Unto Us? A Child is Born!

“We’re going to have a baby!” What did Joseph say when Mary first spoke these words to her soon to be husband? The short answer is that we have absolutely no idea. In fact, it is a bit ironic that though the Bible was produced in a male dominated world we know little of Joseph. He appears at the beginning of Matthew with this history altering dream and then essentially disappears, only showing up a couple of more times during Jesus’ childhood. Not one word from Joseph is recorded in the Bible. Even during Christmas Joseph is generally depicted as a murky background sort of character without any serious role, as even the shepherds and the wise men get more press.

Mary, on the other hand, is everywhere. When the angel visits Mary she responds by lifting her voice in song. Mary is much more than the mother of Jesus. She is a disciple, present throughout his earthly ministry, suffering with her Lord at the cross, visiting the empty tomb, and receiving the Spirit at Pentecost. In traditional Christian thought Mary is seen as an icon of the very church of Christ, the best that we have to offer, and a bundle of Christian energy. Mary is the Theotokos, the mother of God.

Now don’t get me wrong, Mary is more than deserving of all this attention given her role in the birth of the baby Jesus. And yet, this still does not explain why Jesus’ earthly father Joseph is mostly absent from the pages of Scripture. What we do know largely comes from the passage read this morning. Joseph was pledged to be married to his soon to be bride Mary when she was found to be with child. Since Joseph was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had decided to divorce her quietly. Before he could do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, telling Joseph that he should not be afraid to take Mary home as his wife because the child that was in her was actually from the Holy Spirit. Spoiling the surprise, the angel revealed that Mary was going to give birth to a son. Joseph would not have the honor of naming this firstborn since the angel told him that he was to name him Jesus because He would save his people from their sins.

Oh, the emotions that must have been swirling through Joseph’s mind at such a moment. He finds out that his teenage fiancé is going to have a baby that is not his. Quickly he moves from planning a wedding to looking for the divorce papers, while trying to be a gentleman so as not to shame his former bride to be. Then, he has a dream where he is visited by an angel who overwhelms him with the news that his Mary is pregnant via the Holy Spirit, ready to give birth to a son he will not get to name because somehow this Jesus is the Immanuel, God with us. Yes, that is right, Joseph is to be the earthly father of God himself. And unfortunately, we have little to no idea what was going through Joseph’s head once he found this out because the Scriptures largely ignore him after this incident.

Until recently I had no way to understand what was going through Joseph’s mind when Mary spoke this phrase to him. However, as many of you know, my wife Erin and I found out a couple of months ago that we are now expecting our first child, who is due to be born June 21st. Right now we are excited to say the least. But to be honest, at first I was less than overjoyed at this news. After all, I had plans. These plans included finishing my doctoral coursework, meeting my foreign language requirements, taking my qualifying exams, writing my doctoral dissertation, and staying in Chicago for another year or two while I pursued my dreams. Who did this child think he was, showing up totally unannounced, and even somewhat uninvited? And even worse, what kind of person was I to feel such feelings during what is supposed to be one of the happiest moments in my life?

After talking with a variety of friends and family, though, I quickly discovered that pregnancies often, if not always, involve a variety of emotional experiences. Sometimes we plan them; sometimes we don’t. Many pregnancies produce healthy babies; others have complications. We can be excited about a long awaited birth or scared about what an unexpected surprise might do to our previous plans. The fact is that the message that, “Unto us a child is born,” can make us feel excited, agitated, frantic, scared, terrified, worried, joyful, disappointed, frustrated, ecstatic, and afraid.

This is because babies, whether they be little Immanuel or Baby Cooper, are always a mix of good news and bad. Some of you may have heard people speak of life “BC” and “AD,” referring to our world “before children” and “after delivery.” You parents know exactly what that means. Babies are so cuddly and sweet, cute and demanding, expensive and relentless. No wonder we live in a culture where nearly a million babies are aborted every year. Even today our society wavers between sentimentalization of childhood and widespread child abuse. Babies are a threat. Sure, part of the good news is that babies are the future, but the bad news is that we decline as they increase. Babies are an ever present reminder that tomorrow belongs to them, not us, that the world isn’t all left up to us, isn’t just in our hands. So, if a baby is a sign that “God is with us,” Immanuel, then those of us who’ve had babies or will soon do so can testify that it is both good news and bad, for babies are always ambiguous. Blessings, yes, but also demanding responsibility.

No baby was ever more of a threat, more of the future, more of a sign that God is with us, more of a blessing, and more of a demanding responsibility than the one called Immanuel. King Herod may have been the only one to get the point of that baby. He knew that cooing, crying little baby in the manger was a sign, a threat to everything upon which his empire was based. That baby was a sign that Herod was not really King after all, that his ways of dealing with the world were false, that there is no hope for Israel or for anybody unless it be from God. This baby was a sign that God was going to take the government, the rule of the world off of Herod’s shoulders and put all authority on the back of a baby and call his name Immanuel.

This brings us back to Joseph, whom God had chosen along with Mary to raise this baby Immanuel, this God with us. It was Joseph who would later teach his son Jesus the Scriptures, reading him the stories of Genesis, teaching him the laws of the Torah, praying through the Psalms with him. Joseph would have also had hopes and dreams for what his life was going to be like. For young Jewish men at the time that meant taking part in the life of the synagogue, learning a good trade like carpentry, marrying a young woman, and raising children of his own. We know that all fathers have dreams for their children, dreams that they will live a long healthy life, get a good education, have a successful and fulfilling career, meet someone who will love them and care for them throughout their lives, and most importantly for those of us who know this Immanuel, that they will realize how much God loves them and respond to that love with a life of faithful discipleship.

But in one night, many of those dreams were shattered. Once the angel appeared to Joseph, his neatly ordered life was changed in an instant. What happened that night may have caused Joseph to begin to realize that many of the dreams he had for this child would not come true. Not only would the birth of this Immanuel come in the humblest of surroundings, in a manger that smelled of barnyard animals not to mention the things barnyard animals leave behind. Even more so, after fleeing their home to avoid Herod’s plot to kill his son, they would later return only so that Jesus’ three year career as an itinerant preacher would end with a cross. Joseph probably did not see all of this at the beginning, but he had no doubt started to surmise that his ways are not God ways. What he had hoped and dreamed for this child was not necessarily what God had planned for this Immanuel, this God with us.

Like Joseph, I worry about the life of my unborn child. You see, I have plans as well. These plans for my firstborn son and daughter include a variety of things, from a healthy birth to a nurturing childhood, a good education, a job that brings them happiness, a future wedding day, and a family of their own. But what if? What if my dreams and hopes for this child are not met? What if something goes wrong? I know this child is not my own but a gift from God that has been entrusted to my care, and yet, this does not lessen my anxiety, my worry, my fear. Some nights I lie awake, praying that my unborn child and my wife who carries Baby Cooper will be safe. Still, I feel helpless, knowing that I am not in control.

And yet, I think it is for this very reason that we must let the angels come to us as well so that we too, like Joseph, may hear those words, “Do not be afraid.” God is with us! When we accept Christ into our lives, nothing, not even death, can separate us from God and his love. It is what Christmas is about. God is with us. The great people of faith have always claimed that promise. Just think of it:

Moses, caught between the Pharoah and the deep Red Sea in a seemingly hopeless situation, believed that God was with him and he went forward and trusted God to open a way and He did.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego went into the fiery furnace into another seemingly hopeless situation and they trusted God to be with them and He was!

Little David stood before Goliath. What chance could a small boy with a slingshot have against this giant of a warrior? But David believed that God was with him and it made all the difference!

Now, it's interesting to note that when the writer of Matthew's gospel wanted to capture the meaning of Christmas, the meaning of the Christ event, the meaning of Jesus in a single word, he did a very wise thing. He reached back into the Old Testament, pulled out an old word, dusted it off, and used it to convey the message. The word was Emmanuel. That's what Jesus is about. "His name shall be called Emmanuel" which means, "God is with us." The impact of that Christmas promise is incredible. When you believe that, when you accept that, when you claim that promise it will absolutely change your life.

God does not desert us. I find it strange that God has never deserted me. I don't understand that kind of grace frankly. I do not deserve his eternal presence, nor do you. Yet, God has forever identified with the human dilemma. There may not be a soul in the world who truly understands your feelings. God understands. All in your life may fall away. God will never fall away. Our God is a good God. He does not desert us in our hour of need. He hears the cries of Israel. He hears the cries of the church. He hears the cries of His children. Christmas is about God's eternal identification with the human dilemma.

The great writer Max Lucado tells about his neighbor who was trying to teach his six-year-old son how to shoot a basketball. They were out in the backyard. The father shot a couple of times, saying, "Do it just like that, son; it's real easy." The little boy tried very hard but he couldn't get the ball ten feet into the air. The little fellow got more and more frustrated. Finally, after hearing his father talk about how easy it was for the tenth time, the boy said, "It's easy for you up there. You don't know how hard it is from down here."

You and I can never say that about God. When Jesus became man and lived among us, he walked where we walked, he suffered what we suffer, he was tempted as we are tempted. He was Emmanuel which means "God is with us."

Joseph, just in time, heard the angel’s voice, let go of his fears, and, most importantly, remembered that God is with him. Like Mary, he said yes to the Lord. He did not dismiss Mary quietly, but took on the scandal of this unwed teenager, running off to Bethlehem for Jesus’ birth, and then fleeing their homeland with his new family, becoming refugees in Egypt to escape Herod’s wrath. The witness of Joseph calls us to cooperate with God's work in today's world. It calls us to respond to God's action among us. Joseph, not having all of the evidence and knowledge of the future, decided to do more than law and custom required. He elected to do more than was expected of him. He let justice and compassion guide his decision about his pregnant fiance. He was pulled, not by the strength of custom, but by the law of love. Even when it was hard to do, Joseph listened and heard God's command. Then he had the courage to act, to obey, to do God's will.

“So, we’re going to have a baby!” If this scares you, you are not alone. I know it scares me. And in one sense it should scare us all, because all babies are a mix of good and bad news, especially this One called Immanuel, whose arrival is as surprising and threatening as any. At the same time, though, I invite you to join Joseph in hearing that angel say, “Do not be afraid.” For the message of this Advent season is that the best news of all is that no matter what, God is with us! Amen.

Wednesdays with Wesley: What Christian Perfection is...

What is Christian perfection then?

Wesley begins by saying that, "Indeed, it [Christian perfection] is only another term for holiness. They are two names for the same thing. Thus everyone that is perfect is holy, and everyone that is holy is, in the Scripture sense, perfect."

Part of this holiness was the restoration of our power not to sin. Christians do not continue in sin. They are freed from the power of sin. The power of sin has been destroyed and therefore no longer has dominion over them. Wesley does not mean that all Christians will not sin, but he does insist that "whosoever is tempted to any sin need not yield; for no man [or woman] is tempted above that he [or she] is able to bear." After all, what would it mean for God to give us a command and then not give us the power and grace to obey that command? Wesley refuses to believe in such a God and consequently takes seriously Jesus's words to go and sin no more. Of course, what does Wesley mean by sin? I do not mean to play with words; however, I do agree with Colin Williams who states:

It is clear that Wesley's view of perfection depends upon a distinction between two kinds of sin. In terms of sin in the absolute sense, as measured by the "perfect law," there is no such thing as perfection in believers. It is in terms of the sin of conscious separation from Christ that there can be perfection--a perfection of unbroken conscious dependence upon Christ.

This tension and twofold distinction of sin illustrates how Wesley could be asked if those who are entirely sanctified are sinners and respond, "Explain the term [sinner] one way, and I say, Yes; another, and I say, No."

Ultimately, Christian perfection is more a category of love than a category of sin. It involves an intense focus on the love of God and neighbor, these two being always linked for Wesley. Entire sanctification means a reordering of our desires where we participate in loving the right things, doing so only by the grace of the One who loved us first. Wesley said this love is "the love of God shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto them." This quote is from The Marks of the New Birth (1748). Eight years earlier Charles Wesley employed the exact same language when he wrote:

Jesus, thine all victorious love shed in my heart abroad; then shall my feet no longer rove, rooted and fixed in God. O that in me the sacred fire might now begin to glow; burn up the dross of base desire and make the mountains flow! O that it now from heaven might fall and all my sins consume! Come, Holy Ghost, for thee I call, Spirit of burning, come! Refining fire, go through my heart, illumine my soul; scatter they life through every part and sanctify the whole.

Christian perfection makes love of God and neighbor a natural response. The entirely sanctified are transformed in such a way "that whosoever desires may look into their hearts and see that only love and God are there." Needless to say, a heart that contains only love and God has no room for sin.

Christian perfection is a gift from God. Entire sanctification is something God does in us. Holiness "never becomes our possession." This is why it can happen either gradually or instantaneously if God decides to pull a Divine shortcut. Wesley comments that, "what God hath promised He [God] is able to perform and tht He [God] is able and willing to do it now." We, like God, have a role to play in Christian perfection. Christians are to "seek it earnestly so that they might find it speedily." When Wesley was asked if entire sanctification is ordinarily not given until a little before death he replied, "It is not to those who expect it no sooner nor probably ask for it." In other words, if you do not expect Christian perfection or ask for it, you will not get it. We are to be continually striving after it. Our waiting for Christian perfection is active, for "God does not, will not, give that faith, unless we seek it with all diligence."

Could this, expecting to be made perfect in love in this life, happen to the whole of creation? Eschatology might be the only thing harder to get agreement upon than Christian perfection. When the World Council of Churches met in Evanston they admitted that, "We are not agreed on the relationship between the Christian's hope here and now and his [and her] ultimate hope." For Wesley, Randy Maddox is convinced that, "a growing insistence on the redemption of all creation runs through Wesley's late writings." Williams agrees that"

The 'whole animated creation' will share in this new creation, being delivered from its present bondage to evil occasioned by the Fall, and sharing in 'the glorious liberty of the children of God' so that there shall be truly 'a new heaven and a new earth.'

Truly, Wesley envisioned a Christian world. Wesley saw the petition "Thy kingdom come" as:

Offered up for the whole intelligent creation, who are all interested in this grand event, the final renovation of all things by God's putting an end to misery and sin, to infirmity and death, taking all things into his own hands, and setting up the kingdom which endureth throughout all ages.

I have a hard time reconciling Wesley's eschatology where all of creation is made perfect in love with Wesley's belief in a real Hell with people in it. Wesley describes Hell as a place:

Where they [the wicked] will 'gnaw their tongues' for anguish and pain...there the dogs of hell--pride, malice, revenge, rage, horror, despair--continually devour them. There 'they have no rest day or night, but the smoke of their torment ascendeth for ever and ever.'

For Wesley, judgment is lasting. If some are punished forever, how then is all of creation redeemed? Despite a few possible inconsistencies such as the one just mentioned, Wesley held fast to his teaching that:

To crown all, there will be a deep, an intimate, an uninterrupted union with God; a constant communion with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ, through the Spirit; a continual enjoyment of the Three-One God, and of all the creatures in him!

Wednesdays with Wesley: What Christian Perfection is Not...

"Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as God is, so are we in this world." - 1st Jn. 4:17

"Are you going on to perfection? Do you expect to be made perfect in love in this life? Are you earnestly striving after it?" I find these questions unavoidable, for they are part of the historic examination that awaits any clergy person seeking admission into full connection within The United Methodist Church. This should not be taken as a monastic like move that limits perfection to an elite group of Christians called clergy, for Wesley came to think, "that propagation of this very teaching [Christian perfection] was the chief reason for which God had raised up the Methodists." Entire sanctification was both a consistent theme and a controversial doctrine for Wesley. It not only caused opponents of Wesley to argue that his ideas on Christian perfection were "confusing, erratic, or simply incompatible," but also was the subject of passionate debate within the early Methodist movement. In fact, the timing and attainment of entire sanctification even divided John and Charles Wesley. Being unable to dismiss Christian perfection as either unimportant or universally accepted, it seems fitting to explore the topics of entire sanctification and eschatology. What would it mean to "expect to be made perfect in love in this life" according to Wesley? Could this happen to the whole of creation?

Wesley approached the issue of Christian perfection with some caution. He believed, "That consequently it behooves us to speak almost continually of the state of justification, but rarely, at least in full and explicit terms, concerning entire sanctification." When Wesley was questioned about the practical task of preaching Christian perfection he said it should be done "scarce at all to those who are not pressing forward." Young preachers are to talk about entire sanctification "not too minutely or circumstantially, but rather in general and scriptural terms." Wesley was once asked if an entirely sanctified person would be capable of marriage. He responded, "We cannot well judge. But supposing he [or she] were not, the number of those in that state is so small, it would produce no inconvenience." Later Wesley added to his remarks on this matter by nothing that, "Marriage is honorable in all (Hebrews 13:4)." It is important to remember that Christian perfection is not one of the seven essentials for Wesley, at least according to Dr. Ted Campbell.

This is not to say that entire sanctification was unimportant for Wesley. Wesley firmly thought that Christian perfection was the intention of God. The Great Commandment lets believers know that what God desires is that we should love God entirely (Matthew 22:37-38). Wesley's belief in entire sanctification was also connected to his ideas on the power of God. He was willing to admit that you cannot perfect yourself, but vehemently questioned those who contended that God is not capable of accomplishing what God intends.

So, what is Christian perfection? Perhaps it is more appropriate to start with what Christian perfection is not. Kenneth J. Collins and Colin Williams make the same move. They may do this, as I do, in an intentional attempt to follow in the footsteps of John Wesley himself. His sermon Christian Perfection was written in 1741. Surprisingly, there is no account of Wesley actually preaching this sermon, which raises the question of if it can actually be called a sermon then. Whatever one's personal theology may be about what does and does not consitute a sermon, Christian Perfection as a written work does communicate Wesley's desire "to show, First, in what sense Christians are not, and Secondly, in what sense they are, perfect."

Wesley's first observation is that:

And both from experience and Scripture it appears, first, that they are not perfect in knowledge: they are not so perfect in this life as to be free from ignorance.

There are so many things for Wesley that Christians do not know. He lists examples of the Trinity, the Incarnation, and eschatology. Wesley's second point flows from his first. He writes:

Nor, secondly, from mistake, which indeed is almost an unavoidable consequence of it; seeing those who "know but in part" are ever liable to err touching the things which they know not. Tis true the children of God do not mistake as to the things essential to salvation...But in things unessential to salvation they do err, and that frequently.

Wesley continues, "It is a proof that we are no more to expect any living man [or woman] to be infallible than to be omniscient." Thirdly, Christian perfection does not mean freedom from infirmities. What are infirmities? Wesley wants us to "not give that soft title to known sins, as the manner of some is." He clarifies his view by stating:

But I mean hereby not only those which are properly termed "bodily infirmities," but all those inward or outward imperfections which are not of a moral nature.

Examples of these infirmities include slow understanding, ungraceful pronunciations, or incoherent thoughts. Fourthly, Christian perfection does not entail being wholly free from temptation. The fifth and last point Wesley makes about Christian perfection is this:

Yet we may, lastly, observe that neither in this respect is there any absolute perfection on earth. There is no "perfection of degrees," as it is termed; none which does not admit of a continual increase. So that how much soever any man [or woman] hath attained, or in how high a degree soever he [or she] is perfect, he [or she] hath still need to "grow in grace," and daily to advance in the knowledge and love of God his Saviour.

So, Wesley summarizes his discussion of what Christian perfection is not in this way:

Christian perfection therefore does not imply (as some men seem to have imagined) an exemption either from ignorance or mistake, or infirmities or temptations.

What is Christian perfection then? Tune in next time...

Lost and Found (Sermon for September 16, 2007)

Everyone has lost something at one time or another. Did you know that there is even a website now at www.lostandfound.com that acts as a global lost and found box? Users can report items missing and users can report items found. It is a good example of how technology can help people connect in a useful way. This is a gateway site for all of the physical things that can be retrieved and returned to their rightful owners. The problem is that according to their statistics, about twice as many objects have been reported lost as have been reported found in the United States alone. So, the site users are losing things at twice the rate that they are finding them.

Our world is a world of lostness. Haven’t we all had the experience of losing things that we know deep down we will never recover? It could be a loved one, a job, one of many things. Depending on the situation, we can feel disappointed, heartbroken, hopeless, or simply discouraged by our own inability to keep up with things.

In chapter fifteen of Luke’s narrative Jesus tells us three separate but related stories that have to do with the issue of being lost: the story of a shepherd and his sheep, a widow and her coins, and a father and his two sons. While only Luke tells the story of the prodigal son, the parable of the lost sheep can be found in both Luke and Matthew.

Our Scripture reading today from the Gospel according to St. Luke begins with these words: “Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to Jesus. And the Pharisees and the Scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them (Lk.15:1-2).” So, to paraphrase, Jesus had a bit of a reputation for attending some outrageous parties with somewhat shady company.

It reminds me of a moment elsewhere in the Gospels where Jesus’ critics come to Him and say, “The disciples of John the Baptist fast all the time and say really long prayers. But your disciples are always eating, drinking, and partying.” In other words, we can tell the disciples of John the Baptist are clearly religious because they look so miserable and act so boring. But as for your disciples, why are they always partying?

It would be easy to criticize the Scribes and forget our own Pharisaic tendencies. Are not the Pharisees the ones who rightly saw the dangers of too close an association with the “wrong crowd?” How many of you are parents? What parent has not worried about their child falling in with the wrong crowd? Although I do not have any children, I have quite a few youth in our youth group. On more than one occasion we have discussed peer pressure. I have stressed to them that if they are in a group of ten people and you hold to a higher level of morality than the other nine, what is most likely is not you elevating the other nine to your level but them bringing you down to their level. Isn’t this a legitimate concern?

In response to the inquisitions of the Pharisees and the Scribes, Jesus told two short stories. Jesus asked, “Which one of you, if you had one hundred sheep, and one strayed from the flock, would not leave the ninety-nine sheep in the wilderness (where they are vulnerable to wolves, wandering off, and all other manners of mischief) and go out and beat the bushes until you find your one lost sheep? And then would you not put that sheep on your shoulders, just as if you were carrying a newly found child, and when you see your friends, would you not cry out, ‘Come party with me! I have found my sheep!’” Now which one of you would not do that?

And which one of you, like a woman who has lost a quarter, would you not be like that woman and rip up all of the carpet in your living room, move all of the furniture out into the front yard, then move all of the heavy appliances out of the kitchen into the front yard, and search relentlessly until you have found that quarter? And when she has found that quarter, she comes running out into the yard, calling to everybody up and down the street, “Come party with me! I have found my quarter!” Now which one of you would not do that?

You know the answer. None of us would do that. None of us.

Of course, these two parties, when the shepherd celebrates after finding the lost sheep, and the woman parties after finding the lost coin, prepare us for the most outrageous party of all – the party which is thrown by the Father upon the return of his lost boy. When the older brother, working out in the field, hears all of the music up at the big house, he says to a servant, “What are you doing in that tux? And on a Wednesday?” The servant says, “Your brother has come home, and your father is throwing a big party for him. He has given everybody the night off.” “A party?” says the older brother. “How does that old fool expect me to keep slaving away doing my duty when he goes out and throws a party for this son of his who has blown all of his inheritance on booze and bad women? For these many years I have served you and you never threw a party for me and my friends,” says the older brother.

The Father, clearly meant to teach us something about who our God is, seems surprised by the actions of the older son. As far as the Father is concerned, they had to celebrate and be glad, because this son of his was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. All three of these parables consistently speak of a God who will literally turn this world upside down in his search for one human being. Jesus says when just one of these lost – the lost sheep, the lost coin, the lost boy – come home to God, Heaven goes wild!

Now this language of lost and found can be hard language for us today. One reason for this is that many of us find ourselves somewhere in the middle. We are a curious combination of the lost and the found. Language of the lost and the found can seem so cut and dry, so absolute. Rarely are we completely lost. And rarely are we completely found. There is always a part of us that needs to be dragged into the light, and there is usually some part of us that is already there. Some more, some less, but always something.

Another explanation for why we struggle with the language of being lost is that it can sound arrogant to claim that we are found while others are lost. I would warn us, though, against the tendency to look for seemingly less offensive language. For example, I would not trade the language of lost for that of the “unchurched” because I believe that once you begin to use the word “unchurched” you subconsciously buy into a marketing strategy where the church becomes one of many competing options for church shoppers who are looking for the right church to meet their needs. Moreover, may I suggest perhaps a particular understanding of what it means for someone to be lost. I have many friends and family members who are not Christians. When I think of them as lost, I do not have front and center in my mind that they will spend eternity being tormented in Hell being poked by little red devils with pitchforks; rather, when I think about my friends from high school who do not know Christ they seem lost to me because they literally don’t know where they are going right now. As we speak, many of their lives have little direction, meaning or purpose. I don’t go up to them and tell them that they are lost, but I do pray for them and look for ways to witness to them about God’s love for them because I think if they came to know Jesus they would realize that He is the way, the truth and the life!

It’s a big universe to be lost in. And we sometimes do get lost – we get mixed up and turned around. We despair, we make mistakes, we do evil to each other. The truth is we deserve the wrath of God and that is what the Pharisees who criticized Jesus maintained. But Jesus understood God more. Jesus knew God as a Shepherd in search of the one lost sheep. Jesus knew God as a woman searching in the dark, in the crevasses, for that valuable coin.

There’s a strange paradox about the Christian life. Often, it’s more about being lost than found. It’s more about feeling incomplete than whole. We all get lost in the dessert, even when we’re part of the fold. And we all need someone out there, willing to go looking for us. We’re always in the process of trying to turn back, to find our way home again. Sometimes we’re the carrier, and sometimes we’re being carried. But all the time, it’s a movement toward wholeness, toward being included again, toward being under one roof again. A sheep. A coin. Two sons. Us.

Next week is FRAN Sunday. Maybe you have given it a lot of thought, or maybe you haven’t thought twice about it. I would invite you to close your eyes for a moment. Now spend a moment thinking about a lost friend, relative, associate or neighbor of yours, not someone you think you are better than because you would be in the same place if it were not for the grace of God but someone you know who you care about who seems lost, is unsure of where they are going, lacks purpose, meaning or direction. Take a moment right now to thank God for the ways that He has already been working in their life. Ask God to move in their life in a special way this week, making them particularly receptive to His invitation and calling upon them. Finally, pray that God would help you to overcome your fears and show you ways that you might encourage, bless and minister to this person by inviting them to be with us next week at Friendship United Methodist Church, where everyone can find friendship with God and with one another.

I love the parable of the prodigal son, but it also scares me. It troubles me because it ends with the older son outside the party, refusing to come in. Sometimes I worry the church is like the older son, wanting to keep God all to themselves, wishing that God would not be so forgiving to those who don’t deserve it, questioning whether they really want to follow a God who throws such outrageous parties. You see, the question is not whether or not God is seeking out and saving the lost right now in Bolingbrook. The Scripture testify to a God who is most assuredly seeking the lost in our midst right now, just as a shepherd looks for his lost sheep, just as a widow looks for her lost coin, just as a Father who runs to His son, throws His arms around him and kisses him. God may not have a lost and found website, but today God offers us the invitation to work at his lost and found booth, co-hosting his outrageous party, being like a shepherd who really cares for his sheep, like a poor widow who really values all her coins! The only question is: will we refuse to go in, or will we join the party? One thing is for sure: Heaven is waiting to go wild once again! Amen.

Top Ten Most Hated/Overused Words at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary

10. Impassibility - Okay. Nobody loves God not suffering more than I do (except maybe Thomas Weinandy), but maybe we should scrap this six syllable word and instead just say that God does not suffer.

9. Contextual theology - Sure all theology is done from a particular location. There is no neutral, universal standpoint from which anyone can speak of God. All speaking of God does emerge from a particular social location. Why does this necessarily have to entail that all language of God is limited to its historical context? If this is the case, then theology is just ornamentation and let's all go home and play cards...

8. Fundamentalist - I don't know why this word comes up so much at Garrett. It is not like there are any of them here. That being said, all of us are fundamentalists. The only question is what is fundamental for you. For most of the people at Garrett, what is fundamental is that George Bush is bad and that we should change the negative language about the practice of homosexuality in the United Methodist Book of Discipline. These days, some liberals at Garrett are finally being honest about this phenomenon and are even admitting the presence of fundaliberals in our midst!

7. Inclusive, tolerance, accepting - Tolerance may be the plague of the modern church. These days many of our churches tolerate far too much. Moreover, it amazes me how people who preach inclusiveness, tolerance, and acceptance can be so uninclusive, intolerant, and unaccepting.

6. Wesleyan Quadrilateral - I hate this term. Billy Abraham has wonderfully argued for why we must reject the Methodist Quadrilateral. He calls it that because the phrase "Wesleyan Quadrilateral" was actually coined by Albert Outler, not John Wesley. Around these parts people forget the Quadrilateral is a theological method, not a docrtine itself. Contemporary theology has illustrated how the Quadrilateral is a way for reason and experience to defeat Scripture and tradition. This can be displayed in a Methodist leader who once remarked, "I ran homosexuality through the Quadrilateral and Scripture lost, three to one." Where have you gone Mr. Wesley? Our church turns its lonely eyes to you...

5. Hellenization thesis - I get so tired of hearing about how the Greeks irrevocably ruined Christianity when they substitued the static, inert, lifeless god of Greek philosophy for the dynamic, active, living God of the Old Testament, or should I say the Hebrew Scriptures, or I mean the First Testament, whatever...

4. Liberal/Progressive Evangelical - I have no idea what this means. As I have told many people, the best definition I can come up with for "liberal/progressive evangelical" is that we all get to call ourselves evangelicals but we also all get to stay liberals.

3. Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer - Let me be clear. If you replace the language of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit with the language of Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer, then you are a heretic (modalistic monarchianism). If you read your Bible more, you might recall that the Son is the one through whom all things were made and that without him was not any thing made that was made (John 1:3).

2. Social justice - Don't get me wrong. I too cannot wait for the day when justice will rain down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream (Amos 5:24). Then again, who isn't for social justice? I have never heard someone say, "I hate social justice." That is, until now I guess...

1. Pericope - Why the heck can't we just say "verses" or "passage of Scripture?" Give me a break...This word, perhaps more than any other, is indicative of the kind of intellectual elitism that runs rampant in United Methodist seminaries and, if you aren't careful, might just infect you while you are there!

SuperBowl 41 and the Evils of Gambling

So, SuperBowl 41 is less than 9 days away. Last I checked the Colts are seven point favorites. Of course, as a United Methodist pastor, I would like to state up front my opposition to gambling.

Anyway, although I live here in Chicago, I was born and raised in St. Louis. This makes me a lot of things, including a fan of the St. Louis Blues, Missouri Tigers, and a proud fan of the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals! When it comes to football, I am less devoted but have been growing as a St. Louis Rams fan since they moved to St. Louis.

Since the Rams aren't playing in SuperBowl 41, the question becomes: who do I root for? Sure, part of me wants the Bears to win. Lovie Smith is a former Rams coach. A Bears victory would make most of my Chicago friends very happy. However, another side of me would love to see the Colts victorious. Tony Dungy appears to be a great Christian man (not that there are no Christians on the Bears squad). Plus, Peyton Manning's commercials are hilarious. And while I don't know much about football, Peyton Manning seems like a pretty good quarterback, no offense Sexy Rex Grossman. And if the Colts win, I can rub it in the face of all my Chicago friends.

Since we will be having a Youth Group Super Bowl party at church, I just hope the game is close. My fear, though, is that the Bears could get blown out in this one. So, nine days away from Super Bowl 41, I like the Colts to win. Peyton Manning wins the big one and silences his critics once and for all. But, friends of mine, especially you fans of the Monsters of the Midway, weigh in on this one and let me know who you like in Super Bowl 41, and why. Oh, and remember, it's not gambling if you win!

Jimmy Cooper enters the world of blogging!

I know, I know, I can't believe I figured it out either. I also can't believe the advertisement was true. Somehow you really can learn how to blog in less than ten minutes. Of course, as I type this a lot could still go wrong I suppose. However, if you are reading it (and you are not just me) then this must have worked. So, welcome to my new blog. I like to call it Comments from the Coop! Hopefully you will find my comments interesting and provocative, creating a conversation that can include people other than yours truly! For now, though, I want to see if this worked, so here goes nothing!