Corona-time

       
     

         In the age of Coronavirus, Social-distancing, quarantine, self-isolation and all around weirdness that is 2020, we have an opportunity to re-evaluate our lives…our goals and our accomplishments.  Many people who were busy every day of their lives suddenly find themselves with a great deal of free time. Some who were considered to be the low-important, entry-level employees find themselves labeled as ‘essential workers’ and are required to be at work much more than normal.

          If there is anything that this global pandemic has done…it has allowed us to reassess what is truly important.  Many of us are left with a great deal of time…perhaps uncomfortable time…to look at our lives.  What are we living for? What are we giving up? What are we doing with the time that we have been given?

        The other day I was asked by a couple of Christians about my productivity…or…I should say…in their eyes…my worth. Things have slowed down a bit at work…we are unable to do things we once did.  Public worship services have been canceled and I spend much more of my time editing videos.  Anyway, the couple wanted to slam any work product.  We are a small chapel community and we only garner a small amount of ‘views’ or ‘likes’ on our page. Am I ‘productive’ enough? Am I ‘good’ enough? Am I valuable?

        We have used terms like ‘essential’ and ‘non-essential’ to divide up the work force.  During these times we say, “Mission-essential” personnel only should report to work.  In a short time event like a Typhoon or a Blizzard, this does not affect most of us psychologically.  But when the duration is months…well things get trickier.

        We see it already as the ‘essential’ hold out their ‘essentiality’ with a sense of distinction and pride.  They, after all, are chosen to be ‘essential.’  The non-essential workers struggle to maintain a sense of relevance for themselves and try to produce work…in order to…produce work.

         I admit that I struggle with this.  As somebody who has historically identified myself with my job…this is tough.  Do I matter? Am I valuable?

        Or is something else going on?

       Walter Brueggemann wrote a book entitled Sabbath as Resistance where he suggests many answers to these questions.

       Where do we get the assumption that our value is tied to our economic productivity? If we look in the Bible, we have to acknowledge that is Pharaoh who embraces this ethic.  “They are more numerous than the people of the land, yet you want them to stop working!” he screams (Exodus 5:5).  Work harder! Work without resources! Pharaoh is the capitalist God. 

       Capitalism may be a good economic system…but it is a terrible source of life.  As Brueggemann puts it, “our capitalistic system is on the wrong side of history.” This does not mean that we need to embrace socialism or communism or any other version of centrally run economies.  It does, mean, however that we need to redesign our system of values that are derived from capitalism.

In our current crisis, politicians are willing to sacrifice people to protect the economy.  Rep Trey Hollingsworth of Indiana presents at as the mature thing to do (https://time.com/5821166/gop-coronavirus-deaths-economy/).  Time to “put on our grown up pants…” he intimates…as if those who want to stem the tide of the virus are immature babies. In a value system that would make Pharaoh giddy with delight, Hollingsworth suggests that the most important items are the economy and our productivity.  These are what give us meaning.  This is what is truly important.

In the Old Testament, YHWH had a different understanding.  He wanted His people to leave Egypt to worship the Lord (although even today, YHWH would probably insist on social distancing).  Delight was to be found in community and in providing for one another.  Joy was to be found in the Lord, not in the economic bottom dollar.

        Jesus, too, seemed to place value on people rather than political or economic goals. “Love one another…” that is the commandment Jesus gave to His disciples the night before he died. “Pray for you enemy…” he declared.  The New Testament church went farther and declared that true religion was to take care of the widow and the orphan (James 1:24).  The Church met together and took care of each other and shared in their property (Acts 6).  Their value system was different. 

Imagine a world where we could take the time to develop a new sense of community…a new sense of value and a new sense of importance.

        We now have that opportunity.  One of the things that is interesting in the Old Testament was God’s command for Israel to take a Sabbath every seven years (Lev 25:2-4).  God declares that if the people of Israel did not do this, He would inflict it on the land (Jer 25:11-12).  One of the reasons the people go into Exile is because the land needs a Sabbath rest.  It is a reminder to put God at the center of all things.

       When we do this, we realize that God is in charge, we are not.  God will do what God will do and we can not stop that. If God wants the world to pause, the world will pause. But this also has a side implication: we are all non-essential.

       God does not depend on us…any of us…to do His will. No matter how busy or non-busy wer are, God’s plan will always be accomplished.  This is heart breaking for many of us. We want to be the agents of our success and we want to change the world.  But it is God who does that.  Not us. It is        God who accomplishes His plans…we do not accomplish those plans for Him.

       But just because we are non-essential does not mean that we are not valuable.  I truly believe that every individual…the billions and billions who existed over time and the billions who exist now and all of those who will exist in the future are valuable. Each of us is important to somebody else.  The Navy may not care about me…but my family does.  My friends do. 

Even more important that this…God does.  One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Zephaniah 3:17… “He will delight over you…He will quiet you with his love.” Brennan Manning spoke about the furious longing of God and there is a sense in which each one of us… all of us are important to God.

        So perhaps the Corono-virus is an opportunity for us to re-evaluate what we are basing our lives on.  If we seek to base it on the productivity of Western Capitalism, we will surely be disappointed as we increasingly become aware of our own irrelevance. But if we base it on God and derive our value and importance from this…we will truly be free.

So my content may not be viewed by many people.  Nobody may read this blog entry…I’d be highly surprised if anyone did.  But my importance is not derived from how many likes, or clicks or shares I get.  
       My importance and my value is derived by my God and my family who love me.

Where do Evangelicals Live?

       “Home sweet home.”   “There is no place like home.” “Home is where the heart is.” “Take me home…country roads…” “You can’t go home again…” Ok, well maybe not the last quote, but the word ‘home’ evokes a powerful memory in all of us.  We define home as the place we are from, the place we go to when we are scared…the place that is sacred to us. 

            As we continue to learn about Evangelicals in the 21^st century, we are confronted with the second of N.T. Wright’s five questions: “Where do we live?” As we examine this question, we will see how important the concept of home is for them. 

            As we have seen, Evangelicals view themselves as the true heirs of Christ’s church, the last protectors of the true faith and the only legitimate church.  They find themselves caught between liberalism on one end and secularism on the other.  They see themselves always on the defensive and they need to protect their territory against all enemies.

            “Where do we live?” or “where is home?” is important for Evangelicals.  So where do American Christians live?

            Well…the United States…obviously…duh.

            Ok, yes, the United States is the physical home for the American evangelical church.  But it is not the physical location we are talking about…it’s the spiritual…or philosophical meaning that is truly important.

            The United States has always been important in Christian history.  The Puritans arrived here to have religious freedom (so one myth goes).  God has appointed the United States to be a ‘city on a hill’ to bring the light of Christ to the world (so another myth goes).  But there is a sense in Evangelical understanding that this country is the rightful heir of Israel in the Old Testament.   The United States is a special country, chosen by God, to be a vessel for the transmission of the Gospel throughout the world.

            Christians look to the Founding period to assure themselves that the Founding Fathers envisioned a Christian nation. The United States, the argument goes, is a Christian nation, conceived to be such.  Authors such as Peter Lillback, demonstrate that George Washington was extremely concerned to create a Christian nation.  Popular myths, such as Washington almost being killed by Native Americans during the French and Indian Wars, become evidence of God’s providence. Christian Evangelical scholar David Barton reinvents Thomas Jefferson as a devout Christian who has been deconstructed by liberal scholarship.  John Adams is summoned to talk about the necessity of the country’s Christians ethos. American history is rewritten to a Christian narrative in books like The Light and the Glory, which are taught in Christian schools and homeschools around the country.  The modern narrative is that the United States is one of the last true vestiges of Christianity in the world. It must continue to be a light in the darkness and the city on a hill.

            But the problem is that this Christian nation is under threat by the same enemies that they themselves face.  The liberals and secular powers want to make the United States into a non-Christian nation.  National issues like abortion and homosexual marriage are battlegrounds in the ever lasting war over the soul of the American nation.  If the United States continues to allow abortion or homosexual marriage, then it is evident that the United States has turned it’s back on God.  If this happens, the Gospel will suffer and many will not be able to achieve salvation.

            These issues are very important to the Evangelical church because they are directly related to the vision they have for America.   If any issue or topic can unite the hopelessly disjointed Evangelical church, it is the hope for the United States.  Evangelicals will unite around a topic like abortion because the very home they love is at stake. If the United States embraces liberalism, it will deny God and therefore forsake the very purpose of its existence.  

            ‘Battles’ over political issues reveal the true war going on in the country for the Evangelical Church.  Abortion, gay rights, socialized medicine, gun control all represent issues that threaten the spiritual and moral fiber of the country.  Evangelicals align themselves with conservative politicians and issues because these politicians represent the heroes fighting against the tides of evil.  This explains why so many Evangelicals are willing to forgive conservatives for sins while lambasting liberals for the same failings.

            For many American Evangelicals, the role of the country and the church are tied into each other. The traditional values must be adhered to, otherwise God will be angry.  Almost every year at the See You At The Pole, students around the country pray for the country and recite 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and heal their land” (NIV).  This verse, taken out of context and applied to the United States, becomes a banner by which the Evangelical Church can unite for a common purpose.

            It is no wonder, then, that we are seeing the rise of Christian nationalism within the country. Rich Lowry’s book The Case for Nationalism provides an understanding for the Evangelical church not only to the power of nationalism but also for a purpose in resisting the cases of evil. Nationalism provides an avenue for Christians to pursue wholeness and wellness for the country that God has blessed them with. 

            Where do Evangelicals live? They live in the United States…one nation UNDER GOD…which has been called to be the special receptacle of God’s grace and the foundation for God’s kingdom in the world.  Remember that Evangelicals view themselves as the true heirs of God’s teaching…God is preparing them a special country to live in, just like he did with Israel. 

            Ideally, although they would never admit, the Evangelical Christian would like to live in a theocracy.  In fact, many already believe they do.

Who Do Evangelicals Think They Are?

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As we try to understand the current religious and political landscape in the United States, we are confronted with the question of Evangelicals. Who are these people? What do they want? Why do they support the President in such ardent, fervent fashion? To understand this question, we must apply the questions that N.T. Wright employs in his book, the New Testament and the People of God, to address the concerns of this influential group.

            The first question Wright asks, is “Who are we?” This question refers to a group’s self-identification.  Who do Evangelicals think they are?  This is apart from any external source labeling them or any reference to the truth (i.e. historical, etc). The answer helps us understand the motives and the worldview behind their behavior.

            Much like the Pharisees in the New Testament period, today’s Evangelicals believe they are the last remnant who have been faithful to God throughout history.  The church has become corrupt, especially in the teaching of the Roman Catholic church.  Therefore, the Reformation is viewed as an essential turning point in the faithfulness of God’s people (the Protestants). But now, even the mainline churches that historically stem from the Reformation have turned their back on Jesus and embraced liberal theological doctrines.  (The Orthodox don’t even come into the picture as they have largely been forgotten by the Non-Catholic Christian Church).  Now it is up to the Evangelical church to be the sole steward of the eternal truths that God has passed down from the Bible. The Evangelical Church must keep itself pure from the luring chorales of the Mass, but also the tempting call from the camp of liberal theologians.  The Evangelical church sees itself that it must keep itself pure from these teachings.

            Because of this, the Evangelical church sees itself as besieged by outside forces.  The secular culture seeks to make them conform to the principles of the world. This is most evidenced by the cultural phenomena we see like ‘the war on Christmas,’ or removing prayer from school or removing monuments of the Ten Commandments. Everywhere the Evangelical church looks, it is surrounded by enemies.  This does not lead to despair, however, because the Evangelicals are the true Church, who have remained faithful to God and God will not abandon them.  They latch onto the book of Revelation for proof that God will reward their faithfulness and will defend them from all of these enemies.   

            But the flip side of this is that Evangelicalism also finds itself falling apart in the middle.  For centuries, the doctrine of “Jesus and Me” have been preached to the point that many do not feel it necessary to be among other believers.  The first part of the fallout of this doctrine was the growth in non-denominational or independent churches. By pulling away from larger bodies, individual congregations had more freedom, but also less accountability.  While denominations used to be kept together by subscribing to documents like the Westminster Confession of Faith, now each church is free to create their own standards.  Now there is no glue holding Evangelicals together…just a vague sense of we well….we kind of agree on some stuff…but it’s not substantial and not solid enough to hold things together.

            This feeling has trickled down to the individual level.  Most Evangelicals will talk about their ‘personal relationship’ or ‘personal walk’ with Jesus because that is what matters the most.  Evangelicals see themselves, not as a ‘block’ or a ‘group,’ but as a loose affiliation of ‘Jesus followers’ who all have the same instantaneous access to God through the Bible, prayer and the Holy Spirit.  Each of them are on their own individual journey, but they are marching to the same destination, much like the pilgrims did in Ancient Israel.

            There is a sense that that a lack of cohesion or unity is missing.  Often times, an Evangelical leader like Francis Chan will try to call their followers back to a more communal experience…authentic Christianity, purpose driven Christianity, Ancient-Future Christianity, just to name a few. These movements are often very popular but very fleeting, because of the lack of glue keeping them together. And so the Evangelical Church struggles with the sense of being church.  The Bible reminds them that they must be together and united as a people, but they often times find this just out of reach and this leads to confusion.

            While this is written to interpret but not critique Evangelical Christianity, this lack of unity is a critique.  The Evangelical church finds itself fracturing more and more under the weight of their own theology. This had led to more and more Christians trying to discover, ‘God’s plan for the Church’.  House churches are starting to replace megachurches, just as megachurches replaced mainline churches.  There is a nervousness present in Evangelicalism because the future is uncertain for the movement.

            At a time when we have more people in seminary receiving MDiv’s than we have churches, we have more Bibles available to us than ever before, and everybody s

eems to be putting their opinion out there (the irony is not lost), what does the future of Evangelicalism hold? What can bring them together, what can ensure that they are able to defeat their enemies and win the day.  Well to understand that, we need to ask the next question: Where are we?  

Chaplain Soup

Christianity often fails not because of intellectual assertions, but because of the actions of their believers.” –Unknown

                Today I am writing out of pain.  I know this and want to be upfront about this.  Maybe my view has become distorted…it often is.  Maybe my mind is overly pessimistic…it often is.  Maybe my experience is not normative…it often isn’t.  But I am writing this as an expression of my pain and as a reminder to myself not to act in similar ways. 

                I get that nobody is perfect and that we all have bad days.  I understand that we all make mistakes and we don’t always measure up to the standards we embrace.

                But as I stood there trying to meet the fourth Chaplain in an area and was greeted by a gruff, “Who are you?”  When I explained that I was here on a ship, I got a “well, we are in a meeting.”  There was no ‘hi’ or ‘hello’ or even “can I help you?”  A minor thing, perhaps…but it’s those minor things that can often matter the most.

                See, because this was on top of meeting other chaplains who didn’t ask my name, but proceeded to tell me and each other what great chaplains they were.

                This was on top of a solid year and a half of being belittled, demeaned, and cut out by another chaplain.

                This was on top of watching Chaplains fight and bicker over whose ‘people’ they have and who they were allowed to talk to.

                This was on top of watching pastors undermine other churches in town and steal their members.

                This was on top of watching pastors scream and yell at each other over who was in charge.

                This was on top of being neglected and ignored by my church leaders as I repeatedly asked for help in waters that were too strong for me.

                Maybe this has been my experience alone.  Maybe others find nothing but acceptance from the church and from church leaders.  So maybe I write from the outside looking in. 

                At times, it has been a long tough haul.  It leads to a great deal of emotions and a great deal of questions:

                Maybe I’m not a good chaplain.

                Maybe I’m not a good Christian.

                Maybe I’m not a good person. 

                Maybe I deserve to be ignored.  Maybe I deserved to be overlooked.  Maybe I’m not worth your time. 

                But I serve a God who accepts me.  Today, I think about the words that Paul Tillich said, when he wrote: “Grace strikes us when we are in great pain and restlessness. It strikes us when we walk through the dark valley of a meaningless and empty life. It strikes us when our disgust for our own being, our indifference, our weakness, our hostility, and our lack of direction and composure have become intolerable to us. It strikes us when, year after year, the longed-for perfection of life does not appear, when the old compulsions reign within us as they have for decades, when despair destroys all joy and courage. Sometimes at that moment a wave of light breaks into our darkness, and it is as though a voice were saying: “You are accepted.”

                Pastors, chaplains, and church leaders may not accept me.  But God sure does.

The Hope We Sing

Isaiah 64:1-9

                Healing begins in pain.  Joy begins in sorrow.  Hope begins in Lament.

                It is Advent and soon we will be enjoying Christmas parties, Christmas carols, the lights, sounds, and smells of the ‘happiest time of the year.’ There will be mistletoe strung up for young (and not so young) lovers to kiss under.  There will be fires and egg nog and Christmas trees and sappy movies on TV.  People of all races, denominations, economic status and orientation will join their voices in singing Silent Night.

                But not today.  All of that will happen later.  Not today.

                Today as I sit the only singing I hear is the protesters in Ferguson, MO demanding to be heard.  The only fires I see are those burning up buildings in a once proud St Louis Suburb and the only decorations I see are the garish displays in department stores eagerly anticipating people to come and worship at their altars. What should be a beautiful and hopeful time of the year has turned into a parody of itself.

                And maybe that is why this reading from Isaiah is so appropriate for today.  Wheras the Old Testament readings for Advent are normally prophetic songs of coming happiness and joy, today’s text is a painful exploration of God’s absence and a lament over what has happened to the people of God.

                Isaiah lives in a time of deep turmoil where nothing is certain except disappointment, despair and destruction.  His nation has been attacked at every side and what was once a great and mighty kingdom is now destroyed and burned to the ground.  The Assyrians have come and attacked the people of Israel.  They have taken most of the kingdom off to captivity or dispersed it to the seven winds.  All that was left was the tiny city of Jerusalem, and even that is surrounded and almost brought to the place of destruction. 

                Jerusalem! The Holy City! Was burning and was under the threat of being completely and utterly destroyed.  How could such a thing happen? After all, Jerusalem was the Holy City! It was the city that YHWH lived in and from where he protected his people.  Had YHWH been defeated? Had YHWH abandoned his people?

                And that is the question that dominates this reading: where is God? Where is YHWH? Where is the Divine Presence that would come and take care of the people?

                Just before this passage, Isaiah sets the mood for it by stating: “We have long been like those who you do not rule, like those not called by your name” (Is 63:19).  We are not your people…you have forgotten us, left us, departed from us.  We are not special…even in your sight.

                And then there comes the great cry from Isaiah that opens this chapter: “O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence!” (Is 64:1).  What a great image! Oh God! Just tear it off and come down! Make yourself known! Be with us! Help us! Set things right!

                Isaiah looks back at history and knows that God has helped his people in the past by wonderful and mighty deeds.  So where is God? Where is He now? Why won’t he help? Why does he not care at the situation we now find ourselves in? This entire passage speaks of Isaiah’s pain…it is pain seeking understanding! WHERE IS GOD?

                Don’t we wonder the same thing too? WHERE IS GOD?

                We see a city burned to the ground – WHERE IS GOD?

                We watch as a twelve year old boy is shot by police – WHERE IS GOD?

                We watch as our loved one suffers with debilitating cancer – WHERE IS GOD?

                We watch as terrorists behead innocent people and kill thousands more – WHERE IS GOD?

                We struggle to make ends meet, give our children clothes and food, and we get further behind every day – WHERE IS GOD?               

                Does He not care? We know that he performed miracles all throughout the Biblical times.  He walked on water, gave sight back to the blind and raised the dead.  WHERE IS HE NOW AND WHY DOESN’T HE DO THESE THINGS ANYMORE?

                Now most of us wouldn’t think to ask these questions in church…because it may sound irreverent.  Others say that He does do these thing today and provide scanty and anecdotal evidence that cannot be verified.  But even if He does, he doesn’t do it on the grand scale that He did in the Bible.  He doesn’t part the Red Sea or raise the dead or provide food for the millions of people starving around the world.  

                We are not the only ones who think about this either.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German theologian who was imprisoned by the Nazis.  As he thought about this very problem, he came to a very different answer:

               God would have us know that we must live as men who manage our lives without him.  The God who is with us is the God who forsakes us (Mark 15:34).  The God who lets us live in the world without the working hypothesis of God is the God before whom we stand continually.  Before God and with God we live without God.  God lets himself be pushed out of the world on to the cross.  He is weak and powerless in the world, and that is precisely the way, the only way, in which he is with us and helps us.”

“

                In essence, God allows himself to be moved out to the corners of existence because that is where he can help us the most.

                But this may not help when we see Ferguson burn or hungry people struggling to find food or single moms struggling to find answers, but maybe it provides a reason. 

                This divine absence has its negative effects on the people.  Notice in verse 5: “you were angry and we sinned, because you hid yourself, we transgressed” (64:5). Perhaps it’s a notice that we don’t do well as a people without God, without the divine essence.  Because of this, we read, "we have all become like one who is unclean and our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth.” (64:6).

                Now this is a happy tiding for the beginning of Advent, isn’t it? How come there are no Christmas carols about this?

                But there is truth in this.  Isaiah is looking at his community and he realizes that there is no one who is righteous, no one who is immune from the evil and no one who has it completely ‘right’.  But more than this, we all have our sins and we all participate in the evils of our community.  We are all, in a sense, part of the problem.

                In the reaction to Ferguson, I have noticed that there have been some who have tried to paint this into other people people’s problems.  This about ‘looters’ or ‘thugs’ or ‘police’ or….fill in the blank.  What they fail to realize is that what happened in Ferguson is indicative of the fact that our society is broken and that is because it is made up of broken individuals.

                We may never know the exact details of what happened in Ferguson.  Since there will be no trial, there will be no further chance to examine evidence.  But what we do know is that Ferguson reveals a major crack in our culture and in our society.  Our world is broken and we cannot always sing for joy when we see these cracks. 

                But this does not mean that there is no hope.  Isaiah begs and pleads with YHWH, “Do not be exceedingly angry, O Lord, and not remember iniquity forever.  Now consider we are all your people” (64:8).  Even more desperate is the end of the chapter, “Our holy and beautiful house, where our ancestors praised you, has been burned by fire, and all our pleasant places have become ruins.  After all this, will you restrain yourself, O Lord? Will you keep silent and punish us so severely?” (64:11-12).

                The answer there is supposed to be a ‘no’ that we are expecting God to show up and answer his people and to reveal his presence to us once again.  Even though our world is a mess, even though our relationships are in tatters, even though our security has been breached and even though our economy is anemic…God is not done with us and He will be heard again.

                It may be easy for us to look at Ferguson and wonder where God is.  It may even be easy for us to dismiss his presence and say that he has abandoned us and this world…but this is not the whole story.

                Advent reminds us that even in the most ruined of places, in the most desolate spots in our lives, hope can still be sung and joy can still be found.

                Right now, things look pretty bleak for race relations in the United States…even and especially in the church.  Despite Paul’s insistence that there is neither Jew nor Greek (Gal 3:23), Sunday is the most racially divided day of the week.  The break down on opinions about Ferguson came down on racial lines with over 70% of white people believing that Michael Brown got what he deserved.  The posts on the internet range from borderline insensitive to downright offensive concerning race. 

                And yet, in spite of this…there is a sense of tremendous hope.

                Church groups are beginning to bring up the issue of race in their midst once more.  Church groups are responding and reaching out to those who have needs.

                Advent reminds us that just when things seemed their most desperate, God showed up.  After 400 years of not hearing from God, Israel could have easily abandoned their beliefs about God altogether.  Their kingdom was gone, tattered in ruins.  Yet in the midst of those ruins, in the most unlikely of places, God showed up and the world was never the same.

                As we look at the smoldering ashes of Ferguson, a world tattered and in ruins, dare we to hope that God may show up again this Advent…to change the world once more? 

Do I really want to be a Christian?

Lord, I want to be a Christian…in my heart

                Or so goes the old hymn.  Many of us who have gone to church know the song and we sing it with mild enthusiasm.  The idea behind the song is that we need God’s help in being a Christian, so that it permeates our very heart and soul.  There is just one big problem.

                Christians irk me.

                Not just a little, but a lot. 

                I mean A LOT!

                We can be bigoted and self righteous towards other people.  We can tolerate some sins, but absolutely not others.  We can be conceited and treat each other like dirt.  And we fight….about EVERYTHING.  Clothes, tattoos, tobacco, sex, worship styles, politics, theology, and about everything else we drag each other through the mud and we do it in the name of God. 

                I know this is nothing new.  This has been going on since the Church was established.  In fact, most of the New Testament is about Christians fighting each other.  Just about every other page is a new heresy or bad decision (usually by Peter) or about food sacrificed to idols.   It’s amazing that there never seems to be a period of agreement in the Church. 

                With all of the fighting that goes on and has gone on, we tend to forget the clear and central claim of the gospel that Jesus offers: “Follow me” (Mark 1:17).  In fact most of the gospels seem to be about expanding that call and discovering what it means for a disciple to come and follow Jesus.  This call seems to have dire consequences on the believer because Bonhoeffer writes, “when Christ calls a man, he bids him to come and die.” Bonhoeffer wrote his book Discipleship around the central issue of following Jesus.

                But can we really do this today? What does it mean to ‘Follow Jesus’? The disciples were lucky in this regard because they could literally follow Jesus from place to place.  We don’t have that luxury. 

                When I think about the call of Jesus, I certainly think it extends way beyond the paths of fighting about dogma and about deciding what side I am on concerning sexual orientation. I get the sense that Jesus is calling us to something higher, something more productive, something….bigger than our traditional squabbles. 

                Perhaps it’s time that all of us Christians look at ourselves and really begin to question what it means to follow Jesus.  Maybe the question is not do I want to become a Christian? But perhaps the question comes to be: what sort of Christian do I want to be?

                And for me the answer is, “I want to be a Christian that follows Jesus”.   What that means, however, has yet to be fully explored.

“What are you Looking For”

            It was a dark time…a time of civil war.  There was not one region that was not affected by the war.  Life was in constant upheaval and people were displaced.  Smuggling was at an all-time high and crime was everywhere.  Hope was a foreign word that nobody believed in any more.  Death and destruction were at every door.  But there were whispers that something was coming, someone was coming to change the tide of the war and to usher in a new era of peace.  Finally, the long awaited savior arrives on the scene…a dirt farmer from a backwaters planet called Tatooine!

         

   You might be a little disappointed to realize that all your hopes and dreams are pinned on a whiny teenager who knows nothing about the Force, international politics or seemingly anything else of importance.

            Of course we know that in Star Wars, everything turns out to be great.  Luke Skywalker arrives on the scene and takes care of the evil Galatic Empire and restores order, peace and harmony to the universe.  But if it was real life, you might be a little skeptical at first…and nobody would blame you. 

            In fact, that is probably exactly how the Israelites felt about Jesus when he was first revealed to them.

            Imagine the scene, John the Baptist is in the wilderness and people are flocking to him.  There was something about John’s message that connected with people and they wanted to hear what he had to say.  So they came in throngs out to where John was preaching to come and be baptized in the Jordan River. 

            We don’t know exactly how long John was out in the wilderness, other than he was at least out there for about a year.  Day after day, people came and asked him questions, “Are YOU the messiah? Are you the one who is going to end the EXILE? Are you the one who is going to kick the Romans out and restore the holiness of the temple?” And every day, day after day, John would answer the question negatively.  “No…I am NOT the one.  There is ONE  who is coming after me…HE is the one.”  And so the very essence of John’s ministry has been to point to the one who is coming, to draw the attention away from himself and to point to the real Messiah, the one who is to establish the Kingdom of God.

            You can almost sense the anticipation that is building up in the people. 

            Today we build anticipation in a number of ways.  We use ‘Kickstarter’ campaigns to help people find out what is going with different people’s efforts.  We launch movie trailer campaigns sometimes two years out (Batman vs. Superman, anyone?) and we try to build as much suspense as we can.  Presidential campaigns start two years before the actual election and the news is already reporting polling data on potential races, before anyone has announced they are running!. 

            But none of these ways existed back in John’s time.  The only thing he had was preaching and word of mouth.  And this generally worked as people waited and waited and anticipation grew and grew.

            Finally, one day, he announces, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”(John 1:29).  In fact, so excited is the Gospel of John to announce this that it skips over the account of the baptism…John draws all of his attention on Jesus. 

            But for somebody in the first century, we might expect a little disappointment.  “Where? Where is he?  Is it that Nicodemus guy? He seems pretty rich and politically poised to take control! No? Is it that strong looking young Sadducee? No? What about that guy…over there? No?  Then who the heck is it?”

            Slowly the attention gets directed to a young carpenter from Nazareth.  Nazareth? Can anything good come from Nazareth?  I mean this is like saying that the greatest world leader is coming from Jersey…and we know nothing good comes from Jersey. Jersey is the land of Snooki, just as Nazareth is the home of nobodies. It’s the bad news bears of the ancient world.

            We can almost hear some whispers, “Really?  He doesn’t look like much.  He’s a carpenter?  How is a carpenter supposed to get rid of Rome? Or cleanse the temple?”  

            In fact, it doesn’t seem like it ‘stuck’ the first time.  Jesus left and comes back the next day only to hear John declare for the second time, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” (1:35).  It’s almost as if John is declaring, “um…look, wasn’t kidding…HERE is the Lamb of God!”

            Now, let’s talk about this phrase, “Lamb of God”.  It was probably not the leading description that people were expecting as they talked about the Messiah.  The Messiah was not supposed to be meek and mild like a lamb, but fierce and strong like a lion. When John announces that this messiah is the “Lamb of God”, they may have been confused. 

            A few years ago, there was a great movie called Gran Turino, starring Clint Eastwood.  We all know Clint…he’s the gunfighter, the angry cop, the loose cannon who is just waiting to get even with the bad guys.  I went into this movie knowing nothing other than it was a Clint Eastwood movie, and I was pumped. As I watched the bad guys take over his neighborhood and as I watched Clint make the ‘Clint’ face, I just knew that they were all in for it.  I kept waiting and waiting for Clint to take out his old Colt .45 and light up the night.  Except he didn’t.  This was CLINT EASTWOOD! Where is the gun fights.  Except there are none.  In the end, Clint Eastwood solved the situation without killing anyone or firing a single shot.  He turns into a lamb instead of the lion I was expecting.

           

We have a hard time when our real life heroes don’t live up to the hype.  We expect Tim Tebow to be the best quarterback in the NFL because the media hyped it so much.  We expect all the problems in the country to go away after Barack Obama becomes president.  We feel let down and disappointed when people reveal themselves to be different then our expectations. We lose heart and we lose hope and we find ourselves walking away from the very thing we had been wishing for.

            After this incident, Jesus is walking through the land, and two disciples of John begin to follow him.  They understand that John has called them to follow Jesus, and not John anymore.  So they follow after him. 

            Jesus, looking at them for a little bit, asks them, “What are you looking for?”

            Wow.

            What a loaded question. 

            Notice it’s not, “who are you looking for?” or “What do you want from me?” But rather the entire question is “What are you looking for?”

            I don’t know that if Jesus were to ask me that question that I would be able to give him an answer.  I might try.  I might list all the things that I find wrong with the world and suggest that He fix them.  I might say that I am looking for someone to take care of all things, or I might just say that I am looking for salvation.

            Or I might just go with what the disciples themselves answered.

            “Where do you live?”

            Now this too, is a pregnant question.  Where do you live might mean, “where are you, I’d like to come and visit.” It might also mean, I want to live with you and share my life with you.  More than likely, the latter is meant here because it seems that the disciples are asking to become Jesus’ disciples.  At that time, having a teacher meant more than ‘going to school’.  Students often lived their lives with their teachers and shared day to day existence and chores with them.

            What are you looking for?  I think this is a question that Jesus asks each and everyone one of us.  It’s an important question, especially important when we think of the person of Jesus.

            What are you looking for?

            Are you looking for somebody just to talk to? Are you looking for somebody to give you ‘salvation’ or are you looking for somebody that will help give meaning to life? 

            All of these questions depend on the view that we have of Jesus.

            Currently one of the nation’s bestselling books is on Jesus.  It’s called Zealot by Aslan Reza, a Muslim scholar.  His answer to this question is that Jesus was just another political revolutionary, a zealot

who wanted to free his country from the tyranny of Rome.

            The Fundamentalists have a different view of Jesus, one who has come to destroy the corrupting power of sin and to justify ‘those who believe.’

            The Liberals have a view of Jesus as one who is here to spread the gospel of universal love.

            The Catholics view Jesus as the King of Heaven and Earth, ruling over the universe from his throne in heaven and through his representatives here on earth.

            And the list goes on and on.  For almost every person, there is a different view of Jesus.  Each of us starts the Christian life from a different vantage point and from a different place.  We all begin following Jesus with a different goal in mind.  Some of us just want to get through the day, while others want a companion along the way. 

            When Jesus answered the disciples, he did not give them a direct answer.  This should not surprise us because after all, it is Jesus we are talking about.  Rather he gives them the cryptic message, “Come and see.” (1:39).

            It’s an invitation, not only to see where Jesus lives, but to see who He is.  It is an invitation to life with him. 

            You never really get to know somebody until you live with them.  We all have hopes and dreams about getting married and we dream about how perfect life will be with our intended spouse.  There are many couples, however, who had false and unrealistic expectations.  “What do you mean you leave your socks on the floor?  THERE’s A PERFECTLY GOOD HAMPER OVER THERE!”  We may discover that our spouse’s view on fun is not exactly our own.  We may discover that there are things that irritate us about our spouse.  We find out that this person is different than the one we expected to live with.

            The same is true with Jesus.  His invitation to us to ‘come and see’ will change our lives and our expectations. 

            We will see Jesus in action.  We will see both his call to the righteous and the unrighteous.  We will see him show up in the most unlikely of situations.  We will discover that His reactions are not OUR reactions to things on a great deal many of things.  We frankly discover that the Jesus of our expectations is quickly overshadowed by the Jesus of reality.

            Some of us will have a hard time and we will reject the real Jesus and construct for ourselves a false Jesus.  Others will fully embrace this idea and some will remained shell shocked for quite some time.

            The disciples quickly realize that although this Jesus did not match their expectations, He is in fact the true Messiah.  They come quickly to Peter and they announce to him, “We have found the Messiah”(1:41).

            When they announce that they have found THE messiah, the disciples are announcing that this person, this Jesus, is the one who is to bring about the Kingdom of God.  They don’t know how and they don’t know when and they aren’t sure of all the particulars, but this is the ONE.  This is the one in whom all the hopes and fears were be consolated.  This is the one who will bring harmony back to creation and this is one who will restore the nation of Israel.  All they have to do is ‘come and see.’

            So what are you looking for?  Who are you seeking?

            Jesus invites us all to come and see.  Jesus invites us all to follow him.  In doing so, our preconceptions and our expectations of Jesus will be shattered. We will be surprised, amazed, filled with wonder, at times hurt, maybe angry, but ultimately the reality of Jesus will far outweigh our conceptions of him. 

            My hope and my prayer is that in following Jesus, we will come to the place where we can say with the disciples, we have found the Messiah.