Loss

One of the great themes and guarantees of life in this world is that we will all experience loss.

In many ways this has been a week of loss for me. I don't want to go into detail on the World Wide Web, but suffice it to say that around every corner (it seemed) this week I was faced with the reality that the securities we count on in life are eventually stripped away. In my own life, in the life of the people I get to sit with in their sorrow at church, and in our world that is filled with tragedy and heartbreak on a daily basis, there is little question that nothing physical we count on a humans is permanent in this life. At any moment, the rug can be pulled out from under us, and we will face a new reality in the absence.

Now, my pastoral and Christian tendency is to right away proclaim the happy truth of the Gospel to myself and to others, which is that because of Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit, we are never alone. We always have hope, even in the presence of great earthly loss -- so never fear.

This is absolutely true, and is the foundation of Christian hope.

But I wonder if sometimes in my desire to get out of my pain or to solve others pain, I jump to that proclamation too early. What I mean by that is in our desire to ease pain, I think we tend to turn truth into platitude, and in turn prescribe ibuprofin for our aching souls rather than offering the transformative elixer of the Spirit of God. We say, "Don't worry, God is with you," as if this one remark can make all the pains go away.

But it can't. And frankly, I think that is by the design of God.

For in the end, loss is always tied to longing. We long for things to be the way they used to be. For that relationship to be back the way it was, for our financial situation to be safe again, for our job to be the way it was before the new boss came on, for our health to return. We ache because we long for what we had, or, we have caught a glimpse of the way things could be, and it hurts when it is doesn't last. We feel alone.

And yet, while we don't want to live in the ache of loss forever (and don't have to per the Good News of our Christian faith), I believe there is something redemptive in our experience of loss. For the longing that comes from loss grounds us down into the ache of all of humanity. It grounds us in the ache that Jesus himself felt as he cried out, "My God My God why have you forsaken me?" To feel loss, and to long for redemption is to feel what Jesus felt. It is also to feel what the world feels -- a world that lives in poverty of body and spirit, and longs for a way out.

And ultimately, after I've spend a little time there, it grounds me in a longing to go home to God's embrace once again. Our lives of faith are gracefully (and painfully) tied to our lives and emotions. This is an amazing gift that God offers us. It behooves us not to run away from it, but to stay there a little while and fully drink in the absence. If we want to experience the fullness of the Presence, we need to take a sip of the absence as well.

I've been listening to Andrew Peterson's new album The Far Country lately, which is outstanding. The theme of the album is heaven, and the title song speaks to this truth of loss and longing.

If you are in a similar place of loss this week, I pray that you may trust in the effectiveness of the slow Elixer of God's Holy Spirit. But in the meantime, while it is taking effect, explore the pain of loss and see what you find there. You might be surprised.

Here are the lyrics to that song. Blessings.

Father Abraham
Do you remember when
You were called to a land
And didn’t know the way

‘Cause we are wandering
In a foreign land
We are children of the Promise of the faith

And I long to find it
Can you feel it, too?
That the sun that’s shining
Is a shadow of the truth

This is a far country, a far country
Not my home

In the dark of the night
I can feel the shadows all around me
Cold shadows in the corners of my heart
But the heart of the fight
Is not in the flesh but in the spirit
And the spirit’s got me shaking in the dark

And I long to go there
I can feel the truth
I can hear the promise
Of the angels of the moon

This is a far country, a far country
Not my home

I can see in the strip malls and the phone calls
The flaming swords of Eden
In the fast cash and the news flash
And the horn blast of war
In the sin-fraught cities of the dying and the dead
Like steel-wrought graveyards where the wicked never rest
To the high and lonely mountain in the groaning wilderness
We ache for what is lost
As we wait for the holy God

Of Father Abraham
I was made to go there
Out of this far country
To my home, to my home

Believing is Seeing...

Friday, my family and I made a trip to Minnesota, to visit our beloved and cherished "adopted" daughter Erin, who is a freshman at college. Literally, Erin WAS our adopted daughter this weekend, as it was parent's weekend and WE got to be her parents for it!

We've known Erin since the minute we arrived in Wisconsin seven years ago, when she became our first regular babysitter when we just had one child. Since then, Erin has become part of our family, is Clara's Godmother, and is one of the people we are most thankful for in life (as a shining example for our 3 girls and for us as well).

Anyways, since we have known what Erin's world has looked like for the past 7 years, it felt really unsettling for us to think of her off at college, with no idea what "college" was like. Our girls kept asking questions, and when we'd talk to her on the phone, it was hard for us not to be able to picture her new world.

So we decided we'd better go check it out. And we are glad we did.

First off, it was fun for Kristi and me to see someone we care about so much to be doing so well. It was encouraging to meet a few of her new friends from Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, to see her dorm room plastered with Scripture verses and pictures of friends and family, and to see her in her new element. It was apparent that she was right where God wanted her to be, and she was content.

Secondly, it was so good for our girls to get some "Erin time", and to know that even though she lives away, she hadn't forgotten them. She was the same Erin they loved and loved them. There is something very comforting about that, especially when you are 1, 4, and 6! We walked around campus and she showed us her classrooms, we ate lunch in her cafeteria, we saw the library where she studies. In other words, we had our black and white phone conversations painted in color for us, and Erin's world came alive for our family.

Now, when we talk to Erin on the phone, her world is an extension of our own, and our world was made a little big bigger and more wonderful. That is the joy of Christian fellowship and love, (even across state lines!).

Sometimes, believing is seeing.

PLUS, Lucy and Clara got to spend the night in their first college dorm. "It is loud sleeping in the dorm, Daddy." Yes, it is. This was maybe a little early for their first college visit, but...

Thanks Erin! (And thanks God for Erin!)

God in 3 words or less

This weekend, we had a Confirmation retreat here at the church with 58 8th graders and 10 leaders (and as I am writing this early Sunday morning, I can vouch for the fact that there are lots of scrubby, tired kids wandering around!). Everyone should sleep at their church at least once in their life though! And they are a great group.

Our topic this weekend was almost impossible to cover in one day and that is "Who is God?" In some ways, that is the topic for the ENTIRE YEAR of Confirmation, but that was the focus for the retreat.

What does one say to 8th graders to try and explain to them who the God we worship as Christians is? Do you introduce them to words like Omnipotent and Omniscient? Do you talk about immutability and creating everything ex nehilo (out of nothing)? Do you talk about the unmoved mover? As I was scanning through my theological training, these were the words and phrases that came to mind.

And all of them are absolutely true.

But I can just hear the 8th graders as I was explaining all of these grand theological truths...

"WHO CARES? Why do we care about all those big words and the God at the center of them?"

That is the great thing about kids -- they don't care about big words and eternal pronouncements. They want to know who this God is and why they should care about him at all.

So I decided to take a different angle. I decided I would try to describe God in 3 words or less using the word pictures of the Bible. Obviously, there are tons I could have chosen, but here's what I came up with...

First, God is LOVE. "Beloved let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.” -- I John 4:7-9

For my money, that is the best reason to believe in the Christian God. We do not worship a God who is aloof, angry all the time, indifferent, or waiting for us to screw up so he can throw lightening bolts at us. God's very nature is LOVE. As Brennan Manning says, God loves us as we are and not as we should be -- because no one is as they should be.

And all of Scripture attests to that fact. Jesus is love incarnate, God's ultimate expression of love. God is love.

Second, God is LIGHT. “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. -- I John 1:5-7

What a compelling reason to believe in the God of our Christian faith. God shows things to be as they really are, he does not want us to walk in darkness to trip over ourselves and those potholes in our paths. God has plans for us and desires nothing more than for us to live life at its very best with him.

But the fact that God is light is also a reminder that God is pure and does not accept the darkness. God is holy, and calls us to live in holiness as well. His light shines and we are called to find ourselves in it. Jesus is the ultimate example of this light (he too is called "light" in Scripture -- John 9:5). He is the beacon that shines the way to God and calls us to holiness. God is light.

Finally God is YES. "For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not ‘Yes and No’; but in him it is always ‘Yes.’ For in him every one of God’s promises is a ‘Yes.’ For this reason it is through him that we say the ‘Amen,’ to the glory of God. – II Corinthians 1:19,20

Throughout Scripture this is the story of the God that we worship. He says YES to us, we respond with a no on a regular basis, but he keeps coming back and saying YES. It is a beautiful love relationship between God and humanity, that no matter how far we stray, his response is the same because of his love for us. Certainly, he has given us the choice to say no if we want (even into eternity it seems). But that doesn't change God's posture towards us.

In fact, it is Jesus that is God's big YES to the world, as II Corinthians recognizes. What a beautiful way to encapsulate Jesus' ministry. He is God's YES.

What really separates our view of God as Christians then is Jesus himself. He is God's LOVE, He is God's LIGHT, He is God's YES. I can believe in a God like that!!!

Now, I am sure I left out some important piece of doctrine in my 15 minutes of fame with the 8th graders -- but I gave it my best shot! That is the brillance and fun of Christian proclamation -- figuring out how to proclaim the Good News in each unique culture and context.

So what about you? If you had to describe the God we worship as Christians in 3 words or less, what would they be? What passages of Scripture would you look to? What stories would you tell? My encouragement is to give it a shot! It will be a great exercise for your faith life and it would be a great thing to place in your back pocket as you share with people the hope that you have.

We live in a world that is very open to talking about things pertaining to God, it seems. What would you say? Feel free to post your responses on the comment board. I'd love to see them!

Blessings,
jeff

Nod

One of my favorite stories in the Bible (in a wierd sort of way) is from Genesis 4, the story of Cain and Abel. We just read this passage again in a Bible Study I am in, and it reminded me of how sadly beautiful it is. Now, you might say why in the world would someone actually LIKE the first murder in the Bible? I'll admit, it is a story of jealousy, rage, pride, and profound sadness, as Cain kills his brother Abel over his bruised ego. But it is not this part of the story that I like, but the "afterwards."

"Cain said to the Lord [after the Lord told Cain he would wander the earth as a fugitive], 'My punishment is greater than I can bear! Today you have driven me away from the soil, and I shall be hidden from your face; I shall be a fugitive and wanderer on the earth, and anyone who meets me may kill me.' Then the Lord said to him, 'Not so! Whoever kills Cain will suffer a sevenfold vengeance.' And the Lord put a mark on Cain, so that no one who came upon him would kill him. Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord, and settled in the land of Nod (Hebrew for Wandering), east of Eden." (Genesis 4:13-16).

Anyone who has ever felt like a wanderer knows what this story is all about. Cain in his rage breaks his relationship with both God and humanity (which is always the ultimate consequence of sin -- broken relationships), and his new reality beyond the safety and security of the land and family is too much for him to bear. He doesn't believe he can survive on his own -- he will be destroyed.

Yet the beauty of this story is in God's response. For while Cain is destined to wander the earth (the word Nod means "wandering"), he is never going to be alone. He has the Mark of God blazened on him as a warning to everyone who's child this is. Even East of Eden, Cain is not alone.

What a lonely but secure place that must have been for Cain. There is a longing to go home and be back in paradise, but the reality of Nod is all you've got.

That sounds a lot like every single tv show that caries any weight and impact these days, doesn't it? Alias, the Sopranos, Lost, Desparate Housewives... -- all of these shows describe characters who wander, who are lost, who want things to be different, who cling to hope that redemption will come.

I believe these stories connect with us because they are the human story. We too are wanderers in the land of Nod -- far away from home and security. We too have made mistakes that have driven us there. Yet, we too have hope because we know under whose Mark we rest.

That is the hope of our Christian faith. Even East of Eden, even on this side of Eternity, God loves us.

On Ash Wednesday, many Christian traditions mark those who come to worship with a cross of Ash on their forheads, as a reminder under whose mark we walk. May that be our perpetual reminder, both of our calling and our security.

AMEN

What I learned from Rome

If you are like me, spiritual growth comes in spurts. I'll feel dry for a while, until all of the sudden God allows me to see something in a place I'd never looked before, and come to realize his grace and his presence in a bigger, deeper way. Sometimes it will be a passage of Scripture I have read a million times but hits me between the eyes all of the sudden, sometimes it is a person or a testimony of what God has done in a life, sometimes it is a song or a picture that sheds new light on my soul.

Right now, I am seeing God in the Roman Catholic Church.

That is probably not a statement you hear a lot these days -- amidst the terrible scandals that have dominated the press in the past few years.

But in the heart and soul of that rich tradition there is a well spring of life I believe our Protestant faith can learn from.

As a youngster, I never learned a thing about the Roman Catholic Church. The only thing I did learn (and I don't think this was overt teaching but more underground) was that they needed to be avoided because they had a Pope other than Jesus and they didn't read the Bible. Books like "the late,great, planet earth" and other extreme books even likened the Pope to the antichrist spoken of in Scripture. Again, while these views were not taught in Sunday School classes, I picked it up in my subconscious along the way. Suffice it to say, I looked warily upon the tradition as a whole.

That all changed when one of my best friends recently decided to leave our church and become Roman Catholic. Up to that point, he had been a purebread protestant, attended Wheaton College, and had a background Luther, Calvin, and Wesley would have all been proud of. But for him, somehow in the history and tradition -- but mostly in the worship itself -- he found a sense of wonder and connection with God that gave him joy and purpose.

It was all way beyond me, and so I decided to enter into my own study of this tradition that was for 1500 years my own people's tradition (for we were all consided Roman Catholics -- at least in our Protestant Circles -- until 1517).

And while I am not ready to "jump ship" and change churches, I found much in that tradition, especially in the expression of worship, that has fed my own protestant faith immensely.

Here are the 3 biggest things I have learned from our Catholic brothers and sisters that have enriched my own faith:

1)The understanding of the Kingdom of God. When Catholics come to worship, they believe that they are joining a worship service that is already taking place in heaven -- which of course is absolutely true. The Kingdom of God is made up of heaven and earth combined, all of us part of God's grand kingdom. That is why we come to worship -- to worship the God of heaven and earth, who has won us through Christ.

Yet, for most Protestant, I think we see that idea of worship fairly flatly. It is "us and God." While we may confess that we are worshipping God with folks from around the globe, it is still "this worldly" worship. We (down here) are worshipping God (up there). It is one-tiered worship.

Not so for Roman Catholics. For them, coming to worship is a cosmic event. They are joining all the angels and saints in heaven -- including all who have gone before them -- in worship and praise of God almighty. Their liturgy is filled with the smells (incense) and sounds ("Holy Holy Holy Lord God Almighty" -- the prayer of the Angels) of heaven's worship. They even petition the saints in heaven to pray for them in their hours of need -- all because they believe they can REALLY HEAR THEM and will pray for them, much like we share prayer requests with each other in worship. There is a deep sense that the entire kingdom of heaven and earth is coming together in those moments of worship. It is powerful stuff, and absolutely true.

2)Roman Catholic worship involves all the senses. When Roman Catholics come to worship, they bring their whole selves. Their nostrils are involved (incense) their large motor skills (kneeling, crossing themselves, standing, coming forward for communion), their eyes are involved (icons to remind us that we are in the presence of the saints in heaven even in worship), their ears (to hear the gospel and liturgy) -- their entire being comes into worship.

One of the critiques of Protestantism is that it stays a pretty cognitive affair sometimes. While we stand and sing and even clap once in a while, I think that critique remains true. Now, there is nothing wrong with using our brains and concentrating on the words proclaimed from Scripture. In fact, I would argue that that is THE MOST IMPORTANT THING we do in worship.

Yet, I can't help but think we miss out on a lot of learning and "driving the worship of God down into our very bodies" by not practicing some of these tried and true worship practices. It is holistic worship, and we can learn a lot from this tradition.

3)The Roman Catholics believe that Christ is really present in worship. While I am not a believer in what is called Transubstantiation (that the bread/wine are really turned into Christ's body and blood in communion and are no long bread and wine. We Presbyterians believe that Christ's body and blood is spiritually present in communion through the power of the Holy Spirit when recieved by faith), I do believe that coming to worship expecting to meet Jesus and even see him on the table/altar, is a powerful thing. Again, the underlying truth is there -- Jesus IS present in our worship. He is with us. Communion is a powerful Sacrament of God's presence with us in a very realy way. We can learn a lot from our RC brothers and sisters in their conviction and belief.

Certainly, there is much I can disagree with in the Roman tradition. There is much in our own Presbyterian tradition that I wouldn't trade for anything. In fact, they (Roman Catholics) could probably stand to learn a few things from us as well! But I still believe that what unites us (Jesus) is stronger than what divides us (our human traditions).

I am thinking about this stuff because today happens to be World Communion Sunday. Today, we celebrate that there are Christians around the globe who share this common meal in the name of Christ. And we have much to learn from those of different colors, denominational pursuasions, and worship practices. I pray for the day when what unites us will be stronger than what divides us. Until then though, I am going to keep my eyes open and seek to learn from my brothers and sisters, in the hopes of deepening my own worship of God and understanding of Jesus Christ.

Agnus Dei, Dona Nobis Pachem.

J