A Fresh Look at Christmas…Through the Eyes of Joseph

 SCRIPTURE – Matthew 1:28-35
This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.” When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

SERMON
A Fresh Look at Christmas through the Eyes of Joseph
Matt. 1:18-25
December 6, 2009

We continue our fresh look at Christmas this morning by viewing the miracle of Christ’s birth through the eyes of his father, Joseph. Matthew is the only gospel that tells his story; Luke focuses on Mary, and Mark and John don’t even have birth narratives. So today’s passage from Matthew is our primary source of information about Jesus’ earthly father.

His story actually starts at the beginning of the first chapter of Matthew, where the gospel writer sketches a picture of Jesus’ family tree in the form of a genealogy. To be true to Joseph’s story we should read that genealogy, but it’s not exactly John Grisham edge-of-your-seat material. Matthew needs to take a Journalism 101 class on writing an attention-grabbing introduction, because his idea of a good first impression is “…and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asa, and Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram, and Jehoram the father of…” You get the picture.

It may not be the most compelling chapter in the Bible, but the genealogy does make some important points that are significant to our exploration of Joseph today. It includes some very important people, names we would recognize like Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Jesse and his famous son, King David. But it also includes people of little consequence, like Zerubabbel and Eliakim and Amminadab. This list of Jesus’ ancestors tells us that every plan of God’s includes some spiritual heavy hitters like Abraham and David, but also runs through average Joes – and Zerubabbels – like you and me.

The genealogy concludes with another average Joe – or, at least, average Joseph. The genealogy ends with a humble blue-collar worker, the husband of Mary. This family tree explained to the Jewish readers of Matthew’s gospel one very important point: Joseph, the nondescript carpenter from Nazareth, was a descendant, not only of Abraham, but of King David.

Why was this important? Why did Matthew spend the first 16 verses of his gospel on a series of “who begat whom”? We have to keep in mind Matthew’s audience. Unlike Luke, who was writing his orderly account to mostly Gentiles, Matthew was writing to a group of people with deep Jewish roots, who were intimately familiar with the Hebrew Scriptures, and who were acutely aware of the prophecies about the coming of the Messiah. So they would have known that Isaiah, in predicting the coming of the Messiah, wrote, “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.” Matthew was offering proof to his audience that, as Joseph’s legal son, Jesus fulfills this prophecy because he is a direct descendant of Abraham, the father of all Jews, and of Jesse. Jesus is the one to whom the prophets were pointing, and Joseph and his lineage are crucial to making that point.

Joseph plays a prominent place in our modern-day versions of Christmas. You can’t have a nativity without a Joseph, can you? But when you look closely at the biblical narrative, Joseph is barely present. These verses are practically all we have about Joseph, and if you’ll notice, the man doesn’t even speak! And after this mute role is finished, Joseph disappears from the gospel before Jesus is even baptized and is never heard from again. But despite his wordless presence, Joseph is a key player in the drama. Just as Mary had an important decision to make about being the earthen vessel for God’s son, so Joseph is faced with a gut-wrenching decision, on which rests the fate of baby Jesus and God’s salvation plan.

At the start of our story, Joseph was pledged to be married to Mary. This is more than a simple engagement, as we understand it. This is a betrothal, a year-long commitment between a man and woman that carried with it all the binding agreements of a marriage, without the consummation. At the end of one year in betrothal, the couple was formally married.

So Joseph and Mary were in all senses committed to each other to be married. But when Mary returns from her three-month visit to her relative Elizabeth, Joseph discovers his wife is four months along in a pregnancy initiated by the Holy Spirit. How did Mary decide to share that with her soon-to-be husband? “Honey, I’ve got some good news and I’ve got some bad news. The bad news is, I’m pregnant and you’re not the father. But the good news is, neither is anybody else!” If you were Joseph, how do you respond to this? He wasn’t quite sure what happened with Mary, he only knew it had nothing whatsoever to do with him.

So he faces a decision, one of the most important decisions faced by anyone in the Bible: what to do with Mary and her unborn child? We are told Joseph was a righteous man, which means in Jewish tradition that he was a faithful follower of God’s law, so the law gave him his options. He could follow what was laid out in Deuteronomy 22, which says, “If a man is found sleeping with another man’s wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die.” So one of Joseph’s options is to expose Mary’s apparent transgression and have her stoned to death.

But by New Testament times, that punishment was rarely meted out. So, the only other option Joseph faced, according to the law, was divorce. No matter how much he loved Mary, it was his religious obligation to end the betrothal and severe the marriage contract. He could honor the shaming dictated by the law and expose Mary’s sin through a public divorce, humiliating her in front of her family and friends and leaving her future in question. Or he could divorce her quietly, with only a few witnesses, doing everything he could to keep both his and Mary’s reputation intact. But he simply couldn’t stay with her. This is just a mess for Joseph.

As Joseph wrestles with option A and option B, God presents option C. Through a dream, an angel tells Joseph to take Mary as his wife, to take her son as his own, and to give him the name Jesus, which means “God saves us.” Ignore what people tell you, ignore what the law tells you, and do what God tells you. Option C.

What should Joseph do? If he chooses God’s option, he exposes himself to the severest of ridicule. Shame was a powerful force in Joseph’s culture, and being shamed could ruin his reputation and his business. So imagine the shame he would subject himself to by walking down the street arm in arm with his wife who was carrying a child that everyone knew wasn’t his.

More important than his relationship with his townsfolk was his relationship with his family. What would he be? A father or a stepfather? A husband or roommate? If Joseph believes the angel, everything is full speed ahead. The story can continue. Mary will have a home and a family and her child will be born into the line of King David. But if Joseph doesn’t believe, then everything grinds to a halt. If he wakes up from his dream, shakes his head, and goes to the courthouse to file the divorce papers, then Mary is an outcast forever and the future is in question.

For the working out of God’s plan, Joseph’s belief is as important as Mary’s womb, because it is Joseph’s decision whether or not to give this child a name that will determine the child’s fate. By choosing to name the child, Joseph would exercise his right as the father and acknowledge Jesus as his legal son. Will this righteous, intensely conflicted man speak the name of Jesus? Interestingly, we are never told what he says. We are only told what he does. Despite the consequences, despite the chaos, despite the unknown future, he did what the angel of the Lord commanded him.

Pastor Barbara Brown Taylor says this about Joseph: “The heart of the story is about a just man who wakes up one day to find his life wrecked: his wife pregnant, his trust betrayed, his name ruined, his future revoked. It is about a righteous man who surveys a mess he has had absolutely nothing to do with and decides to believe that God is present in it. He owns this mess, he legitimates it and gives it a name, and the mess becomes the place where new life is born.”

Joseph’s story is often our story. We are presented day after day after day with circumstances beyond our control, circumstances we would never have chosen for ourselves, tempted to divorce ourselves from the belief that God is anywhere in this mess, when an angel whispers in our ear: “Do not fear. God is here. It may not be what you had planned, but God may be born here, too, if you will speak his name.”

Isn’t that funny, that we have some kind of say in whether God is born here this year? C’mon, what power do we have? The same power that Abraham had, and Jacob had, and Jehoshaphat had, and Jehoram had, and Joseph had: the power to acknowledge that God is in the mess and the power to answer “yes” to God’s call and to pass on the promise of the coming of Jesus Christ. Who will save us? Who will walk beside us? Who will take the messes in our life and through them create new life? One is coming this Christmas who offers to do those things, to be present with us in the mess. All we have to do is to choose to speak his name.

Merry…whatever!

This time of year is full of time-honored traditions, like trimming the tree, hanging the stockings, and complaining about people saying, “Happy Holidays!” I’m going to tell you what I think about this issue, but I’m not going to say what you think I’m going to say, and you may not like it one bit.

The basic controversy is that our culture at large is moving away from religious-specific statements like “Merry Christmas!” to more generic, all-inclusive statements like, “Happy Holidays” or “Season’s Greetings.” I think it was Tommy on the Rugrats who came up with “Merry Christmakwanzaakkuh.” Which of course really ticked off those folks who celebrate the Winter Solstice.

Some say the reason for this shift to a blander seasonal salutation is political correctness. A Christian humor site I subscribe to sent out this version of a season greeting: “Best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral, winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most joyous traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, but with respect for the religious persuasion of others who choose to practice their own religion as well as those who choose not to practice a religion at all.”

In an effort not to offend anyone, we take all the salt out of our language. People bemoan the lack of “Merry Christmas!” signs at Walgreens, and resolutely offer the Christian greeting to grocery clerks in a tone more fit for a battle cry, as if they’re saying, “Merry Christmas – wanna make something of it?”

So what do I, a Christian pastor, think of this? What’s my take on the Scrooges who want to trade in Christmas for a generic winter holiday? I say, “Good. They can have it. Let them cheerily wish me a ‘Happy Holiday’ until icicles dangle from their nose.” I have no problems with “Merry Christmas” disappearing from our larger culture. In fact, I applaud and encourage it. Why? Because it’s the best chance we have of reclaiming Christmas for what it truly is.

Look, we Christians lost our grip on Christmas a LONG time ago, and no matter how many “Christ is the reason for the season” bumper stickers we produce, we’re never going to forcibly wrest it back for the culture’s grip. It’s too far gone. Christmas is no more a religious holiday than Britney Spears is a candidate for sainthood.

That’s why people are in such an uproar about the diminishing of “Merry Christmas.” Why should it offend; it’s just an innocent holiday hello! That term no longer signifies a religious observance; if anything, it marks the beginning of a retail season, like the green flag being waved at the Indy 500. People don’t see “Merry Christmas” as having any potential to offend because it doesn’t really mean anything, at least from a spiritual standpoint.

The truth is that, like it or not, Christmas is supposed to be an exclusively Christian holiday. If someone went around wishing me a “Happy Hanukkah” all the time, while I wouldn’t punch that person in the face, I would be a little perturbed and contemplate knocking their yarmulke off. If we want to honor the true meaning of Christmas, then we must honor the fact that at best it has no meaning for non-Christians, at least in the religious sense, and at worst it can be offensive and off-putting, which won’t win you many converts.

But here’s the real reason why I’m happy to give up saying “Merry Christmas” in non-Christian settings. Wouldn’t it be great if we could reclaim Christmas as a primarily Christian celebration? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could say “Merry Christmas” only when we actually meant it in the most joyous, hopeful sense? I say “Happy Holidays” to the convenience store clerk because I truly hope he has a happy holiday, regardless of whether he is Christian, a Winter Solstician, or celebrates Festivus (“For the rest of us!”). But at church, I say “Merry Christmas,” because I want my fellow Christians to truly experience the miracle that Christmas brings for their life and their faith.

What I hope is that the idea of Christmas can be insulated from the culture’s grip. Give them “Happy Holidays” and “Season’s Greetings.” They can have it. No one is complaining that “Happy Hanukkah” has lost its meaning, because you hardly ever heard it said in the marketplace. If only “Merry Christmas” could gain that same kind of scarcity. If Christmas begins to disappear from the larger culture, maybe the church can repossess it, wipe off all the yucky cultural residue, give it a good spit-shine, and place it back up on the mantle. If we can do that, maybe, just maybe, Christmas could actually be about Christ again. Is that too much to ask Santa for?

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!

Hospital-tality

Because we are a multi-staff church, the ministers share in the pastoral care duties. My days at the hospital are Mondays and Wednesdays. I made my rounds this morning to Central Baptist and the UK Medical Center, then was called back to the hospital this afternoon to be with the family of a man who is nearing the end of his life.

I’m new here, so I don’t know a whole lot of people and I had yet to meet this man and his wife (except for a very brief greeting during my audition weekend). I was a bit hesitant to try and provide pastoral care during such a traumatic time for a family I didn’t know, but that is one of the wonderful things about ministry. You just never know where God is going to call you to serve and you often feel ill-equipped to answer the call. Of course, if we always felt fully qualified to serve in ministry, there would be no room for God to work.

In the midst of this family’s very difficult time, I experienced God’s presence in very powerful ways. The family was very gracious and welcoming to me. In some ways I feel like I was the one being cared for, which may have been therapeutic for them. I heard some wonderful stories about the family, the church and the history of the Lexington area. There were tears, laughter and a lot of hand-holding. And God was there, in the midst of us, whispering “all will be well” in each of our ears.

I’m praying for this family tonight. They will be eating their Thanksgiving meal in the hospital cafeteria, which is an experience no one should have to endure. I am thankful to them for their strength, their vulnerability and their faith. I have a feeling there are many, many families like this at Crestwood, and I am feeling blessed once again to be serving here.

The Calm Before…

Tomorrow is my last official day being unemployed. On Monday I start my new job as senior pastor of Crestwood Christian Church in Lexington, Ky. As with most pastoral searches, this has been a lengthy one. I first heard from the chair of the search committee in February of this year, so that means the process took nine months from first contact to first day on the job. That’s a lot of time to have the future thrown up in the air and your emotions on edge. I’m glad it is coming to an end.

It’s actually been an enjoyable journey, despite all the emotions. The church here in Lexington has been incredibly hospitable and understanding, and my previous church in Lincolnshire, Ill., was supportive and gracious. In both places, I believe my family and I had the honor of experiencing church as it was meant to be. That doesn’t mean there weren’t moments of humanness, but I hope that God was honored through the process.

We’re done with our goodbyes in Illinois, which were tearful and heartbreaking and so, so sacred to me. I cried the hardest when saying goodbye to my friend and mentor, but I cried often when thinking about leaving such a wonderful group of people. I’m blessed t count many of them as friends.

And now, let the hellos begin! Crestwood is about triple the size of Lincolnshire, so I have a lot more names to learn. I’m sure I’ll call someone “Bill” instead of “Bob” or “Mary” instead of “Martha.” I just hope I don’t look at Bill and call him “Martha!” The memory function of my brain will be in overdrive the next few weeks. I wish there wasn’t so much junk up there wasting valuable space (do you remember the name of the guy who hosted “The Match Game?” Gene Rayburn).

There’s a lot of excitement that goes along with starting at a new church. I feel an incredible sense of anticipation and expectancy, which is only appropriate as we enter the season of Advent. I believe something new and exciting is about to be born, both within my spirit and within Crestwood Christian Church. I give thanks to God for such wonderful blessings and I eagerly await the arrival of what God is going to do.

The Blog about Thinking Biblically

I just finished reading a very intriguing book called, “The Year of Living Biblically.” The author, A.J. Jacobs, tried to follow the Bible literally for one year. No haircuts, a full, bushy beard, dietary restrictions, observance of all the religious holidays. He even followed the command to “be fruitful and multiply.” During the year, he and his wife found out they were pregnant with twins. I’m not sure Jacobs was completely successful in his quest but it made for an entertaining read.

One of the things I enjoyed most about the book was Jacobs’ slow transformation during his biblical year. His initial approach to this endeavor was a bit tongue-in-cheek. Jacobs, a self-proclaimed agnostic, is never disrespectful or mocking, but he starts out with a healthy skepticism about this revered and authoritative book.

But over the course of the year, as he spends more time studying and following the scriptures, Jacobs gradually begins to see the benefit of living a religious existence. At one point Jacobs found himself saying little prayers of “thank you” throughout the course of the day. He admits he’s not sure to whom he was praying, but he remarked this shift in his outlook changed him as a person.

I found Jacobs’ exercise both fascinating and revealing. I think many people think of the Bible, especially the Hebrew Scriptures (what we know as the Old Testament) as a bunch of laws and regulations and repeated commands of “thou shalt not.” And, to a certain point, that’s what it is. One way of understanding the Bible is that it provides guidance for how to live our lives in a way that will please God and honor our neighbor.

But, as Jacobs found out, the Bible is so much more than that. If we only look at it as a giant Miss Manners book, we miss the meaning behind the law. God didn’t want the Israelites to live a certain way because God is a strict disciplinarian. God wanted the Israelites to grow closer to God through a sacred lifestyle that set them apart from the surrounding pagan cultures.

In other words, the Bible is a means to an end – living a life in relationship with God. I don’t know if Jacobs got that far, but I hope he learned along the way that there’s something more to scripture than just following the rules. There’s the faith and relationship which undergirds and informs our decisions.

I give Jacobs a lot of credit. At least he picked up the book and cracked the spine. I believe a lot of Bibles go unread because people see them as archaic, inaccessible documents. And even if they are brave enough to give it a go, as soon as they hit the first list of “begats” the Bible goes back on the shelf.

I can’t say I blame them. I did the same thing the first time I tried to read the Bible. But what I learned about this dynamic book is that it wasn’t meant necessarily to be read from cover to cover. Instead of thinking of it as one big book, I saw it as a collection of smaller books and letters – a holy library, if you will. Different books were written for different reasons and serve different purposes.

So if someone were to ask me where to start, I wouldn’t say Genesis. I would start with a gospel. Luke is a good choice. Then I would recommend reading the book of Acts, which is the story of the spreading of the good news after Jesus’ resurrection. Then read another gospel, maybe Matthew this time. Then read Romans, Paul’s letter that lays out his understanding of following Jesus.

Regardless of where you start, just reading something in the Bible is the first step. Now that I read it daily, I can’t imagine what life was like without it. It has changed me in ways I couldn’t even have imagined. Yes, we are called to live a lifetime of faith, but the best way to accomplish that is not committing to a year, like Jacobs did. I think we can start with just one day at a time.

Do I Know You?

I had one of those experiences today that was so awesome, so coincidental, so serendipitous that I just have to share it.

About six years ago, my former youth group from North Christian Church in Columbus, Ind., came to visit me here in the Chicago area. They drove in Friday night and we spent Saturday downtown. We cruised Navy Pier and then went for lunch at Ed Debevic’s. I had never been there before, but I immediately loved it. Ed’s has a 50’s-diner theme and all the wait staff are in character. The cool thing is that they treat all the customers very rudely (and hilariously!).

The insult you. They throw straws at you. The pay very little attention to you. It’s like eating out with your kids! When our group visited, we got the royal treatment. For example, everyone gets a paper hat to wear when they arrive (like Steak N Shake). When we were there, one of the waiters kept taking one of our girl’s hats and ripping it up. Each time she get a new one, he would walk by, take it, and tear it up.

The most memorable part of lunch for me was our waiter, Reggie. He was very quick on his feet and could keep up verbally with our rowdy bunch. But I could also tell he was a really nice guy – and a great dancer. I can still remember our lunch at Ed’s to this day and Reggie was a big part of that (he even complimented me on my choice of the Chinese Chicken Salad). He was awesome! That day has been a defining moment for my time here in Chicago and when I think of it, I always think of Reggie. I have been to Ed’s several times since then, but have never seen Reggie again.

Fast-forward to today. I was driving to church this morning and thinking about that visit and our lunch at Ed’s. I was also thinking through the coming morning and hoping I would get to see Scott and Amy Breiler, a new couple to our church with two adorable boys, Campbell and Cooper. Amy and I have been exchanging emails this past week because she and Scott would like to have their youngest son, Cooper, dedicated. So the Breilers were on my mind. That’s when the brainstorm hit!

Later that morning, I saw Scott and Amy come into the sanctuary. I greeted them and their boys and then this conversation took place:

Me: Scott, I’ve been meaning to ask you were you work.

Scott: Actually, I’m in the restaurant industry.

Me (with growing excitement): Any chance you’ve ever worked at Ed Debevic’s?

Scott: Actually, that’s where I work.

Me (barely able to contain myself): Really? I think you waited on me once.

Scott (perplexed): Really?

Me (virtually shouting in this poor man’s face): REGGIE!!!!

Scott (taking a step back from me and sounding like I’d just outed him as a Sesame Street-hating cannibal who doesn’t recycle): Oh my gosh, how do you know that?

I went on to tell him the story about our visit and how much I enjoyed and remembered “Reggie.” Scott confirmed that he was indeed Reggie and was most concerned about whether or not he was mean to me. I said, “Yes, you were. That’s what made it so fun!”

I’m not sure why, but I can’t stop thinking about this connection. Of all the people, of all the restaurants, of all the congregations, the man who I so vividly remember has ended up attending our church. What makes it even better is that he and his family are an absolute joy to be around. And Scott isn’t nearly as mean as “Reggie,” but he’s just as funny.

I just had to share this story as an example of the joy of serendipity. I believe God led the Breilers to our church for many reasons, but whether it was God-ordained or just coincidence, I got a big smile or reconnecting with “Reggie” today.

Call Waiting?

If I were to ask you want your calling was, how would you answer? What do you believe you have been called to do in your life?

I think would we choose to answer that question differently based on our understanding of what the word “calling” means. Some of us might answer that our job is our calling. Others may say they are called to serve a particular way or work with a particular organization. Still others might say they were called to be parents or gardeners. What does it meant to be “called” to do something?

We speak a lot in the ministry about a “calling.” I can’t imagine anyone entering in the Lord’s service without being called to do so. “Yeah, I was reading through the want ads and saw a job opening for a pastor, so I thought I’d give it a try.” For those of us in the ministry, it just doesn’t work that way! We feel called to do what we are doing.

That’s not to say we’re the only people who are called to serve God. I believe everyone is. As a minister, I have the unique opportunity to merge my call (how I serve God) with my job (how I support my family). For some people, their job gives them the resources to live out their call; for others, their job is their calling.

There’s no right way to define your calling. If you feel you are serving God through what you are doing (be it through work or church or volunteering or family) then you are answering a call. In fact, the only wrong way to define your calling is to say you don’t have one! God’s kingdom is big enough for each one of us to have a role. You have a call.

So how do you identify your call? First of all, a call is never self-serving. God never calls us to do something that stops with us. When we answer our call, we’re taking the gifts God gave us and multiplying them to share with other people. We know we are answering God’s call in our life when other people are being blessed through it.

Secondly, being called doesn’t necessarily mean adding something to your plate. I believe a lot of people spend their lives looking for their call without realizing that sometimes God calls us to keep doing exactly what we’re doing! For example, I look at parenting as a call. Leigh and I are called to raise our girls to know God and have a relationship with Jesus Christ. Whether or not we are successful remains to be seen! But that is one of the calls God has put in our heart.

Thirdly, a true call from God brings God glory. Every call is important, whether it draws a lot of attention or goes unnoticed. Some people are called to serve in more public ways; others are called to serve in ways that don’t get much attention. We serve, not to please ourselves or others, but to please God. And God sees it all!

Finally, a call from God is one that you can’t do alone. If your response to God’s call is, “That’s a snap!” it’s probably not God doing the calling. I know many minister, myself included, who heard God’s call and said, “You want me to do WHAT?” A call from God is one that can only be answered with God’s help.

I encourage you to stay open to God’s leading in your life and to answering the call God places before you. You may be called to do something you never imagined or something with which you are intimately familiar. Most of all, I pray that God blesses you through your call just as I know you will be a blessing to others when you answer it.

Praying Out Loud

I’ve never been a quiet person, which may explain why I struggled in seminary with the class on spiritual formation. I believe there’s a bias in spiritual development toward the introverts, people who can sit still for long periods of time for prayer or meditation. That’s not me; I like movement, and mental stimulation and engaging conversations. So I’ve had a hard time learning how to grow spiritually without using the traditional introvert models.

I was thrilled to find a book called “Spirituality for Extroverts” by Nancy Reeves. Reeves, a psychologist and spiritual director, is also an extrovert, and also had a difficult time finding resources on how to feed her extrovert spirituality. So she wrote a book about it.

Reeves has several suggestions for how people can grow their faith in ways that are more outwardly focused. Some of those include:

Singing – I love to sing. I always have. I’m not making any claims about the quality of what comes out, but I find singing to be a wonderful way to praise God and connect with my own spirituality. Find a good Christian or worship CD, learn the songs you like, and then add your own voice to the mix. I find myself humming a Christian song at various points during the day, and the lyrics to that song become my prayer.

Spiritual Friendships – When we have a God question or a faith struggle, to whom do we turn? Those conversations are spiritual practices, and our own soul can be nurtured by the dialogue that occurs. I have a close circle of people who provide with soul sustenance and help me grow as a pastor and Christian simply by being a part of my life.

Moving Prayer – We may think prayer has to be a hands-folded, head-bowed experience, but there are really as many ways to pray as there are people praying. Walking in nature is a great way to connect with God (provided you are not chasing around a golf ball and cursing!). Walking is not only good for our God-given bodies, but can help us escape the demands of our lives. What about walking from room to room in your house and praying for the daily activities that take place there?

Reading and Writing – While these activities don’t always involve others, they are still ways of interacting beyond yourself. I am an avid reader and enjoy my time with a good spiritual book, which for me becomes a conversation with the author. Similarly, writing for me is a way of articulating my thoughts and feelings about God and my own faith.

Exercise – While Reeves doesn’t specifically list exercise as a spiritual discipline, I have found it to be that for me. When I exercise with others (like playing basketball), I am nurturing my friendships with other Christians. When I exercise alone (like on the treadmill), I can use that time to pray or listen to Christian music. And the commitment and discipline of an exercise routine is good practice for us as we seek to live committed, disciplined lives for God.

As with any spiritual growth, there needs to be a balance between the inward and the outward. In my relationship with God, I often times spend too much time talking and not enough time listening. But I’ve also found that there are times when I need to be active in order to better connect with God. I’m thankful for Reeves’ book, which lets me know that extroversion and spirituality aren’t mutually exclusive.

Read any good books lately?

Every once in awhile, I like to share with you some of the books I’m reading. I love to spend time with a good book, and I’m always on the lookout for my next read. In the past few months I’ve read a couple of books that are worth recommending. So here’s a sampling from “The Pastor’s Bookshelf.”

The Overload Syndrome by Richard Swenson, M.D. – The subtitle of this book says it all: “Learning to live within your limits.” The book’s cover shows a stack of coffee cups leaning precariously to one side. Has your life ever felt like that? If you’re like me, you just thought, “Yeah, every day!” Swenson, a medical doctor, looks at the issue of stress from a spiritual perspective, offering some simple techniques to help the reader stop, rest, and heal. Swenson helps the reader see how the continual fast-paced progress of our society contributes to our overwhelming feeling of being overloaded.

His chapter on accessibility is especially insightful. He talks about how cell phones, email, and answering machines have made it impossible for us to get away from people who want to contact us. The concept of solitude has disappeared, and our own self-importance has been inflated by the many different ways we can “be needed” by other people. Swenson addresses several topics like this – some of the others are change, commitment, fatigue, debt – and then offers his own prescriptions for how to deal with them. The end result is a life characterized by peace, harmony, and meaningfulness.

Simple Church by Thom S. Rainer and Eric Geiger – Geiger and Rainer conducted an extensive study of successful churches to find out what they were doing to thrive and grow. The answer was simple. No, really, the answer was the churches were simple in their approach to helping people grow in their faith. These churches didn’t have dozens of different programs; they had a limited number of programs centered on a single purpose. Everything the church did served the purpose.

Imagine a boat full of rowers all working at different speeds and aiming in different directions. The boat wouldn’t get far, would it? This is what many churches are like in how they program and do ministry. Rainer and Geiger paint a picture of a church full of people rowing at the same speed and the same direction, following the four guiding principles of clarity, movement, alignment, and focus.

The challenge of being a simple church is being willing to say “no” to the ideas that don’t fit into the simple purpose. The authors talk about several churches that ended very popular, very successful programs because they didn’t fit into their goal. Rainer and Geiger offer a challenge to this church and every church: simplify.

East of Eden by John Steinbeck – I am almost ashamed to admit I’ve never read a John Steinbeck novel until this one. I was supposed to read a few of them in high school, but I figured that’s what Cliff’s Notes were for. So I finally took up the 600-page “East of Eden,” and found it to be one of the best books I’ve ever read. Having just spent a lot of time in Genesis during Bible Study last year, the stories and characters were still fresh in my mind, and I was amazed at how Steinbeck was able to weave the biblical story of Genesis into his epic tale of the Trask and Hamilton families. It’s hard to put into words just how much I liked this book, and easy it is to get caught up in Steinbeck’s storytelling. His evocative writing style is compelling, and ending of the book is simply beautiful.

Have you read a book recently that you really liked? I’d love to hear about it!

Getting a Handle on Life

One of the reasons my family and I are excited for the return of warmer weather is the ability to resume our traditional bike rides. I’m always amazed at how much my girls develop over the winter. Each year, Sydney gets stronger and stronger, and develops the ability to ride longer and longer – unfortunately for me!

Molly is also showing some progress in her development. Last year she could hardly even pedal her tricycle, but on our first few outings she’s taken control of her bike and pumped those little legs as fast as they will go.

The problem is that she hasn’t quite figured out yet how to pedal and steer at the same time. Now, you have to understand that Molly has never been cautious in her mobility. She is constantly walking into walls and furniture because she doesn’t pay attention to what’s in front of her. She gets so excited and revved up that where she’s going becomes secondary. She’s the only 3-year-old I know who needs a GPS navigation system.

When she’s riding her tricycle, she builds up a lot of momentum with her pedaling, but has yet to figure out how to keep the bike on the sidewalk. She’s usually too busy looking at a bird or car or nothing in particular to notice that she’s about to drive off into the grass. Her driving is so erratic the local police suspect we’ve been spiking her sippy cups. We’re considering installing guardrails on all our sidewalks.

Thankfully, Molly’s tricycle comes equipped with a navigational aid – a long handle that extends from the back of the bike that a parent can hold onto and use to steer any wayward toddlers back onto the right path. If I notice Molly veering toward a mailbox or unsuspecting jogger, I can grab the handle and direct her away from danger. So far, she hasn’t run over anything more valuable than my foot.

As I’ve grabbed that handled and steered her I the right direction, I’ve found myself wish that I came equipped with the same handle. Wouldn’t it be nice if we had handle that God could grab and reorient us when we started going in the wrong direction? How much easier would life be if we weren’t the ones steering?

But often the greatest lessons in life are learned by going down wrong paths. If God jumped in and rescued us every time, would we be the persons we are today? The only way Molly is going to realize the importance of staying on the sidewalk is to experience the difficulty of trying to pedal on the grass. I believe God allows us to make our mistakes as a way of helping us learn the benefits of living the life God has called us to live.

While God didn’t give us each our own handle, I do believe God gave us an invaluable navigational aid. The Bible is our compass that steers us in the right direction. Deuteronomy 30 says, “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him.”

We have choices laid out in front of us like sidewalks leading in different directions. We should strive to choose the path of life, holding fast to the love of God. And when we choose the wrong path, we can remember the forgiveness that is offered to us through Jesus Christ.