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Friday, October 24, 2008

The Embodiment of Christ

I recently heard someone say that they tend to refer to the Church less as the Body of Christ and more as the Embodiment of Christ. Subtle difference, maybe one you don’t care for, but it struck me. It is beyond understatement (and should be extremely obvious) to say that there is nothing wrong with the phrase “Body of Christ.” This scriptural description of the Church is a vital corrective to more settled and institutional understandings.

However, embodiment carries an active sense that resonates with me. It is not active in the sense of trying to accomplish something, but rather active because it is alive. To be the Embodiment of Christ in our world is astounding; it simultaneously declares our existence and our mission, our calling and our sending.

I’m looking forward to seeing a friend this weekend. In fact I’m looking forward to the opportunity to once again worship with and learn from her. In preparation for our worship gathering I’ve been thinking about the concept of hospitality – the theme for this Sunday and a topic that has been on my mind in a special way for the past few weeks.

When we arrived here in Burleson a few Wednesdays ago, the community of Christ Journey surrounded us. They showed up to help unload the trucks, to stock our new pantry with food, to shower us with hugs and laughter and greetings…and to share a meal with us. It struck me that people showed up at OUR new house and showed US tremendous hospitality.

This reminded me of Eugene Peterson’s powerful retelling of the story of the road to Emmaus where Jesus joins weary travelers on the trip from Jerusalem to Emmaus (check out Luke 24 if you’re unfamiliar with this passage). I’ve included part of this story on this blog before, but here’s the part that came back to me when our new friends gathered around us, which was highlighted even more after our friends in Mandeville had so lovingly surrounded us during the days and weeks before our departure.

As you enter Emmaus, you are actually feeling calm and almost your old self. You left Jerusalem three hours ago whipsawed by emotions. And now, thanks to this stranger, you are feeling almost normal.
It’s late in the day and time for supper. You’ve been away from home for a week, maybe over a week. There is nothing to eat. Passing a bakery stall you buy a loaf of bread and invite the stranger in for supper. After some coaxing, he comes in. You get out a bottle of wine. The three of you sit down to a simple supper of bread and wine. The stranger then makes a move that takes you aback momentarily. HE takes up the loaf and blesses it. The guest you invited to supper becomes the host offering you supper. After blessing the bread, he breaks it and gives it to you and to Cleopas. Then, and only then, you recognize him. It’s Jesus, alive. It’s resurrection.” (from Eugene Peterson’s, Living the Resurrection. pg 65)

While it isn’t the full expression, giving (and receiving) hospitality is a powerful embodiment of Christ in this world. Hospitality goes beyond feeding the hungry; it sits down at the table and shares the experience of the meal with them – extending not just grace, but love, dignity and community. Hospitality goes beyond merely saying “God loves you,” and even beyond, “I love you.” Hospitality says to someone that our lives would be more impoverished without them.

This isn’t about fixing a fancy dinner and making sure the children are on their best behavior (though feasting can also be a powerful embodiment of Christ). Hospitality is about sharing life together. It is what was expressed by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 2:8 “We were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God, but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.”

While I won’t suggest that we begin going into people’s homes and taking charge of the meal time ritual, as Christ did with the companions from Emmaus, I do love this idea of the one invited extending hospitality. It reminds me that often we approach a relationship assuming that we are the host and we find ourselves in the place to instead receive. There may well be a temptation to resist and forcefully maintain our place as the one setting the agenda or bringing the food (literally or metaphorically).

I was blessed while we lived in Louisiana to experience the incredibly humbling experience of receiving hospitality from those “less fortunate” than me. Few encounters in life have impacted me quite as deeply as when someone who I know struggles to pay the electric bills and the continuously mounting medical bills gave a very loving and sacrificial gift to my children. The gift was powerful for several reasons. For one, it is a gift that this person has given to all his grandchildren – thus it was his way of communicating to us the depth of love, commitment and connection he feels with our family…we’re part of his family.

This same family, on a Sunday when Rachel and the boys were in Texas, invited me to their house for lunch because they didn’t want me to have to eat alone…especially on Sunday.

In the past I struggled with accepting hospitality from certain people because I didn’t want to be a burden. In truth this was the lie that hid my pride and ego which preferred to sit in the position of one who offers help to those in need. It is one thing to eat a meal with the poor…it’s another thing all together to be fed by the poor.

Another time I grew frustrated with a person who each month struggled to pay bills and yet she regularly “wasted” money buying people gifts or giving to others who didn’t really need it. I wanted her to be more responsible with her money.

My internal hesitation to bless God for these gifts began to sound a lot like the disciple’s indignant complaint that perfume poured on the head of Jesus could have been sold and given to the poor. What’s more, I began to realize that in my arrogance I was assuming that my giving was less ridiculous. My assumption was that I am a “have” and others are “have nots” instead of the truth, as David Wray has been known to say, “I’m just one hungry beggar sharing bread with another.”

The offer of hospitality is not merely an opportunity for the “haves” to bless the “have nots” - though that is certainly appropriate. It is a way for each of us to embody Christ in a very real and significant sense, and to acknowledge that we all serve from a place of need in anticipation of the day when Jesus himself will fully satisfy those needs.

For some of us, and for different reasons, receiving hospitality may well be more difficult than offering it. Perhaps it is pride, perhaps it is insecurity or perhaps it is a fear of being indebted to someone. In any case we must ask ourselves whether our inability to accept hospitality can negatively impact our ability to embody Christ.

What would have happened if Jesus was unable to receive the anointing of perfume and tears from the “sinful woman” in Luke 7? I don’t have room to go into it here, but I believe that it was in part Jesus’ ability to receive hospitality from the “poor” (whatever kind of poverty they were experiencing) that enabled him to be truly hospitable. Jesus himself declared that he did not come to be served, but to serve – perhaps that’s why people rejoiced when they had the opportunity to serve him!

Monday, October 20, 2008

Say-What-ical?

Chappotin and I have been discussing for quite some time my need for a period of sabbatical before launching into “work” with the Christ Journey community. There is a sense in which my mind is going through a bit of a rebooting process right now. For the first time in many months I actually have a list of topics I’d like to blog about in the near future!

I’ve had mixed responses from folks regarding this. Some have approached me in one way or another and proactively suggested something similar; others after hearing the plan have been unimpressed… “So you get a vacation before you start your new job? Must be nice.”

For many people, the concept of sabbatical – or even Sabbath, from which it comes – is very foreign and sounds quite privileged and even lazy.

First let me say that sabbatical is not the same as vacation. The point of such a time, at least in my view, is for an extended period of study, meditation, worship and preparation. For preachers sabbatical can be a time to research and develop the scope of the next year’s preaching schedule; for professors it can be a time to do research and work toward publishing articles or even books. The point is for those who teach, preach or serve in these ways to avoid the danger of giving/leading from a place of emptiness.

Typically when I describe it in these terms people can see the value – not just for the one going on sabbatical but also for those served by that individual. Given these conversations I thought it was interesting to hear Randy Harris say in support of sabbaticals for preachers, “I don’t really like listening to a burnt-out preacher.”

And yet last night I was reflecting on the numerous folks who hear this defense and still say something along the lines of, “So what? The rest of us have to suck it up and do our jobs, what makes you so special?”

What’s really at stake here? What is the real issue that drives such emotionally charged responses?

One of my first sermon series at Tammany Oaks was about Sabbath (recorded for posterity on this blog - Sabbath Series part 1, Part 2 Enemies of Sabbath, Part 3 Embracing Sabbath , Part 4 Sabbath Feasting). Right before we left Mandeville I heard someone talking about how those messages still resonate deeply with her. And yet I can also remember with vivid detail the (surprisingly humorous) moment following one of those sermons when an elderly man told me that out of the near 10,000 sermons he’s heard in his life, this was hands down, the worst!

How can we have such a varied reaction to the concept of Sabbath?

I’m not going to go into the need or significance of Sabbath – you can read the four posts mentioned above for more or I’ll be happy to point you to several resources which will do a much greater job than I could.

However, as I was rereading these posts, I was reminded that in the act of creation, the first Sabbath took place on humanity’s first full day of existence. We do not earn our right or need for Sabbath; it is the gift of God. It’s cosmic permission to eat your dessert first!

I remember once witnessing a mother allow her children to eat dessert first. We were at a banquet/dinner and dessert was on the table before the meal came…it was less an act of compassion toward the children as it was toward the rest of us! The children didn’t realize that though and they spent the next 10 minutes joyously singing praises about their mother.

How appropriate is that image?!!

I have 11 days of Sabbath/sabbatical. I plan to spend a day at a retreat center in prayer, I plan to play karate with my boys in the living room, which I would do anyway…but I’m certainly not giving it up during this time!!! I have several books I want to read, I want to do some writing and preparation for writing. And all of this is taking place, as some friends have pointed out, right now at the beginning of this ministry – when I haven’t really earned it. I have no delusion that my great service has earned me the right to spend time worshiping and growing closer to God.

My prayer is that this time will cultivate a setting where I am more likely to allow the God of all comforts to heal and restore me. I want to relish in my primary identity as a child of God and a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven. Secondly I hope that this connection to our source will enable me to love my wife and children more completely – I truly believe that the more I look like Jesus, the more I will bless and love my family. And of course I also trust that this time spent in Sabbath with the Lord will continually bring me back to community. I pray that this will enable me to serve my neighbors, to share with them not only the Gospel of God, but my life as well.

I also pray that whoever you are, wherever you are, whatever you are doing you will look for ways to cultivate a rhythm of Sabbath in your life. If Jesus could walk away from his work of healing the blind and the lame in order to spend time in prayer, then there are certainly important things in our lives that can be set aside for a time as well. A good friend used to ask me whenever I developed too much of a messiah complex, “Are you the one who was prophesied, or should we wait for another?”

Well…are you?

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Greetings From My Couch

This short (for me) post is special; it is my first “from the field” of church planting. After 6 months of fundraising we were finally able to make the move to Burleson. We have nearly 50% of our monthly commitment raised, but the blessing of one time and special cash gifts has given us enough to cover our first three months – the goal we set for relocation.

The last couple weeks have been unbelievably hectic for our little family. We reached our goal on a Monday (Monday Money Days, part of Rachel's recent prayer schedule, have been incredible reminders of God’s faithfulness – if you haven’t heard about this, check out Rachel’s blog post). A couple large gifts from churches caused us to leap forward to a goal we were anticipating would still take a while. After the shock wore off we let our family at Tammany Oaks know that we’d be leaving in four weeks.

So we packed our belongings for move number 8 in our almost 8 years of marriage. Tuesday morning with the help of some great friends, we loaded everything we own into two Penske trucks. That afternoon the Chris’s (Chappotin and Robey…who, for clarity, were referred to as Pablo and Coach respectively) flew into New Orleans. Wednesday morning we threw the remaining things in our trucks and the four vehicles headed northwest around 5am.

Saturday the big brothers came home after 11 days at my parents’ house and we were SO ready for them to get here. If you follow Rachel’s blog then you’ve gotten most of the scoop on the exhaustion, mix of emotions and rollercoaster events that comprised our transition from Mandeville back to North Texas. We are exhausted but incredibly excited.

Yesterday Rachel’s mom drove over to help us unpack. In the afternoon Jodi, Robert and Ira brought dinner and around 8:30 Chris and Lydia called and said they needed to kill some time before their movie…so they swung by our house. Everyone went home when they were ready – a process which required neither a day’s drive nor a trip to the airport.

So here we are…I’m sitting on my couch, watching my TV, listening to Josiah’s nighttime cd over the monitor, Rachel is laying the big brothers down and the news just said that the humidity was UP to 56 percent today...

To those of you who have partnered with us financially, through prayer or in other ways, we thank you. I am so looking forward to sending you future updates with stories of our life within this community – both the community of believers we refer to as Christ Journey and the community of people loved by God we refer to as Burleson and the south Forth Worth area.

We are of course still in the process of raising our support – nearly 50% raised means we have a little over 50% to go. We ask for your continued prayers. If you know of anyone who may be interested in partnering with us financially, please let us know.

But for now I am about to go to sleep…in Texas.

Friday, October 3, 2008

Bad Ideas and Ones that Just Seem Bad

So as you may or may not know, Rachel and I have been married nearly 8 years and we are about to (hopefully) complete our 8th move together. Over the years we have become pretty proficient packers and movers, with a thoroughly tested and carefully revised system. Rachel has always been in charge of packing (I handle the garage, my closet and anything she tells me to do…). I’ve been in charge of moving day and take pride in the fact that when folks show up to help us load the trucks there are pretty much only two types of items in our home: boxes and furniture. When we moved from Mesquite to Dallas the total time from when the first box was picked up until we were all sitting in the new house eating lunch was 2.5 hours (that’s including the 15-20 minute drive to our new house).

But times they are a changin’. If you read Rachel’s blog you know that she normally has nearly half the house packed before we send the kids to grandparents’ house for crunch time. The jump from 2 to 3 kids has shifted the balance of power and we simply did not have nearly as much done. Wednesday when I took the boys to my mom, Rachel was sick – which meant that the whole day she had to herself to get stuff done without me or the boys in her way was…well, it wasn’t good. Then yesterday I spent the day battling off the ick as well.

However, last night as we prepared for bed, we felt that all-in-all we were in decent shape. Joey had been incredibly cooperative, we actually had several boxes packed, the garage was close to ready…and we still had all day today, Saturday, most of the day Sunday and Monday before the big day Tuesday.

But that wasn’t good enough for me.

While carrying some stuff out to the truck I accidentally walked into the side of an open drawer. That was not a good idea. Three hours later we were back home with seven stinking stitches. But you know, we still got a lot done today.

The doctor, after conceding that I wasn’t going to stay off my feet, requested that I at least spend an hour of so with my leg propped up so that the bleeding would stop (which it didn’t do the entire time they were stitching me up…it was kinda cool). During my long lunch break I watched CNN. There was plenty of talk about the bailout plan – which at that point was being deliberated in the House of Representatives. There was also plenty of talk about the overall state of the economy and the future for jobs and financial security for American citizens.

This isn’t a bombshell; things have been looking a bit dreary for quite some time now. And to be totally honest there have been a few people look at me like I’m crazy when I tell them that we’re raising money to plant churches. “Now?” they often ask. A few have even come right out and said that they think this is a bad idea. Is the decision to step out on faith and plant new churches right now an idea comparable to kicking an open drawer while packing?

The short answer, I believe, is “no”.

It is true that finances are tight and we are asking people, in the midst this situation, to partner with us financially. It is true that many people are unsure about their job security. It is true that for many people the hope, optimism and general sense of well-being found in this country’s prosperity have been shaken. But that is all the more reason for us to be doing precisely what we’re doing.

Chris Chappotin, my new coworker, just read a book called Death By Suburb. I’m currently reading N.T. Wright’s Surprised By Hope. Both of these books, in one way or another, discuss the danger of putting our hope and faith in something less than God. I wonder how many people have been uninterested in God because a prosperous society has been providing them with liberal doses of pain killers - never truly addressing the problems in their life but effectively masking the symptoms in the short run. But (at the risk of overusing the metaphor) perhaps the prescription has run out for many of us.

I believe that today there are many people who have lost or are afraid they may lose their security net and I believe that those people are going to be more receptive than ever to hearing the good news of God who has come near; a God who has come to repair the broken systems of this world which lead to insecurity, fear and oppression; a God who has called us to work with him to reconcile, heal and restore his good creation.

I believe that people are going to be receptive, but there’s more to it than just that. I also believe that right now we NEED hope. Part of why folks are receptive is that the good news which we proclaim is something which we legitimately crave. The truth is that the Kingdom of God is breaking into this world, even in the midst of financial crisis. This kingdom has implications (as Surprised By Hope emphasizes) for life after death, life after life after death and even life BEFORE death!

There has never been a more appropriate time in our lifetime to be engaged in God’s mission; planting churches right now is a GOOD idea.

Those we are asking to partner with us are being faced with a big commitment of faith – trust me, I understand that very well. However, I am more convinced than ever that this is precisely the kind of risk we are being called to take in the name of Jesus. We have raised nearly 50% of our goal (for the first year anyway), we are moving Wednesday and we are convinced that God is opening these doors. We are also convinced that the hurdles which keep popping up this week are examples of spiritual warfare. I believe that the forces of darkness at work in this world should be nervous – not because of us, but because of the powerfully advancing Kingdom in which our citizenship resides.

We are talking with a few churches right now about coming on board as a supporting church for our family and the ministry of planting churches in the Burleson / south Fort Worth area. Several of these churches are considering one time or special gifts – which we of course appreciate greatly. Our church here at Tammany Oaks has agreed to partner with us for one year. We need other congregations to partner with us regularly over the next three years or so. Make no mistake, we’re still looking for individuals to join us. But perhaps your congregation or one you know of would be interested in supporting (or partially supporting) a domestic missionary family. Perhaps your church family also believes that it is time for the community of God to advance into the darkness in order to reflect light into every dark corner. If so would you help us get connected with your church? Would you be the voice calling your leadership to partner with us?

I have now officially shed blood for this ministry, and the 7 stitches (a good, holy number by the way) are symbolic of my commitment…not my inability to watch where I’m walking, as you may have thought. I pray that very soon we will have raised our full support (because apparently I really need to get medical insurance!!). In the meantime we are continuing to pray for the individuals and congregations that God is preparing to bring into our lives as partners, as well as the individuals and families that we are going to be blessed to be in relationship with through the ministry of planting new churches.