Fathers and Time

I’m thinking a lot about fatherhood these days. Could be the Baby Dedication this Sunday inspiring my thoughts; or the entertainer at last night’s annual Chamber of Commerce dinner as he talked about his family life and children, including a difficult divorce; or maybe it was for the first time seeing my oldest grandson play basketball last weekend; or the picture posted on facebook today, of the son of a friend, in a basketball pose serving as the perfect highlight for a poster; or remembering today is the anniversary of the tragic death of the son of good friends; or still yet the book I’m reading in prep for a class for fathers this spring.

In reading the book Raising a Modern Day Night by Robert Lewis, which will serve as a guide for the class, he invites appreciation for the value of time. No father is perfect, some less so than others perhaps, but there is no replacement for the time a father gives to his children. My own dad has his faults. And we had moments as with any father and son when we stood at opposite poles. His stubbornness found an equal in the persistence of his son. But, despite the imperfections I have recognized my entire life he gave me his time, without regret or distraction.

I think of the fathers who never had the privilege of returning from a battle field to invest time in their children. I think of the domestic tragedies in which in a moment families are ripped apart and a father longs to erase the chapter telling the story of a son lost to a drunk driver. Dads such as these serve as the backdrop for every father to be reminded they remain still able to give time to their children others cannot.

Dads you’re not perfect! But, your children don’t need your perfection. Everything in their world already does or will condition them to expect people to make mistakes, including you. But, they need your time! There is no substitute! Put on your masculinity and have a tea party with a three year old little girl, or play catch with a six year old even if it means repeatedly chasing the ball as it rolls under the car. And don’t do it just once a week. That’s not time, that’s concession to the role of fatherhood, not being a father. There’s no substitute for time. Your time!

Tents to Castles

This year the ministry staff at Westhill elected to allow the theme for 2012 to encapsulate the new vision we have been moving toward – “Experience Life on the Hill.” This vision has turned toward the Spirit as the source of movement in body life and personal life, and acknowledges to truly embrace the work of the Sprit there must be receptivity to God’s will. I know this should be a given. If we are believers it means we are open to God. But, the reality is tents of sojourners become the castles of the captive. We become comfortable with the surroundings of our faith and lose sight of the role of searching and uncertainty. Yet, it was this searching and uncertainty leading to the sojourning faith with which we awoke each morning filled with the vitality of life. Can you still feel the air filling the lungs? Some of us can, but for others it is a foreign language. All we have known has been the ceramic tile and hardwood floors of the settled.

A tenet of the Restoration movement of which we claim a history, has been to value searching for truth and embracing the important. It is not uncommon for someone to approach me after a sermon and say, “I’ve never heard that preached in a Church of Christ before.” They intend it in a complimentary not pejorative sense so no offense taken, but I’m not always sure what they mean. It happened last Sunday after a sermon on giving. We’re good on giving in Churches of Christ right? We know how to strike the right balance between silence and appeal. Again I’m not exactly sure what was meant, but I know it tapped into a faith value, and was rooted in Scripture, at least in their opinion and certainly mine; which they were thrilled to hear proclaimed from my pulpit, a Church of Christ pulpit.

Truth is I don’t go into the week looking to speak a word to impress people it came from my pulpit! I go into each week searching for a word from God for the people. Short of sincerity such an ambitious statement should be heard with arrogance I suppose, but for me it is true. I’m not looking to excuse behavior I’m looking to be shaped by the identity of Christ, as I speak and serve as a voice in God’s hands to call others into a deeper relationship with God. My finding is such discovery-preaching, or to flip the analogy to the hearer and think in terms of discovery-hearing tends to call people out of their castles and back into tents. We like the idea of sojourning when thinking of the ultimate destiny relative to the here and now, but have less affection if it means actually trading in the tile and wood. Imagine a church filled with people who have made this trade. Imagine what body life would be like. Imagine worship! Imagine ministry! Imagine its impact on the community. Come “Experience Life on the Hill” with those who live in tents not clinging to their castles. 

Fellowship of the Spirit

In my youth I learned we (meaning our church and by implication other Churches of Christ) believe in the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then there was an unspoken shhh, relative to the Spirit. Adding to the mystery was the prevalent translation of the word for Spirit at the time, “ghost.” So we believe in a ghost, I thought. Did he resemble “Casper the friendly ghost,” but with a more serious tone? Shhh.

As I began to preach an older preacher once quantified the shhh, I had known, saying “there are two subjects I will not preach on.” I’m not sure what one was, but the other was the indwelling of the Spirit. He was apparently informed about the shhh.

I made a habit of collecting bible literature at each church I visited, when I was in Jr. High and Sr. High; when going to the occasional Christian bookstore; and even once spent food money on bible study material while attending a church workshop. Amidst the material I found one booklet on the Holy Spirit. I don’t recall what it said, but my curiosity was piqued by its novelty.

Spirit, Ghost, shhh. Enough said! Any serious question about his role invited a clear answer. “I don’t know. There is just not much in scripture on the Spirit. But, we believe Him!” “Absolutely!”

In retrospect if I grew up in a Trinitarian church it was more by unquestioned acceptance it was so. A bystanders perception would more likely have labeled us binitarian (God the Father and God the Son). And looking back I wonder to what extent our fellowship was weakened by a lack of influence on the Spirit. To what extent have we incurred a tendency to split and divide over a myriad of disagreements? To what extent have we been less effective in missions? To what extent have we been to impassionate about our faith?

So, the challenge before us is to overcome the encumbrance behind us by noting the discussion within scripture on the Spirit, to incorporate Spirit language into our faith practice, and to invite the Spirit into our lives. Our lives are to be filled with the Spirit, and to the extent we enjoy the influence in our ignorance and due to God’s grace how might our faith change if such influence came through active acknowledgement?

Stop and Laugh

Is there enough laughter in your world? This past week the move toward Christmas has signaled the arrival of Salvation Army bell ringers at the doors of Wal-Mart and Kroger. And every one of them dons a smile to go with the word of good cheer. That’s not laughter, but it is just shy of it. By appearance I doubt it would take much to rattle the lungs.

What’s the point? The world is too uptight. We grown about wars a sea away, but we live in a sea of conflict where we are, at home, work, maybe even church. I cast my vote to relax a little, imitate the bell ringers, and smile a lot, a whole lot.

If we are serious about a long and healthy life then we should be a little more serious about being a little less serious. If we want our children to have a happy childhood then we need to give it to them by showing them how to laugh at ourselves, smile in the face of failure, and lift our chins in the wake of disappointment.

We laugh too little! Not in my house! Not in my office! Of course there are times when the call is for a tear, quiet, reverence, but the sanctity of the spirit breaking into a joyful laugh is but a moment away. Does it make us irreverent, immature, or unrealistic?  I think it means we are happy!

As Christians we are in the world but not of the world we say. That does not mean we are licensed to hold the posture of frown as if it were the Divine default for the righteous. 

A Cold Night's Reflection

Computer screen up, warm house providing a cushion from the cold, and sitting in reflection! The Christmas lights and garland adorning the mantle, our mantle; it is so great to be in our own home after leasing for three years; and a little coffee, tepid temperature, still in the cup. Yes, I am prepped to scribe thoughtful and worthwhile words. You judge the worth naturally!

Every week has a theme, some more poignant than others; and this week thoughts of our tendency to cling to comfort zones, on a wide range of issues, has arisen at several normal daily junctures. By “our” I am thinking of my own heritage of faith. We embrace the Scriptures as divinely inspired words, but do we then take away from it the positions and pronouncements we carry into it?

What does it mean to be open to the Lord’s lead? What does it mean to be convicted by the Scripture? What does it mean to describe ourselves as learners? How serious are we about being challenged each time we open the Scripture? Is it really possible to change what you think?

As I currently preach through the Book of Hebrews which presents difficult Greek; and deep and at times illusive ideas, I find myself reading it over and over looking both for new meaning and a creative way to perform the homiletical (preaching) task. At moments I have more questions than answers and realize what I have to deliver is anything, but a nicely orchestrated message with closure at each juncture. It is as if I will go into the pulpit, open the doors in the minds of the listeners, and step out of the pulpit leaving the doors still open and a cold breeze drifting into the room. How can people possibly be satisfied with that?

Tonight I completed a book asking me to think thoughts which are not comfortable and imagine perspectives altering perceptions I have long held. I’m not resentful toward the author for the disturbance, but I could certainly have lived without it. Yet the question is not about living without it, as in survival. It is about spiritual growth, stretching the heart and mind. That’s the problem with comfort zones they keep you homebound when you could get out and enjoy the outdoors. Do a little yard work. Visit a friend. Jog around the block. Homebound is the experience of the aging, but it is not the preferred journey.

Bottom line, I need to read the Scripture to be transformed and be willing to step out in faith instead of staying home in fear! The goal is not comfort, but conviction; it is not in a sense security, but adventure.

Noticing

This was service weekend around our church. Many of us painted a house on Saturday, others delivered updated church directories to homebound members on Sunday, and still others spread out to sing at 3 care facilities in town Sunday afternoon. What a weekend! A great weekend! Weekends like this happen too seldom for churches. They are events we have to work in the schedule. But, when they do occur we always walk away feeling good, talking about the event, and someone invariably says “we should do that more often.” True!

This has been an incredible summer, all summer, for the Westhill family. The sag of summer seems to have passed us by so far. Families coming. Families looking. And hopefully families finding. And what they find I trust is a church striving to live out a Christian faith which is real, filled with grace, hopeful, providing a place for families and individuals to thrive spiritually, and for those in need to receive a fresh start. This has been an incredible summer. Record hot temperatures while a topic of conversation, has slowed down little, actually nothing.

As we look toward the fall plans are under way to strengthen and expand our children’s ministry, build-up other ministries, and I find myself working through the fall with messages to be preached. In all our planning and in all out events we are inspired by what we are taking the time to notice – God is at work! We have been called to witness the shaking of Divine presence waking us to the reality God is moving and transforming lives. And in response we stand and applaud. God is worthy of applause! And it is natural for us to applause! So put your hands together and let the gentle roar echo upwards.

Christians and Happiness

Can one be Christian and not happy, or is one a synonym of the other? And further if we profess to be Christians and are not happy where is the breakdown?