Sunday

Fourth Sunday of Lent Eve

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“Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world: Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen” (Book of Common Prayer).

In case you were as much in need of a reminder as I am, here it is. Tomorrow is the fourth Sunday of Lent leading toward Easter Sunday.

It’s not about cute little bunnies or chocolate. It’s about the fact that Jesus walked out of the garden tomb on that Sunday so long ago to show the world that sin, death, and hell were forever defeated.

I love what Peter Marshall said about the tomb being rolled away not so that Jesus could get out but so the disciples could get in.

My prayer for all of us is that we are reminded that we still need the hope of Easter now as when we first believed and as much as the first disciples needed it. May we live out the hope as those who fight not for victory but from it.

“I imagine Lent for you and for me as a great departure from the greedy, anxious antineighborliness of our economy, a great departure from our exclusionary politics that fears the other, a great departure from self-indulgent consumerism that devours creation. And then an arrival in a new neighborhood, because it is a gift to be simple, it is a gift to be free; it is a gift to come down where we ought to be” (Walter Brueggemann, A Way Other Than Our Own: Devotions for Lent).

“No act of virtue can be great if it is not followed by advantage for others. So, no matter how much time you spend fasting, no matter how much you sleep on a hard floor and eat ashes and sigh continually, if you do no good to others, you do nothing great” (John Chrysostom)

A Good Sunday

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It was a good Sunday for several reasons. I thought I’d share a few of them with you:

  1. I woke up this morning, so that automatically makes it a good day.
  2. I managed to get through both services without messing up the worship lyrics or the video of the baptisms. It can be a bit stressful at times, but it is worth it to experience worship in a whole new way.
  3. I had a fantastic Greek omelet at Athens Family Restaurant.
  4. I picked up a classic Lucinda Williams album at Grimeys Too.
  5. While it wasn’t the ideal fall weather that I love, it wasn’t 95 degrees with 95% humidity. Gotta take what you can get here in the great state of Tennessee.
  6. I’m still breathing and my heart is still beating as I’m typing these words.
  7. I experienced more foodie goodness at Local Taco.
  8. Obviously, I didn’t go hungry today.
  9. I’m still saved by grace, and that’s nothing I can brag about. God did it all.
  10. I have one sleeping geriatric teenage feline on the pillow next to mine right now and that makes just about any situation better.
  11. I have a good job to wake up early and go to in the morning that pays the bills and challenges me and allows me to help people (even if it’s in a more indirect way).
  12. I have a comfy bed to sleep in and a solid roof over my head tonight.
  13. See #9 again if you still doubt the goodness of this Sunday.

That hardly begins to cover why this was a good day for me. If I took the time to write all the reasons down, I’d most likely be up all night, and that would likely make Monday not such a good day.

So, lucky 13 will have to do for now. See you all tomorrow evening with something (hopefully) fresh and inspired.

 

Who Holds the Day

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“Our circumstances are not defined by what the day holds but by Who holds the day” (Aaron Bryant, Campus Pastor of The Church at Avenue South).

You and I both know what the day holds. There are already not enough hours in the day to get it all done. Some of you are already hyperventilating at the mere thought of the overwhelming list of tasks that await you when you get to work on Monday.

I have a new mantra based on a sermon I heard this morning at The Church at Avenue South. Our circumstances aren’t defined by what the day holds but by Who holds the day.

God is more than enough to handle what your day brings. He is more than enough to calm your fears and carry you through your stressful day. He is more than enough to make up for your woeful inadequacy to face what’s coming.

The One who holds the day holds every single day of your life in His capable hands. He’s the one who knows when a sparrow lands. He’s the one who knows the number of hairs on your head. He’s the one who clothes the lilies of the field and feeds the lowliest of those sparrows. He will take care of you.

I’m still not a fan of Mondays. I’m thankful they don’t come more than once every seven days. I seriously don’t think I could handle more than one Monday a week.

I’m even more thankful that the Lord of the Sabbath is Lord of the Mondays, too. He’s just as able to save and deliver you on Monday as He is on Sunday (and on every other day of the week as well).

Once more. Your circumstances are not defined by what the day holds but by Who holds the day. You will be just fine.

 

Downton Abbey 2: Saying Goodbye

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It feels weird. I had known it was coming for weeks, yet I still wasn’t prepared for it. Seeing the final scene of Highclere Castle fading into black made it real– Downton Abbey is over.

By the way, there will be spoilers ahead, so stop here if you haven’t made it to the last episode. You won’t hurt my feelings in the least.

I loved seeing all the intricate stories woven together and how these very well-written characters learned to deal with all sorts of tragedies and triumphs, setbacks and celebrations, sorrows and joys.

I loved how the character of Tom Branson blossomed from a mere chauffeur who felt like a supporting character in the background into a fully-developed major player who always fought for the underdog and came to be one of my favorites, if not my very favorite.

Even that dastardly Thomas Barrow came to have some redeeming qualities after all. We left him with his New Year’s resolutions to become a better and nicer person in the future. I like to believe he made good on those promises.

Thankfully, no one died in the finale. Lady Edith finally got her moment of happiness and found true love. Lady Mary will be having another baby at some point and life will continue to go on at Downton Abbey, just not on NPT on Sundays at 8pm CST.

I love how the themes of family and truth remained the focus of the series. Lady Edith chose to be truthful about Marigold at the potential cost of her happiness. I love even more how her decision paid off in dividends for both her and the Crawley family.

It will be surreal seeing the actors in other roles. After six years and so many episodes, I will always associate them with their Downton Abbey characters.

Thank you, Julian Fellowes, for creating such a beautiful glimpse into a bygone world filled with such fascinating and many-faceted characters. I hope to see more of your characters at some point in the future.

 

A Good Sunday

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All in all, it was a good Sunday. The Church at Avenue South was packet to capacity again as Doug Jones, the campus pastor for The Church at Woodbine, stepped in and filled in for Aaron Bryant, who is currently on a short-term mission trip in Israel.

Based on what I heard today, I’m excited for The Church at Woodbine and the direction they are headed. After several years of declining membership, they are finally back on the upswing.

I think the temperature got up into the 70s. That’s about 20 degrees higher than normal for this time of year in Middle Tennessee. Do you hear me complaining? I don’t think so.

I was supposed to lead a small group tonight, back at Ave South. I was expecting maybe about two others to show up. I was wrong. It ended up being just me sitting in the dark at Ave South watching music videos on Facebook, thanks to the most bodacious wi-fi the church offers.

Was it a waste of my time? Probably. Another way to look at it is I got a chance to get in some quality alone time in a very peaceful and serene setting. Plus, I had good music to get me there and back home, so that’s a win.

As usual, perspective goes a long way. The glass is either half full or half empty. You can choose to focus on the bad or see the good. I choose to be a half full, see the good kind of guy. Life’s a lot more fun that way.

Better yet, the way to look at life is to see it as a glass always brimming over because that’s what the life of faith through grace looks like. God is always good and we are always blessed and there is more than enough for those who know how and where to look.

That’s what I choose.

 

On a Rainy Good Friday

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I drove home in a monsoon. Or it felt like a monsoon to this Middle Tennessean. The picture above is a fairly accurate depiction of what I saw through my own windshield– not much at all– as I motored down the interstate. Twice, a passing car splashed a lot of water on my car and I literally couldn’t see anything for a few seconds that felt a lot longer than a few seconds. I gripped the steering wheel, prayed hard, and kept going.

I think I even passed through a small amount of hail, which I can safely say with almost 98% certainty was a first for me. I’ve never seen so many cars pulled over to the side of the road under overpasses to wait out the deluge. But I trudged onward, slowly and cautiously.

I was nervous, but not panicky. I figured that God was more than able to get me through the rain and it had to let up sooner or later. No rain, literal or figurative, can last forever.

On another Good Friday, there wasn’t a whole lot of sunshine. It was both literally and metaphorically one of the darkest days in the history of humanity. Jesus had breathed His last on the cross and they had taken Him down to be buried in a borrowed tomb.

I can read about it knowing the rest of the story, but for those living it in real time, they had no idea that a resurrection was coming. Those disciples who had fled during Jesus’ arrest had witnessed the crucifixion from afar. Or maybe they hid out and received reports from those who were there, Either way, they had seen their world end.

I’ve been there. I’ve been in places that felt like dead ends and wondered how I would ever get back.

But Easter is about a God who knows the way out of the grave. And though it may be Friday, Sunday’s comin’!

 

Being Present to the Present

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A few years ago, I bought a set of DVDs called Sunrise Earth. They are exactly what you think they are. Each program is 50 minutes of spectacular sunrises in some of the most beautiful places in the U.S., captured without any additional music or commentary. In short, the filmmakers let nature speak for itself.

I confess that I haven’t really watched any of these until very recently. I even forgot I had them.

But I rediscovered them and found myself watching the beauty of nature unfold. Instantly, I was in North Maine at Kidney Pond, watching a mother moose with her calf cavorting in the water. I could literally feel my blood pressure falling and a feeling of calm and serenity coming over me.

I confess. Too often, I don’t see the nature in front of me because I’m too focused on where I have to be on Wednesday or something coming up on Sunday. I fret and I worry about what may or may not happen in the future or what could or should have happened in the past.

I can’t change either one of those. I can choose to live in this present moment and be alive to all that God is unveiling before me. I can choose to look out my window and see the sunset (or God forbid, actually forklift myself out of bed at the ungodly crack of dawn to witness a sunrise).

I can also choose to be thankful for the moment I’m living in. I can decide that I don’t want to be so obsessed over the future and the past that I miss this present. Jesus said that tomorrow will take care of itself. And that God will take care of you when that tomorrow comes. It won’t make one bit of difference if you worry or not, because fretting over the future won’t change one iota of it.

So I’m going to continue to be a broken record and say that I want to be fully present to where God has me right now, whether it’s everything I hoped it would be or not. I can look down at empty hands and see all that I am missing out on or I can see those hands as ready to receive all that God is preparing for me in a future that is so much bigger and wilder than anything I could ever dream of on my own. It’s all about my perspective.

It’s my choice. It’s your choice, too.

 

Maya Angelou, Twin Peaks, and Other Thursday Offerings

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I found out with the rest of the world when Maya Angelou died yesterday. I was saddened. More than than, I regretted not taking the time to know more about her. I had read one of her autobiographies a few months ago, but I honestly couldn’t say that I still remember much from that.

Her last tweet was “Listen to yourself and in that quietude you might hear the voice of God.”

I like that. I don’t think that I listen to myself because I myself am divine, but more like I listen to myself because God dwells in me as much as He dwells out there. I’m reminded of something Ralph Waldo Emerson said: ” ‘What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”

You can’t find quietude and stillness unless you take the time to interrupt your busyness and make space for quiet. You have to turn off the TV, turn off the radio/streaming/music device, and put down your phone. You have to be still and tune out all the distractions that the media is throwing at you from every angle. Then maybe you can hear God.

I can tell you more about Twin Peaks, an early 90’s short-lived TV series that I’ve been watching lately. It is odd and compelling. It’s got David Duchovny in drag. I think that says it all. You probably need serious drugs to understand what all goes on during each episode. At least I think so.

There were only 29 episodes in the series and I have seen 23. I think there was a sort of prequel movie that followed. Only in Hollywood would that last sentence make sense.

But yes, it is Thursday, which makes tomorrow Friday. There will never ever be a time when that is not a good thing. I always love Fridays even when I’m not working. Because Friday always leads to sleeping in on Saturday and church on Sunday. Both of those are favorites of mine.

So, RIP Maya Angelou. And Happy Friday to all of you.

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Easter Season Liturgy Part V

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“O God, Creator of heaven and earth:  Grant that, as the crucified body of your dear Son was laid in the tomb and rested on this holy Sabbath, so we may await with him the coming of the third day, and rise with him to newness of life; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.”

So I did the whole downtown Franklin thing again. It always does my heart good to be back there, revisiting my favorite haunts and breathing in the perfect spring night air.

I don’t really know what to do with the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter. It seems so low-key compared to the tragic drama of Friday and the joyful triumphant victory of Sunday.

But I know what’s coming. I wonder what those disciples were thinking and feeling. Or the Marys. It must have seemed like the lowest point of their lives. All of their hopes and dreams and been awakened and they had only just begun to hope, then it was dashed and broken to pieces beyond recognition.

The one they thought would save them was dead in a tomb. They had seem the bloodied body, seen the moment when the spear went into Jesus’ side and both blood and water poured out. There was no doubt.

I’m glad I’m on this side of history and I know what’s coming. I know with the next sunrise comes Sunday and the empty tomb and a risen Christ. That’s where my hope lies.

I can’t imagine people whose faith won’t allow for miracles or resurrections. Would that even be faith at all? What if Jesus’ death were only an example and the only way He lived was in the memories of His followers? What kind of hope would that be?

Only a literal resurrection can give true hope. Only a Jesus who’s really and truly alive, with the wounds in His hands, feet, and side, could inspire the joy of Easter. That’s why I can’t wait for tomorrow and the celebration that comes with it.

 

My Salvation Story

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I’m sitting here on this gorgeous Fall Sunday, watching the embarrassing end to an embarrassing footfall game. By that, I mean my beloved Tennessee Titans losing to the previously winless Jacksonville Jaguars. Can we say, “Bye-bye, playoffs?”

In much happier news, I’ve been reflecting on my own salvation experience.

I can tell you what my salvation is not:

It is not based on me walking an aisle or signing a card 30 years ago. If my salvation is fire insurance from hell and nothing more, then it’s not legit. If all I did was pray a prayer and recite some words, then I’m just as lost as I was then.

It’s not knowing facts about Jesus or attending church or being born to Christian parents or being American or Republican or knowing all the Christian buzzwords. None of that.

It’s about when I gave up control of my life to Jesus. It’s when I said YES to everything Jesus has for me.

I was saved (justification) once and for all the day I opened my heart to Jesus and let Him begin His work in me.

I am being saved (sanctification) daily by putting off my old sinful self and putting on Jesus. Or you could say, I’m being saved by Jesus finishing what He started in me like He said He would.

I will be saved (glorification) when Jesus comes back for good and all those annoying sin habits and destructive thought patterns go away forever. When I become what God has already declared me to be– a perfect replica of His Son Jesus.

As Pastor Mike Glenn says, if I don’t live it, I don’t believe it. No matter how eloquent my words are, they mean nothing if I don’t live what I preach.

I’m so glad it’s not up to me being good enough or smart enough or strong enough. I’d never make it. Thankfully, it was and is and always will be about how Jesus found me and rescued me and did for me what I could never to for myself.

That calls for a celebration, don’t you think?