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Mad About Miracles

February 5, 2015 / / 0 Comments

We should be reminded that not everybody was amazed when Jesus performed miracles. The crowds and religious leaders and a lot of the people following Jesus around didn’t always cheer when somebody got healed. When Jesus spits in the dirt and heals a blind man, it leads to an official investigation: depositions, court orders, arrest warrants. When the authorities asked the healed man’s parents to testify, they threw their son under the bus. And then he got thrown out of the synagogue.

Why would Jesus’ miracles make some people mad?

Remember, Jesus’ miracles were not proofs of his Messiah-ship. They were not intended to lead people to faith. If they were, then many of his miracles were miserable failures. A lot of them led to mean accusations, stubborn denials, and murder plots.

Jesus’ miracles are “signs.” They are pointing us toward something bigger, something beyond, something eternal. They show us that we are not in control of who gets healed and who doesn’t, who will respond to the love of God and who won’t. God in Christ is fixing things back to their original pre-sin condition, whether religious people approve of it or not.

Wasn’t it that lack of control that ticked off the church people?

The religious leaders wanted to decide who got healed and on what day of the week. Jesus never asked them first if it was OK. He just caused the lame to walk, the deaf to hear, and the blind to see. He just raised folks from the dead. Those who were amazed praised the God of Israel. Those who were enraged conspired to control our Lord by killing him.

Jesus’ miracles were an exertion of the power and authority of God over the power and authority of sin and Satan and death. And, um… humans. Even religious humans. We’re good with that, right?

Peace,

Allan

Just Give It To Lynch!

February 2, 2015 / / 0 Comments

If you were on the one yard line and needed that one yard to score the touchdown that would win the Super Bowl and make you champions of the NFL; if you had fifty seconds on the clock and a timeout in your pocket and three tries to get it in; and if you could choose any running back in the whole league to attempt to run it in for you; what would you do?

You would choose Seattle’s Marshawn Lynch and you would hand the ball off to him three straight times and win the Super Bowl. You would do that. I would do that. All of us would do that. We wouldn’t even blink. Seattle coach Pete Carroll could have made that call in between smacks of gum.

But he didn’t. Because he inexplicably called the pass that was intercepted and snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, Brady and Belichick and the Patriots are being heralded as one of the greatest franchises in NFL history. And it’s sickening to me. If Carroll chooses to win the game instead of giving it away, the Patriots today are in a conversation that includes the Bills and the Giants, not the Steelers and 49ers and Cowboys. If Lynch runs it in and wins the game, Brady is not being compared today to the likes of Bradshaw and Montana. He threw two really bad picks yesterday, for crying out loud. If Seattle does what all 70,000 people in the stadium and all 114-million TV viewers knew they should have done, Belichick today would not be classified with the likes of Bill Walsh and Chuck Noll. Man, one play like that — and it’s not fair — can change the whole national conversation and perception of entire franchises forever.

Wild finish for sure. If you were watching, you’ll never forget where you were and who you were with when Wilson threw that goal line pick.

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Last night’s Jericho / Jars of Clay Super Bowl Party at John Todd’s place saw another dynasty in the making take a tremendous fall from grace. Two-time defending champion of our proposition bets contest, Scott Bentley, went down hard to new champion James Vaughan. James squeaked out a dramatic one-point win over Kristi Landon when Tom Brady, in his MVP acceptance speech, mentioned his teammates before he mentioned the Patriots fans. Since Scott won the first two Super Bowl prop contests, the trophy will forever be called the Bentley Trophy in the same way they named the Super Bowl trophy after the guy who won the first two. But today it resides in the office of James Vaughan. For the record, Roger Kysar came in third and Wendy Miller finished dead last. And the upstairs meeting space at Premier Vision is an excellent place to watch a football game.

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When your daughter’s a Senior, almost everything that happens has that “this-is-the-last-time-this-will-ever-happen” feel to it. So it was with the annual Sandie Revue this past weekend. The annual variety show is the largest and most extravagant of the Amarillo High School choirs’ programs. And Valerie not only wound up in the loudest yellow dress at the very front and center of the major numbers, but she and three of her choir mates teamed up to perform a wonderfully moving rendition of “Something in the Water.” The song is about the transformation that occurs at baptism. They ended it with a beautifully blended a cappella verse from “Amazing Grace” that captivated the audience until the very last note. I don’t think it was just the dad holding the cam-corder who had tears in his eyes.

Before and after the water song, Valerie was all smiles and even a few laughs while she sang and danced with her choir mates to a bunch of Motown Classics that all the kids think are cool again. Nice. We love watching our girls do things they really enjoy and that they’re really good at. Watching Valerie sing is one of those great joys for her parents.

Peace,

Allan

It Won’t Kill You

January 28, 2015 / / 0 Comments

“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.” ~Isaiah 40:29

We find great assurance and comfort in the eternal promises of our God found in his Holy Scriptures. Our God’s great love and his immeasurable mercies are continually poured upon us to give us strength and courage when we absolutely cannot make it on our own. Which, by the way, is all the time.

“I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” ~Isaiah 41:10

The command passages in the Bible should not be viewed as overbearing demands as much as descriptions of and invitations to participate in the divine power that is available to us when we offer ourselves wholly and completely to this great God.

“A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.” ~Isaiah 42:3

When we are wounded, he will not let us be destroyed. When our zeal or our fervor is barely smoldering, he won’t let it be blown out. You can’t say, “If I sign up to serve in this ministry, it’ll kill me.” You can’t say, “If we volunteer to work in this ministry, it’ll kill us.” God says it won’t. He won’t let it. It’s a promise. He won’t let you die from loving and serving one another in his holy community.

Peace,

Allan

Banquet Sounds

January 27, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Here’s a quote I didn’t have time to include in this past Sunday’s sermon about eating and drinking at Christ’s table:

“There is little that we can point to in our lives as deserving anything but God’s wrath. Our best moments have been mostly grotesque parodies. Our best loves have been almost always blurred with selfishness and deceit. But there is something to which we can point. Not anything that we ever did or were, but something that was done for us by another. Not our own lives, but the life of one who died in our behalf and yet is still alive. This is our only glory and our only hope. And the sound that it makes is the sound of excitement and gladness and laughter that floats through the night air from a great banquet.”    ~Frederick Buechner

The table of our Lord has always been the place to experience his great love and mercy, his forgiveness and peace, and righteous relationship with him and all his children. Praise God for the weekly grace of the Lord’s Supper. And for the seats he has reserved for us at the wedding feast of the Lamb.

Peace,

Allan

Eating and Drinking with Losers

January 26, 2015 / / 0 Comments

“When you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind.” ~Luke 14:13

“Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ~Matthew 9:11

“Bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame!” ~Luke 14:21

“Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” ~Matthew 11:19

The gospels show us that the Kingdom of God is a big party with a bunch of losers. Jesus wants us to see that God’s idea of a great time is a huge feast with a bunch of people you wouldn’t be caught dead with on a Saturday night. Or any other time of the week. Jesus came eating and drinking with losers.

And you are one of those losers. So am I. We are all losers together at the table of our King.

We’re all coming to the table with a limp. We’ve all got a wound or a chronic pain. We come to the table with a horrible story or a distorted view or a serious issue. All of us are maimed. Or dysfunctional. Or disabled. And broken. All of us.

The Pharisees at these dinner parties — the ones “watching closely,” the ones criticizing Jesus and complaining — are so self-righteous and smug with their nice and tidy lives in their pressed and flowing robes. They set themselves apart from and above the losers. “They’re sinners; but we’re saved. Their lives are a mess; but we’ve got it all together. They need a whole bunch of God’s grace and forgiveness; we just need a little grace to get us over the top.”

No! In Luke 14, Jesus says, at these dinner parties, don’t choose a place of honor for yourself. You’re not as great as you think you are. And these people you categorize as losers are my cherished children.

We are all sinners, every one of us. We have all sinned and fallen terribly short of the glory of God. And we are all being saved together by the lavish grace of our Father. Yes, the ground is level at the foot of the cross. And, yes, all the seats are the same around the table of our Lord.

Scripture says we’re all going to eat and drink together with Jesus forever. We’re all going to take our places with him around the table at the wedding feast of the Lamb. And I think Sundays are the warm-up. I think Sunday mornings are party practice. Sunday mornings together are like the chips and hot sauce to the fajitas and enchiladas. Eating and drinking with sinners, sharing a meal with broken losers, with each other, together on Sundays, teaches us how to live together. It’s one of the places we learn to bear one another’s burdens. We learn to help each other, to encourage each other, to challenge each other.

We look at all the faces around the Lord’s Table on Sundays and they’re all looking back at us. No doubt, seeing very clearly our messes, knowing fully our sins. And, yet, still choosing to eat and drink with us. And we know at that moment that Jesus was crucified for the lousy company he kept. And he still is.

Peace,

Allan

An Adult in All 50 States

January 24, 2015 / / 1 Comment

Today, our Little Middle, Valerie Nicole, turns 18, becoming a legal adult now in all fifty states. There are all kinds of interesting things one is allowed to do once turning eighteen. Valerie is now old enough to vote, to buy cigarettes, to play the state lottery, and to adopt a small child. She can rent her own apartment, get credit cards and open bank accounts without a parent, and join this country’s military. Today, Valerie can rent a Port-A-Potty (and put it in Greg’s front yard?), rent a car, and rent a power tool at Home Depot.

So far, none of that has happened yet today. She and three or four of her girlfriends are coming over here for C-A’s homemade pizza, going to a movie, celebrating at the Dessert Bar here in town, and then probably staying up way too late before finally crashing at our place.

Oh, Valerie, Valerie, Valerie.

I am very proud of you, sweetie. There are right at four months left in your last year of high school and, just like everything else, it’s going to happen before I’m quite ready for it or can take it all in. I’m so proud of the friend you are to others, the way you have grabbed this teaching / AmeriCorps thing and just excelled at it, the way you pushed through the auditions to make it to Sandie Revue, and the responsible ways you handle everything from the truck to your grades to your relationships to your walk with our God.

Thinking about how little time we’ve really got left to enjoy you on a daily basis around here gets all up in my feels. So, I’ll save the real mush for graduation. I hope you have a terrific time tonight and a wonderful birthday.

Keep swaggin’!

I love you,

Dad

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