Looking In

“O wad some power the giftie gie us

to see oursels as ithers see us.” 

(O would some power  the gift to give us  

to see ourselves as others see us.) 

- Robert Burns, Poem: “To a Louse” (verse 8)

   

A funny thing happened on the way into Church one Sunday.

 

Picture a sunny Sunday morning anywhere in America.  Now imagine a friendly, nicely-dressed couple going up the stairs of a Church moments before the morning Worship service begins.  They are not the only people in the scene: Kids are finding their families again after Sunday School (or pleading to sit with their friends); Adults of all ages are smiling greetings at one another as they make their way into the Sanctuary; Greeters are holding stacks of bulletins; music is playing in the background - America is going to Church.

 

This scene could have happened - in fact does happen - in thousands of places, with one exception (I hope/pray that it is an exception) .  The difference was what happened when we (yes, the couple was K. & me) sat down and I noticed that K. didn't have a bulletin.

 

It turned out that the Greeter wouldn't give her one. 

 

Through a long set of difficult-to-describe circumstances, the timing at the top of the stairs, just as Worship was ready to begin, caused me to get a bulletin first.  I don't remember how I ended up walking in front of K. (I was raised better than that), but when she reached, smiling, towards the Greeter, he pulled back the stack of bulletins and pointed to me (and, presumably to my bulletin).  She was briefly flabbergasted, but a woman is nothing if not flexible after 35 years of living with and working in Churches, so she chalked it up to some Earth-friendly attempt to save a tree and walked on in to Worship.

 

Now - why tell such a story?

 

[If you've been wondering how I was going to connect the great Scots Poet Robert Burns and his immortal poem "To a Louse" to this, here's where it all comes together] .  

 

For the two of us, this just became a humorous story.  When it comes to going to Church, we are 'professionals' - we can make it through a worship service with just one bulletin - heck, we could do it bare-handed if we needed to - but this provided one more glimpse of Church-life from a different perspective - from the outside looking in.

 

That's the perspective of most new folks at a Church.

 

 I spent many years trying to convince folks that walking into a new Church - or walking into any CHURCH for the first time (for someone who didn't grow up in a Church) - was a task that ranged somewhere between "Hard" and "Terrifying" on the Life Difficulties scale.

 

It doesn't matter that most Churches (including the one we were at that day) are filled with friendly people who love Jesus - if a person can't get through the front door he or she will never get to experience the genuine power of being able to share in fellowship with those folks.  Worse than that, simple embarrassment can become a wall that shuts off a person's ability to hear the Good News - and sharing the Good News is the only defensible reason for maintaining the institution that is the modern Church.

 

For most of the past 2 years, K. & I have had the unusual opportunity of seeing Church life "from the outside".  It is not an opportunity for which we had hoped and prayed - it just happened to us.  It was an opportunity in the same sense that auto accidents, injured and sick kids, flat tires, family emergencies, and blizzards have been "opportunities".  It shows up and you deal with it.

 

For us it has provided a chance, as former Professional Church Folks, to 'see ourselves as others see us' - if "ourselves" means Church - the Body of Christ as it exists at the beginning of the 21st Century.

 

This is not just a story about a Greeter at one Church, or about a humorous snub to one person.  The little story above is just the most benign example of the kind of thing that has made it difficult to connect fully with a Church "home" during the last 2 years.  It is NOT that we doubt that people want us in their churches.  We are fully aware that most congregations would love to "get" us as part of their church life.  How do I know?  Because I had the privilege of working with folks like us for almost 4 decades.  We bring an unusually high level of talents, gifts, and abilities with us (not to mention that I personally am insanely friendly & humble).

This is just a story that serves as a (hopefully) gentle reminder that every Church, every Sunday, has to be on the lookout for fragile human beings.  You will recognize fragile people when you see them - they will be the ones who are breathing.

 

Remember that we worship the One who knew how to approach this world with care: "A bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not extinguish." [Isaiah 42:3].

 

It takes more energy than most of us want to exert after another long week of our own troubles.  Remember Hebrews 13:2, though:  "Do not neglect to show kindness to strangers, for in so doing many have entertained angels without knowing it."  [ ! ]

 

I hope to share more reflections on our temporary sojourn as some of the folks looking at the Church doors from the other side - it is a good feeling to know the riches that reside inside those doors. 

 

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[Editor's note:  It would be a good use of Google to search for "To a Louse" if you are not familiar with the poem.  It is a short poem about Burns' encounter with a louse (as in the singular form of lice).  It was evidently true that this guy could write a poem about anything.  If the version you find seems to be in an unfamiliar language, ask Google for a modern English translation, or better yet find a site that shows both versions together.  Enjoy.] 

 

 

 

 

 

God, Please Bless Patton Oswalt (Whether he wants you to or not)

Although I didn't list him that way, Patton Oswalt would qualify as Artist of the Week - he is a comedian, actor, writer, comic book consultant, and much more - although I will admit that I didn't know his name until this week.  Like last week's Artist of the Week [Mark Lowry?? - how soon they forget] Patton has something to say that is worth hearing.

If he HAD to show up on a blog like this one, though, I suspect that he would be happier to be guesting as Atheist of the Week.  I'll admit that this is not a feature that I had considered before, but if there are more atheists out there who can write like Patton Oswalt, I might have to consider it.

In the wake of the bombing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday, he wrote something that left thousands of Internet readers moved and encouraged.  I'll refer to part of it below, but if you go to his website - Patton Oswalt - you can get a link to his Facebook page to read the whole thing (you might have to search a bit for it - Facebook is, admittedly, still a bit of a mystery to me).

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After acknowledging that what happened in Boston was [exceedingly] "horrible"   he goes on to say:


". . .  I remember, when 9/11 went down, my reaction was, "Well, I've had it with humanity.  But I was wrong. I don't know what's going to be revealed to be behind all of this mayhem. One human insect or a poisonous mass of broken sociopaths.
But here's what I DO know. If it's one person or a HUNDRED people, that number is not even a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a percent of the population on this planet. You watch the videos of the carnage and there are people running TOWARDS the destruction to help out. . . .This is a giant planet and we're lucky to live on it but there are prices and penalties incurred for the daily miracle of existence. One of them is, every once in awhile, the wiring of a tiny sliver of the species gets snarled and they're pointed towards darkness.
But the vast majority stands against that darkness and, like white blood cells attacking a virus, they dilute and weaken and eventually wash away the evil doers and, more importantly, the damage they wreak. This is beyond religion or creed or nation. We would not be here if humanity were inherently evil. We'd have eaten ourselves alive long ago."

 Although the wording was different, he was echoing another message that went all over the Internet in the wake of the bombing.  This one was from Fred Rogers of Mr. Rogers fame.  Years ago he had written: "When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.'"

 
Patton continued: "So when you spot violence, or bigotry, or intolerance or fear or just garden-variety misogyny, hatred or ignorance, just look it in the eye and think, 'The good outnumber you, and we always will.'"

BTW, this is not the time to discuss the differences between Patton Oswalt's world-view and mine.  This is just an opportunity to give thanks for someone who has made good use of language to remind us of something that helped keep some kind of hope alive for a wide and varied audience of people, many of whom were probably also ready to throw in the towel on this whole humanity thing.  Using language well is a gift for everyone involved.  As it says in Proverbs, "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver."  Good job with the golden apples, Mr. Oswalt.

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 [Editor's note:  For those of you wondering about his name, yes, he is named after General Patton.  His dad is a retired Marine Colonel, who also has some stuff worth reading in an email to his son that was pasted on Mr. Oswalt's Facebook page.]

[Second Editor's note:  For the record, while I'm relatively sure that Patton Oswalt would assume that I do find humanity "inherently evil", that is not the language that I would use to describe a fallen Creation - if I could paraphrase from above, I would say that we live in a state where our wiring gets snarled and points us towards darkness. For those days - and for all the others - that makes me want to celebrate light.]

 

Like a 4-year-old . . . [Luke 15:11-32]

Artist of the Week: Mark Lowry

(I've never had an Artist of the Week before - but then I've never published this many blog entries in a row before, so obviously new things are happening).

Mark Lowry has  something to say that is worth hearing.

If you are a fan of Bill Gaither, you may remember that Mark Lowry has been a member of the Gaither Vocal Band.  If you have loved the song "Mary, Did You Know?" at Christmastime, you may recognize his name as the one who wrote the lyrics.  He is often referred to as a Christian Humorist - which is accurate as far as it goes.  In addition to his considerable musical and comedic talents, though, he is excellent at telling the story of Christ.

I was looking for information on Mr. Lowry in preparation for a sermon this week at Parkview UMC in Miamisburg, Ohio, where I will be filling in for a friend.  The Scripture will be Luke 15:11-32 - the story usually called The Prodigal Son - take a moment and refresh your memory if you have not read it recently.

Most sermons about this Scripture focus on the younger son - the one who takes a walk on the wild side and brings shame on himself and his family but who is still welcomed home .  This week, though, I was thinking about the Older Brother in the story - the one who stays home and faces up to his responsibilities.

Picture the 2 brothers later in life sitting around a fire sharing their testimonies.  Little Brother would have a story of travel, adventure, loose women, throwing money away, disaster, survival, and redemption.  Older Brother would have a testimony that most people would find - let's be honest - boring.

Those of you who know me will NOT be surprised to find that I tend to identify more with the Older Brother.

When I would attend my High School Sunday School class (a couple of years back), we would receive a Sunday School paper each week containing some Scriptures along with someone's Testimony on the back page.  Almost without fail these testimonies were from 'Little Brother' types:  former runaways, former heroin addicts, former criminals, former hippies, etc.

Most of us sitting in the basement of the McComb UM Church were relatively well-behaved, and we shared the shame of thousands of young Christians - a boring testimony.  That's why I appreciated Mark Lowry so much when I heard him introduce his own story this way:

"I was saved from a life of desperate wickedness at the age of 8."

 I laughed out loud.  Those of us with the (mixed) blessing of growing up in the Church and identifying with the faith from an early age never really had time to get mixed up in a lot of "desperate wickedness" before claiming Jesus as Savior and Lord.

That quote, though, while it is an excellent line, is not the quote I had in mind when I said that Mark Lowry has something to say that is worth hearing.  The quote below came from a talk that he entitled Recovering Fundamentalist where he talks about God's grace:

"God spreads grace like a 4-year-old spreads peanut butter.  He gets it all over everything."

 That's the one.  That's a pretty good summation of why I have always referred to Luke 15:11-32 as the story of the Prodigal Father - the Father is lavish - some would say to the point of wastefulness or scandal - with Love.  He spreads so much around that there is even plenty for the - let's be honest again - self-righteous Older Brother.  Do you remember Older Brother's reaction to discovering that they were throwing a party for Little Brother (the one who had dragged their family's good name through the mud)?

He was angry - and refused to go in to the celebration.

Then the Father comes out and begs him to join in the festivities.  The story ends without telling whether or not the Older Brother joins in the feast, but Luke - the storyteller - has a clear lesson in mind:

If you get an invitation that good, get into the party.

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(Editor's note: When I figure out a simple video program, I will include videos here of my Biblical Storytelling version of the story on the blog - any suggestions for video programs?  Also, thanks to the folks at BibleGateway for the Bible link, and thanks in general to Artist of the Week Mark Lowry - once again, very well done).

Tom T. Hall: Failed Theologian

OK - First things first:  If you have never come across the work of Tom T. Hall, your life has been the poorer for it.  Country music fans will recognize Mr. Hall as one of the greatest songwriters of the 20th Century (and, so far, of the 21st as well).

He is one of my all-time favorites - probably most famous (among readers of a certain age) as the author of Harper Valley P.T.A., which made Jeannie C. Riley a star in the mid-60's.  He was (and still is, I'm pleased to be able to report) the master of the Story-Song, and in fact his nickname is The Storyteller.  If you - gentle reader - have somehow made it to 2013 and are not familiar with Tom T. Hall, you should STOP HERE and go to YouTube or Google and look him up (you are most likely to find a link to The Year That Clayton Delaney Died - an excellent place to begin).  Leaving Nadderby will be here when you get back.

His songs were built on his life experiences.  Just a few of the incidents which became songs were:

• A Week in a County Jail;  
• (Old Dogs and Children and) Watermelon Wine;  
• Salute to a Switchblade; 
• and a personal favorite, The Ballad of 40 Dollars about a gravedigger musing over the passing of a friend who still owes him $40.

Is it any wonder I love this guy's work?

So why attack Tom T. as a Failed Theologian?

It is, alas, because of one of his most memorable, singable, songs - namely Me and Jesus - which has this Refrain:

'Me and Jesus got our own thing going - 

Me and Jesus got it all worked out - 

Me and Jesus got our own thing going - 

And we don't need anybody to tell us what it's all about'.

You may well be asking, "So what's wrong with that?"  As proud descendants of the Reformation, which helped to free Believers from the idea that we needed a priest to interpret all of our interactions with the God-who-made-us, shouldn't we be celebrating the chorus above?

Well - . . . no, although the world of the Believer would be much simpler if we could.

I (along with what I suspect is a great majority of Christians, especially American ones) would love it if we were only called to get together with Jesus and celebrate what we - just the 2 of us - have "got ... all worked out", but unfortunately we have been called to something . . . messier.

 We are called to be a part of a Faith Community - the Bible/Church word you hear about that is koinonia -  and Jesus set the example at the onset of this whole Kingdom of God thing.  You will remember that he called more than one Disciple - there were 12 of them (and that was just the closest ones, the ones we came to know as Apostles - in reality there were dozens more).

You may also remember that even The Twelve had trouble getting everything right.  Along with some responses to Jesus which were downright heroic, they also had a tendency to fundamentally miss the point over and over as Jesus tried to teach them how to be Kingdom people.  Worse than that, they would go on to desert, deny, and even betray Jesus himself.  So why should we have to live out our faith in connection with other believers?

Hey - I don't make the rules - I'm just reporting here.

In the first couple of milennia of this attempt to usher in the Kingdom of God, it has been affirmed again and again that our faith and discipleship is shaped by our interaction with believers around us - and in turn, their faith and discipleship is shaped by their interaction with us.  Without Community, one of the tools used to shape us more completely into Kingdom People is missing.

I say this with no particular joy.  If you find yourself  at a place in life where there is no well-defined, obvious koinonia of which to be a part (as is my family's current lot, by and large), the getting-connected part is, at least, challenging.

So I understand Tom T. Hall - I really do - and many days yearn for a faith that is just "Me and Jesus" getting it all worked out, but on my best days I know I would never trade the workmanship in my life accomplished by many of the readers of this very blog.  I won't say it was never messy, but thanks anyway.