King Hezekiah and the #UMCGC

Recently I heard a devotional given by Rev. Dr. Tim Bruster (who is up for election for Judicial Council of the UMC). Rev. Bruster shared the story from 2 Kings 20:1-21 and how it relates to the UMC. For those of us who have not memorized the story, here is the key part Dr. Bruster shared:

Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, ‘Hear the word of the Lord: Days are coming when all that is in your house, and that which your ancestors have stored up until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left, says the Lord. Some of your own sons who are born to you shall be taken away; they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, ‘The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.’ For he thought, ‘Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?’

Dr. Bruster pointed out that Hezekiah was a king who was told that his actions and the way he was leading was going to result in some very bad news for his sons. However, this news did not provoke Hezekiah to repent and change his ways. His response to hearing this word was, "this is a good word that you have spoken." It is good that those closest to him will experience shame and punishment? Why? 

Hezekiah may have thought this was good news because this news was about his sons and not about himself. Perhaps we could read his response, "Oh that sounds bad.... Wait did you say this was going to happen to me? Oh, no? My sons? Whew! That was close. I thought you were going condemn my actions, but you only are saying my boys will be affected. That was close, I really dodged a bullet there."  

It might have been good news for Hezekiah, but his son's may have a different opinion...

Of all the voting delegates of General Conference of the UMC, only 7% of them are "young people." The gifted and talented Abigail Parker Herrera wrote: "Only 7% of the 864 seated delegates will be young people. Less than 30 people under the age of 35 from the Central Conferences and only 33 people under 30 from the United States will be on the floor making decisions. Almost half of these young people are women. A mere 6 of them are clergy."

With these sorts of numbers I wonder if the other 93% of delegates may fall victim to the universal sin of shortsightedness? May it remind us all that our perspective is influenced depending on if we have to live with for 10 or 50 years.

Where do you go in a dust storm?

If life were a field, image all the dust our culture must kick up with all the action and doings and business and noise. It may be said that we live our lives in a middle of the dust storm and this is why we are perplexed as to how to live. It is difficult to see and breathe when we are in the middle of the dust storm.

Many gurus out there talk about how to quell the storm, thinking that if we are able to act in a way that does not kick up dust then we can live in a better place. It is a wonderful idea, but it seems like it is a red herring. While we may be able to control our own actions and kick up little dust, the reality is life happens and dust is thrown in our face even without our permission. When the medication diagnosis is given or when your co-workers bring their tension into your life, dust is kicked in your face.

The @@Christian life is not about avoiding or calming storms, but learning to live with them.@@ 

One of the ways Christianity teaches about storms is knowing where to stand. The role of the church is to be a place that invites people to step away from the dust storm so that we are able to see and breathe deeply. This is why churches sometimes act slowly. Sometimes it is not fear that keeps the church from moving but it is the desire to have a place where one can see and breathe.

Being Christian is less "light switch" and more "language"

For reasons that I cannot fully understand, for many people, being Christian is like a light switch. That is to say you either are a Christian or you are not. You are on or you are off. Others have noted the light switch metaphor is not helpful and suggest a "dimmer" switch to be better metaphor. That is we are rarely all the way on or all the way off. Being Christian is being in flux.

For years the dimmer switch metaphor has been helpful for me to talk about evangelism as well as my own understanding of the Christian life. The more I sit with it the more I settle into a different metaphor - being Christian is like learning a language.

1. It takes time. Humans may have a propensity for language but it still takes time to learn language. We make mistakes. We learn the nuances. We have difficulties making new sounds. Learning any language takes time, learning the language of God in Christ takes time. 
2. We build on the past. Language builds on the communities of people over time. For instance, English is indebted to at least the German and Anglo-Frisian communities. Being Christian requires that we take seriously the past and understands the debt we owe to the Sinners and Saints that came before us. 
3. We evolve. Language evolves. The word nice has evolved over time and what it meant to be nice today is different than years ago. Being Christian today might look a little different than it did years ago there is not ONE universal never changing way to be Christian. We are all learning how to be Christian together. 
4. Yelling louder to non-speakers does not help. You know that old joke where the English man is trying to communicate with the Frenchwoman by just speaking English louder? It does not help. Yelling Christian language louder to others who do not speak the language does not help. 
5. We do not have to fear mixing. In Texas there is another language called "Spanglish" which is mix of Spanish and English. Being Christian means that we are able to mix different ideas with Christianity without fear of "losing our religion". Instead we are helping to create a new generation of people who can speak Christian. Finding ways to mix the message of Christ with other faith traditions only makes each tradition more dynamic and accessible for new people.
6. We are not able to speak it perfectly. No one has perfect grasp of language and no one has perfect grasp on being Christian. We are all learning and trying the best we can. This is in part why grace is important in both communicating and being Christian. 
7. There are some universals. It seems there are universals in language. For instance shaking a head universally means "no". There is even suggestions that politeness in language is universal. Being Christian recognizes the universals between the message of Jesus and Shintoism to Sikhism. It is in the universals that we can communicate and build relationships.
8. It is the best we have. Language is great but even language falls short on being able to describe the mysteries of the world. How do you describe the color blue or the feeling of rage? Metaphor, story, parable and simile are the best we have. How do you describe the love of God or how to be in relationship with others? Christians know that Christianity is not perfect but it is the best that we know of. This does not mean it is supreme, just like one dialect is not supreme, it is the one that we have found that continues to be the best we personally have.
9.  It helps to learn about others. In order to better understand the world around us as well as build relationships it helps to learn about other languages. Likewise, it is helpful to learn about other religious traditions in order to better understand our neighbor. 
10. Some people just know more than we do. Shakespeare had a better understanding of how to use words than I do. It does not mean I am a fool, I understand that some people are gifted in language in a way that I want to learn from them and even mimic them. There are some people who know more about being faithful to God than I do, for instance Jesus. It does not mean I am a fool, I understand that there are some people who are gifted in the way that I want to learn from them and even (gasp!) mimic them.

How are you practicing being a Christian?

How many more times will you see your parents?

It is difficult to cherish moments that feel like they will be there forever. I take for granted my ability to breathe until I am choking. I take for granted my ability to walk until my back goes out. I take for granted that my parents will be there, until they are not.  

For the past 3 out of 5 years, I have participated with my parents in the National Day of Listening which is great and I highly recommend.  

Recently I came across this little site (seeyourfolks.com) which uses 2011 World Health Organisation Life Expectancy Data to run a little equation. 

You plug in where you live, age of your parents, and how often you see them in a year. The next screen gives you an average number of times you will see them before they die. 

It is just another way to put into preservative the vaporness of life. 

How many more times do you have?