Hooray for Change!

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. (Matthew 2: 1-4)

Those that love the cuddly image of the baby Jesus do not get to celebrate it very long. The gospels do not elaborate on the first year of Jesus' life pouring over his first steps or words. In fact two gospels do not portray his birth in the slightest terms.

Instead the gospels move rather quickly to the threat that Jesus posed to all religious and political leaders. Leaders do not care to be threatened, and most of them squashed threats that arose along the path to power. King Herod reacted as any king would when he heard a new king was on the way. He wanted to squash the threat. Religious leaders of the time set a standard of piety that they did not often meet, leaving a large portion of the community feeling abandoned. They too would be questioned and threatened by Jesus. The anger/anxiety on the part of either group is normal

The interesting note in the scripture is the fact that all of Jerusalem was concerned with him. That statement suggests even those that were not in power felt anxious. They had been ignored and told that it was God's will that they be ignored. They had everything to gain, and did not want to experience the change.

A brief look back at Exodus provides insight to this interesting phenomenon. Though they were freed from brutal slavery in Egypt, the Israelites complained when they experienced the slightest pain or inconvienience. They preferred the easy, predicatble days of slavery over any sort of change or risk. What can we learn from this?

Changes are coming in 2010. Some will be great, some will be terrible, and most will be somewhere in between. Our abilty to navigate that change will depend on our depth of faith in God's love for us. We will continue to work on that depth in 2010>

Be Strong and Courageous

"Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go." Joshua 1: 6-7

Last February, I had the great pleasure of watching a friend coach his middle school team in the city championship game. The kids on his team were smaller, less experienced, and were playing on the home floor of the opposing team. They overcame those obstacles to win the championship, and the game remains one of my top-ten live sporting events.

As I sat on the bleachers, I realized that I had played in this very gym while on my middle and high school teams. When I was a freshman in high school, I was asked to start a game because two of our starters could not come to the game. I was nervous about playing, but the bigger kids on the team said, "You stick with us, and you will be OK". My coach, whose name was Truett, also said, "I believe in you, and I knew I could do it". I would guess my performance was somewhere between "present" and "servicable". I have always thought of that night when I have been intimidated by a situation.

Truett passed away recently, and I was fortunate to be able to participate in his funeral. At that moment I described the pull that I have felt since my time with him, to encourage young children through coaching. I now coach t-ball, and I am always aware of the kids' need for encouragement, instruction, and love.

If Joshua was like me, he must have felt the weight of the responsibility on his shoulders. In the passage above, he was called to lead the people of Israel into the land that God had promised to them. Fortunatly for him, he had watched Moses for years and it was now his turn to lead.

I feel that weight of responsibility as a parent, minister, friend, and coach. Fortunately for me, I had mentors like Truett that set the example for me to follow.

“Roll out the red carpet”

"A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. (Luke 3:4-5)

• The Season of Advent is the beginning of the Christian year, and thus has similar themes to that of the secular new year. Most people want to focus on the baby Jesus (justifiably so), but the text above is talking about preparations for the arrival of the adult Jesus. John the Baptist is gathering using every tool at his disposal to attract people to the message that is to come.

• The picture above is looking down on a brand new intersection in Beijing, China. The caption below the picture reads, "New, wide roadways with separate bus lanes and elevated subway line." These improvements in transportation lanes were part of the plans to prepare for the previous Summer Olympics in Beijing. These types of changes are always necessary when a city makes a bid to the International Olympic Committee.

• The scripture above suggests a similar image was used in preparation for Jesus' arrival. The image is both literal and metaphorical. People will be arriving from many different areas and crowding the streets to see Jesus. They will be speaking different languages, will be out of their element, and will slow down the transportation process for locals. It also uses transportation images to talk about the much more important matter of clearing the path to one's heart and mind.

• On New Year's Eve we reflect on a year in which we have had enormous victories and devastating defeats. We dwell on past achievements and failures far too long, and both cloud our ability to hear the word of God. John the Baptist's words were true then and are true today..."Prepare the way for the Lord" because the word will change our entire outlook on life.