Working Through Faith

Dear Faith Family,  

And every way in which you
make, manufacture, and construct your life,
—in words and actions—
do it all in loyalty and submission to the Lord Jesus
…with a singular focus of heart,
in awe and wonder at the presence of the Lord.
Whatever you do,
work from the soul as for the Lord…
(Colossians 3:17, 22-23)

The above might not be the translation of Colossians 3 you memorized in Bible Drill. Still, as we unpacked last year, this chapter in Paul's letter to the "raised with Christ" (3:1) has much to say about our daily labors post-resurrection Sunday.

Work, says the apostle, is whatever we do in our efforts to make a life within intimate, responsible, and economic relationships (3:18-4:1). The work that each of us has been specially fashioned for (see Eph. 2:10 & Ps. 139:13-16) includes more than the labors that make us a living. Encompassed in Paul's exhortation are all our daily exchanges and interactions, obligations, commitments, and to-do lists. "And whatever you do, in or deed" (3:17), not just some things at particular times, but "Whatever you do," and whenever you do it, "work heartily as the Lord" (3:23). 

But how? How do we work from the soul and not merely to survive, pass the time, or meet some standard of duty or success? 

Well, as we discussed together this Sunday, we have to work through faith. 

When thinking about "work," and especially "good work," it's almost natural for our minds to focus on our particular words and actions on any given day, wondering, "Did I say the right things in the right way?" and "Did I do the right things, in the right way?" 

While Paul certainly encourages us to consider our "whatever we dos," he knows--and has spent the first two chapters of the letter making the case-- the wonder and holiness of life on this side of Easter is that whatever we do is done with "Christ in you" (1:27).

Good work is the product of being at work with God. Or, as Paul put it, “fearing the Lord” (3:22) being in awe and wonder in the presence of the Lord, responsive to Christ in you, Christ with you. And this is where faith comes in. "Faith," says Frederick Buechner, "is to respond to what we see..." And what do we see on this side of Easter Sunday? In Jesus, you are re-created and made competent to join God in the very good of making life. 

He is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation.
For by him all things were created,
in heaven and on earth...
and in him all things hold together...
And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind,
doing evil deeds [not good work!],
he has now reconciled
in his body of flesh by his death,
in order to present you holy
and blameless
and above reproach before him,
if indeed you continue in the faith,
stable and steadfast,
not shifting from the hope of the gospel
...which has been proclaimed
in all creation under heaven...
(Colossians 1:15-17, 21-23)

Re-read those words. Can you see who you are with in your work today, and that is why/how you can do good work...whatever you "do"? 

Paraphrasing Buechner as a prayer for you and me: May we...

“work through faith...
responding to what we see
...by trying to live up to it and toward it
through all the wonderful and terrible things
…by looking to see it again and see it better." 

Love you, faith family. God bless!

Making Room For Sabbath To Enter

Dear Faith Family,  

Life after Easter is a return—a resurrection into the original, whole, and holy cadence of Sabbath into Work into Sabbath into Work into Sabbath…and so on and so forth. The Church historically calls this season “Ordinary Time.” And as we know, it’s precisely in the ordinary rhythms and relationships that we see and participate in the Kingdom come and our Father’s will done on earth as it is in heaven.

As we were reminded on Sunday, this return to ordinary begins not in our work, but in God’s finished work and our resting with Him through faith.

The events of Easter weekend, the suffering, betrayal, trial, crucifixion, burial, and resurrection gave witness to the essential reality of our existence as humans: we live only and truly in God’s love for us. Paraphrasing John’s words to us from the conclusion of last week’s note,

In this the love of God was made manifest (real)…
that the Son of God died for us…
so that through Him we might live...
making our home in love…
as God makes His home in us.

So how do we make ourselves at home in this love, at home with God? Well, first and foremost, through faith-filled rest.

Remember, to Sabbath is simply to cease our efforts to be with God and others as we delight in His finished efforts. While we have for millennia added to, subtracted from, built up, and torn down the particulars of “sabbathing,” the simple nature of the day made for us (Mark 2:27-28) remains, and requires our faith to enter in.

Faith, as we said, is more than an affirmation of belief in a true statement. More, but not less. As we discussed on Sunday:

“Faith is an attitude,
the joy of living a life in which God has a stake…”
(Abraham Heschel)

As an attitude, it is faith that shapes the manner in which we Sabbath; how and why we do and do not do certain things on this “special day.” In this way, faith is action. More specifically: seeing and responding to what we see. Echoing Hebrews 11:1-2, Frederick Buechner writes,

“Faith is a way of looking
at what there is to be seen in the world
and in ourselves
and hoping, trusting, believing
against all evidence to the contrary
that beneath the surface…
there is vastly more…
To have faith is to respond to what we see…”

Sabbathing through faith is responding by rest to the love we see in Jesus’ life given for us.

If we can learn to rest through faith, to “respond to what we see,” in the love of God for us in Jesus, “breathing it in like air and growing strong on it,” we can be ones who don’t try and “get Sabbath right” (or don’t Sabbath because we are afraid we won’t get it right?) or use Sabbath as a means to our own ends (as just another attempt at control). Instead, we can delight in the reality of the truth we have come to know and believe through Jesus: that we exist now, this day, and forever within the love of God for us.

So…

CONSIDER THIS:

It’s hard to cease striving if we cannot see where we are. Can you see God's love for you today in your story, in ordinary places, and clearly in Jesus?

If you can’t, no need to go any further. Instead, go back to where we restart, to the finished work of Jesus, to God’s love for you in Jesus’ life, given up and raised again. Read and reflect on John 17-20 until you can see the truth of your existence.

If you can see where you are, how are you responding to what you see? How are you resting through faith within God’s love? What’s keeping you from seeing it again and seeing it better? What might you do or not do on a day of rest with God and others to “live up to…and toward” what you see?

If you need some ideas, check out the resources by clicking the image above. And don’t be afraid to talk it out with one another. After all, the Sabbath in scripture is always done with a community!

May our Father’s ever-restful grace, allow us to enter His Sabbath rest as His Sabbath rest enters into us.

Love you, faith family. God bless!

Staying A While...In The Awe

Dear Faith Family,  

Monday afforded us a surreal experience. For a few moments, "the world was wrong." The sun, gone, but not set. The sky blue, while in the dark. Stars and planets shining, in the daytime. Birds and squirrels quieted (at least in our neighborhood) while crickets sang a midafternoon song.  Words cannot do justice to the oddity and wonder of those brief minutes of total eclipse. Nor can I adequately describe how amazingly the world was put right at just a sliver of the sun's return.

Abruptly, we went from dusk to midday—no gradual dawning. The deep blue instantaneously transitioned to bright blue. Immediately, distant stars and planets returned to their invisible orbit. Crickets quieted in the blink of an eye, and the "normal" bustle in the trees returned to normal. And just like that, it was over. In truth, there was still nearly an hour before the view of the sun would be wholly unobstructed by the moon. Yet, if you're like me, the "return to right" meant a return to the day's labors. 

It seems that Annie Dillard's experience of the 1979 total eclipse concluded, like many of ours, 

"One turns at last even from glory itself with a sigh of relief.
From the depths of mystery, even from the heights of splendor,
we bounce back and hurry for the latitudes of home." 

But what if we didn't rush back? What if, instead of hurrying back from the glory, mystery, and splendor we had witnessed, we took a moment to stay, to dwell in the wonder of what we had seen? What if we allowed the awe of the extraordinary to shape everything we do to make a life in the ordinary? 

That's the question we asked on Sunday. While what happened during Monday's eclipse was amazing, it wasn't the most "end-of-the-world-like" happenings during daytime darkness (check out Matthew 27:45-54!). Nor was Monday's instantaneous "return to right" the most dazzling (check out Matthew 28:1-10!). How "fortunate" for us that Monday's experience was in such close proximity to Easter weekend's remembering the Light of the world (John 8:12) covered for a moment in the darkness of death only to instantly return to right the world as the resurrection and Life (John 11:25).

Staying awhile in the wonder of what we've seen and experienced in Easter so that we might make life good will be our collective encouragement over the next six weeks. If you missed Sunday, I'd encourage you to listen to the sermon here to catch up on the conversation and to ground our shared rhythms and practices during our extended gaze. 

For today, may the words of John the Beloved allow us to stay longer in the glory, mystery, and splendor of the Son, dead and alive forevermore. 

In this the love of God was made manifest among us,
that God sent his only Son into the world,
so that we might live through him.
In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loves us
and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sin…
So we have come to know and to believe
the love that God has for us.
God is love,
and whoever abides in love abides in God,
and God abides in them.
(1 John 4:9-10, 16)

Love you, faith family! God bless.

Getting the Words Out

Dear Faith Family,  

Hallelujah, as we learned on Easter Sunday, is a universal reflex, an essentially human response that bursts from our lips when our ears hear and eyes see the goodness of life manifest. Hallelujah, “Praise God,” life is good! 

Whether as a reaction to a favorable prognosis, a response to provision received, flowing from relief at a trial's end, spilling forth in rejoicing at an expectation met, or as an exhaled near whisper in the rest of remembering what has been and will be again; Hallelujah springs forth when we can see the goodness in life fully, even if only in a glance. In this way, Hallelujah is an expression of revelation, revealing the essential nature of reality: the goodness of God. 

Perhaps that’s why our New Testament saves the word Hallelujah until the full view of the end is in clear sight. The four uses of the word all make their presence heard in Revelation 19 at "the marriage supper of the Lamb." As ubiquitous as the word may be, and as thoroughly as it has traversed every known language while keeping its Hebrew origin, hallelujah is saved as a response to marriage, the union of Jesus and His Church, a vision of unhindered communion in community and covenant. Hallelujah, Praise God, for life is God with us captured at the ceremony of love, the celebration marking true love, testifying to love's work, witnessing love shared, and remembering love's commitment. A vision of life with God and others as it should be, because it is. Praise God, life is indeed, and at its essence, good!

While the expression of hallelujah is universal, everyone, even the godless, experience, at some point, moments of hallelujah, the goodness of life; the truth is, if we want to live in the goodness of life as our daily reality, another universal word is required: Amen, “Yes.”

Amen is our yes to life with God and all His Yes in covenant and communion demands. We say Amen, says Rabbi Heschel, “to keep alive the higher Yes…to teach our minds to understand the true demand [of life with God] and teach our conscience to be present," to God’s Yes:

For all the promises of God find their Yes in Jesus.
That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen
to God for his glory.
And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ…
given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
(2 Corinthians 1:20-22)

 
 
Hallelujah and Amen. These words bring our daily living into the reality of the goodness of life, life in union with God. So, how do we get these words into our regular vocabulary, spilling from our souls into our work and relationships? We pray!

Well, more specifically, we pray the Psalms. The Psalms, as we mentioned on the final Sunday of Lent, is where we learn to respond to the reality of life; life as fundamentally good because God is fundamental to life.

The psalms are where these words are repeated amid every imaginable human experience and circumstance. Nothing is left out. No pain or joy. Not prosperity nor persecution. Not faith nor doubt. No praise nor petition. No loss nor anticipation. Everything, internal and external, is voiced. And in that voicing, over and over again, we find the words Hallelujah and Amen. Here, we are taught to pray in the reality (sometimes despite the immediate evidence) that we live today in the goodness of life, life with God, hallelujah(!). So we conclude not with a wishful “please”  but a responsive “Amen”…Yes to life with God today, tomorrow, and always.

So, faith family, in full view of the goodness of life, of the Life given for us and to us in Jesus, I invite you to start this new “Christian” “Jesus-Joined” year (remember, Easter marks our beginning!) and Do What Jesus Did: make praying the psalms daily our school and response.

You can find a printable schedule to guide you here, as well as other resources to aid you in committing to this school of prayer here.

Once you pick which schedule you’ll follow, share that with your Gospel Community, DNA group, spiritual companions, spouse, or even a co-worker. Invite them to pray it with you, or at least ask you about life through these words. 

May Hallelujah and Amen find their way into our hearts, up to our lips, and into our lives today and tomorrow, until forever is all we see.

Love you, faith family! God bless.

Through the Cross to Easter

Dear Faith Family,  

In the most ordinary places—those daily settings, roles, relationships, and responsibilities through which we make a life good—is where our faith matures, bears fruit that lasts, and encounters its most significant opposition. At least that’s the story Jesus’ letter to the faith family of Thyatira tells (Rev. 2:18-29).

As we discussed Sunday, to the most “ordinary” city, a good but not overly significant city, to people whose opposition to faith was as mundane as their city was normal, Jesus wrote his most lengthy and magnificent letter.

Perhaps the ordinariness of their faith and faults required an extraordinary exhortation in order for them to recognize what was at stake, to see the significance of their daily work and the significant danger they were working with.

I wonder if we (me at least) are not unlike the Thyatiran Christians. If we, like they, are committed to living a life in love through faith, service, and hope in the ordinary places of life and yet are married to a vision of a good life (an image, idea, or means) that is a different mixture than Jesus’ foundation. An unfit union played out in our vocation, community, and faith that leaves us fragile. Oh, not a first. At first, it seems to strengthen and beautify the life we long for, but eventually, the union leads to a confrontation with the simplicity of the Way, Truth, and Life we received in Jesus. A vision that has us chasing deeper things rather than continuing to hold fast to the sufficiency and sureness of the heritage and work that has been given to us.  

The work Jesus gives us (those ordinary means of making a life good, i.e., a “Kingdom” life) always squeeze us a bit, limiting our options but not to deprive, rather so that we might flourish in our union with Him (see another revelation of Jesus through John in John 15:1-11). Yet, the opposition we feel within, the anxiety of faith, conflict of calling, uncertainty if we are “doing it right” that at times marks all our daily labors, does not have its source in what we’ve received, but what vision we are married to.

There is a profound significance to the ordinary “royal” work (as we discussed Sunday) which we follow Jesus in, receiving from Him as our heritage to continue. Significance in both its transformative power and the opposition that it faces. An opposition that, if we are passive, ambivalent, or unaware, will divide us within ourselves and from our King. And yet, an opposition that, as we’ve learned in these letters, cannot stand in the light of Jesus’ revelation. So, will we conquer? Will we be attentive in our maturing, recognizing the visions (ideas, images, means) that draw our loyalty elsewhere? Will we actively resist and carry on in the simple, royal work we did at first: living within love through faith, service, and hope?

Those are the questions our final Letter of Lent encourages us to ask of Jesus in these last days of Lent’s journey. So let us, once more, open our hearts and lives to our good Father’s examination so that we might be known and shown the Way, Truth, and Life through the cross to an Easter eternity today. The guide below is meant to help us along the way.

Love you, faith family. God bless.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

THROUGH THE CROSS TO EASTER

PREPARATION:
Set aside ten to twenty minutes for this practice. Find a quiet spot and consider having a pen and journal to record your thoughts and conversation with our heavenly Father.
 
INSTRUCTION:

1. Read the following question three times, letting it sink into your consciousness. Pay attention to how it makes you feel (physically, emotionally, etc.) and what pictures, people, or practices pop into your mind. Don’t linger on them, just note them.

What vision (idea, image, means) of a good life am I married to,

“helping” me make a life (i.e., work)?

1. Now read Psalm 139:23-24a, pausing where instructed:

Search me, O God, and know my heart!

[Slowly repeat the prayer, then pause for three deep breaths.]
 
Examine me and know my disquieted thoughts

[Let your mind drift back to your reflections on the opening question, pause for three deep breaths, then pray the invitation again and continue through the psalm.]
 
See if there be any grievous way (unfit union) in me

[Pause for three deep breaths, pray the words again and let the Spirit show you what He sees. Give yourself 2-3 minutes to listen and write down what the Spirit lays upon your heart and mind, then continue through the psalm.]
 
Lead me in the way ancient and everlasting.

[Pause for three deep breaths, pray the words again and let the Spirit show you the way forward. Give yourself 2-3 minutes to listen and write down what the Spirit lays upon your heart and mind.
Pause again for three deep breaths, then pray the final line one last time as a vow of your loyalty to your life with God.]

On This Day...Believe Again for Life

Dear Faith Family,  

Eleven years ago, on this day, we had our first official "Gathering" as Christ City Church. It was, like this year, an oddly early Easter Sunday, which, as a side note, might explain why we are a bit odd?! Anyway, on that day, a handful of people who had been complete strangers up to a few weeks prior came together in celebration of the life we shared in Jesus' life, committing to share our daily living with Him by simply holding fast to the words and way of Jesus in our time and place. I'm quite proud to say that over a decade later, we are still at it; praise the Lord! 

It's probably no surprise that The Letters of Lent have me reflecting on what Jesus would say to our faith family on this marked day. I think Jesus would affirm our faithfulness to life together in His words and ways, steadfastness to the simplicity of life orbiting Him. Yet, similar to "the church in Pergamum," amid our resoluteness, there remains in me and us a seductive voice saying:

"Are Jesus' words and way really enough? All you need for daily provision, to live a whole and holy life? Enough to become all you long to be?" 

Today, on our anniversary and amid our Lenten journey, we have the opportunity to discern the deception of that voice, open our ears to what the Spirit says to Christ City Church, and believe again for life today that, indeed, Jesus gives us all we need to participate and prosper in His kingdom as witnesses in His work through our unique lives. For, as Jesus said once, He says to us again, 

To the one who conquers
I will give some of the hidden manna,
and I will give him a white stone,
with a new name written on the stone
that no one knows except the one who receives it. 
(Revelation 2:17)

I am grateful for the life we share and for the Word that cuts out the decay and cultivates life full and forever. May we continue to hold fast and solely to what He gives today, again tomorrow, and for all time. To Him be the glory in Christ City Church throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. 

Love you, faith family! God bless.

The Place Where Faith Leads

Dear Faith Family,  

One thing the Lenten road and rhythms remind us is that the way of Jesus is not always the choice path. Every life winds through trials, pains, and losses, yet there is an acute squeezing, what our scriptures term "tribulation," that accompanies a life of faith lived. To choose to live a life loyal to the person and purposes of Jesus compresses, narrows down at least some of the options for how we go about our daily roles and responsibilities. I think you know this intuitively, even if, like me, you at times push back on the tightening.

While not novel, such revelation does hit us rather squarely, especially in Jesus' words to the faith-filled family of Smyrna. Here, in Revelation 2:8-11, Jesus speaks to a people whose choice to live by faith, loyal to Jesus' person and his purposes despite the opposition and options, has them at their end, their lives (physically, economically, emotionally, socially, spiritually) all but squeezed out. No wonder Jesus has to exhort them to "not fear" (v. 10). Wouldn't you be fearful in such a place? Afraid that you have nothing more to be squeezed out, afraid that you won't make it through the next tribulation, afraid that you made the wrong choice in faith, afraid that life is more like a long death than an abundant forever. 

It's here, at their (our) most desperate and vulnerable, we want Jesus to comfort us, to tell us we'll be okay, and more so, to make the squeezing stop. And he does! It's just not in the way we're expecting. Listen to what Jesus says, 

Do not fear what you are about to suffer.
Behold the devil is about to throw some of you into prison,
that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation.
Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.
(Revelation 2:10)

As we mentioned on Sunday, Jesus' comfort arrives through acknowledgment that there is more squeezing to come, though it is not forever or without purpose. What comes out of this tribulation is what is proven (tested) to be already true: that they are faithful. All they have to do, is let their faith lead to death, to the end of what they fear, so they might experience the "blessed-ness" of what is already His: the crown of life. After all, isn't this what Jesus has always said to be the true way to life: 

Truly, truly I say to you, whoever hears my words and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
(John 5:24)

Here, at the midpoint of Lent's journey, we've arrived at a revelation that requires a response before continuing. Today, in the quiet of morning coffee and reflection or in conversation with gospel community, consider these questions in light of the words of Jesus: 

• Will I let faith lead me to death? 

• What fears need to die, to be passed through in order to live (richly) with Jesus? 

As you do, remember my friends, that...

By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with him, make us fit for him—we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus...
We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God’s grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise...
even when we’re hemmed in with troubles,
because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next.
(Romans 5:1-4)

Love you, faith family! God bless.

Driven Faith

Dear Faith Family,  

Who do you look to as the example of faithfulness? What pastor or person, organization, or church is the gold standard for living out a life of faith? It's okay; I know you have one (or several), and our faith family is probably not it!   

Whether through publications, promotions, podcasts, or participation, we all have those we look to and want to be like. In the first centuries of our faith, the standard was the church of Ephesus. 

In the spiritual epicenter of the empire, in a city flourishing through the economics of religious goods and services, the women and men of Ephesus somehow managed to discern how to remain distinctly Jesus' people. Boasting leaders like Priscilla and Aquila, Timothy, and later John the Beloved, it is no wonder that Paul's epistle to this faith family is the only one of his letters not addressing some significant failing or struggle. And so, even today, the Ephesians continue to provide a model faith for many churches, including ours. Still, as we were reminded on Sunday, even worthy models are not the model. 

Lent, across all the traditions, is a journey of examination. A chosen season to open our hearts and lives to the pangs and glories of revelation. The light of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection revealing the depth of our neediness and His love deeper still. And, being prepared as we are, the examination does more than reveal; it invites us to respond in kind, to live the life we've received. 

While our various rhythms and resources are each meant to aid us in the examination, the Letters of Lent, the words of Jesus to His church, provide the most direct revelation for our church. It is here, in Revelation 2:1-7, that we come to see that loyalty to Jesus is more than dedication to distinction, though not less. Life through His life, life lived whole and holy, is a life that shares His drive: love. Love for the lowly, the lost, and even those losing out because they think they are neither. Love that does not compromise conviction but does calibrate convictions and is distinct for its absurd compassion. 

In our first Letter of Lent, Jesus reveals that loyalty to Him is, yes, faithfulness to what is true, but just as important, life with Him is loyalty to the Way who is Truth: a life of love because we are loved. To the church of Ephesus, and to our faith family, Jesus says, 

‘Remember then from what you have fallen,
repent and do the works you did at first
…To the one who conquers,
I will grant to eat of the tree of life,
which is in the paradise of God.’
(Revelation 2:4,7)

So this week, amid the Lenten journey, let us consider what the Revelation reveals and the response that Jesus' light invites. Listen to or read the sermon if you missed Sunday (or need a refresher). Then consider: 

• Can you remember your first love, what it was like to be loved and show the love of God at first?

• Are your actions of faith a loyal (in kind) response to that love, or driven by something else?

• How might Jesus be inviting you to return to that love today, in this journey of Lent?

Love you, faith family! God bless.

Consider Your Calculations

Dear Faith Family,  

We have officially entered the most "religious" season on planet Earth. Conservative estimates claim that over the next stretch of weeks, some two and a half billion persons will participate in a religious activity with a particular focus, many of those partaking in more than one practice individually and collectively. While Christmas may be the most global and secularized "Christian" holiday, Easter really is all ours. 

But what is religion for? Why does more than a third of humanity take part in the demonstrations of faith and declarations of worship? Is it, as it has popularly become and to which even our faith family falls prey at times, to satisfy a need we have? Are our acts and activities means for getting what we need: community, communion, affection, affirmation, distinction, purpose, and future? Are our deep and authentic needs met, truly the end which our religious exercises are constructed? 

I'd be willing to bet the vast majority of us participating in the Lenten journey or just attending an Easter service are doing so because we feel like we need to, that doing so will satisfy a need somehow. Yet religion (our acts, activities, and attitudes of faith and worship), as it unfolds in our scriptures, is not a way of satisfying our needs, though ironically, it does sanctify them. Rather, the religion of our sacred stories, says Abraham Heschel, "is an answer to the question: Who needs humanity? It is an awareness of being needed, of humanity being a need of God." 

Think about it: our stories begin not with humanity's need for God but God's need to create and commune. Why else would God be so patient and persistent throughout our faith's history not to abandon but to protect, chase after, and put up with all the self-made plans and pious pouting of people? And how else can you explain the absurdity of God to die on behalf of His creation? Surely, such actions speak volumes to what God desires; even, we might say, needs. 

No, religion, especially in this season, makes no sense, doesn't add up, if it is first a means to meet our needs. So, before you (we) go any further,  let's be sure to consider the calculations of our efforts. And remember that religion (acts, activities, and attitudes of faith and worship) makes total sense as a response to the One who gives Himself for our needs.

I hope that's the perspective our Lenten preparations, especially this past Sunday's story, have given us as we join the global church in the journey to Easter morning. May our activities of faith and acts of worship be a response and not a means, especially as we remember where the road ahead leads. 

The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
The LORD is good to all,
and his mercy is over all that he has made.
(Psalm 145:8-9)

Love you, faith family! God bless.

What a Day!

Dear Faith Family,  

Happy Valentine's Day!...I mean,  Ash Wednesday!... I mean Lent!... Awh!... There is way too much happening today, and I'm not sure happy!" is the appropriate adjective for it all!

Because we have an early Easter this year (March 31st) and are in a Leap Year, somewhat ironically, this day of love is also the day of mourning. For much of the global Church, today marks the first day of this journey of bright sadness, which is known as Ash Wednesday.

On this day, the Church gathers to consecrate themselves for the Lenten pilgrimage that begins through the imposing of ashes. The ashes are a reminder that from dust we have our origin, and from dust, we will return, but by an absurd and gracious gift of Jesus' life, we are given life full and forever. Ashes may be our end, but they are not the end.

Now that I'm thinking about it, perhaps today's unique convergence is not so ironic. 

While there are a variety of theories as to the origin of Valentine's Day, nearly all of them include the sacrifice of one person's life for another as an act of love, whether out of romantic affection or something more. And, as we've said throughout our preparation for this day and the days ahead, we know where we are going is to the place of love's greatest personification, a life given so we might live beyond the sacrifice. 

So, I invite you today into all that this day offers: celebrate love, remember love's sacrifice, and open your heart and life for the return home by joining with saints around the world, praying the "Litany of Penitence" As we pray, let us share in our need for God's grace and receive grace upon grace in Jesus, the love of His life given and our life lived in His love for us. 

Pray with and as the Church on this day of love and mourning that leads us into the arms of a true life in Love (1 John 4:9-19):

Most holy and merciful Father:
We confess to you and to one another, 
and to the whole communion of saints
in heaven and on earth, 
that we have sinned by our own fault 
in thought, word, and deed; 
by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. 

We have not loved you with our whole heart, nor mind, nor strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have not forgiven others, as we have been forgiven. 
Have mercy on us, gracious Father. 

We have been deaf to your call to serve, as Jesus served us. We have not been true to the mind of Christ. We have grieved your Holy Spirit. 
Have mercy on us, compassionate Father. 

We confess to you, Father, all our past unfaithfulness: the pride, hypocrisy, and impatience of our lives. 
We confess to you, humble Father. 

Our self-indulgent appetites and ways, and our exploitation of other people, 
We confess to you, self-giving Father. 

Our anger at our own frustration, and our envy of those more fortunate than ourselves, 
We confess to you, generous Father. 

Our intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts, and our dishonesty in daily life and work, 
We confess to you, just Father. 

Our negligence in prayer and worship, and our failure to commend the faith that is in us, 
We confess to you, patient Father. 

We turn to you, Father, and away from the wrongs we have done: acknowledging our blindness to human need and suffering, and our indifference to injustice and cruelty, 
We hold fast to you, always-present Father. 

Acknowledging false judgments, uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors, and prejudice and contempt toward those who are different from us, 
We turn to you, ever-chasing Father. 

Acknowledging our waste and pollution of your creation, and our lack of concern for those who come after us, 
We hold fast to you, never-changing Father.

Restore us, good Father, and let your anger depart from us; 
Favorably hear us, for your mercy is great. 

Bring to maturity the fruit of your salvation, 
That we may show forth your glory in the world. 

By the cross and passion of your Son our King and Friend, 
Bring us with all your saints into the complete joy of his resurrection. 

Amen. 

Love you, faith family! God bless.

Wiggling Out of Grace

Dear Faith Family,  

"Two men went up to the temple to pray,
one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector." 

Can you finish the story? I am sure most of us can. Still, if you need a refresher, you can find out what happens in Luke 18:9-14. 

Despite the parable's context, this is not a story about prayer. As we discovered on Sunday, this is not a story depicting a person praying arrogantly and blamed for their attitudes, while another prays humbly and is praised for so doing. Though that is the standard assumption. 

Yet, as more than a few commenters and pastors note, and Kenneth Bailey sums up, “Too often the unconscious [and unfortunately stereotypical religious] response [to our standard assumption] becomes, Thank God we’re not like that Pharisee!" And so quickly, and ironically, we become the offenders, guilty of our interpretation!  

Perhaps that's why Jesus frames the story the way he does. Jesus anticipates that we'll be as surprised at what proceeds from our hearts as the Pharisee was at what poured out of his. Yet He hopes our surprise will compel us to take advantage of the moment, just as the tax collector did, rather than wiggle our way out of grace. 

Remember what we discussed on Sunday, this story takes place at the twice daily atonement service. At dawn, a new day's beginning, and at three o'clock, in the middle of the heat of life, a visual and visceral way was made for God's people to receive righteousness, to be restored so they might live rightly with God, one another, animals and earth. A service where the saving act, an innocent lamb's life given, was because they needed it to be done to live. The only expectation was to allow the elaborate production to be for them at their moment of need, and respond in prayer: be drawn up (exalted) into communion with One who makes them righteous. 

While the parable is not about prayer, it has given our faith heritage perhaps the most repeated prayer over the last several millennia: 

"God, make atonement for me, a sinner!" 

The "Jesus Prayer," as it became known, and often translated as "God, have mercy on me, a sinner!" became the prayer for moments of communion with God. It has been a centering prayer amid meditation on scripture and examining a day. It has been a plea from under the weight of relationships unraveling. Yet most often, and most aptly, it has been a recollected prayer amid our daily tasks and interactions, prayed at nine o'clock and three o'clock, inviting us to receive again and live at this moment in response to the grace we so desperately need. 

While we no longer have a morning and mid-afternoon atoning service, we do have notification reminders and the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, in which we boast of God's righteousness received. So, faith family, let's set our alarm and "go up to the temple to pray" together, taking advantage of the sacrificial grace of this moment, God's righteousness for us. 

Love you, faith family! God bless. 

Missing The Point...And More

Dear Faith Family,  

I don't know about you, but I am a master at missing the point. While I'd like to think I am an astute listener, the truth is, especially in relational dialogue, I am often guilty of focusing on the wrong detail or, sadly, not focusing at all! Don't believe me? Just ask Deedra or the twins! 

Whether my mind is busy elsewhere, instinctively pre-filling details, or searching for affirmation of my thoughts, if I am not careful and curious, it is unfortunately not uncommon for me to miss not only the point of someone's story (usually someone I care about) but also the opportunity for communion, for connection that the storyteller is inviting me into.

It doesn't take much, a dazed look perhaps or an uninvited suggestion to put an end to the conversation. But the worst and most effective way to sever the connection arrives in the awkward phrasing of a follow-up question or comment, proving that I wasn't really listening. Kind of like when Jesus' disciples said, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field." (Matt. 13:36). 

It's easy to miss the missed point in the disciples' phrasing because of the unfortunate section heading added in most of our Bibles, "The Parable of the Weeds." But if you read Matthew 13:24-30 for yourself (which I'd encourage you to do!), you quickly discover that the story is not primarily about the weeds, though they have a prominent place. Rather, the focus is on how the man who sowed good seeds reacts to the weeds to ensure the health and harvest of the wheat, the fruit of the good seed.

Still, the disciples heard a story about weeds only. So, rather than expounding the intimate patience and precision of the sower of good and his workers amid the persistent presence of evil, the disciples get what one pastor, in summarizing almost every biblical scholar's angst with the conversation, refers to as "an out-of-whack [allegory] about the problem of evil alone" (see Matt. 13:37-43). While the disciples got an explanation, at least in part (i.e., good wins, evil loses), the communion of conversation ended, "He who has ears, let him hear." (v. 43)

I'm sure you can think of conversations with people like me and Jesus' disciples, those of us prone to miss the point and kill the conversation. Perhaps you can think of conversations when you were like us? (If I could insert a winking smiley face emoji here, I would!) 

But here is my point: I've found that what is true in my daily dialogues is just as true in my relationship with the words of Jesus. If I am not careful--i.e., attentive and fully present--and curious--i.e., open and engaged--I'll miss the point and the opportunity for a deeper connection. Luckily for us, Jesus modeled the patience and precision of the sower of good seeds by telling more stories to those following him (see Matt. 13:44-50). It turns out he really doesn't want us to miss the point, or the opportunity for something more. 

So, this week, as you reflect on the parables already told and prepare for our final story in this year's Kingdom Epiphanies, don't be like me! Listen carefully, with curiosity, and take advantage of the opportunity through scripture and the Spirit for communion.

Grace and peace many times over to you as you deepen in your experience with God and Jesus, our Master. 
(2 Peter 1:2)

Love you, faith family! God bless. 

Getting To The End...But Not Skipping To It!

Dear Faith Family,  

We operate under the assumption that conclusions, whether taking the form of answers or achievements, are what matter most in life. Find out the why, what, and how of life's operations, get to the aspired place in work, health, relationships, and even faith, and you've arrived. Success! Goal met, and a life full and forever at the end! Right?

It's funny; even as I write those words, I know we know better. We know that achieving success doesn't always equate to an abundant life. There are too many cautionary tales to think otherwise. We're also not so naïve to dismiss the process to the goal as unimportant, even if we are at times wiser than we are patient!

We are indeed driven to seek certain answers and achievements, and as long as there is the slightest hope of arriving, these ends draw us toward them through all the dead ends, missteps, mishaps, and missed opportunities. And yet, we know that the end we seek, the life we are after now and for all tomorrows, is, paradoxically, an arrival on the one hand and a maturation on the other. The life we are after, and for us specifically, that means life whole and holy and forever with our heavenly Father and all that is His, is both a conclusion and a journey. And the journey, the maturation, as our scriptures attest and Jesus taught, is just as important as the conclusion. In fact, we might miss the end if we try to skip to it. 

Our Gospels tell us that most people came to Jesus seeking answers to the essential questions of life and to attain what was needed or desired for a better life. Nothing much has changed in the millennia since. Then, as now, people came to Jesus for a conclusion, and then, as now, more often than not, He gave them what they were after: direct answers, working limbs, cleared minds, restoration, new life, love. 

And while these are the things we rightfully and joyously worship Jesus for, it is not all that he gave them, or us. As Mark told us last week, "Jesus did not speak to them without a parable..." (Mark 4:34a). When Jesus' apprentices, those not only seeking something from him but who had given up life-as-they-knew-it to follow him, asked Jesus, "Why do you speak to them in parables?" (Matt. 13:10), Jesus' reply reminds us that he offers more (not less) than what we are after. 

And Jesus answered them...
This is why I speak to them in parables,
because seeing they do not see,
and hearing they do not hear,
nor do they understand.
Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says...

'For the people's heart has grown dull,
and with their ears they can barely hear,
and their eyes they have closed,
lest they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart and turn,
and I would heal them.'

But blessed are your eyes, for they see,
and your ears, for they hear...
For to the one who has more will be given,
and he will have an abundance,
but from the one who has not,
even what he has will be taken away.
(Matthew 13:11-16) 

As we discussed on Sunday, Jesus tells parables as a means of maturation, giving us more on the journey even as he ensures our arrival. Jesus' stories sharpen our hearts, unclog our ears, open our eyes, and mend what is ill or off because they require dialogue, i.e., an open relationship. His stories often leave us with more questions than answers, and most lack conclusions, requiring us to converse with him in a community following him if we want the abundance offered. Like Mark said, "Jesus did not speak to them without a parable, but privately, to his own disciples, Jesus explained everything." (Mark 4:34).

Jesus tells stories that lead his disciples to dialogue with him, to ask questions and discuss. While we often come to the parables looking for clear conclusions for our life of faith, the truth, as Jesus told it and his disciples experienced it, is the real treasure is uncovered in working ourselves into and through the stories with Jesus and one another.

Click Here and you'll find a guide to help you do just that with our 2024 Kingdom Epiphanies. You can also find more helps for following Jesus with one another here.

I hope we won't skip the journey for the end. Rather, may we let the stories of Jesus train us in the kingdom of heaven so that we might "bring out of his treasure what is new and what is old" with and for one another and neighbor. And in doing so, may our passions be sharpened, our ears attentive, and our eyes wide awake to God with us and God for us in Jesus.


Love you, faith family! God bless. 

Jumping Right Into It!

Dear Faith Family,  

We are all familiar with "origin stories." Whether President Snows' or a more jolly man with a white beard, whether arriving from a galaxy far, far away, or from the multiverse, focused on Poseidon's son or one of Xavier’s kids, origin stories have been a staple of entertainment production. And while there is always action in these stories, much, if not most, of the story, concentrates on retracing the interactions and events that have birthed the eventual hero or villain. Almost always, these stories, told with an eye to the future, are a set-up for more films to come.
 
Generally speaking, Deedra hates these types of movies! It's not the fact that they happen to be superhero, sci-fi, or fantasy stories so much, as it is the dragging out of the fanciful details before the short-lived climax. The background, which may be interesting for comic geeks like myself, can’t hold her attention. She doesn’t need to be told that superheroes or evil empires or mutants exist or how they exist; she wants to see what will happen since they exist, what the conflict will be, and how they will overcome it.

But, movies like the X-Men’s Days of Future Past, which assume you already know much of what is happening and jump directly into the action-packed plot, she’s all for. No background, just a few lines of text on the screen for context and then immediate conflict. The story is set, the plot is underway, and she is in!

If you are like Deedra and prefer to jump directly into the action of stories or films, Mark is your gospel!

Mark wastes no time. No detailed lineage, no foreshadowing monologue, no “how’d we get here” details of characters all too quickly forgotten. Instead, one simple introductory sentence to give us a bit of context, “The good news of Jesus Christ—the Message!—begins here…,” then wham: God’s arrival, the action underway! 

John the baptizer, in step with the prophets of old, preparing us for the immediate entrance of Jesus into the story of salvation. Jesus baptized and affirmed. Jesus tested and proven. John silenced, Jesus amplified. All in 15 verses!

Mark—via Peter—does what takes Matthew 65 verses and Luke 185 verses to accomplish. In fifteen short verses, God is right here with us, alive and at work in His story, in the story of humanity. The movement of plot in the 39 prequels presumed and culminated in Jesus’ declaration,

“Times up!
God’s kingdom is here.
Change your life
and believe the Message,
the good news.”
(Mark 1:15)

The plot is set, and you and I are drawn into the action instantly! Jesus calling disciples, casting out demons, healing the sick, the lame, the leper, and proclaiming in word to all who will listen that God is here and He is for you! Halfway through chapter two, and already Jesus is doing the things we think of when we think of His work. But that's when the real conflict begins becoming evident.

The conflict isn't with "the enemy" or ills of this world, but Jesus inviting a tax collector to become an apprentice and not having his disciples follow the same procedures as the established insiders. Chapter three clarifies the conflict even as it intensifies. And by the time chapter four begins, the primary conflict is front and center, a conflict of imagination, of perception of life with God and God with us that shapes how we live that life. 

In Mark 4, Jesus begins to take a slightly different approach to proclaiming and demonstrating God's Kingdom's arrival. He begins to tell stories, everyday, earthy stories that pack a punch. Stories we call parables. 

With many such parables Jesus spoke the word to them,
as they were able to hear it.
Jesus did not speak to them without a parable...
(Mark 4:33-34) 

 
Now, here is the thing about parables: they don’t define, diagram, or systematize; they describe something, usually something more real than the familiar elements of the short stories themselves: things like our souls, our hearts, our relation to the world, how God relates to us, and the kingdom of God. In other words, parables don’t do the work for us; they require us to put in work, imaginative, or meditative if you prefer, work, the work of faith. They train us to hear the voice of the Lord and see with the eyes of the Spirit.

“Parables trust our imaginations, which is to say, our faith.
They don’t herd us paternalistically into a classroom
where we get things explained and diagrammed.
They don’t bully us into regiments where
we find ourselves marching in [moral, unthinking conformity].”
(Eugene Peterson )

Parables invite us into a relationship, a courtship of faith, requiring the use of our hearts, souls, minds, and strength as we mature in Kingdom living. This is why our faith family begins each new year in these enlightening stories, the stories Jesus tells that confront and conform our vision of the days ahead through the vision of God with us and God for us and neighbor and enemy.  

If you missed our first parables of the new year, no worries! You can listen and imagine while listening to them here. And better, we've put together a guide to help us mediate our way into our upcoming parables here. 

I hope you'll take advantage of this season and Jesus' stories. And I pray we'll experience Kingdom Epiphanies that give shape to our year ahead! 

Love you, faith family! God bless. 

Ring Out The Old...Ring In the New!

Dear Faith Family,  

Well, we made it! It is the first day of the new year. And so it is time to turn the calendar for 2024 is officially here!

And yet, as is often the case, the calendar's turning is no guarantee that change is coming or for good. Indeed, many wondrous and beautiful things in the year behind us were worth celebrating and praising. Still, we cannot deny that there has also been loss, sickness, strife, and all the ills plaguing our human condition. I suspect the same can be said for many past years and will be repeated in years ahead.

So what are we to do? Well, as this year's prophetic Advent stories encouraged, rather than judge the past and predict the future by the tally of wins and losses, we are to be caught up in "a living hope."  We are to make our lives through peace amid the mixture of praises and laments—knowing that at the turn of each year, of each day truly, we awake afresh into the certainty of sin and death's final days. We are, in the end, 's beginning, to give ourselves in joy because we are loved.

So, with humble confidence and empowered courage, we can ring out the old that is passing away and ring in the new that will be forever. 

And so, that is what we will do, ring out the old and ring in the new! And will do so through what has become a tradition for our faith family, praying together this poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson. A poem that can be prayed over and over until the new that is Christ in us, through us, and for us and neighbor is all that is left. 

Love you, faith family! Happy New Year and God bless. 

In Memoriam CVI | Alfred Lord Tennyson

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky, 
The flying cloud, the frosty light:
The year is dying in the night; 
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die. 

Ring out the old, ring in the new, 
Ring, happy bells, across the snow: 
The year is going, let him go; 
Ring out the false, ring in the true. 

Ring out the grief that saps the mind
For those that here we see no more; 
Ring out the feud of rich and poor, 
Ring in redress to all mankind. 

Ring out a slowly dying cause, 
And ancient forms of party strife; 
Ring in the nobler modes of life, 
With sweeter manners, purer laws. 

Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times; 
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes 
But ring the fuller minstrel in. 

Ring out false pride in place and blood, 
The civic slander and the spite; 
Ring in the love of truth and right, 
Ring in the common love of good. 

Ring out old shapes of foul disease; 
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold; 
Ring out the thousand wars of old; 
Ring in the thousand years of peace. 

Ring in the valiant man and free, 
The larger heart, the kindlier hand; 
Ring out the darkness of the land, 
Ring in the Christ that is to be. 

Extending The Holiday!

Dear Faith Family,  

I hope you had a truly wonderful day yesterday, that first day of Christmas! That's right; yesterday was just the start, the beginning of "counting up" the abundance of what our True Love gives. On Christmas day, we begin unwrapping all those gifts for which we spent the previous days "counting down" their arrival. Gifts that add up exponentially, from 1 to 78 in just twelve days! 

If you haven't picked up on my less-than-subtle clues, what I'm saying is that we've entered the "Twelve Days of Christmas." That's right, the twelve days start on Christmas, not lead up to it! 

The process of connecting the feast of Christmas (December 25th) to the feast of Epiphany (January 6th) began in the fourth century and eventually, all the days between the two special days on the church calendar were "proclaimed sacred and festive." That means the celebration doesn't stop after the presents are opened! 

While culturally, in the words of Gabe Huck, "We take our Christmas with lots of sugar. And we take it in a day," the Church over the last fifteen-hundred-plus years has extended the holiday well into the New Year! Christmas really is a beginning! 

So why not join in?! Why not keep your tree and decorations up a bit longer, until the end of the twelve days, January 6th? Why not plan a couple more special activities with friends, family, and kids? Why not keep the Christmas carols ringing and Christmas prayers praying for a few more days? 

That last one, keeping the Christmas prayers praying, I can help you with! 

Starting with the sonnet below, I'll share a poem to pray each of the Twelve Days of Christmas via our Collective Prayers.  You might recognize the poems. They are responses to our Advent O Antiphons. Now, rather than praying with longing for what we need, we pray with (for) the perfection of what we've received.

I won't send a push notification every day, but just a few times to remind you to extend the holiday! After all, as Bobby Gross contends, "If Advent is a season of waiting, Christmas is a season of wonder"! 

May our wonder grow exponentially as we take the time to behold the gift of Christmas and are drawn into His marvelous mystery! 

Love you, faith family! God bless! 

O Sapientia | Malcolm Guite 

I cannot think unless I have been thought, 
Nor can I speak unless I have been spoken; 
I cannot teach except as I am taught, 
Or break the bread except as I am broken. 
O Mind behind the mind through which I seek, 
O Light within the light by which I see, 
O Word beneath the words with which I speak, 
O founding, unfound Wisdom, finding me, 
O sounding Song whose depth is sounding me, 
O Memory of time, reminding me, 
My Ground of Being, always grounding me, 
My Maker's bounding line, defining me: 
You've Come, hidden Wisdom, come with all you bring, 
You've Come to me now, disguised as everything. 

Arriving At The End

Dear Faith Family,  

Our Advent journey this year has taken us not only through the familiar stories leading to the first Noel but also through some less-than-familiar stories! Stories told to help awaken our attention to the end's beginning. An ending that begins by mending, restoring anew what once was and will forever be.


Four stories calling us to:

• HOPE: Seeing through The Little Match Girl, a story that, in the end, life is something for which we long, something more, better, and comfortingly familiar...

• PEACE: Seeing through The First Christmas Tree, a story of a life saved into a new way of living...

• JOY: Seeing through The Three Skaters, a story of the energy in new life that spills over into abundance for others, and...

• LOVE: Seeing through Christmas Day In The Morning, a storied reminder to reawaken into action what is missed and made mild in our daily duties and seasonal routines. 

Woven together, these stories give us a complete vision of life, true life. Life with God and one another as it will be, as it can be, as it is because of the One whose once, future, and continuous arrival "moves hope, peace, joy, and love into the neighborhood" and declared, "It is finished."  Having nearly completed our Advent journey, might we open our ears and our hearts to one last prophetic charge to find our end in the end's beginning: 

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God,
and whoever loves has been born of God
(begun of God)
and knows God. 
Anyone who does not love does not know God,
because God is love. 

In this the love of God was made manifest among us 
(moved into the neighborhood),
that God sent his only Son into the world,
so that we might live through him. 

In this is love, not that we loved God
but that he loved us
and sent his Son
to be the propitiation for our sins. 

Beloved, if God so loved us,
we also ought to love one another. 

No one has ever seen God;
if we love one another, God abides in us
and his love is perfected
(completed, brought to its end)
in us. 

(1 John 4:7-12)

May we see in this season's stories, symbols, and spirit a vision of the life we are (re)born into because Jesus was born, died, and lives forever. And, as the prophets of old dared to dream, may such vision compel us to live the life we see in Him until all can see what we've received. 


Love you, faith family! Praying you have a truly Merry Christmas!

God bless! 

Completing Joy

Dear Faith Family,  

The energy of Advent's destination is beginning to fill the air. Can you feel the excitement? I certainly can. But that's primarily because Cohen and Lily's ability to keep their hands off the gifts awaiting them is waning! 

From poking and shaking to prodding for clues and even attempts at brokering deals for (at least!) one pre-Christmas morning unwrapping, the energy of anticipating the countdown's end is filling up and spilling out in the Pace house! The closer we get to "the Day," the harder it is to pass by the lighted tree without stopping to check, comment on, or haggle for the thing that awaits them! The presence of presents has that energetic effect, doesn't it? And here is the thing: the energy is not all self-oriented.

Believe it or not, the twins don't just want what is marked for them; they want everyone who has a gift under the tree to end their waiting, too. Whether cousins or grandparents or even ole mom and dad, they want everyone in their little world in on the end! Almost instinctually, they know that only when everyone joins in will their excitement be satisfied, completely theirs to enjoy. 

Of course, this energy empowering the excitement that arrives in full view on Christmas morning has a name, doesn't it? Joy! 

Joy is an energy as much as an attitude. And as a living energy, it cannot be contained. Joy quite naturally spills over and out. Yet its outflow is not merely a sloshing of extra emotion and good wishes onto whoever's around. No, the energy of joy is more like a drive to completeness, to fullness. Joy is energy incomplete until others are brought into it, until what we have is shared by all. 

Joy is the energy that moves us to share what is ours for the joy of others. At least, that's how we discovered joy being described on Sunday in Isaiah's vision, the joy of the Lord spilling over into His people's salvation, and His people's joy filling the land, drawing others into what is theirs—life with God now and forever. And, if he had any doubt what compelled the sharing for our salvation, we're reminded of joy's energy in the action of Jesus: 

...Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith,
who for the joy set before him endured the cross...
and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
(Hebrews 12:2) 

Joy as energy incomplete until others are brought into it, is also the testimony of John the beloved: 

That which was from the beginning...
the life made manifest...
which we have seen and heard
we proclaim also to you,
so that you to may have fellowship with us;
and indeed our fellowship is with the Father
and with his Son Jesus Christ.
And we are writing these things
so that our joy may be complete.
(1 John 1:3-4)

Which makes sense after all, considering what John learned and was brought into by Jesus: 

Abide in me, and I in you...
These things I have spoken to you,
that my joy may be in you,
and that your joy may be full.
(John 15:4, 11) 

As we said on Sunday, all prophetic visions, including visions of joy, compel us to action. Yet the question, 'How can my joy be complete?' is not satisfied from any wish list. Your, my, joy is complete only when we share, invite others into, our joy, into our life with Jesus.

I bring you good news of great joy
that will be for all people.
For unto you is born…
a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
(Luke 2:10-11) 

With all the giving we are doing this season, would you pray with me for the courage and opportunity to complete our joy?

In so doing, may you be adorned with joy and gladness, my friends.

Love you, faith family! Happy Advent & Merry Christmas! 

Double Bonus!

Dear Faith Family,  

On Sunday, we lit the second purple candle on our Advent Wreath, the "Candle of Peace." Moments before, we told the story of the "tree of peace," better known as "the Christmas Tree." The theme of the day was hard to miss! Yet, the sign and symbol, coupled with our scriptures and songs, were meant to help us pay attention to the arrival of the "Prince of Peace" and how His arrival restored "peacemaking" to our daily vocations. 

This Advent season, we are looking at the apocalyptical (revelatory) visions of anticipation and arrival from prophets young and old, ancient and modern. Prophets who paint pictures of an end that is no ending but rather a mending of all that is bent and fractured in us and our world. 

In Zechariah's vision, for instance, we hear the proclamation of peace at Jesus' arrival, 

"Your king is coming!
A good king who makes all things right,

a humble king riding a donkey, a mere colt...
I’ve had it with war—
no more chariots...
no more war horses...
no more swords and spears,
bows and arrows.

He will offer peace to the nations,
a peaceful rule worldwide..."
(Zechariah 9:9-10) 

But the image is not complete until we see that peace is a double restoration, a freedom from the bonds of our temporal prisons, whether in body or mind or soul, and freedom into our purpose in peace, 

"because of my blood covenant with you,
I’ll release your prisoners from their hopeless cells.
Come home, hope-filled prisoners!
This very day I'm declaring a double bonus...
From now on people are my swords.”
(Zechariah 9:11-13)

You and I, as swords of peace, may sound a bit ironic, especially since Zechariah's vision already included the ending of weapons of war. Yet, perhaps that's the point of such revelations: to help us see things differently. Much like in The Revelation, we hear the longing for the Lion of Judah in anticipation of peace, yet see the Lamb slain as the restorer of peace and purpose (see Rev. 5:5-10). Similarly, we hear "peace" as an end, the goal for which we strive, when in truth, we come to see peace is the way of mending, ours and our enemies.

Peace, as Jesus' arrival, life, and conquering end attest, and as we mentioned on Sunday, is not an end to battles but a means of battling that is utterly and forever different. 

"‘Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me,
even so I am sending you.’
And when Jesus had said this,
he breathed on them and said,
‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’"
(John 20:21-22)

Becoming the peacemakers we are freed to be may bring up visions of mission and ministry some place or some way different than in our daily occupations, but it is not! In fact, that's the intent of our apocalyptic advent visions, not so much to give us a future picture in some other place, but to see in the present the future's arrival, and our place in it. 

One reason we've partnered with the Made To Flourish Network is our shared desire to connect faith and work, to see our everyday role and relationships as the primary place for our maturation and ministry. If you want a practical approach to the "double bonus" of peace in your place of labor, I'd encourage you to put into practice this article. 

And in so doing, may the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard and guide our hearts, hands, and minds as we live in Christ Jesus. 


Love you, faith family! Happy Advent & Merry Christmas! 

Beginnings of the End

Dear Faith Family,  

Sunday officially sparked the beginning of the Advent season! It's here once more, a special time of the year in which the anticipation of something wonderful and new fills our hearts, catches our sight, echoes in our ears, and swims in our dreams. It is truly one of my favorite seasons, and I don't think I'm alone in that sentiment!

One of the things that makes Advent so refreshing for my faith is that it is a journey, not an event—a marked movement, day by day, that is taking us somewhere. And while the destination is the thing we are most excited about, it is the getting there that is the most revelatory.

For all that Advent is and can be, it is most pointedly a season for paying attention. And this year, our attention is set on the visions of anticipation and arrival from prophets young and old, ancient and modern. From Isaiah's pictures to Van Gogh's portrait to stories like the one we read on Sunday.

As we've learned over these past months, Prophets herald ends that are really beginnings and beginnings of the end for which we long. They awaken our imagination and our faith with visions of ends to what we know and beginnings of a different, deeper end to which we live now, all because what has been--Christ has come!--and what will be--Christ will come again!--ensures Christ is with us!

Like no other time of year, we are reminded of the truth that Jesus has come, born of woman, swaddled under the expanse of angels singing. And that he will return, as the Lamb slain and risen, King of kings, arriving once more to complete what he started in us and the world. All the while calling our attention to the truth that he has never once left us, and we can expect that he never will.

Little advents, Jesus arrivals, continue to occur all around us if only we pay attention! Advent, in the prophetic tradition, helps us pay attention through the daily and weekly rhythms amid all the signs of the season.

Advent draws our attention and our faith to the world ending and re-creating reality of life with Jesus. For Advent "calls us to a posture of alertness...watchful and ready...for the signs of hope," that the end comes in the beginning.

So, this Advent, let us join together in asking our Father for eyes to see in the signs of the season, the faithfulness of His presence, and the beginnings of the end. 

"May the God of great hope fill us up with joy,
fill us up with peace,
so that our believing lives,
filled with the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit,
will brim over with hope!"
(Romans 15:13)

Love you, faith family! God bless.