CrossWalk Community Church Napa

Do I Stay Christian? The Hypocrisy...

In my experience, hypocrisy is one of the leading reasons people give for why they aren’t interested in practicing religion. The people who seem to be the most devoted don’t actually practice what they preach, and statistically, religious people aren’t all that “better” than non-religious folk. On the one hand, the hypocrisy is certainly evidence. On the other hand, perhaps it speaks to an even deeper, more troubling issue: given the history of the Church, does Christianity really have the power to transform people into more mature, humane human beings? Did Jesus ever encounter anything like this? If so, how did he respond? Thomas Auld was a slave owner. One of his slaves was none other than Frederick Douglass, who recalled the time early in his life when, at a Methodist evangelistic camp meeting in 1832, his Master experienced a Christian conversion. Douglass had hoped that the conversion would “make him more kind and humane.” Instead, Douglass writes:“If it had any effect on his character, it made him more cruel and hateful in all his ways.” Auld was ostentatious about his piety—praying “morning, noon, and night,” participating in revivals, and opening his home to traveling preachers—but he used his faith as license to inflict pain and suffering upon his slaves. “I have seen him tie up a lame young woman, and whip her with a heavy cowskin upon her naked shoulders, causing the warm red blood to drip; and, in justification of the bloody deed, he would quote this passage of Scripture — ‘He that knoweth his master’s will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes.’” – Brian McLaren, Do I Stay Christian? 75 How is it that a person can experience conversion to Christianity and become even worse than before, even justifying increased cruelty? What exactly did he convert to? Of course, regarding slavery and race, Christians have not spoken with one voice. The Deep South – still today the most religiously active part of our country – when post-Civil War Reconstruction ended, nearly all momentary advances for equality were retracted, and were replaced by Jim Crow laws that treated African Americans as anything but equals. In the earlier 1900’s political Progressives weren’t really interested in humane advances that went beyond their particular race. Women and children were given protection not because they were seen as equals, but rather because they were seen as weaker in every regard from men. Child labor laws were enacted, as well as the 8-hour workday for women, in part because Christian pastors and theologians spoke into it. In time, however, as political conservatism joined religious conservatism – largely using fear of socialism gone awry witnessed in WWI – the church went largely silent. The Civil Rights movement, while it eventually garnered support from more mainline Christian traditions, were vehemently opposed in Southern Baptist and other Evangelical churches in the South. McLaren wonders how an alien might interpret the data regarding the effectiveness of Christianity where it is practiced most ardently. What should we expect in terms of overall community wellbeing where Christianity is in the air with a church on every corner? The five most religious states in the United States – Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Arkansas – rank among the lowest in terms of longevity of life, education, happiness, median household income, and among the highest in teen pregnancies (McLaren, 79): Today, Christianity is more identified with being opposed more than being “for”. Anti-abortion. Anti-LGBTQ. Anti-Racial Equality. Anti-Environmental Protections. Anti-Women. Anti-Immigrants. The list goes on and on. If you have not been frustrated by such realities, I bet you know someone who has. No wonder people are not just leaving their churches – they are leaving the faith. They likely agree with Mahatma Gandhi: “I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ... Jesus is ideal and wonderful, but you Christians – you are not like him... Live like Jesus did and the world will listen.” If you are frustrated by the hypocrisy of so many self-proclaimed Christians in the past and present, I’ve got bad news for you. More hypocrites are born every second of every day – you will be frustrated on this note for the rest of your life. And, even worse, at some point you may even realize (because someone brought it to your attention) that you are a hypocrite in someone else’s eyes. Gulp! We are human beings. Every organization of human beings acts like human beings. It sucks. You are in good company in your frustration, however. Jesus himself was disgusted with the hypocrisy he saw in the Jewish leadership of his day. The entirety of Matthew 23 is one long rant where Jesus probably crossed over the “appropriate” line, calling out the corruption he saw that was not aligned with the Abba he knew God to be. Within 38 verse chapter, he called these leaders hypocrites six times, offering support for his accusation at every turn. The problem of hypocrisy existed before Jesus’ day, in Jesus’ day, all the way to today, and will continue through every tomorrow. Jesus knew about it, did not ignore it, and called it out. If you’ve been frustrated with hypocrisy and untransformed devotees of Christianity, you are in good company indeed. In one particular setting when a large crowd was following him, Jesus took a preemptive approach to limit potential hypocrites (Luke 14:25-33 NLT): “If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’ “Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him? And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away. So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own. In light of Jesus’ demand, who among us would claim to be a disciple? If you are like me, you recognize that you have missed the mark and are as susceptible to hypocrisy as anybody else. Jesus was likely using hyperbole here, yet his words are still startling, and bring us into clarifying sobriety. Statements like this move me to ask serious questions about my life, my values, my goals. Questions like these:· Do I even know what Jesus did with his life to address the greatest needs he saw? Am I doing much of anything to address the greatest needs around me? Even to care enough to find out and pray?· How did Jesus stand up for those who were being mistreated? How am I?· How did Jesus discover the heartbeat of Abba that guided his steps? How do I?· How did Jesus show love and grace to people who didn’t get much love and grace? Who are those people in our time and place? How do I show them love and grace?· How did Jesus speak truth to power? How do I?· How did Jesus offer his life in service to others? How do I?· How did Jesus place himself in community? How do I?· What additional questions arise for you? These questions are penetrating, each one revealing that I may not be the disciple I wish I were. Yet it doesn’t mean we stop moving forward. And it doesn’t mean we don’t call out egregious fouls when we see them. It does mean we walk humbly as we learn every day how to follow the Way that leads to life – for ourselves and everyone else. Walter Rauschenbusch was a pastor, theologian, and seminary professor who spent his life in service to Christ over 100 years ago. He and his colleagues were pastoring in and around ’s Kitchen in New York City, where horrific working and living conditions were normal for the thousands of immigrants who lived there. There were no child labor laws yet; no hour limits for workdays, no protection for employees in that time ruled by social Darwinism. At the end of the 1800’s, the United States was in its Gilded Age. While the extremely rich flaunted their affluence, those under their employee starved and suffered. Rauschenbusch and his colleagues spoke against such things. The Church was a mixed bag when it came to social justice concerns (as it has always been). But for his season of time, he and others like him helped move the needle in the direction of the Divine Commonwealth Jesus came to proclaim and nurture. He himself had encountered Jesus’ Abba, and it forever shaped his heart. Here is how he describes following the Way of Jesus toward The Blessed Life: The main thing is to have God; to live in God; to have God live in us; to think God’s thoughts; to love what God loves and hate what God hates; to realize God’s presence; to feel God’s holiness and to be holy because God is holy; to feel God’s goodness in every blessing of your life and even in its tribulations; to be happy and trustful; to join in the great purposes of God and to be lifted to greatness of vision and faith and hope with God – that is the blessed life. – Walter Rauschenbusch, The Culture of the Spiritual Life, 1897 May we find ourselves walking in the same direction, experiencing the same reward. An Adapted Lord’s Prayer:Our loving, supportive, holy AbbaWho art here and everywhere,Thy Divine Commonwealth come.Thy will be done through us.We are grateful for the gift of foodand work for all to eat their fill.May we work for a world where mutual grace and respect abound,modeled after You.Strengthen us for the work we’re called to.Amen. May it be so.

Jesus’ Mission: Divine Commonwealth

This week we are taking a look at Jesus’ mission which was founded on his experience of God that led him to address God as Abba – uncontrolling, unconditionally loving “Daddy”. For many Christians, the mission is simply tell people about Jesus’ death as atonement for sins so that we can get forgiven and eventually be welcomed in heaven. I believe that grace is central to why Jesus called God Abba. And I am confident that there is more to Life than flesh and blood, something we will one day experience. But does this match what Jesus spent most of his time doing? Was this really his mission? I submit that it was not. How do we know what Jesus was about? We examine his teachings, his lifestyle, and also what his closest disciples did after Jesus left. The Lord’s Prayer provides major clues as well. Let’s take a look. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. OUR Abba – all humanity’s nurturing, supportive, present, attentive, compassionate, graceful, unconditionally loving, generous, wise, strong, guiding, shaping Creator and sustainer. We humbly recognize that while you are with us and in us, you are greater than us in every way. You are the source of life, and the definition of love. To minimize who You are would be a great error of arrogance. Biblical narrative: Mary’s Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55 NLT). Not only does Mary acknowledge who has called her to her role with Jesus, she also declares that God’s Way is sometimes in direct contrast to the way human beings choose. The beneficiaries of what God is about to do are the poor – they will benefit because the rulers and the rich will be held to account. The disciples continued to reverse things, welcoming any and all to the fold, all in response to the expansiveness of God. Thy Kingdom Come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. You deeply love all creation – all people, all creatures, and the planet we call home – and want it all to thrive harmoniously as a commonwealth. When we do your will toward that end, your dream for us – which is our deepest dream – begins to realize. Biblical narrative: Sending of the 72 (Luke 10:1-23 NLT). In this passage, a larger group of Jesus followers were sent with authority into neighboring villages to do what Jesus had been doing. When their work was welcomed, the Divine Commonwealth was experienced. Where is wasn’t, it wasn’t. We work cooperatively with God – we who are agents of Good News as well as those who are recipients of the news. To say this line of the prayer is to recognize our role in the process – this is not a “God, fix everything without any effort on my part.” To pray this line is to agree to do the will of God to make the world a better place for everyone, and to protect the world itself as a good steward should. The disciples created new communities where they could learn together and model the Divine Commonwealth wherever they were. They knew it was up to them to spread the word. Give us this day our daily bread. We look beyond our own plates and long for the day when global hunger is a distant memory – a milestone that your will has been done. We also recognize that we live one day at a time – daily opportunities to give thanks for the bread, to break bread together, and to share our bread with others. Biblical narrative: Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000 (Luke 9:12-17 NLT). When God’s will is done on earth, everyone is fed because everyone shares what they have with others. The disciples followed suit, welcoming any and all to the communion table – a literal meal that welcomed the poorest among them. Forgive us our debts/sins/trespasses as we forgive our debtors/those who have sinned/trespassed against us. Beyond personal sin, forgive us as humanity for failing to love each other and our home as you have loved us all. May we be generous with grace toward others, seeking redemption so that we may move forward toward good for all. Biblical narrative: Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10 NLT). Indebtedness has always been detrimental to the poor, who were often exploited by those in power who controlled wealth. Zach’s repayment was the evidence of a deeper, realized salvation for those he cheated – so much more than forgiveness of sins, and deeply, practically, relevant to him and those who benefitted. The new communities founded by the disciples were known for sharing everything they had with each other to make sure nobody went without. The generosity exhibited relieved significant burden for some who were enslaved to debt that was likely out of their control. Lead us not into temptation. Deliver us from evil. Preserve us through time of troubles which will come as we follow your lead – sometimes because we follow your lead! Help us get through it by being with us, strengthening us for the journey. Biblical narrative: Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:39-46 NLT). Jesus’ prayer was one of honesty and submission. He didn’t want to suffer if it could be avoided – there may have been very real temptation to alter his course. Yet he also didn’t want to perpetuate the evil that he came to address – a violent revolt would be expected. Instead, he chose his nonviolent response, which we’re still talking about today. To follow Jesus means to do so even – and especially – when it is difficult – trusting the Way to be sourced and supported by the love of God. The disciples knew that to continue Jesus’ mission might also lead to hardship, and perhaps death. Yet they were sustained by God, evidenced by their singing even while in chains. Jewish people were exhausted by Rome’s rule and wanted them out. There were no shortage of self-identified messiahs willing to lead a revolt. Whenever they did, they were generally killed. Jesus came with a different message about the character and nature of God, and with it, a different, nonviolent approach to addressing the religious and political systems of power that were abusing them. Jesus was pleading for Jewish people not to revolt. Yet they did. They were squashed like bugs and Jews were scattered abroad. In this sense, Jesus failed in his mission because people chose violence over nonviolence. Jesus was successful, however, because his core followers continued to meet together, developing what Jesus taught in community. These People of the Way were known for being graceful, welcoming, generous people. They were living out the Divine Commonwealth while living in their respective parts of the world. This is our continued calling today – to choose to be together, developing the Divine Commonwealth among us, and inviting others to join us. This is the ongoing mission of Jesus working out in our midst today.

Abba

Synopsis: In this teaching we learn more about Jesus' favorite term for God - Daddy - and wonder why it hasn't stuck. There are historical and very human reasons why we are more familiar with Kingly God, a Judge-Holding-Court, and a an unmoved mover, which have also kept Jesus' term largely unpopular even now. Yet as Jesus followers, should we be following Jesus' lead and letting the term work into our way of being in the world?How have you been taught to address God? When you pray, what names of God have you used the most? I think in my early years I simply addressed God as “God” or “Dear God”. For a good stretch when I entered into a season of my faith where I began to “own” it rather than just continue with what I’d been given, I used “Lord” a lot. I have not used “Father” much because it is so gender specific. Also, as a pastor, I know that referencing God as “Father” is deeply troubling to people who have experienced abuse. Why do we address God with different names? Where did we learn how to address God? I learned to address God the way I did from my family and tradition. We went to church all the time, so I heard lots of prayers. We prayed before dinner, so I heard those, too. I suppose I adopted a lot of the language from the faith leaders I admired when I began to own the faith for myself. How has Western civilization addressed God over time across varying theologies? In general, according to Alfred North Whitehead, we have viewed God as an imperial leader writ large, or the giver and enforcer of moral law, or as Aristotle’s “unmoved mover”. Whitehead recognized that “in the Galilean origin of Christianity there is yet another suggestion which does not fit very well with any of the three main strands of thought. It does not emphasize the ruling Caesar, or the ruthless moralist, or the unmoved mover. It dwells upon the tender elements in the world, which slowly and in quietness operate by love; and it finds its purpose in the present immediacy of a kingdom not of this world. Love neither rules, nor is it unmoved; also it is a little oblivious as to morals. It does not look to the future, for it finds its own reward in the immediate present” (Process and Reality, 343). When has your understanding of and naming of God been based on your lived experienced? Especially in the Old Testament, characters described their experience of God with a new name attached to God. There are, therefore, hundreds of names describing their experiences. This is somewhat true in the New Testament as well, but not to the same degree. Personally, my experience has shaped my understanding of God. When I was young, God was more or less a distant God who cared from afar. God’s benevolence was assured, but so were God’s ethical instructions. I was always a little fuzzy about what would happen if I crossed the line – I was instructed that it would not be good news! I experienced a very palpable presence of God in High School that brought God into my very being. God at that point became extremely personal and alive. In college, my experience of God’s grace was overwhelming, and I found myself honoring God as Lord of my life – a willing offering of myself to God’s leadership. As my theology shifted with continual learning and experience, some of the personal nature of God went fuzzy – sort of – it was just different. Today I recognize the expansiveness of God and the nearness of God and am learning to live in and with both. When have you addressed God based on your hopes? Sometimes the way we address God says more about our hopes than about God. When we want vengeance, we address God as one who surely agrees with us to exact justice where we see fit. Our enemies become God’s enemies, we think, so we ask the Lord of Heaven’s Armies to enter battle. Human nature is such that we are often blind to this reality in the moment, and assume we are right, which can embolden us to believe any number of things that do not really reflect the nature of God – and actually do harm. Unfortunately, there are unnumberable examples of this throughout history where the name of God was used to bring sometimes horrific hardship on millions of people. Today, God is named as particularly for our nation, creating a divinely appointed nationalism that history warns us will never end well. Why does it matter how we address God? How we address God impacts our personal experience and relationship with God individually and can significantly impact an entire culture’s experience as well, for better or worse. How we address God – which is really reflective of what we understand to be the primary characteristics of God – is very, very important and relevant to all of humanity and creation itself. How did Jesus address God? What does that say about his experience and hopes? Jesus used the word “Abba” as his preferred name for God. Abba is often translated as “Father”, but that misses the mark. “Dad” or “Daddy” captures the intimacy Abba conveys. This is why it was so controversial when Jesus used it. In his context, God was referred to with great honor – high and lifted up – not with such familiar, intimate terminology. It was as unsettling as it was instructive. Yet this is the way Jesus understood God to be, which informed everything he did, how he saw the world, and how he engaged the world Why didn’t Abba take better hold?There were five things that happened over the course of history to detract from Jesus’ Abba (see John Cobb’s Jesus’ Abba: The God Who Has Not Failed).1. The Vulgate – Jerome’s translation of the Bible into Latin. Although excellent, he translated two different Hebrew words – Shaddai and Yahweh – Almighty and Lord respectively. Viewing God as “Almighty” set in stone the assumption that God is omnipotent even though that’s not really accurate in regard to this naming. Shaddai could literally be translated as “the breasted one”, referring to mother-live qualities of God.2. The Creeds – Church council answers to very contextualized problems. Instead of simply respecting what they were, they became idolized and viewed nearly as inerrant as the Bible, even when Jesus and Paul had other things to say. For instance, Paul viewed “faith” as trust and faithfulness, but the creeds came to mean the acceptance of ideas and the authority of the church.3. Anselm of Canterbury – and 11th century theologian. Anselm is the theologian who popularized the idea of Jesus dying to satisfy God’s need of a sacrifice that only God can make (penal substitutionary atonement). Jesus himself did not teach about this and wasn’t part of his primary teaching or mission, yet it has become, for many, the primary reason for faith. This may be startling for many and may even seem heretical. Nope. Just history.4. Natural law theory – Jesus taught that laws and ethics were to serve human well-being without getting in the way of love for neighbor. Instead, Christians replaced Mosaic law with a complex system that very closely resembled Greek ideologies. God became the Judge.5. Biblical inerrancy – in our effort to give ourselves religious certainty, we made the Bible into something it was never intended to be. The well-meaning process led to bibliolatry and the sin of certainty. It is nearly impossible to consider questions of what has been established if the establishment itself is deemed perfect by God. If we are Christians striving to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, what complicates our addressing God primarily as Abba? Deciding to embrace the evocative name, Abba, as Jesus used to address God is a shock to our system. It goes against dominate paradigms within Christianity, bucking historical and orthodox convictions, and will eventually challenge our egocentric way of seeing the world. When we truly embrace “Daddy” for ourselves, it shapes how we think about ourselves. When we realize that God is not just our “Daddy” but also everyone else’s, it forces us to see the others as equally loved siblings instead of rivals. When we realize that “Daddy” also relates to creation itself in the same way, it surely must change our perspective regarding how we choose to care for the earth we call home. In light of all of this, how do you wish to address God going forward?

Interview with Pastor Pete

This interview was given as part of a service to allow Pete to talk about the impact of sabbatical on his life and ministry, but also afforded the opportunity for newcomers to hear his broader story. You can also watch this interview on CrossWalk’s YouTube channel.

In Rhythm: Living the Way of Jesus

In this teaching, we take a brief look at a post-Easter interaction between Jesus and the disciples, and then launch into unpacking two we manifest the life that belief affords. Jesus breathes on them, telling them to receive the Holy Spirit. A question: was there any less Holy Spirit in the room or in the disciples’ lungs before Jesus breathed on them? Of course not. What changed? Jesus’ words woke them up to the reality of the indwelling Spirit. Jesus then went on to say that whoever they forgave were forgiven, and whoever they didn’t weren't. Another question: do we really have the power to control God’s grace - do our words cancel it out? Of course not. How we speak, however, carries great weight, and can keep people from knowing just how unconditional God’s grace is. Thomas missed the opening scene and said he wouldn’t believe it unless he could prove it with his own senses. Jesus showed up again and invited Thomas to do just that! Thomas was a bit embarrassed, no doubt! Jesus then said that those who believe without seeing are blessed. I think Jesus is reminding us here that belief limited to that which we can “prove” by our senses is limiting. Sorry, Missourans… Finally, the writer seems to wrap up the book (a chapter early) noting that the Gospel of John was written to that by believing we would have life through the power of the name of Jesus. How do we do that, exactly? The Gospel of John is organized differently than the other Gospels. It is organized by themes and theology more than chronology. CrossWalk’s stated beliefs revolve around the movements of John’s Gospel. The following offer those belief statement in brevity, as well as what we might do with them personally and corporately.Every Step: We Choose to Live the Way of Jesus. If there is one word that describes Jesus and the Way of life he modeled, that word is love. Love of God. Love for all of creation. We dedicate ourselves to Jesus’ Way of love, freely committing to follow his lead. We choose to see God, biblical texts, ourselves, and the world through Jesus’ example. This covenant leads to great personal and global hope, and also leads us to flip the tables of the status quo wherever destructive beliefs and systems exist. This pursuit seeks the renewal of all things, resurrecting life from expressions of death. We celebrate this free choice, and lovingly encourage others to consider the same new way of life we embrace. What follows is what this covenant of staying in rhythm looks like… John 1-2We stretch. To pursue a relationship with God is a choice to be continually stretched to new ways of thinking and being. When Jesus was with Nicodemus, John the Baptist, and the Samaritan woman at the well, he stretched their thinking with love and respect, even though it required them to let go of the familiar. Therefore, we choose to stretch as God grows in us, and we lovingly help others stretch toward God as God works through us. John 3-4Personal Goal: Develop a rhythm of life-long learning to develop your faith.Attend church! There are multiple benefits of simply attending a church service, being stretched in your understanding is one of them. Add an exercise to help you reflect on your experience: what seemed to stick? Why? What am I invited to do in response?Podcasts, books, audio books, magazines etc. There are a lot of very accessible resources available to us today. If you need help knowing where to start, ask for help.Seminars, conferences, retreats. These offerings – live or virtual – can serve to turbo-charge your faith development or act as a reboot to get you on track.Theobabbling. Have conversation with someone else on the journey and discover what they are learning and share what you are learning.Church Goal: We will continually offer opportunities for people to grow in their relationship with God through Sunday teachings and a variety of learning opportunities apart form Sunday. We will strive to see 70% of active CrossWalkers engaged in some form of learning opportunity.We kneel. Jesus served humbly without discrimination. He served enemies of the state, touched untouchables, healed those who were broken, and fed those who were hungry. Therefore, we choose to share God’s love by kneeling to serve as Jesus modeled, bringing healing to our world. John 5-7Personal Goal: Develop a rhythm of service to others. You’ll likely discover that you benefit far more than the people you serve – and it’s not because you’re lousy at service!Attend church! There are always ways to serve through the church. Some ways require training or specific skills, others don’t. We always need more help with something!Organized service. Find an organization that appeals to your passion or one that you like and help!Lifestyle service. Some acts of service just show up throughout your daily life – your neighbor needs help with some, or a co-worker, or simple, random acts of kindness.Church Goal: Continue offering our campus in the service of others in ways that are aligned with Christ. We strive to have 70% of regular attenders serve in some capacity over the course of a year.We grace. Jesus was famous for lavishly extending grace to everyone, but especially to those who were feeling condemned. Be it an adulterous woman caught in the act, or a blind man convinced that he was beyond grace, Jesus acted with and spoke grace into their lives to free them from condemnation in all its forms. Therefore, we choose to lift those who experience shame, to love instead of judge. We choose to do this on an individual level as well as corporately, speaking into larger cultural issues where injustice, inequality and inequity need to be addressed. John 8-9Personal Goal: Develop a rhythm of maintaining awareness about who are our mistreated, neglected, or unheard/unseen neighbors who need help gaining equality and equity.Attend church! CrossWalk consistently reminds us that part of living the Way of Jesus is to stand with and for those who are experience mistreatment.Stay curios. Embrace ignorance and bias as normative. We are all conditioned to see the world in a particular way. What might we be missing by rejecting other perspectives? Research broadly!Lend your voice, hands, feet, and resources. People often get mistreated because they lack the power to challenge the people or policies that allow it. Your action is powerful.Stand together. Get involved with groups that allow you to have a collective voice to influence change. CrossWalk is involved with Common Ground, and there are many organizations that you may be passionate about that could use your help.Church Goal: Corporately stand for and with those who are being judged in our community in some public way that is readily identifiable. See people who have been left out of grace find grace through a CrossWalk ministry, identified by their feedback.We incarnate. God’s love was perhaps most profoundly expressed in the incarnation when God entered the full human experience with us in the person of Jesus. He loved deeply by being intimately present with people in their grief, joy, shame, pain, filth, denial, and even their betrayal. Therefore, we choose to welcome God into our darkest corners, and as those who are being indwelled by God’s Spirit, we choose to live deeply with people in the same intimate places Jesus chose to dwell. John 10-13Personal Goal: Develop a rhythm of engaging deeper community where “real life” is lived.Attend church! Part of the benefit of attending a service on campus is that you are around others who resonate with CrossWalk’s approach. That Sunday greeting may turn into a friendship.Attend a group. Deep community requires time to develop. Get involved in a group to see and be seen, to listen and to be heard. We need each other!Start a group. If a group doesn’t exist that scratches your itch, maybe you need to start one!Church Goal: See 70% of our people self-identify as having walked in deeper community in response to their faith.We connect. Jesus’ Way kept him connected to the heartbeat of God. Jesus fostered an intimate, personal relationship with God by practicing a variety of disciplines (solitude, prayer; gathering for worship, service, and community life) that allowed God’s presence to guide and direct his steps. Therefore, we choose to be so connected that the image of God is clearly reflected in our thoughts, passion, and mission. John 14-17Personal Goal. Develop a rhythm of habits that help keep you centered and connected to God.Attend church! Yet another benefit of attending a service is that connecting to God is primary.Daily meditation. Spend 10-30 minutes daily to focus your attention on God and walking in the Way of Jesus, connected to the Spirit, led by the Spirit, responsive to the Spirit.“Date Night”. Carve out a couple of hours each week to keep your faith relationship vital. Saunter your way through a trail, spend extended time in contemplation, deep dive into music that connects you to Spirit, engage an activity that focuses on love, create something, etc.Retreat. Periodically, make room for a retreat for a spiritual day, weekend, week, etc.Church Goal: See 70% of regular attenders intentionally connecting with God.The Cumulative Result: We Resurrect. Jesus’ resurrection demonstrates God’s power over death, and the possibility for new life now. After denying knowing Jesus three times, Peter experienced resurrection as the darkness of his shame and fear gave way to new life when he was reinstated in his ministry. Therefore, we choose to allow God’s power to bring new life wherever darkness resides, and we encourage others to do the same. On a grand scale, this is the end goal of everything we do, the result of the Way of God being honored in this life toward the hope that lies ahead. John 18-21Personal Goal: Develop a rhythm of reflection to help foster and record our journey of life in the Way. Attend church! Coming together weekly will serve as a booster shot for staying the course, and the elements of the service foster the renewing work of the Spirit in our lives and help you celebrate!Frequent Examen. Daily or weekly, spend time reflecting/writing about how your experience living the Way of Jesus has gone. This simple act has remarkable power in helping stay on track and see growth as it comes.Celebrate. When you recognize your growth, mark the moment! God is at work in your life!Church Goal: See 70% of regular attenders identify an area in their life that has experienced resurrection, as well as issues/situations in our community.

Renewing Faith: Easterize Your Life

In this teaching the menfolk were still hiding out together, perhaps in the same room where they shared the Passover meal a few nights earlier. Their fear was justified – Jesus was falsely accused, put through an illegal trial, found guilty from biased jurors, and was tortured and executed. As his followers, they assumed they might be next. No judgment here. The women wouldn’t likely be bothered simply by attending to Jesus’ body, so they ventured out: But very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. So they went in, but they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus. As they stood there puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes. The women were terrified and bowed with their faces to the ground. Then the men asked, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Remember what he told you back in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that he would rise again on the third day.”Then they remembered that he had said this. So they rushed back from the tomb to tell his eleven disciples—and everyone else—what had happened. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and several other women who told the apostles what had happened. But the story sounded like nonsense to the men, so they didn’t believe it. However, Peter jumped up and ran to the tomb to look. Stooping, he peered in and saw the empty linen wrappings; then he went home again, wondering what had happened. - Luke 24:1-12 (NLT) Easter is one the most important days in the Christian year as it affirmed some of the deepest hopes of humanity about one of the biggest sources of anxiety: is there "more" after death? What happened on Easter also radically transformed Jesus' followers' grief and fear into joy and courage, a clear indicator that their experiences of the risen Christ were real and extremely powerful. Their experiences also served to strengthen their belief that "the Way" of Jesus was valid, worth following, and was clearly endorsed by God. Instead of killing a sect of Jewish upstarts, the death and resurrection of Jesus sparked a movement that is still impacting billions of lives today. Easter is a day that we look to as a reminder that death does not get the last word. There is “more” that awaits us beyond the grave which welcomed Jesus. Walking in the Way of Jesus gives us confidence that we will be welcomed, too. The more is stronger than death in all of its forms – a message that Jesus proclaimed throughout his ministry. Power to transform our grief and fear into joy and courage to live. Easter represents hope for tomorrow, but it also offers us hope for today. If we’ll have it, we will join Paul in saying Death, where is your victory? Where is your sting? Maybe for you today, the threat or pain of death consumes you. Have hope! The experience of Easter was real and the result unquestionable. Whatever comes next is surely marked by love, acceptance, restoration, healing, and peace – if it wasn’t, Jesus wouldn’t be there. For those who have gone before us, we can be assured that they experienced all of those things. And we will, too. If that’s all you need to hear today, rest in peace! But we don’t have to wait for our death for Easter to be relevant. I would suggest to you that Easter was happening all throughout Jesus’ ministry. People were in the shadows, hiding in their suffering and fear due to things done to them or things they’d done or atrophied life that can happen gradually for anybody. While Jesus was alive, he talked about the Kingdom of God being all around us, in us, and that he came to wake people up to that reality and its potentiality. We don’t have to wait for what comes after death to experience love, restoration, healing, and peace. We can access it now. Easter proclaims this. Can you believe it? And yet, many people struggle to realize it, to actually see it happen in their lives. Knowing “Easter is a thing” is powerful and hopeful all by itself, but it doesn’t automatically mean that we will experience the power of Easter in our lives now. For that to happen, we need to talk about Bruno. Disney’s animated film, Encanto, tells the tale of the Madrigal family in Colombia that suffered tragedy that led to magic that allowed life to continue. Subsequent generations were born with great magical gifts to help the community thrive. Bruno’s gift was of prophecy – truth telling about the true state of reality. He could see the writing on the wall related to Mirabel. The magic was to end with her, and with it, the house of cards that had survived until then would fall. Nobody was allowed to talk about Bruno – reality – because it was more comfortable to live in denial. Encanto is a true story – it’s our story – because we all struggle with trying to maintain our respective houses of cards by perpetuating the stories we create, sometimes neglecting or denying painful truths that need to be addressed before they address us. We all need to talk about Bruno regularly. Or else... The disciples didn’t spend the rest of their lives in the upper room writing up Christian theology. Instead, slowly and surely and for the rest of their lives, they faced their fears with faith and faithfulness, and found the risen Christ – life resurrected – again and again. First they faced the fear that death won. They were fully aware of the source of their grief, but slowly and actively opened up to the possibility that there was more. Their realization of Easter turned into comfort, and courage, and speaking hope, and doing the things Jesus did, and eventually facing their own martyrdom, but with confident hope. Easter changed them. Easter helped them live into the presence of God that is here, right now, that will also fully welcome us, love us, restore us, and heal us in some way postmortem. Yet we won’t experience much of this in the here and now unless we talk about Bruno, unless we are honest about the parts of our lives that have not been touched by Easter but are hiding out somewhere in fear. Ignoring and denying represent normal human behavior designed to protect ourselves from undue pain. Unfortunately, when left unchecked, this mechanism can result in much greater pain than we are trying to avoid. We can become the proverbial frogs in the kettle, who cannot detect the slowly warming water that will eventually rob them of their lives. To talk about Bruno is to ask the question about your kettle, your reality, your mess, what’s not working, what’s not healthy, what needs healing. Sometimes we intuitively know this and can name those areas in our lives that need to be “Eastered”. Sometimes lights on the dashboard of our lives tell us: our marriage needs an oil change, or we need to replace the air filter that is choking our environment, or our engine light is on suggesting we need a tune up. Sometimes it’s even more obvious: people who care about us tell us bluntly, “this is unhealthy.” Sometimes it’s painfully obvious – the pain we avoid wrecks our lives in many forms of addiction, dead marriages, estranged family relationships, losing a job, terrible health, etc. What’s your reality? What fears are you dealing with that keep you in hiding, from allowing your True Self to live? There are probably a handful of things messing with you. What are they? Can you bring yourself to talk about Bruno? What can you learn from the disciples about how to bring Easter into your reality? How can you begin to wake up to a new way of living? What choices are you making to foster more of Easter and less death in your here and now? One thing is for sure: if you want your life to stay exactly as it is (and likely to get worse), change nothing. Let the suckfest continue. Eventually you will hit rock bottom and not be able to deny reality anymore. The good news is that Easter is always available and will always prevail, even if it only comes after our literal deaths. Please don’t wait that long. What do we do differently? What is actionable, measurable, to help us “Easterize” our lives? Begin every day with a commitment to walk in the Way that leads to life. I believe this is represented and taught by Jesus. Usually this will mean that we will run into situations where we are forced to ask the question, “what is the Way that leads to life at this moment?” This means we need to build space in our lives to learn what the Way looks like, which is likely to include talking to others on the Way to sort things out, open ourselves to loving care, and help others figure it out as well. The Way that leads to Easter now and forever is going to look at a lot like Jesus, who found a rhythm that kept him connected to God, that stretched his thinking throughout his life, that served others as brothers and sisters, that lent his voice and action for the sake of justice and mercy, that was marked by humility and malleability. Begin your day committing to that. Build time in your life to continue to get nurtured in the Way (BTW: attending church helps a lot). Note: we meet every Sunday, not just Easter! Monitor your walking in the Way by literally evaluating it regularly. Some traditions examine it twice a day. How about starting with once a week, reflecting on where we welcomed Easter’s hope over death’s sting? End each day with gratitude that you are in the love of God. Rest in peace until you finally rest in peace. To the Yeahbutt family who hears words like this and comes up with lots of scenarios to challenge it... What about American slaves from centuries ago who suffered untold abuse – what was Easter for them? Or Ukrainian refugees? Or people dying of cancer? Or Dodgers fans? Even in dire, somewhat hopeless circumstances, Easter wins if we let it. Nobody can take away our power to choose our response to the Good News that Easter prevails. Nothing separates us from the love of God, not even the worst horrors we can imagine or inflict. The love of God that empowered and empowers Easter is available even as we suffer. It’s what enabled slaves to create and sing their spirituals while they hoped for emancipation. It’s what allowed prisoners in death camps to face their fate with hope instead of despair. There is a choice to make regarding Easter, and when we make it, it can make all the difference. May you know that you are deeply loved and will be forever. May you know that there is more beyond the grave, and that the “more” is already here for the taking and the living. May you, in a thousand ways from here to your grave, experience resurrection from death as you live toward that final consummation. May you choose to Easterize your life, so that you might increasingly live, because nothing can separate us from the love of God.

Renewing Faith: Spread Your Cloak

Renewing Faith: Staying Whole

Note: You can view this teaching on our YouTube Channel. The scene (John 12:1-6) is a dinner party honoring Jesus. Lazarus is there, which is a pretty big deal since he was dead a few days or weeks before. Jesus was being honored for lots of reasons, but everybody present surely appreciated Lazarus’ presence given that Jesus was the one who called him out of the tomb to live another day. Lazarus’ sisters are present. They were both on the front row the days leading up to Lazarus’ death when they summoned Jesus to return, the day Lazarus died, the days before Jesus arrived in Bethany, the fourth day when Jesus arrived and restored their brother to them. Mary and Martha were sisters with different personality types. Martha seemed to live more on the task-oriented side of things, leaning on logic more than feeling. Mary wore her heart on her sleeve. Nobody was really surprised when Mary made an extravagant gesture of love and adoration toward Jesus as she opened a bottle of perfume worth a year’s wages and used it to anoint Jesus’ feet with her hair. This was pure nard from a flower found in the Himalayan mountains. Rare and expensive. The whole house was filled with the aroma of her loving kindness. It was just a pure expression of her gratitude, appreciation, and devotion. Surely others around the room shared her feelings and joined her in honoring Jesus with their love as well. Questions: When have you broken a vase to express your love toward someone? How did it feel? Are you glad you did it? How was it received? Was the recipient glad you did it? Not everybody reacted the same way, however. Judas was indignant, in fact, complaining that it was a waste of resources. He said out loud what people have struggled with for a long time – isn’t this gesture wasteful considering a world of need? Imagine how much good could have been done with it? How many mouths could have been fed? People are starving and Mary’s wasting a valuable resource. John informs us of an ulterior motive that also courses through our veins at times – he wanted some of the money for himself. While we may not literally steal from the coffer as Judas apparently did, we human beings do struggle with the tension between wealth and generosity, being good stewards of our own resources while also being a responsible citizen of the world in the face of need. Jesus read Judas’ mind (and ours) and addressed him with a quite famous rebuke: the poor will always be with you, but you won’t always have this moment. Lay off your criticism of Mary. What she did was right and good – so much so that people will remember it forever. It is important to note that Jesus isn’t encouraging the neglect of the poor in favor of our own hedonistic leanings. The Jewish tradition which informed Jesus gave clear instruction about the need to balance wise personal financial management while at the same time looking out for the vulnerable. We human beings are created in the image of God and are, at our core, very good. Yet we struggle with all sorts of self-centered temptations, greed being one of them. Because of that struggle, Jesus was affirming the truth that individuals and entire systems will take more for themselves to the neglect of those who they can take it from. Usually this includes people with less power, less influence, and less money. Women, widows, children, orphans, people of color, and immigrants. The principle of the Jewish tradition that Jesus surely espoused was to do our best to be forever vigilant against such abuses, with particular attention to systemic abuses of power that keep the imbalance just the way it is. U2’s lead singer, Bono, and friends figured this out decades ago. During a crisis in the 1980’s, bands came together to raise money for the cause. They raised tens of millions of dollars through their efforts. Bono and others realized that all that effort wasn’t really going to make a lasting difference so long as limiting policies were in place on the local and global levels that made it nearly impossible for large groups of the poor to thrive. He and a friend founded One.org in response, which seeks to change things on a system level. Most of us live unawares of how the systems we live in are what really make all the difference for most people on the planet. This is why the Jewish tradition affirms the constant monitoring of such things so that justice is assured. This is why Jesus was extremely politically engaged and why we, as Jesus followers – if we really are – should also be civically aware and engaged regarding the systems in place, especially how they may be benefitting a few at the sacrifice of the many. Questions: When have you been truly generous toward relieving the suffering of the vulnerable? How did it feel? When have you been civically engaged to address systemic issues that favor the powerful at the expense of the poor? So far, we have a very practical passage that helps us address a question we must engage regarding our resources. In short, I think Jesus is saying that there are special moments that deserve breaking the piggy bank, going a little overboard with love. There is a balance to be respected, of course, but the stingy parts of us need to loosen up the purse strings. At the same time, Jesus is reminding us that the work to protect the vulnerable will never be done. We who have been transformed by the love of God in such a way that we see everyone as beloved sons and daughters of God are (hopefully) naturally motivated to seek social and economic justice for those who are being mistreated. Questions: What’s the next vase-breaking thing on your horizon? What is a way you can lend yourself to social and economic justice? I’m wondering about something else, though, that this scene showcases. Two devout Jesus followers – Mary and Judas – had two very different responses to everything about Jesus as he headed into his final week of life. One clearly represents someone who is motivated by love. The other something different. I believe that Jesus himself had many moments when he was overwhelmed by the love of God that transformed his life, resulting in attitudes and behaviors that were loving toward all. I think this contrasted him from John the Baptist, who apparently was founded more by the much more common view of God as the coming, wrathful warrior-judge god. Where John was vinegar, Jesus was honey. John’s fear-based approach was effective and likely changed lives for a minute or two. Jesus’ approach, however, had a different, more thoroughly transformative impact. Jesus’ followers, I would think, were initially compelled by the love of Jesus, and were likely similarly transformed. I think Mary and Judas both were wooed by the love of God that Jesus modeled and offered. What changed, then? Why, at the end of the Jesus story, was one follower overflowing with love and the other not so much? I suggest that what we are witnessing here is a cautionary tale that depicts our human capacity to waiver from one end of the devotional spectrum to the other. On one extreme is Mary, full of love and expressing it freely. On the other end is Judas, still in the room but no longer motivated the way he once was – so much so that the next few days would have him betray the one he had been following for years. Throughout our lives we will struggle with this human reality to varying degrees. The real question for me is, how do we stay in the zone like Jesus did, so that we end up more like Mary than Judas? We live in a time where we have an abundance of resources to help us think this through. One resource that I have found to be very helpful is from the Gottman Institute. This institute focuses primarily on marital health, offering insight regarding warning signs to look out for and what to do when some negative tendencies have crept in. They also offer helpful, practical tools to keep relationships in a healthy space. What does this have to do with faith? A lot. Faith isn’t simply intellectual assent to a doctrine or set of belief statements. Faith is meant to be our most core relationship in life. Relationships are living entities that need to be nurtured to thrive. Marriage represents the most intimate relationships we can have in life. Learning from experts about how to keep a marriage relationship alive and growing surely offers a lot of transfer application to faith. In short, most of the advice comes down to what we are doing to foster the relationship. Relationships begin to break down when intentionality is dropped, when we no longer do the things we naturally did when we first fall in love – how we began and ended the day connecting with each other, how time was easily made to talk about dynamics between us, how time was carved out to regularly spend quality time together, how affection in various forms was normalized. The behaviors feed the feeling and the feeling feeds the behaviors. Sometimes, however, we neglect the behaviors that support the feelings, that allow the feelings to be nurtured, and the feelings can begin to fade or grow dormant. With the absence of feelings, the desire for the behaviors that maintain the feelings fall off easily. When this goes on too long, couples can become vulnerable to outside influences and temptations – other sources that stoke our feelings and elicit behaviors take the spouse’s place. Sometimes it’s another person who is often in a similar relationship. Sometimes the temptation is work, or addiction, or sports, or a hobby, or an interest, or a cause, or, well, the list is long. Whatever the cause, when people are on this track they look and act a lot more like Judas than Mary. To maintain love, attention and intention is required. Mary was acutely aware of God’s love for her and Lazarus and couldn’t help herself. Questions: How are we choosing to engage God throughout the day? How are we beginning our day with God? How are we interacting with God for extended conversations – date nights with God, if you will? How are we taking time to evaluate how our relationship with God is going to nip problems in the bud? How are we staying aware of the love of God for us and around us, and how are we expressing our love for God? When we do as Jesus did to keep our relationship with God alive and growing, we discover a faith that continues to transform and lead us to lives that are increasingly whole, connected, loving toward ourselves and others, and helping the world become more whole as well. We break vases at times while at other times challenging power structures that are hurting God’s beloved children. This life of faith modeled by Jesus yields a truly abundant life that I believe every person yearns for at their core. How is your faith? How would you like it to be? What are you going to do about it?

Renewing Faith: Prodigal God

Note: You can view this teaching on our YouTube Channel. In Luke’s 15th chapter we are offered three related parables from Jesus, all well known, the last being one of the most loved of all his teaching. The context is familiar – the teachers of the Law were taking issue with Jesus’ teaching and company as he was mingling with tax collectors and sinners. Undoubtedly, Jesus was aware of their concern for purity as well as for the potential of his welcome being misconstrued as tacit endorsement of their behavior. Jesus offered three parables to get them thinking. The first was the parable of the lost sheep, where a sheep goes missing and the shepherd leaves 99 to go after the lost one. When he found and returned with the sheep, he invited friends to celebrate with him. The second was a story about a woman who lost one of her ten coins – presumably her dowry – and upon finding it, threw a party. The third story is about two sons and a father. The younger son asks for his inheritance in advance, which is granted, and then blows it all on wild living. Utterly ruined, he decided to return home, hoping to just get a job with his dad. The father celebrates his return, however, and throws a party after reinstating him to his sonship, all to the older brother’s chagrin. Each of the stories is about something lost being found, and when it was, there was much cause for rejoicing, something that was lost on the Pharisees, apparently, who Jesus connected to the older brother in the final parable. I have taught these stories many times. The prodigal son parable, in particular, resonates with a lot of people, especially if they are carrying some guilt or shame from choices they believe has kept God at a distance (or themselves at a distance). The great news they hear from this story is that God is one who welcomes home all who have drifted, and truly celebrates their return. One commentator I read recently wonders if there was any real transformation on the younger brother’s part, or if returning home was just another con. Was he hoping to play on his father’s sympathies? Very hard to say, although it would be audacious to return home expecting anything but rejection. The younger brother, however, was the apparent “king” of the audacious. Either way, the younger son found out that he was deeply welcomed by his father due to his dad’s reckless, prodigious love. The older brother character is usually not “owned” by those who resemble him (because they usually don’t see it in themselves). He was living at the address of his father but never really home. He was missing life that was always available to him. When his brother returned, he was indignant and disrespectful to his father (hello, Pharisees?). The father was not dissuaded – he invited him to join the party to which he was eager to return. The father, who is clearly tied the character for God, is loving, forgiving, and welcoming of returning kids who stray away. It’s a beautiful story that moves many from feeling alienated to finding themselves in the loving embrace of God. If these more or less traditional interpretations resonate with you and serve to woo you into deeper relationship with God and help you become more like Jesus, that’s wonderful. Yet perhaps there is more to glean here, deeper depths to enjoy. In the story, the father/God character was a really lousy parent. How foolish would it be to give a kid his inheritance who just stated that he wished you were dead? That’s a kid who does not want to be related anymore. The more common-sense reply would be to refuse the request or worse. At the end of the story the dad goofs again by adding his name back on the checking account! Dumb! Foolish! Wasn’t he paying attention? Just because the kid returns with a memorized speech doesn’t mean there has been any real transformation. Real life parents take note: this parable was not meant to be generally instructive about parenting! What do we make of it, then? Jesus used parables to teach us about the character and nature of God. Here we catch a glimpse of a truth about God that Jesus fully understood, embraced, and lived from. Our “inheritance” of God’s love is fully ours at birth. It’s already in our account. We can do whatever we want with it. God will not get in the way. We are all born in the image of God. We are all loved beyond measure. We are all provided grace upon grace. We are all assured support from God toward life at its best. We don’t have to do anything to earn it – in fact, we can’t earn it and we can’t earn any extra, either. Everybody on the planet is given everything God has to offer. We are given ultimate freedom of choice, even to walk away with the entire haul, leaving God in the dust (as if that is possible). I believe this is true for all of us, and I believe it is a key part of the Gospel Jesus promoted. This helps make sense of why the father put fine clothes on his returned son and a signet ring (signing privileges on the checking account) on his finger and threw a party. The son may have blown whatever he took before, but the supply is limitless. He was loaded all over again because we never lose all that God freely gives us up front. The well never runs dry of God’s presence, love, grace, support. God isn’t like us in that regard. God is never stingy with his riches. This is a story about a prodigal father much more than a prodigal son. The father’s generosity far outdoes the younger son’s mischief. This isn’t meant to be a story about choices and consequences, either, as if God doesn’t care about such things. We’re talking about two different subjects. Many interpretations get stuck on the basic transactional form of sin, repentance, and redemption, and miss a deeper point that grace and the love of God are a constant – not dependent on anything we do. The younger son represents the human capacity to consciously, willfully walk away from our source, our true home where our True Self finds support. His choices represent sins of commission. We all do this from time to time in big and small ways. We don’t know what happened at the party or after the party. We’d like to imagine that he was deeply humbled by his experiences and truly transformed. Maybe not. What if he started bragging to everyone about his escapades, and started talking about his next trip to Vegas and the money he intended to blow on more partying? It certainly happens in real life. How does this possibility mess with you? We generally commit the same theme of sins throughout our lives in different ways based on our personalities that have been shaped by our DNA and shaping forces. They may change in degree, but the core is still there. What are your patterned, overt sins of choice? If this younger son represents the human capacity to disturb shalom consciously, the older son represents our capacity to disturb it unconsciously, blindly, unaware of what we are doing to ourselves or others due to our commitment to staying asleep. This makes sense in the story. The older brother would have known that he was the more favored first born who held the power. When we are more or less stable/comfortable, we are less likely to pay attention to our shadow side until something wakes us up like a cold splash of water to the face, or the crack of thunder as our inner storms finally explode. Finally exposed, the older son is afforded a mirror-to-the-face moment of graceful clarity. We do not know how his story unfolds, just like his brother’s. We are left viewing another example of extravagant love, unsure of what the response might be. God does not restrict our use of what has already been fully given to us, which is everything that God is and has. We are born with the full amount already in our account. God isn’t going to die, and has “more money than God”, which never runs out. All that is of God is good and oriented toward love, therefore God has no reason to withhold anything, and doesn’t. This is our Good News origin story. How do we work it out? How do we tap into it? How do we avoid mishandling it or abusing it? That’s the story of human life. But we all start with full accounts, even if our circumstances are very different, and even if some of our beginnings work very hard to tell us it isn’t true. There is nothing to be earned, no tenure to work toward – all that God offers is completely available to all of us at all times, even when we willfully blow it. What have you been told of the love of God, really? What complications arise for you as you hear about God’s prodigious love for us that is truly unconditional? What happens when we remove transactional thinking from the love of God? What have you been told about being human and transformation? How have you remained the same younger son, simply discovering new ways to willfully disturb shalom? How have you remained asleep, unconscious of the murkier aspects of our lives that serve as an undercurrent that directs your life more than you realize? This is a story that forces us to come to grips about who we are as human beings, living somewhere on the consciousness continuum. This is a story that forces us to come to grips about the reality of God’s abundant, uncontrolling and uncontrollable love. Which bothers you more? What is actionable from this story? What might this story be calling us to do? I would suggest taking time soon, while this is still fresh, to examine what you have been taught about human nature, the love of God, and what motivates us. As we engage such an exercise, I would encourage you to take on a stance of humility, an openness to whatever the Spirit might illumine in you. What are your known patterns of conscious, willful disregard of the love of God in your life – how are you like the younger son? What are your patterns of unconscious, unwitting disregard of the love of God in your life – when have they been brought to your attention before (I’m sure they have)? What difference does knowing that the full, unconditional, unrestricted, limitless love of God is a constant for you and everyone else on the planet? How does it impact how you think about yourself? Others? How is God wooing you forward? As one who might be falling in love with God, what is changing in you? What does living in the love of God more fully look like for us? How are we invited to live in the world as people who adore God? What difference might be made in our world if those in love with God emanated it naturally wherever they went? Psalm 32 NLTOh, what joy for thosewhose disobedience is forgiven,whose sin is put out of sight!Yes, what joy for thosewhose record the LORD has cleared of guilt,whose lives are lived in complete honesty!When I refused to confess my sin,my body wasted away,and I groaned all day long.Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me.My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.InterludeFinally, I confessed all my sins to youand stopped trying to hide my guilt.I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the LORD.”And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.InterludeTherefore, let all the godly pray to you while there is still time,that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment.For you are my hiding place;you protect me from trouble.You surround me with songs of victory.InterludeThe LORD says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.I will advise you and watch over you.Do not be like a senseless horse or mulethat needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control.”Many sorrows come to the wicked,but unfailing love surrounds those who trust the LORD.So rejoice in the LORD and be glad, all you who obey him!Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure! 2 Corinthians 5:16-20 NLT So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”

Renewing Faith: Spring Cleaning

Note: You can view this teaching on our YouTube Channel. Our lectionary text this week offered the following account from Jesus’ remembered life:About this time Jesus was informed that Pilate had murdered some people from Galilee as they were offering sacrifices at the Temple. “Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than all the other people from Galilee?” Jesus asked. “Is that why they suffered? Not at all! And you will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God. And what about the eighteen people who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them? Were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem? No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will perish, too.”Parable of the Barren Fig TreeThen Jesus told this story: “A man planted a fig tree in his garden and came again and again to see if there was any fruit on it, but he was always disappointed. Finally, he said to his gardener, ‘I’ve waited three years, and there hasn’t been a single fig! Cut it down. It’s just taking up space in the garden.’“The gardener answered, ‘Sir, give it one more chance. Leave it another year, and I’ll give it special attention and plenty of fertilizer. If we get figs next year, fine. If not, then you can cut it down.’”There are a couple of take aways here. First, when we see calamity, Jesus warns against trying to make sense of it. Instead, he appears to have the attitude, “life is unpredictable - count on that!” The second takeaway is related to the parable of the fig tree. Don’t focus much on the potential “Judgement Day is coming - get ready to meet your maker!” - that takes us away from what Jesus is really getting at. In short, Jesus is telling his audience to take care of business, and do it now, because you never know how long you have.I offered a couple of ideas to help us think this through. Kerry Shook wrote a book a decade ago entitled One Month to Live. Wondering how we might priorities our time if we knew we didn’t have much can be very motivating. We would likely not care about some things much, and deeply care about others. Let this exercise do its work on you.Atomic Habits is a perennial best seller, it seems. A piece of advice from author James Clear is to first ask the question, Who do you want to be? He notes that sometimes we do things because we feel like we should. But are they aligned with who we want to become? Starting with the “who” is really about the “why” behind our choices.As Christians, we are committed to following Jesus who was all about the Kingdom of God. If we are sincere about our desire to follow Jesus, we may need to find out how Jesus would approach life, values, decisions, etc. May you do the critical spring cleaning that will help you thrive forward!Note: Here is is some helpful biblical commentary from SALT