Christmas Gifts to A World in Turmoil

Christmas Gifts to A World in Turmoil

I am finding it difficult to really get into the Christmas Spirit this year.  The lingering memories of gun violence – particularly the December massacre of children in Newtown; the atrocities of militants in the Middle East and emerging realities of post-9/11 torture; the glaring truth that racism is still very much alive in our society…….it’s hard to feel good about decking the halls or singing Joy to the World.   I feel that John the Baptist’s cry of “Repent!” seems to be the needed message of our Advent – Christmas journey.  The innkeeper’s no room for love and peace on earth sign hangs brightly illuminated over our world.  The flight to Egypt and Herod’s murder of the innocents is a recurring lead story in the media.  (Prayers for the evil slaughter in Pakistan) To celebrate anything seems to be so inappropriate.

Yet, on a night in Bethlehem a child was born into a world that was filled with poverty and conflict.  “For unto us a child is born!!!!”  Amid the turmoil and disorder which is swaddling our world, we need to once again hear the message and seek to grasp its simple message again.  A child is born!  Innocence, imagination, dreams – these gifts of infancy are offered to us.  “Imagination disposes of everything; it creates beauty, justice, and happiness, which is everything in this world.” This thought of 17^th century philosopher, Blaise Pascal, reminds us of a foundational message of this miraculous stable birth.  Our world is in its chaotic state for our lack of childlike imagination.  We keep repeating behaviors that haven’t worked in the past!

If we really want to bring peace on earth good will among all, we need to change our gift giving strategy.  I offer here some innocent appropriate gifts for our consideration.

·         Give the gift of a commitment to tutoring for an “EXTENDED” period of time to one child who is disadvantaged by the realities of poverty.

·         Give the gift of childlike repetitive questioning “Why are guns so easy to obtain?” by writing / calling again and again and again…..elected officials seeking an answer to that innocent question.

·         Give the gift of creating opportunities for honest and gracious cross-racial, cross-cultural dialogue on “being human”….the gift of moving out of our comfort zone.

·         Give the gift of building homes through working with Habitat for Humanity.

·         Give the gift of knowledge to yourself by researching both sides of the story when it comes to issues of international discord, racism, poverty, and prejudice.  This gives the gift of civility to the world.   

·         Give the gift of not giving unneeded gifts to others and give the money to Heifer Project International so others might experience freedom from their poverty.

·         Give the gift of welcome to strangers rather than keeping them at a distance.  Give up on assumptions about others who seem different from you.

·         Give the gift of a simple “thank you” to those who humbly serve us each day – from the store clerk, to the restaurant servers, to those who clean up our messes and haul our trash, to those who deliver our mail, to those who make our communities safe – police, EMTs, to those who help us make purchases over the phone, to…………………

·         Give the gift of appreciation to our military and their families through supporting community programs for their benefit.  Employ a veteran in a meaningful job.

·         Give the gift of your hands in participating in visitation programs to the elderly and ill and dying.

·         Give the gift of making your business open to employing and offering training to those seeking to escape from poverty.

·         ………………………..

It’s time to open the Christmas gift of childlike imagination and give that to the world!  Give heart-made and handmade gifts. 

 

Prayer – God who dared to become flesh and experience the human journey, thank you for the innocence born into a world which has lost its ability to conceive a peaceable realm in which your love and justice abides.  Instill in us a reborn spirit that reaches out like a newborn child to embrace a world in need of a love that is untethered from strident opinions, past assumptions and un-imaginative thought. Through our lives help us to adore Him once again. Amen.                   

Second Thoughts

 

 

My Parents’ Advice

I am guilty!  I watched the Eagles defeat the Colts last night!  Lots of my friends probably watched Sunday’s football games and in rooting for their favorite team and when a block or tackle was missed were dismayed at a missed “hit.”  Football is a violent game and the gladiators are told to hit anything that is in sight!  Remember the high school football cheers:  “Push ‘me back, shove ‘em back, w..a..y back”……"Hit them again, harder, harder.”  Football fans in some small way are co-conspirators in the increasing abuse of woman and children and humanity in general.  So what should we expect from grown men who are told for most of their lives to hit and shove anything in their way? I know what you are thinking – “Bob, that’s taking it a little too far.”  Have I got your attention!

We are told that football is the new “America’s game!”  Good bye Babe Ruth and your drunken behavior, good bye Barry Bonds and your synthetic muscles, good bye Ty Cobb with your abusive language, good bye Mike Trout with your marvelous character and ability, good bye ……….  We now love hitting people rather than inanimate objects like baseballs.  Violence is in, gentleness is out!  People in the legislature striking others with their harsh words; gun lobbyists buying the hearts and votes of elected officials.  We moved from boxing and Greco Roman wrestling to full contact fighting – the crowds are growing.  We allow poverty to exist thus fostering violence in our cities and around the world as the left out try to fight their way out.

What is the anecdote to end the violence – or at least curbing it spread?  We could stop watching football?  For sports enthusiasts like myself, there’s not a fighting chance of that!  We could boycott the sponsors of such gladiator events.  Good bye Budweiser, almost all fast food restaurants, General Motors products, cellphone carriers, Marriott points, computer operating systems, and hundreds of other companies that are part of our everyday lives.  We could picket all violent sporting events.  We could get impassioned and put our hearts and money into pushing for stronger gun and abuse legislation.

However, it was my parents who taught me the simple answer to it all.  “Don’t you ever hit anybody!”    Before my studies in Biblical exegesis I took their words “Blessed are the peacemakers” and “Turn the other cheek” literally.  That stance in life did cause me some pain – like being thrown into gym lockers when I wouldn’t fight back or receiving an extra black and blue mark here or there.  Oh, I may have pushed someone away or grabbed a child to calm him down or keep her from hurting him or herself.  “Don’t hit anyone!”  Don’t hit or slap anyone –regardless of gender or age.  Practice non-violence!  Don’t hit people with your angry, hurtful words! 

There has been a lot of talk this past week of what the court can do or the NFL should do about violence against women and child abuse.  I will have to debate whether I stop watching my Eagles and whether I change from the Marriot to the Radisson – they just dropped their sponsorship of the NFL (hopefully for righteousness sake and not for the sake of the dollar).  I know I will continue to do what I can to fight poverty so that the left out won’t have to fight their way out.  But, I know that for the sake of my parents, my children, and those who meet me I will try to always turn the other cheek and be a peacemaker.

Prayer -  God of love and God of shalom, I pray for all those who are abused by acts of emotional and physical violence.  I pray for those who have violence so woven into their souls that their first response to life’s trials is to be physically and verbally aggressive.  God who embraced the little ones and touched with gentleness the rejected, instill in me a gentleness toward all and an aggressiveness in  fighting the causes of violence in the world.  I pray this in the Peacemaker’s name.  Amen.         



The Question is Not Whether He Was Cut but Will He Be Picked Up?

Michael Sam, the first openly gay NFL aspirant, was cut by the St. Louis Rams.  After almost being undrafted, Sam’s dream came true.  He was drafted in the late rounds (249^th to be exact) by the St. Louis Rams.  He had won many defensive player accolades as he starred at the University of Missouri.  It was almost a storybook tale! UM star gets to play for the St. Louis, MO. football team in the regular season…….hope springs eternal! 

But the reality of the Rams having a plethora of all-star quality defensive ends and the emergence of an undrafted defensive end whose pre-season rating numbers far exceeded those of Sam made the decision by the numbers clear…………regardless of race, sexual preference, nice guy criteria, Michael Sam needed to be put on waivers.  In professional sports, like it or not, it’s about putting the best players on the field. Then the team can win! That puts hometown fans in the stands and attracts advertising sponsors to pay the price so that those whose livelihood (from the multi-dollar contract player to the low wage earning vendor selling popcorn or beer in stands) depends on the team’s success will also be winners.

BUT NOW COMES THE REAL TEST OF WHERE OUR SOCIETY STANDS ON THE LGBT QUESTION.  Will Michael Sam be picked up off the waiver list by another team?  By the numbers Michael Sam is more proficient at his defensive end position than many veterans and rookies in the league.  There are at least several teams that have defensive linemen on their roster with less skill than Michael Sam.  Jeff Fisher, the Rams’ coach, acknowledged that Michael Sam has the ability to play in the NFL……just not on a talented defensive end laden team in St. Louis.  Now the question of our society’s – particularly in the world of sport – openness on LGBT justice issues is really being tested.  We now know Michael Sam has “got game” but will he be able to play in the NFL game?    

Michael Sam knew the truth and knew the numbers and made a statement that displayed his gracious and tenacious character when he tweeted: "I want to thank the entire Rams organization and the city of St. Louis for giving me this tremendous opportunity and allowing me to show I can play at this level.  I look forward to continuing to build on the progress I made here toward a long and successful career. The most worthwhile things in life rarely come easy, this is a lesson I've always known. The journey continues ..."

Several months ago it was about a gay being drafted by an NFL team.  It was first-and-ten.  Now it’s about a rising NFL prospect who proved he can play.  Now it’s second-and-three.  Those who have defended injustice are rapidly losing ground!  Hallelujah!

Downsizing Thoughts

Downsizing Thoughts

                I have been asked on numerous why many churches with a more evangelical emphasis were growing and what are the key factors in church growth.  These questions were asked of me as I served large steeple, large building churches……buildings that had high maintenance and upkeep costs.  My answer to the growth questions – particularly in relationship to new, fast growing churches - included the following elements.

·         Begin by identifying a community / geographic area which has the potential for growth.

·         Create a church culture that is attractive to the socio-economic demographics of that community.

·         Avoid creating building and property costs as long as possible – rent the local high school gym or an underutilized building.  If you build, start small.  Use the financial giving to hire staff that can be in the community and create programs that will attract the target audience.

·         Build a spiritual presence that proclaims accessibility and joy.

·         Consider building expansion only when the growth calls for it. 

Now that is a fine formula for a new church start, but the reality with many churches is that:

·         There are large high cost, high maintenance structures already there.

·         The cost of the maintenance precludes hiring more staff and creating new programs.

·         The church population has a history – traditions – that are already in place and members who are already there.

·         The community is over populated with other faith communities. 

Many historic denominations are struggling with just how to address the issue of declining membership because of challenging demographics and limited funding for dynamic programming because of a high percentage of church budgets being spent on bricks and mortar.  Some denominations and judicatories have decided to look to new church starts and limit their financial exposure to churches (particularly in urban settings) which are in decline.  Some of this shift in support is due to churches in which members are recalcitrant in looking at new ways for new days.

                The New York Times article on church downsizing – which is attached – stirred my thinking on what are some options for the building laden.  While it was my blessing to serve such church and still have significant growth, I always felt greater spiritual and numerical growth was impeded by the property budget.  (Just ponder the reality that in one church I served the property budget was close to one third - $350,000 - of the whole budget.  Think of what half of that money - $175,000 - could do in the proclamation of the Gospel).  The following thoughts are offered to give insight and create dialogue on this every increasing challenge to mainline churches and their buildings.

·         Begin with prayer for insight and letting go of past images and traditions about church. Include Bible study about what Christian community looks like and the core reality that church is more than a building.  Begin future thinking outside the box, as if it were a new church start.

·         Make significant, low cost changes to the outside appearance and interior that speaks to a next generation of seekers / worshippers.  Landscaping, signage, etc.  An occasional “curb appeal” check needs to be done.  Add video monitors and consider other technology, consider changing from fixed pews to chairs, redecorate high visibility areas of the church – even a good paint job and some new furniture can change the feel to visitors.

·         Get outside the building so that others might choose to come in.  Hold study groups, personal visitations, office hours in the local diner, bar or coffee shop.  Become involved in groups where potential seekers are – the church’s presence in unexpected places helps others to let go of the church’s historic image. It also helps to overcome any building fixation that some may hold.

·         Broker the building.  Fill empty spaces with good causes for low rent.  A basic rent for filled space is better than no income from empty space.  Consider forgetting about a portion of the tax exempt status by renting space to appropriate for profit organizations or businesses.  Survey the landscape for good community programs needing space for expansion.

·         Seek grants for creative, community betterment efforts – a place for artist studios, program space for veteran re-entry, the yet to be dreamed program.

·         While some might consider this blasphemy, build an endowment that covers the property budget.  Therefore, members are only responsible the costs for in-reach and outreach programs….programs are the heart of a ministry.

·         Consider a shared ministry with another nearby church – no need at the beginning to select one of the buildings but design a creative program for the shared ministry that will give the ministry an identity of creativity and faithful witness – e.g. one building for worship as well as for outreach to the “in need” in your community and to the global community; the other a center for faith formation for all ages and space for youth and young adult ministry.

·      If there is a campus setting, consider selling some of the property.

·      Be like Abraham and Sarah.  Leave the property - sell the building!  They were well settled in Heron but God called them for the good of future generations to seek a new place -Canaan.  Always consider the option of selling the property!  For the sake of ministry and mission sell the current property and move to Canaan.  Remember that few of us will live in the same home for our whole lives.  We upsize, we downsize, we move to a new places seeking to fulfill our dreams.  Who wants to be remember for their building rather than their mission?  When it come to either mission or mortar....we know what the faithful choice should be!  (And, don't forget the financial manna received for the mortar can strengthen the mission!  
 

·         …………………  

We are blessed with buildings that are gifts from the past.  Often they are works of art, majestic and awe inspiring.  But they also inhibit our flexibility – Our Israelite ancestors in seeking the Promised Land moved their sanctuary (tent) with them. – and creativity in following the One who had no home and found any space to be holy space.  Downsizing?  Maybe!  But before taking that step, up-size the vision of what a community of faith should be and then decide if the bricks and mortar can be an asset to reaching for that vision!

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/16/us/denominations-downsizing-and-selling-assets-in-more-secular-era.html?_r=0