GLORY in the SKY!

HAMBURGERS WITH SLICES OF GRILLED PINEAPPLE, the family gathered around the patio table savoring the flavors of summer while making plans to attend the local gathering in Scotts Valley to experience the evening sky filled with the glorious colors of exploding fireworks and the reverberating concussive thud to be felt in our chests. Ah, this is the joy of celebrating our American Independence Day.

We are willing to walk a mile carrying the needed provisions for the evening. We deem it fun to cuddle up and wrap blankets around us to keep off the evening dew-filled chill. We even graciously tolerate the traffic-filled ride to find our way back home. It's what the holiday is all about. It is even better enjoying it together as a family. (Especially since this may be the last one for awhile for my two eldest kids, Trinity is headed to Rome, and Krista, back to Africa.) Of course, the fireworks, with their attendant oohs and ahs, are truly the much-needed icing on the cake.

The Bible tells us that there is coming a Day, another day in which we shall look to the sky in the celebration of our freedom. But this freedom is not from the tyranny of some earthly empire, but from the tyranny of sin and death! A Day is coming in which we shall look toward the heavens as our souls will be filled with the reverberating sounds of a trumpet call and we shall see the Glory of the coming King of kings and Lord of lords. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18) I surmise it shall be even better than all the BBQ's and fireworks we could every imagine, and it is shall be the greatest gathering of family ever! A Day to declare our independence from this world and our complete dependence upon Jesus, God's Son, the Messiah, our Savior!

As we celebrate our national independence let us not forget to celebrate our spiritual dependence upon Jesus. As the evening of the Fourth of July draws to a close and we pick up our blankets and make our way slowly back home, as we lay are weary, but thankful heads upon our pillows, let us not forget to set our alarms to awaken us to celebrate the fifth of July by gathering with God's people in worship as we draw together to celebrate the reality of our Lord's promised return and His sacrifice upon the cross which made our true freedom possible!

Come! Let us worship the Lord with the anticipation of His glory in the sky!


(Note: heading out on vacation for a few weeks...Pastor's Study will be vacationing, too. See you on my return.)

We Can't Escape It

Yesterday, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson "went the way of all flesh." And with their passing we are again brought to the stark reality that death is something that none of us can escape. Whether life is lived long, or cut drastically short, death is the specter awaiting each of us.

To be honest Farrah's and Michael's deaths upset me, but not for the reasons which most are upset. I am upset because the deaths of these two celebrities will cause us to forget the ongoing tragic deaths around the world in places like Darfur and Congo. I know some of you are thinking, "come on Randy, lighten-up, quite being so cynical and harsh."

Well, that's just the place I am.

I am sadden by many who are suffering that I personally know...good people...humble people...people who have lived quiet lives of serving God and man, and now find themselves being chased by death. For these and for many others, my heart hurts.

These thoughts of death and dying do bring us to this week's sermon passage from John 12:12-36. It is here we now see Jesus moving straight forward to His death. Not sherking from it, not hiding, but resolved to accomplish that for which He was sent. (John 12:27)

Jesus came for the purpose of dying, so that through His death we might have life. (John 10:10; John 20:21; 1 John 5:12) I cannot say that for anyone else. And as they say, "the proof is in the pudding," or is Jesus' case, in His resurrection!!!

How good it is to know that we can be part of the wonderful harvest that has been brought forth because of Jesus' sacrificial death. (John 12:23-26) And that we, as the fruit of that harvest, have the responsibility to also die to self so that the planting and harvest will continue, and all for the glory of God.

Death does await all of us and the day of our death is known only to Him who is the Giver of life, so let us therefore live in the Light, as children of the Light; working while it is still day so that death shall not be an horrendous end, but a glorious beginning.

Flouresent Monkeys

I don't know if they really glow-in-the-dark, but it seems scientists have created a transgenic monkey. Apart from the usual ethical questions it is rather amazing what is being done these days. The unwrapping of the human genome is constantly changing how we see ourselves, and this has very powerful ramifications, some good and some not-so-good.

In his recent book, "So Beautiful," Leonard Sweet seeks to unwrap the DNA of the church. Sweet's thoughts are worth considering, and in many ways resonant with my own. For a number of years now I have wrestled with the question of who are we as the church, and what is our life to be like as those who have chosen to follow Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives?

One thing has become clear, just as in "making" transgenic glow-in-the-dark monkeys can yield positive results for the human race farther down the road, it can also open a Pandora's Box of unintended results. What is definitely called for is great and humble wisdom.

What the world sees as good and right is not always the case. And what can be said about the world can also be said about the church. In my sermon passage for this coming Sunday (John 12:1-11) we encounter Mary (the sister of Lazarus) pouring expensive perfume on the feet of Jesus. Some in the gathered group, namely Judas, see it as nothing but a waste of time and money. But, Jesus says that Mary has chosen the right thing to do. Mary has responded rightly to her Creator and has lived out that for which she was created, the total worship of the Lord.

This Sunday I am to not only preach about this encounter, but I am to share with the church the direction in which we believe the Lord is leading us as a local congregation. These are truly exciting days and we see God doing some amazing things in our midst and around the world (even more amazing than glow-in-the-dark primates), and yet we need to keep our eyes and heart focused, as did Mary, upon the primary mission which is the glory of God.

What is the DNA of the church? How are we to live out the lives we were created to live? As Leonard Sweet points out, the church, as God created it, is so beautiful. I encourage you to delve deep into the revealed mysteries of God and stand amazed at the beautiful work God has wrought. May we, as His Body, live forth as He designed for His glory.

Life or Death, Which Will It Be?

The older I get (just had a birthday last week) allows me to get closer to death. My friends and the flock get older too, and thus are closer to death. Lately, I have witnessed an increase in those affected by cancers, heart conditions, and various other illnesses that carry the specter of death around them. But death is not a respecter of age, for even this morning one of our senior church members lost an adult child to an accidental death, much to the tragic shock of all of us. Personally, my soul is wearied by those called to such suffering, my heart aches for them in their pain, suffering, and loss.

My prayer for them is that they will know deeply the presence of the Lord during their period of suffering and/or grief. I pray for His abiding peace to truly guard their hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. (Philippians 4:6-7)

With all this in mind, this week's Biblical sermon text is even more striking and powerful. In our sermon series, "Changing Our World for Good," we look over the shoulder of Jesus as He encounters death face-to-face in the death of his dear friend Lazarus. (John 11:1-44)

There are, of course, many things to discuss and ponder in this encounter, but here is what grabs me today, and a question that has arisen in me numerous times over the years, it is, "why did Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead, was is not better for him to remain in heaven?" Now, I realize that Jesus did state that by His act of compassion in raising Lazarus people would come to believe in Him (John 11:15) and that God would receive glory (John 11:40).

But, is there more?

I believe there is.

In addition to God's power being displayed. In addition to a validation of who Jesus is. In addition to the restorative comforting His act provided to Mary and Martha. I believe Jesus also reminds us of the importance of life.

Life was God's creation, not death. We were created for life, not for death. I don't think we were even created for heaven, we were created for life with the Living God. We were created for living communion with the One God, who has eternally existed as a Tri-Unity. It is in the bringing of Lazarus back to life that Jesus is declaring that life is a good thing, it is that thing for which we were created.

Too often, my focus (our focus) is either on the tragic aspects of death which surround us, or upon the reality of life after death (which I admit is a great truth). But when are focus is solely upon those aspects we miss the truth that we have been given life, and life to be lived right here, right now. Jesus declared in John 10:10, that He came to give life and that life in abundance. In other words, is the raising of Lazarus we see that this is not such a bad place to be, this place called life on Earth, even with all its pain and suffering. In fact, it is the life we have now in Jesus that brings us the grace, compassion, steadfastness and hope to live this life.

For me to live is Christ!

So, shall we live?

Walking Blind

Sunday morning I shared about my early morning God-lesson as I watched two planets reflecting the light of the unseen sun. (sermon here) One of the lesson was that of the need for the darkness in order for the dirt-encrusted planets to shine forth. For us that darkness often refers to things like suffering and doubt. Elements that we do not desire nor enjoy, and yet are the very things that allow Christ's reflective light to shine forth.

This week's sermon passage, John 9:1-41, also deals with darkness and light in the form of blindness and sight. There is much to discuss in this powerful encounter between Jesus, the blindman and the religious leaders, but I would like to focus just on one short section that coincides with my God-lesson mentioned above.

In John 9:6-12 Jesus begins the healing process with spit and mud (pretty earthy, the basis of our very creation...hearkens back to Genesis 2:7). Then Jesus tells the man to walk blind to the pool of Siloam. I don't know how far the man had to walk, but Jesus could have healed him without making him walk one more step in the darkness that had overshadowed him from birth, and yet Jesus sent the man off with spit and mud in his eyes and in darkness to wash in the pool.

The spiritual lesson for me was strong. Jesus may bring healing into various areas of my life, while at the same time calling me to continue to walk in darkness. To walk obediently in the dark while His healing of my life is still in the process of arriving. I don't know why at one time the healing is immediate and at others it is still arriving, all I know is that sometimes the darkness is still present, and as with the planets allows the Light of the world to shine unto God's glory...which is the goal in all things. (John 9:3)

So, Prove Me Wrong!

IN EVANGELICAL ECCLESIASTICAL PASTORAL CIRCLES, this coming Sunday (the Sunday after Easter) is lovingly referred to as "Slump Sunday." It's the day when churches suffer below normal church attendance, which often looks even more striking against the previous week's, above normal church attendance. The reason for this below normal gathering is often attached to the fact that so many in the church did more than usual the week before because of all the increase of religious activities during Holy Week, and now they believe they earned a Sunday off.

After over 30 years of pastoral work I have found the above phenomenon to be true. To be honest it's a little disheartening to us pastors. Sure, we can understand it, and it may even make some limited sense, but it still is troubling. It's not just having the CE attendees (Christmas/Easter) fail to return, but it's having the regular church family disappear as well.

When I was younger this whole event bothered me on a strictly statistical and numerical basis; numbers were down, giving was down, and this was not good. But now, it bothers me at a deeper level (though I miss the numbers as well). It troubles me that we can think that not gathering with the Community of Christ on a regular basis is somehow an option for us. Now, don't get your toga in a knot, for I know we all go other places and even pastor's take a week off from time to time. I know that, and I am OK with that, this issue is much more systemic than that.

Often, there is a sense that this "missing church" will some how not matter in the great scope of things. The danger is that this attitude can develop into a destructive practice. The truth is we were created for Community. As Christians are born anew into Christ's Body, the Church, and the church is not about doing, it is about being. Sadly, I know people who cannot miss a day without stopping at Starbucks. In fact, if they miss that opportunity they will make it the topic of conversation and complaint until they are able to return to their "temple" of choice, but these same people can miss a month of Sundays without the slightest affect upon their being.

Believe it or not, this brings us to our passage for this coming week, John 8:48-59.

In this encounter Jesus is once again defending who He is before the religious leaders. In John 8:58 He declares, "Before Abraham was, I AM." In that statement He made it definitively clear to His detractors that He was God, the "I AM." (Exodus 3:14) Yet, it should be noted that being the I AM did not mean He stood alone, but rather the greater reality was that He has dwelt for eternity in a Divine Community. What He did, what He said, was what He saw and heard from the Father. Jesus' very nature, that of being in community with God, had bearing upon all that He was and did. That community is imparted to us, His followers. It is what the Body of Christ is all about.

Jesus told His followers that apart from Him we could do nothing. (John 15:5) We, too often, personalize that statement. We make it all about Christ in me, but in reality it is much more. It is about community, and it is for the community, the Body of Christ. Apart from the Community of Christ, His Body, we can do nothing. Not just because the individual members of the local church hold some collective power that is transmitted to us, but because Christ lives in, and through, His Body. Remember the Word of God tells us we are not like a body, we are the Body. (1 Corinthians 12:27)

There is much to unpack in this passage this week, but let's not miss the truth about who Jesus is, how Jesus is, for we are called to be conformed to His image. (Romans 8:29) The community, gathering with it, is of vital importance to our journey in following Christ and in being made like Him by the Holy Spirit's work in us.

Will the Community of Christ gather this week with the numbers and enthusiasm, as it did the week previous? I doubt it! But to that I would love to say,

"Prove me wrong!"

HE IS RISEN!

HE IS RISEN!

That might be a scary prospect for a horror film. Something about some guy rising from the dead, sulking around the countryside looking for hapless victims to bring to his netherworld lair. Yep, I am sure Hollywood could make that title into a real hit for the Halloween movie season.

But, when I use those words, my thoughts fall not to images of death, but rather of life! It is a declaration of life-bringing truth. He is risen! This "He" is of course the man Jesus, who, as the Apostle's Creed reminds us, "was crucified, dead, and buried, descended into Hell, The third day He rose again from the dead."

This week we remember the Passion of our Lord. That passion was for us; to pay the full and complete price for our sin (Hebrews 9:22; 1 Peter 3:18). Because of this Passion He willingly journeyed to the Cross. (Hebrews 12:2) but His Passion not ony included His death, but His resurrection as well.

Jesus' resurrection was for the purpose of bringing life, not death. It was to move us from a place of fear to the place of faith. It was not a horror story, but the event that establishes hope. The shout of the Church, "He is risen!" Was not a shout of dismay but of joy. It was the constant reminder that all the Jesus said, did and promised was true! Sins forgiven! A place in heaven guaranteed! The relationship with our Heavenly Father restored! Purpose, peace, mercy, love renewed, continually!

I encourage you this week, as we remember the Passion of our Lord, to seek to renew your passion for Him. To call upon the Holy Spirit, that dwells in the life of every believer, to empower you anew. Cry out for the Resurrection Passion to fill your life.

Choose this week to live out the the life-changing declaration of truth, that "HE IS RISEN!" not just with your mouth, but with the everyday decisions of your life for "He is risen, indeed!"