Aftertaste: The Narrow Way

This past week I preached on Matthew 7:13-14.  We heard the call to obedience and to choose the narrow path which leads to life, recognizing the need for God's grace along the way, to spend time with Jesus by reading Scripture and in prayer, and to encourage one another to hold tightly to the faith.  However, I left out one essential piece: how is the path actually walked?

The path is walked through our everyday life choices.  The things we do day in and day out are those things which our paths in life are made up of.  It's not really about an "epic" story as we might imagine it (like Lord of the Rings) nor is it about mighty "victories" that we have, although some may have epic stories and mighty victories.  For the most part however, the narrow path is walked as we might normally suspect: one step at a time. Each step is a choice, an action, done in a normal and seemingly ordinary day that leads towards everlasting life.

This is hard to imagine and even tougher to enact.  This thought has paralyzed me at times, rendering me almost unable to make a choice because I feel so much weight is placed upon the choice that is bothering me right now: "Should I go with the salad that points towards a sustainable lifestyle and stewardship of nature or eat the cheeseburger which probably points to a lack of sustainability in lifestyle and lack of stewardship by eating higher upon the food chain? WHAT WOULD JESUS EAT?" my mind screams. 

It's not about being paranoid, or being scared of our choices.  But it does mean that we purposefully think about the actions we take and the choices we will choose.  Working out beforehand, "what is a sustainable way of eating?" or "how should I interact with my boss who is a bit on the angry side?" can free us to act like Christ in the moment.  That is why theology and reflection is so important: our everyday lives and actions become shaped by what we think and believe.

Finally, it comes back to God's grace and transformation. I am convinced that our efforts to "perform" by meeting the "standards" doesn't go far enough - it is done out of passion and desire but eventually leads to burnout. Instead, time in God's presence leads to transformation because of God's character which leads to right behavior because of a transformed inner being. This is what leads to the narrow way and to life - time with God. That time with God will be difficult however; it means dying to self and rising into Christ's new life for us, more us than we ever we before (as C.S. Lewis puts it).

Cooking with Christ: Lessons from Chili Part 2

I think one of the best parts of making chili is that I don't really have to pay attention to get good results.  Buy the list of things for the recipe, dump into the crock pot, stir, and I'm done.  Delicious hot meal with 30 minutes of preparation time and 4-8 hours of cooking, depending on what setting I use.  However, after several weeks of a 'chili diet' where I had a bowl of chili everyday, 5-6 times a week (sometimes more), I became sick.  Why in the world did I get sick?  I was eating healthy, hot food that was easy to make right?

The issue is not that chili is horrible for me, or that the chili itself made me sick (I had a common cold).  After much reflection, I realized however that I had forgotten nutrition 101 - a stagnant diet misses out on nutrients needed by the body to stay healthy.  How could I forget?  So, I went back and began to dig out recipes that created a substantially more varied diet.  As I was reflecting on the needed ingredients, I realized why I had stopped cooking them: lots of fresh vegetables (which are expensive), long prep times (cutting vegetables), and attention is required while cooking (for the most part). It seems like so much work!  Chili is so simple and easy...so quick!  And it tastes just as good!

Therein lies the problem with quite a few things in life, but also in our relationships  with Christ.  Our relationship with Jesus isn't always easy; nor is it quick (it's a process and takes time); it can be simple and complex; it takes work.  Yet the easy path is not filling in any sense - we get sick from the stagnant diet, the easy cooking and the same food.  Our lives with Jesus require that we change in dynamic ways; he calls us to a hard road, but one that is ultimately filling and better for us. 

Lesson in point: If our relationship with Jesus is always in the crock pot and never requires our attention, we need look at our relationship again.  

Image from: http://www.yourhomebasedmom.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Crockpot-of-chili.jpg

Cooking with Christ: Lessons from Chili - Part 1

I confess, it's true: I don't know how to use a can-opener.  In fact, I have broken two can openers in two weeks.  At first, I thought it was because the can-opener was the cheap $1 version.  Let me paint the picture for us: I was in a rush one morning, trying to open all the cans of food I would need (kidney beans, black beans, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce) for the batch of chili I was dropping in the Crock Pot.  The little hand-held can-opener was having a difficult time grabbing the edges of the can, and my anger flared.  I placed the can-opener on the can again, turned the knob harder...and snapped the piece of the can-opener which held the two sides (the twisting knob and the opener part) breaking the contraption.

I placed all the blame on the cheap can-opener.  "Stupid, dumb can-opener!  You are supposed to break the can open, not be broken by the can!" I muttered vigorously to myself in increasing passion.   "I'll fix you!  I'll buy the professional grade can-opener!  That certainly won't break!"   

Yesterday it happened again.  I wasn't even angry this time. I was thinking to myself, "Note to self: give 3x as long prep time when it says you need to open cans," and then I heard the disheartening "pop!"  The knob popped off the professional grade can-opener.  "Dear Lord," I muttered to myself, "why is this simple thing so difficult?  It's just a freaking can-opener and chili!" 

I sort of felt Jesus smile back at me, then the thought came to me: "Even the simplest things take time to learn and understand.  Most don't get it correct right away.  The key is, are you willing to learn?"  While my mind immediately jumped to Google searching how to use a can-opener, the deeper truth arrived.  I am in a similar position with the Gospel, with a life lived for and with God.  It should be so simple right?  Love God, Love others, neighbors and enemies alike.  And allow God and others to love in return. 

Christianity sometimes feels like a can-opener: so simple, yet when used the wrong way it breaks very quickly, and we miss out on the delicious goodness we are working towards.  We often place the blame on the can-opener because it's so simple...how could we (I) be getting it wrong?

Reflection: Sanctification

There is always another step to travel while experiencing the love of God.  Each and every ordinary day is valuable to us and for us in the eyes of Jesus Christ, who slowly reveals more of his heart and his way of living to us, almost like an artist painting a picture in front of us (slowly, we see it come together).  As I continue to read the Bible, as I continue to study more and more about how Jesus' teachings should impact us ethically, the more inadequate I feel to receive God's grace, mercy, and love.  A passage that has haunted me for years continues to keep coming back and haunt me as I study: Luke 6:46, "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,; and do not do what I tell you?"

"What is causing these feelings?" I hear someone asking.  Right now I am in the midst of studying a list of historical, theological, and practical (ethical) books that are distinctly Anabaptist as I work towards ordination.  I have just finished Donald Kraybill's The Upside-Down Kingdom and, while I have heard most of what was in the book before, it has hit me with extra force for whatever reason this time I have read it.  A second factor is the distinct preaching emphasis of Greg Boyd over at Woodland Hills Church concerning the Cruciform nature of God's love (God as always exhibiting self-sacrificing love in how God interacts with the universe).    

As I struggle with putting these two concepts (living for Jesus and responding with the same self-sacrificing love that God has revealed) together in my own life, I continually come back to these two things: what am I doing with my free time and what am I doing with my money?  I confess, I do not think I serve enough in my free time and haven't found the correct balance between work/play/and sacrificial love in service.  Second, I haven't simplified my life enough to be more generous with my financial giving.  My heart cries out for the poor, here and across the seas. 

This I think is part of the struggle expected in sanctification, or the process of becoming more Christ-like through God's formation of us and our response to God's love.  God slowly and overtime shows us where we need to go next.  The question becomes, "how will I respond?"  My return cry is always the same: "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me, a sinner!  Teach me in your everlasting patience your way, for I am stupid and ignorant at heart."  

The Darkwash Letters (In the manner of The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis)

*See original post 1/19/2014 for explanation*

Dear Featherfear,

            Let me expand on this notion of the "extreme" a bit more for you and the practical implications of tempting your charge into the "extreme."  What is meant here is to bring the person so far past the point of moderation that everything they do is simply above and beyond what is pleasurable and meaningful.  In fact, we have already made great success on the national level here, particularly in consumerism and capitalism.  We are now breeding the little cheeseburgers into such a state that their greed is swollen to the point of bursting in the first few years of their lives...and they think it's "normal."

            Yet, that "normalcy" is for a far lower division to work on than yourself.  For you, what we mean by leading them into the extreme is to have your charge spend a few more minutes each day  in whatever activity they enjoy doing, or to buy a few more items that are out of his price range, or to eat a few more pieces of food than he normally would.  The trick is to take them down the path of "it's just one more" until they find themselves in the place where "just one more" ends up being a mountain more.  "Just one more piece of pizza" when the person was eating one or two slices was OK...lead them into eating the whole pie by increasing the "just one more" slowly over time and they become obese, even gluttonous!   It will make you cackle that they think this happened "suddenly" when you had this in mind since the beginning.  

            It is especially delicious when done with things that the abominable human would have been doing anyway, and with the Enemy's horrid up-turned mouth leering at them.  Take work for example.  I see in this man's dossier that he works at the chain department store.  Fantastic.  Begin by simply placing into his mind the idea that a certain task shouldn't be left for tomorrow, but must be taken care of today.  Make it an imperative.  Work with his boss' tempter to insure the boss tells him it as well.  Lead him slowly from working a half hour overtime to working several hours overtime each day.  Then promote him and make him work even more.  Make him start neglecting church, rest, friends, family, and fun, all by having him work more because "this simply can't wait until tomorrow." 

            By doing so, we create for ourselves a beautiful workaholic who cannot see beyond his own needs at work and thinks he is choosing the best thing or doing the "right" thing in this circumstance.  This will make sure he continues to be a workaholic even when others try to help him see his situation differently.

            Try to cultivate in him the sense that others "just don't understand" the position he is in, or the responsibilities that he has at work.  Nevermind the fact that the company will happily fire him when he is no longer useful, that perhaps a better job that makes a little less might be better so he might spend time with family.  Keep them in these sorts of endless cycles of moving towards "extremes" while creating "potent" reasons for why they should stay in these extremes and we'll net ourselves a meal,

Your Affectionate Lowerior,

Darkwash

Reflection: Missing the Right Brain in Spiritual Life

The season of Lent is a time of confession and repentance.  I associate repentance with starting things new, with walking in a new way of life that Jesus has set before us, with eliminating old bad habits and establishing new healthy ones.  This year, I have decided to use as a spiritual discipline the art of drawing.  Now, I am historically a horrible artist, lacking the ability to even draw a straight line.  My handwriting is horrendous, and my art usually is on par with most two year-olds.  Actually, many times a two year-old's is better.

That being said, I picked up Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards.  In this book, she discusses some research about different processes that occur on different sides of the brain.  Generally, the left side of the brain deals in logic, reading, language, mathematics,  time, sequence, analyzing, etc.  The right side of the brain is more creative, spatial, perceptive, unable to express itself in language, gets lost in time, and is also the side associated with art.  One side of the brain is usually more dominant than the other, asserting "control" in one's thinking and actions, which speak to different tendencies each of us have in life.

I am very left-brained.  I analyze everything, placing things in sequence, looking for logic and reason in every situation, and am very time-orientated, seeking to get things done in the most productive fashion possible.  While not a bad thing, I have this same mentality when I come to Scripture and my prayer time.  Again, this is not wrong, but I wonder what I have missed by not reading Scripture with an artist's eye, with the leisurely creativity of exploring the rich metaphors and linguistic mastery in the Bible.  I know for a fact I am missing an important element in my prayer time because I am left-brained dominant. 

What can we do?  I am not sure quite yet, but as I work through this drawing book, I'll see what I can come up with.  Perhaps some right-brained folks can leave comments below as to their own experience with Scripture and prayer!   

Struggling with Scripture: Proverbs 21:2-4 (NRSV)

Proverbs 21:2-4 is an extraordinary passage that in its first statement seems ripped from conversations about people's "perspective differences" today, but then rounded out with a summary of what God thinks.  Verse two begins like this: "All deeds are right in the sight of the doer."  Isn't this a funny statement for today?

Jesus makes this point as well in Matthew 6:1 and following.  Seen in the best light, the "hypocrites" would not even realize that what they are doing by making a scene over their giving, or about their praying, or about their fasting was wrong.  In fact, they were probably instructed to do these things by saying, "and to lead by example" or "to be a good example" do x, y, z publicly like so...

Yet, the second half of Proverbs 21:2 says, "but the Lord weighs the heart." What is the intent behind the action?  In Matthew 6:1 and following, the intent to be wary of is to "be seen by others."  I wonder, what is the intent behind our actions?  Do we do good things to be seen or because that is simply who we are?

Proverbs then defines for us what is good and what is not in verses three and four. Verse three states, "To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice. "  Verse three is actually pretty wild.  It is saying to do the right things, to commit to justice (meaning giving to the poor, protecting the weak, freeing the slaves - it's not just a onetime gift but a whole different economy and lifestyle) is more important than one of the most central pieces to the ancient Israelite religion: sacrifice.  Sacrifice would have been the outward display of getting right with and showing loyalty to God - yet Proverbs says, "actually...doing the heart of the law is way more important that the outward observance of religion."

I struggle with this because it is so much harder than going to church, giving the offering, doing daily prayers and devotions.  It requires a personality that puts oneself out there to know the poor and oppressed, who is willing to give up their time and life to serve, who is willing to move into place and be with people who we normally would not associate with.  I find this...difficult (especially being an introvert!).

Verse four is just has stinging: "Haughty eyes and a proud heart - the lamp of the wicked - are sin." I wonder how many times I have looked down at people instantly just from seeing them: "O at least I am not as fat as them, at least I don't buy those clothes, that guy cares too much about appearance, that person needs a shower, that person..." As I judge, I lift myself up and make myself better than others, in fact, my own position becomes one of eminence as I distribute judgments on how to make others better from the throne of my mighty buttocks.

The fact is...I am not any better.  In all probability, I am far worse. That is why it is so good to let God judge - Jesus weighs the heart.  Righteousness takes courage, intentionality, effort.  Wickedness?  It simply requires an eye and a heart that passes out judgments like candy.