always advent…always

within the season of advent (the waiting and preparing for jesus) there is a movement…here’s what i think that movement is.

coming…there is anticipation.  brokenness, regret, shame, hurt, mourning…realization that something more must happen.  a presence that will restore, heal, comfort, make whole.  we look for it, we plead for it, we build it’s coming as the salvation from that which caused us to look for it in the first place.

confronting…here it is.  that presence sought…it’s staring you in the face, it invades your mind and consumes your heart.  what now?  what do i do with it?  it’s here.  how will i respond.  “no that’s not what i was looking for”, “really looking for something a bit different”, “do you have anything in green”, “that’s it…it’s not what i expected but it is radiant, beautiful, sacred”.

converting…the letting go of anger, bitterness, disappointment, apathy, blame.  the embrace of grace and peace and justice and mercy.  i have left this old way behind and i cling to a new way.  i see differently, i feel differently, i think differently.  the old is gone the new has come…my reality is now seen/understood so much differently.

consoling…so i have changed…but everything around me remains.  there is still hurt, disappointment, anger, brokenness in this world.  life is hard, temptation remains, though i have embraced this new way of jesus i hurt for a world that is as i was…

celebrating…with gratefulness and humility and passion and generosity because hope has replaced hopelessness…life is now abundantly meaningful…words and thoughts and actions are now sacred offerings of love.

i face ____…i am offered a different path…i begin to step down that path…as my worldview changes i hurt for what remains…my affection for he who saves pours out into a holy gift.

i find that i return to this cycle often.  when i hurt, when i fail, when i need a new touch a new breath a new awareness.  i want to remain in this rhythm…to become lost in it…to always find myself in advent.

sustainable rhythms

ever just tell some…stop doing that/thinking that/feeling that/believing that.  with the expectation that they immediately stop.  it’s a pretty reasonable expectation right?  one that we have for ourselves?

i’m going to loose weight…quit smoking…stop cussing…start running…eat healthier…stop watching tv…read a book…be happier.  the desire to stop something or start something is sometimes overwhelming.  it’s almost like we believe it’s a matter of choice.  the outcome of almost anything has more to do with who you are then the choices you make.

example…ever have something in your mind you wish you could just stop thinking about?  the choice then is to simply stop thinking…right?  brilliant!  but it doesn’t work.  instead you have to engage in a sustained activity till finally you are so caught up in this new thing that the old thing has been pushed to the margins.

the bible gets a bad rap as a book telling you what not to do and in some ways it’s true.  all kinds of unhealthy, toxic, hurtful, selfish, deceitful ways of being are exposed along with a “don’t do it anymore” kind of message.  and if that was all the bible was it would be a really cruel joke.  essentially God telling us…STOP THINKING ABOUT THAT!

but there is more…much much more.  there is an invitation to engage in a new way.  if you are genuine, and begin following this way…then thoughts, practices, habits, desires, feelings, motivations, all the ingredients that make up who you are begin a transformation.

there is a danger.  thinking you can simply choose to be someone else.

the way of jesus follows a path of sacredness instead of entertainment…embodiment instead of division…stillness instead of chaos…remembrance instead of acknowledgement…a path in which we are postured to reflect the one we follow instead of positioned to manipulate.

choosing a new life is very different from becoming a follower of jesus.  jesus invites us to a rhythm of life, a sustainable rhythm that breaths life.

how it starts…how it continues

ideas ought to stretch, to pull right up to the point we would snap if pulled any farther.  to a place beyond the limits of what we are comfortable with…then we set aside our discomfort and sit for a while in that space.  we check out the landscape, we look for evidence of God, marks or signposts of the kingdom.  when we’re snapped back we find that there has been some loosening…we’ve seen things differently, we’ve heard cries that once were mute, our heart has been cut to a place that goes beyond a trifle flesh wound.  God’s voice has become clearer…his presence more profound…his will more compelling.

jesus is radical…controversial…challenging.  not in a way that slaps you in the face but in a way that stirs your soul.  the event of jesus was not a way of confronting a specific people at a specific place during a specific time.  the event of jesus continues…it stirs our soul still.   it is radical today…controversial today…challenging today.  and here’s the kicker…the event of jesus ought to be most disturbing to those who believe they have God nailed.  am i mistaken or did the prostitutes not have a better understanding of God then the pharisees? if we get to the point where there are no surprises, we poses the answer, and we’ve become suspicious of anything containing mystery…if we are unfortunate enough to arrive at such a place…we have abandoned the pursuit of God in place of the convenience of religion.

acts…the event of jesus continues

basking in the moment

i drop off my 6 year old daughter at gymnastics.  she goes to her friends who are waiting for practice to start and i say “bye babe”.  she looks toward her friends and says “ya…ya”.  i instantly thought…nuts, if this is happening at 6 what is 16 going to be like?  but then i had this thought that allowed me to leave without weeping.  in about 7 hours, just before she goes to bed, she is going to want about 12 kisses and 20 giant hugs and she is going to say “i love you daddy” over and over and over again.  and in that moment i will bask.

i’ve had unrealistic expectations of people long enough to know that there will be moments when a spiritual presence will simply not be acknowledged.  not because it doesn’t exist but because something has captured our attention for a moment.  so…how then do we create space for moments of basking in the presence of our God?  as a spiritual leader…how do i create opportunity for these moments…in a corporate setting?  making room for moments that literally change and transform and heal and convict and clarify and speak LOUDLY into the lives of those who gather honestly in the presence of God?

church.  ought to be a space to bask in these moments…yes?  that these moments reveal to us the truth of God, we engage in spiritual formation and transformation, that these individual moments of spiritual transformation translate into gatherings of a spiritual community longing to take up the mission of jesus…yes?

to be honest, the teaching series we just finished in exodus was one of the most convicting for me.  allowing the commandments to define God’s fidelity to us, restoring a faith rooted in that fidelity.  becoming a person who is faithful.

the series we are about to begin in a few weeks will largely define why we still do church and why on earth we would think others would want anything to do with it.  should be fun!

the beauty of tension

i love to slalom ski.  i’m in the water, my knees are bent,my arms are flexed, i’m sitting on the back of my ski, doing everything i can to posture myself correctly so when the boat takes off i’m ready to go with it.  there is this rope, a rope that connects to the boat and on the end of that rope is a handle.  if that rope has slack in it then the water begins to point me in the wrong direction and when the boat takes off i’m in for a world of hurt.  but when the boat provides tension, i little pulling to keep me pointed in the right direction, when that happens and the boat goes i’m right where i need to be.

tension in life can hard, spiritual tension can be really confusing.  we can’t ignore tension, it’s present, it’s pulling, it’s causing a change in our posture.  if we eliminate spiritual tension in our life then we allow the waves to decide our direction.

the way of jesus is life with tension.  but it’s the kind of tension that makes you aware of the direction your life is going.  we avoid tension like it’s going to ruin us when in fact it’s in those same moments we try to avoid that we define ourselves, we become aware of who we are and where we’re going.  to seek and not avoid spiritual tension is what points us to the beauty of life.

jesus said, “take my yoke upon you and learn from me”