This fall, a movie called “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” will be released. Tom Hanks will play Fred Rogers, the TV personality from “Mr Rogers Neighborhood,” which ran for over 31 seasons. This PBS children’s program focused on teaching simple values to America’s little ones. Mr. Rogers taught children how to handle tragedy, how to develop friendships, how to treat one another with kindness, how to appropriately express strong emotions like anger, how to handle disappointment, and especially how to be everybody’s neighbor.

His neighborhood was diverse, and included a king, a tiger, and a trolley. In one pivotal episode, he and his black police officer friend put their feet together in a kiddy pool on a hot summer day and talked about friendship. It was a stunning act of courage for the show: this was aired in the 1960’s during Jim Crow laws and the heightened controversy of desegregation and civil rights. When Officer Clemmons says he has to leave to continue walking his beat, Mr. Rogers leans down, picks up a towel, and dries off his friend’s feet.

Rogers was an ordained Presbyterian minister, and surely he knew that this act of foot-washing would leave an indelible mark on his young viewers. Maybe it would not change their parents’ thinking just yet, but the young watchers got to see “Neighbor” defined the way Jesus defined it:

Luke 10:25-37 The Message (MSG)

Defining “Neighbor”

Just then a lawyer stood up with a question to test Jesus. “Teacher, what do I need to do to get eternal life?”

He answered, “What’s written in God’s Law? How do you interpret it?”

He said, “That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself.”

“Good answer!” said Jesus. “Do it and you’ll live.”

Looking for a loophole, he asked, “And just how would you define ‘neighbor’?”

Jesus answered by telling a story. “There was once a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way he was attacked by robbers. They took his clothes, beat him up, and went off leaving him half-dead. Luckily, a priest was on his way down the same road, but when he saw him he angled across to the other side. Then a Levite religious man showed up; he also avoided the injured man.

“A Samaritan traveling the road came on him. When he saw the man’s condition, his heart went out to him. He gave him first aid, disinfecting and bandaging his wounds. Then he lifted him onto his donkey, led him to an inn, and made him comfortable. In the morning he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take good care of him. If it costs any more, put it on my bill—I’ll pay you on my way back.’

“What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers?”

“The one who treated him kindly,” the lawyer responded.

Jesus said, “Go and do the same.”

It should be noted that of the three who saw the injured man, the Samaritan was in the “enemy camp.” The injured man was apparently a well-off Jew traveling from Jerusalem, most likely after a visit to the Temple. The priest and the Levite are also thought to be traveling for the same reason, and thus they were part of the injured man’s community. Samaritans and Jews, however, had a long history of estrangement. Jews considered Samaritans to be unclean due to their intermarriage with pagans, and so they would have nothing to do with them.

In setting up the story this way, Jesus is making the point that everyone is our neighbor. He also makes the point that the way to eternity (which was the lawyer’s original question) is by living out the greatest commandments of loving God and loving neighbor. The priest and the Levite lived their lives by the letter of the law but did not understood the scope of love, and therefore could not extend kindness. When you have God in your heart, you have love in your heart. When you only have God in your head, love can’t flow. You can’t give what you don’t have. The enemy Samaritan, however, embodied the compassion that defines a good neighbor, and provided the perfect example of Christ’s commands to “Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as much as you love yourself.”

The question for us today is, what would our lives look like if we truly embodied the two great commandments and acted on them? What would you do differently if you thought that eternal life hinged on acts of kindness? We know that eternal life hinges on the grace of Jesus Christ, and our acceptance of the salvation he offers, but acts of kindness are the evidence of a life lived in Christ. Are you bearing that fruit? Who is your neighbor? Or more to the point, who are you? Are YOU a neighbor?

Jesus’ message is clear here. Everyone is our neighbor. Everywhere you look, there is somebody lying half dead in a ditch. The angry drinker down the street, the troubled teenager who has a reputation for stealing, the imposing, greedy client who asks for too much, the person on the street who hasn’t washed, folks who think and act differently, and most certainly the immigrants who are currently entrapped in deplorable conditions at our border. This scripture teaches us that God’s unconditional love has no borders. Neither should ours.

Jesus calls us to love HIM by loving others. All others. Won’t you be a neighbor?

Geese lining up to use Georgia’s dog ramp. These are her neighbors, and she doesn’t like it very much. She is such a Levite!

When our kids were younger, they collected pressed pennies from every place we visited. I love the whole concept of a pressed penny; you stick a penny in the machine, add a dollar, select the impression you want, and presto! Your penny gets squished and you have an immediate (and affordable) souvenir. And bonus! Pennies don’t take up any room in your suitcase.

I recently watched a family at a penny press machine and saw the children’s faces as the wonderful transformation happened. The penny now bears markings on both sides, and the crushing of the wheels makes the penny longer, flatter, and shinier. Too bad there isn’t a people pressing machine. Who wouldn’t want to be transformed into something that is longer, flatter, and shinier?

Jesus was also pressed. Even before he came, we knew he would be crushed on our behalf:

Isaiah 53:5 New International Version (NIV)

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,

    he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was on him,

    and by his wounds we are healed.

When I think of his last night on earth, I am taken back to a trip to Israel when we stood in the Garden of Gethsemane. It is a beautiful place on a hill that overlooks the city of Jerusalem, with its pink stone walls and domed temple. It was here in the garden that Jesus prayed alone, asking his father for a stay of execution. He prayed so hard that drops of blood dripped from his forehead. In just a few hours, a crude crown of thorns would increase the flow.

The word “Gethsemane” in Hebrew means “oil press.” In the center of this beautiful olive tree grove is a huge set of two flat, round stones. The top stone is lifted up and down by a simple rope and pulley system. The olives are laid in mesh bags on the bottom stone, and then the heavy top stone is lowered down, pressing and crushing out the finest olive oil possible. The oil runs down channels cut into the sides of the bottom stone into buckets.

It is appropriate that Jesus began pressing out his life for us in the quiet beauty of this place. The finest of the finest oil came from this location. The finest of the finest sacrifice also came from here.

The night he prayed alone among the stones and the trees, he was in deep agony. But when he looked heavenward and saw the stars his father had set in the sky, he also saw you. He saw you in your own Gethsemane. He saw you in the agony of your sin and loneliness. He saw you alone and hopeless. So he got up from his prayer position and walked down the hill toward his death, so that you could live.

I don’t know what personal Gethsemane you are in, but I know you are not alone. Jesus is with you in your agony. Jesus suffered for you and died for you so that you would know that you are never alone. The punishment that brings you peace was upon him. You are healed by his wounds!

So whatever is pressing you now beyond what you can bear, look up. Look up to the stars and the sky, and know that the Creator of the Universe is working on your behalf. Through your pressing, you will be transformed into something longer, leaner, stronger, more capable, and as shiny as a new penny.

A few decades ago, Christians everywhere started wearing bracelets with the letters “WWJD”. It was an attempt to encourage the wearers to ask themselves, “What Would Jesus Do?” as they made their way through the day. WWJD captured our imagination and quickly became the ubiquitous symbol of what it meant to truly follow Jesus.

We might think of the WWJD movement as a recent development, but actually the wording has been around for more than 100 years. Charles M. Sheldon, a Topeka minister and evangelical Christian writer, used it in his 1897 novel, “In His Steps: What Would Jesus Do?” He was a social activist focused on justice issues, and his book brought forth the idea that in everything we do, we should be imitating Christ. Our words, our actions, our priorities, our thoughts, our giving….everything we do should reflect Christ to the world.

Paul was way ahead of his time when he wrote this quintessential response to the question of what Jesus would be doing:

Ephesians 5 The Message (MSG)

Wake Up from Your Sleep

5 Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.

“Mostly what God does is love you.”

See how beautifully this answers the question of What Would Jesus Do? He Would Love First. (HWLF)

Loving first means to seek out the lost and offer them salvation.

Loving first means that there are no “others,” for everyone is considered by God to be a child of God.

Loving first means we are extravagant with all of our resources, just as Jesus was.

Loving first means we offer ourselves without any expectation of reward or return.

Loving first means to withhold judgment and condemnation and offer acceptance and hospitality. To everyone. Without regard to any differences. You see, if you love first, the differences don’t matter.

Loving first opens wide the hearts, opens wide the minds and certainly opens wide the doors.

Love like that.

How is your HWLF life going? We are offered a chance today to do a deep examination of this standard in the different aspects of our discipleship. Is love your first response, or is legalism? Is love your first answer, or is anger? Is love expressed in your every action, or are you withholding? Does your giving reflect love, or self-love? Is your social media persona a pure reflection of God’s unconditional love for the world, or have you taken sides?

He Would Love First. So must we.

HWLF. It’s the new wave. Photo by Joe McGraw.

A friend shares that after three years of unemployment/underemployment, she finally has a new full time job starting Monday. She said, “I have felt hopeless, frustrated, and broken, but now I feel blessed.” Her struggle to balance her household finances was exhausting and challenging. Her struggle to balance her sense of identity and emotional self-worth was even more so. But God brought her through it.

Brokenness is a part of life. Relationships break, households break, nerves break, roles break, hearts break, and minds most certainly break. I spent about two and a half years feeling very broken when a decision to restructure our church staff eliminated several positions, including mine. I wandered in the Valley of the Shadow of Brokenness until a new church offered me a position. It was like being exiled to the Island of the Misfit Toys; the sense of rejection and my feeling of a lack of purpose was real and very, very hard to live with. I lost my identity. But God brought me through it.

When things are good, meaningful, important and fulfilling, they are also vulnerable to breakage. I recall hearing a widow standing by her husband’s coffin at his funeral saying, “If it hadn’t been so good, this wouldn’t feel so bad.” I think she nailed it with that one sentence. And God brought her through it.

Zephaniah has a wonderful word of encouragement for the journey through the Valley of the Shadow of Brokenness.

Zephaniah 3:17 New International Version (NIV)

17 The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves.

He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you,

 but will rejoice over you with singing.”

It is amazing to think that God sings with rejoicing over us! That image alone is a lot of help in times of brokenness. When the brokenness seems to have no end date, it can be a hard burden to carry. But nothing lasts forever.

Casting Crowns uses a similar image of Jesus singing over us, with a voice of truth about our current reality:

I once preached a funeral for a woman named Tina Owen Ross. She was a lovely matriarch of our community, and it was one of my first funerals where I really knew the person and really felt the loss. But I will always remember that day because of an epiphany God gave me in the middle of reading the 23rd Psalm.

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.”

BAM. Death is a mere shadow, and what is a shadow? A temporary dark image that comes and goes with the position of the sun. Shadows don’t last for a lifetime. Shadows don’t even last for a day, for night comes and eliminates all shadowness.

So when you find yourself in the Valley of the Shadow of Brokenness, just keep your head up and keep pushing through it. God walks every valley with us and he is the great Mender and Fixer of broken things. There is an old cliche that goes, “If God brought you to it, he will bring you through it.” Look to the Mighty Warrior who saves, wait for your deliverance, and choose to listen and believe the voice of truth.

But the voice of truth tells me a different story
The voice of truth says, “Do not be afraid!”
The voice of truth says, “This is for My glory”
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

Photo by Jamie Haas Mathis.

I can play “peek-a-boo” on an airplane for hours. I was once an exhausted young mother trying to soothe two toddlers on long flights, and I cherished that tired businessman who sat behind us and peek-a-booed my daughters into happy giggles. Now it is my turn, and I have mad skills in catching that baby’s eye and playing until they drop exhausted into Mamma’s arms. I hide behind my hands, the safety demo card, the seats, and then pop up like a deranged jack-in-the-box. You didn’t see THAT one coming, did ya, little one? Like I said, mad skills.

Did you ever think that life is one long peek-a-boo game with God? We look around, searching for meaning, comfort, and help, and God is there already, looking right at us and saying, “I see you!”

The story of Zacchaeus is one long play of peek-a-boo. That wee little man was hoping to see Jesus one day as the Savior was passing down the street of his town. Being vertically challenged, he climbed up in a tree to get a better view. Images of kids being held on a parent’s shoulders to watch the fireworks at Disney World come flooding into my mind when I read this. Why do I always manage to stand behind the 6’3″ dad hoisting his five year old up? Suddenly, I’M Zacchaeus. Peek-a-boohoo, I don’t see nuthin’. Oh, well, better for the child to see than me.

I digress.

So Zacchaeus, going out on a limb as it were, is watching the Jesus parade when the unthinkable happens: Jesus sees him. Peek-a-BAM! Can you even imagine? And immediately, Jesus, being Jesus, invites himself to Zacchaeus’ house for lunch. (That would have flown me into a deep panic. Is the house vacuumed? Do I have anything in the fridge to eat? What exactly do you serve the Savior of the World for lunch?? Definitely not ham.)

Luke 19:1 Jesus was going through Jericho, 2 where a man named Zacchaeus lived. He was in charge of collecting taxes and was very rich. 3-4 Jesus was heading his way, and Zacchaeus wanted to see what he was like. But Zacchaeus was a short man and could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree.

5 When Jesus got there, he looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, hurry down! I want to stay with you today.” 6 Zacchaeus hurried down and gladly welcomed Jesus.

7 Everyone who saw this started grumbling, “This man Zacchaeus is a sinner! And Jesus is going home to eat with him.”

8 Later that day Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “I will give half of my property to the poor. And I will now pay back four times as much to everyone I have ever cheated.”

9 Jesus said to Zacchaeus, “Today you and your family have been saved, because you are a true son of Abraham. 10 The Son of Man came to look for and to save all people who are lost.”

How does it feel to know that you are SEEN? Sometimes in counseling, the best thing you can tell someone is, “I see your pain.” That acknowledgment of their reality often brings forth a flood of deeply hidden emotions, enabling the healing to begin.

Jesus sees you in all of your Zacchaeus-like “short” comings. He sees your current situation and he is waiting for you to look up and see him. Jesus was never afraid to get down and dirty with sinners, even though he was staunchly criticized for it. He had a very clear vision of his own mission: to come to LOOK for and to SAVE all who are lost.

This is the mission of his followers as well. We have no greater calling than to LOOK for and SAVE all who are lost.

About 20 years ago a man came to me after the 11:00 Sunday worship service, and he was hotter than a Georgia hornet in July. He demanded very loudly that I immediately “cancel his church membership”…like we were the Y or something. I calmly asked him why, and he explained very angrily that he noticed in the bulletin that the couple who had joined that hour had the same address, yet they were unmarried.

I told him that the Methodist church had no prohibition against unmarried co-habitors joining the church. He fumed that we were CONDONING SIN by ALLOWING THEM TO JOIN, and he would have no part in it. I quietly asked him, if we didn’t allow sinners to join the church, what was the point? I pointed out that if being sin-free was a requirement, all the pastoral staff would have to resign. The next Sunday he joined the a small, independent church down the street and is probably still happily there today.

Listen, if you attend a church that excludes any sinner from Jesus’ mission to look for and save all who are lost, find a better church. EVERYONE is lost, everyone has fallen short and everyone deserves to be seen, heard, loved, cared for, served, included, and saved.

Jesus’ call to the sinner Zacchaeus had a great sense of urgency: “Zacchaeus, hurry down! I want to stay with you today.” It is a reminder that we should not delay. The time is now to bring the presence of Jesus into your present reality, and let him inspire you to make real, significant change like Zacchaeus did.

So wherever you are today, whether you are mired in sin or sitting high on a lofty tree limb of your own self-righteousness, get off it. Jesus sees you and is calling, ready to come to you. Salvation is at hand. Peek-a-boo!

The tree at the end of my street. Photo by Teresa Holloway.

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

This beautiful prayer is a hallmark of 12 Step groups such as AA. The origin of it is somewhat disputed, but look at this longer prayer written by theologian Reinhold Niebuhr:

God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things which should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.

Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time, accepting hardship as a pathway to peace.

Taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it.

Trusting that You will make all things right, if I surrender to Your will, so that I may be reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy with You forever in the next.

Amen.

The pursuit of serenity and peace is something that consumes many of us, with little to no results. The reason may be that we are using the wrong things to find it. Hoping to find serenity in alcohol, drugs, food, “retail therapy”, inappropriate relationships, overworking, over exercising, attempting to control everything around us….even the list itself is exhausting.

I know someone who religiously gets up every morning to pour over every single page of a national newspaper, thinking that intellectual pursuit of answers to her anxiety about the current state of affairs will bring her peace. It does not. I know someone else who is up at the crack of dawn to exercise, followed by more cardio work and group classes throughout the day, in hopes that physical exhaustion will settle her mind down. It does not. Neither will the every afternoon Happy Hour routine, the weed smoked before class, the sexting, the pornography, the overspending, the undereating…..nothing we can produce or manufacture will bring us true peace. It is all lies, smoke, and mirrors fueled by industries who are just trying to produce more consumption of useless things.

Niebuhr was right. Accepting hardship, rather than denying it, is the pathway to peace. Living one day at a time, rather than spinning with worry about tomorrow, will lead us to serenity. Enjoying one moment at a time, rather than comparing that moment to the fun everyone on Fakebook seems to be having, will lead to acceptance of the world as it is. And the key? “Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His will.”

Take a look at verses 3 and 4 of this passage from Isaiah. Note that the voice changes in this passage; verse 1 and 2 describes what is happening, verse 3 addresses God, and verse 4 addresses us.

Isaiah 26

1 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

“We have a strong city;

    he sets up salvation

    as walls and bulwarks.

2 Open the gates,

    that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in.”

3 You keep him in perfect peace

    whose mind is stayed on You,

    because he trusts in You.

4 Trust in the Lord forever,

    for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.

To be kept in this perfect peace, our minds must be “stayed” on God. The Hebrew word “sawmak” comes from the root “to prop,” and is translated as “to lean upon or take hold of; to bear up, establish, uphold, lay, lean, lie hard, put, rest self, set self, stand fast, stay, sustain.” (Strong’s Dictionary)

So, what sustains your mind? What do you lay your mind upon? What does your mind stand fast upon? What is your mind leaning on? To have perfect peace, your mind can’t just occasionally visit the Lord; it has to be STAYED on him. Keeping your mind, heart, soul and activity wholly centered on God is the way to peace.

Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.Photo by Michelle Robertson.

Saturdays in the summer on the Outer Banks are known as “change-over day.” This is the day when the vast majority of our beach rentals change renters. Ten o’clock AM is check out time, and the cleaners, inspectors and rental agents work like mad to get the cottages ready for the next wave of guests. Three o’clock PM is check in time, when thousands of visitors descend upon our islands like a happy plague of burnt out locusts who have waited all year long for this one week of paradise.

Because of the relatively short time between check out and check in, the folks who live and work here become trapped in the frenetic energy of the migration of people in and out. The traffic rivals New York City on a good day, the bridges are stop and go, and the bypass becomes its own circle of hell. And I mean that in a purely Dante-esk, theological way. See, if you’re a pastor and you mention hell, it ain’t cussin’. It’s theology.

We are extremely grateful for this chaos, as it means prosperity for our locals. Tourism is our strongest economy, with construction a distant second. We depend on our visitors, cherish the choice they make to come to the Outer Banks, and rely on the influx of income. Still, having said that, change-over day is a significant challenge.

Did you know that with Jesus, every day is change-over day?

Ephesians 4:22-24 The Message (MSG)

20-24 But that’s no life for you. You learned Christ! My assumption is that you have paid careful attention to him, been well instructed in the truth precisely as we have it in Jesus. Since, then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything—and I do mean everything—connected with that old way of life has to go. It’s rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you.

This scripture accurately describes change as a process of being renewed from the inside, which then works its way outside in your conduct. God is the agent of change, and your metamorphosis is one where his character is being reproduced in you.

Scary, huh?

To realize that to submit to God’s molding and making of you will result in his character being reproduced in you is daunting. After all, God is the author of unconditional love, generous giving, whole-life sacrifice, and peace making. That’s a lot of character change for most of us.

The good news is, it doesn’t have to be immediate. It won’t be overwhelming. Discipleship is a life long marathon of getting up every morning and putting your Jesus shoes on, one foot at a time. There is no sprint involved here, but a patient, every day kind of progression where each day you look a little more like Jesus and a little less like you.

This is why I believe that daily devotionals are so important. We need to fuel ourselves for this journey by feasting on God’s Daily Bread every day.

We locals like to complain a lot about change-over day, and we love to share stories (“It took me five hours to get to the Publix, and it’s only 3 miles from my house!! And when I got there, the aisles were all blocked by families of nine who were arguing over what cereal and brand of mayonnaise to buy!”) Yeah, we get it.

But in the end, visitors finally reach their beautiful destinations, locals make it back home, and eventually we all get where we are going.

Where are you going? How is your discipleship journey coming along? Stuck on a bridge somewhere? Don’t give up. You see, the one thing about this change that you are being called to make is that Christ is on the bypass with you. And the good news about Jesus is that he promised to be with you always, and he NEVER changes.

Photo by Tammy Ball-Olving.

In the category of Stranger Things, I have a weird confession. When I took my first Bible survey course in seminary, I developed little memory tricks for remembering the themes of each of the New Testament books. For example, for Hebrews, I remembered “HE (is) B(ett)ER (than the)RESt, which roughly spells out HEBREWS, if you misspell it. Hebrews is based on the superiority of Christ over angels, Old Testament prophets, etc. So, he is better than the rest!

For Galatians, I tapped into my love of science fiction and especially Battlestar Galactica. What was their mission? To free humanity from the evil robot Cylons; thus Galatians is about freedom. Laugh if you will, but I got an A!

Let us see what Galatians has to say about freedom, as we celebrate freedom today:

Galatians 5:16-18 My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit. Then you won’t feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don’t you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence?

19-21 It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on.

This isn’t the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God’s kingdom.

22-23 But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.

23-24 Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way. Among those who belong to Christ, everything connected with getting our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities is killed off for good—crucified.

25-26 Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original. (The Message)

There is so much meat on this bone, we may need to come back to it another day. But for now, look again at first three verses.

The writer of Hebrews is contrasting freedom with self-interest. “There is a root of self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit.” That is pure genius. Think of all the places in life where people imprison themselves; the genesis of those places is likely to be rooted in some selfish, self absorbed, self-interested behavior. Addictions begin when we indulge in a dangerous behavior. Adultery starts with that need for the adrenaline rush of someone’s flattering interest. Family disputes happen when one family member feels entitled to what the all the rest should receive. Arguments ensue when we think our opinion is more valuable, right and superior to someone else’s opinion. Betrayals happen when self-absorbed desires assert themselves over the common good. Basically, nothing good comes from selfishness.

In contrast, Christ offers a life of freedom. He came to set us free from sin, from death and mostly from ourselves. We are encouraged to pursue a life lived fully in the Spirit, which offers affection for others, exuberance for life, and SERENITY.

So before the parade-watching, flag-waving, fireworks extravaganza begins, ask yourself this: where am I lacking freedom in my life? I bet that if you trace that back, there will be selfishness at the root; either your own, or somebody else’s.

The cross is as much a symbol as the flag. As we lift one high today, let us lift higher the other.

Photo by Michelle Robertson.

According to the Urban Dictionary, “Adulting” is defined as;

Adulting (v): to carry out one or more of the duties and responsibilities expected of fully developed individuals (paying off that credit card debt, settling beef without blasting social media, etc). Exclusively used by those who adult less than 50% of the time.

So first of all, that definition is hilarious. They had me at “settling beef without blasting on social media.” Urban Dictionary, I’m all in.

“Adulting” is a phrase we use now to describe doing the mundane tasks that responsible people get done. When we choose to stay in one night to write bills rather than go to the bars with friends, we are adulting. It is heavily used by people transitioning from living at home under their parents’ care to independent living, with all of its layers of responsibility. Older people just call this “priorities”, but adulting is a fun, new, and fresh way to describe basically just doing what’s right. So adulting can/should happen at any age. And yes, adulting is hard.

Did you know that adulting is addressed in the Bible? Check it out:

2 Peter 1:3-11 The Message (MSG)

Don’t Put It Off

3-4 Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received! We were also given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to you—your tickets to participation in the life of God after you turned your back on a world corrupted by lust.

5-9 So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus. Without these qualities you can’t see what’s right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books.

10-11 So, friends, confirm God’s invitation to you, his choice of you. Don’t put it off; do it now. Do this, and you’ll have your life on a firm footing, the streets paved and the way wide open into the eternal kingdom of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Christian adulting includes good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love. What a marvelous list of adult qualities we are all called to embrace!

Alert discipline is that thing that moves you to pay off your credit card rather than charge the cute boots you can’t afford. Passionate patience allows you to be in a relationship with someone and negotiate your differences. Warm friendliness will woo others to you and to the Lord of your life. Good character will keep you out of jail. Spiritual understanding will help you withstand the storms and trials of your life. Reverent wonder will enable you to see God in the stars and the sunsets. But generous love? Generous love rules over all, and when we take that on, we are Jesus to the world.

Where do you see yourself on that list? What aspects of your faith journey need more work? We are all a work in progress. The good news is, Jesus is the Master, with every tool we need to do this maturing in faith thing. Let him work on you, building on what you’ve been given. Jesus’ invitation is clear: grow up!

The reverent wonder of a sunset over the sound. Photo by Michelle Robertson.

Once upon a time in the Land of Haas, there lived a small junkyard dog named Annie. Annie had been abandoned at a Methodist church camp, and was being cared for by the camp ranger. The ranger’s wife named her Little Orphan Annie, but did not want to keep her for long since they already owned a dog. A hound dog. Named Elvis. Ain’t nothin’ like a hound dog.

Along came a pastor and her daughters, who immediately fell in love with Annie, and the love was mutual. Poor Daddy had no choice but to agree to Annie coming home to the Land of Haas, especially after he got out of the car to meet her for the first time and she ran straight to him and sat on his foot, looking up with pleading eyes. From that time on, Annie was ours. I mean his.

Annie was a wild thing. Her months roaming the camp had turned her into a dog who passionately loved her family and passionately hated all things not-family. She was of the dogschool of thought that it was better to be all bark and perhaps bite. This was sharply evident when Annie competed in the Third Grade Dog Show at school. Her antisocial side came out in full force, and her misbehavior around the better behaved dogs caused Daddy to have to practically sit on her on the far side of the field, as far away from the other dogs as they could get.

She still won a participation ribbon. Sometimes just showing up is enough.

In my early morning meditation, I was pleasantly surprised to discover the the Apostle Paul actually wrote about Annie. For real! Who knew? Her own greatness surpasses itself:

Phillipians 3:2-6 “Steer clear of the barking dogs, those religious busybodies, all bark and no bite. All they’re interested in is appearances—knife-happy circumcisers, I call them. The real believers are the ones the Spirit of God leads to work away at this ministry, filling the air with Christ’s praise as we do it. We couldn’t carry this off by our own efforts, and we know it—even though we can list what many might think are impressive credentials. You know my pedigree: a legitimate birth, circumcised on the eighth day; an Israelite from the elite tribe of Benjamin; a strict and devout adherent to God’s law; a fiery defender of the purity of my religion, even to the point of persecuting the church; a meticulous observer of everything set down in God’s law Book.

7-9 The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I’m tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn’t want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God’s righteousness.

10-11 I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself. If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it.” The Message

Dog dung! Paul said dog dung! (OK, Eugene Peterson said dog dung, but it fits!) His beef was with the Jewish authorities, and the new Christian community that was trying to impose the old structure of law and ritual (claiming that non-Jewish believers had to be circumcised before they could be part of the new church that was forming) on this newfound freedom they were offered in Christ. Everything he had once thought was important, he was now throwing away. His old life did not work anymore. Jesus said, “Behold, I make all things new,” and Paul was a living, breathing example of that. Old Saul used the law to persecute others. New Paul threw all that away to know Christ personally and to experience his resurrection power.

What aspects of your old life are you still clinging to? Does a spirit of judgement, superiority, know-it-all-ness, entitlement, or prejudice keep you from full participation in Christ’s kingdom? Is there some hypocrisy in your witness that needs to be addressed? What needs to be thrown in the trash so that you can completely and fully embrace Christ, and be embraced by him? I think Paul’s story teaches us that you can teach an old dog new tricks. It never worked for Annie, but it will for you.

God calls us to forgo the petty, inferior brand of righteousness that the Sunday-only pew-sitters have, and go ALL IN for a seven-day-a-week practice of loving, serving, giving, growing and living-out-scripture kind of life. Don’t be an Annie. God has so much more to offer than a participation trophy. Be a Paul, and press on toward the higher goal of knowing Christ, and being fully known by him.