Ooh and Aah

An Inkling

Many homes have one:  the closet doorframe, marked with the measure of junior’s growth over the years.  I remember surveying the various spans of my growth, and proudly imagining just how tall I would grow. 

An even bigger payoff came when we visited my grandparents twice a year.  As we arrived they would ooh and aah over how much my brother and I had grown.  In those moments no one had to tell me to stand up straight.  I was already stretching.

When I reached my full height, somewhere around 15, there was a sense of satisfaction.  I was fully grown, and best of all, I was now taller than my dad!  But there was also a sense of loss – no more growth to anticipate.  No more oohs and aahs.  No sense of stretching.

For long years I’ve pondered on a phrase in Ephesians 4, where Paul describes God’s growth goal for us:  “the measure of the full stature of Christ.”  Wow!  That’s up there!   God is much more ambitious for our stature than I would ever be for myself.  And I’m sure that he is much clearer than I am about how we could be so measured – “the full stature of Christ.”  Double wow!

Lately I’ve been reading Tom Ashbrook’s Mansions of the Heart, an exposition of Teresa of Avila’s great account of our growth in Christ.  Her seven “mansions” are like marks on the doorframe – most of which have come for me long after my physical span was set.  It has given me a glimpse of how God has grown me over the years, and of how much more growth there is yet to reach the “full stature.” 

So I find myself stretching.  It’s not as if growth is something I do, so much as it happens by God’s design, just as did my physical growth.  But I’m stretching in anticipation.  Even at 57 God is not finished growing me up!  Or you!  And the measure he has in mind – triple wow!  May it be that the angels ooh and aah for us all.

Blessings,

Keith

Lingo-istics

An Inkling

How ‘bout them Nats?!  It’s fun having the hottest team in baseball just up the road. 

While I rarely catch a whole game, I see pieces of many, which means Sarah does too.  And over the years of being married to a baseball fan, she’s picked up a lot of the lingo.

Even so, occasionally she’ll still ask me the meaning of a term.  For example, the announcer says, “And there’s a comebacker to Strasburg, and he makes the easy toss to first.”  And Sarah asks, “What’s a ‘comebacker’?”  So I explain what I’ve known since I was a nine year old little league player.  What was obvious to me from long experience was not at all apparent to her – she who endured softball in Phys Ed only on the days she couldn’t find a way to skip class! 

Have you ever noticed how specialized baseball lingo is?  Tune in and listen sometime, and see how many of these you can define:  looper, pay off pitch, change up, pitching from the stretch, laying one down, a brush back, and so on.

It’s well to have such lingo.  How cumbersome would it be for the announcers to describe all of the action in non-lingo terms?  Why would an announcer say, “And Harper has hit a low fly ball over the head of the second baseman, but short of the right fielder,” when he could simply say, “And Harper has looped to right”?  For the sake of brevity and clarity we create jargon in many fields – not just baseball fields.

So it is with our faith.  It is so much simpler to say “Trinity” than it is to describe the mystery of God’s being in detail.  Our one word “atonement” abbreviates hundreds of volumes that have sought to interpret the impact of Jesus’ cross.  We would be hard pressed to have sensible conversations if we lacked such faith jargon.

But, some folks who hear our “broadcast” of the faith won’t have any more clue of what we’re talking about than did Sarah listening to the Nats announcers.  Can you articulate your faith in language that anyone can understand?  It’s an important skill for talking with seekers.  And as we set aside our lingo, sometimes we discover that we weren’t so sure ourselves what those words meant!

With my rally cap on,

Keith

Re-centering

An Inkling

To the casual observer of the sky it looks like everything orbits us.  The sun, moon, planets, and stars rise in the east and set in the west, with our earth apparently in the middle of things.

Ptolemy (2^nd century, A.D.) was no casual observer.  He noticed that the planets did not move steadily like the stars, sun, and moon.  They got faster and slower, closer and farther.  So he came up with a theory for the planets’ motions that included little loops, which he called epicycles.  His theory didn’t explain every quirk of the sky’s motion, but with lots of figuring and a little fudging, it mostly worked. 

Fast forward thirteen centuries and another careful observer began to cipher.  His name was Copernicus, and his revolutionary proposal was that the sun is central.  Once that center was realized, the other pieces fell into place without the gyrations of epicycles.  Voila!  Suddenly the sky was so much simpler and sensible!

To the casual observer it looks like we are the center of things in life.  By the age of two we casual observers had already determined that all manner of reality orbits around us.  Along the way we may learn some polite ways to speak of such things, but we’re not naturally inclined to change our basic view of life:  “I am the center.”  Of course that theory of life requires lots of figuring and fudging, along with lots of creative epicycle-like explanations for life’s quirks.  And still it doesn’t add up.

Life is so much simpler once we realize that Another is at the center.  If you’ll forgive the well-worn pun:  it is the Son.  Once we are given to understand that He is central, all of life’s orbits and calculations and motions begin to fall into place – along with a huge sigh of relief that we don’t have to muster the gravitas to pull everything into orbit around us. 

It’s a great way to live, this Creator’s design for life.  May this spiritual Copernican revolution find full expression in each of us, and wide realization in all!

Blessings,

Keith

Vacation Bible School: Now and Then

Of Serpents, Doves, and Chikin

An Inkling

Brother Dan wasn’t trying to be controversial.  (I’m talking about Dan Cathy, President of Chick-fil-A.)  But controversial he was, which you undoubtedly saw last week, unless maybe you were vacationing somewhere beyond Mars.  Controversial as in being called a hateful homophobe, and being told by the mayors of Boston and Chicago that Chick-fil-A is no longer welcome in their cities. 

And I thought the presidential campaign was getting ugly!  Dan is neither hateful nor a homophobe.  But his experience is one we can learn from.  (And since there’s a lot to learn, get ready for a long one….)

Jesus told his disciples that he wanted them to be “wise as serpents, but innocent as doves.”  If we think of the latter as being simply telling the scripture’s truth, then the former points us toward giving attention to how we tell it.  How can we get the best possible hearing for that truth?  That’s the serpent end of the deal – being judicious and strategic in how we speak about controversial matters.

First, let’s not assume that anything we say about the sexual ethics and marriage controversies is simply “in house.”  Dan Cathy was being interviewed by a Baptist publication, and he spoke as to those who shared his beliefs.  That can work when we’re conversing with fellow Christians in person.  But we must assume that anything which goes beyond this moment and this room – be it printed, cyber, or whatever – will reach a broader audience.  And those “wise as serpents” will speak accordingly. 

Second, know that the advocates for revising sexual ethics and marriage practices have their own “serpents,” who have successfully cast most such conversations in the mode of “do you agree with me or are you a bigot?”  That’s a “heads I win, tails you lose” scam.  Rather, choose your forum and form with a view to communicating fully both the truth of the scripture, and the grace that makes the truth life-giving.  That pretty much rules out sound byte exchanges.  Instead, look for settings where you can have a real conversation, or at least the means of communicating a full message.

Third, let that message begin with our own need for God’s grace – something like, “considering the logs in our own eyes, we’re not crusading to remove specks from others’ eyes.  But we do believe that life works best when lived in the ways the Creator designed.”

Fourth, don’t stop with God’s Creator stake in this.  Be sure you get to his Redeemer role – something like, “we’re grateful that the One who designed us also redeems us in every area of life.  And we need his redemption in our sexuality and marriages as much or more than anyone.” 

Fifth, don’t get pulled into the escalation of contempt.  As soon as the mayors of Boston and Chicago cast their scorn on Dan Cathy, the web lit up with Christians casting scorn on them.  Jesus is not served thereby.  Sure, let’s confront those whose voices for “tolerance” are (ironically) intolerant.  But let’s not follow them in tone.  We are set apart by the kindness and vulnerability with which we speak the truth, not by the correctness of our arguments.

Sixth, let’s find forums for controversial conversations other than dueling boycotts.  The Kingdom is not advanced by eating more “chikin” or less Ben and Jerry’s.  There is a time and place to speak to corporations about their values.  But high volume exchanges about where we’re taking our business does little to win hearts to what matters most, and only plays into the opposing “serpent’s” desire to cast Christians as shrill and simplistic. 

Lastly, let’s learn together as we go, and be supportive of each other.  We’re going to need it.  For however well we join “serpent” with “dove,” in a hateful world we are all guaranteed to get a taste of Dan Cathy’s controversy.  And let’s make sure we also get a taste of his wonderful “chikin”!

Bless Dan!

Keith

Real Justice (and Mercy)

An Inkling

Usually sports talk shows are inane.  I watch them at the gym when I’m running on the elliptical machine, and am happy to have my brain in neutral.  But yesterday, as the sports-talkers were digesting the Penn State penalties, they moved from the usual minors masquerading as majors (was the right play called?  is LeBron really that great?) into genuine majors (how to respond to evil, and the nature of justice).

The evil was that a Penn State football coach raped a bunch of boys, and that some Penn State officials, including the all-time winningest head coach, Joe Paterno, covered it up, which led to more such rapes.  And justice was supposed to be served by the NCAA penalties – much harsher than any before ($60 million fine, four years of restricted scholarships and no bowl games, and a striking of all wins since 1998, thereby bumping Coach Paterno down the most-win list).  Penn State officials accepted the penalties and removed Paterno’s statue from their stadium.

The talk back and forth about the justice of the penalties sounded like this:

• It’s too little.  How can this ever make it up to the boys who were raped?
• It’s too much.  This will cripple Penn State football for a decade.
• It’s misdirected, punishing the wrong people, the current and future players.
• It’s clumsy, tarring over all the good that Joe Paterno and his crew did for many years.
• It’s unfair.  Why just Penn State?  What about the murder at Baylor, etc?

They all have a point, and their points made me all the more grateful for God’s justice.  His justice is never too little or too much.  It is applied precisely to those deserving.  It does not lose the good in removing the evil.  And it is perfectly even-handed. 

Hats off to the NCAA for pursuing justice, and not just rolling up the windows and driving on by.  More justice will be pursued in the Pennsylvania civil and criminal courts – a good thing.  But let’s not imagine that these human judgments will ever do more than approximate real justice.  Even our “justice” needs God’s justice.

And mercy!  If even our efforts to make things right fall short, how much more do we need mercy for the ways we too have used and abused others, and hidden our eyes from the same?  It’s good news that the Divine Judge is fully just.  And it’s even better news that the same Judge has determined to bear the full cost of justice himself on our behalf.  Thus the cross of Jesus, where evil was defeated, and where justice and mercy met.  It’s the best of all good news.

Blessings,

Keith

A Belly (and Heart) Full

An Inkling
Why do you eat as you do?  When?  What?  How?  With whom?  We all have our reasons.  
I’ve not thought much about my reasons, at least not beyond the dietary revisions made necessary by a slowing middle-aged metabolism.  And that was driven by health (and vanity!) concerns, not reflections arising from my faith.
But recently I saw an article in the Biola University (a Christian university in L.A.) magazine about eating Christianly, and it got me to thinking.  Why would I not want scriptural values to shape such a significant area of life?  When I think of all the time and energy I spend on getting food in hand and then mouth, why would I want to be shaped only by commercial interests and casual customs, and not by scriptural values?  And yet that’s how it has been for me.
Till now.  This article got me to thinking about how redeemed eating habits might look.  Here I’ve quoted some of its high points:
• Slow down. Try to find time to truly enjoy food. Prepare it yourself. Savor it.
• Give thanks. For the food you have, for the hands that prepared it, for the land and animals it comes from; above all, for God the provider and sustainer of life.
• Show hospitality. Invite others to dine with you. Follow Jesus’ example. Share food with strangers. Throw long dinner parties.
• Eat in community. Enjoy food with others. Let it be a unifying source of social pleasure.
• Be sensitive to those around you. Many people struggle with food-related issues (dieting, food addiction, eating disorders); keep this in mind as you eat.
• Eat justly. Recognize that your eating affects others. Try to support ethical and just food practices through discerning consumer choices.
• Fight global hunger. Remember that nearly 1 billion people in the world do not have enough to eat… do what you can to feed the hungry in your communities and across the world.
• Develop taste. Expose yourself to new things and expand your palate. Learn to appreciate quality food, unique flavors, textures, combinations.
• Eat humbly. Rather than eating food to show off your culinary sophistication, eat with humility and thanksgiving, awestruck by the beauty and goodness you are privileged to enjoy.
Obviously there’s more to be said about such things.  But now I’m thinking.  And I hope that the meals over which I pray will become in themselves something more akin to the words of the prayer.
Amen – Dig In!
Keith

The Cruise

An Inkling

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth ten thousand.  Even so, the video attached doesn’t show much of one angle – the smile of the cameraman.  That would be me. 

I was smiling constantly as I saw my son-in-law, Brandon, on the job as a Navy Chaplain.  What a hugely valuable ministry!  And I was smiling because this 57 year-old little boy had great delight in being out sailing on a real destroyer on one of their training runs.  God gives good and unexpected gifts. 

See for yourself.

Blessings,

Keith

Chaos and Grace

An Inkling

Have you ever noticed how easily ordinary life is interrupted by chaos?  All who “weathered” yesterday’s storm were just reminded.  Power outages and trees in odd places have a way of disrupting all semblance of normalcy.  Sarah Marsh has had that reminder in spades.  The attached picture is of her house, with a tree across her bedroom.

Have you ever noticed how God’s grace is never interrupted by chaos?  In fact, chaos seems to open both new avenues for its expression and our eyes to its presence.  So Sarah Marsh described, as she recounted how she was safely not in her bedroom when the tree fell, how neighbors she had not yet met came to help, how an irreplaceable art piece was spared, how Jim Whetstone knew just the right tree guys to do the work, and so on.

The chaos was certainly there, plain as day.  Gratefully the Lord gave Sarah eyes to see his grace in the midst of it all.  That goes a long ways toward dealing with the chaos.

What are you seeing today?  Just chaos?  Look again.

Blessings,

Keith

All the Way to the Top

An Inkling

Genesis 11 made the headlines here in Virginia yet again today.  Remember the story?  The proud and able folks of Babel decided to build a tower all the way to heaven, and with that tower also to build their fame.  But before they reached their imagined heights, the Lord judged them with confusion – babble broke out in Babel, and their ambitions came to naught.

As it turns out, the Genesis 11 tower was only tower number one.  Humanity has been building them ever since, and it turns out the same every time.  Call it the Babel Principle:  no tower of human endeavor can continue to rise for long without confusion breaking out.  It’s how life works in a fallen world.

This week’s headlined case in point:  the University of Virginia’s brouhaha over its Board’s decision to fire its President.  As best as I can tell, all of the players are very able and gifted people, and they all have ambitions to build yet higher the lofty tower of learning that Mr. Jefferson envisioned.  But now confusion has broken out. 

It’s no one’s fault in particular, and everyone’s fault in part.  And if the confusion had not come in this way, at some point it would have come another.  It’s how life works in a fallen world.  Partially built towers stand as testimony in every direction, surrounded by confused and angry people.

It’s why we need a Savior – and not just a Savior who can instruct us in how to build better towers.  We need a Savior who can break the power of our inevitable confusions, and of our hearts’ capacity for making our worst spring forth even from our best.

We have such a Savior, whose towering ambition was to be laid low for us.  Thereby he really has risen to the heights of heaven.  And now he sends his Spirit to abide in his people in ways that break the power of confusion.  Acts 2 displays the ground floor of his towering plan.  As those earliest Christians were filled with the Savior’s Spirit, confusion fled, so much so that those who spoke different languages could understand each other – babble (Babel) reversed.  And he’s only begun to build!  And we get to work for him – all the way to the top!

No higher calling,

Keith