Edible Offerings

The holiday feasts are fast approaching. The threatened food shortages might make us think about food a little differently now! Food is so important to life, and it's also important to worship. 

Beginning this Sunday we start a series called "Edible Offerings," looking at the food of worship. Why did people offer food to God? How does God use food to deepen our relationship with him?

Food represents our work. Tending soil and caring for animals takes a lot of effort. Even our jobs today are done to "put bread on the table."

And food is essential for life. No one can live without food. Even with all our advances in science, we can't get around metabolism. 

Food also becomes an occasion for building relationships. Meal times are central to life in every culture since the beginning of civilization. Dining together brings people together. And good food makes for a good celebration!

Join us for Edible Offerings:

October 24, Sibling Rivalry, Genesis 4:1-12

October 31, Entertaining God, Genesis 18:1-15

November 7, A Meal to Remember, Exodus 12:1-14

November 21, The Meal, Luke 22:14-20

This is Our Moment...

After the resurrection of Jesus, Christianity spread around Jerusalem like wildfire. It spread so broadly that it strained the religious establishment. They could not stomach a resurrected Leader who reached out to undesirables everywhere. Finally there was a breaking point. A vocal Christian leader was stoned to death and the floodgates of persecution flew open. Christians fled the city, scattering across the region, seeking safety. Only the apostles stayed put in Jerusalem. 

Everything changed.

They still had the message about new life in Jesus. But...

They had no place to gather. They couldn't meet at the Temple.

They had no weekly routine or meeting times. For safety's sake they hid and fled.

They had no day-to-day leadership. The apostles stayed in Jerusalem.

They had new kinds of people to evangelize. The common people in the countryside were not like the urban elites.

They had new problems to solve. Their old way of thinking could not meet the new realities.

God used those changes to bring the gospel to new people in new places in new ways. The persecution was tragic, but God used it to send the good news around the world. A new generation of Christians rethought systems of gathering, encouraging, reaching out, sharing love. The world had changed, but their response changed the world.

Today is our opportunity for new meeting places, new routines, new leadership, new places to share good news, new problems to solve.

We can reach this changing world with the hope of Jesus. But we can't stay stuck in our old ways of doing church. Change is upon the whole world. How will we respond?

See things as they are...

Driving down the familiar road,

You get lost.

You don't know where you are,

It's foggy.

Finally the sun breaks through,

The fog lifts.

You see things as they are.

They've always been that way,

Or have they?

Now you see the pasture and the cows,

The farmhouse.

You recognize the intersection,

Finally.

You see things as they are.

The friend disappoints and leaves you stranded,

They don't care.

The doctor brings the bad news from the test,

Could be worse.

Sarcasm hits a tender target in your soul,

She meant it.

Do you see things as they are?

Fog lifts and now we see all there is to see,

Can it be?

Plain as day to me, so obvious but,

There is more.

I see things as they are to me,

Not to you.

I can see things as they are, but you cannot.

Or maybe there's more than I can see.

I need to see with humility.

Theology Police

There is good theology and bad theology. There is right theology and wrong theology. Some theology is based on the Bible and some is based on human reason. "Theology" means the study of God. It is our human effort to understand who God is and how he interacts with his creation.

I assert that theology based on the Bible is more accurate than theology based only on observation and reason. But we have problem with the term "biblical." When someone holds up an idea as biblical, often he or she means, "I can point to Bible verses to prove my idea." That's how we have people holding "biblical" positions that contradict other people's "biblical" positions. We like to find verses that support our ideas and ignore verses that do not. It's almost impossible to do systematic theology without finding numerous areas of tension.

This leaves us wondering who is right. The answer to that question is simple. We are right and you are wrong. At least that's how most theological warriors frame the issue. Often these warriors are self-appointed theology police, pointing out flaws and misinterpretations in the beliefs of others.

I caught myself doing this a few years ago. I was in a foreign (to me) language worship service in NC, in a church outside my denominational tradition. As the worship was getting exciting and into full swing, I was feeling the joy of the Spirit. God was powerfully present. Then the thought occurred to me, "I wonder how much more God would love these people if their theology was better." In that moment I was stunned at my own arrogance. I decided to resign from the theology police. I turned in my badge.

I still believe that some theology is better than other theology. But I'm going to trust God to set people straight. I'm sure I have plenty of messed up ideas about God, some of which come from misreading his word. I have to trust God with that too.

In the meantime, I do know that God wants me to love people and to love him. This much I know, and that's challenge enough for me. The deeper my own theology grows, the more I see his love.

The Weight of the World on a GOAT

I marveled at Simone Biles' composure a few weeks ago. Everyone knew that she would take the gymnastics world by storm again. She would effortlessly hurl herself through the air, twisting and flipping and sticking her landings. The Olympics seemed like her own stage for showing off.

But then her 24-year-old mind took a look at all the expectations. It's hard to be the G.O.A.T. The glare of the spotlight becomes blinding. Or maybe it shines light on the faint possibility of failure. 

Routines can't be effortless when you are over-thinking. Biles said that she felt the weight of the world on her shoulders. What if she let down her team, her family, her coaches, her country? One false move could cause her whole world to collapse.

No wonder she hesitated. 

You may not compete on the world's stage, but you probably feel the weight of your world on your own shoulders from time to time. Maybe you can buckle down and take the heat and rise to the occasion. Maybe you have done that many times. But the time may come when it's too much. The thrill is gone, the joy has become anxiety, the reward no longer worth it.

You want to step back, but you can't find the way to do it. What will people think? Who will step up when you step back?

You know the easy answers: It will all work out. Just have faith. Trust God. Say a prayer. Ask for help. 

It all sounds easy, but it's not. We have to rethink, adjust our expectations, acknowledge our limitations. This may be the hardest work of all.

Cut yourself some slack. And while you're at it, cut somebody else some slack, too.

When Simone stepped back, Suni Lee stepped up to gold for the Americans. Maybe it will all work out.

Cancel Culture

We can't listen to anyone who ever did or said something we disagree with. It doesn't matter if it was a long time ago. It doesn't matter if they have changed their minds. It doesn't matter if there is a good explanation for the offense. It doesn't matter what the context was.

If we look long and hard enough, we can find some offense in anybody's life. 

Here are some thoughts on cancel culture.

We need to allow people to change their minds and mature over time.

It is far too easy to condemn others without really looking at their context or specific circumstances.

Jesus wants us to extend grace to people. That's one way of loving our neighbors as ourselves.

Dead people have no opportunity to defend themselves. Let's have a little respect even when we find fault.

Cancel culture works for and against people of all ideological stripes. 

We all stand to be cancelled at some point, especially with the scrutiny of today's critics. The only thing that protects us is our own obscurity.

Maybe the day will come when society will reject people who have been doing all this cancelling. That will be ironic.

We should look harder for our own faults (with the goal of correcting them) than the faults of others.

People have been trying to cancel Jesus since he walked this earth. I'm glad that he never cancels us.

The Elephant in Your Soul

The room is tense. Everybody knows what everybody is thinking. But no one wants to say it. It goes unsaid in a room full of pretenders. And everyone knows that everyone is pretending. 

Occasionally in such a situation, a brave soul may name it, causing a cascade of relief that the elephant has been named. Finally we can talk about it.

Naming the elephant always feels awkward. We don't know if others will acknowledge it. We don't know if we will be affirmed or rejected. We don't know if we will make enemies or allies. There is a risk in mentioning the elephant in the room. But once it has been mentioned, it has to be dealt with.

Sometimes there is an elephant in your soul. It may be an unhelpful pattern of thinking, a decision that must be made, the inevitable that you have been postponing, a habit to stop or start, a difficult conversation, a trip to the doctor. When the elephant is in the room, you have to consider the reaction of others. When the elephant is in your soul, you have to face something (potentially) much more frightening--your own response.

Once you finally face that elephant, you force yourself to deal with it. The internal battle is the hardest. You may become angry, fearful, or ashamed. You may have to get alone, or cry on someone's shoulder, or go for a long and sweaty run. You wrestle with yourself. You may wrestle with God. It is painful, exhausting, and scary. 

But when the internal battle is won, you can do the hard thing. Jesus will walk with you. He knows all about doing hard things. And he knows about the elephant in your soul.