Hold On!

I wish is had a blood pressure cuff this past week. I was at home with the family. We had the television on. And a political ad came on. I couldn't believe it. The election was over. Aside from being a wast of money because they aired the commercial at the wrong time it was a waste of my time because, like most people I got pretty sick and tired of those ads and I didn't want to hear one more word about it. I started going into a tirade and wasn't a couple of sentences into it when I noticed the commercial started moving in fast motion. I hadn't realized until that moment that the program we were watching was recorded from the week before and now my loving wife was kindly fast forwarding it to spare me the pain of watching one more moment of it.

A moment of pause would have done me well. A moment of reflection and patience before speaking would have saved me some grief. Fortunately, only my family was around to see this embarrassing display. With out saying a word; with out a gesture or a glance' with the quick action of the remote control my wife said “hold on!”

That's a multipurpose phrase, “Hold on”

“Hold on” can mean to pause as my wife's actions suggested. Its what you say when you are wanting to catch up to someone, getting them to wait. Its what you say when you are challenging someone on an idea. You ever done that? It seems to happen more around election season. Someone is passionate about a subject and they are going on and on and at some point they cross a line that you cannot agree with so you stop them with a “hold on.” I wonder what the criteria is, for some people when forming their political opinions. It ought to be be based on the great commandments of God but I am convinced that's not always the case. What is the line that some one crosses that causes you to say, “Now hold on!”? It's interesting to look inside and investigate where our biases come from.

Jesus gave the disciples a “hold on” in the scripture today.

Jesus and his disciples were walking out of the temple and they were awestruck by the immensity of the place. And Jesus told them not to be so impressed because all this is temporary. Well scripture has Jesus saying, “ Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left on another. All well be torn down.”

These guys were small town fishermen and they were with Jesus in Jerusalem, in the temple which was at that time one of the wonders of the world. And Jesus was saying that this marvel was temporary. Ti must have seemed unbelievable.

This week in history 25 years ago, in 1987 I was a small town boy getting ready to play in the state championship football game in the Pontiac Silver-dome. We came out of that tunnel for a short practice onto that field that two nearly years before Barry Sanders ever did. My coach, taking a cue from the movie The Hoosiers, pulled out a tape measure and measured a yard and, yep, it was a regular ole yard, 36 inches. And now The Silver-dome goes unused.

This is a temporary world with temporary things and temporary problems. Jesus disciples wanted to know when the destruction of the temple would happen. They wanted dates. They wanted a time line. They wanted a heads up or a warning. But Jesus gave them a “hold on.” There will be people who will try to use events to try to claim to be the Christ but don't you listen to them. Jesus in his loving care didn't address their question directly but warned them about the dangers of their way of thinking. We ought not be looking for signs of the end but instead we should be staying true to what God commands us.

Hold on and also mean brace yourself. There is rough road ahead. Its like when I get last second directions in the car to make a turn. I tell the kids, “Hold on!”

Do you other parents instinctively put your hand in front of your child in the passenger seat to protect them? We do that I a lot of ways not just in the car. We try to keep those we love safe in a world that is dangerous and full of things we cannot control.

When we face difficulties, sometimes the only thing we can do is hold on, to minimize the loss or the damage. That feeling of being out of control is not one that we desire. This is a dangerous world. We can marvel at a sunset over Lake Michigan and say that God is good but then we also have to look at the devastation that Hurricane Sandy has wrought and hold on to the same understanding of God. God is still good. There are some who say that this storm or that storm is a judgment by God about this or that action of a people. That doesn't make much sense to me. Does that mean that we northern Michiganders get punished with dangerous blizzards every January and February for our sins? Only to be rewarded with heaven on earth every summer and fall? No its just a dangerous world we live in. Bad things happen. During the good times we rest in God and During the rough times we hold on and rest in God. Jesus said that there wold be wars and rumors of wars. Jesus said that there would be earth quakes and famines. Hasn't this happened many many times in the past 2000 years? Hasn't there been many predictions of the end of time that have come and gone? Has that been spiritually profitable to anyone? The current one that is getting attention is the end of the Mayan calendar. I know its frustrating when you get to the end of the calendar you are using and have to buy a new one, especially when it's been carved out of stone and is centuries old but time marches on and we have something eternal to hold on to.

That's another way to use the phrase “Hold on”. Keep secure what is true and valuable. Hold on to my grandmothers frog that was her door stop for all the years of my life. But even as solid and as permanent as it seems it is temporary so I don't hold to tightly. Hold on to what is eternal. Hold on to what is true: God loves you unconditionally; God took the initiative in saving you the tangle of hell you have created for yourself; Jesus is God in human form and came to give you life; Life in Jesus means life in eternity.

So, how is it with you today? Hold on! Pause and asses your situation. Hold on! It could get rough, but God is there. Hold on! Hold on to what is true and eternal.

On Kinney Down

Jay getting his glasses adjusted AGAIN. The staff at the optometrist know us well. 

Some notes from the Kindergarten Sunday School class for me.  What a delight!

This is the entrance where I get my hair cut.  I now have a barber.  Thought I have
been gong her for over a year now, I finally can call her "my barber" because there is now
that familiarity means little needs to be said.  Its a Zen-like understanding. 

  

Faith, Doubt, Belief

John 20:19-29

Fruit trees in blossom

Good morning Easter People! We come to worship the Lord Jesus lives forever and ever! We have come through the season of Lent the time of preparation and now we bask in the peace of Christ...

If only it were that simple right? If only our spiritual lives followed the church calendar we could predict when we would be joyful and we would know we we would be repentant. If our relationship with God followed the church calendar we could store up faith and spiritual nourishment in May to last us through the summer when we go on summer vacations and take a break from Sunday School.

If our faith followed the church calendar this would be a high point for every one of us. But the truth is not every one of us is spiritually strong this morning. The truth is that some of us are feeling very weak indeed. Some, like Thomas in the Gospel reading today came here today not believing, but came with great skepticism.

I know a person, and perhaps you know someone like this as well, who has no doubts about anything he says. This man that I know was once a neighbor to me. When we moved in to this particular place he was 14 years old and it didn't take him long to come over to both introduce himself and to also offer his babysitting services to us for our then 1 ½ year old son Alex. Matt was funny. He was sure of everything. He was sure that he was going to be rock star. He was sure that his dad was the smartest, strongest, wisest man alive. He informed us that his house was indeed bigger and better than ours not as a way of bragging but just as a matter of fact. Matt loved to ague. If you disagreed with Matt he would argue his point relentlessly even if the facts and the evidence were overwhelmingly against him. I admit that I found this trait of his annoying at first. Especially since he often visited us unannounced. But than I just came to accept that that is just who Matt is. Then I had a little sport with it. I would propose ludicrous arguments and stick to them just so he would have something to argue with me about. One time I just dropped the statement, “Did you know, Matt, that there are no pigs anywhere in the country of Mexico?”

Of course there are.

Have you ever seen one? I haven't.

Even though he knew that I was offering up a false argument he was still compelled to try to disprove my statement. But I wouldn't relent. That must have been infuriating to him that my only proof of my statement was that I or he had never seen a pig in Mexico. Never mind that at that time neither one of us had ever been to that country. He didn't seem to mind my teasing in fact he asked me a few years ago to officiate his wedding, which I gladly did.

But isn't that the same argument that Thomas is using? It cant be true because I haven't seen it. There are a lot of things in this world that I have not seen but I believe are true. For example I have never seen the Indian Ocean. I have seen pictures, but those cold be of any ocean right? I am pretty sure the Indian Ocean exists. I have not seen an atom. I have seen a model of an atom but I have never seen one with my own eyes. Just the same I believe they exist. How about something a little more difficult? Ghosts. Do you believe in ghosts? If you don't is it because you have never seen one? What about Angels?

Someone once said something to me that made me stop until I realized what he was really saying. He said “I don't believe in candles.”

What?

He doesn't believe in candles? Look I'll show you one right now. But that's not what he was saying. What I didn't hear was that he didn't believe that people should ever use candles. It seems that at some point in his past there was an accident, there was a fire and he suffered some sort of loss. So his solution was to never use candles again. This came up as we were doing some wedding planning and I asked him if he and his bride wanted to use a unit candle. If he had just said no we would have gone on from there and I would have never known about the tragedy and the hurt in his life.

That is the beauty of the gathered body of Christ. Not only do we go out and do the work of God. Not only do we partner with God in the redemption of the world. But we share in each others lives. We lift each other up. We bear one another's burdens.

We are afraid, disappointed, let down, agitated and we need assurance for tomorrow.

God is already there. We who have eternal life are there as well. The victory is already won.

The Gospel lesson today starts on Resurrection Sunday. The disciples of Jesus were gathered behind locked doors. They were afraid, disappointed, and let down. They felt no assurance. Everything they were hoping for was seemingly lost. Then Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”

He showed them his hands and his side.

“Peace be with you, as the Father has sent me so I send you.”

What an amazing experience. Jesus the one they saw get arrested was there! The one whose beaten body they saw hanging on the cross was there offering them peace.

Everything was different now. Everything is not lost. There IS hope! There is GREAT hope!. But what do do next?

Then some time later in walks Thomas. Jesus was no longer there but they tell him. They tell him but he refuses to believe. To him it is a ludicrous statement. He too saw the body of Jesus taken down from the cross and put in the tomb. A far more ludicrous statement than “there are no pigs in Mexico” or “I don't believe in candles.” He must have thought they have gone mad. I imagine that their statements were infuriating to Thomas.

Perhaps our truth claims about Jesus are still infuriating to those who have not yet experienced the Risen Christ.

Some will walk away from the peace of Christ because they see no proof. Some walk away or stay away from the Church because they have some hurt inflicted on them by the brokenness of another human. Some people, when they walk away from he Church also walk away form God.

So I say be gentle with the atheist. Be gentle with the secular humanist. Pray that they come to know and believe with out ever seeing. But if that is not possible, pray that they can see what they need to see and experience what they need to experience to know that God loves them; That God died for them; That Jesus defeated death so that we may join in his eternal life.

We all have some degree of doubt. It ebbs and flows. If you find yourself in a time of questioning and doubt, surround yourself with those who can encourage you. Hear the testimony of those who have seen and have experienced the Resurrected One. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who who have not seen and have come to believe.”

Twenty years ago I  wouldn't have guessed
Jaylen would be a part of my life.
The fact that he is, is just one more
piece of evidence of God's great love. 

So how is it with you today on your journey of doubt and faith? Thomas said that he would not believe unless he saw the mark of the nails in his hands, and but his finger of the mark of the nails and put his hind in Jesus side. What will it take for you to believe? What will it take to remove your doubt? Spend some time thinking about that. Not what you want. But what is the minimum that you need to come to belief that God loves you?