Random thoughts from Pastor Mitch: Fiddling while Rome burns

Random thoughts from Pastor Mitch: Fiddling while Rome burns

Information Overload

We are an instant access society.  I recall in my early days of being a  pastor, I was also the track and cross country coach at Grantsburg High School in Grantsburg Wisconsin.  There was a very talented athlete that attempted to run cross country as a senior.  It was his first time running.  He also had an incredible natural running ability.  However, it was squandered because he quit shortly after beginning, and the reason given was that he "wasn't the best."  What he wanted was to be able to come out, run for the team, and be the absolute best runner in the school, and presumably the state - instantly.  And because he wasn't an instant success, he would not also work to attain that goal over time.

I ponder if this attitude is due in part to our instantaneous access to all manner of information, data, reporting, and so on.  I'm getting frustrated with the new fiber optic service in town which seems to lack the bandwidth to provide service for all of its customers.  They advertise blazing fast speeds (in excess of 50mB per second) and yet downloads can "spin" for minutes at a time.  We can send emails around the world in seconds.  We can hear news as it happens.  We are well aware of the atrocities being committed against Christians around the world, in part because those perpetrating such evils record their deeds of darkness and evil, and in part because we can transmit video around the world almost instantly as well.  People now spend hours at a time on Facebook, often reading the mundane and trivial events of someone's life in short posts.  We hear of politicians' and analysts' viewpoints and positions, often not through the truth but through spin - efforts to make what amount to lies appear as though they are the truth.  We often find out when politicians are lying (which seems to be more and more frequently).  We see that they are often all about control, power, money, and self-advancement.  We can download music, video, stream live events, watch the news on multiple channels, and even access many of the "classic" TV shows of yesteryear to watch at our leisure.  We can download entire books, stream magazines, and find a point of view that will fit virtually anyone's perspective.  And honestly, I find that our minds cannot process all this data.  Our "instant access society" has reached the point of information overload.  The net result is that we are more confused about things than ever before, because contained in that overload are competing and contradictory claims about everything.

As such, the landscape in America has become more confusing than ever.  It drives us collectively to stop trusting in anything other than ourselves, which means we are reduced to defining life and the universe on our terms only.  As the old saying goes, "we cannot see the forest for the trees."  We cannot make sense of the world around us because of the information overload that bombards us daily.  And so what often disappears first is any sense of the divine in the universe - meaning we either ignore God or simply dismiss Him altogether when it comes to living out our lives.

In the Gospel of John, we are given an encounter between Mary, Martha, and Jesus.  The two sisters have invited Jesus into their home, and Mary is listening intently to Jesus' words, at the expense of anything else.  Martha, on the other hand, is trying to play the good host and is frantically scrambling to get all things done and ready.  She complains to Jesus about Mary, and his reply spells out for us that if we are to see the forest through the trees (that is, to see the big picture), Mary has chosen the one thing that is needed:  to hear, listen, focus on, and apply Godly teaching, wisdom, truth, and virtue in her life.

Seems like a valuable lesson to me.  The world, through its constant bombardment of our senses and mind, wants to convince us that God isn't real, or that God doesn't matter.  And yet the way to lasting peace is to put to practice Godly truth in a way that really matters - making it of first importance in our lives.  It is a good place to start if we truly want to make any sense out of the information overload that rules our world.

"A Story Worth Telling" - A sermon for the Resurrection of our Lord

The women - the most stalwart of Jesus' supporters - had the story of the century - of history.  And they were afraid, and said nothing.  And yet, they told.  Eventually.  And soon Peter told.  Soon the others.  Soon more than 500.  Soon even a persecutor of Jesus’ followers.  And soon it becomes “of first importance.”  Soon it becomes the greatest story ever told, carrying the most impact and changing the most lives.  Immediately it becomes forgiveness of sins, deliverance from death and the devil, and everlasting salvation to all who simply believe.

That is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  That is the profound impact it had.  That is the legacy we are given as well.

You want to tell a story worth telling?  Augustana Track Coach Paul Olsen (who was also a professor of English Literature), would often begin each season with some of his own prose.  He once said,   "Taking risks will not cause a person to die.  Only not risking will.  Only the risker’s have, if they live, a tale worth telling at all."  Yep, it's risky business today to talk about Jesus.  It might get you killed, as we've seen the killings of Christians around the world recently AND we've seen threats of killing right here at home, say, in Indiana, by those who claim to have Christian values!

Here's the reality of things:  In this world, things are always darkest just before they go pitch black. And then, in that darkness, we finally recognize the truth—the truth that our own power or smarts are never enough—we discover that we need to rely solely on the promise of God the Father.  THAT is the light that shines in the darkness, and the light always wins.  I pray that the current darkness of the world - with terror on the march, with crime and murder and intolerance seemingly unchecked, with reality skewed to where evil is now good, and good is now evil - that darkness will give rise once again to a new awakening - a new excitement - a new reaction - a new revival - a new zeal for the need for Jesus!

It was also years ago that as a geology major at Augustana, we took a spring break trip to south Texas.  While spring break is often known for its drunken and drug fueled a-moral parties down in Florida and the like, WE would go study geology!  That year, we stopped off at Carlsbad Caverns.  We didn't go into the developed cave, with its lights, paved pathways, and even car tours- oh no!  We went to the "new cave:"  A five mile hike up "slaughter canyon," and then through a locked gate into a completely undeveloped cave, meaning we had a guide and flashlights to be able to even navigate past stalagmites, stalagtites, and large vertical chasms so deep one couldn't see the bottom with the limited light we had.  And yet, when we got a mile deep under the surface of the earth, turned off our lights, and saw (or didn't see, rather) the darkest of dark - darker than any night or interior room we could enter - and then saw how a single light could light up the entire cavern, it once again demonstrated how indeed the light can never be overcome by dark.  This too, is a story worth telling, but no where near the power or impact of Jesus, the light of the world!

The world’s history demonstrates a recurring time of darkness brought about at our own hands collectively.  Thus far it is followed up with a resurgence in getting back to God - it is the history recounted in the Bible, and it is demonstrated in the history since, even including such events as the Lutheran Reformation.

Things are dark now in this world.  Are they as dark as it can get?  Will the world now turn back to Jesus?  Only time will tell.

But YOU:  - be ahead of the curve and do it now, not after the darkness falls!  Don’t wait for complete and utter hopelessness, because in truth, it cannot get any more hopeless than now - for without Christ the powers of sin, death, and the devil, will overcome and overwhelm us!  Take a risk, and Stand up for Christ!  Be bold and loudly proclaim the name!  Live lives as though Christ mattered to you!  Make your lives one which witness to the salvation we’ve been given - that death is most definitely NOT the end!  Take a risk and lift high the cross of Christ!  It does not matter where you’ve been.  It matters where you are going from here.  And because He is risen, you know where that is, if you believe that the tomb is indeed empty!

And it IS empty!  So now go.  Go and make today the first day of the rest of your life!  Don’t settle for average, don’t settle for death, and don’t settle for darkness.  Live in the light of Christ and proclaim it by what we say or by what we do!  It is the greatest story ever told, and it is because it is God’s story, and it is indeed a story worth telling!

The Grave is empty.  HE IS RISEN!  Text and tell everyone you know!

Good Friday Meditation

I gotta admit: I’m just so not ready for this day.  I mean with all the now concluded midweek services, with home and family, the return of spring, the burdens of life, the arrival of family, [the imminent completion of a building], and so on, Good Friday snuck up on me and though I knew it was coming, I was caught off guard.  Come to think of it, this seems to happen every year.  And ready or not, here we are.  It’s Friday.  And yes, though Sunday’s-a-comin’, it won’t get here before passing through this day.  And FWIW, I’m not ready for Sunday, either!

Oddly enough, it was an obscure reference out of a published volume of the writings of Josephus that contained a footnote which identified today, April 3, as the exact date of the original crucifixion of Jesus.  I do not know how they arrived at that, nor can I find any studies or evidence to back up the claims of that little footnote, but I find it fascinating nonetheless.  And perhaps because such things begin occupying my time, that too is why I’m just not ready.

And while many of us might claim to be ready, I don’t believe that in the end, any of us are.  Let’s look at it: The crowd certainly wasn’t ready.  They were shouting hosanna’s just a few days prior, expecting Jesus to be the king that would overthrow the Romans.  They didn’t even comprehend what kind of a king he really was.  Pilate wasn’t ready either.  Though his historical proclivity for ruthlessness doesn’t seem to apply in Jesus’ case, he was clueless as well: He was incredulous as to the nature of what kind of king Jesus was, and when it came to truth, it was clearly all relative as he scornfully asks, “and what is truth?”  The disciples suffered from the same mentality as they stood by and even fled in disbelief as the events of Jesus’ passion unfolded.  Even the women, who were perhaps the most stalwart and comprehending bunch, weren’t ready, as the hopelessness of Jesus’ death came crashing down on them in a wave of emotion, leading even to disbelief as they went to anoint his body after the sabbath.

It seems that only God was ready - finally.  After centuries of warning Israel of the consequences of their godless disobedience - after prophet after prophet proclaimed that something better was on the horizon - after Job’s glimpses of a redeemer or advocate - and even after empire after empire came and went - time had reached its fulness.  And it would seem that these events were not intended to be foolishness, a stumbling block, or even insanity to the world.  And certainly for the latest Christian martyrs in Nigeria (147 college students, all Christian - murdered yesterday), it was neither foolishness nor a stumbling block.

 From St. Paul we read:  "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.  For it is written: 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.'   Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?  For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom,  but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,  but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.  For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength."  (1 Corinthians 1:18-25)

Only Jesus truly was ready and for him it was neither foolishness or stumbling block, as he asks the suffering to be taken from him, but also expressing “not my will but thine be done.”  It was necessity because of God’s love for his creation.  And so today - we call it good - despite its darkness, the cross becomes the power of God for us.  Meaning we also must, as we seek to imitate Christ, claim “not my will, but thine be done, O Lord.”  And I’m perhaps not ready mostly because too often in my life, it is my will and NOT God’s that wins the day.

So what is the message of the cross to you?  Foolishness?  Stumbling block?  Necessary?  The power of God?  Are you ready?  Are you ready for this weekend?  Are you ready for the remembrance of the death of the Messiah?  Are you ready for all the events of this weekend, including the resurrection proclamation on Sunday?  So who’s ready?  None of us truly are.  And that’s the point: God provided salvation because we are never truly ready or able to do it on our own.  And that’s also  the beauty of it, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.