Life is a Sandbox
How do we live in times of uncertainty, when division is the norm?
I once applied for a position in a company with rapidly shifting sands that created uncertainty almost every day. It was their sandbox and I was an employee within it helping them achieve their goals. Change was both their strength and the core of their chaos. My interviewer asked me how I felt about ambiguity. It was a strange question. How do I feel about ambiguity? “Ambiguity just is,” I said. “It is not good or bad, right or wrong, awful or joyful. It just is. Life is full of ambiguity.” I got the job. That’s how I’m surviving the sandbox these days–embracing the uncertainty of change. This is both the strength and the chaos of the church. Sometimes it is a struggle and I desperately want to fix the sandbox—my way. I want to control the sandbox, but am I forgetting who really owns it? God owns the sandbox, not me. It is God’s sandbox and I am there as a disciple who believes in Christ’s mission to redeem the world through love. Love one another as I have loved you. That is what I do to help God in the sandbox. It is what makes me a disciple, transforming the world and identifies me as one of Christ’s disciple, working together with other disciples in God’s sandbox. I don’t get to pick and choose who enters the sandbox. God does. Nor do I get to judge them. God does that as well. My job is to love them. Period. Maybe we need to go back to the sandbox; remember who owns it, the mission, and what we are supposed to do in it. And, if we are really in sync with God, maybe we can stretch the water hose for life-giving waters and connects us to one another in the sandbox. When we love one another, then everyone will know that we are Christ’s disciples— by watching us play in the sandbox.
The Resurrection of Le Sueur United Methodist
We are the church of Jesus Christ.- He is Risen
- He is Risen Indeed.
First Things First
Focus on The Family
In the 1959, First United Methodist commissioned a new building. They were bursting at the seams as Baby Boomers added an average of 4 children per family. They came to church every week and attendance soared to 250-300 per Sunday morning. Times change and so do the numbers: Families have fewer babies and worship less often.
Power of One
It stuck. People listened. Just one person had the power to make a difference in the world. This is the power of one. One person makes a choice. One person prevents a disaster. One person saves another. It is the power of one. What difference will you make as a disciple of Jesus today? Will the world be safer, kinder, and more loving? Will the hungry be fed, the lonely visited, or someone lifted up in prayer? How will you use your unique God given power of one? Most importantly: who will know Jesus because of you? Only you can grow another disciple. Only you can live so others see Jesus. Only you can share what faith means. Only you can share Jesus. Only you can greet a new comer. Only you can introduce yourself and ask their name. Only you can take them to coffee and turn a stranger into a friend. Only you can make a difference. When you embrace what you can do as ONE individual with the Spirit’s help, one becomes many. The church body grows. And more people become one together. We are in a cultural shift away from Jesus. Only you can change that. How will you use your power of one to make a difference? “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…Matthew 28:19
You Are Free to Go
Suitcases and clothes were strewn across the cabin floor, some lying open in their haste to be out of the way. The girls huddled on the top bunk, watching a corner of the cabin with fear.
“It was a Mouse!” they whispered loudly. “We don’t know where he went. He came from under your bed.”
“Ugh! Now, I have to be an adult,” I thought.
“I’m sure he’s gone. We’ll be fine.” I helped them put the suitcases back while watching for the intruder, but no luck. Time to just go to bed.
Weary, I peeled back my blankets, ready to be done for the day. Staring back at me, in the middle of MY bed, were two big brown eyes, wider than mine. “Mouse!” I screamed. No time to be an adult. Bedding flew everywhere as I ripped out the sheets and blankets.
We chased it behind a mini-fridge. Locating my inner adult, I unplugged it so the girls would not electrocute themselves or Herbie, the mouse they endearingly wanted to name and be rid of at the same time. Of course, there he was…..hiding behind the coil.
“Oh, he’s so cute!” the girls exclaimed, their fear suddenly dissipated.
After a few rattles of nearby objects, Herbie decided he had enough and ran into an empty trash can. Again, they all took a moment to admire him and declare his innocence.
“Outside!” I decided. One girl proudly grabbed the trash and marched out the door into the wilderness of the cold, dark woods. She gently laid the can down. Herbie froze. He was safer inside his new prison than alone in the wilderness, and he knew it. Three tries later, she dumped him upside down and Herbie was forced into freedom. Free To Go.
It’s hard to run to freedom when the shelter of a hard exile feels safer than the unknown. Sometimes, freedom comes with a push.
Jesus pushed. The Son of God forced the hand of evil to hang him on a cross. Suddenly, generations of suffering pounced upon Jesus, a lifetime of darkness and pain drawn to die on a cross. Then, our Messiah took that suffering to the depth of despair, crushing death with a resurrection. The exile from God’s presence was broken.
God so loved the world that God’s presence returned to the people, first as Jesus and then as the Holy Spirit forcing us into a life of freedom through Christ. Enough suffering.
You are free to go.
The Watch
Something prophetic happened before I was born: Detective Dick Tracy, cartoon extraordinaire, donned the watch of the future, a two-way talking device. I coveted that watch! Imagine talking to people through a hand-held, portable device and be “in the know” at a push of the button. It was ingenious! It was the future!embraced the future.
It’s the Little Things
It’s the little things. My glass coffee press broke! I loved the coffee it made-strong and hot, but I could not find a replacement. Instead, I abandoned it and grabbed a fresh brew at the coffee shop on the run. It wasn’t the same as slowing down and sipping java while still in my pajamas, but it was good enough. Like a real Minnesotan, I rationalized that the added chaos in my life was normal. The god of java was more important than time.
Small gods consume us—we settle for chaos when we long for time. We live vicariously through social media, but long to create our own memories. We let small gods rush us from here to there and anywhere but home, even on weekends. The small gods are more important than time.
We obey the small gods and our Christian souls run empty. We want to grab a quick cup of Jesus for life on the run—but small gods keep us busy. We are chained to small gods who tell us chaos is normal! STOP! That’s exactly what small gods want us to believe! WRONG! God intentionally sent his Son to fight the chaos of small gods, rescue us, and defend our right to live in God’s time, including a healing relationship with Jesus, the Prince of Peach who restores our soul– and sanity.
I boldly made a decision to grab my mocha and Jesus, to purposely carve out my God-given time for what really matters in life! Fight the small gods with intentional God-time. I got my morning devotions and coffee back–now in a new insulated, non-breakable coffee press. I stayed in my pajamas and talked with God. Prayer time was amazing, who knew? I carved out family time and WOW–my soul filled faster than my caffeine levels. Imagine that.
This is the Gospel’s secret to a happier New Year: dump the small gods. Worship the big One. Carve out God-time every day: read a few verses of scripture, talk to God in a private space, worship with your family, volunteer for Jesus, fill your head with God-stuff, give to the ministry of the church… BUT… above all else, take deliberate steps to dump the small gods! Get your life back, your family, health, finances, and yes—definitely your soul back.
It’s the little things that fill your life with goodness.
Memo from the Boss
“My Church ….”
Coffee helps me ponder, so I sipped some hot Caribou and considered an odd possibility… none of the above! None of those beautiful churches were ‘my church’. Every single one of them belonged to someone far greater than myself, Jesus Christ.
Wait! What about the traditions, Sunday routines and décor, I get a say in them, right? The coffee burns my lips.
Ask the Spirit. What the boss wants, the boss gets. If Jesus Christ need us to change directions, well, we do what the boss tells us to do. Change.
Be still my caffeinated heart! Change?
Jesus tells us to find new disciples, so we find new disciples, any way that works. We get out of our pews and do it. If what we are doing isn’t working, we change to make it right. Jesus gets what Jesus wants, disciples. Jesus is the boss.
We change to find disciples, not change disciples to find us.
Church: The Spirit is poking us to find disciples, those who do not know Jesus. What’s working in this group? A 2nd
Jesus, you are the Boss. It’s not ‘our church’, but ‘your church.’ Show us what to do.
Dear Atheist
I overheard you the other day, proudly proclaiming the end of God. You were pretty certain of that ‘fact.’ A couple of your tablemates nodded in mutual defiance, but the others looked away. They were uncomfortable with your ‘facts.’ No, they did not speak up. They let it slide by and quietly claim their allegiance to the invisible God they seldom meet, but still believes, exists….. just in case. Maybe that is why you wonder if anyone really believes in God. No one has ever shared their story with you. Pity. Their stories make doubt seem doubtful.
You said religious people are hypocrites, showing-off their goodness. But, take this from the pastor who knows, they come wearing all their faults, worries, and guilt. No, they don’t shout these from the pews. Most keep their faults to themselves. But I bet you do, too?
Folks come to Jesus like a patient goes to the doctor–to find healing and peace. It seems healthy, forgiven Christians may actually live longer than atheists. Maybe forgiveness, hope, and a new lease on life are good for the body as well as the soul? Staying connected to Jesus is how we stay sane.
So, let me confess the truth: we Christians mess up more than we succeed, but this world needs us to keep trying. Why? Because–there is more to life than our cell phones and political stances. The world need us to be the Jesus we follow-to treat people with dignity and respect, love the unlovable, and be the peace. Jesus came out swinging with love and healing. What a contrast to the world today. Like I said, we don’t always get it right, but wouldn’t it be a better world if we did?
I’ve learned over the years that most atheists are really angry agnostics, indifferent Christian who struggle with the church people who failed them in the past. Jesus isn’t fond of their actions either, but he is willing to forgive them. Are you willing to forgive? Is that what is keeping you away from Jesus?
So this is what I’m going to ask my folks to do—share their story with you, explain the crazy time that God found them, or how their faith carried them through when belief in humans failed. I want them to share how they try to love like Jesus and how they fail, but they try again. I want them to share how Jesus takes hold of their soul and gives them the courage to stand up to injustice, fight bigotry, love diversity, and find peace in loving the stranger. I want them to be bold in their faith and dare to show their passion so folks like you see the real Jesus, the One that also stood up to an unjust world and loved it anyway. I want you to see forgiveness, transformed lives, and hope that defies understanding. Most of all, I want YOU to see JESUS in them. I want you to see the invisible Son of God alive in the visible Body of Christ called the church.
God’s grace will do the rest.