The Forest Through the Trees: Church? Wow! Now There's a Concept!

GIFTS

Relax. This is not the Bible. Nor is it Dickens, or Twain, or Hemingway. It’s just me sharing some of the ideas, observations and passions that I have put down on paper over my 30 years as a Pastor. The writings are mainly about life in general, and the church in particular, for church has been a part of my being since birth and it has indeed been a source of great joy for me. But it has also, at times, played the role of brutal heartbreaker as well.

I guess my feeling about the church could be summed up by an experience I had with Freshman English in college. Remember Freshman English? Well my assignment was to write a research paper, but I had an admitted aversion for those types of papers because they required a visit to a library (my high school librarian had poisoned any positive relationship I might have had with a library). So I wrote a paper about something that I thought was pretty good, - good enough that my professor might not notice the lack of research. Didn’t work. He marked my paper Excellent! - F. I went to see him and asked, What’s up with this? He smiled and said, Great paper, but you didn’t give me what I asked for! Point taken.

It’s pretty much the same with the church. God commands us to love, and we give Him nice. Jesus encourages risk, and we give him safety. God asks us to seek truth, and we settle for culturally acceptable perceptions. Pretty frustrating, not to mention boring.

So I have found (and do find) the church to be highly imperfect, much as I have found (and find) myself to be highly imperfect. But then I believe that the definition of perfection is demonstrated by one’s ability to deal constructively with imperfection. And so I’m working on that.

At this time of my life, I can pause briefly to reflect a bit, -and as I do I feel a kinship with Sisyphus, the hero of Camus’ story The Myth of Sisyphus. Pushing that rock up that hill, knowing it’s going to roll back over you at some point, and do its best to crush you. As with Sisyphus, I gave it all I had, but it was not enough. The rock rolled on over me more than once. Still, Camus ends with this: The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.

And so it remains that the only true failure in life is the failure to try. Ever hear of Zeke Bonura,- baseball player from the 30s and 40s? Well Zeke, and I quote from The Official Website of The New Orleans Zephers, …was noted for his big bat, but his defensive play usually had fans covering their eyes. In 1936 he led all American League first basemen in fielding, mostly because he refused to go after easy grounders, waiving at them with his glove, with what became known as The Bonura Salute", as balls rolled by untouched. And then this from the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, Zeke was considered one of the worst defensive first basemen in the big leagues, but he had very few errors because he didn’t get a glove on balls that would be routine plays for other first basemen.

So, if we give life’s challenges The Bonura Salute, - that is if we play if safe do not try for, or stretch for excellence, then we can often look pretty good, maybe even get some awards. But conversely, if we are constantly risking in the pursuit of truth and excellence, we can get knocked around a bit and look pretty silly at times. Well, call me bruised and silly! I believe it was Teddy Roosevelt who said, The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly ... who, at worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.

Reminds me of the words of a retiring Pastor that I once heard as he reflected on the regrets of his ministry,

"Wherever Saint Paul went, there was a riot!

Wherever I went, they served tea."

Anyway, I do have a lot of blemishes on the Success Chart, but I’ve most always gotten up to take some more swings!

Well, I can tend to ramble,

and I detest long Introductions, so let’s just get on to the book.

Buckle-up. Bon Voyage!

Hectic and busy lives seem to be a hallmark of our age. When I was learning the ropes of life in the 1950s, I don’t remember life being very hectic, or particularly busy, but I do remember it being full! May I ask, do you consider your life to be full, or to be busy? Now that the 21st Century is in full swing, one might observe that many of our lives do indeed seem to be hectic and busy, ushered around as they are so often by the exhausting vehicles of worry and fear. The media, along with corporate America, is excellent at feeding us worry and fear, as those two emotions sell many more products than peace and joy ever could.

I can remember when people smiled at me during the Advent Season with the comment that, This must be your busy season Pastor. And my heart would sing back to them, Au Contraire!. The season of Advent was never meant to be a busy time, but it was always meant to be a time full of Wonder & Awe! Satan is delighted to give us busy lives. God would give us full lives.

Legendary Coach John Wooden always urged his players not to mistake activity for achievement. How true! I also once remember hearing a professional piano player advising his students to respect the slender silent moments between the notes that they were playing, for without those silences, he asserted, one cannot create music, only noise. I think there’s a message in there for us someplace. At any rate, a full life is not always a hectic one. Amen to that!

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In the summer of 1961, I sailed the Atlantic on the Queen Mary. Pretty cool! I even had a steward! It was his job to see that my every need was tended to. In 1964, after graduating from High School, my plan was to go into the Navy, ‘cause I’d always been really impressed by the hugeness and the power of their Battleships. My father decided Prep School would be a wiser choice for me at the time, so off I went to be a quasi-academic rather than shipping out with the Navy.

But now comes a question of some consequence: Which vessel (the Queen Mary or the Battleship) best represents the Christian Church? As I see it, it is no contest; it is the Battleship. On the Queen Mary one IS SERVED, while on a Battleship, one SERVES. On the Queen Mary, one was expected to lay back and just cruise while being catered to. On a Battleship, as well in the Church, all on board are called to cater to the mission of the vessel. Each person on a Battleship has a vital role to play in its purpose, as do each of us as Christians in Christ’s Church. In the Church, we are not supposed to be catered to, but rather it is we who are called to cater to Christ by serving each other!

Now a Battleship might seem to be a harsh analogy for the Christian Church, but the Church must always be battle ready for the shades of fear & ignorance that will most certainly, and eternally, stalk it, - and each of it’s individual members. And we won’t ever be ready for this incursion if we are all lying around in spiritual deck chairs expecting to be served! As JFK once said, Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country! Amen to that!

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It’s a relatively new phenomenon, - the Sunday Morning Worship Snow Cancellations scrolling across our TV screens. I could hardly believe it when I first saw it! In my mind, Pastors and Priests have no right to cancel Sunday Worship for any reason, - and if they do, they (we) are frauds. Again we trade God’s outrageous love for our limited wisdom and timid spirits. Fear always seeks safety, but love is always extravagant and seeks to risk.

We don’t call it a sin to miss corporate Worship as our Roman Catholic friends do, but it is no less important for us to regularly be together as the Body of Christ to Worship God, than it is for them. Simply put, corporate Worship is vital to healthy Christian life, no matter what church you belong to.

So, if, for some reason, the Pastor can’t make it to open up, then a parishioner living close to the sanctuary should be entrusted with that responsibility, - unlocking the door, greeting any who might make the effort to be there, lighting a candle, offering a prayer, singing a hymn, and reading a scripture, -then proceeding to go home make soup!

If church leaders would be as concerned with strengthening their congregations as they are with their safety, things might get interesting, - and exciting!

Tell me this, - did you ever hear of the Patriots canceling a game due to snow? No, I don’t think so, - and the place is always packed! And their Service lasts 3 hours, - and their Cathedral doesn’t even have a roof or heat! The atheist philosopher of the 19th century, Friedrich Nietzsche, once said:

If Christians want me to believe in their redeemer, they need to look more redeemed. And I would add, they need to be a little less timid in facing weather challenges. Amen to that!

This year Christmas has done the unthinkable. It has fallen on a Sunday!!!! How insensitive! Seven years ago, in the same situation, I remember that there were some very prominent churches that dealt with this situation by canceling Sunday Morning Worship. Idiots!!!! Whether to come to Worship or not, - that is one’s individual decision, - as it is every Sunday, but for a Pastor, Priest, Church Council, or Deacons to cancel Sunday Morning Worship is immoral and arrogant.

And on Christmas even!!!!!

It is interesting to note, however, that there were quite a few different types of sanctuaries that were packed with people, workers, and performers on Christmas Day 2011.

What do you think?        Is this what the words,

Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy!

were intended to herald?

Or could it have been something