Advent Reflections: Day 10 - 12/11/2012

“The angel answered,
“The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.”
Luke 1:35 (NIV)

Reflection

In the flash of an instant and within the divine intervention of an angelic messenger, Mary’s life would be forever transformed. It’s hard to imagine some of the thoughts that must have been racing through her young mind. “Why me?”, “There’s nothing special about me”, “I’m not good enough”, “I’m too young”, “I’m not ready for this”, “This isn’t what I had planned”  But yet here she was, facing a choice that really was no choice at all. “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” God chose Mary. An ordinary woman, with faults like anyone else, recognized that the love of God was about to overwhelm humanity and that she would be used as its vessel.

How often do we question our abilities when God wants to use us? Instead of recognizing the awesome fact that a loving God chooses to use flawed human beings, we resist, thinking that we know better than God. Mary wasn’t perfect. She was afraid and maybe a little confused. But in His perfect love and sovereign will, God chose her. With all her fears, imperfections and questions, she heard God’s word, chose not to hesitate and acknowledged that His plan was much bigger than hers. In love, God chose her and in obedience, she was willing to say, “I am the Lord’s servant.”  

During this season of Advent, may we set aside our plans, hesitations and fears of imperfection. May we trust in a God that chooses to use us, not because he has to, not because we are perfect, but because He loves us, and nothing more.

                    

Prayer

Lord, it is in this quiet moment that we acknowledge Your presence and perfect love for us. We know that we are far from perfect, and we know that our imperfections sometimes hold us back. But as we meditate on Your perfection, help us to trust in You and that Your decisions are always right. Give us the strength to step forward when You call, knowing that it is because of Your love that You chose us. Let it be only in love that we serve You. Amen 

The Burden of Community

Galatians 6:2 says to, "Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." I've been thinking about this a lot lately and what it really means in a practical way. What did Paul mean by saying we "fulfill the law of Christ" when we "carry each others' burdens"? When we think of community in today's culture, "burden" is not typically a phase that comes to mind. But could it be that carrying others' burdens is a central aspect to the Gospel and thus an essential to healthy community?

What does it mean if a central part of fulfilling the Kingdom of God is carrying others' burdens? What does it say about modern Western Christianity's and it's emphasis on individualism? And what about prayer and corporate times of worship? I mean, how often do we seek to hear from God or experience Him for our own concerns rather than connecting with others? If we're honest with ourselves, most of our prayer and worship focuses on "us" rather than "them".     

If we look at scripture and history, we see that carrying others' burdens was a central aspect to the early church. In Acts 2 we see that the early Christian community "had everything in common" and provided for one another so no one would be in need. Not a very common part of our culture today.  But Paul also wrote often about not being a burden unnecessarily (2 Corinthians 12:14, 1 Thessalonians 2:9, and Hebrews 13:17). And he also talked about bearing with one another by being compassionate and patient. (Colossians 3:12–13, Ephesians 4:2).

God's gives us examples of carrying other's burdens as well, especially our own. Psalm 68:19 says, "Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens." And looking at Matthew 11 and Galatians 5, we see that Christ is portrayed as the one who frees us from heavy burdens. So, I think we can build a good case that carrying others' burdens is truly central to following Christ.  But what does that look like in real life? In community?   

My first thought is that perhaps a great place to start is simply to be with the people we serve. Asking them questions, getting to know them as human beings, helping to carry their loneliness, fear, and doubts could be places to begin. Needing others and being part of real community is part of how we were made.  We were created to instinctively long for connections in authentic vibrant community. When we are actively involved in community, we find that the focus deviates from ourselves and naturally toward others. Cultural individualism desolves and we find that carrying others burdens is not a burden for ourselves, but a blessing.   

I Disagree = I Hate You

Over the last few months, I have become more and more frustrated with division in the Church. It seems that even within the most accepting Christian communities, disunity finds it's way in, stakes a claim and develops a stronghold. The roots dig deep and are unyielding to movement. In the effort of creating open and accepting communities, we sometimes produce just the opposite. Conservative Christ followers open their doors of acceptance to "seekers", allowing them the honor of joining their "open" community, but only if you develop the same mindset. Come as you are, but only if you leave as we are.

Conversely, liberal Christian churches are just as guilty, creating an atmosphere of tolerance but only remaining tolerant if you agree with each and every aspect of their particular theology.  Rather than unity in the Church, we end up with a chaotic mess of anger and division that is hardly what Christ had in mind from the beginning.   

I try to remain as neutral as possible, realizing that we all have something to contribute to the mix. I love the words of a pastor that I used to work with who when asked about his political views said, "I love the idealism of the democrats and the pragmatism of the republicans and hate the hypocrisy of both." Rather than choosing sides, I try to see the inherent good in all people and celebrate that. By the same token, I despise hypocrisy and will point it out, regardless of theological beliefs or political ideology.  Being fairly outspoken and opinionated, I tend to get attacked from both sides. I suppose that makes me an equal opportunity offender.

When looking at divisions in the Church, I always go back to Paul's interaction with the Stoics and Epicureans at the Aeropagus in Athens. (See Acts 17:16-34)  I suppose you could classify Paul as the Conservative Fundamentalist, and the philosophers as the spiritual seekers, maybe Universalists.  Maybe just Rob Bell followers. Had to stick that one in there!  :)  I actually love Rob Bell.  But either way, Paul is presenting the truths of Christ to a group of people with very different beliefs; the antithesis of the truths that Paul is defending.  In essence, he's asking them to reject their pluralistic philosophy and beliefs, and embrace a very narrow view of theology.  Both parties had ample opportunity to begin throwing stones, especially the Athenians who were more threatened that Paul.  Division could have developed and the discussion shut down before it even began.

But something refreshing happens at the end of this discourse. Paul finishes saying what he has to say, making clear the truths of God and his belief in the resurrection through Christ. "When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.” At that, Paul left the Council." (Acts 17:32 & 33)  

We see three interesting things in this small verse that I think can help all of us avoid some of the divisions that inundate faith communities from time to time.

1. Face it. There will always exist people that firmly and angrily disagree with you, and from time to time, you will respond with anger to those who disagree with you. (some of them sneered)  It's going to happen. We're all messed up people. Let us do the best we can to keep our hearts open and loving toward one another.  "Love one another" leaves no room for hate. (John 13)

2. Dialogue can continue, even when we adamantly disagree. "We want to hear you again on this subject." Translation: I respect your views and beliefs. I love you and would love to talk again sometime. I'll buy the coffee! 

3. Change the subject! End it! When disagreements arise and come to a stalemate, we need to learn to leave it alone for a while.  "At that, Paul left the Council."  None of us are ever going to agree on everything and it's impossible to change someone views just by a simple conversation. That's a good thing!  We all don't have to share the same beliefs in order to celebrate community together.  Disagreements do not have to equate to anger or hatred. 

Let us learn to to rejoice in what we agree on, but also celebrate our difference as well.  The journey of life and faith would be a pretty boring if we all walked upon the same path.  

  

Random Observation

Random observation: Kids are the most curious of human being.

I'm a people watcher. Especially when plagued with writer's block, I can spend hours observing people and their interactions with one another. I also enjoy listening to conversations. Not eavesdropping, but just overhearing casual dialogue that occurs naturally in common gathering places. It's amazing at how much can be mirrored about culture by just spending a few hours in Starbucks.

Random observation: As a whole, most people have no self-awareness.  

Random observation: You can learn a lot about people by what they carve into wooden tables.

Observing others is a strange thing. Lives intersect on cultural roads and inadvertently beg for their personal significance to outweigh the other.  When you think about it, we all stand on level playing field and all evolve from the same spiritual cloth. Some of us have connected to the natural beat of life, and some of us miss it. Not by chance, but by quite natural urges. I wonder how this coincides with God's divine order of life and why such a dichotomy seems to exist. Did God ordain us to rhythmically interact on common ground, but we deviate on our own accord, distended to collide with others that deviate as well?

Random observation: Most people don't care.

Random observation: The truth has nothing to do with the reality around us.

Random observation: The man sitting next to me looks exactly like Alfred Hitchcock dressed in a Hawaiian shirt, running shorts and Topsiders.
    
As we journey through life, attuned to the path set before each of us, and intersecting as we go along, we long for connection. Connection to community to a natural longing that is embedded in each one of our spirits. Connection is a natural urge that we want to embrace, but often suppress because of certain social standards and misconceptions.  Usually, quite often in fact, we never really receive what we long for from others. Our desires often go unfulfilled.

Random observation: Whenever I see elderly ladies, I miss my grandmother.

Random observation: The further I move from "Church", the closer I feel to God.

When we push against the grain, finally producing what we want, we naturally may receive what we perceive as connection, but usually it pales in comparison to what we essentially longed for originally. Inevitably, when we fail to connect with others, we feel a disconnect with God as well. And this is one of the greatest mistakes that we make in our spiritual lives. When we attribute human characteristics to God, ignoring the divine, we actually set God up as being flawed. What we tend to forget is that within God lies only perfection. We screw up far to many relationships because of our own selfishness and failures. Let us not lump God into that category as well.          

Random observation: I sometimes hate the music that is forcefully pumped into my head at Starbucks.

Random observation: Just because we call it "community", doesn't mean it is.  

Writing about Not Writing

I'm doing my best to write this morning, but it's not happening.  The pictures are clear, but I can't seem to ascribe words to them.  I got up this morning, took a shower, got dressed and made my way to my favorite coffee shop.  I was lucky enough to not encounter someone sitting in "my" chair, so I settled in, ready to compose something worthy of the time I invested.  I wanted to walk away, thinking to myself, "I wrote something today!  And, damn!  It was good!  BEHOLD!  I AM A WRITER!"  It's not happening.  Nothing is being transmitted from my brain, through my hands and onto my laptop. So, I'm writing about that.  I'm writing about not being able to write today.

I tell myself everyday, "Jake, It just might not happen today.  Don't let it get to you.  EVERY writer struggles with writing, probably more often than not."  In fact, Donald Miller just wrote an amazing blog on this exact subject. The 5 Steps to Writing a Book. I suppose if Donald Miller struggles with writing, I shouldn't be discouraged when I do.  He's good.  I'm worse.  "Much much worse."  (Remember that episode of Seinfeld?)

Writing is not easy.  It's much more difficult than I ever imagined, and most of the time, I hate what I write. I'm my worst critic.  My wife Kelly usually edits, and critiques, what I write. She usually loves what I write. If if were not for her constant encouraging words of affirmation, I probably wouldn't write another word.

I didn't always consider myself to be a writer.  I wrote because I enjoyed expressing myself with the written word, but never classified myself as a "writer".  What makes a person cross that threshold, ushering them into this category of identification?  I'm not sure.  The transition was not immediate for me, nor did I eagerly embrace it.  At first, I seemed to be reluctant in telling people, "I'm a writer."  I remember having lunch with a good friend of mine and him asking me, "So, are you a writer now?"  I guess I am.  Humbly, I'm a writer.

I love the fact that what I have to say matters to people, even if just one person sometimes.  I hope that I always earn the right to write for those who read what I compile.  I don't think that I have any hidden insight to the world, culture or theology.  I just seem to be able to put it all together in a way that people enjoy reading.  I see pictures in my head and writing is a way of sharing the images with you.  I hope that I'm always able to do that, and do it better as I continue writing.  I appreciate the fact that you read what I have to say.  It means more to me than you might realize.  God has blessed me with the ability to communicate in written form.  That's it.  I know it.  I accept it.  I embrace it.  I'm thankful.

So, here I am.  Writing about not being able to write.  Frustrated.  Staring out the window.  Kicking myself because for someone reason I have nothing to say.  And I really don't.  I'm writing a blog about not being able to write.  But as I find myself not being able to write, I write. Does that make me a writer or what?