So our lives have been ex-TV for the last two weeks. I’m proud to say I’m not desperately foaming at the mouth, and Katrina and I aren’t about to claw our eyes out from the boredom. In fact, we’ve had more silence and peace around here than we’ve had in awhile. We’ve had a chance to read more, to talk over meals, and to pray together. The best part about us getting rid of our TV is the story - so if you don’t mind, let me indulge:

We’d been trying to pawn off our TV for several months, each time chickening out - coming up with some excuse why we still needed it. It wasn’t until our good friends were putting on a garage sale that we finally worked up enough courage to pull the plug on our TV habit.

Let me tell you, hauling a 27 inch TV down a flight of stairs and shoving it into a two door car is not an easy job - but we did it. Then we hauled it out into the middle of a field (the “best” place for a garage sale…where’s the garage!?!) and set it up next to all the other stuff we could bear to part with.

Browsers and perusers kept eying the TV, but there were no takers. One lady “bought” it, but when she illegedly tried to “plug it into her car” it wouldn’t turn on. DUH. I’m not sure what that was all about, but we were happy to give her her money back when she started yelling profusely.

Then came this great Hispanic couple. They wanted to buy our TV, but didn’t have enough to make the full purchase. It was the end of the day, and I wasn’t looking forward to carting that thing back to our upstairs apartment, not to mention have to deal with the ball and chain of a TV now that we finally felt free enough to sell it. So we sold it for less than it was worth, and even drove it up to their house for them. Their words were full of joy and excitement. They pointed to their family’s names in the concrete. I noticed a few Scripture verses scrawled into their front porch.

As I was installing the TV, the wife asked if I liked tamales. When I responded in the affirmative, she left the room and brought back a big stack of homemade tamales! She confessed she was embarrassed they couldn’t afford to pay what I was asking for the TV, but would like to pay for the rest in tamales. I loved it! Believe me, those tamales were a gift of hospitality, not just a payment for the TV. I feel like I could’ve hung out there all day. It was a real place of peace.  That’s how the world ought to work in my opinion.  A world where capitalism looses ground and communism is unnecessary.  A sharing and redistributing of personal resources, rather than living off cash.  It’s old school, but I like it.

So, much like giving away a puppy, I was glad to know that our TV was in the hands of a good family. I suppose that only reveals my covert TV idolizing, and reveals how happy I am that its out of our house.

Now its on to bigger and better things. God is too big for prime time.

An inspiring “money drop” on Wall Street from some inspiring brothers and sisters in Christ.

What if another world is possible???

This morning I was reading with the Lord from the Passion Account. I’m reading it from The Story, a biblical narrative that pieces together the story of Scripture into a chronological and narrative format. It is stirring to read God’s Story in such a dramatic way. It truly is “the greatest story every told.”

I’ve come all the way up to the events of Jesus’ crucifixion. Among so many things that caught my eye and my heart’s attention, I noticed Barabbas.

With this Pilate went out to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him. But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’?”

They shouted back, “No! Not HIM! Give us Barabbas!” Now Barabbas had taken part in an uprising. (emphasis mine)

The Jews in Pilate’s mobbing audience that day had a choice to make. What sort of Savior would they choose? Barabbas had obviously been a participant, if not a ring leader in a political revolt. Messiahs were seen as an out for the Jews that were living as slaves in their own land. The promises of God were at stake here; they knew that if they were faithful to his Law that they would find rest from the Roman oppression (and Pilate’s anti-semitic prejudice).

But who to choose? Do we choose Jesus of Nazareth? A man who has done his fair share of miracles, causing the blind to see and the deaf to hear? But he is so slippery when it comes to following the Law of Moses - sometimes it looks like he loves it and other times he wants nothing to do with it…Jesus just didn’t make any sense. And who is to say that Satan was not behind his powers? Jesus pushed away armies of men when they tried to make him king, and as he stands before Pilate his 12 “soldiers”, his only followers, are nowhere to be found.

Or do we choose Barabbas? A man of impressive record. He has quite a following, an extensive military background, and is ready for action. He may not have miraculous powers to heal lepers, but he is ready for action and tired of Roman rule. He is zealous for God’s Law and God’s People. He especially is interested in freedom. None of this pithy “Kingdom of God is within you” stuff - he will bring God’s Kingdom to earth and smash our enemies, showing them once and for all who to serve! And look at all the supporters he has! We’ve got an army that could take out Caesar himself!

It makes me wonder if I have understood “The Messiah” poorly all these years. For me, it is so easy to follow Barabbas, and Jesus so easily slips through the crowds I have rallied together. Barabbas is the Messiah of Man - the messiah of vengeance, violence, and looking out for Number One. If given the opportunity, I believe Barabbas would have taken his place on the throne in Jerusalem, and every Jew would have believed that he was the Messiah prophesied about…until Barabbas’ rule became overbearing, then the people would have started looking elsewhere.

But Jesus is the Messiah sent from God. A messiah who subverts not only the government but the entire culture of humankind. He is the messiah of peace, sanity, and loving your enemies. He came to fulfill the Law, not just to uphold it. His rule is not only on this earth, but in our imaginations; our souls; and beyond. He is the governor of all things created in heaven or on earth. Jesus the Messiah transcends my need to preserve my rights as a citizen, or human, and even transcends my need for self-preservation. Jesus was not of this earth, and his revolt was not of this earth. His greatest battle was won in Hell after he was killed by his own people. He slay Death and Sin and arose in victory! He was working toward an infinitely greater goal than was Barabbas. And following Jesus is the only way to ever find freedom, as Jews in the first century, or Americans in the 21st.

But each day the question remains, “Who will be your Messiah?”

This morning at BOBS I ate with an elderly black man who had one of those curious grins on his face. You never get tired of seeing a smile like that - its the kind of smile that says, “He is Risen, Risen Indeed!”

He told me of his difficult, tumultuous life in Abilene during the ’60’s when integration was sweeping through West Texas. He talked about being afraid to go to the grocery store, for fear of not knowing if he’d come back. I could hardly believe it. He talked about watching a woman committing suicide and having to just walk by for fear of “looking like he was involved”. This man grew up in a life that was constantly scrutinized and looked on with suspicion from the racial majority.

After coming home, I read the story of Israel as slaves in Egypt. I thought about the plight of the Israelites, and the plight of my new friend. Both have seen the struggles, both have had to hide from the “superior” race. But you know something? I’d wager that both know that smile - that “Risen, Indeed” smile.

What might happen if we all understood that we too are oppressed? What if we all saw our oppression, distraction and attacks not as a means for becoming cynical of the world and its people, but rather as an opportunity to rise above to find that resurrection smile living inside each of us. And when it breaks out - when it truly erupts from within - nothing can ever take you back to the mire of self-pity you were wallowing in. Suddenly it doesn’t matter what your circumstances, you have found victory!

This man this morning found victory, and all I want to ask him is where to find it.

“To teach is to create a space where the truth can be practiced.” – Parker Palmer

Right now in Iraq, Baghdad University is learning the importance of teachers creating special spaces for their students. Right now only 30% of BU’s students show up for classes and many who show up for class are so afraid that little learning can actually take place. Teachers are being threatened not to show up to teach, and many have abandoned their posts. Anyone involved in professional development must lie about their business in Baghdad in order to sneak through patrolled road blockades.

Teachers’ main job according to Palmer is to create a special kind of space. A space where the truth can be practiced. This space has been threatened in Iraq, and now the country faces a world without professionals or educated leaders. But what does a space “where the TRUTH can be PRACTICED” actually look like?

This is the kind of space that I am looking for. As a man who desires more than anything else to see people formed in the image of Christ our Lord, I am thinking hard about this definition as a platform for understanding how discipleship happens.

Churches for years have done a great job with getting people to a point where they make a decision for Jesus - raising their hand at the end of a sermon, praying a “sinner’s prayer” or even coming forward to repent and be baptized. All of those things are merely stones on the path toward full maturity in Christ - something we’ll never fully see in anyone this side of heaven.

We all need to be given space to grow into that form that Christ has shown us. Yeast grows to fit the container it is placed in. Could it be that our huge church facilities are still too constricting? Are they keeping Christ-followers from reaching their God-shaped potential?

I think that in the context of discipleship and “mission” work, The definition looks more like this:

“To invite others to Christ’s abundant life is to create a space within hearts, marriages, and spiritual communities where the Truth can be practiced.”

We need time each day to practice the Truth, (Jesus is the Way, Truth and Life). In our own personal way, we need to know how we connect with the Lord and discover how he is shaping us. This does not mean we have a “quiet time” every day with our devo-Bible dusted and ready to go. It might mean biking in the woods, getting ice cream with God, reciting Scripture as you wash the dishes, a vow of silence, reading poetry, or whatever your heart cries out for.

Our marriages need space to practice the truth. Katrina and I wrote a simple statement that has been a guiding voice in our marriage since the beginning. “To live a life of God’s JOY with each other by building an environment that will spur the other on toward a more spiritually-formed life influencing others to grow in the love of Christ.” Maybe it sounds cheesy to you, but we’ve made it a point in every place we’ve lived to create a spiritual space where we can be formed by the Spirit in personalized ways that bring us great joy. It has been amazing!

Our churches and spiritual communities need space within relationships to invite people to practice this truth. I’m not talking about physical space necessarily, but space within the hearts and wills of the people to practice what they know to be true. Feeding the homeless together, visiting the elderly, adopting an unwanted child, cleaning up a city park, praying the Lord’s prayer together each week…

Imagine what our world — YOUR world — would be like if you lived knowing that your heart was GOOD and that the things that brought you great joy actually brought God great joy and that he is interested in sharing in that joy with you?  It all starts with a little yeast.