Spoiled! (part 2 of 3)

And here I sit in Montego Bay, Jamaica feeling like a king! I read/hear about snow storms and biting cold and all I can do is feel sorry for those folks. My version of bad weather is when it rained for 2 days this weekend and since we were up in the hills a bit it got chilly (maybe mid-60s) at night and all I had was a sheet. LUCKILY the rain cleared out and the sun came out in time for our day at the beach. I can sit outside drinking Blue Mountain coffee and watching a hummingbird buzz around in the mornings. I drive past the sea every day and sometimes forget to look. . . FORGET TO LOOK!? I mean, COME ON! Who can say things like that!? Me! That's who!

Somehow, somewhere I did something that got me to this place. . . a place where I can just feel God's presence shining down on me. . . oh! wait! did I really do anything? Is it my doing, my actions that got me here? God surely knows it was NOT my doing! God has made it clear in no quiet fashion that He is in control and I'm just along for the ride! Who gets to say these things!? Me!

I get to serve with some of the most amazing people, and although they're only in my world for a short week usually, they forever impact my life. I mean, just this past week I met a kid who can solve a Rubik's cube in under a minute (that's impressive!), but he can also have 100 kids laughing and chasing after him in the same amount of time. . . a blind girl who has absolutely nothing but has one of the most amazing voices I've ever heard. . . a man who has been bed-ridden for nine years who wants nothing more than to speak truth into the lives of others and bless them through his faith in God. . . a lady who has opened her small home to the destitute children of Jamaica. . . and the list could go on and on. Who has the right to meet these people!? Certainly not me! But I do.

Not only do I get to meet new people nearly every day, but I get to visit old friends. I have a "wife" at the St. James infirmary (even though she wears a Pittsburgh Steelers hat) who will hold my hand the entire time I'm there and just laugh and smile. I have a friend at the St. Ann infirmary who is confined to a wheelchair; mentally and physically disabled but she sure laughs and smiles every time she sees me. There are children in a community close to me that will climb on me and just want to be near me when I'm around. Why do I get to have these people in my life?

I surely don't say these things to brag, but I say these because I still don't believe it and I am so humbled at the life I live. I thank God that he has given me this opportunity and put Jamaica on my heart. I get up early, sometimes have to work late, sometimes have to make emergency trips to the airport in the middle of the night (which I would do a million times over again, Dan!). And I LOVE it! I am surely spoiled rotten! I can't say I don't like it though. :)

Confirmed (Part 1 of 3)

Sunday, December 30, 2012 - Hopewell Baptist Church, Hopewell, Hanover, Jamaica. I have two teams totaling 9 people and we're wrapping up a week of building a chicken coop. Although the coop is significant in this story, it's not the main point. It benefits this family by giving them food, an income and stability. However there is something more going on here.

Rewind to December 5(ish), 2012 - I have just proposed to Praying Pelican Missions that I would like to spend a good amount of time in Jamaica this year. I proposed that when I came here to Jamaica in December that I would stay through August and spend time reinforcing our partnerships with churches and ministries here as well as assisting in the day-to-day operations of setting up and leading trips. It was just a proposal. . . they liked it and ran with it. I was nervous, unsure, questioning my thoughts that I had put into words. I had just spent the past 6 months fighting against spending so much time in Jamaica! A girl broke up with me over 6 months ago because I was gone too much. . . I wasn't over it. . . I loved her. I wanted to find a way to settle down and find a nice girl and. . . the American dream. What was I thinking!?

Back to the future - Dec. 30 - I'm sitting in church listening to Pastor Oniel Brown preach a Christmas sermon. He's fired up as most Jamaican pastors are when they're preaching. He's talking about Mary's role in the Christmas story. Protestants don't talk much about Mary unlike the Catholics. We don't have anything against her, we just don't focus on her so much. 

Mary, however, has an interesting perspective in the Christmas story. Pastor Brown talked about how much Mary had to lose. A young woman, maybe 15 or so, engaged to be married, a virgin. . . pregnant. Unlike today, this was not a common story. She had absolutely everything to lose! Legally she could have been put to death. Joseph could have divorced her and had her killed for being pregnant. Virgins, after all, don't get pregnant. In Luke, the angel tells Mary that her life is about to be turned upside down. Mary's answer is simply, "I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled." What!? Really!? That's it? No arguing? No questioning? Just, "yeah, sure, ok"? Wow. . . that's faith!

When Pastor Brown was talking about Mary and how she trusted even though she had EVERYTHING to lose, I felt like he was speaking to me. I was nervous about my decision, but what did I really have to lose? In my mind I was losing the opportunity to find "that special person" and settle down. But God was telling me to trust him and He'd take care of it. God was using Pastor Brown to tell me that it was all going to be OK. 

And. . . 

Cavemen and Muscle Memory

Over the past week I've caught myself trying to live out this whole "Love Without Agenda" thing. This past week I was troubled with myself when I did something that was "nice" but had an agenda behind it that benefited me. It ended up making me mad at myself instead. Long story but it's a weird feeling to catch yourself and try to break old habits. . . especially when you didn't know they were habits in the first place.

A key phrase that stuck out to me when I was reading a few weeks ago was "muscle memory". I had it bookmarked but wasn't real sure how to use it. But it stood out to me and has been stuck in the back of my mind since then. Everyone has developed muscle memory. It's the old "practice makes perfect" mantra that we each play out in our everyday lives. (funny thought, if you practice something poorly it makes mediocre) From typing to driving to playing an instrument to brushing your teeth, we use it all the time. Has anyone ever caught themselves doing their routine in the wrong order? I've noticed a couple times in the past when I've had a fever or I had to get up at an ungodly hour (like 7!). I do things out of order, like wash my face before washing my hair in the shower or taking the road that goes to work when it's my day off. (of course I work from home now, so that can be awkward) Muscle memory keeps you doing the same things in the same order, day in and day out. When you somehow do something out of order you notice it.

Everyone loves Captain Caveman!

Cavemen. . . that's where we came from apparently. I've heard somewhere that (unfortunately Google can't seem to back me up on this, but) we developed our ability to judge situations from cavemen. A caveman would have to make a snap judgment when he heard a rustle in the bush next to him or saw a shadow. Is it an animal trying to kill me or just the wind/light playing tricks on me? We developed this fight-or-flight instinct to keep us alive. We had to judge situations for our survival. . . makes sense.

As we moved out of rock caves and moved into concrete caves in highrise buildings, our survival instinct stayed intact. But now instead of protecting ourselves from animals we're protecting ourselves from each other. Our survival instinct has stopped keeping us alive and started protecting our jobs, our stuff, our way of life, our pride, our thinking. . . our religion.

So now instead of making judgments about shadows or rustling bushes we make judgments about people. Gay, black, white, Republican, Democrat, Arab, Christian, Muslim, poor, rich, divorced, single-mother, drunk -- just the words themselves put us into fight or flight mode! Have we trained ourselves to fight against "those people"? Is that guy with his boyfriend standing in front of you at Starbucks ordering a pumpkin-spice latte threatening you? Is that 17 year old girl pushing her stroller on the "wrong side of town" a threat? My guess is no. What about the guy at the polling station wearing his Obama or Romney hat proudly? That's a tough one, huh? Are they threatening your politics, your thinking, your pride. . . it's possible. Are your judgments towards them, either outwardly or inwardly, going to protect those things? Definitely not. Would a smile or a hello from you make their day and maybe change the way they think about "your kind"? Doesn't hurt to try! You see, they have muscle memory too. . . they make judgments about YOU. Maybe it's based on their past and maybe it's unwarranted, but YOU can start to change that.

My challenge to myself (that I'm obviously extending to you) is to start breaking down my muscle memory when it comes to seeing people. To stop those knee-jerk reactions to people. Earlier I linked to an article that says if you practice something poorly it makes mediocre.We have muscle memories that are making us mediocre! It's amazing what you can see and who you can impact when you stop practicing poorly. Let's step up our game!

Matthew 25:

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'"

Political Agenda

This past week I have been preparing for beach season. I know for most the spring is the time to get in shape and get ready to hit the beach, but I'll be heading back to Jamaica in just under 2 months. Christmas day I'll head down and prepare to lead a small group for a week in Hopewell, just west of Montego Bay. So I've ordered new sandals (seems I blow through them pretty quickly) and I had to get a new pair of boardshorts since I've lost some weight working out over the past couple months. So I’m READY!

I really love going back to Jamaica during the winter for the obvious reasons and also because it gives me a chance to be refreshed and reminded of what it is I’m doing. Not that I ever forget, but just sitting on the phone TALKING about doing mission work is completely different than getting up and DOING it. I also start to miss the preaching in Jamaica. I love my church here and when I come home I get joy out of going to church and being challenged. I also love hearing Jamaican preachers as it is a completely different style and it’s very powerful!

As I was reading “Love Without Agenda” this week I was reminded of the preaching in Jamaica and big part of what I love about it. Jimmy is talking about the last week of Jesus’ life leading up to the cross. He’s talking about how Jesus’ lack of agenda got him killed. The Jews were looking for a Messiah. . . a savior. But they weren't looking for a spiritual savior. They were looking for someone who would overthrow the Roman government and rule over them as king like they once had. So the Jews thought Jesus was going to be a political savior, not a religious savior. How can Jesus HELP ME? What can He GIVE ME? What is He going to DO FOR ME? They had a political agenda for Jesus. Jesus didn't have an agenda. He wanted to show them love and how to love, they wanted him to rescue them from their political and social situation. Once the people found out that Jesus wasn't going to overthrow Rome and restore a king for them they were finished with Jesus.

We're done with Him. . .“Crucify Him!”

Fast forward to modern day:

Now the comparison between Jamaica and first century Israel is that both are oral cultures. That means that literacy is not high. In first century Israel the literacy rate was believed to be about 3%. Jamaica’s literacy rate is about 88%. Not really a comparison but I'm sure the rate for older generations is much lower and the culture is one that people talk to each other more and listen to the radio. much more than they read. One thing I like about Jamaican preaching is that it’s interactive. In particular, I've noticed that a preacher will start a verse with a few words and the people will speak out the rest of the verse with him. And it always amazed me that they knew so many verses and that they could do that. We don't do that (at least not in my church) here in America. They've learned by hearing these verses over and over again while growing up. The same was true for first century Jews. They knew the scriptures backwards and forwards from hearing them so many times.

Now back to the cross:

It looks to everyone like this whole Jesus thing was over. He hung on the cross and prepared to die. At the last moment, “Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’ (Matthew 27:46) As I’ve read this so many times and know this story, it never occurred to me what was happening when Jesus said this. I thought it was just His last cry to God.

No! Jesus was quoting scripture to the people that were there! “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” is the first line of Psalm 22. Written some 1,000 years earlier, Psalm 22 it reads like it was written while Jesus hung on the cross. Read through it and you'll be amazed! When David wrote this Psalm he was pointing to the cross. All the Jews would have heard this first line, ““My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”, and just like Jamaicans finishing the verses in church, immediately their minds would have gone to Psalm 22 and they would recite that verse in their head.

The last line of Psalm 22 reads:

     They will proclaim his righteousness,

     declaring to a people yet unborn:

     He has done it!

Jesus had proclaimed victory! Not over Rome as the people had expected, but over sin and death. Victory over all the agendas placed on him. And because of that WE too can proclaim victory! 

Show and Tell

This weekend I had the chance to go home to Illinois and visit family. Going home is usually a little stressful just because my best friend lives on the opposite side of town from where my parents live and in the few hours I have I feel like I’m trying to balance my time between home and friend. But this weekend my friend was out of town and extra family was in town. So I just got to spend some quality time with the fam and kind of relax. Also we were celebrating October birthdays since it seems like everyone in my family was born in October and we had most everyone together at one time. It was good to visit with both of my nieces and joke with my brother and sister and reminisce about the old days. . . old being 20 years ago. I got to visit my old church and hear one of my old youth pastor (who is now the lead pastor) speak. I also had some time Saturday morning to go to a little coffee shop and read a little. . . still reading “Love Without Agenda”.  Overall just a nice, relaxing weekend.

At church Sunday Mike was talking about John the Baptist and the account in John 1. There seemed to be confusion about who John was exactly. People asked if he was Elijah; if he was a prophet; if he was the Christ. John simply replied to them, “I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Makestraight the way of the Lord’”. Obviously there was still confusion about what he was doing and why and he ended up being beheaded for his making a straight way for the Lord. He left a wake behind him that pointed to Jesus.

As I was reading “Love Without Agenda” Saturday morning I was reading about how God played “show and tell” with the world when he sent Jesus to us. In grade school we probably all had this part of class where we would bring something into class from home and tell the class about it. According to Wikipedia it's a technique to teach public speaking skills. I never had anything good but for others it was always fun to finally show the class that puppy you had been talking about for a month or your new toy that you got last week. God had been telling the world how they should live; how they should treat each other; how they should act; how they should worship their God. He told them a million times (I didn't actually count. . . it’s an expression!) but they just never quite got it! Finally he sent them Himself in Jesus and said, “Here! Do you see what I’m talking about!? Look! This is how you should live!”

Funny thing as my brother and sister and I were kind of mocking my parents this weekend. A few months ago a downburst (basically a tornado) came through their subdivision. It took down tons of trees and the hail damaged almost everyone’s roofs. So as we drive through my parents are pointing out where there used to be trees and now there aren’t. Keep in mind it’s nearly EVERY HOUSE! So my siblings and I were kind of making fun of how they pointed out every tree that was missing on the way into the subdivision. . . guess you had to be there. But it was a big deal!

So how does a tornado, John the Baptist and “show and tell” come together? I guess I’m thinking I want to be like that tornado, like John the Baptist. I want to leave a trail, a wake, behind me where people say, “something happened here!” I want to be the “show and tell” for the world. I want words and my actions towards people to show Jesus. I want people to look at me and around me and see something different. I want people to see Jesus because of the “destruction” I leave behind me. I want people’s old lives to be wrecked because they have no choice but to run to Jesus. I want to “Preach the Gospel always, and if necessary, use words”.

I know I don't always do this, but this is my prayer for my life. What path of destruction are you leaving behind you? I'd love to have some comments on ways you're leaving a path behind you that others may be able to use!

Baaaaarnacled

Contrary to popular belief it is not in fact talk like a pirate day. . . that's Sept. 19. Actually, I don't even think "barnacled" is a word, but it should be so I'm using it here. Although it doesn't underline it as misspelled so...

I've continued reading "Love Without Agenda" this week and I am really enjoying the writing style and thought process of Jimmy Spencer Jr. The book reminds me of Donald Miller and the first time I read "Blue Like Jazz". I feel challenged and broken and nostalgic and excited and called-out all at the same time. (I'm sure there are more but those are the ones that came to mind.) I met Jimmy in Seattle a couple weekends ago at the Open Seattle and it turns out he lives in Chicago and I went to school with his brother. We had a couple quick conversations and I heard him speak and I just KNEW that this guy was the "real deal" and I HAD to get his book.

So as I'm reading last night about agendas in life, this particular short paragraph jumped out at me and gave me all of the above feelings at once.

Jimmy writes:
"When we talk to people, serve people, or eat with people, simply because we have an agenda for them to become Christians, we hoist our image of humanity upon them. We objectify them and dehumanize them, even if we have the very best of intentions."

To be fair I've taken this paragraph completely out of context. The whole point of the book is to, you guessed it, love people without an agenda. To see people as God's created beings. . . just like you and me. So when talking about our agendas in life Jimmy is saying that if our only purpose for talking to someone or befriending someone is to bring them to church or to convert them then we've missed out on really loving them. Those aren't bad things, but are we really just trying to turn that person into us. . . selling them our "brand".

As Jimmy says, "Maybe we've barnacled our agenda onto Christianity? Maybe we've replaced the pattern of Jesus with this Christian pattern?"


He sums it up by saying:
"We're too busy advancing Christianity to practice being Christian."

Makes you think, huh? Makes ME think! Especially for those of us in ministry. . . what agendas have we "barnacled" to the message of Christ? What is getting in the way of us seeing people as the image and likeness of God and loving them for that alone?