At the end of the day I'm selling shoes...

 This week I had the opportunity to visit the headquarters of what has to be the largest shoe company in the world. During a tour, I listened as the young man leading graciously shared the story of his employer. This story was not just about his employer. It was evident that the story of this company had become fully his own story. He knew the language, he knew the story and he knew his place within the story. He had a home in this company. 

His words were eloquent and elaborate as he shared his heart for over 2 hours. He didn't talk about marketing in the traditional sense, he talked about virtues: 1) be authentic 2) have commitment 3) know your story and 4) believe in that story. He also clearly labeled his ability to see reality for what was.  But he closed with this "at the end of the day, I'm selling shoes and I don't ever want to disconnect from that." This is the art of his business. 

The art of being a pastor is often times seen as unique. Unique because of the high expectations. The future of your church rests on your shoulders and everything has the potential to be your greatest masterpiece or your greatest mistake. The virtues are the same: 1) be authentic 2) have commitment 3) know your story and 4) believe in that story. 

While I dislike the imagery of "church as business", I was struck this past week at how the same basics apply.  At the end of the day, my job as pastor is to connect you to your story within God's story. To show you the Good News of God's solution to the formlessness, emptiness and void that exists in your life. 

And these virtues are not just for me as pastor , but also for you as follower. 1) be authentic 2) have commitment 3) know your story and 4) believe in that story.  The Church has the power of the Spirit among us when we live out these virtues with one another. We must be all-in!!

Are you authentic? 

Do you have commitment? Not so much, to the Gospel, of course you have that. This commitment is about the community. Are you committed to the community? 

Do you know your story? Do you know the story of God? Do you know the story of your community? 

Do you believe in that story? 

Two things we should get right

It has been so hard to have words to speak about the Orlando massacre. Sunday morning I did not see the news. I got up, got ready and did my Sunday morning routine.  I didn't know what had happened until after the worship service when people were already leaving. 

My daughter came and said "mommy, you didn't see this this morning?" Questioning my lack of acknowledgement and showing me her news feed...My immediate response was heartbreak and tears. All I had seen in that moment were brief facts - 50 dead, Orlando gay bar, largest mass shooting in US history.  I grabbed a microphone. (It took a bit to get it back on, as our sound people were already shutting down.) I was shaking and in tears, but I called my people back to the center, gathered in a circle and I led my church to pray...feeling helpless and absolutely crushed. Prayers of repentance for the hatred humanity harbors for one another, for the horrible things that we do to one another. A prayer of lament. A prayer for people we never met and will never be able to. A prayer for families and friends of those in Orlando. Prayer that seemed to be completely inadequate. 

In Matthew 22, Jesus the Messiah delivers the great commandment to his followers, which echoes the commandments given to the Jewish people in Deuteronomy in Leviticus: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments." 

Speaking not just to Christians, but to all of humanity, hear me when I say: if we get no other commandment right, we will have done well just to complete these two. If we fail at everything else in life, but we love one another, we have succeeded.  

The LGBTQ Community is made up of our neighbors. They are our brothers, our sisters, our cousins, our aunts, uncles, mothers and/or fathers. They are human beings created in the very image of God and worthy of dignity and respect. 

How we, as followers of Christ respond in tragedies... How we respond as followers of Christ in every moment of every day must be in love. I struggle to find words to adequately communicate what is going on inside my heart.  My heart has been crying since I heard. It has been hard to fight back tears every single moment. I have had the urge to just hug random strangers (I haven't). I have been more kind. I have been slower to speak, acknowledging God in every face I have seen, pausing to see the unseen, and seeking ways to love others, because prayer, although powerful and needed, doesn't seem enough. 

We are called to break the chains of injustice, to untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free. These things inherently make us uncomfortable because they make us lay down our own expectations, our own rights, our own freedom, our own lives, so that others might have freedom. I believe that in times like this we must find a faithful path in the words of Paul in Romans 9 when he says, "I would wish myself cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people." Basically, I would go to hell if it means that one person might know the love of my God through me. 

Lent 2016

Here we are at the beginning of another Lenten journey. Today is Ash Wednesday and I'm heading to observe this sacred day with my Catholic sisters and brothers as well as people from many other faith traditions. 

Ash Wednesday kicks off 40 days of Lent. A period of time in which Christians remember Christ's 40 days fasting in the desert enduring the temptation of Satan. The ashes we wear today are unique. These ashes are made from Palm branches, specifically from the previous Palm Sunday. These ashes are blessed and then placed on mass goers foreheads. The Pastor/Priest recites the words "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return." Or perhaps "Repent, and believe in the Gospel." Both are appropriate. 

During Lent we remember our humanity. We recall our utter dependence on the Creator for our life. We draw close to the Holy Spirit in our weakness and we remember the love of a matchless God. 

All of humanity understands the need for change in our lives, no matter our faith tradition. All religions have some form of fasting and season of change. For Christ followers we use this time of Lent to embody Christ, to breathe in the Holy Spirit and exhale love. 

Our question for Lent should not be so much "what am I going to give up?" But instead, "what in me is going to change so that Christ might better flow through me and out of me to others?