Joy to the World: Advent 2010

This fourth week of Advent is all about Joy.

What brings you joy?

Have you ever been asked that before? Have you spent anytime thinking about it?

Not, "what makes you happy?" but, "what brings you joy?".


When we were kids the thought of those gifts under the tree made us happy... especially the ones with our names on them.  On Christmas morning, our happiness exploded as we opened that toy we were really hoping for... or it diminished when, instead of the cool new toy, we got something "practical'. 


You know... that sweater.  


Have things changed all that much for those of us who consider ourselves "grown up" and "adult"?  Not always.  And it's not just on Christmas morning that "stuff" can so impact our happiness.  


But, what about your Joy?
There is a difference, you know. Sure, we most often use the words "happiness" and "joy" interchangably, but it seems to me that there is a qualitative difference between the two.  You see, joy trumps happiness. And its not because joy is a lot of happiness or even an over-abundance of happiness. That would be a quantitative difference. But it's a qualatative difference that sets joy apart.

Happiness is circumstantial. It is what happens to us, and the things we do that make us happy or unhappy. The circumstances of life move our sense of happiness up or down depending on our emotional reaction to them.

Joy, though... joy is deep, abiding, settled. Joy rests, not in the circumstantial and temporary, but in the substantial and eternal. Joy is one of the graces named in the New Testament letter to the Galatians as the fruit of the Spirit.  


When the People of Israel had begun to rebuild Jerusalem after their exile in Babylon, their leader, Nehemiah, encouraged them by saying "the joy of the LORD is your strength".


The Apostle Paul reminded the Christians in Rome that the source of joy is far deeper than those things that often bring us happiness - "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit."  


Are you getting a sense from these biblical ideas that joy is more than happiness?  Deeper.  Enduring.  Not our doing.  Holy.


Joy comes  from God.  It is His gift to those who will receive it... for those who will "unwrap it".  It is true today... it was true that night in the fields outside of Bethlehem as the shepherds looked up in wonder and the Angel announced:

“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."

The joy whose candle is lit this week is beyond circumstances, it  is beyond happiness.  It is deeper.  It is abiding.  It finds its source, its strength, its enduring in God.  


It is good news of great joy... for all people.  It is the gift of God to be opened...

On The Potter's Wheel.

Letting Love Light our Way - Advent 2010

"I love baseball!" "I love a good pizza." "I love finding a bargain." "I love it when a plan comes together."

We hear people say it all the time. I could add my own items to the list:

I love vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce and peanuts. I love a good mystery novel. I love sci-fi movies. I love watching my kids have fun together. I love my wife.

It amazes me how many ways we use that word.

Love.

Don't get me wrong... it's a great word. I just think we misuse it sometimes. We use it to express how we feel about things from the mundane to the profound. I worry that we may cheapen what it is all about by how freely and - to be honest - flippantly we toss the word around.

There is a vast difference between how I feel about ice cream, sci-fi, and my wife. When I tell her that I love her, there is a depth there that is unique, abiding, and truer than any connection I have to dessert or movies.

What do we mean we we say "I love..."?  How do we define it? 

This third week of Advent is all about Love. God's love... what it means for us... and how it can transform our lives and our love.

God's love is the most profound reality in life (aside from the reality of God's existence, that is). And, God's people have been resting in and relying on it from the beginning of time.

The Psalmist reminded the People of Israel - "But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him..." - Psalm 103:17

God spoke through the Prophet to give His people hope even in the midst of trying times - "I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you." - Jeremiah 31:3

In this season of the year, we remember the amazing lengths to which God's love would go for us as a continuation of that same faithfulness - "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son..." - John 3:16

Without a doubt, the Love of God is the greatest gift - Christmas or otherwise - that anyone could ever receive. If you remember nothing else this Christmas, remember that God has already sent you The Gift - His Son - the embodiment of God's love.

And, just like when we were kids and couldn't wait to tell our friends about the great stuff that we unwrapped on Christmas morning, let's share this Gift with our family and friends. And remember, they not only need to hear about it from you... they need to experience it in you too!

"Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." - 1 John 4:11

May this gift of God's love light your life in all the days ahead...

On the Potter's Wheel.

Looking for Peace... Advent 2010

Late Thanksgiving night this year my wife, oldest son, and I took part in what has become an American tradition... or rite of passage. I can't decided which. (I say it's an American tradition or rite because I can't imagine people in other countries being so, well... obsessed... driven... odd.) We went to a well-known national Mega-Mart for their midnight "door buster" sale.

I'd call it a zoo, but I don't want to insult the animals.

In the seventy-five minutes we were in the store - most of which we spent in line - we saw people pushing other people out of the way, heard them arguing with language a bit too colorful for a family-oriented store, and we saw one of the four fist fights that took place between midnight and 1:00am.

Yes... fist fights - four of them - while Christmas shopping.

As we stood in line, and watched the combatants of the fourth fist fight being escorted from the store by several of Pierce County's Finest, I looked at the folks in line with us and, shaking my head, said "And all in the name of getting gifts to celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace."

That scene has been replaying itself in my mind ever since. It bugs me. It makes me sad.

The second candle on our virtual Advent Wreath is the candle of Peace. Oh how we need it. The craziness at the Mega-Mart is just one of the many places our society's lack of peace bubbles to the surface... revealing the truth beneath the calm surface facade we've gotten so profecient at presenting.

We want peace in our lives. We know we need it. We make some pretty valiant efforts at looking peace-full. But, truth be told, for far too many of us, of our families, of our neighbors, friends, co-workers and fellow church-goers, real peace can be elusive.

Over the years I've noticed that a fairly common phrase carries a deeper reality with it. How many times have you been frustrated by someone's words or actions and heard yourself saying, "I'm gonna give them a piece of my mind!"?

(or maybe you've just heard someone else express that)

Have you noticed what happens all too often in those times? We end up giving not just a piece of our minds, but the peace of our minds. We get so wrapped up in how the other person has hurt and offended us. We rehearse not only what they did or said, but all the ways we can respond to them (many of which are less than reconciling). Whatever sense of peace we may have had gets eaten away by our own hurt, anger, and warped sense of what is right (often a self-centered definition).

This second week of Advent is about peace. Peace between people. Peace between nations. Peace between people and God. Peace within our own hearts and minds.

It is not a fairytale peace. It's a costly peace. It's a peace that requires something of us. It's a peace that can only come from God.

Romans 12:18 says,

"If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all." (ESV)

Living in peace takes some effort on our part. Not that we make the peace. Not that it is something that rises from the wellspring of our goodness.

Living in peace requires us to live, behave, and relate as citizens of a different kingdom. Not the kingdom of me. Not even the kingdom of you. The kingdom of God. The kingdom ruled by the One called the Prince of Peace... who's coming Advent and Christmas is all about.

What happens when we live as subjects and servants of the Prince of Peace? Great things. The Apostle Paul tells us in Philippians 4:6-7...

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (ESV)

We can have that peace. It's God's gift to you and to me. It's a peace that doesn't always make sense to those who havent't experienced it ("surpasses all understanding"). It's the peace that protects us even when we're hurt, offended, and frustrated ("will guard your hearts and minds...")

Isaiah 26:3 reminds us of God's role in all this...

"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you." (ESV)

Peace. Real peace. Lasting peace. Peace for our hearts and minds. It can be ours...

On the Potter's Wheel.

Missing some Traditions... Advent 2010

I miss some traditions of this time of year...

I miss getting together with a group of friends to go Christmas Caroling.

I miss gathering for Sunday worship at church for a Festival of Carols and Hanging of the Greens Service - where we'd retell the Christmas story in scripture, song, and symbol reminding us all of the true meaning and the profound depth of Christmas.

I miss the crazy late nights my wife and I used to spend getting ready to host a Christmas Open House at our home... we always had the best time and some of the greatest conversations.

I also miss the tradition of lighting an Advent Wreath to remind us of the significance of the season we are in. So, if you'll indulge me... I'd like to spend the next few weeks On the Potter's Wheel, lighting a Virtual Advent Wreath and reminding us all of the Hope, Peace, Love, Joy and that Christ offers to each of us not only in the Advent Season but each and every day.

The first candle is there for hope.

Hope is a sometimes (all too often for many) rare commodity in our day. With so many different things pulling on our time, our attention, and - at times - our last nerve, hope is something we may long for but not always feel. We want something to hope in, something to hope for. And its not really a "Pie in the sky in the sweet by and by" sort of hope that we long for either. Instead, it's hope in (as a classmate in seminary once put it) "Something sound on the ground while we're still around."

We long for a tangible hope. A hope that can hold onto us even while we hold onto it.

As much as we might like to think that our day is different that all those that have come before us, and that our situation is somehow unique... they're not.

For hundreds of years, God's people had been longing for tangible hope. They had glimpses of it... times when hope glowed a bit brighter, only to fade again. Four hundred years passed since God had sent His Word through a prophet. Four hundred years of longing, of waiting, of wondering.

The New Testament book of Hebrews begins with these words: "Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets..." But, four hundred years had passed with no word, no prophetic voice, no whisper of a still, small voice.

Hope had become for many of them what it has for many of us - a hope for Hope. A longing for that tangible hope to get us in its grip once again.

The first Advent Candle is the Candle of Hope because the Advent Season is a reminder to us that God brought Hope back to all his people with the birth of Jesus. Hebrews 1:2 goes on to say, "but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son".

Jesus came to be God's Word-made-flesh for us. He embodied the Hope of God's people throughout the ages. Our Hope finds its home and fulfillment in Jesus. The Christmas hymn, O Holy Night, says it well...

"Long lay the world
In sin and error pining,
Till He appeared
And the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope,
The weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks
A new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees,
O hear the angel voices!
O night divine,
O night when Christ was born!
O night divine, O night,
O night divine!"

Advent begins today - November 28, 2010. And it begins with Hope. Not some sappy, sentimental, greeting card kind of hope. But firm, tangible, can-take-hold-of-you-and-see-you-through hope. Hope that the New Testament calls "this mystery... Christ in you, the hope of glory". Hope that comes to us clearest when we keep ourselves where God can work it into our lives and minds and outlook...

On the Potter's Wheel.

Listening to God’s Voice

AW Tozer wrote:

"The facts are that God is not silent, has never been silent.  It is the nature of God to speak.  The second Person of the Holy Trinity is called the Word." (The Best of AW Tozer)

Do you believe that?  I do.  Do I always live out that belief? No... do you?

So... If God is speaking to us - if it's His nature to communicate - why do we say things like "I wish God would tell me..." or "Why is God so quiet?" or "What does God want from me?"

Maybe it's just us. Perhaps the problem isn't with God's communication... perhaps it lies with our listening.

I remember a documentary that I watched when I was in college.  They interviewed a Rabbi in Jerusalem and asked about the Wailing Wall and the Jewish practice of prayer. The Rabbi said, "Prayer is not about making yourself audible to God... but attentive to Him."

Perhaps that is the key to living out the Apostle's - at times - frustrating admonition to "pray without ceasing".  We hear Paul's words and question - "How can I pray all the time?  I can't just put everything aside, fold my hands, close my eyes and talk to God. Besides... I'd run out of things to say."

That's prayer focused on us, on our side of the conversation. Oh, yeah... prayer is a conversation. A dialogue, not a monologue. If our "prayer time" is consumed with, dominated by our speaking - by our telling God what's on our hearts and minds - with little to no time invested in our listening to Him, we are missing half of prayer. Actually, we are missing the biggest part of prayer.

Think about it.  What is more vital in prayer - that we tell God what we think and want from Him, or that we hear from Him about what He thinks and wants from and for us?

Psalm 46:10 contains those great words -

"Be still and know that I am God"

- that are often turned into a message for the inside of some greeting card meant to comfort another person. That's nice and all, but it misses the meaning and impact of what the verse actually says.

It's not "be still" as in "be at peace", but a more forceful "be still" as in "be quiet!" or - if you'll pardon the forcefulness of the Old Testament language - "Shut up! Quit talking!"

Have you ever had the experience of being with someone who just wouldn't quit talking?  I mean, you couldn't get a word in no matter what you did? 

How did you enjoy that  "conversation"?  Not so much?  A bit frustrating?  Did you ever want to just cry out, “Be quiet!”?

Think how God might feel when we make our prayers one-sided events without giving Him the chance to speak to us - either through His Word or by the Holy Spirit?

God has something to say to you.  He is not silent. 

Are you willing to listen?   

Is your spirit still enough that you don't have to do all the talking in your prayer time? 

Can you hear what God has to say to you?

Can you listen?

It's a powerful way to connect with the Lover of your soul... and to be shaped and molded by Him as you rest...

On the Potter's Wheel

The 80/20 Rule

“"Toast always lands butter-side down when you drop it.”

“If you spend all morning washing and waxing your car, it will rain that afternoon.”

“The hungrier you are, the longer it will take for dinner to be ready”

Just a few of the many “Rules of Life” that seem to slip into the lexicon of conventional wisdom.  Many of them are simply humorous observations about the quirks of life.  Some, though seem to take on the air of authority and finality.  Here’s one of that latter type…

“80% of the work is done by 20% of the people.”

Have you heard that one before? 

That’s one of those “Rules of Life” that we need to toss out!

That little axiom has taken root even among the people of God and has become a great fallacy of church life - that 80% of the work/ministry is done by 20% of the congregation (and that, somehow, this is the expected norm).  That same fallacy reared it's head again at a recent Staff meeting at the church I attend and serve as a part-time staff member.

It's a curiosity to me that this bit of cultural "wisdom" has gained such a firm foothold in the thinking of the Church... and not just our congregation, but many congregations across North America.  We plan and act as if this "80/20 Rule" can be found somewhere in the book of Proverbs or is, perhaps, tucked away in some obscure passage from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans.

But, just to be clear... the so-called “80/20 Rule” is not a biblical concept.

And it's certainly not in keeping with what Scripture does say about how the members of the Church (or even a local  congregation) are supposed to work with one another.

The Apostle Paul actually tells us something quite different –

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

– Eph. 4:15-16 (ESV)

and

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ… For the body does not consist of one member but of many… Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

– 1 Corinthians 12:12, 14, 27 (ESV)

In the Body of Christ - be it globally, nationally, locally, or congregationally - the rule is NOT 80/20.  It's 100/100.

"But," the objection will come, "that's not reasonable.  You can't really expect everyone who attends a particular congregation to be involved in the week-in, week-out work and ministry of that congregation."

I hear that objection.

Actually, I've heard it for years. I've heard it from those sitting in the sanctuary and from those sitting around leadership tables.

My answer to the objection is...  Why not? 

Why can't we expect full participation? (At least from those in the congregation who claim Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.) 

The witness of the New Testament is that we should be expecting it rather than settling for 80/20, or worse, making the 80/20 Rule the goal for which we aim.  It worries me that, for too many congregations, attaining the 80/20 ratio would be a marked increase in participation among their members and regular attenders.

I know of a congregation who counts around 1700 adults in the number of members and regular attenders who call them their church home.  If the 80/20 Rule was a reality there, that would be 340 people active in the congregation's week-in, week-out work and ministry... not as "consumers" of that work and ministry, but as "workers" and "ministers" there.  What an amazing thing it would be with that many folks actively engaged in the doing and being of the congregation's life.

But, biblically speaking, even that many actively engaged folks is far below the vision Christ has for his Body.

Is it possible for a current day, North American congregation to move beyond the limitations and confines of the 80/20 Rule?  Even far beyond?  I actually believe it is.

A radically unattainable goal?

No… a radically biblical, God-sized goal.

It is what God calls his people to.

It is what the Holy Spirit gifts, equips, and empowers the Church to do.

Even a local congregation.  Even the one you call “home”.

So, how is your congregation doing? Is the 80/20 Rule a reality there?  A dreamed of goal?  Or has your congregation set it aside and begun to move into the fullness of what God has called it to be?

How are you doing with this yourself?  Have you made the move from consumer to worker…  from the "ministered to" to the "ministering"?

There's room for us all - individuals and congregations alike - to grow closer to God's intention for us in this area.

And, there's room for all of us - individuals and congregations alike to be shaped more fully into the Church God envision us to be…

on the Potter's Wheel.

What a Year its been…

“⁸ For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. ⁹ Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. ¹⁰ He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. ¹¹ You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.”

- 2 Corinthians 1:8-11 (ESV)

What a year it has been.  Quite probably the most difficult year in my life… and that’s saying a lot.

Ten years ago, my oldest son (then an almost fourth grader) was very sick with an infection in his bone marrow.  He spent weeks of his summer vacation with a catheter in his chest, through which we gave him IV antibiotics three or four times a day around the clock.  The week that he was given “a clean bill of health” and had the catheter removed, my Dad had two strokes that severely impacted his left side and his ability to speak.  Months later, just after Dad was able to leave the rehab hospital, my son’s “clean bill of health” came due… the infection was back.  He had to return to the hospital for a bone biopsy and spent the next several months on huge dosages of antibiotics.

Until 2009, 1999 had been my toughest year.

2009 began with my lay off from the church staff where I had served for six years as the Director of Pastoral Care/Pastor of Member Care and Counseling.  It has been quite a year!  I have wrestled with how to express all that this year has brought to me and my family.  I’ve wrestled with how to say – as our Senior Pastor, Roger, is fond of saying - “the last 10%”… the had, uncomfortable truths we would sometimes rather skip over with an “I’m fine” sort of cop-out. 

The Apostle Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 1 have helped me find a way to do that.  He begins in verse 8 by saying that he wanted the Corinthians to know (“we do not  want you to be ignorant…”, he says) what he had experienced.  Somehow, it would be helpful for them to know what the Apostle and his companions had gone  through.

Paul speaks of the “affliction” he and his co-workers had experienced and how the burden of it was more than he could bear.  It felt like a death sentence to him.  Now, that, I can relate to.

In the weeks that followed the announcement of the layoffs (there were five of us in all who were laid off due to some pretty big budget cuts) I struggled with questions of life… purpose, meaning, value.  I wondered if I had wasted the past twenty-five years in ministry.  The words spoken as  the layoffs were announced to the congregation were that the positions being cut were “not essential to our mission and vision” as a congregation.  Those words haunted and wounded me for months.  How could Pastoral Care not be essential to the ministry of a church?   And,Pastoral Care was not just “my job” – it is how God has wired me.   “Pastor” is not just a job description… it is who I am.  So, if Pastoral Care is not essential, what does that say about me?

It felt like a death sentence.

And then, many of those who – in my mind and heart – should have been caring for me and my family as we continued to worship and serve in the congregation were nowhere to be found.  For months.  It hurt.  It often felt as if we were dead and folks just didn’t know how to talk with or reach out to us… we made them uncomfortable.

In the midst of all this, though, God kept showing up.  Sometimes through his people.  Sometimes out of the blue.

It’s in those times that I see the rest of 2 Corinthians 1:9 alive in my life and my family’s life this year…

“…we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.”

(emphasis mine)

We have quite clearly seen God’s hand in this year.  It has not always been easy to see, though.   There have been times – I confess – that I quit looking for God and simply focused on my pain and struggle (see my last blog for more on that).  Thankfully, those times of self-pitying didn’t last and the laments I spoke led to more trust in God.  There have been times and events during this year that are clearly the hand of God moving on our behalf -

* our oldest son (now in college) received extra scholarships that covered his school year at a rather spendy private college

* our younger son has received scholarships to cover his tennis lessons all year (he finished his High School League season undefeated)

* because I was out of work this year, I was able to invest several weeks helping an uncle and cousin deal with a profound family tragedy in another state

* I was able to spend some time with my Mom after she had some surgery

* One church member has faithfully blessed us each month with a financial gift, while others have blessed us with grocery, restaurant, and coffee gift cards

* I have had the opportunity to help people with memorial services at the loss of their loved ones and weddings at the joining of two lives as one

Truly, an amazing year with an amazing God!

In verse 10, the Apostle goes on to say…

“He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.”

I think he knew about this raising-the-dead-and-delivering-them quality of God’s character well before his difficult experiences in Asia.  I’ve certainly known about it for many years before this one.  I’ve preached multiple sermons on it over the years, for goodness sake!  Yet, like the Apostle, I have learned it as far more than a theological assertion or a biblical precept.  Through the affliction of this year, God’s grace and care – and resurrection power – is as real to me as anything in life and I trust it more than most things in life.

As this year comes to a close, the breath of new life fills my lungs.  I have completed certification as a Professional Life Coach and am ready to extend that part of my twenty-five plus years of ministry beyond any one congregation to help people discover how to live more fully as the person God has created and called them to be.  The Life Coaching seems a natural addition to eighteensix ministries along with this blog, some speaking opportunities and additional writing.  Along with that, just in the past month, I have been offered – and accepted – a half-time position back at the church… as the Director of Pastoral Care/Pastor of Member Care. 

In the past couple weeks, I have already begun to witness in my life what Paul glimpsed at in his…

“Many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.”

For those of you who have prayed for my family and me, thank you.  I hope all of you reading this will give God thanks on our behalf for all the blessings God has poured out on us.  And, in case you are wondering – I know from experience –  there is no better place to be than…

On the Potter’s Wheel.