Why I don't like April Fool's Day

Two reasons why I don't like April Fool's Day: One, I'm not a good liar (which I suppose is good since I'm a minister) so it's difficult for me to pull pranks , and two, I don’t like being made a fool.  That can be a good thing too since the Bible doesn’t speak very highly of fools.

The book of Proverbs uses the word fool more than any other in the Bible which makes sense since its purpose is to make us wise, the opposite of being a fool.  A fool is useless, lazy, always dependent on others, mistake prone, and gets in a lot of messy accidents.  It's not a good thing to be a fool, but how does one actually become one?

There are many paths to foolishness but one sure way is mentioned in Proverbs 14:16 , "Fools are headstrong and reckless."  Fools don’t listen to others and they have no restraints.

In college, a friend and I had an internship at a church about an hour away from school.  One Sunday morning we jumped in his car to be there for Sunday services and as we approached the turn to the church I told Art we need to make a left.  He just sailed by.  When I told him he responded with the comforting words, "I know but my brakes aren’t working well."  We were in a car with no brakes.  I never told my mother that story.  Moms are not too fond of their sons driving in cars in with no brakes, and rightfully so. 

Imagine buying a car and as the salesperson rifles through all the options and perks he casually mentions that the car does not come with brakes.  How ridiculous would that be?  Brakes are not an option, they’re a standard feature.  Every car has brakes and every life needs them too. 

Fools live their lives with no brakes!

There are a lot of "no's" in the Bible and sometimes we are critical of God for all his prohibitions.  But really these "Thou shalt not's" are the braking system for our lives.  Wise people know that life is full of twists and turns and stop's and go's.  Wise people know that brakes - prohibitions - are vital to a safe trip.  If you really think about, even cars without brakes eventually stop -- usually when they run into a wall, or a pole, or another car, or when they fall in a ditch.  When fools stop it's really messy and a lot of people get hurt.

There may be some things in your life that you need to put the brakes on.  It may be sex, or greed, or pride, or alcohol, or lust, or drugs, or anger.  So, use your brakes before you crash!

A fool is reckless.  A fool never uses his brakes.  A fool ends up hurting himself and others.  Don’t be a fool.

Trust the Physician

A few years back I tore my achilles tendon playing church softball. I've heard it said that church athletics are the most dangerous activity known to man:  washed-up athletes trying to relive their glory, and often times imagined glory at that. It sometimes doesn’t end well and it didn't for me that warm summer Friday night as I chased down a ball from my position at second base.  I heard the snap, fell to my face, and limped my way through the rest of the game.  That's right, I finished the game.  It's one of the proudest moments of my life.  I guess I was in denial because it took me several weeks to eventually go to the doctor when the MRI determined I indeed had a tear.  Surgery was scheduled.

The surgery went well but that was just the beginning of the healing process. The initial cast would have to be replaced every couple of weeks and my ankle repositioned to stretch out the repaired tendon.  I'll never forget that first follow-up appointment.

The first cast was removed (what a relief for my leg to breathe again) and I was told by my doctor to lay face down on the treatment table and raise my injured leg to a 90 degree angle.  He then started to stretch out the repaired tendon.  As he put pressure on the bottom of my foot I remember that the pain was almost as intense as the injury itself, and I actually feared that he was going to tear the tendon all over again.  I told him that and his reply was less than encouraging.  "If I tear it I'll repair it again for free," he said.  Not the words I was hoping to hear.  I really wanted him to stop hurting me, but he didn't.

Part of me wanted to jump off the table escaping this torture and limp my way through the rest of my life. But I stayed.  I allowed the pain.  I risked being reinjured.  Why?  I trusted my doctor. If anyone else were to throw me to the ground and do to my leg what my doctor was doing I would do all I could to escape.  But I believed my doctor knew what he was doing, so I endured the pain. I believed that this pain would lead to healing and wholeness.

Discipleship requires us to make some tough decisions.   There are times when we hear God calling us to self-denial, and pain, and cross-bearing.  Jesus himself wrestled with tough decisions, just like we do.  In the Garden Of Gethsemane he anguished over the upcoming pain of the cross and, as painful as that decision was, he decided to pursue the will of God over his own will.  He, like you and me, was tempted to jump off the table of discipleship but he stayed.  He stayed because he trusted.  He endured the pain knowing that it would lead to healing and wholeness, not just for himself but for all of us.

My tendon is healed now.  I walk with no limp.  I can run and jump.  I am whole again because I trusted my doctor. I allowed him to inflict pain on me believing this pain would lead to wholeness. 

The path to healing often goes through the valley of pain.  Wholeness and maturity come at the expense of sacrifice and self-denial, and too many times we bypass that expense and go on the rest of our lives limping. If we fail to trust the Physician we will not experience healing. But when we do - when we trust him through the pain - we will be well.  Our feeble legs will be strengthened and we will once again run and jump.

The Marshmallow Test

I recently watched a video of an experiment administered to young children to test their ability to postpone gratification (watch the video below).  The child was seated at a table and set before them was a single  marshmallow.  They were given the option to eat the one marshmallow immediately or wait a while and be given an additional marshmallow.  It was entertaining watching them.  Some of the children immediately  gobbled the one marshmallow, others tantalizingly smelled the marshmallow, others would take little nibbles, many waited.  The experiment illustrates the choices each of us make to have it now or have more later.

Every day we face similar choices and we ask ourselves the questions, "Do I act on impulse or do I exhibit self control?"  "Do I indulge in the moment or do I delay some pleasure now so that I can enjoy a greater pleasure later?"

This matter has implications in all areas of our life, but certainly there is a spiritual component to this question as well.  Jesus and the other New Testament writers repeatedly taught that there is something beyond this world, some greater pleasure awaiting us. A second marshmallow, so to speak. They most often refer to this greater pleasure as heaven. Part of that teaching seems to be that in order to enjoy the greater pleasure, two marshmallows, we have to resist to some degree the lesser pleasure, one marshmallow.  The bottom line is whether we will live for now or live for later.

Many times we choose to live for now, and that makes a lot of sense.  Living for now is easy (it requires no discipline) and the reward is immediate (and we all are fond of immediate gratification).    Even though we often live for now, experience and wisdom teaches us that living for now is not always the best choice. In fact, I would say it is seldom the best choice.  It especially is not the best choice when it comes to life altering choices. How many people have you met that at the end of their life said something like, "I'm sure glad I acted impulsively all my life"?  

If living for now is not the best choice, then what are the merits for living for later?  If I have to exert self-control and delay gratification there has to be some good reason for doing that.   I believe that living for later has merit in so many areas of our life - from athletics, to education, to relationships, to just about anything we want to excel at.  Living for later is a prime contributor to success and satisfaction in almost every facet of life.  But I want us to focus on the spiritual merits.   

The biblical description of later (heaven) leaves no doubt that living for it is the far better option for at least these two reasons:  later is longer and later is better.  Any pleasure now has an expiration date. The pleasure of later will never expire.  Any pleasure now, regardless of how pleasurable it is, cannot compare to pleasure of later.  I know that's hard to believe, but the Bible is clear - heaven (later) is better than now (earth).  Far better.  Infinitely better.  So much better it is worth the wait; worth any sacrifice; worth any sense of self-deprivation.

We're all living the experiment. We're all at the table and all us face the choice.  And as we contemplate between the pleasure of now and the pleasure of later Jesus leaves us with this vital question:  "What do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?"

Most people are likable - if you know them

There are some people that are just outright unlikable.  You probably know a few.  I know that I do.  They have done things, said things, and approved of things that leave no doubt in your mind that they are not to be trusted, befriended, or respected.  You have first-hand knowledge of their despicable behavior. You may have even given them a chance to redeem themselves, but they consistently exhibit unlikable behavior.  Sad but true, there are some people like that.

Then there are other people that you may not like but you really don’t have any hard evidence against them.  Maybe they just strike you the wrong way.  Maybe you've heard some rumors or gossip about them and have made a judgment based on hearsay.  Maybe you don’t know them well but you've heard enough about them to categorize them in your unlikable file.

I've felt that way about some people and, to my own discredit, in some cases I have never really taken the time to know that person. I've never given them a chance to prove themselves, and so I guess I'll never really know that person and I'll go on not liking them.  However, there have been some cases when my first impression of a person may have been less than ideal, but after I got to know them I liked them.  In fact, that has been pretty typical.  Instead of listening to gossip or prematurely judging someone, I've found that most people are likable when you really get to know them.

I think that's a pretty good approach in our relationships with others - get to know them rather than prematurely judge them.  I also think that's a pretty good approach in our relationship with God.

Seems like there are so many people who don’t like God, and it's those people especially whom I hope will read on.  I wonder sometimes if it's God you don’t like or the gossip or rumors or first impressions that you have about him that you don’t like.  I wonder if your feelings about him would change if you really got to know him.  Perhaps you would like him if you only got to know him better.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's a shame to not like God, or anyone for that matter, only because you don’t know him.  Like any relationship, it takes time and effort, but knowing God may be the most important thing you ever do.  Jesus thought so.  Jesus once said, "This is the real and eternal life: That they know you, the one and only true God."

In fact, I think that's why Jesus came. To show us who God is. To introduce us to him. To clarify any misunderstandings we have and to dispel all the false rumors.  And I think Jesus was pretty convinced that if we really get to know God we'd naturally like him.  Jesus seemed to think that once we really see who he is then that relationship would unlock a quality of life unlike anything we've ever experienced.

So the question may not be, "Do you like God?"  The real and more important question is, "Do you know God?"

If you don’t know him, he invites you.  If you do know him, he calls you to know him deeper.  In knowing him, you have life - real and eternal life.

Christmas - God's Personal Invitation

Have you ever shown up at someone’s front door for a party and as soon as you’re greeted by the host you realize you weren’t invited? The tongue-tied greeting gives it away, and soon all doubt is removed when the host hollers back to the kitchen to see if there’s enough food for another guest.  Awkward! 

Or how about you show up at the restaurant where you’ve overheard a group of co-workers conspire to have lunch and when you walk up to the table you see there are no empty seats.  A well-intentioned invitee asks the table next to them if that extra chair is available and they squeeze you in between two other people whom you can’t believe were included over you.  Embarrassing!

It’s painful not to be invited.  And even if you've never suffered the embarrassment of showing up uninvited it’s agonizing to be asked by a friend why you weren’t at the lunch, the party, the wedding, the celebration and your only honest yet heartrending response is, “I wasn’t invited.”  We all long to be invited and when we are not we often look to disparage the inviter.  We accuse them of snobbery, elitism, ignorance, or just being too big for their britches!  We argue ourselves into believing that we wouldn’t have accepted the invitation even if they had hand delivered it themselves.

God has been and can be accused of many things, but no one can bring the charge against him of not inviting.  Without doubt, his invitation comes with some terms but the invitation is open to everyone and this is no more evident than in the life of Jesus.  In fact, Jesus is accused of being too open as he invites and accepts invitations from people whose names were never found on invitation lists.

Throughout human history God has been inviting us through prophets, priests, and preachers but the birth of Christ, Christmas itself, perhaps is the most compelling of God’s invitations. You see, Jesus didn’t come to earth on a vacation.  Who leaves a perfect paradise for a fallen planet?  Jesus didn’t come to earth on a fact-finding mission.  Do we think God doesn’t know what’s happening here?  Jesus didn’t come here to judge us.  We do a pretty good job at that. Jesus came here to invite.  Jesus came here to let us know beyond any doubt that God finds no greater joy than having you at his party.  And to make that perfectly clear he didn’t just send prophets, priests, and preachers - he came himself.  This season every time you look at a nativity scene you’re seeing a personal invitation.  The divine hand made human extending itself to all of us.  A poignant reminder that you are indeed invited to the grandest event the world will ever know.

No more awkward greetings.  No more scrambling for an extra chair.  In God’s kingdom you’re always welcomed with enthusiasm and there’s always a seat just for you. 

Brewed, not rushed

I'm told that smells have the power to evoke powerful memories and one of those smells in  my life is fresh brewed coffee.  Every morning of my high school days started with my dad drinking his morning cup of coffee and, although I don’t drink it, the smell always reminds me of those mornings.

My dad had one of the oldest drip coffee makers known to mankind. In fact, it may have been the original.  As I remember it, the coffee grounds would be placed in an upper chamber and boiling water would be poured in and slowly the water would seep through the grounds and collect in the lower chamber as coffee.  It may have taken a while for the process, but for him it was well worth the wait.

I often wonder how my dad would take to these modern cup-at-a-time-in-a-minute coffee  makers we have today. He would likely say something like,  "Son, it takes time to make a good cup of coffee.   Trying to make a cup of coffee in a minute just doesn't work."  And, " You might have a cup of brown water there but is it really worth drinking?"  I suspect he would ask for his old drip coffee maker. 

Now those modern cup-at-a-time-in-a-minute coffee makers may do the trick and my father's response may be way off base, but his logic may still be true.  Some things need to take some time.  Some things need to percolate.  Sometimes when things are rushed the results may be less than ideal.

James, the brother of Jesus and author of the New Testament letter that bears his name, reminds believers that there are at least two things that are better when not rushed.  He says, "My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry."  Speech and anger should never be rushed into.  They need to be brewed not hurried.

My experience and observation prove that to be so true.  The words I would like to retract are most often words that have rushed through my lips rather than having spent their proper time in my mind.  Anger has been destructive when it is reactive rather than thoughtful.  James would later say in the same letter that an untamed tongue has the destructive power of an uncontrolled fire.

The smell of coffee reminds me of those cold New England mornings and the time it took my dad to brew himself a good cup of joe.  It also reminds me that some things take time.  That smell reminds me that words and anger are two of those commodities that really aren't worth the effort until they have had ample time to percolate.  James' words ring true: Be slow to speak and slow to become angry.