Here they come out of the sand dunes, Magi or wise men from the east. I get a mental picture of, while watching a compelling video drama of the birth of the Savior... Mary, Joseph, angels, swaddling clothes, a manger..., out of nowhere this camel caravan showing up, blocking the view as it briefly crosses the screen. They just show up, drop off their gifts, worship the Christ child, and ride off the screen into obscurity (See Matthew 2:1-9). Who are these guys?
The scriptures tell us almost nothing about them. Tradition speculates they were Persian astrologers and possibly even Zoroastrians. Zoroastrians! By every Judeo-Christian biblical standard Zoroastrianism-- a weird concoction of biblically forbidden astrology, pagan mysticism, and reincarnation-- was a false religion. So what's going on here? How is it that these guys were spiritually in tune enough to recognize in the stars the birth of the "king of the Jews" (Messiah), while the custodians of the Bible seemed to be oblivious to this momentous occasion? Why do our Nativity scenes honor practitioners of a false religion to this day while not a single ordained religious leader of the "true" faith of that time is memorialized? Shouldn't the keepers of God's law, the priests, Bible scholars and preachers of the day at least have a partnership with the Magi in welcoming the "Savior, who is Christ the Lord?" Shouldn't our manger scenes and Christmas pageants feature at least one official of the "true" religion?
There are two obvious lessons here. First, the story of the Magi wonderfully symbolizes the great news that the birth of the Savior was for everyone. The birth of Jesus was declared by the angel to be "good tidings of great joy which will be to all people." (Luke 2:10 NKJV). The gospel is great news for everyone near and far; a point Jesus reiterated in his Sermon on the Mount when he declared, "Matthew 5:44-48 (NIV) But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. In other words, God does not limit the bestowal of his favor and goodness to only those who claim to be his friends, or have the more biblically informed perspective. God loves his friends and his enemies alike, as should we.
The second lesson of the story of the Magi is very well stated by Roger E. Olson in an article entitled “A Wind that Swirls Everywhere”, Christianity Today, March 2006, pp. 53-54. Olson quotes Pentecostal scholar Amos Yong whose “central thesis is that, because the Spirit of God is universally active in creation and new creation, ‘the religions of the world, like everything else that exists, are providentially sustained by the Spirit of God for divine purposes’… that means Christians should be open to learning from and being enriched by the Spirit’s work in world religions.”
Neither Olson, Yong, nor I wish to be understood to be saying that all religions are equally true. I do, however, agree that, as the story of the Magi clearly indicates, the Spirit of truth can and does operate outside the boundaries of our rigid orthodoxies. And, as was the case at the time of Christ's birth, sometimes those with the most biblical literacy and doctinal certainty are way behind the learning curve when it comes to realizing what God is up to. If we want to be considered wise, we need to look up from our vision-narrowing Bible interpretations and religious customs in order to see the spiritually illuminating "stars" that could be shining on the horizon.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
What the Comedians Are Telling Us
If you've been watching any comedy routines on the Comedy Channel lately, or have noticed some of the headlines about intolerant and racist comedy acts, or noted the popularity of the movie Borat, which I am told sets new lows in offensive speech and attitudes, you may be wondering what ever happened to "political correctness"? It seems that our cultural jesters are in a competition to see who can be the most degrading, offensive, racist, vulgar and insulting toward others--the most politically incorrect.
Of course, much of this material is satire that is intended to poke fun at the hypocrisy created by the politically correct rules. We may be offended by the courseness of much of this material, but we still laugh at it. And the reason we laugh is because we know the joke is on us. The comics are just holding up the mirror to our culture and saying, "Take a good look at ourselves. Don't we feel silly? We're not fooling anyone. We might as well admit it. We're all guilty of bigoted, critical, excluding, intolerant attitudes toward others we view as unappealingly different than us." In other words, they are telling us that it's ridiculous to think such man made codes of conduct make us better people.
If Jesus were on the scene today, he very well might be one of those showing up in a comedy club with a routine that would incorporate lines like, "You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You're like manicured grave plots, grass clipped and the flowers bright, but six feet down it's all rotting bones and worm eaten flesh. People look at you and think you're saints, but beneath the skin you're total frauds" (See Matthew 23:15-33, The Message). Or, I can imagine Saint Paul standing on stage holding a microphone and with perfect timing pointing his finger at us and taunting, "...Their throats are gaping graves, their tongues slick as mudslides. Every word they speak is tinged with poison. They open their mouths and pollute the air. They race for the honor of sinner-of-the-year, litter the land with heartbreak and ruin, don't know the first thing about living with others..." (Romans 3;13ff, The Message).
At first we might chuckle, but pretty soon we'd begin squirming. That's hitting a little too close to home. When our self protective and hypocritical outer shell is cracked open by penetrating truth zingers, light shines into those shadowy corners of our sinful hearts. Truth can be funny, sometimes the truth hurts, but as Jesus said, "The truth will set you free." The comedians of our day hope to make a living by getting us to laugh. God, on the other hand, hopes to get us living by showing us the truth that will free us from our old intolerant ways. Realizing we need God's help to pull us out of the ugliness of hateful attitudes toward others is a good place to start.
Of course, much of this material is satire that is intended to poke fun at the hypocrisy created by the politically correct rules. We may be offended by the courseness of much of this material, but we still laugh at it. And the reason we laugh is because we know the joke is on us. The comics are just holding up the mirror to our culture and saying, "Take a good look at ourselves. Don't we feel silly? We're not fooling anyone. We might as well admit it. We're all guilty of bigoted, critical, excluding, intolerant attitudes toward others we view as unappealingly different than us." In other words, they are telling us that it's ridiculous to think such man made codes of conduct make us better people.
If Jesus were on the scene today, he very well might be one of those showing up in a comedy club with a routine that would incorporate lines like, "You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You're like manicured grave plots, grass clipped and the flowers bright, but six feet down it's all rotting bones and worm eaten flesh. People look at you and think you're saints, but beneath the skin you're total frauds" (See Matthew 23:15-33, The Message). Or, I can imagine Saint Paul standing on stage holding a microphone and with perfect timing pointing his finger at us and taunting, "...Their throats are gaping graves, their tongues slick as mudslides. Every word they speak is tinged with poison. They open their mouths and pollute the air. They race for the honor of sinner-of-the-year, litter the land with heartbreak and ruin, don't know the first thing about living with others..." (Romans 3;13ff, The Message).
At first we might chuckle, but pretty soon we'd begin squirming. That's hitting a little too close to home. When our self protective and hypocritical outer shell is cracked open by penetrating truth zingers, light shines into those shadowy corners of our sinful hearts. Truth can be funny, sometimes the truth hurts, but as Jesus said, "The truth will set you free." The comedians of our day hope to make a living by getting us to laugh. God, on the other hand, hopes to get us living by showing us the truth that will free us from our old intolerant ways. Realizing we need God's help to pull us out of the ugliness of hateful attitudes toward others is a good place to start.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
SIMPLIFY!
This morning I heard a few stanzas from the old Christmas hymn Go Tell it on the Mountain. As I reflected upon that well known refrain, it occurred to me how very simple Christ's message and mission really is: "Go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born..." The angelic pronouncment to the Bethlehem shepherds encapsulated it in these familiar words, "... Peace, goodwill [from God] toward men!" (Luke 2:14). When commissioning his disciples to carry on the work he had started, Jesus instructed them to just go and proclaim the "good news" everywhere (Acts 1:8). Summarizing the gospel to the Corinthians, St. Paul put it this way, "Become friends with God; he's already friends with you" (2 Corinthians 5:20, The Message).
Unfortunately that simple truth has been buried under an avalanche of religious supplementation and tradition. As it stands today, the mountain we have to climb to tell the great news is the mountain of man made improvisation and tinkering that has made the Christian religion (not to be confused with humble Christ following spirituality) the divided, quarreling, complicated, expensive, institutionalized obstacle to the dissemination of the gospel it has become.
Here's a little exercise you might want to try. Next time you are in attendance at a church service make a list of everything that you see--the order of service, the arrangement of the furniture, the number of times you are expected to stand up or sit down, the volume of the music and preaching, the style of music and preaching, how the collection was done, the attire of those on stage and in the congregation, the musical instruments used, the length of the service, who conducts the various facets of the service and etc. Be as thorough and observant as you can be of all the little nuances and traditions you normally wouldn't give a passing thought.
Afterward sit down with your Bible and see how many of the things you wrote down are required biblically. Does the Bible say we should have a specific order of service? Does the Bible say who must speak in a Christian gathering? Did your church follow biblical guidelines on when to stand or sit? How about the programs for children, are they biblically mandated? Ask yourself what Bible the first Christians read from. Better still, (trick question) did the first Christians even read the Bible? How did Jesus teach his followers to conduct church services? How are church buildings to be designed according to the Bible? What does the Bible have to say about ushers, greeters, Sunday School teachers, elders, deacons, the choir, special music and video announcments? What has the Bible to say about how long a service should be? Where did we get the phrase "church service"?
Of course, just because something isn't specifically mentioned in the scriptures doesn't mean it's wrong to do it. In fact, we only get into trouble when we try to force the scriptures to be the last word on matters they never address. On the other hand, if it can be demonstrated that our accumulated traditions and practices are unnessary distractions and hindrances to our primary purpose of proclaiming Chirst's good news, perhaps it is time to go back to the basics. As you might have guessed, my own assessment is we have way overdone the church service thing. It has gotten to the point that I'm encountering more and more people who have given up going to church altogether while eagerly claiming Jesus as their beloved Savior. A common sentiment is, "I love Jesus but I hate going to church."
Humble simplicity is a central theme of the Nativity. "Light" and "easy" were terms Jesus used to describe what he was asking of his followers. Certainly there is nothing in the teachings of Jesus that would indicate he expected us to organize our lives around elaborately planned religious services conducted by religious professionals on specified religious days in dedicated religious buildings week after week year in and year out. In fact, he got into big trouble for predicting the central religious edifice of his day, the Temple in Jerusalem, would shortly be destroyed. Not a problem for his mission since he would ask his followers to head out from Jerusalem with the good news into places where no such sanctuary was present or needed anyway.
That Christ came to earth and lived among us for a while so he could remedy and remove everything that stood in the way of God's expressed love for us is truly awesome great news! And there is nothing complicated about telling it to others. If one's religious duties and activities are getting in the way, then I urge you to SIMPLIFY!
Unfortunately that simple truth has been buried under an avalanche of religious supplementation and tradition. As it stands today, the mountain we have to climb to tell the great news is the mountain of man made improvisation and tinkering that has made the Christian religion (not to be confused with humble Christ following spirituality) the divided, quarreling, complicated, expensive, institutionalized obstacle to the dissemination of the gospel it has become.
Here's a little exercise you might want to try. Next time you are in attendance at a church service make a list of everything that you see--the order of service, the arrangement of the furniture, the number of times you are expected to stand up or sit down, the volume of the music and preaching, the style of music and preaching, how the collection was done, the attire of those on stage and in the congregation, the musical instruments used, the length of the service, who conducts the various facets of the service and etc. Be as thorough and observant as you can be of all the little nuances and traditions you normally wouldn't give a passing thought.
Afterward sit down with your Bible and see how many of the things you wrote down are required biblically. Does the Bible say we should have a specific order of service? Does the Bible say who must speak in a Christian gathering? Did your church follow biblical guidelines on when to stand or sit? How about the programs for children, are they biblically mandated? Ask yourself what Bible the first Christians read from. Better still, (trick question) did the first Christians even read the Bible? How did Jesus teach his followers to conduct church services? How are church buildings to be designed according to the Bible? What does the Bible have to say about ushers, greeters, Sunday School teachers, elders, deacons, the choir, special music and video announcments? What has the Bible to say about how long a service should be? Where did we get the phrase "church service"?
Of course, just because something isn't specifically mentioned in the scriptures doesn't mean it's wrong to do it. In fact, we only get into trouble when we try to force the scriptures to be the last word on matters they never address. On the other hand, if it can be demonstrated that our accumulated traditions and practices are unnessary distractions and hindrances to our primary purpose of proclaiming Chirst's good news, perhaps it is time to go back to the basics. As you might have guessed, my own assessment is we have way overdone the church service thing. It has gotten to the point that I'm encountering more and more people who have given up going to church altogether while eagerly claiming Jesus as their beloved Savior. A common sentiment is, "I love Jesus but I hate going to church."
Humble simplicity is a central theme of the Nativity. "Light" and "easy" were terms Jesus used to describe what he was asking of his followers. Certainly there is nothing in the teachings of Jesus that would indicate he expected us to organize our lives around elaborately planned religious services conducted by religious professionals on specified religious days in dedicated religious buildings week after week year in and year out. In fact, he got into big trouble for predicting the central religious edifice of his day, the Temple in Jerusalem, would shortly be destroyed. Not a problem for his mission since he would ask his followers to head out from Jerusalem with the good news into places where no such sanctuary was present or needed anyway.
That Christ came to earth and lived among us for a while so he could remedy and remove everything that stood in the way of God's expressed love for us is truly awesome great news! And there is nothing complicated about telling it to others. If one's religious duties and activities are getting in the way, then I urge you to SIMPLIFY!
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