Mid-Week Meditation: What if God was One of Us...

I was on a run yesterday morning when I heard the Joan Osborne's song, "One of Us," a rhetorical pondering of God's identity.  "What if God was one of us," Osborne chants, "Just a slob like one of us.  Just a stranger on the bus trying to make his way home."

Osborne is a meaty, heavy (I mean substantive.  Geez.  How in the world did these terms become bad ones?)  soul singer.  She has real staying power in the music industry, but perhaps without "One of Us," the popular culture and the hipsters alike would have nothing to do with her.  So, I accept the song for what it is--a carefully packaged appeal to the spiritual questions of the masses, without being too preachy or religious.

I appreciate what the song does and I assume that when she asks the question about God being one of us, she means it in the Matthew 25:31-46 manner:

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’"

I assume she means her question in this context because, we know that God was one of us in the form of Jesus.  And we also know that, as Osborne's song laments, He was not treated favorably by many.  I believe that not much has changed.  If Christ came to one of our churches, we would still treat Him unfavorably because He didn't have on a suit, or the right shoes, or didn't have the right shave and haircut and couldn't prove His prominence within the community.

Several years ago, I asked a few people I knew to stop by my church and sit in the back for service over the span of a few weeks.  Some had criminal records, some were not wealthy and some were not dressed in church gear.  I asked them to stop by, not to test people in the pew, but simply to have the people stop by enjoy the worship service.  I found that without exception, the people that I asked to attend were treated uniformly--they were treated well, but with kid gloves, as if they had done something wrong by simply stopping by for worship service. 

My church is as warm a place to worship as you can find.  But, if Christians are to, as the scriptures call on us to do, treat everyone as if we were entertaining God, then we have a considerable amount of work to do.

Why We All Should Care About the Duggars...

I have fond memories of my grandparents.  When they were alive many years ago when I was a teenager, they would spend winters up north with my family.  My grandparents were from the south, and like many in the rural south, they were agrarian.

My grandparents' lifestyle called on them to have enough children to help them with their farm work.  They had eight.  My grandparents continued to stress to me in my teenage years, that while they loved all their children, they had so many children not out of vanity, or a need for excess, but out of necessity.  I hesitate to speak for my dear grandparents, but I have to believe that if they were raising a family today, they wouldn't have so many children.  It's just unnecessary for many reasons.

Recently, the Duggars, Jim Bob and Michelle, have announced that they are expecting their 20th child.  For the few of you who don't know the Duggars, they are a family of Christian fundamentalists who have a reality TV show on TLC.  For their part, the Duggars appear to be a close family, with solid values, well-mannered children, and a sense of humor.

I cannot do the Duggars' faith full justice in the space that I have, but it is clear that one of the things they believe is that they can become closer to God by having more children.  If this is true, if the Duggars can become closer to God by having more children, then God must live next door to them.  In fact, God should be so close to the Duggar family, they probably need a restraining order against God.

Now, I refuse to belittle the Duggars' faith--it's actually quite admirable that they believe so strongly in something.  But, I also refuse to believe that having 20 children is the pathway to a closer relationship to God.  Mother Teresa, Jesus and the Apostle Paul all seemed to do just fine with the Creator and had no children at all.

Where I'm going with all of this is here:  having 20 children in 2011 is not only not necessary like it was in my grandparents' time and space, it can be seen as an opulent display not afforded to many in this country or many others.  In an age where the earth's population has hit seven billion and many country's have laws governing the amount of the children a family can have, willfully having 20 children against this back drop when its not a necessity, is the equivalent of burning money in a fleet of yachts in front of very poor people.

Having 20 children is perhaps a way to establish a closer relationship with God for the Duggars.  But, the rest of us who know that the earth is overpopulated and has finite resources, should probably stick to the more traditional ways to get closer to the Creator like prayer, meditation and fasting.

What Would 'Jesus' do?

In the mid-1990s, a faction of Christians popularized the saying, "What would Jesus do" which was shortened (to better market on T-shirts and bracelets) to WWJD.  The question, perhaps based on a group of scriptures as well as the sermon series of a 20th century evangelical preacher, is not without its merit.  As a general proposition, we can keep ourselves out of trouble (but perhaps not out of perpetual conflict with authority) if we ask ourselves that question before we act.

I suppose that's a fine question to ask yourself if you're a regular human.  However, what do you do when you are Jesus Christ?   Who do you model your behavior after?  Well, if you are Jesus, whom the government, the criminal justice system and the Washington Post know better as Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez, you do a few things. 

First, you make an open casting call scrawling rambling manifestoish video to Oprah, establishing that you are Christ and then begging Oprah to put you on one of her shows (Is this how Gail got put on?).  Then, you  go to hell, better known as the White House in D.C. and then you lazily attempt to kill the devil, also known as President Obama.

You follow that?

Now, in the course of history, many people have claimed to be Christ, which I get--some have been charismatic, others have been brutal, and still more have been downright creepy.  Being Christ makes the words you speak carry a certain authority in some circles. 

But, in a look at all of the people who have claimed to be Christ over the years, Ortega is the only I know of who believes that part of his ministry is to beg to get on one of Oprah's shows.

That is apparently what Jesus would do in 2011.

Mid-Week Meditation

In their love letter to all things hippie, "Mrs. Robinson," Simon and Garfunkel ask the question, "Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio..."  The song writing pair wrote the song for the movie, "The Graduate" to accent the motifs of the movie--all of which revolved around the notion of the need to question societal norms and conventions...and seducing young men.

The line in the song about Joe DiMaggio was intended to spark nostalgia for the sturdy, dependable hero of the past.  The kind of hero who was consistent and downright and forthright and upright.  The kind of hero who was so reliable you could set your watch by him.

Well, these days, as I watch Joe Paterno, an otherwise sturdy hero fall in the Penn State sex abuse scandal, I'm beginning to think it's too much to ask for sturdy old Joe DiMaggio.  Right now, I'd take a Joe Nucksal, a Joe Montana, or even the last guy who made wearing fur coats cool, Joe Namath.

The outrage about the scandal has been sweeping and justified.  Paterno sheltered, enabled and coddled an accused child rapist, Jerry Sandusky, for about a decade.  Paterno, by almost all accounts was made aware that Sandusky was possibly engaged in very violent criminal behavior with children.  Rather than firing Sandusky, or going to the authorities about his behavior, or just punching him in the nose, Paterno did...nothing. 

Hardly, the actions of a hero.   Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio indeed.

While "Mrs. Robinson" does ask where the sturdy leaders like Joe DiMaggio have gone, the song answers its own question when it says, "Jesus loves you more than you will know..."

Of course.  In an age where all of our leaders without exception have been smothered under the weight of their own humanness, we are reminded that Christ and His spotless character and ability to walk in loving kindness has never been contradicted.  We might say He's the last sturdy hero.




 

The Best Things in Life...

I enjoy driving to church. On Sunday mornings, the roads are quiet, nobody’s rushing and I can drive and think and meditate. It's peaceful. There is no controversy or drama on the way to church, and while the drive takes slightly longer (only slightly) than it takes a woman from Herman Cain's past to jump out of the woodwork to accuse him of misconduct, it is one of the best parts of my week.

Which is why I was tickled recently when my peaceful journey to church was broken up, interrupted even, by blunt ignorance. The other day, the other Sunday, I was driving to church next to a fellow in a weathered, rustic pickup truck. As he passed me, I noticed that he had a bumper sticker in the back window of his truck that said, "Gas, grass or ass...nobody rides for free."

As you can probably imagine, the fellow's passenger seat was empty. I laughed out loud at the fellow, the empty seat and the bumper sticker (it all missed ironic by just a hair). It could have been a singular coincidence--with the exception of that Sunday, the fellow normally has someone in the passenger seat of his car giving liberally of one or all of the items his bumper sticker indicated would suffice as car fare. However, more likely, he was riding alone, as he perhaps often does because the people close to the guy don't want to feel like every interaction with him is a transaction.

All too often, our churches take a position toward its congregants that is similar to the fellow with the bumper sticker. Oh, we may not have bumper stickers that are as brash as the one above, but the message is the same: if you are sitting in the pew for worship, or Bible study, or otherwise using the church's resources, you must provide something of extrinsic worth. If you do not, you are not welcome.

I have seen with my own eyes, pastors of churches tell people who are not tithing to sit down and be still so they wouldn't block God's blessings to people in the church who do tithe. I have witnessed pastors tell individuals who say they do not have a monetary offering for a worship service but would like to donate their time singing or working in the food pantry, that the kind of offering they have is not "Biblical"--that they must bring a monetary offering. I have seen scores of people silenced or sequestered from church leadership, because they have little or no money to give.

This isn't my manifesto against tithing. People should give of their time, talents and whatever money they can comfortably and cheerfully give to build Spirit's kingdom. However, church is the last place that people should feel like they are perpetually a part of a transaction--that they have to give in order to exist, worship and serve in the church.

One of my favorite show tunes has a line that goes something like: "The moon belongs to everyone. The best things in life are free..." Now, you all know that I believe in the infallibility of both the Bible and the Broadway show tune. But, shouldn't we be able to add church and worship as some of the best things in life that are free also?



Pint-Sized Preachers



Recently, I saw a young man called Kanon Tipton on a few news programs with his parents.  Kanon, for those of you who missed his rounds on the news shows, is a third generation preacher of the gospel. 

No problem there, right?  Spirit moving through generations of families is common. 

However, Master Kanon Tipton is four years old.  Yes, four.  At an age where kids are developing their fine motor skills, learning how to socialize with other children and how throw temper tantrums after an afternoon nap, he is preaching the gospel...and people are not only listening to him, they are really listening to him.

I watched video footage of the young man preaching and he is certainly charismatic, engaging and has a passion for the gospel.  And his parents, to their credit seem to acknowledge that while God has touched their child, some of Tipton's preaching is actually him simply mimicking his father and other people he has seen preach the gospel.

Don't worry.  I'm not going to ride out on a four year old.  Tipton seems to be honest and sincere in his endeavor to preach the gospel.  What's more, the Bible is full of people called to the ministry in their youth.  We know that Jesus was preaching in and around temples at 12.  Mary was around 16 when she was pregnant with Jesus.  Samuel, David and Daniel were all very young when God called them.

So, I get that God can call young people for kingdom building.  But, usually Spirit calls people because they have experiences that help illustrate Spirit's greatness.  Take the Apostle Paul for instance.  He was a zealous persecutor of Christians, a Roman citizen and also Jewish.  Spirit converted Paul and used him to illustrate, among other principles, the concept of redemption--that someone can be moving in the wrong direction for a very long time, and with Spirit's help, immediately move in the right direction and do great work.

Now, I don't know Tipton.  I'm sure he has a bright future and time will tell what his ministry is all about.  I am interested, however, to hear or see why Spirit called him.



Mid-Week Meditation: The Audience of Worship...

Every so often, I try to visit others as they gather to worship.  I do so because it is good get out of my primary place of worship to worship with others.  I have found that I can learn a great deal about people when I see them in their respective worship communities.  For most people, church or temple is the place in which they can "be themselves," whatever that term means.  It is also good to witness diverse worship styles and services.

Recently, I attended a church's anniversary celebration in the city in which I live.  Like my church, the church is within the African Methodist Episcopal communion.  On this occasion, the presiding bishop of the episcopate of which the church is connected, was in attendance (he actually was the speaker for the program), as was the bishop of another communion.  He happens to also be my presiding bishop as well.

The effort to secure the bishop of an episcopacy within the AME church for a program in our city was not lost on me.  In a city where some local churches have two or three bishops in their pulpits, getting a "bishop" to attend a local church function is perhaps easy.  However, bishops in the AME communion (or any communion with an episcopal structure) oversee 400-500 churches in various regions and countries.  They have unfathomable travel and preaching schedules and are always busy doing Spirit's work.

Securing the attendance of the bishop I am amenable to is particularly notable.  While he is accessible to a fault, he is very well liked, has a national profile, and even advises the president on spiritual matters.

What is more, his words, his ministry and his actions--by all accounts--align so that he is not a walking contradiction, but rather the model of a kingdom builder and poor righteous teacher (Five Percenters, let me have this one, just this time).

I will get ribbed for gushing about another man this way, but he gives me goosebumps whenever I hear him speak.

At this church anniversary, I was listening to my bishop speak, I reflected on how many individuals were there simply to see him speak or to wish the church well on their anniversary.  I reflected on how careful the bishop was to keep the attention of the audience off him and on Spirit and the scriptures he was exegeting.  It was most impressive to witness.

Ultimately, the anniversary made me reflect on the hundreds of thousands of worship services that occur weekly just in this country alone.  I have heard many individuals say that they are attending a worship service or church to get "fed" spiritually.  Conversely, I have heard many of the same individuals say they have moved from a church or chosen not to participate in a worship service because they are not getting "fed" spiritually.

Is getting fed spiritually the point of worship on Saturdays or Sundays?  Is an individual's need to receive encouragement, spiritual nourishment, or a more profound understanding of the scriptures, the point of worship?  Is only coming to a worship service if we receive something out of it the point of worship?  To be sure, clergy who lead worship will be accountable to Spirit if worship services are not also nourishing for the pew.  But, it seems to me that, worship by definition, has very little to do with us getting fed spiritually, but rather paying reverence to God and Spirit. 

We can get fed at a potluck or Bible study...