Friday, December 14, 2007

Are There No Sanctuaries Anymore?

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday, Dec. 14, 2007


I took my kids to see the latest Disney animated film several years ago. After decades of fairy tales and talking animals, Disney was taking on serious literature: The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Of course, “Hunchback” had some characteristically Disney characters, most notably the animated, singing gargoyles from the top of the cathedral who were Quasimodo’s only friends. But that film also had some of the most intensive scenes yet in a Disney animated movie.

One dramatic scene is when Quasimodo swooped down to save Esmerelda from the power-hungry cleric, Frollo. Standing at the doorstep to Notre Dame Cathedral, Quasi screamed “Sanctuary! Sanctuary!” Frollo’s soldiers dared not enter the Cathedral with arms to capture the beautiful gypsy girl. As long as Esmerelda stayed inside the church, she was safe from Frollo.

That was then. This is now. A gunman targets a church in Colorado Springs, killing and wounding several people in the parking lot. He throws smoke bombs into the main entrance of the church so that more people will crowd out of the smaller back entrance. But he’s there waiting for them with an assault rifle, two handguns and more than 1000 rounds of ammunition, according to the news reports I’ve read. If not for an armed security guard, I suspect that dozens of people would have been killed before police arrived.

We call the places in which we worship God “sanctuaries” because they are supposed to be special rooms where we can cast aside our cares and concentrate on our Creator. Every week, around 100 people come to my church’s sanctuary without considering their lives were at risk. Until now.

Clearly, there is no longer any sacred space in this world. For years, we heard about mosque bombings in Iraq, but they don’t upset us because they’re half a world away. Somehow though, Colorado is a whole lot closer – much more REAL to us. Suddenly, gong to church on Sunday takes on a different level of risk. But I think the connection between mosque bombings and church shooters is much more direct than most of us realize.

Whenever violence is directed towards a religious center, shrine or place of worship – no matter what religion is represented – all religions are damaged. Bombs in a Jewish synagogue and arson in a Hindu temple are also attacks against Christianity. The shooter in Colorado Springs “hated Christians,” but that hatred extended to people of all faiths.

I am not one of the “all roads lead to heaven, but just by different directions” people. Comparative religion studies show that the end goal of Christianity is not shared as an end goal of Buddhism, for example. But a common underpinning between Christianity and Buddhism is respect for others. Each faith has a form of Jesus’ golden rule found in Luke 6:31: “Do to others what you would have them do to you.” (The Buddhist version, by the way: “Hurt not others in ways that you would find hurtful.”)

Killing people in a house of worship is a grotesque violation of this common rule. Actually, I will go further than that: it is blasphemous! It is not just an attack on God’s creations, but an attack directly against God. Nothing can justify it. Not religious disagreements, not power struggles between warring factions, not encroachment designed to drive others out, not even grudges against a missionary group that deemed a person unsuitable for missionary work.

Evidently that was Matthew Murray’s motive. He had been rejected by Youth With a Mission, a Christian missionary training and deploying ministry several years earlier. I haven’t seen reports to detail why he was rejected; but after these actions, I wonder of “prone to violent outbursts” was written somewhere in his files.

Matthew Murray lost perspective and destroyed sanctuary. We can all agree to that. But what about closer to home? What about here in our own communities? Are we destroying sanctuary by skipping worship so that we can get to the malls? Are we blasphemous in the church when we keep looking at our watches to see what time it is? (After all, we gotta get to Bob Evans before the crowds) Are we attacking God by verbally disrespecting those with different faith systems than our own?

Yes, I acknowledge that there’s a big gap between church shootings and Sunday mall shopping. But both take away the sacred places that God intends for us to have. We are coming to one of the most sacred times of the Christian faith – celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Why not make one of your Christmas gifts be renewing the concept of sanctuary in your own life? In what ways can you become a more faithful adherent of the Golden Rule?

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Be Prepared!

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday, Dec. 7, 2007


When I was in my later elementary years, my mother made a discovery that truly changed how we celebrated Christmas. She discovered Advent.

Advent, of course, is very old. Its origins date back to the early Christian church – somewhere during the 4th century – as Christians remembered and celebrated events of Jesus Christ’s life, death and resurrection. The name originated from the Latin word “adventus”, which means “coming.” During Advent, Christians through the centuries prepared themselves for the coming of the Christ Child.

But some Christian traditions, including most Baptists, do not celebrate Advent or other special seasons. Since all of these special celebrations are found in the roots of Catholicism (which was the predominant church for most of Christian history until 500 years ago), many post-Reformation Christian groups chose to eliminate these practices in favor of a “simpler” worship.

My family’s Baptist history goes back many generations. In fact, my 3rd-great grandfather is credited as being the first Baptist preacher to cross west of the Nueces River in Texas back in the 1840s. So when my mother discovered Advent, it really WAS a new thing for us!

Mom bought a special candle holder that held five candles: one central candle surrounded by four additional candles. The center candle is the “Christ” candle, and it is not lit until Christmas. The four surrounding candles represent the four Sundays before Christmas. As each Sunday is reached, an additional candle is lit. When Christmas arrives, all five candles are lit.

But celebrating Advent is more than just lighting candles each Sunday and Christmas. She also bought a family devotional that had suggested Scripture readings, meditations on those readings, prayers and songs. Our family made it a habit to gather around the kitchen table and have these “mini-worship” services together.

We read passages that prophesied the coming of the Messiah, such as Micah 5:2, 4-5 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times… He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. And he will be their peace.”

We sang songs like “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus” – “Come, thou long expected Jesus, born to set thy people free; from our fears and sins release us, let us find our rest in thee. Israel’s strength and consolation, hope of all the earth thou art; dear desire of every nation, joy of every longing heart.”

You will not find many references to that Bible text or song in our modern preparations for Christmas. In fact, in the rush for today’s Christmas, we are often neglectful of Jesus himself. Unfortunately, this was true 30 years ago, so my mom’s discovery of Advent was especially welcomed in our family. We wanted something to help us slow down, to help us remember the true meaning of Christmas, to help us be READY for Christmas!

And what does it mean to be ready for Christmas? Its not getting all the presents wrapped and under the tree before the family arrives from out of town. It isn’t getting the car loaded before taking the trip to Grandma’s. It isn’t even simply getting to a Christmas Eve worship service.

To get ready for Christmas, we need to recognize what’s really happening at Christmas: God is coming to earth! In this little baby, the Savior of the world enters the world. God becomes human and thus fulfills Micah’s prophecy: the one from old becomes the one who leads the flock into peace.

To put that into a 21st century context, this little baby is born from a homeless, unwed mother who’s had to travel to pay taxes for governmental services she didn’t necessarily receive or want, in a town that didn’t have affordable (or even available) housing. Yet that little baby was also the Creator of the universe.

So be prepared … in all the ADVENT-ageous ways!

Monday, December 10, 2007

Christmas Lighs and Christmas Lite

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday, Nov. 30, 2007

“Dad, when are you going to get the lights up?”

It’s not even December and I’ve heard that question (or some variation of it) at least a dozen times. Hanging lights on the house, yard, trees, bushes seems to have become the new Christmas tradition in the last decade or so. If its an outside object, then you can hang lights on it. And if you don’t already have enough objects, the stores are happy to provide you with plywood cutouts, heavy-duty wire guides, even blow-up figurines of larger-than-life Santas, Mickey Mouses, and maybe Jesus in a manger.

One of the most effective light displays that I’ve seen is actually pretty simple. A person put a spotlight in the yard facing the side of the house where there were no windows. Then he put a small cut-out shape about a foot away from the light. The small shape cast a dramatic shadow against the wall. The shape I remember seeing was of a Wiseman pointing either towards the star or his destination.

My house, however, doesn’t have such a simple outdoor decorating theme. We have tried to outline the entire roofline in the large outdoor multi-colored lights. And because we prefer a very neat, finished look, each light is mounted into a plastic holder that slides under the roof shingle. Each light is spaced according to the total length of the roofline divided by the number of lights on that strand available. (Yes, I hate doing the math, too!)

It’s a lot of work to get our lights up and looking good. And for the last several years, I have not had very much time to get that work done. December always seemed to be a fast month for me; but now that I am serving as a pastor, the month goes by so fast that I barely blink before its gone! If I can’t even catch my breath, how can I get lights up?

“Honey, the lights still aren’t up. Are you going to do it this year?”

What makes the lights so important? Why should I make them a priority over the other things I must get done? (Like writing this article about Christmas lights…) I think there are several reasons. First of all, the lights are a gift back to the community. We all enjoy driving around to look at Christmas lights. Just take a look at the lines of cars going to Point Pleasant, if you doubt me. When the lights are up on our house, we are saying “Merry Christmas” to everyone who drives by.

Secondly, Christmas lights are a reminder of the Light of the World – Jesus Christ. Isaiah 9 says this: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned. … For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called, ‘Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.’ Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.”

John’s gospel picks up on this theme in its opening verses: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.”

Even with all of the millions of Christmas lights burning in thousands of displays, we still live in a dark world. So many times, we light up our houses, yards and trees without recognizing how much darkness remains within us. Every time we are rude, self-serving, impatient, abrupt, dishonest, and excessive, the darkness grows a little darker. But whenever we are loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle and self-controlled, the light of Christ shines a little brighter.

I may or may not get my Christmas lights up on my house before Christmas Day, but I pray that you will see the Christmas Light inside of me everyday. When people see you, do they see darkness or light? During this season of preparing for Christmas, focus your energies on being a Light for Christ. Otherwise, you may just be celebrating Christmas lite.

Saturday, December 8, 2007

Black Friday and Christmas Red and Green

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday, Nov. 23, 2007


Happy “Black Friday”! Don’t know what that means? A few years ago, retailers figured out that the Day-after-Thanksgiving sales were what pushed them out of the “red” in losing money into the “black” of turning a profit for the year. So “Black Friday” became the symbolic turnaround required to be successful in retail sales.

Have you noticed that the after-Thanksgiving sales incentives keep getting bigger and bigger? I heard that Kohl’s is opening at 4 a.m. Friday with “door-buster” sales incentives to get consumers up and out of bed and into their stores.

But it’s not just after-Thanksgiving anymore. Some stores have started opening on Thanksgiving Day to try and boost their bottom line. Wal-Mart keeps its physical stores closed on Thanksgiving Day, but walmart.com is open for business 24x7, and its Thanksgiving Day sales have been greater than any other online retailer.

What’s driving this buying and selling frenzy? Christmas “green.” Somehow our culture has gradually bought into the idea that each year’s Christmas has to be bigger and better than last year’s Christmas in terms of quantity and cost of presents. Of course, retailers love this trend – and even drive it!

Have you seen the commercial where Mom and the kids are eager to open their store-branded wrapped gifts? Dad comes in and announces that they can open their gifts when they get back from seeing Grandma. Next, they’re in the car outside Grandma’s house; Grandma opens her door and beckons them inside. Instead, Mom rolls down the car window, waves and shouts, “Hi Grandma!” Then she turns to Dad and says, “OK, let’s go!” They drive away, presumably so they can open all that stuff.

I am not naming which store made that commercial because I don’t want to give them any additional name-brand publicity for what I consider to a horrific obscenity against Christmas! That commercial makes me see Christmas “red”! Whenever we cross the line from “what can I give?” to “what am I gonna get?”, we have violated the meaning of Christmas.

But I’m really not surprised that people don’t know the meaning of Christmas anymore. In fact, the word “Christmas” may be soon on the “endangered” list. Instead of “Merry Christmas!”, we are supposed to use the more politically correct “Happy Holidays!” “Seasons Greetings” instead of “Glory to God in the highest, and peace towards men on earth.”

Christmas is supposed to be a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, but many have turned it into a celebration of consumerism and gluttony – a gluttony of presents, food, drink, revelry, etc. Now don’t get me wrong! I love the celebrations associated with this season!! I think it is right and good to give gifts to one another, to gather with family and friends, and to enjoy good food and good times. But here’s the point: we do all of these things to share the love of God with one another – NOT to get stuff for ourselves.

Now before you get too comfortable in yourself, thinking that none of this applies to you, let me add these challenging questions: Do you have presents to give without an expectation of receiving? Have you made an anonymous gift sometime during the year other than Christmastime? Have you encouraged others towards generosity by your own example?

I can ask you those questions, because I also ask them of myself. And I, too, fall short. You see, God’s standards for generosity are much higher than our own standards. The Bible tells us what God’s standards are for giving: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever would believe in him would not die but live.” (John 3:16)

The excitement of Christmas red and green gives way to the red blood of a Cross. And God mysteriously but thoroughly uses that red to turn the black of our sin into the white of God’s righteousness. So as you scurry through stores, gather for holiday parties, and eat all those goodies, remember the real reason for this season and say a prayer of confession and thanksgiving to God for the Gift given to you.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Cooler Weather and Warmer Welcomes


First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday, Nov. 9th, 2007.


We finally got the cooler weather that’s expected with the changing of seasons. Summer seemed to hang on far longer than most of us wanted. It certainly stayed hot too long for my tastes! Several times this summer, I commented on how much southeastern Ohio was feeling like the Texas summers I grew up with. And I moved away from Texas to get away from those summers!

I really appreciate the four seasons. I enjoy the colors and crisp coolness of fall. I love a beautiful snowfall and cold temperatures (as long as it’s not snowing on Sunday and I can stay inside to admire the snow!). The new life of spring invigorates me, and I even enjoy a few hot days during summer.

What get’s me down is too much of any one season’s extremes. In Texas, I would experience as much as six weeks of 95+ to 100+ days in a row. Late July and most of August were almost unbearable in the heat. Now some folks will say, “It’s a dry heat,” but let me tell you – an oven’s dry heat too, and I wouldn’t want to live there either!

My first summer in Ohio was incredible. We moved north six years ago in early August. The high temperatures were hovering near 80, and lows were in the upper 50s. Back in Texas, they were in the middle of one of those 100+ stretches. I thanked God for letting me experience such beautiful weather my first week in Ohio – it was almost as if the weather itself was offering my family a special new-comer’s welcome!

Hospitality is a key part of every community and culture. When we welcome one another, we create lasting bonds. When hospitality is absent, distrust and isolation tears the community apart. The United Methodist Church has been running television ads lately trying to make people feel welcome. “Radical hospitality” is what they call it. To be radical means to take something to an extreme. Radical hospitality, then, is to go above and beyond expectations to make people feel welcome.

My first summer here was an experience of radical hospitality in terms of weather. I would love to give unlimited days of 70s for highs and 50s for lows. But that’s not within my control – or yours. So what can we do to offer radical hospitality to one another?

My first suggestion shouldn’t be radical, but our culture has changed so much in the past 30 years, that now it is radical: offer common courtesies like holding doors open for one another when going in and out of buildings, stores, schools, churches, etc. I recently ate lunch at Bob Evans. As I was leaving, a group of ladies were coming in. I held the door for them, and one woman out of the group said, “Thank-you. No one’s held the door for me for years!” It’s not much effort, but it really does help others to feel appreciated.

My second suggestion is a little more difficult: go out of your way to offer a random act of kindness to a stranger. For instance, you’re heading into Parkersburg from Belpre using the Memorial toll bridge. Pay the toll for the car behind you. Maybe you can afford a little more generosity – the next time you’re in the 5 items or less line in Wal-Mart, pick up the cost for the person behind you. (Now be careful – you may not be able to do that big-screen plasma TV).

My third suggestion is perhaps the most difficult – but also the most rewarding: become a friend to someone you don’t really know. This takes time, effort and intentionality. It means inviting them over for a meal, or to watch the Buckeyes on TV, or to play games, or (gasp!) to go to church together. Have conversations together – find out what the other person likes, his or her dreams in life, the hurts she or he’s experienced.

Jesus Christ showed us what radical hospitality can look like. Take a look at Luke 15:1-7 (actually the whole 15th chapter is full of hospitality stories) when Jesus tells the story of the shepherd and the lost sheep. The shepherd had 100 sheep, but one was lost. The shepherd went out to find the one lost sheep, and eventually he did. When he found it, he rejoiced and brought it back to the rest of the flock. Then he threw a party to celebrate!

Sometimes we are the lost sheep; sometimes we are the shepherd who goes to find the sheep. I encourage you to enjoy this cooler weather and take advantage of it to go out and find someone who’s lost. Make them feel welcome. I promise you that there will be a party when you do! “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” (Luke 15:7)

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Saints and Sinners

Here's another "behind the times" post - this time from November 1: All Saints Day.


This Sunday, our church will honor the memories of loved ones who have died during the past two years. Their names will be read one at a time, and a bell will ring after each name is read. It’s a very solemn, but also joyful experience. We experience the grief of our losses – we miss these people tremendously! But we also celebrate that they have gone on to final victory – death has no sting for those who have faith in Jesus Christ!!

This celebration comes from the history of All Saints Day, which was November 1st. Some churches have special services on that day, no matter which day of the week November 1st falls. Our church celebrates All Saints Sunday on the next Sunday after November 1st. It is considered a “high holy day” along with other high holy days like Christmas, Easter and Pentecost. But the world in general, and many churches, pay less attention to this day that to the others – especially the “BIG” days of Christmas and Easter.

So what is All Saints Day and why is it considered “high” and “holy”? We have to reach all the way back to our early church history – back before the Reformation of the 16th century – to the times when people were martyred for their faith in Jesus Christ. In the early church under the Roman Empire, Christians were viewed with suspicion and hostility. Christian rituals were strange, their belief systems totally unlike the common worship of Roman deities. Rumors abounded that Christians were cannibals – they ate flesh and drank blood! They were immoral – engaging in “love feasts” where there was lots of kissing going on! They refused to worship the Emperer – making them enemies of the state!

So Christians were often rounded up and thrown in jails to make them recant their beliefs. Those who refused to recant were treated more harshly: they were brought into the “circuses” where they became lion food or were forced to fight against gladiators. Those early Christians were such firm pacifists that they refused to defend themselves. Death was the result. They became martyrs for their faith.

The Christian churches began celebrating the “birth days” of the martyrs – the day they were born into eternal life by leaving their earthly ones. They believed in Jesus’ words in Matthew 16:24-25: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.”

It didn’t take long for the number of martyrs to exceed the number of days in the year, and individual celebrations became impractical. A commemoration of “all martyrs” was held as early as 270 AD. Down through the centuries, the day became less about the martyrs – especially as the occasions of martyrdom decreased – and more about everyone who died in the faith.

This day points towards all Christian’s “birth day” of going to be with Christ. It reminds us that we are only visitors during this life; our true home is still on the other side of death. I think this is especially meaningful in areas with aging populations like southeastern Ohio. Demographically, Meigs County has a significant portion of its population older than 60. Just check the obituary section of this paper – there are nearly always multiple stories. Death is an undeniable part of life; but death does not have to be depressing! Death is NOT our ending, but our beginning!!

During life, all of us are sinners struggling to become saints. We face temptations of personal and communal greed, dishonesty and selfishness. We lose our tempers, we become unforgiving. In fact, without God’s help, the sinner cannot become a saint! But God chose to help – and continues to choose to help – all those who are willing to accept God’s help offered in Jesus Christ through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.

So celebrate the high and holy activity of God in the lives of these who’ve gone before us. But don’t stop there! We also need to celebrate the ongoing transformation that God is doing in this life to make us ready for the next one. And if you aren’t aware of any changing happening in your life, then you are likely resisting the changes God is willing to make – changes that will make THIS life better. Go to church. Discover how God wants to use you to help others. Seek forgiveness – and offer it to others. You never know when the bell will ring for you.