Hardright

The door

The door is an interesting concept. It's the way in, and the way out. Yes, large buildings and companies have marked entrances and exits. But, at my house you come in and go out the same doorway, unless you don't want anyone to see you, Then you can do both at the back door.

Midnight tonight is that doorway, in a manner of speaking. In one moment we're exiting 2011 and in the next we're entering 2012. It's just a small step actually, a blink of the eye, one year to the next. It's the same door, out and in.

Would that the exit and entrance were something supernatural, a change that morphs us into a new man or woman with a totally new set of priorities, new eyes to see, a mind that is fresh and eager for the challenges ahead. Step across the threshold and suddenly your old habits, hurts, and hangups, as they say in Celebrate Recovery, go up in a wisp of smoke, like magic. Out with the old and in with the new, automatically when you step through the door of one year into another. Would that it could be so!

So, we make our list of course corrections, tangible steering adjustments to help us avoid some of the wrong turns and crashes in the baggage we drag along with us. Trouble is, these are usually a list of cosmetic alterations that really have little to do with the mechanics that define our direction. With our resolve in hand we step through this door with expectations of a totally new day. The positive attitude gurus applaud us as we plunge through this invisible gateway. Still, there's no audible bling announcing our transformation as we step through the door. On the other side, we're usually still the same person we were back there. The mat says goodbye ad hello. But, we're still the same.

There is a door with this kind of promise, that change. It is the biblical entry to a really new creation, the only real posibility to the kind of inner change most of us need. I don't know about you, but the kind of change that makes hurts, habits, and hangups go away is deeper, something that happens at the inner self and works outward. It's not a list of resolutions or two of three clever sentences about my weight or new priorities or better time management. It is the doorway to a totally new life, something that occurs in the heart. It is an encounter with The Door, Jesus Christ.

It's not magic either, or the wave of a wand, or a secret incantation. It's not a pill or a drink or a hand-shake or high-sign. No, it is a personal relationship. He actually takes up residence in our heart and changes us to his image, day by day, moment by moment.

The point here is, however, that stepping through door from 2011 to 2012 isn't a mystical moment when we leave behind the garbage of the past and suddenly are rid of the stuff that happened back there. The pages is clean, the calendar is new, and possibilities are enormous, the future exciting. But, the me is the same unless I have stepped though the real door too.

Happy New Year!

Finished

Some people finish before they start. While a good many of us are trying to finish strong and start the New Year well, the dooms-dayers are singing a few bars of "been there, done that" and have pulled into the pits before the clock has registered 2012. 

This will be my sixty-third New Year. So, I've done Guy Lombardo, Dick Clark, and all the other rockin' New Years Eve bashes a number of times. Now, we usually snooze through Auld Lang Syne, the ball drop, and the other exciting entrances. But, even though exciting has been redefined in more sedate terms, there's still a good bit of blood rushing through the system as the countdown begins. From Joshua 3, the predictable text for my Sunday message, we're reminded that, even though we've stood at the gateway of a New Year 62 times before, we've really never been on this turf before. It's new territory, even for a seasoned party animal like me.

There's a new fatalism loose in pop culture today! Perhaps it's the influence of eastern mysticism and the hopelessness that attends the eastern religious expression so prevalent among sophisticated moderns. It may just be the party harder mentality that throws caution to the wind and experiences every moment of life like it was the last. But, many people enter the New Year with a "same ol', same ol'" attitude that doesn't see promise or potential in the New Year. So, in a manner of speaking, they're finished, as in the axiom of the day, "done".  They're waving the white flag of surrender while there's still time on the clock, or, more graphically, before the fourth quarter has started. At this point, the question for them isn't how they're going to finish, but when. With that kind of defeated attitude, it's really a "done" deal. Done!!!

Scripture speaks of victory, people of faith being victors! The Bible is bundled with hope, the promise of something more! Conceding the outcome of the race before the pistol shot is a kind of surrender, a yielding to the obstacles that impede the track. It happens to individuals and to organizations, yes, even to local churches. Shoot, today many evangelical churches are in a circle-the-wagons mode. There's no movement forward or plan to progress beyond the moment, no offense, only defense. Individuals too submit to the forces of life, and are finished before approaching the starting block. 

Well, there is a new day! The eternal optimist in me believes there may be a cure for cancer, a major medical breakthrough, some earth shifting discovering, a technological advance, a personal blessing, out there in the New Year. As a result, the blood pumps a little on New Year's Eve in anticipation of we don't know what. Theologically, the only thing that is finished already is God's redemptive plan in history, the work of Christ on the cross, and the truth communicated to us in the Word.

For me there are times and season for every activity under heaven (see Ecclesiastes 3:1-9). There is a finish line out there somewhere and it beckons me forward. But, it's not done, not yet, and I shouldn't be finished before I even start. 

Been there, done that! Yes, and no. We've stood on _______ New Year's days. But, this one is different, because this one is new. God spoke through Isaiah, "Look, I am about to do a new thing; even now it is coming. Do you not see it?" (Isaiah 43:19).

Your life isn't finished and I can prove it! Put your right fore-finger to your left inside wrist. Here's a spot where you can time the blood rushing through your body. It's your pulse. If there is one, you're not done!

WOW!!!

Choose your finish

Take the finish thing in another direction. Yes, there's the good to last drop finish, as in a savory cup of coffee, and the finish line, as in a race. Then, there's the finish, as in the noun, the final coating or texture of a surface that has been treated or conditioned. Which of the finishes do you want to define you at the end of this year?

Well, the samples at stage left are limited. Here are only glossy or distressed finishes, one bright and shiny, the other pock-marked or weathered. Of course, there are many other choices these days---matte, flat, eggshell, satin, semi-gloss, high-gloss, faux, wood stains, antiques, metals, and who knows how many bas relief coverings. The question is, what kind of finish would your life be at the end of 2011 if one of these types defined it? Which one would you choose?

The distressed model is very popular this year. Our Christmas series oh oh oh tried to capture some of the "woe is me" dread of the times, the dismal economy, unemployment, down markets, foreclosures, and the emotional out-croppings of our fiscal dilemma. Some of us wear this weather beaten distressed sheen like a badge of honor, the prideful suffering servants who endure much, take our beatings in silence, and know that what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. So, we can wear this distress finish out there in the open and know most people will give us some notice with a nod and wink of understanding.  I mean, distressed is in most of the time.

I'm getting more comfortable with the various antique finishes. This is a special surface FX attained by layers and layers of substance, hard rubbed, sanded, buffed, polished, lined, stripped, rubbed some more, buffed again, and left out in the sun to bake.  The end product is an aged veneer, wise and worn, all the more valued because the facade looks old. My question is, if this finish is so valued, why do people spend so much time, money, and energy trying to young it up every day? Go figure!

So, let's go biblical and state that lights are supposed to shine. As Jesus reminded his followers, you're not supposed to put a light under a basket or tone down its brightness. A city on a hill can't be hid. So, when choosing the finish for the final days of 2011, bright and shining should be the deal. I mean, like high-gloss. Semi-glass has the ring of luke-warmness, and matte may be a little too flat. So, let my finish for the end of 2011 and beginning of 2012 be the high-gloss one, the one that shines brightly.

Faith is often described in terms of light. Not only are we commanded to let our light shine out there, our faith transforms us from the dominion of darkness to the dominion of light, life and death too. The high-gloss thing is the natural finish for believers. We are told to walk as children of light, so the bright finish should define us. What Jesus did turns us from darkness to light. So, we celebrate this new life in Christ and let the shiny finish glow on the world around us.

Like the samples in the paint department, we have to decide what finish we wish to display. There are many options and directions. We must choose the finish.

Shine!

The finish line

Frustrated Americans want to know where the finish line is, actually. The American work ethic has us hitting the treadmill longer and longer each day and we simply want a way to measure progress and know there's an end out there somewhere. So, where exactly is the finish line achieved by this sweat equity?

Scripture ofen alludes to the finish. Jesus came to finish the redemptive work of the Father, and announced it's completion from the Cross. Even more, life is depicted as a race. It is an endurance race, a test not of speed or agility, but of endurance to the end, the finish, death.

Yes, there are interim finishes too, races within the larger race, finish lines all along the way. Reaching goals and objectives are finishes of a sort, as are the various seasons of life, the milestones that mark our journey, benchmarks that help us measure success. But, the larger race is always life. Solomon reminded us that this race doesn't go to the fastest (see Ecclesiastes 9:11). In the New Testament we are taught patience and endurance and vigilance, distance disciplines that keep us in the race to the end. Throughout are instructions and counsel, even a few commands, and many promises for those who remain to the end.

Notable among the long-distance strategies is Hebrews 12:1-2. The anonymous author wrote, "Therefore since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that lay before Him endured a cross and despised the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of God’s throne." In this instance we are told about the "cloud of witnesses" who have already run this race, the encouragement of the ones who have finished their course. Further, we are encouraged to run the race with endurance, meaning the long term dimensions of life, the fullness of life to the end. Also, we are reminded that Jesus, the author and perfecter (finisher) of our faith waits at the finish line, and we should keep our eyes focused on Him. This is powerful life strategy stuff.

It's good advice for the interim distances too, the short jaunts that make up the stuff of every moment, day, week, month, or year. Face it, maintaining focus is often an issue with multi-tasked moderns. Eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and finisher, who stands at the finish line, provides direction, and often the kick to cross the line. In the process, we're strongly advised to lay aside anything that could impede our finish, especially the sin that entangles us so easily and completely. 

Finishing strong, whether in the long term or short term races, is then, a matter of focus. I don't know about you, but I was determined and focused when 2011 began, extremely so. Lose weight, daily Bible study, love and care of others, family time, health issues, and many other resolutions greeted the New Year. Alas, verily, and forsooth, lots of stuff happened to throw me off course, the unplanned and often unexpected realities that we usually don't factor into the race. It's been a year of distractions.

So, finishing strong involves re-acquiring the beacon, the focus, the North Star, the one who stands at the final finish line, and cheers us on toward this end. With eyes firmly fixed, we're ready for any finish line along the way.

WOW!

Finish strong

Hold off on the weak coffee! I prefer the strong stuff, as once defined by an old Navy salt. He said coffee on the chief's mess was too weak to walk on and too strong to swim in, real Navy coffee. Yes!!! Good and strong to the very last drop, as one of the coffee labels used to advertise. And, that's an admirable take on life, in my opinion. You know, like hot and strong, to the last drop. If this was my book I was writing it would include a strong finish, right down to the last. Not a bad year-end either.

Coffee isn't a bad metaphor either! So, I'm a java novice, even with all the coffee talk. Still, I like the final sip to be as good as the first, hot all the way down, with a strong enough roast to let me know it's coffee in the cup, and not some fru-fru syrupy milk thing with a single coffee bean floating on top. Nice image, huh?

Notch it up a level! Life should be lived strong, hot, and good to the last. Three things comprise a really bad cup of joe, in my unschooled opinion. Usually the sorry cup is (1) weak, (2) warm, and (3) bitter in the end. Weak means you really couldn't determine the roast or grind, the unique character of it's origin or special nature of it's preparation. Often it means it's just dark colored water. Blah! Warm means it isn't so hot. Coffee and life should be decisively heated, fired up and blazing. Take it to Revelation 3:16 for a theological application of the luke-warm life. Yuk!!! Bitter is when the brewer let's grounds seep into the brew. The final sip often includes gritty coffee grounds that are bitter. Some people finish bitter too. Sad.

So, carry the thought a little further and think about finishing strong. Here's what I'm thinking. Bringing it off means to (1) refill often, (2) brew the real stuff, (3) keep the heat applied, and (4) use a reliable filter. Sure, its a good life strategy, a means of staying on target through the seasons of life, more of a way to finish the life journey strong. But, it works in the short term too, and can be a way to measure short frame benchmarks. With 2012 just days away, I want to apply this system to finish out 2011 in a blaze and to make sure the final taste is as good as the first.

That's hard stuff you know. When we stood at the gateway of 2011 we had no idea about the things that could drain us, leave us cold, weaken the strength, or put a bitter taste in our mouth. Things happen, some good, some bad, and a good bit in-between. Certainly Harriet and I experienced perhaps the most challenging year of our lives and are dealing daily with the after-taste of this horrible tragedy. Yet, we have decided that our son's death will not define us or the year. Even though we are heart-broken, our faith is not weakened, our passion for the mission is no less fervent, our beliefs and values are in-tact, and we are not embittered by what has happened. 

People ask every day, how do you get through something like this? Well, go simple, and its the coffee thing again. The faith that sustains us is strong. It ignites passion that runs through the fine filter of Scripture, and produces not bitterness, but peace. Like coffee that doesn't satisfy all of our tastes and nourishment needs, this faith doesn't answer all of our questions. Yet, it does trust the one who holds those answers. 

Finishing strong is a life ambition, but a yearly one too. Like a good cup of coffee, it is to be savored.  

The morning after

So, talk about the morning after! Some people hit the next day with a memory lapse, the morning after being a time to re-configure what has been lost in the fog of a few too many. In a pleasure driven, ego-centric world, it's a little killing pill, a convenience that takes a life and empowers choice in irresponsible people. It's basically a matter of personal perspective, the thing about the mornings after. After what? The big game, the big date, the big deal, the big win, the big loss, the big let-down, the big surprise, the big disappointment, the big trip, the big bust. Go just about any direction in life and there's a morning after, or at least the metaphor. Maybe it's more, "now what?".

Christmas involves one too. Incrediblly, many people invest a great deal of life capital in Christmas. The most precious human commodities are often wagered as the season rolls around each year. While the world is shopping and decorating and cooking, hopes hang in the balance of family traditions, prayers go up for relationships to be miraculously healed, the stuff of the holidays believed to be potent enough medicine for our emotional ills. So, we put a lot of stock in these few weeks. Motivated by a deep belief in the restorative powers of the Christmas epoch---regardless of our spiritual leanings---we lean into these days wanting more. 

So, then, there's the morning after, the "what now?" piece. It happens on the heels of every significant event, whether win or loss, success or disappointment, about any occurrence that raises the bar on our expectations. It's the part about what comes next, steps or programs or adjustments that must follow in the wake of the build-up. Maybe the better question involves changes that occasion a different path now, ways that we must calibrate tomorrow as a result of what did or did not happen yesterday. If we don't do the morning after thing, ask the "now what?' question, then there's little chance that we can move forward or benefit from lessons learned.

That is the real deal, isn't it, the lessons learned? We all know insanity and the folly of doing the same things over and over again, no learning factored into the life processes. So, what is the morning after lesson that leaves so many people empty after Christmas, that Christmas let-down so systemic in our culture? Well, you know what I'm going to say, being a Baptist preacher and all. It's not mysterious, you know, what us humans realy need! Our deepest hopes, dreams, and aspirations can't be fulfilled or discovered in stuff, no matter how precious and worthy. Traditions and rituals and jumping through hoops can't fix relationships or cover human pain. Well, maybe for a moment.

The let down happens when we realize that all of our machinations can't give us what we need. They're not necessarily bad or evil, they just won't provide deep and abiding things---peace, joy, hope, and all the other inner graces of life. They're disappointing because we've given them a lot of value, and hinged a good bit on their return. So, on the morning after, we're as empty as on the day before!

When will we learn? It's a relationship. Rather than asking "now what?", it announces "till then...". 

WOW! 

Why he came

Jesus experienced no confusion about His own birth. He understood clearly why He came. So, fast-forward to His conversation with Pontius Pilate, hours before His death on the cross. The interrogation went like this---"You are a king then?" Pilate asked. "You say that I’m a king," Jesus replied. "I was born for this, and I have come into the world for this: to testify to the truth" (John 18:37). These words leave little doubt about the redemptive purpose of Christ's birth.

This is nothing new! Even before His birth an angel told Joseph about the mission. They gave Him the name "Jesus" to express the truth that He came to save His people from their sins. Somewhere in the 2,000 years since the backdrop of the Christmas celebration has morphed into something more ego-centric, that is, focused on humans. So, today we say it's about the giving, about the family, about caring for others---yada yada yada---with scant mention of the real deal, His life, death, and resurrection, the entire package of redemption. Yet, to gloss over the central theme of salvation, is to downplay the plan God established in the foundations of the earth.

Today we celebrate the truth that God became man, lived a perfect life, died an atoning death on the cross, rose again from the death, and ascended to the right hand of the Father, all elements of God's great plan for the ages. Rejoicing attends this day not because we get to be with our families, exchange gifts, eat some good food, or provide for others. We rejoice because, after thousands of years, God's plan touched this earth and drew redemption into the human arena.

Merry Christmas! A Savior is born!

Christmas eve

Children put an interesting spin on things. Through the eyes of a child we can see the world from  a different angle, even deep truth. There's something to Christ's declaration that the Kingdom of God would be composed of such as these, the little children. Unless we change and become like them, we cannot enter it (see Matthew 18:3).

So, in a child's mind, there is The Cross-Eyed Bear (the hymn, The Cross I'd Bear), Pontius the Pilot (of the plane taking Joseph, Mary, and Jesus on the flight to Egypt, see Matthew 2:13-15), Olive the other reindeer (all of the other reindeer, from Rudolph), and Round John Virgin (Round yon virgin, mother and child, from Silent Night).

Then, there's Christmas Eve. Evidently this is the first woman, Eve, dressed in Christmas apparrel, taking the forbidden fruit from the Christmas tree in the garden. This is a new on on me, a Christmas tradition I had not encountered in my thirty two years of ministry. A parent shared this with me last week. It is how the vivid imagnination of a child creates scenarios that make sense of things. So, in this childs mind, Chistmas Eve is a person. How sweet.

Well, thats' a holiday angle I'd never really imagined. Though innocent and precious, a thought that must bring a smile, it underscores our responsibility to relate the traditions and truth of the season to our little ones. The child of this Christmas Eve image is too young to grasp the significance of the season and the meanings of a Svior entering the world. Imagining Pontius flying a 747 won't damge anything any more than singing about Round John Virgin. There's no evil conspiracy in a child dreaming about Eve in her Christmas duds either. But, we must teach them, at the right age, to diffentiate between truth and fantasy, between what is real and what is not, and to discern the difference between fact and fiction.

Christmas involves a little fantasy and a lot of truth. The birth of Jesus is the central theme of the season for believers, the pivotal act in all of history. Growing up, we always read the Christmas story from Luke 2 on Christmas Eve. It was just one way to help us separate fact from fiction, and to maintain a central focus in the season. We did the fiction parts too, but, at the right age and time, understood them to be just that, traditions of men.

So, it's Christmas Eve. Is she wearing a new Christmas sweater this year?

Merry Christmas. Heppy birthday Jesus!

Rejoice always---

By now just about everyone has seen the video clip of the Hallelujah Chorus flash mob from November, 2010. If you haven't, you can watch it here. Everybody has their "must see" videos and, you can live without taking this one in. But, it is impressive, and it helps make a point about the keeping Christ in Christmas thing.

As Jesus and his entourage entered Jerusalem for the last time, some of the religious leaders in the community complained about the noise. They told Jesus to quiet things down. You can find this episode in Luke 19: 28-40. Jesus replied, "I tell you, if they were to keep silent, the stones themselves would cry out!" (Luke 19:40).

Some have interpreted this to mean Christians should always make a lot of noise. As a result, throughout history, believers have been the social conscience of the nations, and just as often the voice of truth in confusing times. Let's face it, us Protestants know something about protests and movements and moral majorities and voting blocks and tea parties, and other means of expressing a Christian world-view to this dark world. Today, we are all marked with the hate-mongering ways of the Westboro Baptist Church and people like them.

So, maybe the interpretation of Jesus' words is off target just a bit. Perhaps Jesus was emphasizing the point that believers must "...praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles they had seen" (see Luke 19:37). Making noise isn't the deal! Praising and honoring God is! That's why the flash mob scene depicted in the You Tube clip is so awesome. A choir infiltrated the food court at a local mall and laid some rejoicing on the shoppers lunching there. Well, yes, they made some noise. But it was a joyful sound and some seasonal relief for the weary and hassled people. Very cool.

A few years ago I was in the line at a local food store the week before Christmas. Every check out line was open, each filled with shoppers trying to get their groceries and go home. It was slow, the cashiers were over-loaded and tired by the end of the day, and the crowd was restless. Of course, someone in each line tried to pay with a personal check from Pago Pago, and people were getting more agitated by the minute. Maybe I just went a little Christmas nuts, but I went out into the aisle, hollered for everyones attention, and started singing Santa Claus is Coming to Town.  Now, let me confess that my mind didn't first bring Silent Night or Joy to the World to my personal mind-screen. My bad. But, almost instantly the mood the crowd changed, everyone started singing, things lightened up a bit, and as I was walking our of the store they were singing Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Glory to the Newborn King. it wasn't a flash mob or a rehearsed choir. Just a bunch of weary shoppers being encouraged by a song.

Paul wrote, "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near" (Philippians 4:4-5).

It's just another way of keeping Christ in Christmas, the voice than always rejoices! WOW!

Merry Christmas!

Open some presence!

The right presents won't insure a Christ-filled holiday. You can make a list and check it twice all day long and still have your mind fixed on the secular dynamics of the season. So, you can put Bibles under the tree, hand out a few Gospel tracts, give dad a new Jesus Christmas tie, or be lavish in your giving, and still not strike the right note to make this holy-day distinctly about him.

Forget the presents and open some presence! Truth is, most peeps limp through the holiday season essentially empty. Being out of gas is more than seasonal tiredness too. Rather, it is the condition of being without the physical, mental, or spiritual fuel necessary to navigate these tricky waters in the right spirit. So, the Christmas list must include among the presents, the idea of opening some presence, that is, discovering the mechanics of inner peace, joy, hope, and the other character traits of Christ. Opening some presence is simply the disciplines or graces of the inner life. As Paul wrote, "...though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day..." (2 Corinthians 4:16).  Empty containers have little to give to a needful world!

As someone said, every one wants to change the world, but no one wants to change me! That's often the appearance of this keeping Christ in Christmas movement, the aggressive push of the Christsian community. Truly, genuinely, we want to maintain a spiritual over-cast to the season. Even more, most evangelicals pray for and earnestly seek a national revival, a renewal of the Judeo-Christian ethic that we see in the back-drop of our national epoch. So, we know the chants, champion the movements, applaud the candidates and cheer the media who echo these worthy sentiments. Go God!

But, there's also a personal dimension too!!! Beyond the rhetoric, there's the simple declaration of a changed life on open display out there in the mean streets. There are the potential testimonies of millions of people who are filled with the spirit and oozing that kind of heart all over the place. Many of us like to parrot the talk but abhor the walk. This was so demonstrated to me Tuesday. On the way to the hospital very early to pray with a church member someone nearly ran me off the road. Even in the darkness I could see his angry face as we nearly collided on I-526 and clearly detected the finger he tossed my way as he registered his road rage. On the back of his car was a bumper sticker: Jesus is the reason for the season. Wish that it were so! 

So, opening some presence means finding the spiritual food to prepare us for the demands of the day. For me it is Bible study and prayer, moments of reflection, meditation, and personal devotion. Tuesday morning when the man in the next lane flipped me off, I was listening to 100.9 WAY FM and was singing along with Joy to the World, the Lord is Come. So, while my old self wanted to roll down the window and give the road hog a piece of my mind, I shrugged my shoulders, mouthed "sorry" to him, and tried to give him instead the peace of my heart. It was a struggle.

Want Christ in the world around you? Put him there. Open some presence---