Category: personal

Listening to Episode 271 of the Mockingcast, I heard them reference an article from The Atlantic by Ellen Cushing titled “Americans Need to Party More” (the link is to Yahoo, which has a non-paywall version of the article).

The basic points of the article are:

• Surgeon General warns of a national loneliness epidemic: one in eight Americans reports having no friends.
• Party poopers? Only 4.1% of Americans went to social gatherings in 2023, a 35% drop since 2004.
• We love birthday parties (84%!), but only 59% attended one last year. Who’s going to throw them?

What I loved about the article was the author’s very practical analogy she uses to encourage people to take helpful steps. Her analogy is that you pay your taxes to make sure your community has the resources you need. Here’s what she writes.

Fire trucks, after all, don’t come from nowhere—they come because we pay taxes.

This year, pay your taxes: Resolve to throw two parties—two because two feels manageable, and chain-letter math dictates that if every party has at least 10 guests (anything less is not a party!) and everyone observes host-guest reciprocity (anything else is sociopathic!), then everyone gets 20 party invitations a year—possibly many more.

I think it is good advice. Pay your taxes. If you want community, you need to do actions that are communitarian. We need to put skin in the game.

As a pastor, I have had several discussions with people who said that they didn’t feel connected with their church. Invariably, when I asked how they were involved in their church, for example, did they serve somehow, the answer was “I’m not.” In future conversations, I am going to use the analogy of “paying your taxes” because I think it is very helpful.

My day typically starts with Premiere Insight’s Bible in a Year podcast and NPR’s Up First podcast. It’s a great way to begin each day.

Today, while listening to Up First, they discussed the growing number of people participating in Dry January. Although I am not a drinker, I have no judgment against anyone who drinks responsibly. If someone drinks irresponsibly, I won’t judge them either; instead, I’ll try to get them some help. My mindset is, “there but for the grace of God go I.”

What concerned me was that a national news program had a segment about choosing not to drink, and the tone suggested it would be a burden and difficult. Why would the tone be like this? Steve Inskeep, one of the hosts, responded with “boring” (albeit jokingly) when Lelia Fadel, the other host, mentioned, “And there’s plenty of other stuff you can do together, like do an arts and crafts night, go roller skating, cook together…” It just concerns me that this was considered a story for a national news program and they chose this tone. It also concerns me that I believe it is consistent for how many feel.

The whole thing just made me sad.

I think President Jimmy Carter is probably the best person to have been President of the United States during my lifetime. There may have been people who accomplished more during their time as President but no one has accomplished more good after their presidency was finished. It has been said that Jimmy Carter was the only President who ever used the White House as a stepping stone to greater things.

He is a great example of humbly working for the things that matter and trying to live out the way of Jesus in trying times.

Merry Christmas! I hope you have had a wonderful celebration of the Incarnation. Yesterday, I listened to a wonderful episode of Christianity Today’s “The Bulletin” podcast. The episode link is HERE. In it, I heard for the first time (or at least for the first time that I remember) this profound quote from Augustine of Hippo:

“Man’s maker was made man that He, Ruler of the stars, might nurse at His mother’s breast; that the Bread might hunger, the Fountain thirst, the Light sleep, the Way be tired on its journey; that Truth might be accused of false witnesses, the Teacher be beaten with whips, the Foundation be suspended on wood; that Strength might grow weak; that the Healer might be wounded; that Life might die.”

For me, this quote exemplifies so much of the audacity and humility of the Incarnation. When I stop and allow the mystery of God choosing to become human to save humanity to sink in, it silences me in awe. How great is His love for us?! I can barely comprehend it.

In preparation for Sunday’s message, which will be from Philippians 4:1-9, I have been reading some of the writings of the early Church Father Clement of Rome. He may or may not be mentioned in Sundays text (Philippians 4:3 mentions a Clement but we don’t know if it was Clement of Rome or not. Some tradition says it was him while other tradition says it was a different Clement). During some of my reading I was particularly struck by his First Letter to the Church in Corinth.

Clement writes this letter to the church that is a minority within their culture and are often persecuted socially and sometimes officially. There are some who describe the modern church in the West as living in a similar situation, though I would disagree with them – we are not a minority in the culture (at least yet) and we definitely are not persecuted. Still if you view the current situation as similar or even heading in the direction of the culture in which the 1st century church existed (1st Clement was probably written 70-96AD) you should want to listen to how the early church was told to respond to the culture. I believe it is good instruction for any follower of the way of Jesus regardless of the culture you are facing.

And how did Clement instruct the church to respond to the culture?

With HUMILITY and HOSPITALITY.

Humility: Clement emphasizes humility as a core virtue. In a world that often exalts pride and self-interest, he reminds us to follow the example of Jesus—the Humble One. Humility involves recognizing our dependence on God and treating others with kindness and respect.

Hospitality: Hospitality, too, emerges as a vital theme. It’s more than inviting friends over for dinner; it’s about caring for strangers, foreigners, and those in need. When we put others’ needs before our own, we embody the way of Jesus. Yes, it’s risky, but it’s also transformative.

Read the letter. It is all over it.

Clement’s instructions to the church came during the reign of the Emperor Domitian, probably the most ruthless persecutor of the church during the Roman Empire. This is instruction that we followers of the way of Jesus always need. We have to be constantly reminded that we follow the Humble One and therefore are called to be humble ourselves.

I believe hospitality comes out of that same humility. It is taking care of other people’s needs. Thinking of other first. It is inviting the stranger in. It is taking care of the needs of the foreigner. It is putting others before yourself.

Such actions involve uncertainty and often some chance, but they are the way of Jesus.

Follow the way.

In my view, many of the most profound insights during our weekly gatherings at Tapestry arise from the responses of our community members to the message. Often, someone adds depth to the discussion initiated by our speaker (who is usually me) with a question or comment, resulting in impactful moments for our congregation. These interactions can occur during the message itself, when I invite contributions at the message’s conclusion, or even after the formal segment of the gathering has concluded.

Today, one such moment occurred after the “official” part of our gathering had ended.

During the message, I discussed the transformation of Abram and Sarai by God, who reshaped them into new beings, reflected in their name changes from Abram and Sarai to Abraham and Sarah. God made them anew. They didn’t change themselves. They just believed that God could. They lived in that trust. Similarly, encountering Jesus often entails shedding our old selves to embrace the new creation within us. As the saying goes, “You cannot see God and live” (Exodus 33:20).

While we were packing up—given that we are a nomadic church without a permanent building, setup and teardown occur weekly—Katie D approached me with a poignant illustration of our struggle against shedding our old selves and embracing the new. She referenced a scene from the 1980s movie “Short Circuit.” Here’s the scene:

In this scene, Number 5 perceives disassembly as death. For believers, resurrection signifies that death is not the end. We need not fear “disassembly” because it is not the conclusion but rather the process by which Jesus finalizes the new creation within us. While we may, like Number 5, panic at the prospect of “disassembly,” Jesus disassembles us to conform us to His image. He destroys the strongholds in out lives. He changes the values from which we operate. He changes the way we see and interact with the entire world. Although it may cause disruption, this process is ultimately for our benefit.

This past Sunday at Tapestry I walked our kids, and adults, through a Jesse Tree, discussing how the stories of the Old Testament (and News Testament too) pointed to an understanding of life that led to Jesus and stand as a criticism of the life around us. We put ornaments on the tree and briefly walked through the story the ornament represents and how it tells us about the biblical understanding of the purpose and meaning of our daily experience.

Our stories, traditions, and rituals remind us of the values that we believe are truly important and thereby comment, and sometimes judge, the world in which we live and how we live in it.

Far too often instead of understanding the gospel as good news of the Kingdom of Jesus that sets us free and also establishes a plumb line that shows a better way and sometimes judges, we turn faith into sentimentality, which produces warm feelings but changes nothing.

Nativities and the Christmas story as prime examples of this. When we take the story seriously it makes us question the world around us. How do we respond to God choosing to come as a weak and needy baby? What changes in us and our society when we realize that there was no room for the Holy Family? What should be different in our society when it was the weak and foreigners who recognized and worshipped the Christ Child? How do we respond when we see in the Christmas story that new life was sacrificed in an attempt for the powerful to maintain their kingdom?

But instead, we often just see a sweet, bucolic display of a family as we drink hot chocolate by the glow of the Christmas tree. Our nativities should shake us to our core because when we display them, we are exhibiting a scene that sets a different standard.

This year there is a great example of this in Manger Square in Bethlehem. Most of the festivities of Christmas in Bethlehem have been cancelled this year because of the conflict between Israel and Hamas. By the merry making may have been canceled the religious aspect of the celebration has not – in fact, many churches in Bethlehem have experienced significantly higher attendance than normal. In the midst of Manger Square is just one display this year and it is a Nativity that critiques the current situation. It shows the Holy Family in the midst of rubble. It says that the current situation is not the way of Jesus, another way is possible because of what actually began when the Holy Family could find no room and our Savior was born and placed in a trough.

i placed a video at the top of this post a video of the creche in Manger Square.

Over the past few years, I have learned to really love The Holy Post podcast. I not only am challenged by the guests that they bring on but I also really enjoy the hosts’ interactions with each other. In this week’s episode, they interview Dr. Matthew Demond, whose book “Evicted” I found very influential in the way I view poverty and housing. He was interviewed to discuss poverty based on his new book “Poverty in America.” I found the interview very enlightening and particularly liked the 5 specific actions he ended with. These are actions we all can take. He explains them in the interview so I am just listing them below.

• First, you can flex your influence wherever you are.
• Second, we can vote with our wallet, we can shop a bit differently,
• Third, let’s talk about taxes differently.
• Fourth, let’s play our role in ending segregation.
• Fifth, join the anti-poverty movement.

I definitely don’t have the answer to poverty but personally, I would rather make a mistake doing something rather than make the mistake of doing nothing. I like Desmond’s five suggestions because they are actions that anyone can do and they also recognize that our actions while probably a part of the problem can also be a part of the solution.

You may have heard about the season of Lent before, which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Thursday. But what exactly is Lent all about?

Lent is a period of 40 days (excluding Sundays) that commemorates the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert before beginning his ministry. It is a time for reflection, repentance, and renewal, as we prepare ourselves for Easter, the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection.

During Lent, many Christians choose to fast or give up something as a form of sacrifice and self-discipline. This could be anything from food to social media to certain habits. The goal is to detach ourselves from worldly pleasures, focus on our relationship with God, and realize that even when we try to life within our own discipline, we still stand in desperate need of God’s grace and strength. Thus even if, or when, we fail in whatever we give up and/or take up for the Lenten season this too is a reminder of our need for Jesus’s grace and mercy. In some ways failure is a part of Lent because during it we recognize that we have all fallen short of the glory of God and need Jesus’s mercy.

In addition to fasting, Lent is also a time for increased prayer, almsgiving (a fancy religious word for giving to those in need) and acts of service to others. Through these practices, we often called to repentance, find our faith deepened, and are drawn closer to God.

Overall, the season of Lent and its call for repentance reminds us of our sin, the death that results from our sin, and, most importantly, that Jesus is the God of grace Who loves and goes after lost sheep, searches for and rejoices over lost coins, and runs out to prodigal sons and daughters, just like you and me.

So what are specific disciplines to consider for the Lenten season?

Things you might want to give up for Lent (we call these fasts):

• Social Media (this is what I am doing)
• Caffeine, soda, alcohol, chocolate, or other small treats
• Fast food or eating out.
• Your phone or just phones at certain times (no phones at the dinner table).
• Give up various forms of media – tv shows, movies, reading, podcast, music.
• Give up sleeping in.
• Spending money on something that you regularly buy but don’t need.

You don’t have to give up anything but if you do choose to give up something try two things:

• Give up something that will be difficult – the whole point is to remind us that even in repentance we stand in need of Jesus’s grace. Our self-discipline isn’t enough. Let the struggle remind you of your neediness not your strength.
• When/If you fail let that failure remind you of your need of Jesus and start again. In some ways, our failure is an integral part of Lent

Things you might want to take up for Lent:

• Take up a new spiritual discipline – prayer, Bible reading, meditation, fasting, giving, etc.
• Read, watch, or listen to media focused on the life of the follower of Jesus (this is what I am doing)
• Perhaps begins each day with this prayer from Psalm 139 “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.“
• Maybe read a psalm each day and consider how it relates to your day.
• Journaling
• Give the money that you don’t spend because of your fast to an organization that helps others.
• Go to church – I know a great one if you are looking for one – more often or join a small group if you already regularly attend church.
• Do something nice or buy a treat for someone each day.

Similar to the things that we give up you don’t have to take up anything, but if you do try to continue to let it remind you of your neediness and Jesus’s grace. Lent is not about our strength, but about our weakness and His goodness.

Finally treat the Sunday’s as feast days. Each Sunday during the Lenten season (actually throughout the year) is a mini-Easter. It is a day to celebrate the grace of our God rather than leaning into the struggle. So celebrate. Enjoy the things you have given up during the week. Eat a little more extravagantly. Take naps! Tet make sure that you do it not in celebration of your discipline but to honor the great Lord that we have Who showers His grace on His people. Lent reminds us that we need to repent and that Jesus runs to us with His grace, which is definitely worth celebrating.