Grab a towel.

It is notable how few conversations among the disciples are recorded in the Gospels. Even more notable is the amount of recorded conversations between the disciples where they are comparing themselves to one another and seeking to climb the ladder of leadership.  In stark contrast to their desire to be made much of, Jesus embraces being made less of.  At the moment when it would appear He needed to be ministered to by them, Jesus strips to his waist takes a towel and water, bends down and washes each of the 24 feet of His disciples. Even though within hours some would abandon Him, some would deny Him and one would plot His death.   His message is clear.  You want to be great in the kingdom?  Grab a towel, bend down and joyfully do the lowest of service, even to those who fail you or seek to harm you.

In the over abundance of church leadership stuff I have encountered I haven't seen humble service often spoken of as a pathway to leadership. You want to lead? Grab towel.  You want to make a difference? Serve those who are sure to fail you even those who  plot your downfall.   It is not enough to hang out in the hip local coffee shop and deeply converse about serving (or missional living),  it is not enough to buy every book about serving (or missional living), it is not enough to blog about serving (or missional living), it is not enough to attend events about serving (or missional living). 

It is about grabbing a towel and leading by doing.

I encourage the planters with whom I serve to spend a little less time in the coffee shop, little less time reading blogs (even this one),  less time going to events and a lot more time in the hallways of the local high school, homeless shelter, assisted living home, boys and girls club, with foster kids or homeless teen shelters,  just to name a few. 

When we are talking missional, reading missional, writing missional and attending missional we can sometimes feel we  ARE missional.  We are not missional and we are not leaders till we grab a towel. 

How's that working for you? Coping with our messed up lives by avoiding ownership

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This past Sunday, August 26 as we explored Abraham, Isaac and Jacob we arrived at Gen 27. This single event provides ample evidence of the sin in the lives of these family members and the resulting chaos.

Isaac is growing old and rather than confront his wife over the blessing of his favorite son Esau, Isaac decides to bless Esau without telling anyone. This passive approach is a total abandonment of his God given role as the leader of his family.

Esau, as the writer of Hebrews tells us is an ungodly man and when he learns the birth right has been given to Jacob he responds by rebelling even more.

When Rebecca hears that her husband plans to give the birth right to Esau privately, she responds by seeking to control the situation and arrange the "great switch" to give Jacob the birth right.

Jacob is the only one of the four that seems to question whether any of this is right or wrong, his only real concern is getting caught. Jacob responds to this mess by running from the consequences of his actions.

How does all this end? Not well. Esau is out to kill is brother, Jacob flees to Laban and the family is shattered.

Yep, that is how this part of the story concludes. No happy ending. Each of these family members cope with this dysfunction in their own way and this adds to the pain.

Isaac responds by abdicating his leadership role in the family. Like many husbands/fathers who are frustrated with family conflict, Isaac checks out - "You handle these kids; I'm going to work, to play golf"

Rebecca copes by trying to control everything and manipulate everyone. Not unlike some moms/wives she thinks if everyone will just do what she wants, she can manage this mess.

Esau copes by rebilling even more and sticking it to his parents.

Jacob, who was always afraid of getting caught, simply runs from his actions.

The one thing that is missing that could have brought peace and joy to this family...no not Dr. Phil. The one thing is repentance. None of these family members hinted at repentance. Each managed sin in a different way and that management brought more pain. Without repentance there is no joy and no peace. 

I must look upon my sin and my messed up life long enough to be broken by it and then look immediately to the risen savior who bore all of my sin and absorbed the wrath of God for me to discover and experience the joy of my salvation.

It was through this unrepented family's heritage that the One who makes repentance possible was born. For the joy of your family and for your own joy - repent.

See the moon in a whole new light

Like every one my age,  I recall exactly where I was when I watched the first moon landing. None of the half billion people on earth who were waiting for Armstrong to step on to the surface of the moon knew that something amazing was happening inside the tiny craft. Only later did Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, who was an elder in his Presbyterian Church, reveal what he was doing in those first moments after landing. Within moments of the landing upon the lifeless barren lunar landscape, Buzz Aldrin stated to everyone listening, “This is the LM pilot. I’d like to take this opportunity to ask every person listening in, whoever and wherever they may be, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the past few hours and to give thanks in his or her own way.”  At that point the radio communication ceased.    Aldrin later describes the event in vivid detail.

“In the radio blackout, I opened the little plastic packages which contained the bread and the wine. I poured the wine into the chalice our church had given me. In the one-sixth gravity of the moon, the wine slowly curled and gracefully came up the side of the cup. Then I read the Scripture, ‘I am the vine, you are the branches. Whosoever abides in me will bring forth much fruit. Apart from me you can do nothing.’ I had intended to read my communion passage back to earth, but at the last minute [they] had requested that I not do this. NASA was already embroiled in a legal battle with Madelyn Murray O’Hare, the celebrated opponent of religion, over the Apollo 8 crew reading from Genesis while orbiting the moon at Christmas. I agreed reluctantly. …I ate the tiny Host and swallowed the wine. I gave thanks for the intelligence and spirit that had brought two young pilots to the Sea of Tranquility. It was interesting for me to think: the very first liquid ever poured on the moon, and the very first food eaten there, were the communion elements.”

Sorry, my assistant screens my calls

 

And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years

 

And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit.

A great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet

Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them,

Jesus embraced interruptions. He did not allow himself to be protected from interruptions.  Jesus embraced the crazy dude who lived in the tombs, the rich leader of a synagogue, a woman who was beyond the fringe of accepted society (actually several of them), and a pack of unruly kids.  None of which was in His iPad calendar or none of which had been screened by His assistant (OK they tried to screen the kids and you know how well that worked out for them).

 

My dad was a pastor for 60 years.  I have been a pastor/planter for 30 years.  I get it.  There is  tension between being available to people, protecting my time with family, personal study and rest. I want to embrace that tension because living in that tension causes me to trust Him daily for direction and insight.  Trusting Him daily teaches me to discover His peace in the midst of that tension. 

Pastors/planters, no matter the size of your church, embrace the interruptions and don't  structure them out of your life.  Above all, be available to people, even the ones that the rest of the world would ignore, even the ones who aren't in your leadership circle, even the ones who aren't on your calendar for that day and even the ones that haven't been screened by your assistant.  Lots of amazing stuff happens when we are interrupted.

Hope for Messed up families

As we continue looking into the lives of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, we found ourselves yesterday in Genesis 25. Messed up families are not new. Rather then arriving as a grown man, Jesus was born into a family line that included twins who despised each other, parents who played favorites and schemes to hurt and take advantage of family members.  The promised Saviour, Jesus, was born into the dysfunction of that family heritage to identify with us in all of our messed up families AND to defeat sin and family dysfunction once and for all. The Gospel is the cure for family dysfunction and the healing for those wounded by family pain.