The Journey

“I am of two minds on that,” some of the older folks use to often say in a situation that is difficult to assess or when the correct course of action is not yet clear. So, we respond to the words of the poet Robert Frost in his famous poem, “The Road not Taken”:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood

And sorry I could not travel both

We admire people who pause at a fork in the road. Often, they are the ones who are able to see both sides of an issue, and they know how to weigh options.

So why does the writer of this psalm envision God saying, “I hate the double-minded?” What’s so wrong with being of two minds?

Nothing is wrong with being double-minded in the time before making a decision. But, sooner or later, commitment is called for. You cannot plow a field by turning it over in your mind. Eventually you must put your hand to the plow… it comes time to act. As novelist Albert Camus observed, sometimes we must make a 100 percent commitment to something about which we are only 51 percent certain.

The perpetually double-minded never get very far from home because they get stuck at the first fork in the road. For them – for all of us, at one time or another – it is best to heed the advice of Yogi Berra: “When you get to a fork in the road, take it.”

Dear Lord, meet me at the crossroads. Show me the way I am to go. Then give me the courage to act. In and through Jesus. Amen.

Grace and Peace
Steve

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Have you ever wondered if the Amazing Grace could ever be amazed? What could possibly cause Emanuel, God with us, to ever be astounded, taken aback, startled or amazed?

What amazed Christ was something that is all too familiar to most of us. It is the contempt that we often harbor for that which is familiar. According to Mark’s gospel, the Good News message, the mighty works of deliverance and the healing miracles of Jesus did not reach a formidable roadblock until he came to his hometown of Nazareth. There, the people who knew intimate details about his parents, his siblings, his upbringing and his occupation, questioned the validity of his work and the wisdom of his words. Jesus’ “homies” doubted and disrespected him because they could not reconcile what they knew about him with what God was doing through him. They were oblivious to any notion that the everlasting goodness of Almighty God could be brought to them in the life of someone they lived with closely.

This is more than contempt for the familiar. This is a sign of self-loathing. It is the understated but undeniable conviction that the best of life cannot possibly be found among one’s own people and community.

The best spouse for us couldn’t possibly be the one we actually married . . . could it? The social, educational and economic resources we desperately need for growth and development could not possibly exist in our own neighborhood…could they? The exciting, life-changing movement of God couldn’t possibly take place through the people who attend our church week after week…could it? God couldn’t possibly be working to transform the world through our motley crew of family and friends…could God? Surely the face of God can only be seen through that which is mysterious, exotic and other-worldly…right?

Dorothy left her home on a magical journey to the land of Oz, only to discover that her true heart’s desire was with her at her home all the time. And God is amazed that we and Dorothy continue to miss so many hometown miracles because we keep looking past God in us, trying to find God; we keep missing God in the reflections of who we are and where we are.  Amazing.

Dear God, you have deposited so much heavenly treasure in so many earthen vessels.  We pray that the details of the vessels will not make us miss your deposit, especially when it is at or near home. In and through Jesus.  Amen.

Grace and Peace
Steve

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I can’t tell you how often people are absent from church for a while, then come back, and when they pass through the receiving line at church say sheepishly, “Sorry I haven’t been here – I’ve been bad.” They seem to expect disapproval or punishment. 

In 40 years of ministry, I still haven’t quite figured out what to say. I usually opt for the non-judgmental, compassionate cadence, “We are glad you’re back! We’re not about guilt here! We’ll be here whenever you need us!” But while this is true, there are a couple of problems with the lack of fullness of my response.

Maybe they need to be needed and missed. Maybe they need to know there’s something at stake in them not coming. That, if they are former members, the promises they made to the church and to God mattered. And even if they are not former members, they matter – that we notice when they are gone, and we are diminished by their absence.

Maybe they need to hear that if they do come more often, their life might just get better. I say might – churches are flawed institutions, and mine among them, and there is no promise that life will be better simply because we live close to the Lord. Our faith will get better, but life may become much more challenging. But here is the thing, if you want to get wet, you have to get into the water. If you want grace, peace, hope, comfort, growth, you have to get into, or near, the people and places that have them.

What I want to say to people when they come before me and hang their heads is, “listen – you get out of it what you put into it.” I can’t say it, because it doesn’t sound very pastoral, but really it’s just a logic statement. You can’t win if you don’t play.

And God, though God rarely tells us this to our faces, needs us in church too. Some of us can only get the grace God wants to give us when we pass through that portal, into a sweet, slightly dusty, hardworking, authentic faith community. It’s not that grace is unavailable elsewhere; it’s just that – we’re tuned to the right frequency when we’re there together and we get it right. Church is the structure in which Jesus is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord, where we ourselves can become God’s crib.

They say that 80% of life is just showing up, right? I add… showing up expecting to encounter God.

Dear Lord, help us to overcome all kinds of things that don’t necessarily deliver as promised, to be a regular part of a healthy faith community. Help us all to know we belong to you and to each other. Help us to know that you call us to be present with you in worship and service. Help us to show up ready for a life-changing encounter with you. In and through Jesus. Amen.

Grace and Peace
Steve

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My wife has pictures of she and her best friend which she cherishes. These pictures can’t help but make one think of simpler times and more pleasant days. I look at these girls and I am reminded they have been friends through thick and thin. It is a friendship that passed the test of time.

It’s hard to have close friends. Some blame this on the pace and pressure of life today, with financial and career demands more time-consuming than ever. Others argue that social networking lets simpler virtual friendship make up for the real thing.

But as psychologists point out, the absence of close friendship leaves a void that the best marriages and closest partnerships can’t fill. Primary loyalties reach a breaking point when made to carry the full emotion of both parties. Relationships fall apart, and rates of loneliness, depression, and even suicide grow.

Earlier cultures traditionally considered friendship so important that newborns were assigned a best friend right at birth! Mary Wollstonecraft, one of the earliest advocates of women’s rights, spoke of both men and women in noting that while Eros is transient, “the most holy bond of society is friendship.” She echoes Aristotle’s argument that friendship is essential to the public good by enlarging understanding beyond private and domestic life.

The Bible itself speaks not only of the love, mercy, and judgment of God, but of the friendship of God. Abraham and Moses are called “friends of God.” God needs others. That’s why we were created. In the divine image, we in turn are made to need others – not only as with Adam and Eve but also Naomi and Ruth, Jonathan and David, and the friendship commended elsewhere in Scripture. Jesus calls us friends (John 15:12).  He says we reciprocate by being a good friend of others.

Dear Lord, in this time of Facebook friending and unfriending, may I be a true and real good friend of yours by being a true and real better friend of others. Help me to turn my virtual friendships into the real, everyday actions of a true friend. In and through Jesus.  Amen.

Grace and Peace
Steve

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Tonight, we unfortunately happened to tune into a program entitled: “World’s Dumbest Thrill-seekers.” I must admit that the title was true. One man did a back flip off the roof of his house (looked to be about 30 feet up). Another attempted to fly off a mountain (in one those flying suits) seeking to catch a balloon tied to a rock. He crashed into the rock and broke his leg. There were many other things that these people were tempted to do which absolutely boggles the mind.

There are times when all of us are tempted to do things that aren’t real smart. Shirley, Camile (who was my girlfriend and Shirley’s best friend at the time) and I were in the front seat of Camille’s Corvair. We had the really bright thought that one would steer, another would change gears, while the third would work the peddles. I think we were seventeen. You would have thought our brains should have been more developed by that age… guess not.

We proved that none of us ever escape some form of temptation. Of course, some of us are tempted more dramatically than others.

William Willimon tells an amusing and yet sad story about something that occurred in a Women’s Thursday Morning Bible Study he was leading in his church. The group was studying Jesus’ temptations. Dr. Willimon asked the group, “Have any of you ever been faced with temptation and, with Jesus’ help resisted?”

A young woman who was attending her first Bible Study raised her hand. Verleen was different from the rest of the women present; she grew up differently and had a different set of values. She began: “A couple of years ago I was into cocaine really big. You know what that’s like! (I am sure the ladies in the Bible study shook their heads in agreement – yeah, we know what that is like). You know how that stuff makes you crazy.” She told the women that a few years before she and her boyfriend robbed a gas station. “It was as simple as taking candy from a baby,” she said. That night her boyfriend also wanted to rob a convenience store, but something inside of Verleen told her it was wrong. Her boyfriend beat her up for refusing to go along with him, but she felt good saying no, “because that was the only time in my life, I ever said no to anything,” she told the group.

Through the stunned silence Dr. Willimon muttered, “Well, er, uh, that’s resisting temptation. That’s sort of what this text is about.” He then led the group in the closing prayer.

Temptation is relative. All of us are tempted. Some to do what could have been a tragic stunt with a car. Some might even go so far as being extreme thrill-seekers. But there are others who are tempted to do things we would not even imagine. We need to be aware that there are people who are tempted daily with situations that you and I cannot even imagine… and we need to pray with them and for them that they may see the error of their thinking before they go so far that they hurt someone else or themselves. 

Dear Jesus, help us, your people, to win the battle with temptation. And when we read about people who do some awfully foolish things… we need to remember the old saying… “there but for the grace of God go I.” In and through Jesus. Amen.

Grace and Peace
Steve

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A few years ago I found another version of this story of the “Cracked Pot.” I share it with you this morning because we all need to be reminded that God holds us in his heart. And this is a good reminder…

“An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck.

One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water.

At the end of the long walks from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water.

Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream.

‘I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house.’

The old woman smiled, ‘Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot’s side?’

‘That’s because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them.’

For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house.’ Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it’s the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding.

You’ve just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them.”SO, to all of my cracked pot friends, have a great day and remember to smell the flowers on your side of the path! 

Dear Lord, thank you for using my flaws to do good or make something beautiful as I journey through this life. In and through Jesus. Amen.

Grace and Peace
Steve

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It has always been a source of amazement to me to hear about the ridiculous things people will believe.

Not so long ago, while I was standing in the checkout line at the grocery store, I noticed people buying tabloids. Some of the more sensational headlines were these:

• “Dinosaurs Honked Like Buicks”
• “WWII Bomber Found On The Moon”
• “Woman Gives Birth To A Two-Year-Old Baby”
• “Adam & Eve’s Bones Found In Asia”
• “Eve Was A Space Alien”

Because these stories were in print, a great many people seemed to think they were true. On the plus side, those stories probably don’t do too much damage… Maybe?

The same cannot be said about the other lies people believe.

All too often people put their trust in human wisdom and earthly agencies. Many times, these same people find themselves being let down, hurt and without any person or idea worthy of their trust.

If you have found it more and more difficult to trust anyone — to be anchored in any kind of truth — may I suggest you try trusting the Lord?

For thousands of years, He has made it a point to always tell the truth. He wants people who have been disappointed elsewhere to know they can trust Him who has loved us enough to send His Son to ransom us.

Skeptical? If so, let me say trusting God is a wonderful way to live a day or spend a life. Trusting God gives a solid and secure sense of security. How could it not do that? After all, you are leaning on Someone who won’t let you down.

And believing in the Lord is certainly more meaningful than believing dinosaurs honked like Buicks.

Gracious Lord help me to keep my faith focus on Your Son, Jesus, who is the Way, the real Truth, and the Life. In and through Jesus. Amen.

Grace and Peace
Steve 

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Is there anyone reading this today who has felt dumb in front of a computer? It’s happened to all of us at one time or another, I suspect. And it happens more and more each day. And I am getting worse as each day goes by.

A technical support advisor received a call from a woman who had been told that her computer was infected by a virus! This alarmed her. She wanted to know how she could disinfect it. The tech advisor asked her what software she was using. She sounded a bit confused. What did he mean, software? After a few minutes on the phone, the tech support guy realized that she had dismantled her computer and was preparing to wipe everything down with Lysol, a disinfecting cleaner. It took him a minute to compose himself and tell her to stop before she ruined her computer. “You don’t disinfect a computer virus with Lysol,” he told her. He says he doesn’t know if she stopped or not. He never heard from her again, but it took him ten minutes to stop laughing.

Another support technician reported getting a call from another computer user. She told the support person that her computer was not working. She described the problem. The technician concluded that her computer needed to be brought in and serviced. He said, “Unplug the power cord and bring it up here and I’ll fix it for you.”

A short time later she showed up at his door . . . carrying only the electrical cord. No computer, just the cord. Well, that’s what the technician said, “Unplug the power cord and bring it up here.

People are amazing, aren’t we? Of course, some people don’t need a computer in front of them to act stupid.

Longtime Washington, D. C. news correspondent Helen Thomas tells an incredible story that she says is true. She says that shortly after the inauguration of President George W. Bush, someone in Danville, Kentucky, managed to pay for a $2 order at a fast‑food restaurant with a bogus $200 bill. This bill featured a picture of President George W. Bush on its face. There was also a picture of the White House with a sign in front of it that said, “We like broccoli” (harking back to Bush, Sr.’s admitted dislike for broccoli). On the back of the bill was a picture of an oil well.

Police said the cashier at the Dairy Queen not only accepted the bogus $200 bill for payment, she gave the culprit $198 in real money as change.

People are amazing. And sometimes they act foolishly. I say “they,” but actually all of us, do foolish things at some time in our lives. It is partially in our behalf that St. Paul writes to the church at Ephesus, “Be very careful . . . how you live not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is… Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Dear Lord, I know that I make some dumb mistakes… many dumb mistakes throughout my life. Help me be a grown up (I learned this in the children’s message) when I grow up… so much so that I do, indeed, sing and make music from my heart which always gives thanks to you. In and through Jesus. Amen.

Grace and Peace
Steve

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Can you imagine the jealousy people from the past would feel if they could somehow be transported from way back in the dark ages too today? They would be astounded at the many and varied blessings which we take for granted, but they might consider to be almost miraculous.

I happen to run across a story of something that might be high on their list of blessings; the kitchen match––the miracle of fire on demand.

Phosphorus, which makes a match light, was discovered in 1669 by a German chemist. Since the stuff could not help him turn lead into gold, the chemists forgot his phosphorus and moved on. English chemist Roger Boyle discovered if he rubbed phosphorus and sulfur together, he could get a fire almost every single time. since Boyle couldn’t think of a purpose for his interesting phenomenon, he also moved on.

Things changed when in 1827 Johnny Walker, an English pharmacist, stirred a batch of chemicals and set down his stirrer. By the time he picked up the stick again, the goop on the end of the stick had hardened. Purely by instinct Walker tried to scrape off the goop by rubbing the stick on the floor. You guessed it he got fire on demand. And the kitchen match was born.

Walker was only trying to clean up a stick, and he ended up with fire on demand. Light had come into the world.

When God created the world, he created light. That was good. When God wanted to save the world from the darkness of sin, he sent Jesus. And that was even better!

You know at one time we walked in the darkness, but for some reason, we walked into a church one day and was found by God’s light. That was a day of new beginning for us, a day that began a whole new process of light growing in our lives. May we continue to allow the light of God to shine through our living. May we covenant with God to be the light bearers to any who live in darkness.

Dear Lord, once we were in darkness, once we had no way of finding our way out. You saw us and found us and changed us with your light. In and through Jesus. Amen.

Grace and Peace
Steve

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I have been remembering some of the tests I have gone through over the years. They usually come in the morning – way before breakfast – I have to go through one of those yearly things a person with heart problems has to face, a stress test. I want you to know they named that test correctly… it brings on great stress as I face the test and as I go through the test itself. 

I didn’t fear them as much back when I was doing the walking stress tests. Back then I was walking three-miles every day. But more heart problems caused them to stop me from doing the walking test. With my little short legs, I am almost running on the treadmill to get my heart rate to the prescribed number. Now they stress my heart with medication. I have renamed that part of the test the 500 lb. gorilla test. You see, they have this medication which when entering your veins stresses your heart as if you were walking on the treadmill. For me it feels like a 500 lb. gorilla comes in and sits on your chest.

One of the times I took this test even my feet hurt when my heart was stressed. My breathing was short, I felt very weak, I hurt all over. The person administering the test realized the stress I was under and would stand beside me comforting me with words like; “…Only four more minutes. Only three more minutes. Only two more minutes. We are almost finished. You are doing ok.” Soon that gorilla will get up and I will feel better. Thankfully they have now changed the medication they are using, and it brings less pain.

I don’t know about you, but it really helps me to know that there is a trained professional by my side watching over me as I am in stress. She is someone who walks with me when the gorilla is bouncing on your chest, bringing back the feeling of calm.

Jesus is the one who is by our side through every stress-filled moment. He gives us the strength to deal with the gorilla and says to us; “Everything will be ok.”

Dear God, thank you for standing by my side in all the stresses of my life. You have been there from day one and I know you will be there beyond the last day.  Amen.

Grace and Peace
Steve

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