Category Archives: Jesus

Shepherd or Magi?

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I was struck today on the similar yet distinctive reactions of the shepherds and the magi to Jesus’ birth.  While both are notified by heavenly objects – angels for the shepherds, a star for the magi – and both respond with joy by searching for the baby, their response has some sharp contrasts. The shepherds leave their flock that very night and immediately go in search of the baby (Luke 2:15-17).  Of course, Jesus is in their local community and they share the news with all.  Meanwhile it takes the magi up to two years to plan and accomplish their journey to Bethlehem (Matthew 2: 1-12).

Shepherd?

I think the two reactions help us understand how many of us respond to the good news of Jesus Christ.  Some of us respond immediately to the message of God’s love and embrace it with all joy at the outset.  We see Jesus in our neighborhood and we respond right away.  We always sense that Jesus is close by.   I would place myself in this camp.  I grew up knowing Jesus as my Lord.

Or Magi?

Others need more time, more thought, and the journey is much longer.   In a metaphorical way, they have to leave their own country to find Jesus in a new land.   But when they do, they embrace him fully as their King.  The journey and the encounter has changed them.  The author Frederick Buechner describes such a spiritual odyssey in his book, The Sacred Journey (1982).   

Neither the response of the shepherds nor the response of the magi is better or preferred.  God uses a vast array of messengers, visions, experiences, relationships and ideas to call us to himself.  I delight in the wonder of each path and journey.

Would you describe yourself as a shepherd, a magi or some other character in the Christmas story?

Finding Jesus in Jamaica

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Working Together to Meet Jesus

I am still thinking about the magi’s journey to Bethlehem to see baby Jesus. Preaching on a text sometimes hammers it deep into one’s psyche.   What strikes me is the investment the magi made.  They gave not only the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, but also the time and energy for the trip itself.   They entered a foreign culture to pay homage to an infant king who was not immediately their own. 

I see so many connections in this story to the value of short-term mission trips, especially to different cultures.   As one who has lead over a dozen mission trips to Jamaica, I see the investment and hopes that people make when they go on a “vacation with a purpose.”   A key element of that preparation is to recognize that they go to discover Jesus in that place, more than to bring Jesus to that place.   The Christian service or actions that the missionaries perform are important, but the relationships, conversations, and participation with the people of that new culture are what become holy and blessed.

Too often I can become fixated on the physical accomplishments of a trip.  When I have worked with Habitat for Humanity it brings me satisfaction that we have constructed a safe, secure, simple structure for a family in need.   And when a team runs out of building materials or out of time, I feel frustrated and disappointed.  

Still the bigger accomplishment in any trip is the network of relationships that develop in the community.  Worship, meals, conversations and play are just as significant as the work done on the house; we often meet Jesus, hidden in the smile of a child or in the song of an impromptu choir.  Those encounters with Jesus change and enlighten us, if we give them “homage.”    Time for reflection and prayer have been a key element in my mission journeys because they help us bring Jesus home after the trip.

I look forward to leading mission trips in the future.  I sense that Jesus is waiting.

Have you ever encountered Jesus in a different culture than your own?

Christmas Journeys

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The Journey to Bethlehem

The Christmas story is filled with journeys:  Mary’s and Joseph’s trek to Bethlehem, the magi’s visit to the child, the holy family’s escape from King Herod into Egypt.   Even the shepherds had a night hike from the fields to the stable in order to see the baby.    Perhaps we all need to do a little traveling to discover Jesus.

This week my two daughters are traveling home.  Christina flew in Saturday after her first semester at college.  Suzanne will arrive tomorrow from her new home in Bloomington, IN.   I will be glad to have them under our roof for a time; it will certainly add to the Christmas joy.  Yet I know it is temporary; their life-paths are taking them on new adventures that may or may not be in close proximity to Carolyn’s and mine.  I guess that is part of trusting Jesus to guide the way.

I am also remembering one snowy December evening when I was flying home to Washington state for Christmas.   I had been gone a whole year, having worked the summer near my college in Philadelphia.  I had to change planes here in the Twin Cities and a snow storm had shut down the airport.  I was sitting in the terminal, waiting for my Seattle flight, feeling homesick and very much alone.  I wondered if I would ever get home as the snow piled up outside.  As the night got deeper and longer, I thought about Joseph and Mary’s journey to Bethlehem.  How lonely they must have felt, yet God was right there with them.  It slowly dawned on me that God was with me that night as well.  Emmanuel, God with us, is the intimate message of Christmas.   Little did I know at the time, that I would invest more than thirty years in the Twin Cities, discovering God’s presence and power among its residents. 

In what ways have Christmas’ journeys impacted your life?

Joseph’s Prayer

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Almighty God, your servant Joseph faithfully followed your command to take Mary as his wife, in spite of her scandalous pregnancy.  Grant us the courage and conviction to follow you in all circumstances and opportunities.  Let us not bow to cultural pressures, but seek you above everything else.  The gift of your son, Jesus, is sufficient for all our needs and desires.   In your holy name we pray.  Amen.

Entering the Story

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Children's Christmas Program

Sunday afternoon was Resurrection Children’s Christmas program.  In spite of the snow and cold, families made the trek to our “Bethlehem Marketplace” and then participated in the retelling of the Christmas story.  Children were dressed as angels, shepherds, stars, sheep, wise men as well as Mary and Joseph.  The stable of Bethlehem was filled with life.

Families have been attending Christmas programs for generations. I remember being a wiseman as a child (some might joke that it was my one-time experience); I hope someday to see my future grandchildren being shepherds or sheep. Christmas programs allow all of us to enter into the story of Christ’s birth and to experience the wonder and surprise within it.   Too often we treat the stories of the Bible as abstract history lessons that are dusty and dull.   To act out the story helps it come alive and fresh, filled with truth, hope and love.

 Haddon Robinson, a noted evangelical preacher, did many of his sermons as a first person narrative.  He said recently, “You can take that story from the point of view of one of the characters and tell it. You don’t have to be a great actor. It’s amazing how interesting it is for people to hear somebody who as a character relives that story. In our day it can make a great impact.” http://www.preaching.com/resources/articles/11565763/page-4/

This Christmas eve I will be retelling the Christmas story in a first person narrative.  It will be my first at Resurrection, but I rejoice that the children have prepared the way.

Trust in the rope

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Three fold cord

Trusting Jesus can seem easy at times.  Like on the bright and sunny days, surrounded by friends and family.   Or on the mountain peaks when the vistas are magnificent and the air is clear.  Yet life is rarely all sunshine and mountain tops.

In my wedding sermons, I remind the bride and groom that not all of life will be like their wedding day, filled with excitement, joy and celebration.   The couple will not always be surrounded by the support of family and friends. Like all people, they will need to face life’s storms and life’s valleys.   As a married couple, they will have the strength of each other, but they can also learn to trust in Jesus’ power and love to carry them through such challenging days and months.

The fourth chapter of Ecclesiastes describes the benefits of two people working together.  It ends the section with this phrase:  a threefold cord is not quickly broken (Ecc. 4:12). The thought shifts from the strength of two to the strength of three.  What is the third cord in the rope?  That third cord is Jesus Christ, woven into the fabric of  life, especially a marriage.  But that woven strength is not limited to married couples.  Jesus is the strong cord that can carry any individual through challenges that come with the storms and valleys of life.

And a big part of that “challenging” strength grows out of the daily attention given to our trust in Jesus.  Trust is something that deepens over time.  It rarely appears like magic, on demand.  Our trust in Jesus grows through reflection, prayer, study and grace.

More on that in a future post.

Graceful Dancing

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Yesterday afternoon I took a walk with my mom from her apartment through the skyways to Woodbury’s YMCA.  We stopped for a few moments to watch an aerobic’s class in session.  After a couple of minutes I discovered that it was a Zumba fitness class that utilizes Latin dance steps and movements for fitness.  The Zumba fitness motto is, “Ditch the work out, join the party!”   I quickly noted that there were no males participating and that I would have trouble doing even the simple moves.  Still I am intrigued.

One reason for my interest is that I have often used the image of dance to express how our life with Jesus flows.   Dance is more complicated, more nuanced, than simply walking or running.  It has rhythm and expression that expresses a wide range of emotions and ideas.  I believe our life with Jesus is more often a joyous dance with others moving in and out of the circle, than a somber march of following certain rules and regulations.  Like dance, life in Jesus involves practice and spontaneity, community and solitude.

I doubt that I will be joining a Zumba class soon; I continue to have trouble discerning my left foot from my right.  Recently at my mother’s apartment they had a dance and after some hesitation, I escorted my mom on to the dance floor.  As we “danced” she said to me, “we’re not really dancing, we’re just moving our feet.” I laughed.  

As we live with Jesus,  sometimes we dance, sometimes we simple move our feet.  But it is all graceful with his presence.

Jeremiah 31:13  Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy, I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.

The Certainty of Questions

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As the new lead pastor I have been asking lots of questions.  Who prepares the worship folders, the video slides, or the confirmation materials? Who plows the parking lot?  How much money is in the budget for mission outreach? Who cleans the bathrooms?   Like any new hire I am in the midst of a sharp learning curve, realizing everyday that there is more and more I don’t know.   That can be unnerving at times, especially when my personality is one that likes to appear very competent and knowledgable.  I hate looking foolish!

So I am struck by the amount of questions in this Sunday’s scripture lesson, Matthew 11:2-11.  First, John the Baptist has a question for Jesus, “Are you the promised Messiah that so many people are expecting, or should we start looking for someone else?”  Wow!   The fiery, intense John suddenly has cold feet about Jesus.   John questions whether he has prepared the way for the wrong guy. 

Second, Jesus asks the crowd questions about John, “What were you all expecting when you went out to hear John preach?”  Jesus challenges the expectations and assumptions of the people. Could it be that we allow our assumptions to dictate what God should do or be?   Do we at times assume that God’s ways should match our expectations?  Can questions break open a new perspective, a new vision?  Can doubt play a role in shaping faith?

What questions do you wrestle with as you seek to trust, live and serve?