A Slightly Different Kind of Thought Today

 Good morning, and welcome.

 I was watching a video last night where Tim Mackie and N. T. Wright were holding a discussion in a weekend seminar that was recently held in Portland, Oregon.  Professor Wright is one of the leading theologians of our day.  Mackie is an outstanding theologian in his own right, and founder of the Bible Project, a crowd-funded effort to bring the Bible to the masses.

They were discussing a passage in John regarding the Holy Spirit.  In the midst of their comments on the passage, this snippet of conversation came out.  “The church is to be a working model of heaven on earth.”  For me, this was an “aha” moment.

I stopped the video, rewound, and listened to that portion of the conversation again.  I noted the place in the video where it was found and decided to look at it again today.  I have done so, and continue to be awed by the thought.

There are a couple of major concepts of heaven.  Without getting deep into the theological weeds of this, one of those concepts of heaven for Christians is that at the end of time, God will take all of the saved to some place in the great beyond…heaven, if you will…and earth and all  physical things will be destroyed.  There, we will play harps, float on clouds,  exist in some kind of ether-like state, and be in that kind of place forever.

The other major concept is that God will, at the end of time, reunite heaven and earth as it originally was in the Garden of Eden.  The saved will have real bodies and live in a unified, real, actual environment where heaven and earth become one.  We will have real work to do, will know others, and enjoy the fruits of God’s grace.

I believe the story of God’s love and redemption as found in the Bible points us to the concept of a reunited heaven and earth.  Consequently, when I heard this statement:  “The church is to be a working model of heaven on earth,” I was immediately caught up in the ramifications of the idea.

So, what do I believe this should look like?  Well, I don’t claim to have experienced any miraculous visions or dreams which might give me a glimpse into the afterlife.  But it seems to me that there are two or three things we might consider as we think about the concept of the church modeling what the new heavens and new earth might be like.

First, and perhaps most importantly, the church should model unity.  In Revelation, John speaks of those he sees in his vision of the throne of God:  “I looked,” he said, “And there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.”

Think of it.  People from every place on earth, from every era…from every century…all together before the throne of God.  It seems to me that we need to consider how we the church…the redeemed of God…model that in the here an now.

Second, I believe that in this new heavens and new earth, we won’t be idle.  We will be given things to do…work to do…work that is pleasant and fulfilling.  Work that is commensurate with our abilities and talents.

The church can and in many ways does model this now.  Each one of us has been given some kind of talent or ability.  That well-used statement, “I can’t do everything, but I can do something,” is pertinent in this context.  We may not be able to cure cancer, bring about world peace, or ensure that everyone has enough to eat, but we can each do our part.  We can work within our sphere of influence to bring about restoration, even if it is just in one small thing.

You may be able to think of other ways that the church can model the new heavens and new earth.  These two immediately came to my mind as I thought about it.

I know this Thursday Thought has been a little different than many.  I want these posts to give you a glimpse into my mind and heart as we all continue down this road together.  So, from time to time I may wander into a little deeper subject area such as the one today.

May God bless you and keep you as together we experience His love and care.

 

Blessings.

Spreading the Message

 Good morning, and welcome.

 Over the past several decades, the rise of the twenty-four hour news cycle, the advent of the Internet and social media, the demise of  the Fairness Doctrine, and the natural propensity of humans to want to take sides has made what was always present in our society even more pronounced.  The political and social divide has become the news of the day…all day…every day.  It seems we can’t get away from it, even if we wanted to do so.  It’s everywhere.

 Marriages break up.  Families become estranged.  Long-time friends are friends no longer.  Neighbors won’t speak to each other.  Sometimes the divide becomes violent.  Most of the time, it just festers, sitting there like the proverbial elephant in the room, waiting for someone to poke it and inflame it even more.

 Into this societal ill has come a number of ideas on how to not only deal with the divide, but to heal it.  Non profit organizations have begun to stress kindness and civility even more than they did in the past.  Politicians have begun to speak up to their constituents asking them to listen more and talk less.  Pockets of “doing unto others as you would have them do unto you” have sprung up in neighborhoods and in families all across the nation.

 And perhaps most importantly for people of faith, the church has stepped up more, I think, to recognize its responsibility to not only teach, but to practice loving God and loving one’s neighbor.  One can see many examples of that being carried out in projects large and small.  Some church families cooperate with many others to work with large-scale projects.  Others work in more individualized ways.

 But the basis for any church work in this area is the individual member.  Each person…each member of the church family needs to recognize that his or her God-given talents and abilities are there to be used.  That God expects each one of his children to use their gifts to redeem their part of the creation…especially as they are going about their daily lives and living.

 I was reminded of this by a post I saw a few days ago where a church in North Carolina has been buying medical debt for pennies on the dollar…then forgiving that debt.  The comments of the minister who is coordinating this effort is appropriate and telling:  “If every church would just sort of take responsibility for the square mile around it,” he said, “What a changed world we would live in.”

 Sometimes we are led to believe that there isn’t much we as Christians can do until we somehow have been able to “straighten out,” so to speak, our political differences, or until a certain brand of political ideology comes into power.  So, we pour all of our resources and abilities into that goal.  When we do that, we tend to lose sight of the fact that God has work for each of us to do, regardless of the political winds of the day.

 N T Wright made this comment about that very thing in a post he recorded a couple of years ago.  He said, “You don't have to live in a modern, liberal democracy to discern God's will (for you). Wherever we are, we are all living in fragile, and in a measure broken or fallen or corrupted societies. We don't first have to put the society right, then discern what God might want us to do. It may be that doing the little things that God wants us to do will accumulate, and will help our wider society make wise decisions.

 I think both Professor Wright and the North Carolina minister have something here…something that each of us needs to listen to and consider.  We may often think that the things we COULD BE doing using our abilities and talents doesn’t change anything or mean anything in the larger picture.  But I think that’s the wrong way to see this.  Bringing about God’s redemption to the creation begins with one act of kindness and love by one individual.  As my friend Jennifer White has said, “I can’t do everything, but I CAN do something.”

 We all can do something…as long as we have breath and life, we can do something in God’s kingdom to redeem the creation…ONE  ACT  OF  KINDNESS  AND  LOVE  AT  A  TIME.  And we don’t first need the perfect democracy or the perfect political ideology to do that.  Jesus and the apostles turned the world upside down in the midst of one of the most powerful and (in our modern minds) cruel governments that has ever existed.  If they could do that, certainly we can begin to spread the message of sacrificial love and redemption in our era.

Blessings.

Cake of Ice

 I have a niece who lives in Michigan with her family.  Theresa is, as most nieces and nephews are, younger than I am.  However, she has pretty much raised her family and, even though she might disagree, is rapidly becoming middle age.  I'm not sure what that says about my age, but we'll not broach that subject in this post.

Up until a few years ago, Theresa and nephew hubby Kerry were the typical middle-class family unit raising kids, attending school functions, buying groceries, and living the great American dream.  Yes, there were ups and downs in their lives just like there are in all of ours, but generally, things were going well for them as they made their way through life and living.

They still are living the great American dream, and even more so now that their kids have flown the nest.  But something has changed in these past few years that has created an ocean-change in how they think and what they do.  They have become aware that not everyone lives the great American dream.  They have become aware of societal issues like injustice, racism, poverty, and the silencing of opposing viewpoints.

And not only have they become aware, they have acted on that awareness and have...and continue to bring about great change in their community, their school system, and in the lives of others.  They and others in the community, through their activism, have brought about a turnover in the makeup of the city council, the school board, and the local police department.  They managed to have a discriminatory local city ordinance declared to be unconstitutional and of no effect  by a court of law.  They have “marshaled the troops,” so to speak, and have provided educational opportunities as well as opportunities for service and support to many in the community and beyond.  And they have begun to work on issues on a state and federal level as well as locally.  It has been an amazing thing for me to watch all of this take place in their lives.

Here's what Theresa said just a few days ago about herself on a social media post:  I've told ya'll about how I have realized my white privilege and ignorance over these years.  I didn't pay one bit of attention to politics and fell prey to the media.  I learned shortly there after that I contributed to the destruction of what we have fought to become.  I have great remorse. It haunts me to this day. Literally haunts me.

I don't necessarily agree with Theresa politically, and the social issues in my personal stable may be some different from theirs.  But this isn't a political post on my part.  This Thursday Thought is meant to awaken you to the truth that none of us lives in a bubble.  None of us has absolute protection from those societal issues that continue to nag at us for help.  None of us is an island...all to ourselves.  Each one of us is affected in some way by those issues.  Each one of us is touched in some way by racism, homelessness, greed, ideological blindness to truth, and other ills.  And each one of us has a responsibility to act...somehow...in some way...to bring about change.

It is incredibly difficult at best to make any kind of inroad into the labyrinthine snarl that is national politics.  Yes, we need to be aware of what's going on there, and do our best to work for change, even on that level.  But our best bet is working where Theresa and her family have been concentrating their efforts...at the local level.  City council people, school board people, mayors and others CAN much of the time be approached, and will in most cases at least listen to a local citizen expressing an opinion.  Citizens can rally, protest, march, attend meetings, speak during the public comment time, and yes, even go to court if necessary.  Theresa and her crew have done all of that and more.

You may not be in a position to organize a protest or march.  Maybe all you can do is write a letter or send an email.  If you are a person of faith, prayer is, or should be first on your list of things to do.  Christians are called to be difference-makers...to be a “peculiar people,” as the Apostle Paul puts it...to “Do justice, love kindness (read that “love mercy”), and walk humbly before the Lord,” as the Old Testament prophet Micah wrote.  We are called to love God and love our neighbor.  And, we are called to do unto others as we would have them do unto us.  But to choose to be ignorant of what is going on around you, or to choose to ignore the truth when it hits you in the face is not an option.

I will close with an excerpt from a play written over 60 years ago by Helen Kromer and Fredrick Silver, called “For Heaven's Sake.”  It's a satirical musical that pokes fun at those who choose ignorance and it urges us all to be serious about our choices in life.  This excerpt is called “Girl In Ice,” and is a spoken part rather than a musical part.

It describes someone who has chosen to live “above” the riff-raff of society...who has chosen ignorance and apathy over “doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly.”

Hear no evil...see no evil...speak no evil...NO!  I abhor it and ignore it...all that sin below.  All those creatured, ugly featured faces filled with sin might beguile me, and defile the temple here within!

I'm above it.  How I love it...where the air is pure.  For evil is as evil does.  And doing nothing's sure to keep my skirts so unbesmirched that anyone will fine...I'm lily-white and clothed in light, and deaf, and dumb, and blind!

I am not contaminated, for I've simply abdicated.  And I'm staying nice...by freezing up and squeezing up into a cake of ice.

May none of us ever become those…cakes of ice.

Blessings,

Listen To the Quiet

 For this Thursday Thought, I’ll be intertwining my own thoughts with some thoughts penned in a blog I found on line by a man named Joe Broadmeadow.  I don’t know Mr. Broadmeadow, but I liked this particular blog of his.  He says what I often am feeling nowadays.

I don’t know about you, but I think we live in a very noisy world.  And much of that noise is noise that we make ourselves, for ourselves.  We constantly have the television, music, game apps, earbuds, phones, or other noise makers on and running.  If we live in an urban area, we constantly are hearing car horns, sirens, street noise, and other sounds of the city.  We may have neighbors close by who turn up the volume of whatever it is they are listening to at the moment.  Even in more rural areas, there is an abundance of man-made noise.  We can’t seem to get away from it…or more likely, we don’t want to get away from it.

As Mr. Broadmeadow says, “It’s a rare moment when we can actually listen to the quiet.”

As I get older, I am more and more drawn to the quiet.  The back yard of our home butts up against the back side of Pawnee Prairie Park in Wichita.  Often, I can go into the yard or sit on the back patio and hear nothing but the occasional barking dog, someone walking on the park path, kids playing somewhere in the neighborhood, nearby birds, and rustling breezes.  The noise of West Kellogg normally doesn’t penetrate.  We live close to Eisenhower Airport, so we do hear the occasional takeoff or landing.  But those are usually short-lived events.  We might occasionally hear a far-off siren, and sometimes we can even hear a train in the far distance.  The closest tracks are several miles away, and it takes a certain atmospheric situation for that sound to travel that far.

I often have the radio in my pickup turned off.  My phone seldom rings or goes off.  I often have the television off when in the same room.  Or if it’s on, it’s in the background or my wife is watching it.  I don’t do noisy video games.  I sometimes go somewhere in the house where there is quiet and I just sit or lay down.  I’ll sometimes turn off my phone entirely.  If someone wants me, they can leave a message or voice mail.  When we have grand kids over, I sometimes will go to a quiet part of the house and “recuperate,” if you will, for a few minutes.  And, I’ve been known to, when we have company, retire to the bedroom and rest for a few minutes in a quiet environment.

I well recall many years ago, we stayed in a bed-and-breakfast somewhere in Central Kansas.  The place was out in the countryside in the Flint Hills.  We both had jobs that were rather intense and sometimes stressful.  We needed a break, so spent, I think, the weekend at this B & B.  One of the first things I noticed there was how quiet it was when we were outside on the porch.  The silence…the lack of any noise whatsoever…was deafening.  It was so much different from what we were used to…it was a place where we hadn’t been in quite some time…a place of solitude and quiet.  My senses perked up as I strained to hear something…anything that would let me know I was OK.  But I needn’t worry.  I WAS OK.  It was just this strange nothingness…this absence of noise…that had me worried for a bit.

Ever since then, I have at times looked for times when I could be still…quiet…and my surroundings were that way as well.  And as I age, I seem to seek out those times and places with greater frequency and stay in them for longer periods of time.

I now have hearing aids.  I remember when I first wore them at the hearing place, and they turned them on for the first time.  It was like a whole ‘nuther world opened up for me.  I could again hear the various squeaks, groans, and other noises in places like offices, vehicles, and at home that I hadn’t heard for years.

But, those aids also made it more difficult to find quiet…absence of noise.  So, instead, I learned to listen to the sounds of the quiet.  Birds singing, rain falling, leaves rustling, squirrels chattering, owls hooting.  It’s not quite the quiet of not being able to hear.  But it’s the quiet, I believe, that we were always meant to hear and enjoy.

I’ll end this thought with a quote from Mr. Broadmeadow, who says this about hearing the quiet.  “Taking a moment’s pause to walk in a snowstorm, anywhere away from the noisy cacophony of the world, one can actually hear the quit.  It may be hard to imagine, in a city or even a small town surrounded by modern society’s mechanism, that one can hear snow fall in a quiet forest.  But you can…and it will be magical.  To hear snow falling, it has to be quiet.  And to hear quiet, one must listen for it.  Shhhh.  Listen to the quiet.”

 

Blessings.