Because It Is Hard

Nobody minds an easy assignment now and then.  Every thing doesn't have to be difficult.  We don't need to set a world record every time.  Sometimes it's nice to take the road more traveled.  What's wrong with easy anyway?

The answer is that there is nothing wrong with easy.  It's just that easy limits what we can gain.  When we approach a task or challenge that anyone can easily do, two things occur to us.

1. Why am I doing this at all?  Does  it need to be done?  Why is it my job?  It's not that a task is beneath us, but if anyone can do it, there is nothing special about being the one who does it.

2. How embarrassing will it be if I mess this up.  If you want some examples of this, try googling "you had one job" and see the collection of mess ups on mundane tasks.

We see the same thing in the world of sports.  Sometimes a big athletic powerhouse plays the little school from nowhere.  The big school  really can't win.  If they win by a little, everyone will say that they should have won by more.  If they win by a lot, then they are jerks for running up the score.  And if they actually lose the game?

In athletics we know to set goals and face the tough competition.  We want the experience to bring out the best in us, not the minimal to get by.

When John Kennedy laid out a vision for going to the Moon, he said, "Not because it is easy, but because it is hard."  He laid out a challenge for a country that would rise to its best to fulfill.  He new that it wasn't a question of easy, he was calling on a great country to do great things.  And the goal wasn't reached by accident.  It required deliberate extraordinary efforts to pull it off.

The same is true with God's call to us to love one another.  It is easy to love those who love us back, but that's not what God calls us to do.  He calls us to love those that are hard to love, because it is hard.  Because that way, God's love can be seen through us.

Watch this clip from Pastor Lowell.

Everyone loves those who love them back.  The challenge is demonstrating love to people who are disagreeable or even hostile.  That is the challenge and it is by no means easy.  Like the Moon landing it takes sustained, deliberate extraordinary effort, but it is our calling and it is worth it.

Return on Investment

What so I get out of it?  In the world of business it is common to talk about the "Return on Investment"or a "Cost Benefit Analysis".  Basically it examines how much we will get out of a situation compared to how much we have to put into it.  If the company pursues a certain marketing strategy then they anticipate some amount of sales.  The analysis compares these two to decide if it is worth it.

I think of this when I go to a conference.  I have been to many over the years.  Some are good and some not so much.  Maybe I have a pretty high expectation for what a conference should deliver.  I have heard people say over the years, "If I get one good idea from a conference, then I'm happy."  I always think, "One?  that's it?  This cost hundreds of dollars.  And right now I'm not at work, so there is the opportunity cost associated with that.  If all this time and effort only generate one idea, it had better be one heck of an idea." If I bought a book and sat someplace quietly reading for a day, could I generate a single idea?  I expect a bigger return on the investment, and I'm not even footing the bill.

Extravagance is the opposite of a cost-benefit analysis.  Extravagance says, "We are doing this no matter the cost." Extravagance is about going forward in spite of the fact that the return on investment will be little or even negative.  There is no justification for extravagance, we do extravagance because we do.  Some people embrace an extravagant life style.  They live a life of excess because they can.  It is all part of the image.  There are TV shows to take the rest of us into the world where people engage in the extreme without considering the cost.

So where are we going with this?  In our walk with God we are called to be a good steward of hte resources given to us.  We hear about the Parable of the Talents and we need to make the most of our resources.  But we are also called to love one another.  Jesus tells us that the greatest commandments are to first love God and then each other.  And Love, by its very nature is incredibly extravagant.

Watch this clip from Pastor Lowell.

Love never asks for a return on investment.  We are called to be patient, kind, forgiving, humble with EVERYONE.  We are called to show love, not feel love.  We are called to demonstrate these qualities so that God's love can be seen through us.  In some situations, showing love is easy. There is the immediate return on the investment of the person loving you back.  But I think that we are called to show love extravagantly.  We need to show it, even when we will get nothing in return.

To Sum It All Up

I once heard an interview with a Nobel Prize winning scientist.  The interviewer asked him to sum up his work in a single sentence.  His response was, that if it could be summed up in single sentence, it would not be worthy of a Nobel Prize.

OK, fair enough.  But those of us who are not Nobel Laureates want to understand, we just need it in a condensed form that we can wrap our heads around.

Many students when faced with the daunting task of reading a classic novel will look for a book summary.  When I was in school "Cliffs Notes" were the go to source.  I did a google search and discovered that they are still around as a web site.  Of course many students think that even the Cliffs notes version are too long and just wait for the movie.

It is said that George W Bush told his advisers to write whatever they wanted to tell them on a single page, and I am sure he is not alone.  In sales they talk about the art of the pitch, getting the customer's attention now.  And of course our elections are mostly a series of 15 second sound bites.  The question is, is this a product of our modern culture or just part of human nature.  Maybe people have always had a problem with the vast and needed a little condensing.

This brings us to the Bible and the teaching of Jesus.  The Bible is a vast work of timeless truth.  One can spend their life in its study and only begin to scratch the surface.  So can you sum it up in a sentence or two?

Watch this clip from Pastor Lowell.

First love God, then love everyone else.  I'm not sure if that really sums it all up.  I will leave that question to the scholars.  But I'm confident that it's a good start.  If we love God and love others we will be well on our way to fulfilling God's purposes in our lives.

So There Are You Happy Now?

Some people need a motivation check.  And by "some people", I mean all of us some times and a few people all of the time.  There may be people who always have their hearts in the right place, but I don't think that I know any, and I am sure that I am not one.  Sometimes we do what we do begrudgingly, without joy or love; only going through the motions.  Now I suppose that doing the right thing begrudgingly is better than doing the wrong thing with joy, but it sure isn't the same as approaching a righteous task with a happy heart.

 

It makes me think about what it's like when we make little kids apologize.  Often, they are not sorry about anything, but need to say the apology to avoid a greater punishment.  So they say it, with a forced tone and a bitter heart.

"Sorry.  So there are you happy now?" 

 

But who among us haven't approached an upcoming task with the heart of a stubborn child.  I sure have.  "OK, I'll do it, but you can't make me be happy about it." And we finish up with, "So there, are you happy now?"  

Of course we should be different.  As Christians we are called to do more than help those in need.  We are called to love them too.  There are many avenues for help for those in need.  I think the difference between a church and a secular organization is some organizations help the needy; a church should want to help the needy.   Because no matter what we do, if we don't do it in love, we are not really doing the work of Christ.

Watch this clip from Pastor Lowell.

1 Corinthians 13 is the famous chapter on love that you have heard at 90% of weddings that you have ever been to.   In context it tells us that we can be blessed by great spiritual gifts, tremendous abilities, staggering wealth, but in the midst of it all if we have a bad attitude it means nothing.  

From time to time we all need a motivation check.  We need to ask ourselves why we are doing what we are doing and bring love back into the center.

Playing the Part

In the race for president, we often hear about someone who looks "presidential".  The idea is that voters have some preconceived notion of what a president should be like and until a candidate seems plausible, they don't have a chance.  When Al Gore ran for president, he got negative press for listening to an image consultant on how to seem presidential.  I guess that it's not very presidential to ask how to be presidential.  I think that all of the candidates have image consultants these days.  They just stay out of sight.

To one degree or another, we all play the expectation game.  We have rolls to fulfill.  It is easier if the rolls that we assume are close to our own personality, then meeting those expectations is really not much of a chore.  At that point, meeting expectations is just being yourself.  

Of course, some people try to lower expectations.  If the bar is low enough, it is easy to get over it.  And over it in an impressive way.

Which brings us to Christian expectations.  We expect a certain level of behavior among our fellow Christians.  We think that some actions are tied closely to the faith and every Christian aught to be doing so.

Watch this clip from Pastor Lowell.

So demonstrating godliness is not about shouting amen or thumping a Bible.  It is about showing love.  Now there is an expectation that we should all aspire to meet.

The True Meaning of the Holiday

Note - Parts of this post are taken from the book, How the Irish Saved Civilization.

How often have we heard it or said it ourselves?  As children climb on Santa’s lap or look for colored eggs we often reflect, “Aren't they forgetting the true meaning of the day?”

This is the story of a boy who was kidnapped from his homeland at sixteen.  He was taken to a foreign land and forced into slavery as a shepherd.  While his days and nights were spent cold and hungry, he filled himself with prayer.  And after six years of captivity he received a vision from God who told him to leave, escape that is, head for the coast and find a ship. 

And so he left.  He slipped away in the night and traveled 200 miles as an escaped slave to the coast.  Here he found a ship, but was refused passage because he was an escaped slave.  So he turned to the Lord in prayer.  When the ship tried to leave the shore, their cargo of dogs went crazy and could not be controlled.  Only when they allowed the young man aboard did the dogs settle.   

After crossing the water, the ship came ashore in an area that had been sacked by raiders.  There was no food to be found.  The ship’s crew began to mock him, saying, “Did you’re God bring you from slavery to let you starve?”  Once again, he turned to the Lord in prayer and soon a group of pigs were seen walking down the road towards them.  Once again, the Lord had provided.

He eventually was able to return home, finish his studies and join the ministry.  After many years as a monk he received another vision.  This one told him to return to the land of his captors to preach the Gospel.  He answered the call to return to a land where escaped slaves were roasted alive as sacrifices to pagan gods.  And so it was that a man named Patrick returned to the land of his captivity, Ireland, on a mission to set his captors free. 

And he got them all.  Over the next 40 years Patrick established over 300 churches and converted the entirety of the Irish people.  It is the only known time in history when a full scale conversion of a population took place in a single generation without bloodshed.

So how did he do it?  

He did it by showing them Love and preaching the Gospel in a relevant way that was free of the baggage of Roman culture.  He incorporated the symbols and events of their culture into his teaching.  So instead of building massive bonfires to pay tribute to the Druidic gods; they celebrated the rebirth of Christ by building massive bonfires.  He superimposed an image of the Sun, a powerful symbol of their culture, onto the cross to produce what we call today the Celtic cross.  And he famously used the three leaved shamrocks as a reminder of the trinity, three in one.   

Patrick died on March 17^th.  

So when they dye the river green in Chicago, or march in parades in Boston, when people gather across America to drink green beer and sing “O Danny Boy”, do they remember the meaning of the day?

The following is a prayer written by St. Patrick.

LORICA OF SAINT PATRICK

Note: “Lorica” litterally means breastplate.

I arise today

Through a mighty strength,

The invocation of the Trinity,

Through a belief in the Threeness,

Through confession of the Oneness

Of the Creator of creation.

I arise today

Through the strength of Christ's birth and His baptism,

Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial,

Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension,

Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.

I arise today

Through the strength of the love of cherubim,

In obedience of angels,

In service of archangels,

In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,

In the prayers of patriarchs,

In preachings of the apostles,

In faiths of confessors,

In innocence of virgins,

In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today

Through the strength of heaven;

Light of the sun,

Splendor of fire,

Speed of lightning,

Swiftness of the wind,

Depth of the sea,

Stability of the earth,

Firmness of the rock.

I arise today

Through God's strength to pilot me;

God's might to uphold me,

God's wisdom to guide me,

God's eye to look before me,

God's ear to hear me,

God's word to speak for me,

God's hand to guard me,

God's way to lie before me,

God's shield to protect me,

God's hosts to save me

From snares of the devil,

From temptations of vices,

From every one who desires me ill,

Afar and anear,

Alone or in a multitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and evil,

Against every cruel merciless power that opposes my body and soul,

Against incantations of false prophets,

Against black laws of pagandom,

Against false laws of heretics,

Against craft of idolatry,

Against spells of women and smiths and wizards,

Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul.

Christ shield me today

Against poison, against burning,

Against drowning, against wounding,

So that reward may come to me in abundance.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,

Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,

Christ on my right, Christ on my left,

Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,

Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,

Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,

Christ in the eye that sees me,

Christ in the ear that hears me.

I arise today

Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,

Through a belief in the Threeness,

Through a confession of the Oneness

Of the Creator of creation

Salvation is of the Lord
Salvation is of the Lord
Salvation is of Christ
May thy salvation, O Lord, be ever with us.

St. Patrick (ca. 377) 

On Display

This seems to be a tough blog post to write.  I have been staring at a blank page for the last hour and it seems to be slow going.  The video clip is about giving Glory to God.  It's a good topic, but I am having a hard time putting it in perspective.

I was thinking about Facebook and all of the self aggrandizing that goes on.  Other than political rants, bragging about ourselves or our families seems to be the most common thing on Facebook.  And I'm no better.  I mostly tell jokes or brag up my family, but usually neither. It is easier to give glory to others than to myself.  But it just didn't feel right.  Some people over promote themselves or their kids.  It is annoying and inappropriate.  It's not the same for God. 

I find myself thinking about the book "The Purpose Given Life" by Rick Warren.  It begins with the phrase, "It's not about you." And that sums it up pretty well.  We have a purpose in life, but it's not to pump up ourselves or our families but to glorify God.

Watch this clip from Pastor Lowell.

As Christians, our lives have a purpose.  We are meant to glorify God through our words, deeds and attitude.  Now I find this an overwhelming task.  I mean God is God and I am not.  I'm not sure what I could do to glorify Him.

I think it's a little like a reflection.  You see a mountain reflected in a lake.  Sure it isn't the mountain, but catches the attention.

Or maybe it's like when our children make us proud.  Our children do something special and it makes us proud to share it.  Sure we can do those things too.  We can walk and talk and read and go to the bathroom, but that's not the point.  The point is that they are doing it.  Maybe God feels the same way when we reflect His will, although we do so imperfectly, He is happy that we try.

The Job That Needs Doing

I'm sure that you know about the show "Dirty Jobs" on the Discovery Chanel.  Host Mike Rowe highlights jobs that are, well, less than glamorous.  The idea is that there are things going on in the back ground that none of us see.  So when this show goes to NASA, they aren't looking at the rockets and talking to the astronauts.  They say, "Someone has to climb under that rig and scrape off the grease,  Let's talk to that guy."

Dirty Jobs is popular because it features the anti celebrity; the normal every day people who do a job that needs to be done.  It isn't glamorous, but it's what they do.  I think that many of us relate.

In the classic movie, "It's a Wonderful Life", George Baily spends his life engaged in the job that needs doing.  He puts his dreams on hold to run the building and loan that was started by his father.  He looks at his life as a waste and only later sees how wonderful it truly was.  Some seasons in our life are a struggle for us, but those around us are better off for our efforts.

Which brings us to the life of Jesus Christ.  He was given the ultimate dirty job.  His assignment was to save humanity from itself.  He could have said no, but he did the job that needed to be done.

Watch this clip from Pastor Lowell.

Jesus submitted to death.  He gave himself up for our transgressions.  Now there is a wonderful life.

Discrepant Events

There is a volcanic rock called pumice.  It starts as lava and it cools so quickly that it is full of air holes.  This makes it very light.  So light in fact that it will float on top of water.  If asked, most of us would say that rocks don't float, they sink, but here is a rock that breaks the rules.  It goes against conventional wisdom.  It challenges our assumptions and makes us go hmmm.  It is a discrepant event.

Discrepant events are things that happen that are different than what we expect.  We anticipate one thing, but get another.  Because they are the exception and not the rule they catch our attention and make us curious.  They are a favorite tool of teachers and circus ringmasters.

I would say that the discrepant events are what make life interesting.  When we ask about someone's day, they tell us about the different, the unusual, the strange.  We don't want to hear that they stopped for gas and it went completely normal, we want to hear about the different.

Sometimes it feels like life is nothing but one big discrepant event.  The unusual and the unexpected seem to be the norm.  SOmetimes we long for a patch of normalcy to bring stability to our world.  But only for so long, then we are ready for something to break up the monotony.

Discrepant events are the unusual and different.  And while that can be fun, no one wants to live their life like this.  We want normal and expected with a dash of discrepancy to liven it up a bit.  But that's not the Christian story.

Watch this clip from Pastor Lowell.

The humble will be given Glory, the meek will inherit the Earth, love those that persecute you, the first will be last.  The teachings of Jesus at first glance go against logic.  But that's it.  Jesus is the ultimate discrepant event and that is why he has been attracting the lost for 2000 years.

Promises Made

The political promise is almost a cliche.  When people are running for office, in either party, they are full of promises.  I will do this and I will do that.  But when they get into office, reality is another story.  Now I realize that sometimes the situation changes or the opposition party blocks your plan, but it seems like more should get fulfilled.  It is so bad that there are websites like politifact.com that monitor promises from politicians and how they are being fulfilled.

There's an old joke that goes like this.  A politician dies and he's met in the afterlife.  He is told that he will be shown Heaven and Hell and then choose where he will spend eternity.  He is taken to Hell.  When the elevator door opens he sees a lovely country club golf course.  A fine meal is being served, there is a party going on and it looks like fun.  Then they go to Heaven.  It also looks great.  The clouds and the streets of gold and the angles singing all like he imagined.  Then he was told to choose.  He thought about it and said, "Don't get me wrong, Heaven looks great, but Hell looks like so much  fun.  I can't believe I'm saying this but I guess that I'll choose Hell.  So down he goes, the elevator door opens and he sees a barren wasteland.  With fire and brimstone and the screams of the tortured.  Our politician looks at the Devil and says, "This isn't what it looked like before." The Devil says, "That was the campaign, but now you've voted."

We like guarantees, things that we can believe in.  We like to know that more than death and taxes are certain in our future.  I am not sure if more people lie today than in the past, or if it's easier to catch.  I met a person once who was telling me about his time playing in the NFL.  The stories were really interesting.  Later on I found myself wondering if he was any good. So I did a google search and discovered there was no record of him playing in the NFL.  

The FBI estimates that for every former Navy Seal, there are 300 impostors who claim to have been a seal, but never were.  There is so little to believe in today.

This is what makes the promises of God so important.  In a world where we need more than death and taxes to measure certainty, we have God's promise that He will never leave us or forsake us.  The 23rd Psalm promises that I will live in the house of the Lord forever.  Now there is something to rely on.

Watch this clip from Pastor Lloyd.

God promises blessings today and salvation for eternity.  Now there is a 100% guarantee.