When a Symbol is Changed: Tragedy on Boston

I was saddened today when I heard the news that two bombs had exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon at a point in the race when this area was the most crowded.  I was even more saddened later when I heard that three people had passed away and nearly 80 had been treated for injuries.  When I heard the news I immediately thought of the World Trade Center bombing in New York in the 1993, the federal building bombing in Oklahoma City in 1995, and the bombing in Centennial Park in Atlanta during the 1996 Olympics.  I also thought of the scenes in Aurora and Newtown from the past year.  The images that flashed across the screen seemed more like a scene from Batman than actual reality.  It seems that as soon as the news stops their daily conversation about the last major tragedy another one happens.

I mourn at the loss of life.  I feel empathy for those who were affected.  My heart breaks for those who were harmed, mentally or physically, and my mind wonder why an event like this happens.  I wonder how a person could be so evil as to plan and carry out an event like this.  I wonder what kind of hate has to permeate a person's heart in order for them to carry out mass murder.  My mind was filled with questions, many of which I will never know the answer to.  I can't explain what leads a person to do something like this, but I know what could have saved them.  I don't know what to say to those who mourn, but I know they will be comforted (Matthew 5:4). 

The sight of the explosion struck me in a particular way.  Whoever carried out this bombing chose a scene of jubilation and celebration as the scene for fear and terror.  A finish line is a symbol of accomplishment and joy, and today it was turned into one of confusion and panic.  It was clear to me that the person (or persons) who did this did so to take a positive symbol and turn it into a negative one.  As I contemplated this I couldn't help but think of the crucifixion of Jesus.  In the first century the cross was a symbol of pain and suffering.  Those who passed by Golgotha and saw men being crucified would have had feelings of disdain and disgust.  Jesus, however, didn't let the symbolism of the cross define him.  Through his resurrection, he defined what the cross meant.  After his resurrection people no longer looked at crosses with fear and no longer thought of death.  Now they look at the cross and have joy, being reassured of their salvation.

Just as Jesus took the cross, this negative symbol, and turned it into a symbol of salvation, I know that he can do the same with this event today.  Right now the scene is one of fear, death, and injury, but in time it will be redeemed and will again become a scene of victory and triumph.

There will be a lot of discussion in the next few days about why tragedies like these happen.  People will blame violent movies, the eroding of our educational system, the breakdown of the family, angry music, gay marriage, a lack of prayer in school, and on and on and on.  All of these explanations will miss the point, as the true cause of the problem will never be discussed.  These possible causes are merely symptoms of the real sickness: sin.  It is the sin within us that leads people to carry out such violent actions.  It is important to remember that we all sin and are in need of a savior.  It is because of this imperfection that God sent his perfect son to become perfection for us.  It is only Him who can save a hardened heart.

I know that good will come from this tragedy.  I know that God will work in and through this horrible experience.  I also know that we as Christians have the message that can bring comfort to those who hurt, clarity to those who question, and salvation for those that need saving.  May we never miss an opportunity to share the good news of Jesus with those who need it.

Christ! No more, no less.

Today on my way to work I popped my earbuds in and cranked up my audio Bible (exciting, I know).  As I have done a lot recently, I listened to the book of Colossians.  The book is the perfect length to get my from my apartment to the restaurant where I work, and it's message has been on my heart a lot recently, so it's something I've listened to almost daily for the past few weeks.

Every time I listen to this book, it is the end of the first chapter that speaks to me the most.

"This mystery has been kept in the dark for a long time, but now it's out in the open. God wanted everyone, not just Jews, to know this rich and glorious secret inside and out, regardless of their background, regardless of their religious standing. The mystery in a nutshell is just this: Christ is in you, so therefore you can look forward to sharing in God's glory. It's that simple. That is the substance of our Message. We preach Christ, warning people not to add to the Message. We teach in a spirit of profound common sense so that we can bring each person to maturity. To be mature is to be basic. Christ! No more, no less. That's what I'm working so hard at day after day, year after year, doing my best with the energy God so generously gives me."  Colossians 1:26-29 (The Message)

The part the stands out to me the most is the line that says that the message of the gospel is "Christ! No more, not less."  I feel that too often Christians forget that the message of the gospel is about Christ.  Too often we clutter it up with debates about historical accuracy, morality, apologetics, abortion, gay marriage, or Republican vs. Democrat, and we forget what the gospel is all about.  Apologetics and morality are important, but not at the sake of Christ, and his crucifixion and resurrection.

We need to always remember that the most important thing is Christ.  We need to spend less time arguing about politics and whether or not contraception is morally permissible for Christians, and spend more time sharing the love of Christ with people that need to hear about it.  Instead of telling women who consider abortion how evil they are we should tell them about the unexpected love of Christ for them and the life growing inside of them.  We need to stop telling homosexuals that they are ruining our country and that allowing them to marry will ruin the institution of the family, without first telling them about God's unconditional love for them and the redemptive blood of Christ.

I hope that I never ignore important social issues, but I also hope that I never lose sight of what is most important.  If my conversations can always come back to the cross, then I have done what I am called to do.  The power of the gospel is found in the empty tomb, not moral prohibitions.  God created us for heaven, and Christ came to save us to heaven.  The message is one of hope and love, not terror and torment.  Jesus' death and resurrection restores the relationship God created us for.  While it does save us from the fire of hell, it more importantly saves us to the glory of heaven.

We need to always be aware that the message is simple: Christ!  No more, no less.  May the story of Christ dwell in the front of our minds, and drip off our lips.

Spiritual Growth Through Gardening

First, an apology.  It's only the second day of Lent, and I didn't get a blog post.  In my defense, it was written on Thursday, but I was having issues getting it to format and post correctly, so I went to bed and posted it this morning.  Please forgive me.

My church recently purchased two properties behind our campus with the intent of eventually demolishing the houses and planting a community garden.  When this first of these properties became available to us at an almost unbelievable price, we considered purchasing it simply because of how inexpensive it was, with no real vision or purpose for the property.  While discussing the possibility of purchasing this land, our pastor read an article about community gardens, and while doing so developed a vision to see this property turned into our own community garden.  Now with a vision, we moved forward with the purchase.

While we had a vision for this newly acquired land adjacent to our boarders, we still didn’t have a firm plan as to how to move forward.  Very shortly after this, however, a new family came to our church with a passion and clear direction for a community garden.  God took a church with a vision for a garden, and a family with a plan for one, and married them together.  A few months later we were able to purchase the property next to the one we had already obtained, to give us two lots that we could develop.

While this project is still in its infancy (both houses are still standing) it is exciting to see how God is moving and how he has already moved in the project.  The thing that I am most excited about is the way that life transformation can come through a garden.

A community garden truly is a communal effort.  It will be built and maintained not only by members of the church, but also by people who live in the neighborhood around the garden.  The surrounding neighborhood is one of the poorest in one of the poorest areas in Columbus.  Almost all of the people who live on the street rent the houses they live in, and many of the houses are vacant and boarded up.  This is an area with very little hope, and gardening teaches hope.  When you plant something, it doesn’t appear the very next day, or even the day after.  Growth takes time, and you have to have hope that what you plant will eventually grow into a fruit of vegetable.  If you don’t have hope, you won’t take the steps necessary for growth.  You won’t pull the weeds, water the plant, or prune the branches.  If you have faith that what you planted will grow then you will put in the work necessary to aid in that process.  People who have no hope of ever improving their situation similarly won’t put in the work to make improvement happen.  If we can teach people hope, we can teach them to put in the necessary work to see their hope come to fruition.

The garden is an important motif throughout scripture.  Jesus even compares the spread of the gospel to a man who goes out to plant a garden.  Some of the seed he scatters is devoured by birds, some begins to grow but soon dies because it has no root structure, and some sprouts quickly but is choked out by weeds.  Some, however, falls on good soil where it grows and thrives, producing a harvest much greater than what was sown.  This is like the gospel where many will hear, and some will sprout up, but will quickly fall away because of the cares of the world or a lack of depth in their faith.  However, some will grow and thrive, and will even lead to a greater harvest as they take the message of the gospel that brought them life and share it with others.

 

Paul also speaks of spiritual growth in terms of a garden.  He talks about how some are called to plant seeds, some are called to water, but it is God’s Holy Spirit that causes growth.  We see this same principal at work in an actual garden.  We can plant a seed, water it, and do all of the necessary things for growth to happen, but we cannot make the plant grow.

Life is always seen as beginning in a garden in the Bible.  When God created man he placed him in a garden.  Jesus' resurrection happened in a tomb that was found in a garden.  Just as life appears anew in a garden every spring, new life in Christ comes through the garden.

I am excited to see the change that happens at my church and in my community in the coming months and years as we plant a garden together.

Eating Alone

Today I was at what I call my "other job," working part-time as a server at a well known chain Italian restaurant.  At one of my tables was a man, probably in his late 20's or early 30's, who came in to eat by himself.  We have a lot of people that come in and eat alone, and as a 26-year-old bachelor who occasionally eats out alone myself, I typically don't find anything odd about people eating solo.  For some reason today though, I felt my heart breaking for this single man eating alone.

"Who was he?" I wondered.

"What is his story?"

"Does he know Jesus and have a relationship with him?"

Questions like these began to run through my mind as my heart felt heavy for another human being whose eternal destiny might be in jeopardy.  I began to quietly pray in the side station, not knowing where he stood with our Creator.

As I took his food out to him and brought him drink refills I began to chat with him a bit.  We were slow today, so I had some extra time to stop and talk.  My primary intention was simply to connect with him and let him know that he wasn't alone.  At the end of his meal I brought him his check, and we are supposed to give every guest what are called "Guest Connection Cards."  We are supposed to write a little message on one side, then ask the guest to leave us a comment on the back.  No matter what I write on the card, I always end it with "God bless."  Today was no exception.

After he had left I went and retrieved the card from the table.  He had left a note on the back thanking me for my service and for the great food, then he signed it "God bless. 1 John 3:16."  I was relieved to know that this man wasn't alone and that his eternal destiny in heaven was assured.

I knew that 1 John 3:16 was a familiar verse, but I couldn't recall what it was off hand, so I pulled out my phone, opened my Bible app, and quickly did a search.  Everyone is familiar with John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."  In my opinion, 1 John 3:16 is an equally important verse for Christians to know, and one that may be nearly as recognizable, even if the reference isn't always known.

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.  And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

As Christians we are supposed to follow the example of Christ, and 1 John 3:16 tells us that we ought to lay down out lives for our brothers, just as Christ laid down his life for us.  Most of us will never have the opportunity to actually lay down our life and die in order to save the life of another person.  However, we do have the opportunity to lay down our lives for our brothers.  Every day we have the opportunity to lay down our desires, ambitions, pride, and fear; and instead pick up the cross of Christ and share our faith with others.  When we deny our own desires for the sake of others we are laying down our life.

As Christians we have been given an unimaginable gift.  Not only have we been saved from death by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but we have been given a message that can save others as well, and God has chosen us to be His messengers.  We have one primary responsibility as Christians, and that is to share the good new of Jesus Christ with those who do not know him.

We have two accounts from scripture of what Jesus' last words were before ascending into heaven.  One comes to us from the book of Acts, when Jesus tells his disciples that they will be his "witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8b).  The second and more well known account of Christ's final words is commonly know as the Great Commission and it is found in the book of Matthew.

I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth! Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to do everything I have told you. I will be with you always, even until the end of the world.
Matthew 28:18-20

This is THE Cause of Christ, and this is the cause that all Christians are called to.  This is what we ought to be doing.  Sharing this message with everyone we can is how we lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.  The message of Jesus Christ is so overwhelmingly beautiful and powerful that we cannot sit around and keep it to ourselves.  It is so true and transformational that we should be doing everything we can to take that message to a world that needs to hear it.

I'm sick and tired of seeing Christians gather in church buildings waiting for the lost to come to them. Jesus didn't say to sit around, build buildings, and run programs.  He told us to "GO!"  Church isn't a building, it's what Christians do outside of that building.  It's what they do the other 575 hours each week when we aren't at church that really matters.  I want my church to be filled with broken people looking for healing.  I want my church to be filled with lonely people in need of companionship.  I want my church to be filled with sinners in need of a savior.  And I want people to leave my church building every week excited about sharing the good news of the gospel with everyone they meet.  I want their hearts to break, like mine did today, for strangers and friends alike.  I want them to be so convicted by THE Cause and so overwhelmed by God's love that they can't help but lay down their lives for their brothers and share the message.

This is what life is really all about as a Christian.  It's not about getting the things that you want.  The only way to truly live is to die to our own desires, ambitions, pride, and fears; and to pick up the cross of Christ and share the good news with everyone we can.  We have been given a gift.  Let's not keep it to ourselves.