His Hebrew name was Saul, and his Greek name was Paul.  I’ve been reading his letters in the scripture for as long as I can remember.  My relationship with him is complicated.  I can’t really blame him.  Part of the frustration I have with Saul/Paul is that every letter of his is partial, and fragmented.  We have his answers to questions we don’t have a record of.  He also didn’t write his letters with the intent of writing scripture.  He spoke to specific people at specific times and places, and although the principles behind and through everything he wrote can have application to us…the times are different and so are the problems.  In the end, though, people haven’t changed all that much.

The other day I was reading about the beginning of Paul’s life and his miraculous encounter with Jesus and subsequent change of heart.  I saw something I hadn’t paid attention to before.  His work; seeking out the “People of the Way” within the synagogues, and brutally overseeing their banishment, torture, and even deaths, was all because of his radical beliefs.  He was doing it in the name of God and the Church.

On this day, as I read the story of Paul (at this point called, “Saul”) on the road to Damascus, doing the work of the Church (the heads of the Church commissioned him specifically) when he is blinded by a light, falls to the ground and hears the voice of Jesus,

“Saul, why are you persecuting ME?”

For all the times I have read this story it really never sunk in that Saul/Paul was persecuting those called Christians, according to HIS (Saul’s) reading of the scripture, the belief of HIS (Saul’s) heart AND with the full teaching and authority of the Church, which was persecuting their very reason for existence: JESUS.

So, even today, can the Church and Jesus be at odds? 

Many people in this place and time have left the organized Church.  Ask them why.  The polls clearly show that many leave because they are tired of the dogma, the judgmental attitudes, the outdated liturgy, the over-produced “Broadway-style” presentation called “worship”, OR overly symbolic, outdated, tradition that has no relevance to them.

However, many of those who have left the Church still feel as though they have become hyper-spiritually sensitive.  It’s not God they’ve left, it’s the Church, because the Church doesn’t seem to represent the God they understand speaking to them.  There is the other camp, those who say they grow weary of “Church-bashing” because after all the Church is the “Body of Christ” and you can’t have Jesus without the Church (the Groom without the Bride).

Personally, and those of you who worship with me know this, I am somewhere in the middle. My “passion” (to use an over-used term) is for the restoration of the Church.  I grieve for the “lost” also but, as Paul himself states, there is NO EXCUSE for not recognizing God where He is.  Most of the “lost” are looking for a Home, a place where they find people who love them, and accept them and their belief. Home should be the Community of Faith, where Jesus sits in the big chair.  There, people who are seeking a home find unconditional love from the community.  When they question why people love them, they are introduced to the Head of the community.  But if the Church doesn’t have it together to begin with, then “the lost” are up a creek called “you-know-what”, without a paddle.

So, once again, can the Church and Jesus be at odds?

Of course it can!  I picture tonsils (yes, tonsils).  Tonsils are placed by God at the gateway to our physical bodies to protect against the onset of viruses and germs.  Sometimes they get so overrun with poison that they not only can’t protect the body, and they turn against, and poison, the body – and then have to be removed. So it is with any group of people who organize themselves according to their like beliefs and preferences and call themselves a “church”.  They, and we, run the risk of turning from the very thing that should guard and protect the way to Restoration, and become “poison” itself.

Yes, the Church has always been built of human stones, humanity is imperfect, and the scriptures continue to tell us that the Church won’t be perfect until the Day of the Lord and the Age-to-Come. But is THAT an excuse to just let it go?  Far from it!  The world is filled with Believers & Followers doing the wrong thing because they are listening to themselves rather than to Jesus.  They follow their own logic based on a limited idea of God’s plan and behave according to what they believe the right thing is, thus creating God in their image: the big mistake of the Church leaders during the time Jesus walked in our flesh.

As soon as we individually (or the Church, corporately) rely on our own self-will, stubborn reliance on dogma, or reluctance to open our minds to the “living and active” scripture-beyond-the-page, we will fail as the Body of Jesus the King.  It is faithful, sincere, humbling, and desperate, adherence to the heartbeat, voice, and hand of Jesus that brings us to the purity that is His own community of faith.

The Church’s own Road to Damascus will happen when a congregation treats the scripture like a book of charms, treats tradition like Truth, and behaves as if Jesus was their own “metaphysical Santa Claus”.

It will happen when a congregation seeks out the “thing” THEY label as “sin” while overlooking their own transgression against God and miss the very Light of God in EVERY breathing soul.

It will happen when a community of faith believes they are the ONLY community of faith and behave accordingly.

There will be a day, and already has been for many a congregation, when the Light will blind, and the voice will say, “Church, Church, why do you persecute Me?”

Can the Church and Jesus be at odds? 

Yes.

Can the Church be restored?

Yes, and the Church will be, either by the choice of true Believers & Followers, or by a crisis. When the Church blindly puts Jesus behind the human construct of religion a crisis is sure to come.

The Good News is, we have the power to make the choice, with the Spirit (who leads us into ALL TRUTH)…and so, we can avoid being blinded… 

…ironically, by simply opening our eyes to The Light.

A Blog by Rev. Ken Rickett

“I understand.” No matter how these two words are expressed, their power is unique and empowering when shared with sincerity and compassion. “I understand.” No two words are more resented than when uttered by a knucklehead who has no inkling of the depths of one’s hurt and pain or when callously said as if to say, “let’s change the subject.”

“I understand.” Sometimes these words are said to say, “I get it.” In Geometry class, more than once I asked a second time for an explanation before I could say, “I understand.”

“I understand.” Sometimes these words are not said aloud, but they reflect the ability of an intuitive person to “just know” what is going on without having to be told. For example, a husband and wife are friends with another couple, and they get together several times a year, but one day the news comes that their married friends have separated. The wife is shocked and in disbelief, but the husband,

an intuitive person, says, “Honey, where have you been? I knew this split was coming several months ago!”

“I understand.” “Or I don’t understand!” Hard-of-hearing folks grasp a few words (but not all words) but their minds process those words in a way that they make sense and they say to themselves, “I understand” and respond after that nanosecond pause while they process what they heard. Or they tell themselves, “I don’t understand” and respond by saying “I didn’t catch that!” As a person who lives in this hard of hearing world, we often evaluate in our minds, not whether we actually heard what was said, but whether we UNDERSTOOD what was said. Only then can we respond without embarrassment.

“I understand.” When it comes to very recent history, there is no such thing as having a full understanding of all the dynamics and forces that are driving our culture, our society and our government. My great uncle, Dr. J. Winston Pearce, several years ago after his retirement as a seminary professor, wrote the history of Campbell University, located in Buies Creek, NC where he decided to live after

retirement. When he was writing the book back in the 1970s, I visited him over a weekend. He was telling me about composing that book, and he said, “In my contract with the University to write this book, I insisted that a clause be included that stated that I could not be held accountable for any interpretation or summary of the recent history of the University.” When I asked, “Why?” His response was one that I should have known since I held a degree in history, namely, “recent history is too fluid, and too many factors that are influencing the decisions of the university or its student body may not be identified for some time.” Sometimes, it is wise to recognize limits to our ability to fully understand modern dynamics!

Sometimes we yearn to declare “I understand” but we are bewildered! Case in point: the decline of membership and activity in congregations across most denominations or Christian groups. All the data and possibilities that could give us some insight is the subject for another time. It is one thing to identify various factors at play in this decline, but more importantly, the question “how do we reverse this pattern?” still begs for an answer. Understanding all the dynamics

that has driven this decline in church membership and activity does not imply that immediate solutions are viable and relevant. To understand does not always point to the means by which obstacles are overcome. But the Church of Jesus Christ is a Spiritual Body, and the Spirit moves and acts in mysterious ways.

“I understand.” Have you ever heard these words. “God’s salvation is so simple that even a child can understand it?” Is it true? A child may understand the simple acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior as a profession of faith, but there is no way a child understands the struggles and difficulties that lie ahead.

When it comes to matters of faith, we are “overstating it” when we say, “I understand…my faith!” AH! Our God is constantly revealing Self, and in spiritual growth, we sometimes get to the point where we say, “I used to think, (this or that) but I have come to a deeper understanding!” I served four different churches as a summer Youth Director working with teenagers while I was in college and

the seminary. Some of these teens were struggling…not with school…they were struggling because some of them were coping with parental divorce, or the death of a grandparent, or the impact of a careless few seconds while driving a car, or the news of a terminal illness to some family member or another church member.

For the first time in their lives, they were asking questions about the “Goodness of God” or “How come God allows bad things to happen to someone who tries to do the right thing?” or “What happens after death?” Like many parents, the Church was “overprotective” of its youth, and at times, as a summer Youth

Director, I was told that “teens need to be taught right from wrong, but also they must enjoy life.” Being naive, I mostly agreed, which I regret. Now, I know better. Children need to sing “Jesus Loves Me” but teenagers know all too well that life’s experiences require a much, much, much, broader and deeper grasp of God’s Love. Either they get a more solid theology as teenagers (namely, the

understanding of the Person and Nature of God as revealed in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit) or we will experience a Church much like today’s…in which our God is too small to deal with the vast range of human experiences in their earthly life.

“I understand” When it comes to GOD, it is not so much WHAT we now understand about GOD, it is whether we understand that GOD wants us to learn much, much more about GOD’S presence and activity in this ol’ world!

I dropped into the bed, like the aging, achy man I am becoming. It was a little worse a few nights ago. Recent events made my body as heavy as my mind and heart. The tragedy was bad enough, but equally tragic were the unexpected responses from those I thought I knew well.

I closed my eyes to the anger, the confusion, in shock, and my despondency.

The many pillows, ceiling fan, and covers did their work and I was soon transported.

The first thing I heard was a sea of human voices. They were talking quietly, loudly, laughing, whispering, carrying on a million conversations. I was rooted, literally it seemed, outside in a wide-open space of hills and valleys. I sensed more than saw that it was twilight. Familiar and friendly faces were close beside me, chatting to each other and me. We were shoulder to shoulder. I stretched up and looked around as far as I could. There were rolling hills and shallow valleys with nothing but shoulder-to-shoulder humanity standing on every inch, close enough that their bodies touched. We were all standing as a casual multitude, chatting happily (or not so) with each other. I heard those who were close directing conversations to me, but I was somehow having an “out-of-body” …it was, after all, a dream.

Then, a sudden crack, a bat hitting a ball, or a bullet tearing through the field, and two things happened. First, the conversation stopped for a millisecond and then picked up with more fervor, unfamiliar, feral. Second, I had an eye-opening realization that many around me, those who had looked so familiar, suddenly did not seem familiar at all…and some…antagonistic.

As the sun continued to set, quiet and soft rain began to fall. A breeze came up, causing us all to bend as it blew across the hills to where my little valley stood. Heads moved and danced slightly, like waves on the sea. It was suddenly where I was and I bent as well, my feet firmly planted. I said, 

“What happened? Suddenly I’m not sure of my footing. I’m not sure of my surroundings or those that stand around me…it used to be familiar and good. Now I feel our differences and not our similarities…it seems like everything has shifted.” 

And then The Breeze spoke, “You are right, but there are also some of these who harbor more than differences. Some stand in complete opposition to your moral belief and condition. They are not like you, nor you like them, in important ways.” 

“So, I think I should do something.” I said to the Breeze.

“You should do what I’ve always told you to do.” 

“You’ve been speaking to me?” 

“I’ve been speaking to all, to you and to these. Those who have ears will hear.” 

“Ah, ears…hahaha…I see what you did there. Ears. Corn. Field.” 

The Breeze seemed to “look” at me with the conscious patience of a teacher, with some not-unkind patronizing, and smiled.

“This is what I say to you, and to all.
 Speak the Truth thoughtfully.
Live the Truth generously.
Embrace all, kindly.
Wait for the harvest.” 

“What about love, isn’t that what it’s all about?” I said, with just a hint of sarcasm. “I am now aware my feelings may have changed about some of these millions on millions…finding a way to love is difficult, suddenly.

“I said nothing about ‘feeling’. What do you think ‘love-by-choice’ is but acting kindly, and being thoughtful about the Truth, and generously giving that Truth (which is life and love) to all, equally?” 

“Should I turn away from them…at the least, or help remove them from the field…at the most?” 

“No.” The Breeze grew stronger. “Do you think that all of creation is simply ‘here’? Do you think that all creation is ‘static’? No, these, like every part of creation are living, growing, changing beings. What they think now is not as they have thought before. What they speak now, is not the way they spoke before. Neither will they think and speak like this in the future. 

You neither have the knowledge nor the authority to hinder any of these before The Harvest. You don’t have the knowledge to judge YOURSELF, so how could you judge THEM? A lot can happen between planting and harvest…and only The Farmer knows the field from beginning to end.” 

It was silent for a while. Only the reflected light of the moon shown on the rain and the heads of millions over the rolling hills and valleys of humanity. We didn’t seem to be bothered by the wet…it was, after all, simply a dream.

It was all quiet and blue, but I spoke to The Breeze, in the type of voice that comes out of knowing things now that I wished I didn’t know.

“I can see now what I couldn’t see before. Some of these don’t really want ME here, and some in fact HATE my very presence. They may be ‘nice’ to my face, but would be happier if I were gone. 

The Breeze came again. 

“What others think of you is none of your business.
What you think of them is ALL of your business. 

‘Nice’ is not the same as ‘Kind’. ‘Kind’ is what I ask…it comes from a deeper place and is not a mask slipped on simply to cover inner cruelty. 

When the Sun rises on the field, His light will help The Farmer see and know what to harvest…based on Truth, generosity, and kindness…which is the ‘act’ of love-by-choice.” 

“I still think that I could help. I could point out those that aren’t speaking or behaving correctly…they shouldn’t be…” 

The Breeze interrupted me. 

“You would do more harm than good.
You have neither the knowledge nor the authority.
Speak the Truth thoughtfully.
Live the Truth generously.
Embrace all, kindly…and wait for The Harvest.” 

The sun started to rise. The Breeze started to move on. The voices were like the sound of the ocean to me. The faces close were still familiar. The faces farther off were less so. But they all crowded around me as The Breeze passed through us again. I bent, and I could feel my feet becoming more “rooted” to the ground with every bend of The Breeze…as if growing roots.

The close bodies transformed into my pillows and covers once again. There were the familiar shadows of my bedroom. It was still dark. It was still night. I was still despondent. I could not fall back to sleep.

Maybe nothing had changed…maybe something had…

…after all, a lot can happen between planting and harvest. I’m not fully grown yet, and I am not simply ‘here’ or simply ‘static’. I am a living, growing, changing…and learning, being. I am responsible only for myself, but my love for The Farmer, the Sun, and The Breeze is dependent on my generosity to all those around me. My dealings with those others in the field will determine how The Farmer harvests…and what He harvests.

And so, I will speak the Truth thoughtfully.
I will live the Truth generously.
I will embrace all, kindly…and…

…I will wait for The Harvest.

MATTHEW 13:34-30

It was a good time of life for me. I was in college, almost graduating, singing and performing, and enjoying life. I was also the “single male” among a few young couples, friends with little kids. For some reason, little kids loved me. The times I would go over to a friend’s house or apartment, and their kids were there, they would run to me like puppies. We would, inevitably, spend some time building a fort or I would sit as they showed me various things I needed to see: toys, projects, art, rocks they had found…etc. 

A memory of that golden time was triggered by something I saw on the street last week – the plastic arm of a baby doll, lying on the sidewalk.

One evening, as I sat in the apartment of some friends before we went out to dinner, their girl toddler (the youngest of two, the other being one year older and a boy) wheeled in her pink plastic stroller with what I assumed was her “baby”. She came over to me and I looked inside the stroller.

“Is that your baby?” I asked

“Ummhmm. Her name is Neenee.”

I looked in and was a little surprised to see a dismembered doll. Every bit of her in pieces; torso, arms, legs, and head…as if little Neenee was the victim of some plastic shark. Each of her delicate parts were carefully placed in the stroller, right where it they would, by nature, be. They just weren’t connected to each other. I wasn’t quite sure how to word my question.

“Umm…what…uh…why are her arms and legs (and smiling head!) not on her body?”

“Because Nathan (her brother, currently hitting something with a plastic hammer) keeps hurting her. He breaks her when I’m not looking.”

“Oh,” I said. Then I whispered to her, hoping to once again prove myself to be their favorite non-related uncle, “Would you like me to put her back together?”

She whispered back to me conspiratorially, “No. I broke her all up myself this time.”

Confused, I said, “YOU did?”

“Uh-huh. That way he can’t hurt her any more…he can’t break her, she’s already broken.” 

The Philosophy minor in my head let her words settle in. The young theologian still forming inside me let me know that I should catalogue this moment. Then I simply said, “She’s already broken.”

“Uh-huh. And also, I keep her in here now, with me…and he knows he can’t get past me…and I can beat him up, and I bite.” 

Violence aside, this moment, long forgotten, came back to me in a complete picture when I saw the baby doll arm on the sidewalk last week. I applied the moment, and the lesson, to a few people I know…and to me.

“You can’t break me now. I’m already broken…” 

…reminds me that I am weakest when I hold on to anything that people or circumstance can break. Any time I try to hold myself together, or worse, create false armor, I have only created something else for circumstance and people to break. Better I should let go of the rope before I get to the end of it. 

“You can’t break me now. I’m already broken…” 

…carries strength in the statement, resting in the knowledge that being broken isn’t always a weakness, and Jesus’ healing is almost never about putting things back the way they were. Restoration is always about placing someone in a better place than even before the “hurt”.

“You can’t break me now. I’m already broken…”

…isn’t the entire phrase, nor is it the entire truth. I can only speak for myself but knowing that no one can “break” me is only a piece of the armor. Being broken already might be a “so there!” moment to enemies. But the “mic drop” is that Jesus hasn’t left me there, He stays with me, knowing from the moment I was broken, that He would pick up the pieces and hold on to me. 

 He will stay with me. If any circumstance, any moment, or any person, plans to break me again…they will have to go through Him. 

PHILIPPIANS 1:21 • COLOSSIANS 3:3 • ROMANS 8:35-39

So, one of my Birthday gifts, some years ago, was the complete set of an “old-time” television show.  Now BEFORE I tell you what the show is, you need to know that even as a small child I was watching RE-RUNS of this show and NOT the originals.  It’s PERRY MASON, the show that sparked my interest in courtroom and crime dramas and mysteries (thus feeding my longtime obsession with LAW & ORDER…any of the franchises!).

Perry was always so calm and cool, his deductive and reasoning gifts were almost supernatural, his suits were “cool”, his hair was “cool”…his Secretary (Della) was “cool” and his detective (Paul) was very “cool”.  The guilty fell apart under his gaze, Judges bowed to his wisdom, and even his longtime adversary “Hamilton Burger” (Ham Burger…really?) had to accept that Perry was a worthy opponent.

Back then, in the black and white mid-century, it seemed that raising one’s right hand and swearing on a Bible (“I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth…”) was all that was needed (aside from Perry’s glare) to turn even the most practiced liar into a truth-telling paragon.  If only that really and truly worked. 

What if, every day before any one of us left the house, we placed our hands on the family Bible and said, “Today…I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”?  We, as Believers & Followers, shouldn’t need to do that.

“Now above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath.  Your ‘yes’ must be ‘yes’, and your ‘no’ must be ‘no’, so that you won’t fall under judgment.” JAMES 5:12

Unfortunately even in (and sometimes, especially in) the Church the truth (outside of the scripture) gets used infrequently when members chat amongst themselves in and out of the sanctuary.  The Church is a community of people, and as such people will talk about people…it almost can’t be helped.  But in doing so, God has clear guidelines that sometimes get ignored.

GENEROSITY INSTEAD OF GOSSIP…JAMES, Chapter 3 has much to say about “taming the tongue”, including the difficulty of doing just that.  However, as Christians and “People of the Word”, our “words” must be right, just and true…especially when thinking and talking about others who are not present.

If you have ever played the game, “Gossip, Gossip” you know how easily the “truth” of the original language can get mangled in simple translation and communication between just a few people.  In PRAYER CHAINS alone, a person’s request for the healing of a “hang-nail” can end up being a brain tumor by the time the request is through.  And what about information that one hears outside the Church about a church member?  Should what one hears at the “Hair Salon” be taken as the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?  Everyone likes a “juicy” story…but leave the passing on of that kind of information to the “world”…here, in the Kingdom of God, we don’t do that.

Be GENEROUS with your words, and kind.  Sometimes one has to be creative to counter bad gossip (which is usually only partially true, if true at all) with a positive statement…but our JOB as Believes & Followers of Jesus is that we BUILD ONE ANOTHER UP and not TEAR DOWN…whether we are speaking directly TO or ABOUT our brothers and sisters…fellow citizens of the Kingdom.

“Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” EPHESIANS 5:19 

“Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church.”  I CORINTHIANS 14:12 

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  JOHN 13:34

It’s not just enough to keep one’s mouth shut when it comes to speaking about others…no, God demands that we SPEAK, and that we speak “love”.

EDITED LANGUAGE or “And Nothing But The Truth”…sometimes it’s difficult to edit what comes out of our mouths before it comes out, it takes practice, but once we “elaborate” we have created a false moment.  Once we take a bit of the truth (or hear it and pass it on) but “shade” and “color” it…we become no better than Satan himself, who doesn’t lie “outright” as much as he twists the truth for his convenience.

The lost in the world will not be saved if the Church is lost as well.  Church, when it comes to your fellow “family” tell the truth, the whole truth, AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH.

When you hear a story that can’t be confirmed, SHUT IT DOWN AND DON’T PASS IT ON.

When you hear negative things said about someone you know in the church (true or not), counter with positive and SHUT IT DOWN, AND DON’T PASS IT ON.

Take EVERY opportunity to believe the best in people, assume their graciousness and goodness and not their bad sides (especially when airing your thoughts out loud to someone else).  And, as always here at Central, if you have a question or an issue with someone; before you talk about it BEHIND their back, talk to their face or don’t talk at all.  Let’s make sure that people around us know we who Believe & Follow will behave differently than the rest of the world.

I’m talking to myself here, as much as anyone else, since I have often been at the other end of misinformed talkers.  But if you think this message is specifically directed at you…it may be.

For the sake of those outside of the Kingdom of God, and for the sake of the building up of His strong Kingdom…speak “the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth…so help us, God.”

Our home is like a beautiful “storage room”, we have a lot of stuff.  But I can point to each item of mine and tell you the story behind it, and why I hang on to it.  I suppose that’s how hoarding starts.

There is one piece of “knick-knackery” that reminds me of a time in my life I would like to forget, but also need to celebrate.

We all have periods, I suppose, where circumstances have broken us.  I’m not going to get into that specific period in my life except to say it was years ago and during that time I received a gift from a good, older, wiser, friend from my theatre world.  Knowing that life (through my own choices, other people’s choices and some other circumstances) was handing me a platter of pain and garbage,  she asked to meet for coffee.  We met, we hugged, and she handed me a silk-wrapped gift.  I opened it and found a beautiful Asian-crafted bowl (see photo).  Not a bowl to fill things with, but a beautiful blue-glazed bowl to sit on a shelf…perhaps someday in Anderson, Indiana…to serve as a remembrance for me.

“I’m not going to tell you why I’m giving this, or why it is designed the way it is.  Part of your journey should be to search its meaning out…and it has one” she said.

“I will tell you this.  The form of this bowl is also a form of Japanese philosophy…it’s called ‘kintsugi’.” And with that, she changed the subject, sipped her chai latte, and spoke no more of it.  We chattered about other things.

I took the beautiful blue bowl with gold veins home and looked the word up.

The art (and philosophy) of “kintsugi” is to take cracked and broken pottery…even if it is pottery which had been used in a practical way (in fact, that’s even better) and instead of throwing away the pieces, they are glued back together with a lacquer mixed with powdered gold.

Why?  So that when seen or used again one would be reminded that breakage in our most vulnerable times leads to repairs that ARE not, and SHOULD not be, disguised as something ugly but signify something that is fully healed and stronger.  Kintsugi is a philosophy which has been around for over 600 years, and…

…this TRUTH in Japanese philosophy is TRUTH from God.

The Spirit reminds us that God does not cause disaster or difficulties.  And although one could argue that God may test us, even Jesus urges us to pray that His Father doesn’t test us.  Yet, difficult times come…to everyone (the BELIEVER & FOLLOWER and to the non-Believer) sometimes it’s a test, sometimes it’s just “life”.

What God DOES with those moments and seasons is “kintsugi”.

I’ve almost always referred to God as “the metaphysical Rumpelstiltskin” : He turns “straw” into “gold”, in partnership WITH us and FOR us (see ROMANS 8:28).

When I see that bowl my mind travels back to the time when both the bowl, and I, were broken.  Then I saw and touched the strength (and beauty) of the gold veining today.  I would not wish much of my own journey on anyone, but I would hope that everyone could end up where I am now.

My beautiful scars are now as much a part of me as anything and everything else, in fact they have come to define me.

The irony is not lost on me that in the Age-to-Come my new body will probably be without scars.  And the only person we meet in that New Heaven and New Earth bearing scars…

…will be Jesus.  His scars healed ours.

One of the best things about bacon (and my other addictions: popcorn, Fritos, and crackers) is salt.  You can keep your sugar…even chocolate does not have the same appeal as bacon, popcorn, taco chips, mixed nuts…and anything else like that.

I like salt.  And although I’m trying to be very careful about exactly how much salt I ingest, since I’m of “that age”, I still like it.  And when I was researching about the properties of salt, etc found this very interesting fact:  Salt has its own flavor, technically, HOWEVER it is known for “jump-starting” our taste buds, opening them up to accept MORE flavor, causing us to want MORE food.

Now I’ve been enlightened even more about Jesus’ words, “You are the SALT of the earth.”  Not only is salt a preservative and flavoring but it actually causes those tasting it to want MORE.  When we are truly the SALT OF THE EARTH we cause those around us to want more of what we have: life, light, peace, love.  And, as Jesus also says, when “salt has lost its flavor” (by sitting around being unused) then it is good for nothing but to make roads with.  Old salt kills, so if it is spread on grass or growth it will kill it, a great way to make paths and roads, back in the day.

It’s not used so much today, but SALT used to be one of the main preservatives of foods that otherwise wouldn’t last too long.  The fish from the Galilee used to be salted and shipped to Rome, where it was used as soldiers’ food while they conquered the world.

Another obvious lesson from this “physical metaphor” of this “spiritual truth” is that TOO MUCH salt doesn’t make the food taste better.  That’s a lesson in discretion, kindness, and benevolence.  How many times has the “good news” of Jesus been ruined because it’s been forced down someone’s throat, as opposed to “sprinkled with care” in JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNTS to make life flavorful?

SALT – the flavor-enhancer/attractor and preservative.

And so…if your “salt” is being poured out of the shaker each time you have any connection with those around you, they are getting a “taste” of the full life that you have from God.  It’s available to them as well.  However, if you keep it to yourself it not only becomes useless it actually becomes poison.  To not share the life and light of God is actually bad for YOU and those around you.

When Jesus said to His disciples, and the thousands of others sitting on the mountain, listening to Him teach, “All of you are the salt of the earth” He was speaking precisely of these attributes…it is a created attribute: we have the ability to make people hungry for Jesus, we have the ability to preserve TRUE life as first given to us by Him.

Years ago, when I was leading a high-school-aged group of worship singers, one of our singers was singing “We are salty, we are salty…”, mishearing the actual lyric, “We exalt Thee, we exalt Thee.”  Of course, having never actually used the word, “exalt”, they weren’t certain what it meant – but knew we were the “salt of the earth” so “we are salty” made more sense.  I have always remembered that with a smile, every time I’ve sung that song in worship…it makes sense.

All this reminds me of one of my favorite scriptures, a rare picture of the love of God compared to flavor:

PSALM 34:8 “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.”

Every once in a while, when you travel, you experience moments like this (actually they happen more often these days). We were in the airport getting ready to board our flight. The previous flight had arrived late. Everyone in the terminal watched as the passengers disembarked and looked miserable. Many of them were running to catch their connecting flights. They were hot and tired. No one was smiling. One man started to yell at another passenger who, as we determined through the yelling, had stepped in front of him when they were leaving the plane…like “road rage” without the cars. 

The mood of those disembarking passengers added to the stress of those of us needing to board so that we didn’t miss OUR connecting flights. Traveling, and especially dealing with airports, seems to be filled with more stress than ever before…and personally, my least favorite part of any trip. As with this moment, the mood of those around seeps into your skin, your brain, your heart…and soon YOU are being slowly dragged down into the deep and murky water of a dark mood. 

I finally got onboard. I sat in my seat by the window (so that I can lean on the sidewall panel and sleep). I was in the EXIT ROW, so I needed to stay awake long enough to hear the Flight Attendant give us in the Exit Row the “Exit Row Speech” and agree to the responsibilities. So I watched as one-by-one people came in. I could “read” their faces and actions to see that we had all been affected by the heat, the crowded terminal and now plane, the stress of not leaving on time, and the impatience with other people…who seemed to go out of their ways to irritate those of us who are “practically perfect in every way”. 

Just a few feet away from my seat, in the line of people finding their way to seats, was a young couple with two little girls. The girls had on sparkly “mouse ears” and each carried a small, pink, carry-on covered with cartoon characters and sequins.

The youngest of the girls wasn’t talking, but she was smiling and giving little, shy, waves to everyone she was passing…I imagined this was probably her first flight. Her sister, on the other hand, was not silent. She was speaking to every person she passed, in their seats, as if she knew them. She knew no strangers, as she explained that they were going to Disneyworld. She was excited to see “Ariel” and “Jasmine” (I was old enough to not really know who they were) and she was sad her Aunt Lily couldn’t go because she was having surgery, but her cousins Jacob and TJ were going to meet them there from Kansas because their Grandma & Grandpa lived in Florida…Grandpa couldn’t walk, but they were going to push him in a chair. This wasn’t HER grandpa, HER grandpa could walk and lived in California.

Yes, I gained all of this information in the seconds as she passed my row. Her mother, as they passed, said to anyone, and no one in particular, “Give her five minutes and you’ll know our business.”

And then, a remarkable…I would say “borderline miracle” happened: there were chuckles, smiles, nods, and even a few responses to this little, nameless, angel. And just like that, the “clouds lifted”, the light became brighter, the seats became more comfortable…and things were put into perspective. 

It took one little, talkative, oversharing, girl to flavor the entire bowl of bad moods and feelings to something completely different…just one girl, in one moment. 

Before I reached the unconscious state I usually reach before we even take off (yes, I’m one of those people who find it difficult to stay awake on a plane) I smiled and thought of…

… Matthew 5:13-16: “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled on by men. You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”…

…how little it took, just a “mustard-seed-sized” amount of light or salt, to change the “flavor” of the moment. It doesn’t take a degree, a talent, a special moment, experience, or even language to do what Jesus says we are all capable of doing: being salt & light.

Everywhere we go, every person we meet, every moment we experience, could be changed by just a little of what we carry around and hoard most times: love we have received from God, love that we have enough of to share. It’s a smile, it’s joy…and kids know how to do it…that’s why Jesus showed us that kids are the model for Kingdom Citizens.

The angel was a little girl, she was a messenger from God (if only to me, so that I could remember this moment and write it down for you)…the lesson to me is this, Jesus Himself tells us:

we are SALT, to make the moment tastier

we are LIGHT, to dispel shadows

we are LOVE, which makes the world go ‘round.

Maybe it’s my age, maybe it’s something else, but lately I’ve been obsessively fantasizing, and even had dreams about, going back and starting over…beginning with my Freshman Year in High School.  Like I said, I’m not sure what prompted this thought process, but I’ve been imagining what it would be like to know everything I know now, including my life as it has played out, and return into my 14-year-old body with my 67-year-old mind AND know my future, as it played out once.

Think of the confidence, wisdom, and knowledge that would come from the years of experience that wasn’t there when I actually WAS in High School.

I’ve imagined the differences and how much better I’d play out my life because of my knowledge and experience now:

• My friendship with God would be much improved, and my confidence in His love and sacrifice for ME would be stronger…which would affect everything, and every choice…and chisel my identity.
• I would give my parents a break.  I wasn’t a bad kid, but I sure would appreciate them more.  I’d love my Mom more, I’d build things with Dad.  I’d “help”.
• I’d love my friends more, and adjust my life to make them happy. Having no siblings (which I would NOT change) I counted on my friends too much, without allowing them the ability to count on me.  As I’ve aged I have realized that “relationships are EVERYTHING”.
• I would do less “church” stuff and more “school” stuff. I realize now that I allowed my home church to “sequester” me, when Jesus really would’ve had me BE the church myself: to my friends, “salt” and “light”, if you will…as opposed to using the church as a “club” of “haves” and viewing those outside of my church as the “have-nots”. I know, a weird thing for a Preacher to say, but I would’ve gone to church less, and gone to football games and dances more.  At the same time, I would cultivate my personal doctrine, practice my faith and recognize Jesus when I see Him, personally.
• I would’ve found one adult, who wasn’t a parent, to trust and open up to. I wanted to be honest about what I felt, and who I was, with someone who was old enough to listen and wise enough to know they didn’t need to fix it…just so that SOMEONE would know me, and hear me talk it out.
• I would start lifting weights at 14, and not stop…wow, I’d look good by this point!  But I’d also not shy away from eating the great junk food that crowds into a teenager’s life.
• I would learn more instruments and read more books.
• I would buy the same first car. (1972 Plymouth Duster, Army Green…slant six, four-on-the-floor).
• I would’ve used more hair product, grown it longer…and worn my puka shells in my Senior Picture, despite my mom’s warning that it “would make my Senior look too dated, years from then”
• I would fall in love more, and allow my heart to break more. I now know that love is everything and heartbreaks heal. (“It is better to have loved and lost….” and all that)
  
  …and then I got to:

• I would make different choices…

And that’s where the epiphany happened.

Different choices would mean different consequences, which would lead to different paths, which would lead to a different future and lead to a different “me”.

Of course.

The choices I was thinking of were things like: I wouldn’t have jumped into that parking lot fight, to help a buddy, in college (where I walked away bloody and should’ve gone to the campus doctor, but was afraid to because the fight was about something less than legal and we would’ve ALL been suspended) …or… I shouldn’t have hooked up with my friend, Mitch, who led me and some others into a world where we were constantly dodging “the law”.  I wouldn’t have chosen the first college I attended, but rather spent all my years at the college I graduated from…

…I would’ve chosen to be honest about myself and lived my life for God alone to judge.

HOWEVER…It is precisely through (not BECAUSE) of those choices that I am where I am today…which is a GOOD place. 

It was THROUGH my choice of colleges that I not only gained much needed “transition-from-home-to-my-own-life” education, but where I discovered God in other denominations, other people, and other ways, and made lifetime friends.  It was precisely BECAUSE of my first school that I landed an acceptance into the Music Institute from which I graduated.

IN FACT, looking at my entire life, even my poor choices (ones that led me to disaster, failure, or at the least, bumpy roads) brought me…

…here.

On the other side of the journey, there is knowledge to be gained, beauty to be appreciated and love to express.  The Spirit never abandoned me, always protected me, and always turned my “straw to gold”.  There are many, many parts of my life I would not wish on anyone, and decisions I would hope no one else would make…but the place I am NOW is a destination I would wish for everyone.   And the Spirit of God has used every person, every moment, and the consequence of every good and bad decision…to get me here and now.

And so, though there are things I wish I knew then, and confidence, knowledge and wisdom I wish I had…the blessings I have received, the life that I have, I would not trade for all the bacon in North Carolina…or all the bourbon in Tennessee.

Again, I say what the Spirit teaches:

Every moment has its time.
Every person has their place.
Don’t brush aside either.
Or you may also brush aside
God’s wish for you to either
ENJOY or BE a miracle.

Luke 12:27

“Consider the lilies, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.” 

“Consider the lilies…” 

You bet I do! My favorite flowers, indeed!

My yard has several sites where lilies grow! While they are in bloom I marvel at their intricate, bright colors. Daylilies, stargazer lilies, and other species of lilies are not only “eye catchers” but also “nose catchers” as some have a sweet, pleasing fragrance that can be noted from several feet away!

“Consider the lilies…” Jesus said, inviting folks to note that lilies labor and spin not, but they grow under the mysterious Hand of God and their blooms are far more beautiful than King Solomon in all his glory…a reference to the King who actually built the Temple in Jerusalem with its ornate decor and gold inlays.

“Consider the lilies…” Jesus said and note that the lilies are not anxious nor troubled. They grow and bloom in their own time, not rushing nor slowing Mother Nature’s (God) design.

“Consider the lilies…” Jesus said, and I do consider them! If I want lovely lilies, I have “work to do!” I plant the bulbs, mulch the soil around them, replenish the nutrients for healthy plants, and I water them in drought. And every few years I will have 10-12 plants where I only planted a couple of bulbs because lilies reproduce by creating new bulbs. Over time, if I do nothing, then the clump of lilies will keep enlarging OR I may choose to dig up some of the bulbs in the fall and plant them elsewhere in my yard OR I can give a few bulbs to others who enjoy lilies. Lilies can be hard work at times!

“Consider the lilies…” Jesus said, inviting us to marvel as we think about lilies. Lilies do not toil or spin! They do not fret and worry. And yet, they are exquisitely beautiful! 

“Consider the lilies”…Jesus said, and likewise, we are not to worry and fret about food and clothing because our life (GK: “zoe”) is wrapped up in God “Consider the lilies…” Jesus said, BUT notice what Jesus did NOT say…Jesus did NOT say that we should likewise avoid toiling and spinning! I have lovely lilies because I “toil.” If I did not keep the invasive vines pulled out of my lilies, the lilies would become smothered by the sheer weight of an invasive weed. If I did not control the weeds, not even I could see the beauty of the lilies. To experience the God-given beauty of my lilies, I have work to do. I have to put nutrients in the soil by feeding them, I have to keep the grass from crowding the lilies. I have to remove grass and weeds that encroach on the lilies to the point that the lilies do not get adequate moisture. Yep! God grows my lilies and they do not have to toil nor spin…. that’s MY JOB!

“Consider the lilies….” Jesus said, with the implication that beauty of the lily is God-given, but the care of the lily is our work. Yes, God takes care of us just as surely as God takes care of the lilies. We are not to worry about what we will eat or about our bodies (and clothing). Worry not, but, instead, embrace life…for life (Greek “zoe”, meaning life wrapped up in GOD who is eternal) is more than food and the body more than clothing. Mind you, this whole conversation about lilies was started when a man asked Jesus to ask his brother to share the inheritance (from parents) with him (Luke 12:13f).

Obviously, the man wanted to live in the abundance that a goodly portion of his brother’s inheritance would have provided. Wanting a chunk of his brother’s inheritance, the man wanted “the life of Riley”, a life on “easy street” with no worries about food or clothing. His vision of life is best expressed in the word bios (Greek bios meaning physical life) of ease! Such abundance would take care of all his earthly needs…or so the man thought!

Jesus responded to the man by the story of the successful farmer who built bigger barns to hoard his over-abundance of crops. And then…the farmer died. His abundance gave this farmer no benefits on this earth or in the afterlife. Then Jesus begins teaching….

“Consider the lilies….” Jesus taught. Have we missed the whole point of this text? Yes, indeed! “Consider the lilies”, Jesus said. You see, abundance is not ours to possess or own. Any earthly abundance, including food and clothing is often fleeting rather than enduring. True abundance is only given to us…and it is given by God. God’s abundance comes in the form of love, grace, mercy, peace, forgiveness, etc. …and all God asks is that we SEE this abundance

“Consider the lilies…” Lilies live in the abundance of God…and such is our life (“zoe”) just for the awe and wonder of seeing the beauty of God’s abundance.