Pastor Judy's Blog

Real Life

A little over a week ago a new graduate came into my office to catch up and to dig into some pretty deep stuff. As the conversation unfolded they told me about their world and their everyday-after graduation- rent paying- entry-level job working-friends have all moved away-life. And they said to me, “Recently I’ve been waking up in the morning and saying, “This is my life? This is what I studied for? This was what all the hype was about? This is my life?”

I understand that feeling. Sometimes I think we all look around and think “Really? This is it?” But here’s the deal...this is it! This is our real life. We have to stop waiting for our real life to begin. We cannot just hope for our real life to come over the horizon or our real life to meet us around the next corner. This is our real life and if we don’t live it we will miss out on it. If we keep waiting for the next we will miss out on all the blessings of the now.

Contrary to what the world around you will tell you and contrary to what the ads for black Friday seem to say to you, joy and celebration and thanksgiving are not just found in what you don’t yet have. “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Together we must learn the discipline of rejoicing in the now or there will always be a next that tries to deceive us and tell us that true joy, the real reason for celebration and genuine thanks will come when our situation changes and our circumstances find an upswing. We must learn to “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for us in Christ Jesus. (I Thess. 5:16-18)

I used to work with a drug and alcohol counselor who listened to many of his clients say that they were confident that a change of scenery would change their struggles. He would always reply, “You have to take you with you”. These are great words for us, for many of us battle an addiction to the “next”. We are so confident that the “next” will bring us the “fix” we so desperately crave. But if you can’t learn to rejoice in the now, this you will go with you into the next situation and that “now” will find its own reason to put off joy until its circumstances change. This you will be with you over the horizon, around the corner, down the road and when your circumstances change. And so learn to rejoice now so that your later is also filled with joy.

The new graduate and I talked extensively about the disappointments of her life. I sought to hear her, empathize with her, and console her. However before she left I added a final thought to the mix. “I understand your emotions but perhaps you can look at it this way. You can see, remember that anyone who is blind, if they got to be you today they would say, “This is my LIFE!” You will eat today, remember that anyone who is starving, if they had the privilege of being you today they would say, “THIS is my life!” Because you have a job, anyone who is unemployed, if they got to be you today they would say, “This IS my life!” Because you can worship freely anyone who risks their life to know about God, if they got to be you today would say, “This is MY life!”

This is our real life. Isn’t it amazing? We have the privilege of learning, the blessing of food, the joy of walking, the pleasure of turning on the faucet and receiving hot water, the comfort of sleeping with a roof over our heads, the encouragement of being with friends, the gift of worshipping freely, the ability to dream boldly, the call to love with abandon, and the grace to live with and for a God who loves us with abandon right back. This is our life!

"This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice in be glad in it." This is it! Not tomorrow, not two weeks from Tuesday, not when the semester is over, and not when everything settles down after the holidays. This is our real life, let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Where is Thy Sting?

On Monday night I received word that one of my interns, a seminary student and our lead athletic chaplain, had died unexpectedly. At first it seemed unbelievable to me. Vernard Jones seemed too big and too strong to die so quickly. Hadn’t I just walked across campus with him? Wasn’t he just cheering on the football team on Saturday? Wasn’t there still an unanswered email from him in my inbox? At first, death always seems so unbelievable as if it’s only a mean trick and soon the person we love will come out of hiding or we’ll wake up from the bad dream. After all, how can someone be there one minute and be gone the next? And yet this is the truth of death. As unbelievable as it may seem the reality of it is unavoidable. People die and in an instant there is a space left where a person used to be.

After receiving the news about Vernard I phoned my husband Jeff and told him I hated death and I wished Jesus would come back so that all the death could be done. Jeff graciously listened to my rambling words of grief and then together we spent the next few hours reminding one another what we believe about life and death, resurrection and why it matters not only in death, but also for how we are living our lives.

I know that in recent years talking about heaven and the life we’ll have after this one has become passe to so many. Some call it “old school” and too pie-in-the-sky when there is so much work to be done here on earth. But I believe it matters that we follow of the One who conquered the grave, the One who did not remain dead but was resurrected and promised resurrection for all those who followed him. For it is in believing this unbelievable truth that we are able to live in view of all this death and still proclaim and live a life that is filled with hope.

Five years ago my husband Jeff and I experienced the devastating loss of our first child. We were just twenty-one weeks into the pregnancy when we found out that our baby’s heart had stopped beating. I was induced and we delivered a tiny little girl stillborn. I remember vividly the feeling of disbelief and the anger that ebbed and flowed. I remember not wanting God to come too close for I felt he had forgotten to look out for us and I remember uttering the words that Martha spoke when her brother died, “Jesus, if you had been there….” (John 11:21)

However in the days and weeks that followed those were not the only emotions or the only words spoken. I remember Jeff’s prayer as he shoveled dirt onto the tiny casket, “Oh God, so much I believe she is with you that I will bury her myself.” I remember standing over her grave and singing “Great is Thy Faithfulness” and believing it. I remember asking God to hold me close so that I wouldn’t run away when I didn’t understand. I remember making the decision to plant tulips, seemingly dead bulbs that held the promise of life in seasons to come. And I remember reading and rereading 1 Corinthians 15 about the resurrection of the dead and I remember recommitting my life to this wonderful truth that I cannot prove.

I will live as one who is not afraid of death for I know that death is not the end. The God I love and the God who loves me has put an end to the finality of death and has made it his business to bring life out of situations that seem lifeless. And so I will live as one who says, "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" For although we will all grieve at the moments of death there is an eternity that awaits us, an eternity where there will be no more sin, no more tears, no more death and no more devil. In light of this truth, a truth that I cannot prove but that I completely believe, I will live.

The apostle Paul says in his concluding words about the resurrection, “With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And don't hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort.” (I Cor 15:58, MSG) What we believe about the resurrection and should affect how we put our faith into action. If we truly believe that our faith rests in the One who can bring life out of death we will walk through this death filled life differently. We will not hold back nor waste one more moment of this short life. We will be the ones who stare into the face of lifeless situations and speak life and resurrection. We will be the one’s who are not dismayed by the seemingly lifeless seeds that we plant for we will be confident that in the next season life will spring up.

Yahoo!

Yesterday I joined some students for a conversation about putting our faith into action. One of my interns asked the students what motivates them to action. Their answers were honest and mostly biblical, “It is commanded”, “It relieves our guilt”, “It is what Jesus did”, “Other people need us”, “It’s how we show God’s love to the world” and “It gives us a vision and purpose for our lives”. Their answers were honest and biblical and yet I was slightly disheartened that most of their answers fell into the category of “have to” rather than “get to”.

We follow a Leader who poured flour and oil into the empty pots of a widow and multiplied loaves and fishes for the hungry masses. We walk in the steps of a Savior who went out of his way to let outsiders know that they were insiders and who couldn’t stop himself from healing every disease and sickness. And you know what I find fascinating? There is no record, not even one small passage that says, “With head hanging low, and with a heaviness in his spirit Jesus turned to his disciples and said in a weary and sullen voice, ‘I guess we have-to go put our faith into action.’ And so Jesus begrudgingly rose to his feet and dragging his toes in the dirt he continued on with the arduous task of the kingdom.”

I’m not saying that Jesus woke up every morning and said, “Yippee, lots of work to do!” and then sprung into action from dawn until dusk. However, I have a sneaking suspicion that when the lame man walked Jesus grinned from ear to ear and when the little girl who had been dead got up out of bed I think he might have let out a ‘yahoo’ or two. When the prostitute found new life and the tax collector gave back what he had stolen I have to believe that Jesus was joyful and don’t you think when he told his disciples the story he said, “Guess what I got to do today?” And don’t you think that Jesus was bubbling with anticipation when he stood on the beach waiting to tell Peter that he was still included in God’s work even after Peter had messed up?

As followers of the Lord Jesus Christ we get-to be involved in a movement that puts the whole world back together. A movement birthed out of the generosity of a God who simply could not help himself but to give. A God who loved the world so much that he withheld nothing from it, not even his most cherished possession, his only son. The movement we are all a part of is one that finds its origins in outpouring and its joy in generosity. We get to be involved in a movement where starving people are fed, lame people jump for joy, lonely people find friends, unnoticed people are seen, the earth is healed, and people are set free from their fear of death and their captivity to sin.

Jesus tells his followers that they should follow his commands and put their faith into action, because in this way they get to remain in his love and in this way their joy will be complete. I pray that this day, this week, this life you will find yourself grinning, bubbling, and letting out an occasional “yahoo” or two because you are so filled with joy because you get-to be about the work of the Kingdom.

Yahoo!

More Colors in the Box

A box of Crayola crayons. Seventy-two sticks of color all lined up in perfect little rows. Aquamarine, brick red, carnation pink, cornflower, forest green, goldenrod, magenta, periwinkle…They were the same colors I had used as a child only I had taken them for granted and this little girl took out each crayon and looked at each one as if the color had just been invented. “Can I use them?” she said, as if that were a delight of which one could normally only dream. “They’re yours,” I said, “Now you can create beautiful things anytime you like.”

I had brought a large pad of paper with me and as I sat in the dirt outside the small wobbly house where this little girl lived I turned back the cover to reveal a canvas on which she could draw. She placed the pad of paper on the ground in front of her and took the first color out of the box and paused for a moment as if the possibilities for creation were endless. I don’t remember what color she used first only that it was followed by the use of all seventy-one other colors. It was as if she couldn’t bear to leave one color unused, as if she needed to see how each one looked next to another.

When she had finished her masterpiece it was a picture worthy of hanging on any refrigerator. Although her home lacked any appliances I was confident that this work would be proudly displayed on one of the many nails that jutted through the thin walls of her home. After the completion of her work of art I assumed her attention span would have reached it’s limit. I remember trying to think of something new and novel we could do, but my ideas weren’t necessary for she wasn’t ready to be done. There was plenty more paper and seventy-two sticks of color that she simply couldn’t let stay in the box.

My dream for all of us who are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ is that we would approach our work for the kingdom of God in the same way this little girl approached her works of art. What if we could really see the endless possibilities for putting our faith into action? And what if we understood that we don’t have a box of just eight colors, we have thousands of possibilities all lined up in perfect little rows. Feeding the hungry, sharing the good news, healing the sick, offering forgiveness, choosing to take the high road, saying a kind word, inviting a stranger in, giving away our money, mourning with those who morn, rejoicing with those who rejoice, sponsoring a child, offering grace, offering a smile, offering a prayer. What if we looked at each of these as if they were a possibility just invented. What if we said to God, “Can we use them?” What if we couldn’t wait to get out into the world because we knew it was a canvas on which we can create beautiful things. What if we never grew bored and our attention spans never grew weary and what if we just couldn’t bear to leave any colors in the box.

This month in chapel we move into “Putting our Faith into Action” and I pray as we gather together that God will inspire new works of art among us. This morning we have the privilege of having Rev. Dr. Chris Wright with us to offer the opening challenge for the month. Rev. Wright has been on campus as the keynote for the Kermit Zarley lectures and if you haven’t had the chance to hear him you are in for a treat this morning for he is a man of God who has boldly used all the colors in his box. (Rev. Wright's biography).

This morning we also come to the Lord’s table together to remember the One who held nothing back, but emptied himself on our behalf. As we come to the One who left nothing in the box may we leave knowing we are called to the same and may the Creator use you to create something beautiful on the canvas of his world.

I can’t wait to see what God gets to hang on his fridge.