Knowing the Unknowable

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." (Hebrews 11:1)  

 

I've known that little verse since I was kid.  I'm sure at some point my Sunday School Teacher gave me a smiley face sticker for memorizing it.  I can still quote it, but in spite of having it etched on my memory it took years to understand it.

I believed faith was "confidence that God would grant my requests and answer my prayers if I believed hard enough and refused to doubt."  But once you receive what you have requested, faith is no longer required.  Now you have proof, evidence, hard data. 

Faith is not believing you will receive your requests, but rather believing that God is who he says he is, that he will keep his promises, that he will keep his promises in spite of the lack of proof, evidence, and hard data. Real faith is not receiving what you ask for but rather when your whole world is caving in, when evil has mounted your head as a trophy on its Wall of Victory, when every voice in every part of your life is screaming, "GOD is DEAD! He is a liar.  He is a human creation to make Hopefuls out of the Hopeless"... you are able, in spite of the evidence against him, in spite of reason, in spite of the overwhelming circumstances...to rise, and to declare, "God is faithful.  He keeps his promises. He is trustworthy."  Faith is, "being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see"...and may never see this side of life.

Hebrews 11 gives examples to support this understanding of faith:

• Noah believed God when he said there would be a flood to the point of building the precursor to the Titanic (Coming soon the release of The Flood in 3D)
• God promised Abraham he would have children like stars in the sky but when Abraham died it was more like "Children like the Brady Bunch."  Although Abraham died not seeing the fulfillment of God's promise, God was still faithful after his death, and Abraham believed him.
• Joseph believed God would lead the people out of Egypt but he died before it ever happened, and yet God kept his promise many years later.
• Moses and Israel painted lamb's blood on their door frames because they believed God would destroy the firstborn of the unpainted homes. And he did!
• Joshuah and the Israelites marched around Jericho because they believed God would do as he promised and bring the walls down on the 7th day!
• They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.  (Heb. 11:37-40)

Hebrews 11 argues that faith means believing God will keep his promises even when all circumstances and evidence point to the contrary...even when he fulfills his promises after your death. "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we may NEVER see... this side of life." Just because you don't experience the fulfillment of God's promises in your lifetime does not mean he will fail to keep them. Chapter 11 encourages the reader to trust that God keeps his promises no matter what your experiences.

And so Hebrews moves from this chapter on faith to, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses..."  Witness of what? Witness of God's faithfulness! Witness like Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joshua... witnesses who testify from the other side of life that God is faithful - ALWAYS!

When your loved one dies, when you lose your job, when your spouse leaves, when your friends betray you, when you are ostracized at work, when you are depressed...and as a result you doubt God's love...when he seems like he won't come through, when it feels he has deceived you, when it appears he has deserted you - listen to all the witnesses!  Listen to...

•  Noah, "The rains DID come.  The water DID rise."
• Abraham, "Although I never saw it with my own eyes God DID make me into a nation!"
• Joseph, "Even though I was long gone, Israel did walk to freedom out of the most powerful nation without having to raise a sword. There was an Exodus."
• Moses, "God's messenger did kill the firstborn of the unpainted houses!"
• Joshua, "The walls did fall!" 
• Mary and Peter, "Jesus did rise from the dead!"

So... can you hear them?  When your faith is shaky, rest on theirs.

Same Like Like Same

I was nestled in my upstairs corner office lost in the world of the sermon when, "Pastor Taylor!  Pastor Taylor!"  I knew it was a visitor; my Church of Christers understood that referring to me as "Pastor" had a place at the top of the list with National Treason and Blaspheming the Spirit. I was a "Minister."

As the familiar voice jarred me out of "Dimension Homily" back to the real world I made my way down the stairs to find a local pastor waving a document in the air.  Little did I know it was not a piece of paper but a bugle calling me to war.  He handed it to me and encouraged with flare, "This is a petition for the State Legislature. It's to sway them from passing a bill that gives the same rights to homosexual partners as married couples. You do know this bill is a step toward legalizing gay marriage?  Sign it and have all your members sign it!"

I didn't sign it and I didn't announce it from the pulpit.  I simply put it on the Church tack board, another minnow in a parchment sea.  My refusal to lay down my John Hancock was no attempt at a political statement.  I don't hope in politics and I don't believe in legislating morality or Christianity.  Legislation targets behavior, like training a dog.  I can get my dog to quit peeing on the carpet by slipping him some baco-fake every time he tinkles outside and by scolding him, "Bad dog!" every time he waters the carpet.  It may get the behavior I want but it doesn't transform the pooch's desire - dogs love peeing on carpet.  The difference between the human species and the canine is that most people are smarter than dogs.  People find ways of conforming to the imposed behavior while at the same time scouting out large enough cracks in the system to still fulfill their desires.  My refusal to sign the petition was not a political ploy; it was the influence of stuff lik Mark 2:15-16:

While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 

Since Mark clearly identifies the Pharisees as the antagonist of his gospel we Church people tend to read this passage and give Jesus a fist bump, "Yeah Jesus, stick it to the Pharisees!"   But Jesus' actions and the company he kept was offensive not to the world but to the religious.  To put it in perspective, I believe if Jesus were here today we would find him engaging people in gay bars and being present, although probably not marching and definitely not picketing, at the gay parades strolling through Washington.  Jesus always engaged.  He never built walls or fortresses.  When churches rally the troops and actively protest gay rights through legislation, etc., we build walls, create gaps, and push the gay community further away and in so doing hinder our ability to embrace the "engaging" strategy of Christ.  I believe that introducing the gay community to the upside-down way of Christ through genuine, caring relationship is far more redemptive than ANY legislation.

So...

1. To non-christian individuals and communities actively, even flamboyantly, living out the gay lifestyle... why not?  If you are not a professing follower of Jesus Christ, then why would you submit to the way of Christ.  We cannot hold a non-believing world to a believer's worldview.  And yet openly homosexual individuals are STILL people.  Therefore, the next time you come across a same-sex couple or an openly gay guy, instead of crinkling your nose, or giving the raised-eyebrow-big-eyed-"He's gay!"  glance toward your neighbor, or starting a little gossip party remember that that person or that couple desires to be loved, fears loneliness and rejection, needs affirmation and encouragement, and deserves dignity and respect.  We, of all people, have an underground storm shelter stocked with an arsenal of love, affirmation, encouragement, dignity and respect...so lock and load!
2. To Christians struggling with same sex attraction... those of us who don't, need to identify and step into the great suffering and isolation many of them face on a daily basis.  Many of our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters have no idea how to overcome their feelings and fight to stop their homosexual activity but feel the church is the last place on the globe where they can honestly express their struggle.  I could imagine that many individuals struggling with same-sex attraction live tortured lives of guilt and frustration with God.  Several years ago I was at a Christian camp of 1000 high school students.  Two nights in a row, two different keynotes delivered jokes with a "homosexual punchline."  The audience roared with laughter.  That moment, that moment that cannot be taken back, did more damage than we far could imagine.  For a crowd of a thousand, dozens of students must have at that very moment been struggling with same sex attraction. Perhaps they had come that very week to find a listening ear and a compassionate heart but what they found was roaring laughter at their most difficult and confusing and deep battle.  They would have to turn elsewhere for the compassion they desired and needed.  The Church cannot laugh. We must declare, "You belong here!  We love you!  We want to understand your battle, your pain, your failures, your successes.  You are one of us.  We long to walk with you in the messiness of it all, to walk acknowledging that there is a Friday of struggle, pain, death and sin but to choose with you to live in the hope and in the New Creation of Sunday."

Reverse Butterfly Effect

The Butterfly Effect... something along the lines of a butterfly flaps its wings in South American which produces enough climate change to form a hurricane in the Atlantic several weeks later.  Or, a kid sneezes in China and a group of Syracuse students break the Guinness World record for the largest flapjack. Huh? It has something to do with Chaos Theory - I'm lost already but I do know that in Genesis 1 the Spirit of God is hovering over the "chaos" and then God preaches order out of chaos, "Let there be light..." You're confused now, so let me explain.

 My current job? - Helping build fences.  Notice I did not say, "building fences."  The key word is "helping." I spend many of my days carrying pickets.  I'm the machine, a rather scrawny one, driven by the commands of my gracious boss - like a front end loader for Munchkinland.  As I'm in the monotonous rhythm of loading and unloading today I start feeling a desire to preach again.  AHHH!  I cannot even get through a day without crying, so the thought of wanting to return to the pulpit makes me nervous.  I explore the origins of such an out of place thought, "Why am I feeling the desire to preach right now?"

1. I believe over the last three months I have gained new insight regarding sin, compassion, love, and loneliness which helps me understand and relate better to people when preaching.
2. Preaching makes me feel significant... DING! DING!  There's the red flag!

And I waved that red flag right in front of my face.  I'm on a mission to connect deeply with God, not feel significant.  I was mad at myself for so easily reverting to my old pattern, but I desperately want to be significant.  And that's when the mental scroll started rolling, "I LONG to be significant.  I LONG to be desired.  I LONG to be admired.  I LONG to be attractive.  I LONG to be wanted."  Dagnabadidabit! I was so angry with myself.  I want and should LONG for God, but I don't, even after all the crap, I don't. So, I just started praying Psalm 63:1

O God, you are my God,
   earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
   my body LONGS for you,
in a dry and weary land
   where there is no water.

Over and over, I moved wood and whispered the prayer, over and over, over and over... when finally I whisper shouted, "God where are you?  Come on!"  SO MUCH SILENCE! But then I went back to Psalm 63 and transferring wooden pickets.  As I gathered the next load to carry into the yard a single butterfly landed on my stack of pickets.  This may not mean anything to you, and it wouldn't to me either if my wife had not written this blog entry a few days ago.  In it she says, "At the beginning of this "hell" a dear friend of mine gave me this necklace [of a] butterfly: She told me..... 'God can create something beautiful out of this mess.  From the ugly caterpillar comes a beautiful butterfly.  God can make something new and beautiful again.'" God bringing order out of chaos.

 

I cannot be absolute that it was God giving me an Elijah Whisper, "I'm right here!" but I would like to think so.  It affirmed what the resurrection proves: it will be okay, not only for me, but for everyone involved.  Out of my hurricane of destruction God brought the butterfly.