Still face down in bed and half awake Saturday morning, my eyes opened. First thought in my head, no lie, was this; what if I was waking up in Haiti this morning on the hard ground? outside? What would I tell my children, our home gone, death all around us, hunger, illness, anger, loss? What if I didn't know where the next meal was coming from or if my injuries would heal?
The fact is you don't have to suffer a natural disaster to have these very same questions in plenty of places in the world. How do these people know that God is good? That God is love? Then you have nut cases like Pat Robertson saying Haiti got what it deserved....excuse me?
We are so far removed. Our hearts are so hard! We are so incredibly narcissistic.
This discussion launched last week when I posted a "status update" on Facebook that suggested that Conan should take the $45 million and give it to Haiti because someone else will be offering him a ridiculous salary next week.
Comments were that Conan should buy himself an "icecream" first, and empathy over the fact that he lost his "dream job" and wasn't he only scripturally bound to give his 10%?
My reply was that Conan could buy himself and everyone else in his life an icecream and never miss the $45 million. I was certain that Jesus would have forgone the "icecream" to feed some hungry, sick, homeless, grief stricken people.
This is the thing. We are so me oriented in the West particularly that we think someone else will do it, and I deserve this, I earned it, worked for it, it is my dream, me, me, me, my, my, my, I, I, I
From where I sit, God created us each with unique gifts to use for His purposes, not for my own. If we worked for it, it was because He gave us the strength and ability to do so. Do we play no part? That's not what I am saying. What I am saying is we take far to much credit.
Some are given little and they have many fewer choices in life. In some ways life is simpler. But to him whom much is given much is expected! I am not saying Conan is bad if he doesn't give all his money to help Haiti or anyone else for that matter, but that we all only NEED so much. The rest is what we WANT. How much should we indulge our WANTS and at whose expense?
There will always be people that take advantage of handouts and handups but at the end of the day it is about the condition of the heart of the giver, not so much what is done with the gift.
One of the bestselling books in Christianity today is Victoria Osteen's "Love Your Life" and her husband's "Your Best Life" continues to be on the bestseller list. That says a whole stinkin' lot about the state of Christianity in this country. Last time I checked Jesus said in all 4 of the gospels that those who love their lives and try to save their lives will lose them, but if they lose them for him only then will they be truly found.
God is good, God is love, and He looks to His children to show the world that this is so!
I'm sure there is more I should say, but it probably wouldn't be very nice :)
Your comments and questions however are always welcome!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
The Lord's Supper Rant
I am on campus at Asbury Theological Seminary this week for a class on the sacraments called "Sacramental Theology". The sacraments recognized in the Methodist Church are those of the Lord's Supper and Baptism. A sacrament is defined as an outward sign of an inward grace. An interesting tidbit for your information the Catholic Church actually recognizes 7 sacraments. For the purposes of this post, however, I will focus specifically on the Lord's Supper.
I have the privilege of teaching a new member class once a month at my home church and ensconced in our discussion are the understanding and participation in the sacraments. I love these discussions, but they are only the tip of the iceberg for understanding just what these are and what they mean. The unfortunate thing is this understanding is so lacking in the Church at large in something so rich with meaning and grace! This sign and means of grace must be taught and understood in new ways in the church today, rather than being seen as a mere ritual or tradition lacking truly significant meaning.
In the last two weeks, ironically or not, I have had some unfortunate experiences with the sacrament of the Lord's Supper and they left me feeling hurt for Jesus frankly.
I attended a church I don't normally attend because people are "flocking" there. I had to see what all of the fuss was about. The worship set was good, the messsage was ok, and the Lord's Supper was served BUT there was no explanation of what we were doing, except to say Christ said to do this in remembrance of me. That was it and there is sooooo much more! Also disturbing was the lack of direction as to when to take the bread and wine/juice. Literally everyone was looking around at each other thinking, when do we do this? I honestly was so disturbed I wanted to cry. This is not the way it is supposed to be!
When we take the bread and juice we are taking into ourselves the body and blood of Christ, the body that was broken for us, the blood that was shed for us, the one loaf that we all share as a symbol of the body of Christ and the body of Christ his people gathered together. When we take these things into ourselves we do so in Thanksgiving for who Christ is and what God has done through him, then we do so in Repentance knowing that we are all sinners in need of a savior, confessing our insufficiency, and as we do so we join in Christ's suffering because without the suffering, without the cross, without his death and without our own, we cannot experience the resurrection. Again, this is just the tip of the iceberg here.
The other unfortunate thing was a discussion on how it was difficult to "work" communion into a service because it needed to flow well and it might not fit with the message. Wow! and Ouch! From where I am sitting, taking part in the Lord's Supper is an act of worship, of thanksgiving, of the body of Christ together taking part in the body of Christ. It is God's action and our response. It is the centerpiece of the Christian faith. Why is it difficult to "work" it in?
I would love to hear your comments!
I have the privilege of teaching a new member class once a month at my home church and ensconced in our discussion are the understanding and participation in the sacraments. I love these discussions, but they are only the tip of the iceberg for understanding just what these are and what they mean. The unfortunate thing is this understanding is so lacking in the Church at large in something so rich with meaning and grace! This sign and means of grace must be taught and understood in new ways in the church today, rather than being seen as a mere ritual or tradition lacking truly significant meaning.
In the last two weeks, ironically or not, I have had some unfortunate experiences with the sacrament of the Lord's Supper and they left me feeling hurt for Jesus frankly.
I attended a church I don't normally attend because people are "flocking" there. I had to see what all of the fuss was about. The worship set was good, the messsage was ok, and the Lord's Supper was served BUT there was no explanation of what we were doing, except to say Christ said to do this in remembrance of me. That was it and there is sooooo much more! Also disturbing was the lack of direction as to when to take the bread and wine/juice. Literally everyone was looking around at each other thinking, when do we do this? I honestly was so disturbed I wanted to cry. This is not the way it is supposed to be!
When we take the bread and juice we are taking into ourselves the body and blood of Christ, the body that was broken for us, the blood that was shed for us, the one loaf that we all share as a symbol of the body of Christ and the body of Christ his people gathered together. When we take these things into ourselves we do so in Thanksgiving for who Christ is and what God has done through him, then we do so in Repentance knowing that we are all sinners in need of a savior, confessing our insufficiency, and as we do so we join in Christ's suffering because without the suffering, without the cross, without his death and without our own, we cannot experience the resurrection. Again, this is just the tip of the iceberg here.
The other unfortunate thing was a discussion on how it was difficult to "work" communion into a service because it needed to flow well and it might not fit with the message. Wow! and Ouch! From where I am sitting, taking part in the Lord's Supper is an act of worship, of thanksgiving, of the body of Christ together taking part in the body of Christ. It is God's action and our response. It is the centerpiece of the Christian faith. Why is it difficult to "work" it in?
I would love to hear your comments!
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