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable."

-Brennan Manning

I still remember to this day the Christmas I got my first portable music player. Long before iPods and MP3 players – even before the popularity of failed formats like Minidisc – there was the Discman. In December of 1995 – I entered the portable music generation with my very first personal portable CD player. And of course – like everyone else of that generation I had to break that device in with one album that got played on repeat until I darn-near wore the CD out. That album was D.C. Talk’s “Jesus Freak”. And of course everyone listening to Christian music in my generation within weeks of that album’s release had memorized that Brennan Manning quote that served as the introduction to track number 4 – “What if I stumble”.

The idea that many people in my generation bought into from that quote was that leading inconsistent lives greatly hindered our witness to the world and undermined the power of the Gospel to transform people. The outcome of this failing then was an increase in atheism – an outright rejection of the notion of God and the person of Christ. But in the sixteen years now (am I really that old?) since that album was released and that idea set loose on me and my peers I think the situation has changed – and unfortunately changed for the worse.

Whereas our inconsistent lifestyles in the past polarized people to choose between a perfect Christ preached by very imperfect people and the idea that God doesn’t really exist – today in the post-modern milieu of smorgasbord religion and choose-your-own morality our inconsistent application of Christian virtue has led to something more disturbing than atheism – it’s led to the creation of an ambivalent Christ who has no interest in the morality of his followers.

Looking in from the outside (or is it out from the inside – I need to make sure my metaphors are consistent too) I can see an emerging generation who has created a Jesus in their own image – one who sees no inconsistency with drunkenness, debauchery, casual sexuality, crude and vulgar language and other unseemly behaviours six days of the week, while worshipping, serving and leading in the Church on Sundays as if there was nothing wrong. A quick survey of my Facebook friends (not exactly scientific, but nonetheless fairly representative) reveals a great number of people posting about their wonderful times in church in the same week that they have been talking about how wasted they got at the bar, making jokes about how slutty they look in photos that got posted from the weekend’s party, or how much they’re looking forward to partying until they blackout at this coming weekend’s gathering. Is it just me or is there something frightening about this trend?

(Just to clarify  – I’m not picking on anyone in particular. My Facebook friends list and the people I follow on twitter number somewhere around 375, this is a widespread observation – if you’re reading this and feeling like I’m picking on you be assured that I’m not – but maybe Jesus is)

There are a lot of reasons thrown around in Christian circles as to why this watering down of virtue has become such a rampant issue in the church – some of the ones I’ve heard are related to the cultural values of tolerance that have become inescapable in our society – If you can’t tell anyone that their lifestyle is immoral then eventually the perception becomes that everything is permissible (another quote from the NT taken grossly out of context); another has to with teachers and preachers going down an accommodationist path – miss-applying the example of Jesus who dined and partied with sinners as a mandate to ignore the morality of professing Christians – not wanting to make anyone feel uncomfortable in the church. I’m going to propose a third idea today as to why things have gotten so out of hand. Shame.

Whatever happened to good, old fashioned shame?

It used to be that when someone who claimed to follow Jesus and then acted in a way contrary to that claim they would feel ashamed by the way they had misrepresented their Lord; they would feel ashamed by the way they had cheapened the grace offered to them on the cross; they would feel ashamed by the way they had sullied the witness of their local church through their actions. There was a healthy and godly shame that led to repentance and a recommitment to allow the Holy Spirit through the process of sanctification to once again perform surgery on their fallen and unyielded hearts. Certainly this inconsistency did, as the Manning quote claims, cause some to turn away from God but at least it was actually the God of the Bible that they were rejecting. This emerging generation (and by extension those of all ages who embrace their values and cultural norms) seems to have no shame. I don’t mean that as an insult or the derogatory declarative that you might imagine some exasperated senior saint exclaiming as they walked out of a church service where the pastor wore jeans when preaching(!!!) – but rather as an observation on the thing that seems to be missing from this new expression of the faith. It’ like we’ve fallen in love with a saviour who boldly declares in the face of our accusers, “neither do I condemn you” but walk away before we hear him exhort us to “go and sin no more”.

We preach and teach that story excitedly about the grace that is extended to us by Jesus to get past our faults and failures and start anew in relationship with him – and certainly for generations people have come into the church broken over their own sinful actions to find forgiveness and restoration – but we miss out on the crucial application of that grace – holiness.

What we are experiencing these days in our churches is the direct result of failing to proclaim the second part of Jesus declaration as loudly as we shout the first. The woman who was caught in adultery felt shame over her sin – she was broken and contrite and was shown unmerited grace by Jesus – but he wasn’t content to wipe the slate clean without calling her to something deeper. “Go and sin no more.” Or in some translations “Go and leave your life of sin.” That sort of call will inevitably lead to shame. It will inevitably lead us to be more cognizant of our failings, more aware of our sinful appetites, and more wary of a lifestyle that acknowledges Jesus with our lips only to deny him by our actions. Shame is the way we know we need Jesus. Shame is the way we know we need forgiven. Shame is a currency that we can exchange with Christ for joy.

Oh that we would be an ashamed generation. Perhaps then we could begin to understand the depths of Joy that were experienced by the woman caught in adultery.

Until next time,

Chris

A Pastor's Prayer for EAC

[Heavily adapted from Philippians 1]

From Chris, a servant of Jesus Christ

To all those in Estevan Alliance Church – the members of God’s family, along with your leaders and volunteers

May the grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

I continually thank God for you in my prayers. I’m thankful for all of you every time I pray, because of the way you have been my partners in the ministry of the gospel in Estevan from the day I first arrived until now. And I’m certain of this: that Jesus has a plan for you and for the ministry of this church and that he will make sure that plan is seen though to completion.

I know that you are standing behind me and your leaders during good times and bad times and that by the grace of Jesus we can weather any storm together. That knowledge brings me such joy.

This then is my prayer for you: that you would continue to be committed to growth. I pray this so that you will be able to decide what really matters and so you will be sincere and blameless on the day of Christ. I pray that you will then be filled with the fruit of righteousness, which comes from Jesus Christ, in order to give glory and praise to God.

In the great name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,

Amen.

See you on Sunday for the explanation...

Chris

In good company

I guess when I started believing that our congregation needed to be confronted with the harsh reality of a New Testament ethic of money I wasn't alone. I stumbled across this article on the CNN Religion Blog this past weekend - they even stole my title! ;)

CNN Belief Blog - Preachers confront the 'last taboo': Condemning Greed amidst Great Recession

It's an interesting article that polls opinions and practices from a number of different perspectives in the American Church. Pastors of all political persuasions and economic philosophies chime in in this discussion and it gives the reader a good sampling of some of the different types of teaching that are out there in the midst of this season of economic crisis. As a pastor myself who has recently finished preaching on this very topic (you can find my three part series The Final Taboo: Stewardship in the 21st Century here) I can tell you that it's a very scary thing to confront. As the article states:

Though millions of Americans are angry over the economy, little moral outrage seems to be coming from the nation’s pulpit, they say. Too many pastors opt for offering pulpit platitudes because they are afraid parishioners will stop giving money if they hear teachings against greed, said the Rev. Robin R. Meyers, senior minister of Mayflower Congregational United Church of Christ in Oklahoma City.

As preachers, whether we are dyed in the wool capitalists, bleeding heart socialists, or something in the middle (which is where I like to think I stand) we have an obligation to our people (and ultimately to God) not to shy away from such topics. Ultimately God will be the judge of whether I got it right in all the teaching I presented over our three week journey through the Gospels - but I know that even talking about the issue, the final taboo, that I stand as a preacher in good company.

Just my thoughts for today.