Extreme Politics

We seem to live in an age of extremism. Extreme sports, extreme cooking, extreme home makeover, and so on. I have a family member that goes for extreme sports: hang-gliding, bungee jumping, parasailing, and more. He loves the adrenaline rush. Me, I see it as highly risky. I see that in the recent debt deal as well; it has become a game of extreme politics. Throughout the debate, polls reflected the disappointment and distaste of the American people for the partisan extremism that kept the process in the throes of debate for such an extended time. These polls and the disappointment of the people were ignored to enhance the ideological stands of party politics. Extremists in both parties, refusing to give, have moved our nation to the brink of disaster. This whole process and the ensuing compromise, that no one seems to be happy with, have left me to pose again the question, where has the middle gone - what has happened to the moderate voice in our politics?

Before the last election cycle, then chair of the RNC, Michael Steele commented on one of the morning talk shows that he believed the GOP needed to get back to its conservative roots. Meanwhile liberals in the DNC continue to suggest that the President must be careful to keep his base happy. I am not an expert in politics, but I believe they have both missed the point. President Obama, by all accounts, won the election because of independent voters (who are most typically moderates) because he promised change. The Republicans flourished in this last election because the independents supported them. Both parties have seen this as an ideological victory, but I believe the recent polls and the feelings of disdain generated by the debt debate suggest that both parties won those election cycles because the people were disgusted with the politics as usual incumbents. The voters that are moving the politics of our day are moderates - and unfortunately we are the least represented.

Allow me to offer a modest means to help achieve the goal of reduced deficit - let us cut the highway department. We no longer need to do maintenance on all of the nation's roads because no one uses the blacktop anymore, they are all on the shoulders. Extremism and the selfish insistence that our ideology is correct, therfore yours must be wrong, these are not only dividing us as a people - they are handicapping us as a nation and have become the stone that has created ripples across the pond of global economics as well.

Extremism is opposed to everything Jesus stood for. I listen to representative after representative talk about their faith. I listen to people proclaiming their certainty that we are a Christian nation. Yet, extremism seems to flourish in our culture. It is endimic on the highways, it is obvious in the malls and superstores, and it is apparent in our rude and absolute disregard for one another. In John 14:6, Jesus proclaims, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." But do we understand that the three are connected? Eugene Peterson writes, "We cannot proclaim the Jesus truth but then do it any old way we like. Nor can we follow the Jesus way without speaking the Jesus truth. But Jesus as the truth gets far more attention than Jesus as the way. We cannot skip the way of Jesus in our hurry to get the truth of Jesus...the way of Jesus is the way that we practice and come to understand the truth of Jesus, living Jesus in our homes and workplaces, with our family and friends" (The Jesus Way, p. 4)

Too often today we want to proclaim the truth of Jesus as an exclusive commodity. Too often we add the word "only" to John 4:16, and continue our practice of extremism. But to share the Jesus truth, we must be willing to use the Jesus way (love) and live the Jesus life (community). And the enemy of love and community is the very types of extremism we see in our culture and reflected in our political processes.

Now I am not suggesting that all of our elected officials have to be Christian. What I am suggesting is that those of us who are Christians must influence our leadership, not with divisive words and ideologies but through love. Jesus began his ministry by proclaiming that the Kingdom of God was at hand (Mark 1:15). He instituted in his person and in his ministry this new kingdom; it was radical in nature and communal in arrangement. And the bond that held the community together was love. And what does that kind of love look like? See Paul's first letter to the Corinthians in the 13th chapter. How would politics look if we lived this kind of love? Now I know - some of you are suggesting that sometimes we are right and the other person is wrong and we have to stand up for what's right. Really? To paraphrase Paul in 1 Cor. 13, I may have all knowledge, I might be right, I might have the necessary wisdom and understanding of the universe - but if I do not have love, I am simply making noise. Love, Paul says, doesn't demand its rights and it doesn't demand its own way. It seems to me that this sounds a lot like compromise - seeking to know and understand what the other person needs so we can do what's best for the entire community and not just for part of them.

As I listen to our political discourse and as I live and work in our small community, I am struck more and more by how we continue as a people to choose up sides and demand that others align themselves with us. We want to know how to fix Washington, we say. We don't want politics as usual, we say. We want change, a balanced budget, prosperity, jobs, we say. I suggest that Washington is reflecting the extremist nature of our culture - this incessant demand that we must be right. I suggest that if we truly want to embody the notion of being a Christian nation, we must live out the the life of Jesus - the Kingdom of God, a community - and we must live out the way of Jesus - a way of love that seeks what is best for the other. The extreme politics we have just witnessed is a reflection of a nation that lives on the extremes - competing for everything and winning at all costs. But how do we as a nation win, when 1/3 to 1/2 of the population loses? Jesus calls us to community - a community that shares with one another - a community that loves one another. A community shaped by these things is a community that is not separated onto the left and right shoulders of the road, but is driving down the center of the highway, together.

(The thoughts and views reflected in this blog are the writer's own and do not reflect either those of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) or of First Christian Church, Neosho.)

As the deer...

The morning is quiet, filled only with the chirping of crickets and the trilling of the birds. Occasionally, in the distance, I can hear the noise of a vehicle as it passes along the distant highway bound for destinations unknown. Despite the heatwave that we are mired in, the morning is pleasant with a barely perceptible breeze offering a too intermittent caress on my face.

The peaceful time of reflection on my deck is interrupted only by the air conditioner turning on as it cools the house. In the serene stillness I discover that, as always, God is present, waiting simply for me to recognize and acknowledge in my mind what my heart is certain of and has always known - God's amazing presence.

The blue sky is like a divine smile caressing my Spirit and connecting, or re-connecting, me to my Creator. The rustle of the leaves is the chuckle of Yahweh, realizing my surprise to discover the Holy Presence around me.The bird chirps and I hear, "Don't you understand my child? I am always here, waiting only for you to call me, to notice me, to acknowledge me."

A doe slips out of the trees and moves across the corner of the yard to disappear into the woods on the other side. I wonder how long she stood there, blending into the woods, the trees, the brush. How long did she stand there unnoticed, visible if I had only taken the time to look. I wonder how many times my casual glance passed across her and didn't see. How long did her presence go unnoticed - God standing in the woods, waiting, waiting....

Escaping Alive!

I must confess that I am not much of a country music fan. That is not to say that I never listen to it, it is just not my first choice. None of the presets on my car radio are set to country stations and you won't find much of it in my CD or record collection. As a mandolin player, I do have an affinity for bluegrass, and I am rather partial to Southern Rock and Country Rock and folk. But country just has never really appealed to me. There are exceptions of course. For example, I really like Elvis and I am a big fan of Hank Williams.

We have just returned from our denomination's General Assembly (some folks call this a convocation) in Nashville and we were privileged to be able to spend some time visiting the Country Music Hall of Fame. (As a side note, we heard a young man play and sing that evening named Willie Huston - he was a very talented singer-songwriter and a wonderful banjo player. I encourage you to check his Facebook page to hear some of his music.) No doubt the reader is aware that any museum devoted to country music must have a Hank Williams display. There was a picture of Williams from late in his career with a hand written note, "I'll never get out of this world alive."

This is, of course, the title of his last song to make the radio before his death. It is a song about a man who is a hard-luck, ne'er do well, who complains that "no matter how I struggle, no matter how I strive, / I'll never get out of this world alive." As we looked at the portrait and the writing, my daughter commented, "Of course not, none of us will." Perhaps that is exactly the point.

Perhaps Williams was struggling to express the faith he had claimed in "I Saw the Light" even as he struggled with his personal demons and brokenness. Perhaps he never intended the comment to be more than a superficial proclamation of a universla truth. Either way, I beleive his statement is entirely profound for people of faith. No one will ever get out of this world alive. But we may certainly get out of this world with life.

No matter the depths of our struggles, or the heights of our mountains that must be climbed - no matter how deep our valleys and how black the shadows - we are promised life, full and abundant, overflowing and eternal. The contrast between the struggles of the songwriters (Williams co-wrote it with Fred Rose) and the declaration of hopelessness of the hook line, there is hope for us who claim new life in Jesus. While I am not a country music fan, many fans claim it is a reflection of life and struggle and triumph, and in this song at least we hear the struggle of living. But I encourage us to look beyond the hopelessness of "I'll never get out of this world alive" to the promise of hope that we share in Christ Jesus as Lord. We are a people of joy, not because life is always wonderful, but because we will never get out alive! But we will get out with life. Thanks be to God in Christ!

Accentuate the Positive

The following sermon is based on Romans 6:12-23 and included a video from "youtube" featuring Bing Crosby and Bette Midler performing the song, "Accentuate the Positive"

There is an old story that speaks of Satan. The story goes that one day he had a yard sale. He thought he would get rid of some of the old tools he had cluttering up the place. So he sat out slander and adultery, they were getting obvious and worn. He put out greed and hunger for power, they were still good, but more and more people were wary of them. He debated over lying and decided he would go and place it on the table and see if anyone was interested. He added theft, murder, anger and few others.

Interested buyers crowded the table curious about the tools that were available. Unnoticed, one customer strolled into Satan’s garage and found a well-oiled, well cared for tool on the shelf. He picked it up and took it to the Prince of Evil and inquired what he wanted for it. “No, no,” exclaimed Satan, “that is not for sale, it is one of my best tools.” Oh, the customer replied, okay, but may I ask what its is?

“It is negativity,” the devil replied.

Alice, not her real name, was a member of a prior church. She was such a sweet lady who loved being in church, sharing fellowship with the other folks, and being in Sunday School. She was in her early 80’s and still active and had spent her life as a Christian and knew her Bible and her faith well. One Sunday morning we were chatting together before Sunday school and she commented, “When are we going to hear a sermon on judgment?” My first response to questions like that are almost always, why – why do you want to hear a sermon on that? I often wonder if we want to feel somehow justified in our faith or if we want to be lifted up in some other way. Alice replied, “Well it is part of our faith belief.” It is, but I believe that God would like to have every single person come to faith so that no one would have to be judged. And for me, that is the important focus, establishing God’s grace and love for each person. To focus on judgment is to approach our faith from the negative aspect.


To focus on the negative does not build people into a deep relationship with God, but rather is a subtle means of creating chaos. There is a group that claims to be Christian that takes wonderful events and uses them as a platform for criticism and condemnation. At the funerals of soldiers they frequently appear, not to celebrate the lives sacrificed or to honor their memories, but to criticize. Instead of celebrating the good things that the person stood for, they offer instead criticism of our culture.

This is not a new problem. One of my favorite singers is Bing Crosby. I want to share a clip with you this morning in which he shares a duet with Bette Midler.

Accentuate the Positive.

This song is an encouragement to focus on the positive and eliminate the negative. And we should. We, as Christians, above all people should focus on the positive – for, after all, our salvation is assured and our eternal life is guaranteed. But Jesus is not just for tomorrow, he is for today as well, and when we are negative, we deny our legacy as his people.

Jesus was all about building unity, about wholeness, healing, and creating hope for those who were broken and in captivity. When we focus on the negative, we do just the opposite of these things, we create conflict, discord, and disharmony.

Now, I feel like I need to tell you that I have been accused, at times, of being a Pollyanna and a raging optimist. In fact one of my previous elders when we were speaking about this same subject said to me, you are one of those glass is half-full stare at the world through rose colored glasses, deny all reality and pretend everything is sunshine and roses kind of people. No, actually, my nature is to be pessimistic – by nature I am actually a glass is half empty kind of guy, a whatever can go wrong will type of person. But I believe that seeking to focus on the positive is a spiritual gift and that as the Holy Spirit continues to form us, we learn to focus on the positive. Let me repeat that, we learn to do it. I believe that by nature we all tend to be negative – I think it is easier. So, to find ways not to ignore the negative, but in the midst of the negative to focus on the positive is something we do by choice, but it requires thought and determination and guidance from the Spirit. You have heard it another way as well – count your blessings. But I think that perhaps we are often better at counting our blessings than we are at focusing on the positive.

It is easy to be negative, and it is reinforced by our culture. We hear this negativity continually on talk shows, from political commentators, and from pundits. We are treated more and more to people who simply enumerate problems instead of focusing on solutions. Being positive requires that we work a bit harder to find the positive – but as people of faith, do we not believe that God uses all things for good? We are told a little later in Romans 8:15 that we have not been enslaved to fear but set free in Jesus. If we present ourselves as slaves to the negativity of our world, we simply enslave ourselves to the sin that Jesus has set us free from. And negativity is sin. The fruits of our salvation, the fruit of grace, the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, generosity, and self-control do not allow for the negative, but accentuates the positive. We are called to be healers, we are called to share hope, we are called to encourage one another – in fact the writer of Hebrews suggests that that is a particular emphasis of meeting together. To do these things doesn’t mean to turn a blind eye to problems, but instead to focus on solutions. It doesn’t mean to ignore sin, but it does mean to focus not the sin, but on God’s grace, to focus not on the brokenness but on healing.

This is a wonderful story about what happens when we focus on the negative. David Wiggs shares this story about a man in his community. Wiggs had served for several years in this church, where he found himself challenged by a local man who lived a few doors down. The man was in his 70’s and most people agreed that they had never seen him in church. Wiggs had invited this man many times to come and share church. The man was well respected in the community and honest, he was often referred to as a man of integrity, but he did not attend church and no one really knew if he was a Christian. Finally after repeated invitations, one Sunday the man showed up. He sat quietly in a pew near the back, dressed neatly in a dark brown suit. After the service, Wiggs asked him about his sudden appearance. The man hesitated and then with a grimace, told this story.

I was raised in a large family. We struggled to survive the Great Depression and it was always a question of whether or not we would have food on the table that day. We never had money for luxury items and most of the time didn’t have money to buy new clothes or shoes, but had to wear pass alongs and hand-me-downs. When I was 10 a friend invited me to go to church with him. I loved it! We sang songs, we learned Bible stories, there were lots of kids, and I could forget my troubles for a while. I thought I found something good in the middle of all the struggles. But after Sunday school the teacher took me aside and said, “Son, we need to look our best when we come to God’s house. Please don’t come back dressed like that.”

I looked down at my tattered hand me down overalls and I said, “No ma’am, I won’t.” With watery eyes and an obvious lump in his throat he looked at Wiggs and said, “You know what, I never did.”

What difference might it have made in his life if instead of focusing on the negative of his appearance, the teacher had said, we are so glad you are here this morning and we hope you will keep coming back.

When we focus on the negatives, we can keep people from Jesus. When we focus on the positive instead, we can create an atmosphere where people can feel welcome and loved – where they can overcome their struggles with our support and encouragement. We create a place where people can encounter Jesus and discover that eternal life we are promised. We do not need to enumerate sin, to remind people of their broken-ness or to pick apart their faults and failings; instead, we need to simply be healing reminders that the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. When we focus on the negative we enslave ourselves to negativity and sin. When we focus on the positive we offer each other encouragement in Christ Jesus.

Kaleidoscope

All of the parents and youth clapped for the young Scout as he recieved his First Class award at the Troop 55 Court of Honor on Monday evening. The Court of Honor event went forward despite the devastation of Joplin on Sunday. It was an interesting perspective for me after a day spent trying to locate people, evaluate damage, serve as a chaplain, and help arrange the beginnings of relief efforts. And in the middle of a joyous celebration there was also discussion of the devastation and what we could do to help. Despite the death and destruction, these youth were finding ways to celebrate life - not just for themselves, but also by helping others. I was humbled to be in the presence of those who could both mourn and laugh, who could both share joy and share what they had. These were sharp contrasts, yet these young people embraced both without hesitation. In these, and many other young people, I have seen the ability to simply enfold life, both good and bad, in their arms.

And I thought of a kaleidoscope.

Have you ever used a kaleidoscope? Perhaps, if you are like me, it has been a while. I loved them when I was growing up. All of the wondrous shapes and colors. And then, turn the tube and they all shifted around. The patterns, the colors, and the lighting effect were unique to each tube, but shared common elements. And kaleidoscopes are made up of an assembly of different things: broken glass, beads, sand, and other loose, colored objects as well as mirrors to reflect and refract the light. And as you move the tube, the loose items shift around and reform offering different images and patterns as the light continues to reflect through. And if you move the kaleidoscope away from the light, it is hard to see the patterns and shapes and bright colors. And part of what makes the kaleidoscope so interesting and beautiful is derived from its brokenness.

As we continue to search for survivors, grieve our losses, and dig through the rubble of the tornado's aftermath, we see the brokenness of life. We are reminded of how fragile life is as well as what a gift life is. But as we think about the trials and struggle ahead and about picking up the pieces and putting them back together, I encourage us to remember the kaleidoscope.

If we continue to focus on the light, the broken pieces of life can be assembled into a beautiful pattern that offers joy and wonder. But we must remain focused on the light, even in the midst of darkness. And, we must look to the whole. If we took the individual bits of the kaleidoscope and laid them on the table, they wouldn't look like much. But when they are assembled and bound by the tube and pointed to the light...

In the trials we can sometimes become focused on the struggle. It is a natural reaction. But I encourage us to strive to see past the struggle to the larger picture that is God's kaleidoscope. Many people have died, and we mourn their loss. But many have survived. Many people have lost all of their worldly possessions, but many others are reaching out with love and support, with open hands and giving hearts.

We are still early in the process, but I would share with you the hope that I heard in our Scouts. It is the hope of our faith. And the certainity of faith that there is a future - it is a future we will move toward together. Paul encourages us in Romans 8:28 to remember that God can use all things for good for those who have faith. For those who focus on the light of God's love in Jesus Christ can trust that God will help them pick up the pieces. The Lord will walk beside us as we dig through the rubble, mourn our losses, and pick up the pieces. It may take a while - it will not happen today or maybe even tomorrow for there must be time to grieve, time to mourn the loss, time to heal and time to begin to rebuild. But for those who continue to focus on God's light, there is hope. Our hope is that God will take the pieces of our shattered lives and put them together, so that in the light of His love, we will see the beautiful patterns and colors of those lives assembled together and shining brightly once again.

Sleeper, Awake

The following is a reprint of my sermon of April 3rd, based upon Ephesians 5:8-14:

When was the last time you had a nightmare? Did it wake you up, and if so, did it wake you with a pounding heart and some measure of anxiety or trepidation? Are you afraid of the dark? Would you admit it if you were? Mostly adults don’t struggle with night terrors, but often young children do. Night terrors are a kind of extreme nightmare that are often accompanied by screaming or sweats and elevated pulse and heart rates and shortness of breath. To help alleviate the thoughts of things in the night, nightmares, and night terrors parents often utilize night lights. There is something comforting about awaking in the darkness and being able to see.

Perhaps since we were primal beings living in caves, humanity has struggled with trying to light the darkness, so much so, in fact, that darkness has come to symbolize the things that are wrong, while its opposite, light, has come to symbolize all that is right. Light and dark become opposite sides of the coin, and if we know Jesus as the ultimate good and we hear that Jesus is light, then darkness must surely represent evil. But evil is devious; it is deceitful and often hides itself as something innocuous. Evil can never be good and dark can never be light, but sometimes the darkness of evil imitates the light, and sometimes it hides in the twilight – that time at the end of the day between light and dark.

It is darkness that tries to hide or obscure the light, and it can be difficult to see in the half-light of evening. Indeed, there are shadows and dark areas that can hide things - did something move, or is it only the shadows? In the darkness we sleep, but when the light comes we are to awake, get up and enter into the light to live our lives. Paul uses these metaphors for our faith journey, calling on us to awake! We can no longer sleep in the darkness, oblivious to the ways of the dark. It is time to awake and to come into the light, living like the good that is our Lord. Indeed, sin relishes secrecy; it revels in being hidden, in nestling into the dark. Sins that are committed in the dark are often exposed in the light.

Whispers in the dark create hurt in the light. Secrets in the dark are exposed in the light, and so Paul calls on believers to live not in the darkness whispering secrets and nurturing sin, but to come into the light and live fully awake and aware. And awareness is necessary, because too often sin hides itself in the half-light of life – in places where we might not recognize it. This story offers an illustration of how the half-light can work against us. It has floated around the internet for a while, but is a reminder of our call to be awake and aware and to live in the light. (Note: I have modified it for my own use).

Satan called a worldwide convention. In his opening address to his minions, he said,

“Jesus has built his church on a rock and the very gates of hell cannot prevail against it. The faith confession allows people to enter into a relationship with the Lord, and the transforming Spirit comes to live in them, a transforming presence that can put them beyond our reach. But we do not have to keep them from Jesus or from church or even from the Spirit to have success in creating chaos and evil.

Here is our plan of action: distract them from their Savior and interfere with their attempts to form community in church with each other.

‘But how is this accomplished?’ his servants asked.

Keep them busy in the nonessentials of life and invent innumerable schemes and ways to occupy their minds and their time. Tempt them to spend and borrow so they have to work longer hours to maintain their lifestyle. Convince them that church is just one option among the many that are available for them, like a smorgasborg of good things to choose from. Encourage them to enjoy activities that compete with spiritual development and with community formation so that fellowship with other believers is fragmented.

Convince them that material gain and self-sufficiency are the most important aspects of life – and that independence is vital. As the pressures of work and family accumulate and as they lose connections in their faith community their family life and relationships will also crumble. Fill their minds with images of physical beauty and physical love, so that they become convinced that bodily perfection and physical attraction are the measure of love and relationships.

Overstimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still small voice. Entice them to play the mp3 player or the CD player all the time. Tempt them to keep their phone or TV or CD or PC going constantly, consuming their time and further interfering with meaningful relationships.

Fill their coffee tables with magazines and newspapers. Pound their minds with 24 hour a day news and advertising, and invade their driving moments with billboards and rolling advertisements on other vehicles. Flood their email and their mailboxes with junk mail, sweepstakes that promise instant gratification, and promotional offers for products and services that fill them with false hope.

Encourage them to measure their self-worth by their productivity so that they resist sitting in quiet solitude and spending time in communion with God. Make productivity the measure of even their recreation time, so that it too becomes excessive. Then they return to home and work from their vacations exhausted, disquieted and unprepared to return to work and to life.

Convince them either that being amidst God’s nature is unproductive, or, that being in nature replaces being in fellowship with other Christians in church. Help them to justify their absence from church fellowship with the belief that church is only about worship and they can do that anywhere. That way the people who need them and the people they need will not be unavailable for support and encouragement. In the meantime, crowd their lives with so many good causes and worthy goals that they have no time to seek sustaining power from Jesus. Soon they will rely on their own strength and will sacrifice health and family for the good things that they are engaged in.

When they do meet for fellowship and community, for study together and worship, encourage gossip and hurtful small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences and unsettled emotions. Encourage them to nurse their little hurts so that they fail to forgive and lose support for each other. Support their belief that the splinter in the other person’s eye is so much larger than the log in their own. Discourage mutual understanding and communication so that they will continue to nurture the hurt feelings and sense of loss that they have suffered.

‘But these are such little things,’ the demons complained.

Ah, but if we confuse them with the half-light, they will wander into the darkness on their own.”

Paul calls on the followers of Jesus to move from the darkness to the light, to awaken to the light and live there. And the danger for most of us is not in the obvious places. The danger for most of us is in the half light, where sometimes wrong can look right, where choices can become confused, and where compassion becomes judgment and condemnation. In the half light we can justify our broken community and the works with which we accuse and hurt. And in the half light, the danger is that we will wander into the darkness on our own.

The strategy of the evil one is simple. Is it effective?



Sleeper, awake and move into the light.