Burning the Furniture

I get the same question pretty frequently when I am traveling, "Why do you travel solo?" I figure it is time that I come up with an answer to that. As I thought about it, I discovered the answer is a bit more complicated than I first thought. There is a simple answer, I don't really have another option. I have been single all of my life, so I don't really have a built in travel partner. Not being satisfied with that answer, I dug a little deeper. What I found may come as a surprise to some of you. I don't like people. Okay, that isn't completely true. I like people, some of my best friends are people. So a more accurate answer is that I am an introvert. I am going to let you in on a little secret, a lot of teachers and performers are introverts. Yes, those people that literally earn their living by talking in front of crowds don't like interacting with people. Okay, that isn't really true either. Most introverts, at least the ones I know, are perfectly fine with people, talking in groups, or being in the spotlight. We can "perform" when called upon just as well as extroverts. The difference comes when we are done. Perfroming, for lack of a better term, does different things to the emotional storage tanks of introverts and extroverts. Performing for an extrovert fills their tank. It burns physical energy but it replenishes their emotional tank. With introverts it burns the same physical energy, but it also burns emotional energy. When I am done teaching for the day, my emotional tank is running on fumes. Did I enjoy the day? Yes, I love what I do and wouldn't trade it for anything. Am I ready to not see people for several hours? Yes, and I think you will find that is true of a lot of teachers. By the end of the week we are done with peopling and want nothing more than to see no one for a few days. Can I be around people on the weekend? Yes, but know that by that point my tank is empty and I am looking around for alternate fuel sources. If an introvert is out with friends on their time off just know that they are buring their furniture just to provide the energy to be social. There are some exceptions to that, at least for me. Being around my volleyball team, even on weekends, actually refills my tank. There are a few, very few, individuals that also refill my tank. If you see me out on a weekend with someone, they are most likely one of those people. This all means that by the time summer comes around all of my furniture has been burnt to keep me socially present for 9 months. I need time to rebuild the furniture so I can function for another school year. For me the thing that does that best is traveling. It allows me to see amazing places, take a lot of pictures, get some reading done, and learn about the foods and cultures of new places. Doing it solo also means that I don't have to "perform" for anyone. So that is why I travel solo, I am rebuilding my furniture so I have something to burn when I need extra emotional energy.

What Are You Waiting For?

When I started coaching high school girls volleyball I had no idea how much I would use my psychology education. Volleyball in general, and with teenage girls in particular, is a very mental game. The same team that can be unstoppable in one game can go to looking like they have never seen a volleyball in an instant. There are also matches where everyone plays timid and and cautious. As anyone that has played for me for any length of time can attest, one of the things I say in times like that is, "Stop waiting for someone else to make a play. You have to be the one to make things happen." As Christians I think we can fall into a similar trap. We look around at all of the things that are going on around us. We see all of the ick that is happening and we pray that God would do something. We wait for some divine intervention or someone else to step up and take on the task. We keep waiting for someone else to act and to tell us what to do. When God doesn't send someone or do something we shake our heads and wonder why He hasn't done anything. I think God's message would be the same that I give my players, "Stop waiting for someone else!" We need to stop waiting for someone else to act in our stead. When you see things that need fixing, instead of waiting for someone else to do something, get to work. Perhaps, just like Esther, you were made for such a time like this. Matthew West released a song about a decade ago called Do Something. Take a few moments to check it out.

I Wish You Could See

I coach middle school and high school girls volleyball and I have for many years now. One of the things I tell my young charges is that when I watch them play I see two versions of them. I see the young, just learning the game player and the player that they can become. I tell them this so they know that when I am pushing them it isn't because I am mad at them or don't like them, it is because I see what they can become and I am trying to get them to the point. I am also a middle school and high school math teacher and I treat my students the same way. I see the people they can become and I push them as hard as I can in that direction. Some fight it and others flourish under it. This has really hit home in the last few years when I have had students that have faced issues that no teenager/pre-teen should ever have to face and are dealing with real world things that adults would crumble under. These struggles have manifested themselves in classroom struggles that allowed them to get overlooked and just passed along. I keep gently pushing and nudging them toward the future that I know they can have if they could just see themselves like I see them. I thought that was what I wanted to write about, but I was having trouble forming it into something "spiritual" as that is apparently what this space has come to be. I have had this title for months. I have had the parts you have already read for nearly as long, but I haven't had any idea what to do with it. Then I realized that I am them. I am the person floundering and thinking that I will never get this. I will never be good at this. I will never be... fill in the blank. I keep saying those things and God is looking at me saying, "I wish you could see you the way I see you. "When we look at ourselves we see the grimy, sinful person we are while God sees His child made in His image that was made for a purpose. He sees the purpose that we not only can, but will, fulfill. God is looking at you saying the same thing, "If you could only see..." When you feel God pushing outside of your comfort zone, it isn't because He is mad at you, it is because He sees what you will be, not what you are.

Surely Goodness and Mercy 

      "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." Even people that don't know scripture probably know that one. The 23rd Psalm is probably one of the most quoted scriptures. Students memorize it in Sunday school. It is read at funerals. It is used to comfort people facing difficult times. "Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil" (v4) Who can't find comfort in those words? "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies: thou annointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over." (v5) Again, comfort and peace in difficult times. 

      You have heard everything you can about this Psalm. You have probably learned about shepherds and the imagery that goes with that. You have heard about The Good Shepherd and all that means, have you paid attention to all of it? The psalms are full from beginning to end and you have to look at everything they contain. We can walk boldly into the valley of the shadow of death with the confidence that God's rod and staff will be there to comfort us. Wait, comfort us, not protect us? "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life..."(v6) What? Follow me? No, I need your goodness to go before me. God's goodness and mercy are to follow us wherever we go, not go before us. 

     We should leave behind goodness and mercy where we go, it doesn't go before us. Don't wait for God's goodness to go before, take it with you. Take it to places where it isn't. God's rod and staff will be there to protect you and comfort you, but you need to walk though the valley as goodness and mercy follow you.

The Day After

In the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving you see them. No, not the early Christmas decorations, you will see the "Today I am thankful for..." posts. There is nothing wrong with that and, in fact, I have made them before. Having a day set aside specifically for thankfulness is a great idea, My question is this, "What about today?" Are you still thankful on Friday? "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." Those are the words of 1 Thessalonians 5:18. It seems clear that we are to be thankful, not just a few weeks in November, but all of the time. It also says to be thankful "In every thing..." A lot of people are thankful for things, but what about in things? Being thankful for things isn't inherently bad, I am thankful for a lot things: family, friends, a job I love, my students, etc... Being thankful for things is easy, being thankful in every thing is a different story. Being thankful in things means your current circumstances shouldn't affect your level of thankfulness. When your car won't start and you are running late, you are to be thankful. When your team loses, you are to be thankful. When you are facing your first holiday without a loved one, you are to be thankful. We are to be thankful in the hard times too. Now, being thankful in every thing is not the same as being thankful for every thing. Nowhere are we commanded to be thankful for every thing, just in every thing. That little preposition is important. For every thing give thanks would be a much different scripture. The man that penned these words wrote many of his letters while in jail. He was never thankful for being in jail, but he was thankful even though he was in jail. To be thankful in things you have to look beyond your current circumstances, be they good or bad, and focus on God and His blessings. God's blessings are not things, they are promises. They are the assurance of things hoped for, they are the promise of eternity with him. So now that it is Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, are you still thankful. I would encourage you to continue listing the things your are thankful for into December and beyond, and remember there is a difference between in and for.

Sparks Aren't Fires

     I recently heard this, "Sparks aren't fires." I heard it while watching someone analyzing a video about a band of three sisters that are now in their early 20s but have been performing together for over 10 years. These girls got the idea of being a band while playing the video game Rock Band. That was the spark for becoming a band. They have become a successful band through hard work and lots and lots of practice. They took that spark and tended to it and turned it into a fire.

     Sparks can start fires, but they can also just be sparks. If you want to start a fire you are going to have to do something more than have a spark. As Christians we experience those "spark" moments, times when the presence of God is tangible. Those moments are great, mountain top experiences, but if we don't do something to nurture that spark it will never turn into a fire. It is important to remember that sparks aren't fires. Sparks can start a fire, but it takes work after the spark to turn it into a fire.

Teaching Ted Talk

 

I was 28 when I started teaching. When I walked into that classroom for the first time, I didn’t have much “teaching” experience, but I did have 10 years of youth ministry experience. I think that really shaped my approach to teaching. I have now spent nearly 30 years teaching in a small Christian school. For the first 15 years of my teaching career, my parents didn’t really understand why I stayed at such a small school for so little money. They kept encouraging me to go work in the public schools, or at least at a bigger private school. That all changed when I started coaching volleyball. It wasn’t the volleyball that changed anything directly, it was the fact that they started coming to games. It was at those games that they started to get to know my students and they started to understand that what I was doing was more than a job, it was a calling.

Teaching, done correctly, is as much of a calling as preaching is. Just as the minister is called to the pulpit, the effective teacher is called to the… whiteboard? Podium? My philosophy has always been, “Teachers teach students, not a curriculum.” Yes, there are things we are hired to teach, but it is the other things that really have a lasting impact. I saw a story about a rich man, maybe an athlete or CEO, it doesn’t really matter, questioning a teacher as to why they did what they did for so little money. He asked why they didn’t find a “real” job and get paid more money. He said, “I make X amount of money a year. What do you make?” The teacher answered simply, “I make a difference.”

When our kindergarten teacher starts the year in August, babies walk into her room. In May little people walk out. Yes, they learned numbers and letters and how to read, but more than that they learned how to be people. In the elementary classes, those teachers take those little people and start building them into the men and women that God designed them to be. The students walk out as adolescents. Those adolescents come to us in the secondary classes and we continue, brick by brick, to build them up. They walk out on the verge of adulthood.

Most people are lucky to have an impact on one or two people in their lifetime, teachers impact roomfuls of people on a daily basis. I have been reminded of the impact that a teacher can have in many ways. I have had several students that went on to become teachers tell me that something I said in class made them decide to become a teacher. In a few cases they have told me exactly what it was I said to them 5, 6, 7 years ago that inspired them to teach. I have to take their word for it, because I have no recollection of saying those things. I give character awards to the seniors every year. They are fun, and everyone smiles and then we go on with the day. I didn’t really think they went any further than that. Then I was at the house of someone that had graduated a few years before to get a sofa and saw that he had his character award framed and hanging in his room. I have had 2 students tell me they were pregnant before they told most of their family. I have had a former student that you can probably count on one hand the number of people that have seen or heard him cry, call me tears because he was struggling with difficult life decisions and he knew I would tell him what he needed to hear, not what he wanted to hear.

Things like that humble me, but they also reinforce the impact that a teacher can have. I am not special; I know teachers all over have similar stories. If you are a teacher reading this, you are making a difference. Building future adults is a special calling, do not grow weary in doing good. If you are not teacher, you can still make a difference. Just stop and actually listen to the people around you. Listen to understand, not just to respond. Most people only require small course corrections and you may be just the person to set them on the new path they are looking for.

A Holy Mess

     It was the first Sunday of Advent and the sanctuary was finally ready. The service was about to start when it happened. The lights on the Chrismon Tree went out. You could hear the gasps and several people leapt into action. After some jiggling, order was restored. As the prelude was being played the acolytes were lighting the candles. One of the candles just wouldn't light. Then it was time for the welcome and announcements and the sound system wouldn't work. Would nothing go right? You could just feel it in the air, this isn't what Christmas is supposed to be like. Christmas is supposed to be perfect.

     It was late, it was cold, and the town was bustling with people. They were late and all the accommodations were already taken. This is livestock. Those are shepherds. This is a dirty stable. This isn't how this is supposed to go. Christmas is supposed to be perfect. 

     Christmas is perfect, but it is also messy. That is what Christmas is. If it wasn't messy, it wouldn't have been necessary. The world that Jesus entered was not perfect, it was far from it. His entrance was messy, birth is messy. Christmas is messy. If your Christmas is not going as planned, welcome to the club. Messy isn't bad, messy is why we have Christmas. Messy is why we need Christmas. Celebrate the messiness and embrace the Savior that entered this mess to make it clean.

     The sound system started working. The lights stayed lit on the tree. The candle finally was lit. The word was preached. The sermon was title, "A weary world rejoices." That is what Christmas is, perfection entering a messy weary world to make it whole again.

  

Fully Man, Fully God

     On Good Friday it is common to hear the Seven Last Words of Christ. These last seven utterances of Jesus are full of  significance and there are lots of teachings to be found in them. Today I want to look at the fourth word. It can be found in Mark 15: 33-34. At this point, Jesus has been on the cross for six hours and is near death. He cries out, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" (Which means, :My God my God, why have you forsaken Me?) Jesus was both fully human and fully God. At this point Jesus, who knew no sin, has taken on all of the sin of mankind. Because of that, God could not look on Him and for the first time Jesus feels separation from God. This feeling, that we as sinful humans are used to, was a new sensation to Jesus and it causes him to cry out in despair. Oh that we could be so sensitive to the presence of God that we notice when He averts His gaze due to our sin. 

    There is more to this though, I think. Jesus was also fully God and He knew exactly what He was saying. You see, His words were not just random words of despair. Come with me to Psalm 22.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

    Why are you so far from saving me,

    so far from my cries of anguish?

2 

My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,

    by night, but I find no rest.[b]

3 

Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;

    you are the one Israel praises.[c]

4 

In you our ancestors put their trust;

    they trusted and you delivered them.

5 

To you they cried out and were saved;

    in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

6 

But I am a worm and not a man,

    scorned by everyone, despised by the people.

7 

All who see me mock me;

    they hurl insults, shaking their heads.

8 

“He trusts in the Lord,” they say,

    “let the Lord rescue him.

Let him deliver him,

    since he delights in him.”

9 

Yet you brought me out of the womb;

    you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast.

10 

From birth I was cast on you;

    from my mother’s womb you have been my God.

11 

Do not be far from me,

    for trouble is near

    and there is no one to help.

12 

Many bulls surround me;

    strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.

13 

Roaring lions that tear their prey

    open their mouths wide against me.

14 

I am poured out like water,

    and all my bones are out of joint.

My heart has turned to wax;

    it has melted within me.

15 

My mouth[d] is dried up like a potsherd,

    and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;

    you lay me in the dust of death.

16 

Dogs surround me,

    a pack of villains encircles me;

    they pierce[e] my hands and my feet.

17 

All my bones are on display;

    people stare and gloat over me.

18 

They divide my clothes among them

    and cast lots for my garment.

19 

But you, Lord, do not be far from me.

    You are my strength; come quickly to help me.

20 

Deliver me from the sword,

    my precious life from the power of the dogs.

21 

Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;

    save me from the horns of the wild oxen.

22 

I will declare your name to my people;

    in the assembly I will praise you.

23 

You who fear the Lord, praise him!

    All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!

    Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!

24 

For he has not despised or scorned

    the suffering of the afflicted one;

he has not hidden his face from him

    but has listened to his cry for help.

25 

From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;

    before those who fear you[f] I will fulfill my vows.

26 

The poor will eat and be satisfied;

    those who seek the Lord will praise him—

    may your hearts live forever!

27 

All the ends of the earth

    will remember and turn to the Lord,

and all the families of the nations

    will bow down before him,

28 

for dominion belongs to the Lord

    and he rules over the nations.

29 

All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;

    all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—

    those who cannot keep themselves alive.

30 

Posterity will serve him;

    future generations will be told about the Lord.

31 

They will proclaim his righteousness,

    declaring to a people yet unborn:

 He has done it!

Sound familiar? Even minutes from death, Jesus is choosing His words with the utmost care, He knows that many of those at the foot of the cross were religious scholars. They would instantly recognize that He was quoting the Psalms and they would know how it ends. Psalm 22 sounds like it was written after the events of the crucifixion, not centuries before. It ends declaring the glory of the Lord. Jesus used His last words to let His accusers know that this was all ordained from the beginning. Good Friday is called Good for this very reason. Because of His sacrifice, "The poor will eat and be satisfied; those who see the Lord will praise Him..."

Empty Baskets

     In chapter 14 of Matthew you will find a familiar story. After a long day of watching Jesus heal the sick the disciples came to Jesus and said, "We are in the middle of nowhere and it's getting late. Tell the people to go back into town so they can find some food." Jesus said, 'They don't need to go anywhere, you feed them." When the disciples told Him that they only had 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish, He said, "Bring them to me." He then told the people to have a seat while He blessed the food and handed them back to the disciples.

     We all know the story and we know how it ends, but I want to stop right here for a minute and consider the disciple's point of view. They are now standing in front of a hungry crowd expecting to be fed and they know something the crowd doesn't' there are only 5 loaves and 2 fish. That means that 5 of the disciples were not holding anything, they were standing there with empty baskets and were expected to feed thousands from them. So often I have felt like that, standing in front of a crowd knowing full well that my basket was empty. They were doing what Jesus had told them to do, but they had to be having some second thoughts. There is an important point here, when you are in the middle of God's will, the fact that your basket is empty is irrelevant, God will handle that part. You just need to do what He has called you to do. God will fill your basket, not just to sufficiency but to abundance.

     When you find yourself exactly where God has placed you but with an empty basket. Take heart, just like the disciples, you will find yourself with leftovers if you just believe in the one that has called you to that place. Your empty basket will be filled and filled to abundance.

 

 Obstacles or Opportunities?

     The Israelites were feeling pretty good for once. They were finally free of the Egyptians and they were headed back to their long lost home. After several days of travel away from their former captors, they were almost relaxing. They were camped right where God had told them to, "By the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon." (Exodus 14:2) This respite didn't last long though. They awoke one morning to see Pharoah's army approaching. Reality started to set in, they were trapped between The Egyptian army and a sea. They started to complain to Moses. They asked if he brought them out to the desert because there weren't enough graves in Egypt to hold them. Things looked bleak indeed. Things looked bleak but they had forgotten one important point, they were exactly where God told them to be. What they saw as an obstacle, the sea, was in reality an opportunity for them to escape. When Moses started to get a little antsy and cried out to God. God responded by asking him why he was bothering him, tell the people to get up and start heading forward. So up they got and started straight for the obstacle in front of them not really sure what was going to happen. As they neared the water's edge Moses raised his hands and the waters parted and allowed the people of God to pass through on dry land. What's more, once they had all crossed, the seas closed back in swallowing up the pursuing army. What appeared to be an obstacle was really God's deliverance. How often do we see the things in front of us as obstacles when they are really opportunities for deliverance? All we need do is follow God's leading and continue forward and watch those obstacles turn into opportunities. 

Really? That's the Best You Could Do?

     Have you ever been in a barn? I mean a real barn, not the "farmhouse" style venues that look barn-ish, I mean a working barn. If you have a lot of adjectives come to mind, but I would bet sanitary is not on the list. I mean I can guarantee there is manure on the floor in whatever direction you look and let's not even talk about the smell. There is also noise, lots of noise. Farm animals do three things well and in abundance, they poop, they produce bad smells, and they make noise. That's the place God picked for His son to enter this world?

     We all know the story, but how often to we really think about it? The story gets cleaned up with the retelling. We use words like manger, hay, and angels. We don't use words like noisy, smelly, and manure. I think we may be doing the story a disservice by glossing over those things. The smells and noises and filth are actually a very important aspect of the Nativity story. Think about it, God could have chosen anywhere for Jesus' birth to occur. Bethlehem in a feeding trough in a barn wasn't an accident, it was on purpose. What purpose? You ask.

     Jesus came to shake things up. He was to bring salvation to everyone. What better way to make that point than to be born in the lowliest of places? The best way to reach every man is to become everyman. Yes, God could have chosen a palace surrounded by the best doctors. Yes Jesus could have grown up in luxury and lived the life of the King He is. Yes, that could have happened but it would have made the message that He came for all a lot harder to sell. Starting life in a common setting as a common person was just the first of a life of lesson Jesus would teach. Even as an infant, He didn't hesitate to get down in the muck mire this world has to offer. He went where the people were, He didn't expect them to come to Him. By being born in the dirty, noisy, smelly barn He established that He came for all, not just the clean, quiet, and good smelling. So yes, it was the best He could do. It was exactly where it should have happened.

I... Can't... Wait

     1 to 3 inches of snow expected. I know not everyone gets excited at the prospect of snow, but I always have. As a child it meant many things. School closed, sledding, snowball fights, hot cocoa, and so much more. As an adult... the list is pretty much the same. Yes, teachers are just as excited about snow days. To be honest, my favorite thing about snow now, is the snow. I just love the way it looks, I love the cold, and I love the way snow sounds. Next time it snows, really snows, go outside where it is quiet and just listen. You won't be disappointed.

     Excited, that is what we should be. Kids get it right. Ask a kid if they are excited about Christmas and you are almost guaranteed to get an emphatic, "Yes!" for an answer. Ask an adult and the results won't be as certain. So what changed? Why do we stop looking forward to Christmas as much as we did as a child? We should try to recapture that anticipation we had as children. This season before Christmas is Advent, the time when we prepare for the coming of the Christ child. This should be a time of great anticipation. We are anticipating the day that all of history, all of eternity, changed with the birth of a baby in a backwater town outside Jerusalem. I know we are all carrying baggage as we make our way through this year. Jesus doesn't promise to take that baggage away, but He does promise to help you carry it and He promises that His yoke (future post about yokes coming) is easy and His burden is light. So I am not going to tell you to lay your burdens down, I know that is no easy task. I will tell you to let Jesus help you shoulder them. That is what we have to look forward to; that is why we should be looking forward with excitement. 

Old, Familiar Carols

     The year was 1861. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's second wife of 18 years, Franny, was killed when her dress accidently caught  fire in the farmhouse. His first wife, Mary, had died 25 years earlier during childbirth. After Franny's death, he found it impossible to continue his writing and stuck to mainly translating works into English. Two years later his oldest son, Charles, enlisted in the army against his father's wishes and went off to war. Several months later, Wadsworth received word that Charles had been severely wounded in the Battle of Mine Run. In his despair, losing two wives and now potentially losing a son, Henry finally put pen to paper and wrote these words.

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
and wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men."

Entitled Christmas Bells, it marries the despair of current circumstances with the hope that Christmas Day promises. I think the words have never had more meaning than they do this Christmas 2020. If this has been a less than stellar year for you, as it has been for me, listen, just listen. You will hear the bells playing old, familiar carols, carols that remind us what happened that first Christmas morning. The bells remind us that God is not dead, he isn't asleep, right will prevail.

I love Christmas music, always have. This year I find it having an even deeper meaning to me as it kindles memories that I desperately need this Christmas. That is my prayer for you, that these old, familiar carols kindle needed memories for you and that you are reminded of the promise and hope that Christmas brings. Wadsworth's poem was set to music and has become a much loved Christmas carol. There are several great versions out there, one of my favorites is by Casting Crowns. I suggest you find it, or whatever version you prefer, and listen for the bells and remember.

Back to Normal?

     A lot of things have taken on a new look in 2020. Many gatherings take place only in cyberspace. The ones that do take place face to face have changed; temperature checks, face masks, and social distancing are now the norm. A phrase heard frequently is, "I can't wait for things to go back to normal." but is back to normal where we need to go?

     620 years before the birth of Jesus the king of Judah, Josiah, decided it was time to get the temple back into shape. As they were cleaning out to get ready to get the work started, the high priest, Hilkiah, made an interesting discovery. He found a copy of the Law buried in a closet. He immediately took it to the king. When the king heard the words contained in the book, he tore his clothes to shreds because he realized that their normal had strayed from the path that God had laid out for them. Their normal was not where they were supposed to be. Over the course of a few generations, "normal" had drifted further and further away from where it had started, tradition had replaced scripture. King Josiah recognized a chance for a reset, to go somewhere other than back to normal. (2 Kings 22:1-20)

     2020 has given us an opportunity to make just such a reset. Back to normal shouldn't be our desire, we need to go where God is leading us and that may not look anything like "normal". "We've always done it that way." is the best way to prevent growth and progress. Let's look forward and instead of going back to normal let's go forward to better. Let's look at this as a chance to figure out ways to to do things better, not to just keep doing things like we always have.  

  

 More Now Than Ever

     2020, the year that never seems to end. 2020, the year of masks, social distancing, shelter in place, oh and a very contentious election. 2020, the year where you can explain away any mishap or difficulty by simply saying, "It's 2020." How do you celebrate Thanksgiving in 2020? Do you even try to celebrate it? Do we actually have anything to be thankful for?

     In February of 1995, Phyllis Campbell took a chance and hired a 28 year old with no teaching experience to teach high school math and history. I had a lot to learn about running a classroom and she was the perfect person to shepherd me through that process. I just want to say, "Thank you, Mrs Campbell, for all that you did to shape my career as an educator."

     Yes, 2020 has been a strange year, but isn't every year? The word unprecedented has been thrown around a lot this year, but if you think a minute you will realize that every year is unprecedented. SO, how can you be thankful amidst all of these unprecedented days? I would suggest you look to the Apostle Paul. His entire ministry was one unprecedented event after another. It started in blindness, included multiple shipwrecks, he had to flee from several angry crowds, suffered multiple beatings, spent several years in jail, and ended with an execution. That was Paul's life and yet he is also the person that penned these words, "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thes 5:18 NIV)

     All of my students have had a hand in molding me into the teacher that I am today. One group requires special thanks though. Coaching volleyball has changed the kind of person I am. Those hours with my teams, facing the trials, pressures, successes, and failures that come with sport have taught me how to recognize the emotional issues that plague teenagers in general and teenage girls in particular. I have always been good at predicting behavior, but I wasn't good with emotions. Well, coaching teenage girls has changed that. I am not going to try to list all of you and risk leaving someone out so, "To all of my volleyball players and those that helped with practices and stats, thank you. I am a better person because of you. You will always be 'my girls'.

     So if Paul could be thankful in all things, even when those things included beatings, shipwrecks, jail, and more, surely we can be thankful in the face of this current pandemic. Yes, things are annoying at times, and yes we have to do things differently, but are those really reasons not to be thankful? Paul said to be thankful in all things, not for all things. That is an important distinction. This year has seen a lot of things that I have not been thankful for, but I have continued to be thankful in them.

     My life is spent almost exclusively around teenagers, and for the most part I love that. It is what I was called to do. It does have a down side though. I can go long periods of time without having a conversation with another adult that didn't revolve around school and teenagers. A few years ago that was starting to take a bigger toll on me than even I realized. It was then that a friend of mine, Amie Willis, decided to go back to school. She needed help with some of her math and science classes and asked if I could help her. She quickly became my outlet for adult communication. Having another adult I could just be Mike with instead of Mr Matt was more important than I understood at the time. "Amie, thank you for being a great friend and more importantly letting me turn off Mr Matt and just be Mike. That has meant more than you will ever know. It has  given me a way to recharge batteries that I didn't realize were running so low."

     So, if you are struggling with how to be thankful for Thanksgiving 2020, try what I have done here. There are people that you haven't said thank you to. Find them and tell them thank you. I think you will find that you have a lot more to be thankful for than you realize. You will find you can be thankful in things, even in 2020.

 Go Stand Over There

Acts 8:26-30

     Evangelism, if there is a word that strikes more fear into the heart of a Christian than evangelism I don't know what it is. It is the odd contradiction of our faith that the one thing we are called to do is the thing most of us fear the most. If only it was easier to share our faith.

     Philip was tired. It had been a long day and he just wanted to go home and relax. That's when he heard it, the unmistakable voice of God, "See that chariot over there? Go stand next to it." Well that's an odd thing to do, thought Philip, but he dutifully headed over to the chariot. When he got there he overheard the occupant reading the following passage, 

“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,

    and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.
33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
    Who can speak of his descendants?

    For his life was taken from the earth.”[b] 

So Philip asked him a simple question, "Do you understand what you are reading?" Thus began a long conversation started by a simple question, a long conversation that led to the conversion of one man. One man, but it led to so much more. You see that man worked in the royal court of Ethiopia. That man took his new found knowledge back with him and shared it with those around him. The result? Ethiopia became the home of one of the first Christian churches outside of Israel. All because Philip was standing in the right place at the right time. Evangelism isn't just shouting the gospel from the rooftops, it is more often asking a simple question at the right time. Yes, God calls people to preach and shout the message from the high places, but He also prompts us to just "be in the right place at the right time." So no need to fear the word evangelism, just go stand next to that chariot.

The Dash

     You are going to find as you read that the title has absolutely nothing to do with the rest of this piece. I was going to write something entirely different but it just wasn't coming together like I wanted and it was sounding too much like things other people have already said much better than I ever would. I was going to write about tombstones, more precisely the dates on them. Two numbers separated by a dash. If you want to see basically what it was going to be, look up The Dash. There is even a poem called The Dash.

     Here is what you get instead. Today, after almost 54 years on this planet, I have learned the importance of simple encouraging words given at the right moment. That might seem odd to those of you that know me. That's what I do best, encourage people. Today, I have learned the power of simply telling someone that they are thinking of you and praying for you. Simple words, words that I have said hundreds of times to people going through difficult times. Words, that if I am honest, I have wondered if they actually accomplished anything.

     Well, now that I find myself on the other side of those words I can say that they do. Reading and hearing the words of others, from the most eloquent to the simplest, is a cathartic experience. (Sorry, big word but I couldn't think of a better one.) Galatians 6:2 says, "bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." When several people add their strength to something, no one person has to do a lot of lifting, but the net result is a lot of strength. So that is what you are doing when you send those encouraging words. You are adding a small amount to a much larger whole. So encourage those that are suffering. It doesn't have to be grand and eloquent, simple and heartfelt is fine, in fact perfect.

...and then there's Saturday.

     The week leading up to Easter is a roller coaster ride of emotions. There is the intimacy of sharing communion at the table with Jesus in the upper room on Maundy Thursday. Then there is the anguish and loss of Good Friday. It all culminates with the glory of the resurrection on Easter Sunday. And then there is Saturday.

     Saturday. I think we spend much of our life in that Saturday. We aren't in that upper room sharing a meal with Jesus, we aren't in the deep despair of death and loss, and we aren't in the glory of rebirth. It is just, Saturday. Life goes on and we have to make our way from mundane task to mundane task. Things aren't great, things aren't bad, they just are. We do have an advantage that the disciples didn't have. We know that Easter is coming, even better, we know that Easter has come. We know "the rest of the story." So we may not feel like every day is Easter, a lot of our days probably feel like that Saturday, but we can live in the assurance that tomorrow is Easter. We can live in the assurance of the resurrection even when we don't feel like it.

Back to "Normal"

     So I have been thinking back to my college days a lot recently. No, nothing about the current global pandemic even remotely reminds of my college experience. It does call to mind something I learned though. Some back story. I graduated from a small Methodist college with a degree in math. Being a church sponsored school, every student was required to take one religion class before graduating. Most students were not very excited about this. To make matters worse, there were 2 religion professors, the "easy" one and the other one. Well, try as I might, I ended up with... the other one. Well, to make a long story a little less long, I ended up really enjoying the class and the professor. Yes, he was demanding, and yes he directly challenged these know-it-all 20 somethings to defend their faith, but he also forced us to figure out why we believed what we did. I did well enough in the class that the professor tried to persuade me to change my major to religion.

     Now, I say all that to get to this point. The class was Judeo-Christian Heritage and was an overview of Christianity from Genesis to modern day. One of the things that stuck out to me, and the thing that has me thinking back to those days, is the first century Christian church. It went from a literal handful of adherents to a religion that spanned the better part of 3 continents in a very short period of time. The thing that played a major part in its growth? The obstacles it faced. Despite nearly everything in society working to quell its spread, the gospel spread like wildfire. The early church had to be inventive in how it spread its message to avoid the dangers of being caught. It forced the church to become mobile and it didn't allow its members to get comfortable. The urgency and the cost of believing, instead of being a hindrance actually proved to be fertilizer for the young church.

     Today we are faced with a new set of challenges. No, it isn't particularly dangerous to be a Christian, at least in this country. It is challenging in an all new way. Churches are having to figure out how to assemble when you can't assemble. How do you spread a message when you can't meet? What do you do when, "We've always done it that way." isn't even an option any more? The church is having to flex creative muscles it hasn't had to use in decades, maybe centuries, and it is going to be the better for it. Churches have greatly increased their reach by going to cyberspace. Faith has become more than a luxury to be taken out and put on every Sunday, only to hang it up again until the next week. This crisis will pass in due time and life will go back to "normal", I pray that the church doesn't. I pray that the church is forever changed by this and it sees growth like that first century church.