Written by the Story

3rd Week of Easter, 2020 Dear Good Shepherd of Adair and friends,                              I want you to know how much of a blessing you all are, to one another and to me and my family. Being your pastor is not an impersonal religious job -- for me, at least. Church is not religious school or the place where we learn and memorize a set curriculum.  It’s life.   It’s personal. It’s relationships. It’s struggle. It’s you, your families, and mine trying to turn our faces to God, listening for his voice, paying attention to one another, celebrating, weeping. Together.  My family and I are wired in such a way that we can’t do this life of faith thing without exposing ourselves. We can’t do it without letting you in, inviting you to be part of our lives and our family. And I suspect that many of you have a faith that does...

"I am going to do something."      In Exodus 3, this is basically God's response to the oppression and suffering of his people.  In Exodus 3:7-8 , God says to Moses: " I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt. I have heard  their cry...I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them  from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and  broad land ..." In other words:  I am going to do something .  I'm reminded of this story as I think about the past several weeks. I'm not thinking just about the current circumstances of our culture and world right now. I'm thinking more of the overall human problem and the story of Jesus through Lent and Easter. I'm thinking of Jesus' willingness to become human, to live the life of a homeless wanderer, to struggle for the ones at the bottom of the Roman pyramid, to stand up to religious hypocrisy, to be treated as a criminal and be...

During Holy Week, it's nearly always Easter Sunday that gets the focus. Already by Tuesday this week, churches were advertising Easter services, looking ahead to the big event. And I understand (sort of)...churches need to do it. But I noticed also that by comparison, Good Friday services get far less press.  I fear we're missing the point, that we're unintentionally communicating that it is Easter that is the "main event."  When one considers the actual stories of the gospels, one encounters a curious difference in perspective. They spend much less time on the resurrection than they do on the crucifixion. It makes me wonder if we have put the emphasis on the wrong syllable. I mean, if we want to get the story right, shouldn't we follow the script a little more closely? Combined, the gospels spend a total of eight chapters on the trial and crucifixion accounts, and less than half of that amount on the resurrection (Mark gets a mere eight verses)...

Ever been to a big sports stadium? Maybe a big city with buildings that are as large as "downtown" Adair? A few days ago, we drove through a part of Des Moines where there are pretty massive church buildings on nearly every corner. And they don't just sit on the "corner" of the block. They take up much of the block they're on. Whether a church building, a stadium, or a skyscraper, you can stand in awe. Great architecture. To be honest, they are not  eyesores. Unless you are not a fan of some of the more recently built sports stadiums. In that case, ok, it might be an eyesore. But you can't ignore the impressiveness, even if you don't like it. This is like the disciples' observations when they walked through Jerusalem during Jesus' last week in Matthew 24 . The disciples were just a bunch of small-town fishermen. Hadn't been to the big city. Jesus took them there on a sort of "field trip" -- one that went, from their per...

What are you looking for? This is a question Jesus asks in the gospel of John ( John 1:38 ). We're all looking for something. During Jesus' last days in Jerusalem, Jesus is asked several questions by the religious leaders. They're looking for something -- looking to "catch" who he is, looking to confirm their own ideas and confirm their suspicions that Jesus isn't who people think he is, or who he says he is. One of the questions, perhaps the most important one, gets at the heart of all human quests. And if Jesus is king, as the story says he is, then he should have the answer. The question is simple: "Teacher, what is the greatest commandment in the law?" ( Matthew 22:36 ) Let's put it in different words. What's the essence of living? There. That's a good question. ____________________________________ Isn't that what we're looking for, too? We want to know what life's all about. We want to know that our days a...

We pay a lot of attention to our leaders, especially our political leaders. We pay attention to what they say, but also how they conduct themselves. As we should.  In Jesus’ time, kings and rulers didn’t just carry out or enforce the law. They were law . We don’t have that today. Today we say that no one is above the law -- no leader, ruler, or politician. We can’t fathom that a ruler or leader might be not merely above the law, but that the ruler is the law . What this meant in Jesus' time was not as it seems, though. It wasn’t supposed to be license to do whatever you want (though many rulers did). It had to do more with the idea that kings were the representation of the power and will of their God(s). The king’s conduct and character would either display the will and character of their God(s) to the people, and so shape the way of life of the kingdom, or it would miss the mark and everyone would be the target of judgment of said God(s) What way of being human do...