Day One

Tonight marks the beginning of our Wesley House spring break mission trip. I'm pretty sure my devotions are going to be much shorter due to lack of internet and slow thumbs to write with (on my phone).

So for tonight I ask you to pray for us. We are a group of 29, driving to DC tomorrow and then on to North Carolina to serve with the NC disaster relief team. Lots of sledge hammers=lots of prayer. 

Have a great night. 

Heaviness.

A few of my students must feel like this donkey today - the burdens of the world outweighing their strength.  I know we can all relate!  When the worries, the concerns, the questions seem to take us right out of the game.  That's always when I hear these familiar words ring in my ears:

I've always thought about this yoke and how so many people are quick to say, "Give it to God" when trying to encourage someone not to worry.  It's really hard to just "give" something away and I don't really think that's what Jesus intended in this passage.  The yoke isn't just worn by Jesus so he can carry all of our burdens, rather we carry them together.  We aren't just off the hook - but we are reminded that we never face difficulties alone.  I think true rest, true peace can come in knowing that we don't always have to have answers or the right words for every situation - but that good can come even from the darkest, hardest times.

When we are yoked with Christ it's not just about our burdens, it is about the burdens of Christ as well. As we enter into this agreement we also pick up the call to care for our neighbors, to serve and to love.  We are in this together, with Christ.

Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden.  I will give you rest.

May we all find rest and peace in knowing that we are loved by the One who creates, redeems, and sustains.  Amen.

Mad?

I have been wondering today why people are so mean.  I'm not even sure we realize when we're being mean to one another anymore.  Sometimes it is rooted in our feeling that we've lost control and do not like the one who seems to have it.  Sometimes we're just mean because we think we're right and everyone else is wrong.  It seems these days that mean or cruel words/behaviors are said/done on the internet or via email rather than during face to face conversation.  It's a lot easier to be mean when you don't have to directly face a person you are hurting.

I am certain this happens in all sorts of communities, business places, and of course in schools.  We hear more about bullying these days than we ever have.  I guess tonight what hurts my soul the most is how often this kind of behavior happens within the church.  It's easier to talk negatively about your pastor to your friends in the congregation than to confront him/her directly.  It's much easier to send an email and rile others up than it is to support change and growth in the church, especially when that change pushes you right out of your comfort zone.  It's easy to withhold funds from the church you love because something his happening that you don't like (though giving is a response to the blessings of God and a discipline of faith).  What amazes me is that someone who has been faithful in supporting something for years can, at a moment's notice, turn their back on all that God has done in and through that community just because they may not agree 100% with something that is said, even when it benefits another part of the Kingdom of God.

Matthew 18 is a passage of Scripture that is known as the Rule of Christ.  It says:

12-14 “Look at it this way. If someone has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders off, doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine and go after the one? And if he finds it, doesn’t he make far more over it than over the ninety-nine who stay put? Your Father in heaven feels the same way. He doesn’t want to lose even one of these simple believers.

15-17 “If a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him—work it out between the two of you. If he listens, you’ve made a friend. If he won’t listen, take one or two others along so that the presence of witnesses will keep things honest, and try again. If he still won’t listen, tell the church. If he won’t listen to the church, you’ll have to start over from scratch, confront him with the need for repentance, and offer again God’s forgiving love.

Immediately following this passage is Christ's call for us to forgive.  Not just one time, not twice - but as many as it takes to allow God's grace to heal the situation.  Yes sometimes that means we need to shake the dirt off our sandals and move on - but that doesn't mean we do all we can to get a big group to follow us, spouting anger and preventing any chance of reconciliation.

When children fight parents urge them to apologize, to confront the situation, and to move on.  Why as adults do the rules change?  I think it is rooted in the fact that we do not take the time to find the Image of God in those we find most aggravating.  If we did, if we truly sought to see the good (the God) in others we couldn't possible do the damage we do to one another, or to the faith community.  We would begin to realize that even when we are angered, when we feel misunderstood or that something/someone is completely wrong - that maybe, just maybe they too are being convicted by the Holy Spirit - even LED by God to challenge you to a new perspective.  

Maybe this devotion is just an opportunity for me to vent tonight - so I apologize if that's how it sounds.  But in all honesty I want to challenge all of us to speak boldly in love.  To look one another in the eye and discuss the tensions, the anger, the frustrations.  It's too easy to gossip, to post your negativity on Facebook, to avoid the steps Christ has called us to take in situations such as this.  Before you leave the church, before you slander the pastor, before you decide that you can't stand the music or that one person who seems to "run" everything - just take a few days to look for the Christ in them.  You just might find the Christ in you.

Soar

Fear of failing is one of those things that can really grip us.  I wonder sometimes if we would do things much differently if we knew we would not fail.  Would we be bolder in making changes in our lives or at our workplace?  Would we be more honest with others if we knew there was no chance of hurt or rejection?  Would we go for that dream that has lived in the back of our minds if we knew success was right around the corner?

As we age I wonder if we lose a bit of that ignorant-confidence that helps us take leaps of faith before we even fully understand what the consequences might be - when we are passionate about something and that passion drives us to soar.  Bravery is an interesting thing, isn't it?  When was the last time you did something really brave?

Hebrews 11 talks a little bit about Abraham's faith saying:

17-19 By faith, Abraham, at the time of testing, offered Isaac back to God. Acting in faith, he was as ready to return the promised son, his only son, as he had been to receive him—and this after he had already been told, “Your descendants shall come from Isaac.” Abraham figured that if God wanted to, he could raise the dead. In a sense, that’s what happened when he received Isaac back, alive from off the altar.

Abraham acted in faith, trusting that somehow God would work through this time of testing.  Abraham wasn't always this bold with his faith, but it must have been a true test of bravery to actually take his son up on that mountain.  It's easy to take steps of faith when we can see where the staircase leads, not so much when we are challenged to be bold without the knowledge of what may come.  This is where real faith is grown though, when we step bravely into the unknown having to trust that God is in the midst of the mystery.  

I want to have that kind of faith that pushes me off the diving board and into the deep end - the sink or swim kind that challenges me not to just play-it-safe and stay comfortable.  How about you?

Prayer:  God sometimes I am so afraid of failing that I don't plunge into the mystery of faith.  Help me to trust that the net of your faithfulness will catch me when I need it most.  I want to be brave like those you called to follow You, to drop the nets that keep me complacent.  Guide me into the deep end of faith.  Amen.  

#Kellyonmymind

Today a part of me was put to death.

Hope in justice.

The lady on death row.

That was me.

A sinner of the worst kind.

That was me.

Redeemed by grace.

Jesus voice to the forgotten.

The lady on death row.

That was me.

That was you.

At this very moment a woman named Kelly is waiting for a judgment from the US Supreme Court.  She's waiting with the IV in her arm, waiting for the lethal dose to take her into the loving arms of Jesus. She embodies the story of redemption, a woman who played a part in the killing of her husband.  It was her idea, but the guy who pulled the trigger is going to be free in a matter of years.  In the meantime she's been studying theology and received a degree from my alma mater, Candler School of Theology.  She's been ministering the inmates, offering them the same grace that has radically transformed her life.  She may be the first woman put to death in Georgia in 70 years.

It's not just because she studied theology that I pray for her life this evening.  I think it's because I need to believe in the power of redemption.  Everywhere I've preached in the last few weeks I've asked the folks if they still believe that God is in the business of redeeming the world, and that the church is the vehicle through which that redemption takes place.  I have to believe that - that the call to serve Christ is not some futile attempt to just do good in my little piece of the world.  I have to believe that God is redeeming this world piece by piece, person by person, because I have experienced that redemption in my own life.  I have to believe that a Governor who claims that abortion is killing but executing someone is justice will one day be confronted by a God of redemptive justice and mercy.  I have to believe that we are not defined by one horrible life decision, though certainly we must reap the consequences of that decision.

Studying the death penalty lends one to understand the real injustice of the system.  African American people are far more likely to receive a death sentence, not to mention less-than-adequate representation.  People who are executed often suffer from mental health disorders.  It is no just nor fair.  Just read more about it if you're not sure.

But for me the bottom line comes in the faith that Christ came for all sinners to build a bridge to a loving Creator.  Christ ate with the sinners, tax collectors and according to Luke even offered grace to the thief suffering the same death-penalty sentence.  Christ came to abolish the need for sacrifice, to show and teach about the redemptive power of grace, not to judge and destroy but to offer life, and life abundant.

She is me - I am her.  You who are without sin, cast the first stone.

We are all in this together.
God is in the business of redemption - whether it be in this life or the next.
Amen.