Baptism (Romans 6)

Water. Word. My life of death.

I wake up in the morning, supposed to kill myself. Daily dying, I’m already dead-

I’ve been drowned in the font, my robes soaked red.

What does that mean- already dead?
I barely wake up, and sin is in my head. I can’t understand death, or even life, until I look to the death and resurrection of Christ. He died on a cross, on a blood-stained tree, hung lifeless, murdered brutally.
People thought futilely He was done, they put him in the ground, thought they had won.
But they didn’t realize what they actually won.
Jesus came back to life- that’s what they won.
 

Life. In Christ. The one who died but lives.

The price of death was paid, and the power of God was proven. Now he gives
Resurrection life to us- He daily forgives. In addition to that he kills, puts my sin to death on the cross along with Him. And he does it again and again.

See, we have a God who is God of the living. Death doesn’t stop Him, He keeps on giving life,

and new life, it’s a daily thing. Every day that we’re drowned- another day raised.
We have the power of Christ- God be praised for working resurrection in us-
A life of grace and peace, and righteousness.
The life we live- it’s Christ in us.

No longer a slave to sin and evil, Jesus made us His siblings- He made us His equal. Brothers and sisters, washed clean, through water and Word, he gave us everything we didn’t deserve.

We’ve got a daily struggle with death and life, waking up every morning to brokenness and lies. But I’ve got a choice every morning, before getting out of bed; will I hear God’s voice this morning? Will I fall down dead? Will Christ’s life be my life this morning? Will I hear what God said?

Romans 6-

“We were buried with Jesus by baptism into death,

So that we can be raised with him out of that death,

By the glory of the Father we’ve been given new Breath.

Baptism- Jesus gives us resurrection life and does away with our death."

The Right Light

I have failed.

I skipped over four months of writing a blog! I made a New Year's Resolution to myself that I would write a blog every week. It might have been a zealous goal, but I did make a New Year's Resolution. I wanted to challenge myself to write on a weekly basis, to flesh out thoughts, to deepen my understanding of things, to realize more about myself and the world around me. But I have failed.

But I might just be seeing things in the wrong light.

In four months, I have had a child, directed a summer camp, moved to Wisconsin, and started an internship. It's been a little busy, to say the least. I have had different priorities. I have had some different goals and resolutions to make good on, things that far outweigh the importance of a blog that my mom and 4.5 other people read.

In the right light, giving up writing a blog for more time with my wife and son and other work commitments is actually a good thing. In the right light, I am doing better with what I've been given.

What light are you seeing your life in? Are you looking at trivial things and determining your worth? Are you investing your time into the wrong things? You have been given things to do as well. Maybe it's a family, a job, school, sports. You have priorities. Make the most important things most important, and then start blogging (or doing whatever trivial things you enjoy to do).

Thanks for putting up with a four month hiatus. Maybe there's something in your life that needs a four month hiatus as well...

Not even one thing

I try to keep my blog very eclectic, as I hope you have noticed. This week, I have been inspired by a verse from John 3.

"John answered them and said, 'A person is not able to receive even one thing, unless it has been given to him from heaven.'"     -John 3:27

John the Baptist was famous. Everyone knew who he was, and almost everyone went out to be baptized by him. But after Jesus came on the scene, everyone was going to Jesus instead of John. And this angered a few people. These people asked John what was up with everyone going to Jesus instead of him, and this is what he said, "A person is not able to receive even one thing, unless it has been given to him from heaven."

How hard it is to digest this. To take it in, break it down, and make it part of my very DNA. God is Provider. This is the building block of life; nothing comes to us except by his hand. We get nothing except what God gives us.
So then, we are waiters. We wait for God to provide. We wait to receive the blessings and the curses. We wait to make war and peace. We wait on heaven.

And we pray. "Your kingdom come, Your will be done..."

But there is more. Even as John the Baptist stood there telling people that he could only receive what God gave him, he was not only waiting. He was doing- John the Baptist was still baptizing (John 3:23). Why? Why would he do such a thing when he wasn't getting results? "The Baptizer" should be baptizing, but someone else was doing that now.

He was called to baptize, so he did it. In the midst of waiting on heaven, he wasn't passive. He did what God appointed him to do. Whether he failed or succeeded, whether he saw growth or loss, he would baptize and preach.

I like to wait. It's nice waiting sometimes, because when you're waiting, you don't have to do anything. You just... wait. It's all God anyway.
Other times, I like to do. I get tired of waiting, and I start to think, "I need to get things done, because if I don't, it's not going to happen."

My wife and I recently had to move apartments, because we were on the third floor (an issue if you're pregnant), we had a really bad landlord, and we had a serious roach infestation. And I was waiting for God to act. I was waiting to see him do something amazing in our situation- get us into a new apartment and not have to worry about these stresses anymore. I was waiting. And nothing was happening. Telling my landlord we wished to move and having our place up for rent again was not enough. Especially not for my wife...

At the prodding of my wife, I was finally moved to take up the cause and be more active. I did something. I started to do some searching, do some calling and visiting, and do some talking with my landlord. After a couple nasty exchanges with the man and a visit to another apartment, we were on our way out and into a new apartment. We had to forfeit our security deposit, unless he could get someone to rent it by the end of the month we moved (after 2 months of being available already...).

I am thankful for a wife who pushed me to action, otherwise we might still be in that crappy old Ramled apartment! But in the midst of my doing, I forgot to wait on God. However, God was still ready to give. The day before we would have had to forfeit our security deposit, someone moved into our old apartment! While we did something, God was always at work providing for us.

This is just an example, but it has highlighted for me the reality that God provides in the midst of us doing as well as waiting. It is up to God when he will give, what he will give, and how he will give it. And for that, I am hesitantly thankful. Sometimes I want what I do to count, and other times I want to get without doing anything. But it is up to God.

We have received so much from God already. Not to mention life, family, food, etc., this weekend we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus. God has granted us pardon and has promised us resurrection and eternal life through this very man.While we wait to receive so much- a baby, a spouse, a new job, healing, even eternal life!- God has things for us to do. So, if you've gotten lazy from waiting or self-reliant from doing, go out and do, even as you wait to receive even just one thing from our Father in heaven.

The colors in between

The sun descends beneath a curtain of colors,
burning its way to another place,
leaving behind a slowly fading fire in the sky.
Darkness settles, warning people:
Without light there is no warmth, no community. 

Hell must be like night,

without a sun. 
No tapestries arrayed with yellow, red, blue,
and all the colors in between.
No kindness from others, no shining smiles,
no summer days outside, with lemonade.
At best, a gray sky,
a desire to see the rising of the sun,
an eternal desire to escape despair.
 
The sun comes back, heralded by gold, and crimson,
rising like a flame to engulf the land. 
Darkness flees across the expanse, faster than it had settled.
Victory is declared, and it is day once more,
as the furious fire climbs higher in the sky.

Heaven must be like daytime,

always warm, with a shining sun,
nothing left untouched by the radiance.
The sun will never rise,
for he has already risen.
And never set,
for he will never leave.
The colors in between will be ushers no longer,
signaling the end of one day, and the beginning of the next.
They will be the bride herself,
dressed in a scarlet robe, and a golden crown,
wrapped in a purple sash- the paintings of a princess.
No more beginnings and ends,
we will be satisfied, dancing, in the eternal light.

More than words

Nothing in my life could have prepared me for March 4th. I had never had any experience close to it, and no moment has been able to compare since. Being awakened with news that is beyond comprehension, crazier than the dreams that were just floating through your brain. My father's words reverberated through my ears, and my eyes were not yet able to take the weight of the broken world in: "There was an accident. Three of your classmates are dead."

Not just three of my classmates. Three of my friends. Three of the 52 students that made up my high school class. Three people that had been with me since elementary school. Lisa McDonald, Carrie Herbst, Dan Perger. The first girl who made fun of me, my first "girlfriend" (it was 6th grade, it's not actually dating at that age). It all didn't sink in until my father said that Dan had died. Of course he had saved this one for last. It killed him as much as to say it as he knew it would hurt me to hear it, the son of our pastor and the boy I had grown up playing with at church. The boy with whom I shared rides to and from basketball practice.

My life was rocked. It was like God was shaking the snow globe of Ethan Luhman; God was shaking the snow globe of South Wayne, and everyone was trying desperately to find their way back to a solid foundation. How are you to process such catastrophe? There is one way, and one way only- through tears. The same tears that come even after eight years.

This is not how it should be. This is not how it should be. We know death is bad and wrong, but sometimes it takes three people dying to be confronted with how terrible it is. I had to be a pallbearer at the age of 15, in my grandfather's suit, looking like hell. At Dan's funeral, I remember having the opportunity to say something, but I could not. I was sitting in the front row of the gymnasium, but the distance still seemed to be much too far. Words were not coming to me. I had the memories and the moments. But it was not in my power to stand up and tell everyone how great Dan the Man Perger was and how much I am going to miss him. As the bagpipes played Amazing Grace, I could do nothing but weep.

I missed the opportunity to let everyone who cared know how much I cared. But at the age of 15, I learned that words can only do so much. The snow globe settles again, and life is comfortable. I have words now. I have things I could tell you; I could tell you about Dan's Confederate flag, his southern heart, and his interest in history. But I have more than words now. I need more than words to communicate to you that Dan, Carrie, and Lisa had an impact on me. They still have an impact on me and on the way that I live.

I was challenged by my "loving" God. It seemed almost counter-intuitive. Trust in an all-powerful God when he doesn't stop three young people from dying? But I did trust. I couldn't make excuses for God, and he does not need me to. I saw Jesus, who came to this earth, to be among his own broken people, to give them more than words. He went to the poor and gave them his time. He went to the diseased and touched them. He healed the sick, raised the dead. Jesus cared about people who were suffering. He cared more about Dan, Carrie, and Lisa, and their families, than I ever could have. Not everyone liked Jesus, and how much he cared for the hurt and lost, so they killed him. God himself went through a gruesome death, and the people who loved him were torn apart, just as I was at the loss of my friends.
This is not how it should be.  I saw Jesus, who did something about death. He confronted it, and he defeated it. He defeated disease, evil, and pain, and he has promised to wipe away every tear from our eyes. My God can do anything, and where I see brokenness, I know God has a plan to bring healing and restoration. He has a plan to bring more than words.

So, eight years later, I finally stand up, to speak. And this is what I have to say: these last eight years I have been trying every day to tell the world that Dan, Carrie, and Lisa matter to me, that their lives and deaths matter to me. I have tried to do it through more than words. I have tried to do it by caring and loving those around me. And I will continue to do this, until Death is no more. Until Jesus comes to us, to wipe away our every tear.

Come and See

Come and see-
the ripple across the stomach, the jostling baby.
A mom smiling, amidst the ceaseless aching there is momentary majesty ,
a husband so proud of her strength and so joyful over a movement.
A movement! He will spend a lifetime telling this little boy to "Stop!"
But, such happiness and warmth in the invitation-
Come, and see.

Come and see-
the noodles and glue, and the glowing boy,
inviting you into his imagination,
creating for you concrete reminders of his joy and love.
Such pride in a horse, and cowboy, and the dinosaur they're chasing.
Noodles! Spilled during supper, burned while baking- nothing special.
But, even Picasso was not as proud when he said-
Come, and see.

Come and see-
the first place medal from the spelling bee.
Grandma and Grandpa, neighbors, cousins, friends at school:
Everyone will know who won the spelling bee!
M-E-S-Q-U-I-T-E
The spicy sweet taste of the victory.
Letters! Words! Ah, thousands, millions are said every day:
But, no one will doubt this one's weight when invited sincerely-
Come, and see.

Come and see-
The bruised face and the broken knee.
A car smashed up after hitting a tree;
Scars imprinted on flesh and spirit remind the boy that he is not invincible,
but friends are shown and family winces; he is proud that he escaped.
Scars! What is so special about rebound flesh- a mark of impurity?
But, it shows the marks of living, it can tell a life story-
Come, and see.

Come and see-
The girl sitting in the shade, picking flowers happily,
the beauty of the sunrise blossoming on the petals, and on her face.
She shows the nervous boy the bouquet, the greatest thing she has seemingly ever seen.
Dandelions! They are hardly even flowers, as they cover the crabgrass.
But, their magic is unmasked in this moment, a girl and boy sharing joy-
Come, and see.

Come and see-
Philip told Nathanael, and he told me.
An amazing man, full of wisdom and grace, truth and love.
The words he speaks are wise and pure;
Whatever he does is done with compassion and care.
He told me who I am, and I am loved.
From Nazareth! From the sticks! Nothing good can come from such a lowly place.
But, wait until you run into him, because he will tell you, too, that you are lovely-
Come, and see.

Where are you?

"The Christian does not live in himself, but in Christ and his neighbor; in Christ by faith, and in his neighbor by love."

-Martin Luther

 

Recently, I was part of a discussion on what it meant to be a Christian. Is it what we believe? Is it how we act? What makes up a Christian? How can someone who is not a Christian identify who is a Christian? For that matter, how can someone who is a Christian identify a brother or sister in Christ?

 

The discussion started by talking about the age we live in, where most people do not believe in God and live like "heathen." No one has any decency anymore. And how do we minister to such people?

 

The ironic thing is that many of these "heathen" do not want Christians to minister to them, because Christians are hypocrites. They are cold, judgmental, arrogant. It seems the whole world knows that Christians are called by Jesus to "love your neighbor as yourself," yet they often appear to be the very worst at it. While ostracizing gay people and others, church people are still getting divorced, arrested for child pornography, and so on and so forth.

 

So, does this mean Christians must first clean up their acts before they can truly be called Christian? If people in the church are actually hypocrites, what can define the body of Christ, and how is someone who desires to be a Christian supposed to act in regard to that?

 

This is about where we got in our discussion. It is a tough issue to work out; inside we are surrounded by hypocrites (maybe we are the hypocrites!) and outside we are surrounded by those who do not believe. So, what does it mean to be a Christian?

 

One person in our discussion talked about faith being a relationship with Jesus. And I think she is on the right track. We seek to answer the questions "what are you?" or even "who are you?" But htese are not what people should be asking themselves. We should be asking "Where are you?"

 

Are you living in Jesus' promise that you are his?Are you in the Kingdom of God, where "Jesus is Lord!"? Where are you? Are you lving in Christ by faith? Are you in a trusting relationship that Jesus will take care of you, no matter what?

But there's more to where you should be. You should be living in your neighbor by love. The Christian is in two places, as Luther says, "The Christian does not live in himself, but in Christ and his neighbor."

Do not define yourself by who you think you are, or what you think you might be. Define yourself by where you are, and Jesus has told you exactly where that is. You are in his Kingdom. He is Lord, and he takes care of you. He forgives all the wrongdoing, he heals all the hurts, he even does away with death. And he gives you another place to be- in the lives of your friends and family and community. This means showing them the very love you have received from Jesus.

 

And when you figure out where you are, you might even realize who you are and what you were created to be.