For all of my friends out there who preach sermons on a regular basis.

You will understand the following rambling the best.  The rest of you, just pray for us.  Be kind to us.  Be patient and long suffering toward us.  Send us a Hallmark card every once in a while.

We are part gladiator but part gladiola (we wilt easily).

We are sometimes poetic sometimes pointless.

We struggle to be relevant yet not trendy.

We strive to speak with a degree of certainty but without dogmatism.

We are sometimes little boys standing behind big boy podiums.

We reach for what is beyond our own capacities in a effort to feed hungry souls something which will nurture and nourish.

Preaching sermons is not about delivering a speech.  Preaching done well, done right, is that which issues from a life long love for God and His ways.  Preachers are perhaps more mothers than fathers, who, after taking in life to our inward parts, go through a period of gestation until the moment our truth teaching emerges as a new born.  In front.  In public.  Where all can see.  Where all can hear.

Will the truth we bear, be nurtured and cared for by those who hear or will this gospel-child be abandoned?   Will anyone take this child home to care for it…. to give it a place in their life? Or will the spiritual formation so hoped for, by the preacher, be unclaimed in the end.  A child longing for adoption but orphaned nevertheless.  Bottom line:  we preachers, aspire to presenting something which can make a difference.  Something in which people will find value.  Something transformative.

So, we preachers, the vast majority of us, anyway, are not just doing speeches. Our sermons represent the deepest part of our souls.  To speak a sermon is to speak in our native tongue.  It is to be at home in our own skin.  We respond to a call from the deepest part of our spirit and soul.  Pray for us.  Let us know when it makes a difference.

A year ago I began posting my sermons in audio form as a podcast.  I had received requests from a few friends.  (And I mean few in the truest of definitions).  Those few prevailed upon me to consider putting my sermons out there on the internet and so I schooled myself in mp3 formatting and in a matter of days, we were out there in streaming audio for better or worse.

Preaching sermons is something from which I take some enjoyment.  I am at the same time challenged, energized, exhausted, exhilarated, deflated, pumped up, happy, sad, qualified and inept.

What you read below is from the podcast page.  I share it here as an elaboration of what I’ve been saying earlier in this post.

The podcasts you will find here are mostly sermons I have preached at Oakhaven Church in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. These are posted for the benefit of exploring the wonder of God’s word in scripture. No claims are made as to my own expertise as a scholar or authority. These audio presentations are not edited. They will often include a side comment or reference to a Powerpoint slide or handout. They will occasionally include a statement or an aside comment which might need clarification or even correction.

I frequently find that if I listen to my own sermons I wince at the choice of words or wish I had elaborated on something so as not to be misleading or inaccurate. Bottom line: “it is what it is”. These are sermons to encourage one to study on their own, draw ones’ own conclusions. Finally my own efforts serve well to point out the frail human condition of any of those of us who call ourselves, “preachers”.

We paint a target on our chests every time we publicly proclaim God’s word.

We are usually our own fiercest critics.

Like Paul, we embrace the fact that

“we know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified….and we stand before you in weakness and in fear and much trembling….my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit of power that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God”

1 Cor. 2:2-5 ESV and a little paraphrasing of my own.

He would point out that dying to self is not simply a statement of theology but it is a directive of relational behavior.

Do good marriages bring honor to God?

It’s a rhetorical question.  Of course they do.

I was reading some of Paul’s words in Colossians the other day.  Chapter 3 to be precise.  Around about verse 18 & 19 he lays it  out clear, concise and with no elaboration.  “Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.  Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them”. He lays this out and then moves on to say some equally concise, clear and direct things about parenting.

The exhortations to husbands and wives is so brief and said with such economy of words that I find myself wanting to say to Paul,  “Hey!  Whoa! Whoa!……hold up a minute before going on the parenting stuff.”  “What do you mean by, “wives…submit….and husbands, don’t be harsh”? I need some elaboration here.

“How can you think you can get away with such brief, short, terse words as these and think that you have connected with your readers?”

But then I can already see Paul getting annoyed at my questions.  He would point out that I’ve not comprehended what he said earlier in the Colossian letter in his prayer for God’s people there.  (Colossians 1:10) “ And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work…” Paul would admonish me to recognize that Christian virtues are for every facet of one’s life…..including one’s marriage.

Marriages which fail to take on the shape of the cross tend to get misshapen.

As I ponder this, Paul might instruct me further to read his Ephesian letter chapter 5:21 and note that submission is not just for wives but for all who would die to self.  Submission is not just a marriage word, he would say.  It is a word that reminds us that power and control can be abused in any undertaking……including but not exclusive of marriage.

So then, marriage is one of those good works in which we are to excel.  Good marriages are a part of the Kingdom agenda.  Seeking first the kingdom of God with all good things added provides a fitting place for God’s reign in our relationships.  In the Colossian context, this finds Paul  summarizing marital relationships in two simple but representative phrases:  “wives be submissive….husbands, don’t be harsh”.

This is the Kingdom way.

It is a call to conform behavior to the shape of the cross.

The marriages of Christians are to reflect the kingdom mindset just as sure as our doctrine, our spiritual disciplines and our worship styles.

Such marriages bring honor to God.

Yes they do.

In the narrative of Mark 9: 33-37, we see the disciples of Jesus in a discussion of who is the greatest.

In a reversal of standards, as Jesus often does, he states that being a servant is the greatest status to which one may attain.  The disciples are caught red-handed and red-faced in their naive exploration of greatness.

Jesus then brings a child forward, takes the child in his arms and speaks of the importance of welcoming a child as being of paramount importance in Kingdom matters.  As I read this passage this week and as Christmas draws near,  I made an unexpected comparison of this narrative with the child in the manger story.

I recognize fully that the date of December 25 as the date of Christ’s birth is quite arbitrary and it is tradition which establishes this time of year as celebration of Christ’s birth.

But I have come to like this tradition because it provides an occasion to reflect on the rich theology of the incarnation. I know we get concerned because of the mixture of red nosed reindeer and talking snowmen being interwoven with discussions of deity.

And it is all too possible to let this season be an excuse to put Jesus up as some kind of holiday ornament only to take him down in January. But I’m going to look at this as the proverbial glass “half-full”  and make the most of the opportunity to speak of Jesus.  “The Word become flesh and the one who came to make his dwelling among us.”  (John 1:14)

So let’s stroll over to the manger and ponder a bit.

There was a baby Jesus born long ago to a young Jewish virgin named Mary.

She and her betrothed Joseph were caught up in a scandalous situation.  There is drama, there is tragedy and there is triumph.  It’s a good story.  It is a marvelous piece of history to remember and to reflect upon.  Although I think the strain of redemption’s song is never heard clearer than at Calvary, in our rush to the cross, let’s not miss the strains of the same song being sung at the scene of the child.

Baby Jesus, God incarnate (in the flesh).  Of a certainty, it is a story about a child but not a child’s story.  This is grown up theology.

Which is the greater story of God?  The scene at the stable or the scene at the Skull?

I propose that these narratives are interwoven.

They tell the same truth.

The Jesus we observe on the cross is a living, fully functional human.  He is God and he is man.  The death on the cross is not diminished by the child in the manger, it is enhanced.  You will only fully comprehend the man on the cross if you have contemplated the child in the manger.

I make it my life’s ambition to direct attention to the man on the cross.  It was here that God spoke love in His clearest, most unmistakable terms.  But God was also speaking clearly through the rag-wrapped baby known as Immanuel.

So….for a time….let’s pause and reflect more carefully on the lesson of the child. More than once he used a child to communicate things vital to comprehending the Kingdom .  Perhaps at this season, the man Jesus would point to the babe in the manger and have us gaze upon him in wonderment, amazement and awe.

Linger a while at the manger and hear what the Spirit has to say.

Having eyes to see, ears to hear and a heart ready to be filled.

It’s the “hap- happiest season of all”

……so goes the line of an oft heard Christmas song.  Lyrics like this are  intended to cheer us and  inspire us to focus on joy and peace and good will to all men.

What a great idea!   And it is indeed, wonderful when this music inspires us and encourages us to fill this season full of  caring, sharing and togetherness.

But let’s face it.  Our expectations usually far exceed the realities of the season. In fact, we set ourselves up for a cycle that courses from disappointment to disillusionment and finally, depression.  So let’s consider a few practical ideas to help us avoid being entrapped by unrealistic Holiday expectations.

Do you remember how Christmas was for you as a child?  Remember the wish list and the endless pouring over those Christmas catalogs and sales flyers until the pages wore thin?

And wasn’t it grand how they would decorate those department stores and shops with lights and tinsel?  Christmas carols were played over the loud speakers inside and outside of the stores.  And those Christmas television specials gave us ways to savor the holiday spirit indoors as we gathered around the set.  It was the only time of the year I could stand to hear Perry Como sing.  (I know…..I’m really dating myself on that one.)

At commercial time when everyone ran to the kitchen for more egg nog, Mom would stay by the set to copy down the latest recipe from Miracle Whip.  Back in those days before anyone knew what cholesterol is, they put that stuff in everything from asparagus to pancakes.   What was smoother…..the light silky taste of Miracle Whip or the light tenor voice of Perry Como?  Hard to say.  Both as smooth as a bob-sled run.

Well, anyway, you get the message.   Christmas then and now, has been a part of the national landscape.  But it never dawned on me in those idyllic days there could possibly be a dark side to such festivities and gaiety.

This was before I came to understand that the holidays provide no real respite from the cold realities of death, disease, poverty and dysfunction.  Sadly, this time of year with its bright lights, TV specials and merriment often serves only  to contrast all the more the sad desperate issues we are facing.

So, what do we do?

We put on an act.

We act as if everything is OK.

We fall victim to harmful myths and traps custom made to take advantage of our desire to find meaning and purpose during this season.

We become desperate to create in our homes and our lives the fantasies we see in the Christmas T.V. specials.  To mask our emptiness, we plunge into the deluge of commercialism and are tempted to run up our charge cards.

Let’s expand a little on some of the holiday myths aforementioned and suggest a few ways to avoid them.

MYTH No. 1 Everyone has fun during the holidays. In reality, there are as many homeless, hungry and sick people as there are any other time of year.  There are more masks worn during the Christmas holidays than there ever were at Halloween.  To live in a state of denial during the holidays will only make the post-holiday season all the more difficult with which to cope.

MYTH No. 2 Families grow close at Christmas time. The truth is,  dysfunctional and addictive behaviors don’t take a holiday break.  If anything, they become more pronounced during this period.  People typically abuse drugs and alcohol during a holiday period just as much as at any other time.  This can make it difficult for families to achieve the closeness they desire to have.  Don’t expect that a strained family relationship will suddenly become better simply because of a seasonal festive environment.

MYTH No. 3 Christmas brings out the best in people. The holiday season can be productive of good things but it also can encourage us to overindulge in eating, drinking, spending and sitting idle.  In fact, many times these behaviors become more culturally acceptable and are even encouraged during this party-saturated period.  These factors can arouse in people the tendency to become irritable and quarrelsome at work and at home.

MYTH No. 4 The great energies expended in creating such a festive season will bring great rewards. Unfortunately there is no guarantee that your great efforts will bring praise from the recipients.  Keep your expectations at a reasonable level.  Decide that you will enjoy giving to others regardless of how the gift is received.

- sensible things you can do to make the holidays enjoyable -

Focus on the Moment at Hand - Enjoy the small things.  Make a cup of coffee or hot chocolate and go over to a window where you can view nature.  Consider how  Winter is God’s way of letting vegetation slumber so it can reawaken in the Spring with all its majestic beauty, sights and fragrances.

Reach Out to Someone - Think of someone who could use some encouragement.  Write them a card or letter.  Give them a call on the telephone.  Pay a visit to someone who might not have visitors during the Holidays.   Have someone over to your home for a meal or holiday refreshments.

Consider the Reason for the Season – December 25 is an arbitrary date, and no one is sure what day Christ was actually born, but the tradition of celebrating His birth is pretty special.  So, contemplate the origin of the Christmas celebration tracing back to the birth of Christ.  Consider the wisdom in celebrating Christ on a daily basis as opposed to a seasonal basis.  If you are not satisfied with your knowledge of Jesus and how his life affected history then resolve to understand him better by reading His story in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the Bible.  As they say, wise men still seek Him.  You will be empowered greatly by developing this relationship.

Focus more on people than things - Merchandisers are running full bore at this time of the year.  Advertising will seek to convince us that unless we spend lots of money on gifts we will not get the most out of the holiday.  We might also be disappointed in the gifts we received and allow that to cast a shadow over our time with people we love and care about.  Most of us might as well admit that this one carries more weight than we would like to admit.  Think it over and make a choice not to let this rob you of joy and fulfillment.

Spend quality time with your family and friends- Even with extra time off work during the holidays, we can allow ourselves to become a cog in the swift moving Christmas machine.  Determine that you will seek to slow down, to unwind and relax.  Allow yourself time to take a walk, play a board game with your family or phone someone you haven’t spoken with in a while.   This adjustment should leave you feeling rejuvenated and energized more than anything wrapped in even the prettiest of paper.

A HOLIDAY WISH

It is my hope and wish for you that the holidays are joyous and productive of many good things.  I encourage you to examine the core reason for the celebration of this season.  Consider the importance of celebrating the life of Jesus Christ everyday not just during one season of the year.  Jesus came to create something more than a seasonal tribute to his birth.  He calls us to follow him….to be his people….to wear his name.

Observe the babe in the manger but don’t forget the man on the cross. Be moved by the story of  Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus and how there was no room for him in the inn.  But make the connect about  our tendency to make no room for him in our everyday lives.  Consider the meaning and purpose Jesus can provide to a life focused on him and his teachings.

Have a Merry Christmas!   And  I mean that – - – in the fullest of Ways.

Invite Him. Envision Him. Listen for His voice.

Isn’t it great when God shows up in an unexpected place?

At an unexpected time?

In an unexpected way?

That’s one of the things I liked best about William Paul Young’s book, The Shack.  God showed up in a way I would have never expected.

I doubt that Moses expected God to speak out of a burning bush.  I’m guessing Saul didn’t expect encountering God  as he did on the Damascus road.  Moses was herding sheep and Saul was on a road trip but God intervened and life courses were changed.

I’ve heard gripping stories of people who witnessed cataclysmic events and their lives were never the same afterwards.  People who were forever changed by walking away from an accident where they shouldn’t have survived.  I listened recently as Joni Eareckson Tada spoke of her paralysis as a young girl from a diving accident.  Holy and horrendous.  Terrifying and tremendous all at once.

But what about those days when nothing out of the ordinary happens.  Is God just as surely there, as well as on the days of the extraordinary?  I certainly hope so, for most of life is just that.

Let’s invite God to be a part of each day and each moment no matter how routine no matter how standardized.  Let’s find holy moments and occasion to mark the presence of God even while doing the ordinary.

Is God there in the fruit and vegetable aisle in the grocery store?  Is He there at the quick lube oil change garage?  Is he there when you are picking the kids up from the YMCA?    You and I know that the answer is “YES, HE IS”.   It is up to us to recognize His presence and celebrate His role in our daily activities.

Barbara Brown Taylor insists that God is there in even the most mundane and ordinary.   She rightly cautions us about separating our lives into secular and spiritual piles.  No need to do a disconnect with God ever.  Think about it.  The parables are some of the richest spiritual teachings of the Savior and yet most have to do with digging a hole and finding a treasure or sweeping a floor and finding a lost coin.

We are most of us, pretty into multi-tasking.  Who says we can’t make a spiritual connect while taking care of routine tasks?

“Human beings may separate things into as many piles as we wish—separating spirit from flesh, sacred from secular, church from world.  But we should not be surprised when God does not recognize the distinctions we make between the two.  Earth is so thick with divine possibility that it is a wonder we can walk anywhere without cracking our shins on altars.” Barbara Brown Taylor, An Altar in the World.  P. 15

At Oakhaven’s recent married couples retreat, Deb and I made presentations on the theme:  “Once Upon A Marriage”. The idea is that our life as a couple is a story being written under the direction of God.  When challenging things happen to us as a couple, we accept God’s role as our Chief Editor and Script Writer.  Even in the time of stress and difficulty, God demonstrates His power and His faithfulness.  We used James 1 as one of the texts as our underpinning of ideas.

I have often found that writing my own paraphrase of a scripture with a slant toward my present experience is helpful.  Let me be clear…. a paraphrase is not an attempt to say something to replace what the original inspired writer said.  This is an attempt to apply biblical truths to one’s own present situation.  With that in mind, read first the NIV translation and then my paraphrase.  I hope it has some value to you and that God’s word increasingly becomes a lamp unto your path and  a light unto your path.  (Psalm 119: 105)

 

James 1: 2-12 NIV

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,

3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.  6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.  7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord;  8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

9 The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position.  10 But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower.  11 For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.

12 Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

 

Gary’s  Paraphrase for Married Couples

There is real joy in the story of a marriage where trials are faced and overcome.

For we realize that as our faith is challenged and our marriages confront hardship we are actually made stronger.  This blessing comes as an outcome of our not giving up…..our refusing to give in.  As a result, we become mature as a couple, learning that overcoming our difficulties makes us stronger and better equipped to meet future challenges.

When we are hard pressed for answers, we have learned to ask God for help.  And God responds by giving us wisdom and insight just because we asked Him.   As a couple, we have accepted that God wants us to believe in His adequacy to overcome anything we encounter.  We are to resist negativity and pessimism.  God’s blessings are limited severely by couples who refuse to put full trust in Him.  If we doubt Him, we are like a wave of the ocean which gets swept to and fro by the wind.  Couples whose faith in God is weak, will find themselves unsteady in all they attempt to do.

As couples who embrace our own inadequacies, we are actually elevated in God’s eyes as being reverently confident in His power and not deceived into thinking it is all up to our own effort.  We heed the warning to avoid being overconfident in our own power.  For if we do so, we just wind up being like a bouquet of pretty flowers which comes to wilt over time. The beauty of an enduring marriage only comes when couples refuse to act independently of God and resist the tendency to live according to their own selfish standards.

A marriage is blessed when the couple holds fast to one another and God even through the tough times.  The crowning achievement comes in the form of being blessed of God, both as an individual and as a couple.  These blessings are manifested both now and in eternity.

Because of these things, we know that when we love one another it is just one more way of expressing our love for Him.

Our love, our commitment and perseverance as couples, go up to Him as honor and praise.

I have to admit that I’m a little more at home speaking words than writing them. ( I have delivered far more words in my life in speeches and sermons than in my writing.)

But I see the advantage in writing as a way of organizing my thinking and forcing my ideas into more coherent phrasings.   (Even though I find it a struggle, I find that writing helps me critique my ideas as I go and therefore helps me work toward clarity and focus in communicating my ideas.)

I also like writing because I can use brackets as I communicate.  (Was that already obvious?)

The reason I like brackets is that they (brackets) let me improvise on what I’ve just said.  (For instance, I can insert something else on the tailwind of my previous bloviating.)  How handy is that?  (I’ve just written twice as much without adding anything substantially different from the ideas I had already shared.)

In case you didn’t notice how clever I am, I just bracketed a bracket statement.

OK…..      I know you are growing tired of this rather overdone satire on the benefits of bracket statements.

And …..

…….as I’m confident you think there is no point whatsoever to these paragraphs,  let me hasten to make an observation or two.  (or three)  (or maybe four)

Life comes at us fast.

Sometimes we don’t understand what God is seeking to convey to us through our Bible study, our spiritual struggles and our life experiences.

But if we seek God’s will and keep our hearts and minds fixed on Him, He will often follow up with something to clarify and expand on His message to us.

In other words, be alert to what God says at first hearing.   And then pay attention to what He offers in His bracketed elaboration statements which follow His initial words.

One of the most striking examples I think of is the intent of God in the Old Testament.  God had some powerful things to say through the Law and the Prophets in the Hebrew Bible.

But read again,  Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”  Jesus is the bracket elaboration of what God is saying in the Law and Prophets.

When you think about it, the parables of Jesus are groupings of teachings set alongside what He had already said in other words.  The very meaning of the word parable is to state one thing alongside another.  The narratives of Jesus in parable form are clarifications and elaboration of His previous teaching on the same theme.

So keep a keen eye out for God’s after statements.  (His bracketed elaborations.)

For often, this is where the real understanding of God and His agenda can be discerned.

If only Zacchaeus were taller.

I’m sure he had wished it many times over.  Although Luke is diplomatic in his wording…..he says Zacchaeus was a short man….

…..He resists the popular wording, “wee little man”.

I hate to break it you, but the term, “wee little man”  is only to be found in the children’s song.  No translation…..not even Eugene Peterson’s  popular Message transliteration uses the term “wee little man”.

How disappointing.

The long and short of it is this:  Zacchaeus was short.   And this makes the story of Luke 19 all the more interesting.  Because of his stature, the little tax collector faced a predicament.  He wanted to see this Jesus he had heard about.  He wasn’t sure about how this day would turn out but he would never forgive himself if he missed an opportunity to see Jesus first hand.  He couldn’t bear to miss seeing one who loomed so large in the minds of the multitudes.  He had heard people refer to Him as the Kingdom talker.  The proclaimer of peace.  The purveyor of hope.  The person of God.

Zacchaeus had to see him.  And he had to see him first hand.

He knew from experience that when crowds gathered he was disadvantaged.  He had learned that the crowds took sick satisfaction in putting this little tax collector in his place.  They resented him.  They would push and shove and crush him if they could, using the anonymity of the crowd as a way to shield themselves from possible repercussions from the tax man.

He was, after all, most likely, a Jew like they.   But he had become a turncoat in their eyes.  It seemed to them that he was serving the Roman regime by collecting taxes from his own brothers…whether they could afford it or not.  They also knew that the arrangement between tax collectors and Roman officials is that the tax collector could assess any amount possible as long as Caesar got his cut.  Any excess amounts could go into the pockets of the tax collector.  Zacchaeus had accumulated a fair amount of money.  He was a short man….but he had deep pockets.

The people resented him.

The crowds would take joy in blocking his view.

So Zacchaeus came up short.  He wouldn’t be seeing Jesus today unless he came up with a way to overcome his inadequacies.  Since his childhood days he had experienced harsh treatment for his size.  When the bullies came his way, he found that a tree would provide a way of escape.  He had spent many an afternoon finding protection and refuge in a tree.  So on that day he looked to a tree.  It would be his way of seeing Jesus.  A tree would bring him close to the Messiah.

Climbing up, he saw the crowd part and the cloud of dust told him that the Kingdom talker was coming his way.  He had heard courtyard discussions about this man and his talk of a new kingdom at hand.  By all accounts, the Kingdom talker was saying that a new domain was emerging. To Zacchaeus this meant that his arrangement with the Romans might possibly come to an end and that wouldn’t be such a bad thing.  He had done his job and done it well but he didn’t sleep well at night knowing that he benefited personally from Caesar’s kingdom all the while seeing the ill effects of his work on his fellowman.

On a tree, he would see Jesus coming.  He would see his face.  He would behold his eyes and behold the seriousness of his facial expression.  But he also hoped he might see forgiveness and experience the grace of God he so yearned for.

As Jesus drew close, Zacchaeus sensed an awareness that he was being observed by the Kingdom talker.  At the very moment when Jesus approached, Jesus looked up to Zacchaeus, called him by name and informed him that he intended to come to his house.  In his own home, he would visit with this Kingdom talker and hear in more detail about the new reign of God ever so close at hand.

Just the thought of Jesus initiating such acceptance, came upon Zacchaeus as a renovation of his heart.

“Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”   The bondage he had felt by his association with the Romans seemed in that moment to drop away like chains turned to dust.

On that day, a “wee little man” stood taller.  Only now at that vantage point could he finally see the world as even the tallest of men long to see.

In days to come, in post resurrection days…..as Zaccheus would tell and retell his story, he would perhaps exclaim, “only by way of a tree was I able to see Him that day and only by the tree of Calvary has He come to be seen by all men today and everyday since”.

Come to Him.  See Him.  Let Him come into your house.  He will lift you up.

If only Zacchaeus were taller…..but then….

….I’m glad he wasn’t.

Over the last several years I have pondered over themes relative to spiritual growth and faith development.

These ponderings brought me to ask about the influences which foster spiritual growth.  In my experience, I have noted that spiritual growth occurs along the axis of information and transformation. I define information as being comprised of thinking, reasoning, reading and intellectualizing.  I think these are indispensable disciplines but I also have witnessed their inadequacy to produce spiritual growth unless they are paired with transformation.  I define transformation as the experiential part of our development.  If information is the “talk the talk”, then transformation is the “walk the walk”.    It is the praxis of knowledge.

A few years back when I was asked to teach a class at the Pepperdine University lectures, I developed the following Jo-Hari window.  It is a fairly common way to display two intersecting ideas with comparisons and observations to be made regarding how certain blends of the two approaches are manifested in faith development.

The informational component is displayed in the vertical line with the numbers one through ten.  One being the least and ten being the greatest.  The transformational component is along the horizontal line.   I have inserted a brief description of each quadrant and the result of that particular blend of information/transformation.

Give it a look and I’ll make a few more observations below.

Quadrant one is at the bottom left side of the grid.  It is lowest on the scale for both information and transformation.  It is a place we all find ourselves in at times.  We become lethargic, and feel stuck in our faith.  We are especially vulnerable to shallow thinking and quick solutions to faith development when we are in this quad.  We feel the discontent and can become open to anything that promises change.  In my opinion, this where a lot of America finds themselves today.  They are seeking spirituality out of a void of information and without a willingness to transform and submit their lives to behavioral changes.

Quadrant two is the bottom right side of the grid.  Low on  information but high on transformation, this group is in motion as opposed those in quadrant one who are stuck.   Quad two people are usually frequent attendees of rallies and concerts and highly charged events.  They like lots of music, they buy the T-shirts and the key-chains.   (Nothing wrong with this, I might add….it’s just that these are not adequate in and of themselves to bring about sustained spiritual growth.)

Quadrant three is the top left side of the grid.  High on information but low on transformation.  They have book, chapter and verse….and that’s not a bad thing per se, but they might not be personally a person who necessarily possesses the fruit of the Spirit….Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control.  They lean toward legalism, have low tolerance of those who hold different views and are generally on edge as protectors of the faith and set others on edge accordingly.

Quadrant four in the top right hand side is high on information and high on transformation as well.   This group approaches Bible study with anticipation that God is continuing to sculpt and shape their life.  They enjoy engaging the texts of the Bible and discussing their views with others.  They also understand that information is verified and substantiated by application.  They are anxious to know the way of Christ but are equally anxious to go the way of Christ.

Faith development does not seem to permanently reside in any one of the four quadrants exclusively.  There are times when I find myself residing in each of the quadrants.  An important exercise for me is to look at the chart occasionally and ask, “where am I right now?”. The next step is to explore what it will take to move to a healthier place.

My advice:

Be intentional and be continual in your faith development.

Seek a variety of ways to increase your potential for growth.

Consider the effect of prayer, meditation, fasting, sacrificial giving, service to others, spiritual journaling etc. as ways to open the way to increased spiritual growth.

The world awaits the coming of a transformed & informed people who follow the God who shows the Way.

I’ve always had the idea that integrity was about being honest.

Something about being a straight-shooter.  Being trustworthy.

It turns out that Webster’s definition points to similar ideas.  Integrity \    1 :  an unimpaired condition: soundness 2 : adherence to a code of moral, artistic or other values  3 : the quality or state of being complete or undivided: completeness

Recently I noted the other words that are related to the word integrity.  One such word with a related origin is the word,  integrate.  This word means “to form into a whole….to unite with something else…to incorporate into a larger unit….

Observing the two words together allowed me to see something I had not pondered before.  Being a person of integrity means that there should be a continuity of character between who I am/ how I act from one context to another.  In other words,  what I am in one context should be integrated seamlessly into what I am in any other context.

A life of integrity then, should be one in which all the dots connect.  There cannot be a “disconnect” between what I am in one context and what I am in another. People spot a phony from a mile away.   An integrated lifestyle is one which exhibits the same virtues in one context as in the next.

My dad used to exhort me to avoid just being a “Sunday” Christian.  By that he meant that it does no good to go to church on Sunday if I’m not determined to live my life by that standard during the rest of the week.  When I got a part-time job at the age of 15 dad took me aside and instructed me to work just as hard when the boss wasn’t around than when he was close by.  That was good advice.  It nudged me in the direction of integrity and I’ve never forgotten it.

Jesus was once approached by an expert in the law (Luke 10:25ff) who asked about how to inherit eternal life.  Jesus asked the man what is written in the law?  The lawyer gave a good answer.  He replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and Love your neighbor as yourself.”  The lawyer’s good answer was followed up by a hint that he might very well have been looking for a legal loophole.  He follows with the question, “And who is my neighbor?”

With that prompt, Jesus tells a story of a man beaten and robbed who is ignored and devalued by some who were especially known for talking a good talk.  Bad thing is, they didn’t walk the walk.  They walked instead to the other side of the road rather than “integrating” their behavior with their law.   No doubt, they knew the law….they just didn’t do the law. 

No integration =  no integrity.

The pivot point of this story involves a Samaritan.  The Samaritans as a people did not have a good track record of being consistent.  Samaritans as a race were a mixture of some Jewish and other ethnicities.  When it was to their favor, they played up their Jewish connections.  When it was to their advantage to do otherwise, they would distance themselves from the Jews.  But this is a generality, not to be applied to every individual who is a Samaritan.  Jesus’ use of a Samaritan as the hero and the Jewish leaders as the slackers gives his story the twist that is so much of a hallmark of his other parables.

Who is a person of integrity?

I propose that the true mark of integrity is to integrate into all phases of ones’ life, the character of God.  If there is a disconnect between what we practice and what we preach, the world will be deafened to our speaking of the gospel.   Without the integration of word and action, there will be no traction for the words of life.  There will be no forward progress toward a transformed society.   We will only spin our wheels.   God calls us to be people of integrity…..and integration.