Week 1: First Sunday in January (Genesis 1 – 2 and Acts 17)

The New Year is always one of the most spiritually poignant times of the year. People are willing to be more critical of their lifestyles that at any other time of the year … and more willing to consider “resolutions” to better their lives in the future. They are also more superstitious at this time of year than any other. The number of movies aired on television or distributed in theaters with supernatural subject matter escalates. People who do not ordinarily read their weekly horoscope check out their annual zodiac.

It may or may not be a time of New Beginnings … but it is certainly a time to entertain New Beginnings. People are thinking about it … considering it … even making budgetary and strategic plans about it. This is also a time of Deep Regrets. It foreshadows the coming of February, the month when there will be more suicides that at any other time in the year.

Team Meditation (Acts 17)

This scripture, better than any other, captures the essence of the Seeker Cycle of worship. In the next 12 months, you will be intentionally and daringly, and spontaneously and habitually, presenting a genuine alternative of hope to the world.

Acts 17:6-7  ⁶ And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brethren before the city authorities, crying, "These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also,  ⁷ and Jason has received them; and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus."

Your purpose as a worship team is to “turn the world upside down” by focusing exclusively on Jesus Christ as the source of ultimate hope. I realize that there are many church leaders today who are afraid to focus so clearly on Jesus Christ, because they are afraid it will be upsetting to others. There are also many church leaders today who are afraid to focus on the experience of Jesus, preferring to limit themselves to dogmatic formulations that can enforce rational conformity.  Let us be clear. Neither the refusal to talk about Jesus, nor the reductionism of talking only about a dogmatic Jesus, will turn the world upside down. At best, you may influence public policy for a few years or build a fortress around your institutional church for a few years.

You are called to “turn the world upside down”. You will do that one transformed person at a time … and you turn one life upside down after another. Redirect their lifestyles; change their attitudes; introduce them to a grace so powerful that it will change the course of their lives, drive them to alternative career choices, reshape their intimate relationships, and reprioritize their financial budgets.

And you start the process of transformation by conversation … not confrontation. New Year’s is not the time to stand on a soapbox and pronounce doom, nor is it a time to insist on either/or choices. It is a time for dialogue … a serious invitation to follow up worship in the coffee house or bar room: “Let’s talk”.

Acts 17:19-23  ⁹ And they took hold of him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new teaching is which you present?  ²⁰ For you bring some strange things to our ears; we wish to know therefore what these things mean."  ²¹ Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.  ²² So Paul, standing in the middle of the Areopagus, said: "Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious.  ²³ For as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, `To an unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.

Paul is respectful. You should be respectful. After all, these seekers are not atheists and they are certainly not idiots. The problem is not that they are irreligious, but that their religion is so foggy, unclear, and timid. Their religion gives them “food for thought”, not “a reason to live”. The Athenians, like contemporary people, will think about spiritual matters for a long time … and still behave selfishly, abuse relationships, and end up committing suicide (or retiring to “fun-in-the-sun” which is much the same thing, spiritually speaking). Help them.

Worship Theme (Genesis 1 and 2)

We usually assume that all New Beginnings are generally happy, pleasant, or obviously positive events … the consequences of which will probably be a mix of joy and tragedy … so that down the road we will once again yearn for another New Beginning. The joy will grow stale, or the tragedy will grow burdensome, and another happy, pleasant, obviously positive event will kick start the process anew. The hope is that there will always be another “New Beginning”. That is why New Beginnings are always so dramatic and overwhelming, because they seem to sweep away tragedy and restore joy.

That assumption about New Beginnings has been shattered at the start of 2005. In fact, the very opposite seems to have happened with the devastating Tsunami that has killed thousands and thousands of people. It is a dramatic and overwhelming event, but it seems to have swept away joy and elevated our sense of tragedy. But who, exactly, has lost hope? Who, exactly, has lost faith in God?

There are a million or more people who directly suffered. They are injured, hurt, or grieve for the death of loved ones. There are a million and many more people who sent aid (food, water, medicine, temporary shelter, and so on) from other parts of the world. They are not personally injured or hurt, and they grieve more generally for the deaths of unknown strangers. The irony … or better yet, the lesson we need to learn … is that it is not the million who suffered who are losing hope and faith. It is the million who did not suffer who are losing hope and faith.

Suffering in and of itself does not remove hope and faith. In fact, it is quite the opposite. Suffering drives people deeper into their hearts and souls to discover a reason to life, a hope for the future, and a conviction in God despite all the pain.  It is not the suffering in Asia who are reduced to cynicism and driven to atheism. Watch the news! Whatever their religious faith, they are turning to it. Whatever their perspective about God, they are praying to Him. Yet it is the one’s who have not been suffering … those who have only given aid for food, water, medicine, and shelter … who are most likely to despair.

Why? I think it is because the ones who do not suffer fail to understand the real nature of New Beginnings. They are not always happy, pleasant, or obviously positive. Sometimes they are tragic, unpleasant, and obviously negative. Yet the “clean sweep” of the tsunami is still a New Beginning … and the future consequences will be a mixture of joy and sorrow … and eventually the memory will fade and yet another New Beginning will make its dramatic appearance.

All New Beginnings (whether they are happy or tragic) drive people to God. This is why the Bible begins with the story of creation … because it is really a story of re-creation … and the story of the hope for re-creation … and the yearning for another New Beginning. There is something permanent that happy beginnings or tragic beginnings. There is someone more reliable even than the stability of solid earth or the regularity of the ocean tides.  Even if the tectonic plates shift, God does not shift. Even if the tsunami crashes unexpectedly, God does not crash unexpectedly. God created it all … and lies above it all, and beyond it all. God is beyond the temporary happiness, and God is beyond the temporary suffering. God is ever creating, always preparing yet another “New Beginning”. That is the promise to which the suffering people in Asia turn … and perhaps it is the very suffering that pushes them to make the leap of faith to do it. It is the promise God extends to all in the New Year. Sorrow may darken the world … but there will always, always be a light at the end of the tunnel. Oh you who do not suffer! Why should you lose hope and faith, when those who are suffering are even now finding hope and restoring faith?

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Week 2: 2^nd Sunday in January (Colossians 1:15-2:19 and Luke 2:21-38)

“Colossians 2:8  ⁸ See to it that no one makes a prey of you by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ.”

Paul’s warning above requires some translation into our contemporary context. The “philosophy” he criticized was abstract, speculative, debate about ultimate trivialities that caused fights in the bar room and wars among nations. The “empty deceit” he criticized was the trickery with words and ideas that led people to hope in vain. The “human tradition” he criticized was the blind following of elite guardians of heritage who harp away at how “we’ve always done it this way”. And the “elemental spirits” he criticized were the fictional, supernatural superpowers of horoscope or paganism to which people emotionally turned for justification.

Translation: “See to it that no makes a prey of you by abstract ideological debate that really doesn’t affect the real course of human life; or by diet plans and the latest fashions that trick you through slick marketing into believing abundant life can be purchased cheaply; or by any authoritarian habit that has been engrained into society by people who camouflage self-interest with supposedly philanthropic concern; or by movies from Hollywood that promote the superstitious conviction that a superhero will always arrive in timely fashion to save America or the world. False hope is very, very tempting. There is only one hope: Jesus Christ.

Team Meditation (Luke 2:21-28)

 ⁴ and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, "Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against

 ³⁵ (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed."

Last night I had a dream. This is not a literary device. I actually had a dream. I pay attention to dreams, because I do believe that sometimes … not frequently, but sometimes … dream are of God. The more I pray for a “heartburst” of love for other people, and seek to become more sensitive to their situation and questions and struggles, the more God takes me up on that offer and opens doors of communication. I find a dream is more likely to be of God if, instead of dreaming about fantasy, you end up dreaming about reality.

So … I had a dream. I went to bed reflecting on these scriptures, and the dream was remarkably vivid. I dreamt that I was walking across an urban park … walking to church … carrying a bed frame. I greeted many people going to church (most of them elderly), and they all smiled warmly. No one seemed to think it was remotely odd to walk to church carrying a bed frame. The worship service was in a traditional church building, but when I sat down on my bed frame (mattresses were provided) I discovered our worship service was right next to a shopping mall and food court. With only a railing for a barrier, the tables of other diners, at other restaurants, were right next to me. I should mention that I knew exactly what denominational church I was in, but I will not mention that here.

As we worshipped, a refreshment bar at the back of the sanctuary did a brisk trade. A little old lady kept interrupting the preacher as she replenished his wine glass, and he stopped more and more often to sip a little wine. His voice became somewhat thick and unintelligible, but it didn’t seem to matter, because like everybody else I was sitting comfortably on my bed frame. The an altercation broke out in the mall food court just beside us, taking all our attention.

One man repeatedly and angrily called the fast food waitress to his table. (It was one of those fixed, plastic tables with fixed, round stools). He complained over an over again that he didn’t like the sauce supplied for his chicken pieces. Then another woman began to berate the waitress because she didn’t like the size of her portions of chicken pieces. “Have you ever even bought chicken pieces before?” she shouted. All the while the individuals in the mall began to reshape themselves into the characters of a painting by Bruegel. In other words, their faces became caricatures of human emotion … in this case anger, greed, spite, and (for the waitress) fear. The waitress tried to walk away. The angry woman deliberately blocked her path.

All the while, people watched. Including me. And it was me. I remember thinking in the dream, “This is me!” What should I do? Should I intervene? What would I say? Whose side would I take? If there were violence, would I be hurt? I finally decided that if real violence broke out over eight pieces of deep fried chicken, I would have to do something. But it didn’t happen. The waitress walked away, people went back to their private affairs, and a Zamboni swept down the hallway refreshing the ice surface (don’t ask me what that meant!). As the dream ended, an usher handed me a glass of wine and I remember staring into it uneasily as I woke up.

It was me … but it wasn’t me. It was as if I had been placed inside the head of another, seeing things through their eyes. People were lost in ambiguity and stress, immobilized by uncertainty. They sense something or someone needed to intervene, but did not know what or whom. They sensed that whoever did intervene would become the scapegoat for anger displaced and projected upon them by others.

This, I thought upon wakening, is what it means to say “Jesus, fully human and fully God”. Fully human, Jesus could walk among us, intervene, reconcile our anger, make peace, and resolve ambiguities that were quite beyond us. Fully divine, Jesus could suffer the violence in our behalf, transcend it, and make us whole again. Where there was isolation and fear, now there would be oneness and love. The reality is that, whether they know it or not, seekers are constantly saying in their hearts, “I wish God were here.”

Worship Theme (Colossians 1:15-2:19)

Colossians 2:9-12  ⁹ For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,  ¹⁰ and you have come to fullness of life in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.  ¹¹ In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of flesh in the circumcision of Christ;  ¹² and you were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

The most ancient confession of the church (the Chalcedon Confession), which pre-dates even the Apostles Creed, was based on this passage from Colossians. “Jesus Christ is fully human and fully divine, this is a mystery no one can ever explain, and it is crucial for salvation.”

There are factions today that believe in the humanity of Jesus. They celebrate Jesus’ moral teaching and example, and acknowledge his suffering and self-sacrifice as way of life to imitate for the sake of the world. There are factions today that believe in the divinity of Christ. They celebrate his healing and miracles, and acknowledge his resurrection and ascension into heaven. The hardest thing, however, is to believe both things, equally, and at the same time. That is what it means to be a Christian. 

Being a Christian does not “make sense”. Philosophies make sense. Political ideologies can make sense. Even mass marketing can be made to sound reasonable, and Hollywood movies have an understandable plot. Christianity, however, is founded on an experience that cannot “make sense”, no matter how we try to look at it. In Jesus “the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.” You can’t put the entire universe in a bottle, but God can.

There is a reason this is this paradox is important. Only if this real “incarnation” happened (which we celebrate at Christmas), can we really and truly hope for salvation (which we will celebrate at Easter). Christmas and Easter are connected. You cannot have the latter without the former … and you cannot have the former without ending with the latter. It all has to do with being in relationship to Jesus Christ.

We have drifted so far away from God, that no amount of wise teaching or moral example is going to lead us back. How many New Year’s resolutions have you made, with all good intention and even with the added support of friends and family, only to fail in the end? How many diet plans have you tried, that worked for awhile, and then you gained weight again? How many philosophies, marriages, career changes, and relocations have you done, thinking you could find abundant life, and failed to do so? We need God.

On the other hand, God as spirit is too intangible, too impractical, to help us. We need a helping hand, not the picture of a helping hand. We need somebody to talk to, walk with, draw strength from … not a Hollywood story about someone to talk to, walk with, and draw strength from. We need somebody who is always HERE, not just eternally everywhere. And we need God to be HERE in all of his power and glory, because anything less will just not be strong enough to break us free from the bonds of addiction, despair, and cynicism that hold us tight. We need Jesus.

At Christmas, if we do not believe that Jesus is fully human and fully God, at the same time, at every moment, we will not really have a hope for salvation. Only God-in-the-flesh can do it.

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Week 3: 3^rd Sunday in January (John 8:12-20 and 9; Luke 10:1-24)

One of the scary trends among teenagers these days is the emergence of “friendly sex”. Rather than take the risk, and go to the trouble, of developing serious and mature relationships with the opposite sex, more and more teens are simply forming relationships called “friends-with-benefits”. They are friends, not strangers, and so there are less worries about health dangers, abuse of intimacy, and tarnished reputations if they have sex with a friend … but they are just friends, and no more, so there are no worries about guilt, breaking up, future obligations, and so on. “We’re friends,” they say, “with extra benefits.”

Of course, what is even scarier is that this is only a trend among teenagers, because it has already been a trend among adults for some time. This is just a logical extension of the consumer culture which continues to grow stronger in North America. People do have a very high core value for respect … and their intimate relationships will protect the general health and well being of all parties. There are more amicable divorces than ever before.  On the other hand, people have an equally high core value for no-guilt … and their intimacy will protect the general autonomy of each individual. There are fewer weddings performed as religious ceremonies than ever before.

We live in a culture where there is lots of respect … but very little real trust. Teenager or adult, we respect one another deeply, and trust one another not at all. And I think the month of January reveals the despair, cynicism, and ultimate loneliness that is the result. All the kisses under the mistletoe are past, and nobody is confident to prolong the embrace into January. If we can exchange the present from a loved one … why can’t we just exchange the loved one? The size isn’t quite right, the color is wrong, and another ‘package’ has caught our imagination already. But what if you are the package being exchanged?

Well, the real message of Christmas is that there is one gift that will never be exchanged … one relationship that will never turn sour … and one intimacy that can be totally trusted. That is your relationship with Jesus … and therefore your connection with God. You will never be alone again. In the sex-jargon of pop-culture, the term “make out” from the 20^th century has been replaced by the term “hooked up” in the 21^st century. It may be that in the past you “flirted” with God; but your “hooked up” now. You are a package God will never exchange, no matter how ill fitting, chafed, or worn you become. Because Jesus came, you’re God’s now, friend, and he will never let you go. Trust me.

Team Meditation (Luke 10:1-24)

If the New Year feels like the start of a long journey, then you had better count the cost of following Jesus on that journey. This is true for any role in Christian mission. Planning and leading worship will be a lot of work. More than that, the preparation to plan and lead worship will be even more work, because it will cause you to risk learning about real people and feeling their real needs. More than that, the follow-up to planning and leading worship will be even more work, because you will mentor people through life struggles and probably have to overcome various crises, conflicts, and nervous breakdowns, from people inside and outside the church, as God’s spirit really does ‘change things’ in life and lifestyle. Mission is not for the fainthearted.

That’s why Jesus said: “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few’.

Let’s look at the “checklist of mission leadership” that Jesus provides.

• Get ‘out there’;
• Don’t burden yourself with lots of ‘stuff’;
• Accept what comes;
• Give away peace;
• Heal people;
• Leave them with hope.

First of all, get ‘out there’. Most people want to sit around and discuss it … and maybe do fund raising to pay somebody else to do it. It’s a scary thing to enter a strange town … to mingle in foreign micro-cultures … to meet totally different people. But that’s what you have to do if you are to plan and lead indigenous worship.

Second of all, don’t burden yourself with lots of ‘stuff’. All the paraphernalia of technology, and instruments, and books, and property, and the ‘stuff’ of worship may be helpful, but it isn’t necessary. Let it go, and just take the basics of your faith, your heart, and your readiness to innovate.

Third, accept what comes. Stop wining that “if only we had better acoustics …”, or “if only we had more budget …”. And stop brooding about how little you are paid and how much you really deserve. Accept what you’ve got, and use it the best you can.

Fourth, give away peace. Exude serenity. Create a ‘calm zone’ around your life, your band, your choir, your preaching, and your leadership … and expand that zone of peace to include everybody. There is always an ego rush in confrontation, but reconciliation requires that you swallow your pride.

Fifth, heal people. Fix their broken hearts, broken lives, broken relationships, and broken faith. Help breath easily and deeply again the atmosphere of God’s life-giving spirit. They come in limping. Send them out walking, skipping, and marching.

Sixth, always leave them with hope. When they leave worship they should never have to look over their shoulder to see if Satan is creeping up on them, because they are absolutely confident that Jesus is walking beside them.

But now Jesus has one last piece of advice for the journey … and given the general kindliness of Christian people, and the engrained “mercifulness” of the average pastor … this advice is the hardest to bear. Don’t waste your time. The harvest is plentiful, folks. If you waste all your time on a few people who never get it, don’t want it, and are generally hostile to it, then you will allow the rest of the mission to rot in the fields why a handful of intransigents tie up your energies around their own co-dependencies.

There is urgency about worship. You think you have all year … and more … to bring peace, healing, and hope to someone’s life. Do you? That person you see before you today may die, move away, or be blindsided by some unexpected tragedy next week. That newcomer may be making his one, last ditch attempt for hope, and tomorrow commit suicide, get a divorce, or surrender to an addiction.

The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Fortunately, Jesus is among the laborers. You may feel incompetent in your calling, but Jesus said, “thank God you have hidden these things from professionals, and revealed them to amateurs”. It is the amateurs driven to mission, and not the professionals driven by careers, who will save the world.

Worship Theme (John 8:12-20 and 9)

No doubt about it. January is dismal. The days are not only short, but they are inevitably cloudy. I say ‘cloudy’ both literally and figuratively.

January days are literally ‘cloudy’. The availability of natural light and exposure to the sun is diminished, and we all know the scientific studies that connect lack of sunlight to psychological depression. No wonder so many people want to escape to the south if only they can afford it. Imagine walking into this worship center or sanctuary to find that the lights dim, the windows covered, a draft blowing from under the door, and clouds of condensation collecting in the rafters. (Well to be honest, for many church people in many sanctuaries today, that unfortunately is not too hard to imagine. But you could add to the feeling by turning loose some dry ice into the atmosphere).

January days are figuratively ‘cloudy’ because inevitably the media turns gloomy in the New Year. Some of our older ones will remember the radio newscaster who always began his show with “Ohhhhh, there’s bad news tonight!” Well, that’s the general media strategy in January. The party is over. Reality has set in. And all the big stories are about more disaster, more violence, more poverty, more war, more sickness, and so on. It is as if humanity has collectively gathered in January at the pool of Siloam waiting for the angel to stir the waters … only to find the pool iced over, or realize that even in the unlikely event of the waters being stirred this year, they will probably not get there in time.

Yep, January is ‘cloudy’. The recent Tsunami disaster is just a huge tragedy and we should do all in our power to help the suffering. But you and I have been on this planet for as few decades, and we have seen a lot of Januaries come and go, and in our cynicism we know that even if the Tsunami had never happened, the North American media would still have found some other bad news on which to fixate.

What a blessing to hear Jesus say “I am the Light of the World”! That’s why Jesus was born. That’s why God sent his only Son into this gloomy world. Jesus came to lighten things up. And I guess I mean that literally and figuratively, too.

Imagine if suddenly, in your darkened sanctuary, the lights were turned on at wattage hitherto unknown … and every pew was converted into a spa, with a sun lamp shining down upon it …green plants and fruit suddenly sprouted up in the aisles … and that cold draft changed into warm breeze with the bearing the scent of an ocean of grace … the surf of God audible in the distance. Feel the physical and mental health improve. Feel the depression fall away, and the hope rise. That’s Jesus … light of the world.

Christians allow the world’s “Bad News” to routinely replace the “Good News” of Christmas. We all focus on the tragedy and suffering … but barely recognize that countless people who have turned to God, deepened their faith, and renewed bonds of love in the face of that tragedy. We lament the poverty and sickness, but fail to spotlight the generosity and extraordinary self-sacrifice of ordinary people staking everything to rescue others. And they are not doing that because the are “nice people”, and they are not doing that because the believe in “moral principles”. They are going to extraordinary lengths of compassion because either shining in their hearts or perhaps just rising over the horizon of their consciousness, there is Jesus … the light of the world.

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Week 4: 4^th Sunday in January (Jeremiah 18:1-11 and Luke 9:57-62)

Focus! Concentrate! Aligning oneself with God’s mission … and holding yourself and your church accountable for that alignment … is one of the hardest things to do in any organization or any individual’s life. The truth is that we are continually being sidetracked and distracted in a hundred ways.

Our attention span is so poor that we can’t even focus on a sermon for 20 minutes or on a prayer for 5 seconds. We can’t even focus on a television program for 15 minutes, or a commercial for 30 seconds.

Or persistence is so poor that we can’t give nine months to an experiment in worship before we give up. We can’t even participate in a small group or Sunday school class for five weeks straight. We can’t even attend worship for 52 consecutive weeks without taking a break.

We start out with the best intentions, with sharp eyes, and keen interest, and steely discipline, but in a matter of days we are lost again. Churches vote in their annual meeting to reach out to strangers, and the very next week members become so immersed in the pot luck supper with their friends that they forget to even look for someone they don’t know.

We are uniquely designed tools to achieve God’s purpose. But if that tool is diverted from its usefulness, what then? What if the pot said it no longer wanted to hold water, but preferred decorate the mantelpiece and cherish its dust? What would God do then?

Team Meditation (Luke 9:57-62)

Jesus said some difficult things that leaders like to forget. This is one such passage. Jesus says that a true leader must align himself or herself with God’s mission … and nothing, absolutely nothing, should divert them from their course.

“But surely family comes first!” you say. “A beloved parent has died. Surely God will give me time off to attend the funeral and grieve!” No, Jesus says. Even this must be aligned with God’s mission. If the funeral helps you pursue God’s mission, go to the funeral. If the funeral sidetracks you from God’s mission, to dwell upon your own grief, the do not go.

“But surely it is only natural to look back, cherish the past, and say goodbye!” No, Jesus says. God’s mission has nothing to do with the past. It has to do with the present moment and the future. I suspect that most of us here have never plowed a field … but we have sewn seeds in a garden, or mown the lawn. And we know that the more you look away from the straight line of your work, and the more you look back at something behind you, the more crooked, broken, ugly, and ineffective our work becomes. God does not need people who look back … count their blessings … grow complacent with past victories. God needs people who keep on track … concentrate on the present … and align themselves with God’s future.

I am told that the former Super Bowl champion New England Patriots never wear their prize rings. They play like they had never won before. Football may not be the best place to learn about life and God’s mission, but it does reveal this about leadership. What keeps any leader from winning is never a matter of skill, resources, time, energy, or health. The #1 thing that keeps leaders from winning is a lack of desire. You have to want it. You have to desire to be in God’s mission with all your being. The rest will be provided.

Worship Theme (Jeremiah 18:1-11)

Television news has been showing “before” and “after” images of the 2004 Tsunami. One day there is a beautiful beach, a picturesque village, and happy people sunbathing. Next day there is an acre of mud, a few walls still standing, and distraught people looking for loved ones. One western tourist said: “I always believed that when my time comes, my time just comes, and there is nothing I can do about it. When I saw that wave, I thought my time had come.” Looking at the photographs, it seems like an unseen hand has literally re-sculpted the entire landscape like clay.

Jeremiah’s image of “the potter” is one of the most famous images in the Bible … and a metaphor often seen in western literature. It appeals particularly to those who believe in God as an inexorable fate, or a compassionless doom, or an indifferent wave that can change and reshape anyone and anything in an instant. “There is nothing I can do about it.”

But Jeremiah’s image is more complicated than that. Unlike the pot being shaped on the wheel, human beings can make choices that can change the outcome of history. The choice is to repent from selfish ways, and align oneself with God’s desire to save humankind for abundant life. Repent, and the potter shapes you into a beautiful and useful tool. Do not repent, and the potter will crush you into a lump of clay and create something entirely new.

What exactly is there to repent about in regard to something as powerful as a tsunami?

Well, if only wealthy western powers had spent less money on themselves, and more money on tsunami detection systems in the southern oceans (as they have guarding the shores of North America), thousands of people could have been warned and saved. But we didn’t. We spent the money on ourselves.

Or, if only the warlords and powerful factions stopped their internal fighting, learned to live in mutual acceptance, equal justice, and peace, governments could have invested more money into communications, emergency systems, and medical relief, thus saving even more thousands of people. But they didn’t. They kept warring from each other, heedless of a greater danger.

The tsunami is an example of the awesome power of nature … and to that extent the majesty of God … but it is even more a testimony to human folly. The real reason the big wave killed so many was that we were all too greedy, too self-centered, too preoccupied with our own desires, that we spent no time, money, or energy anticipating the need to keep everyone safe, healthy, and watchful.

One might think that the world is regretting its selfishness, and that the outpouring of emergency relief is a sign of repentance. Perhaps. But already there are warnings about relief money being diverted into the hands of greedy people; and already the factions are beginning to fight with each other for priority; and already the wealthy west is scaling back their generosity and settling down to watch the Super Bowl. All too many educated, healthy, privileged, and safe westerners are calling into question their belief in God. Do they ever think that God might be calling into question His confidence in humanity?

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Week 5: 5^th Sunday in January (Acts 9:1-31 and Luke 12:1-12)

Acts 9:17   ¹⁷ So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came, has sent me that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."

God never acts, without sending a witness. God never calls, without providing a mentor. If you should ever think you are experiencing God, then look for some person, some voice, or some perspective that can verify for you that this is an authentic experience of God. Where there is grace, there is a witness. God doesn’t want to leave you guessing.

The same can be said about experiencing God’s call. If you are called by God, then always look for God to provide a mentor. Look for some person, some spiritual guide, some companion, some wisdom that can help you interpret, apply, pursue, and fulfill whatever that calling might be. That, in truth, is the sole point and purpose of the church. The church is a body of mentors. God’s grace is touching people everywhere, all the time, and God provides the church to witness to it and to mentor people in it.

Team Meditation (Luke 12:1-12)

Luke 12:4-12   ⁴ "I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.  ⁵ But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear him!  … ¹¹ And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious how or what you are to answer or what you are to say;  ¹² for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say."

Leaders always lead in the context of ambiguity. It would be nice if our choices were always clear and our allegiances always pure. They are not. It is not always clear when God’s will and institutional needs diverge, or when honoring friends and members might conflict with honoring God’s call. Leaders, therefore, need a gift of discernment … and not a little coaching from God. This only comes out of the depth of your spiritual discipline.

Leaders who are not spiritually disciplined … who do not give real energy to spiritual life … become confused in ambiguity, and are always tempted to choose the easy way, the harmonious way, the way of least resistance in the congregation. They may have pat answers to every hard question, and they may have diplomatic skills to avert all conflicts … but that can be as much a sign of unfaithfulness as faithfulness. The only way to be confident is to act and speak out of spiritual life that is deep, disciplined, and that has been lived long before the time of crisis. 

The scripture here, as hard as it is to read and accept, is really about discerning one’s true allegiance. The more you can clearly align yourself with God’s mission, God’s will, the experience of Jesus Christ, then the more likely you will survive conflict, see through ambiguity, and speak opportunely. You can afford to be spontaneous … operate without the safety ropes of rehearsed speeches and strategic plans … if your whole life (yesterday, today, and tomorrow) is intentionally dedicated to wait upon God, walk with Jesus, and feel the Spirit.

Worship Theme (Acts 9:1-31)

“Damascus Road Experience” and “blinding light” are phrases that have permeated literature, language, and common speech. That is how significant the story of Paul’s conversion has been in the development of western civilization, modern culture, and church development. In these rationalistic times, such experiences are generally denied (scoffed at, belittled, or contradicted) or explained away (played down, psychologized, or marginalized). The real lessons of Paul’s encounter with Jesus have little to do with instant changes or supernatural appearances. Here is what every Christian needs to know about “close encounters of the divine kind”: 

• God chooses the least likely person.

“Who me?” That is the single most common reaction to God’s appearance. If you think you are the least likely person to whom God would every pay attention, then watch out! You are exactly the person God is likely to choose for a mission. God loves ordinary people.  God loves his enemies every more! The one who denies the existence of God the most vehemently, is apt to become the advocate of God’s power most passionately! God really can turn people upside down and inside out … and God is very good at doing that with ordinary folk like you and I. 

• God’s transforming power hurts.

 Any intelligent person, given the choice, would avoid God. We tend to sentimentalize relationships with God. We like to think of Jesus as our buddy and friend, God as our lover and shepherd, and the Spirit as kindly and comforting. That may be true in the end, but that is rarely our first experience with God. The first encounter with God almost always hurts. It is painful. It is blinding, anxiety provoking, and even life threatening. Whatever it is, it ain’t pleasant! You don’t find many people at the cocktail party idly mention, “Oh yes, I ran into God today”, as if it were like meeting an old college friend they haven’t seen in some time. You don’t just meet God, catch up on the news, and move on. It changes you, and change always hurts.

• God’s healing power give new purpose.

The biggest change of all is that God gives you a new purpose. God does not heal people. He makes people healers. God does not teach people. He makes people teachers. God does not convert people. He makes them apostles who will convert people. When people encounter God, they emerge with a changed career path and a new purpose in life. It’s as if you were walking down the road, and from out of an alley Jesus blindsides you on the run, spins you around, and sets you on a new direction. And from then on all you can see is Jesus’ back as he strides ahead leading you in a new direction.

• God’s new purpose invites opposition.

Whenever God sets you on a new direction, the people who were your companions in the old direction don’t like it. They will call after you, and maybe even tackle you, but they will do everything they can to stop you from going in that new direction. From their point of view, they see only rejection and perhaps betrayal. Even so, Paul’s old friends now sought to assassinate him. Even so, your old friends may seek to assassinate your character.

• God’s grace triumphs.

God always blesses those whom he chooses … and those who follow him in the new direction. God gives you the words to speak when you are in trouble, the courage to act when you are in doubt, the forgiveness you need when you make mistakes, and the hope to endure when you are struggling. God does not just send people in a new direction. God accompanies them, and eventually leads them to a glorious destination.  The first encounter with God may be painful. The later walk with Jesus may be stressful … or at the very least eventful. But the final act of God is always redemption. God will not abandon you. God will rescue you.

These are the real lessons of the Damascus Road story. Maybe you will encounter God in the blink of an eye, and maybe you will encounter God in the lapse of time, but if you once encounter God you will never be the same.

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