Saying yes again and again

The first time I went into their home, I immediately noticed the pictures on the wall next to the staircase. I had been invited over to have some coffee with some new acquaintances and there on the wall leading upstairs were a series of pictures. They were all of the couple, but you could tell that in each picture they were each changing ever so slightly. I asked them about it and they told me that every year on their anniversary, they renew their wedding vows and they take a picture to commemorate it. I kind of liked that sense not just of commitment, but also of recommitment.

It's a big decision to commit to someone or something, but it's an even bigger decision to make that conscious commitment day after day after day, whether you give yourself to another person or a job or a personal goal. Or God.

There are lots of stories in the Bible where God asks for a commitment from a person or a group of people and there are just as many stories in the Bible of these same people who either flee from this commitment or who simply say, no thanks. It's not always an easy thing to say yes to God because usually that means our lives change. I believe they change for the better, but, still, they do change.

I also believe that God asks all of us for some kind of commitment. Sometimes we name that a "call," either to a vocation (everything from a teacher to a small-business owner) or an action (maybe raising money for Haiti or working to reform our country's immigration policies). But I do believe that the request is made and it's always a request that's based in God's deep and abiding love for each of us.

It can be a scary thing to say yes to God's call. But once we do, it helps to say yes each day, even on the days when our heart's not in it. God's heart can make up for the rest.

On the bus

I had an interesting discussion yesterday with a young adult who's a social worker/community organizer. Two nuggets from that conversation: First, she attends a small church in Logan Square (or it may be just north of there) and they engage in communal fasting during Lent. A couple years ago, for example, they made a covenant to give up plastic. Three years ago, they made a covenant to not buy non-essential items. I was really impressed with this. We focus a lot on individual fasting during Lent, but I haven't heard or read much about communal spiritual practices. Second, she observed that friends of hers who used to attend non-denominational churches have been interested in converting to Catholicism. One of her friends noted that she likes the idea of going to church or engaging in something and knowing that there are countless others around the globe hearing and doing the same thing. I believe there's still a desire for community in this age of hyper-individualism.

Also, I spent a lot of time on buses yesterday. The Chicago Transit Authority is making some route cuts in a few weeks and I wonder just what impact this is going to have on some of the neighborhoods I was riding through. One thing I still can't understand is why all senior citizens (regardless of income) get free rides on buses and trains. I know why it happened--our infamous former governor thought it would secure support from this voting bloc, but is it that big of a sacred cow now that it can't be reviewed?

Had a really good day yesterday--a strong sense of the Spirit of Christ within me.

The virtue of curiosity

One of the best things about this new gig as a church planter is the conversations I have with a wide variety of people. The end of last week was a dramatic example of this, but it's a case in point.

I met with a man last Friday who's the executive director of a homeless organization in the Pilsen neighborhood, a predominantly Mexican area just south and west of the Loop. He served 12 years in prison for accessory to murder and the stories he told me were fascinating. He talked openly about his time in prison, what he learned and how it actually helped him. He also talked frankly about homelessness and Pilsen. In fact, as we were talking about gangs, he went over to his white board and started drawing a map of the neighborhood, highlighting which blocks "belonged" to which gangs. I'm used to a white board being used for, you know, church retreats and stuff like that. Never this and a few scales fell from my eyes about the reality of the city.

The very next day I had a conversation with a woman who's a managing editor of Playboy. We were both volunteering at the same site for the Chicago Cares Day of Service and, since we both live in the same neighborhood, she gave me a ride home from the site. I was really interested in her insights on media in today's society and also I was interested in learning what she knows about straight men. Our church seems to be reaching women and gay men pretty well, but we haven't connected with many straight men. I don't think we're that unusual because many churches also wonder how they can reach men. It was an engaging conversation and it reminded me of one of my tenets of ministry: More often than not, it is more helpful to ask questions than to make statements. Certainly we are called to proclaim certain things, but conversation flows a lot more freely when I begin with curiosity. Who is this person? What makes her tick? Why does he do he does? When conversations begin this way, not only do I learn a lot, but the other person is also usually curious about me and this new church. Only God knows where the conversation will end up, but I feel like I leave a lot more room for the Spirit to operate than if I only make declarations.

Curiosity is an underrated virtue.

Lessons of a snow tunnel

My kids and I built a great snow tunnel on Saturday. I wasn't sure that would be possible in the city, but the snow plows left a big pile of snow in our back parking lot that was perfect for digging and shaping. I must confess when they first asked me to come out with them I was a little hesitant because, well, it was really cold outside and really warm inside. I eventually went out and watched them attempt to build this fort until I was moved to join in the construction.

We slowly built a tunnel. I'd dig and shovel a while and then my 5-year-old would see if he could fit. If he couldn't, more digging and shoveling. Finally we got to the point where there was enough room for him to come through and it was hilarious to see. He came through head first and out popped his face with a look of pure joy on it.

This tunnel-building process came into my mind yesterday. I was thinking about all the work we've done for this new church and all the work that has yet be tackled and I got into that mode of worrying that I wasn't doing enough, I wasn't productive enough. That's not a good place to be. But, thanks be to God, the snow tunnel came to mind and became a great metaphor for me. No matter what I do during my day--whether it's official "church" stuff or whether it's riding a bus or spending time with my kids--I think I'm called to create a space (like, for example, a snow tunnel) for the joy of God to come through. The good news is that God doesn't need much space--a kind word, a listening ear, even eye contact can provide an opening for God to do some amazing things.

Podcast up

For those interested in listening to me, a podcast is up at my previous site. If you're interested, you can also subscribe to my podcasts (which, at this point, are sent out sporadically) by going to iTunes Store and typing in "genxrev" in the search engine. My page should come up and you can subscribe to it there.

It's the sermon I preached last Sunday night for our third service as Urban Village Church. It was a cold night and we didn't get quite the turn-out we had hoped for, but it was great to gather. We had the same number of people as we did for our first service, around 75 or so. I'll reflect more on this tomorrow.

My sermon this Sunday

I'm preaching this Sunday so I'm using the blog today to help organize my thoughts. It's a lot longer than my usual posts, so my apologies for that.

Santa was good to my kids this year. We got a Wii. I've never been a huge video game player so I wasn't terribly familiar with the Wii other than the few times I played at my mom's home in Iowa. I knew about the basic stuff--bowling, baseball, boxing--that comes with it and I knew there were a lot of other games out there, but it's a whole new world for me. The thing that surprised me, though, was the "game" that attracted my kids' attention the most. I don't even know if you can call it a game. There's a component of Wii called Mii where you can create new people to inhabit your own virtual community in addition to creating players for the various games you play. Ethan (our 5-year-old), especially, is fascinated by this. You can create people in literally all shapes, sizes, and colors and there are countless variations you can come up with including different eye, nose, and mouth shapes. As we head into a new year, I'm wondering how many people there are who would like to start their lives over and do it simply and easily--using a remote control.

I don't know about you, but I often feel like I'm told that I need to take control of my life if I want to create a whole new me. No one else is going to lose weight, quit smoking, read more, and find love for you. It's all up to you. There's some truth in that. But I think that can also put a lot of unnecessary pressure on us. I don't believe it starts with you or me. I don't believe that we are totally in control, as much as we may try. I believe it starts with God. Let me say that again. If we want renewal, it starts with God.

One of the great stories of renewal comes in the gospel of Luke--the story of Zacchaeus. While it's great that many of us know this story because of the songs we sang about Z when we were children (Zacchaeus was a wee little man...), I also wonder if we have relegated this story to the Sunday School and it's lost its power. We don't know a whole lot about Z. We know he was a chief tax collector which, in Jesus' day, meant that he was probably engaged in what we would call white-collar crime. The Romans needed to collect taxes and they hired "consultants" to collect these taxes. People like Z would pay a lump sum to the Roman authorities up front and then hire other people to go collect the taxes from the common people. As you can imagine, chief tax collectors charged extra in order to line their own pockets. So, Z was a chief tax collector and he was rich. And, as we know from the song, he was short. In this story in Luke 19:1-10, Z is interested in Jesus' entry into Jericho. The text doesn't tell us why. This is what I'm curious about. Why does Zacchaeus want see Jesus? Is he simply curious because he's heard about him? Does he feel like maybe he needs to make a change in his life? Z leaves himself open to ridicule by running and climbing a tree so I have to believe that there's something more than curiosity at play here. No matter what the motive, though, Jesus affirms Z (which, as often happens, leaves Jesus open to scorn because he once again breaks cultural norms and barriers) by inviting himself to Z's house. Later in the story, Z changes. Big time. He gives half of his possessions to the poor and, in a sense, turns over a new leaf. Could Z have done this without Jesus? Could he have said, I'm going to take control of my life and become a new Zacchaeus all by myself? I doubt it.

You may have heard of a new book that just came out that's called "Living Oprah" where a Chicago woman (Robyn Okrant) vowed to live her life in 2008 by following the advice offered by Oprah Winfrey. The book is taken from a blog and I took some time this week to read how her life changed because of this decision. I mainly just read what Oprah advised in January 2008 plus a few other things, too. Some of Oprah's advice:

No more paper or plastic bags at the grocery store. We will bring our cloth bags with us on every trip.

Changing light bulbs to energy efficient bulbs.

Women need to get their clothing altered to fit them. Especially their jeans.

Have beautiful surroundings.

Live your own truth.

Switch from overhead lighting to lamps; put stuff up on my walls that might become art when I hang it, but isn't necessarily thought of as art; add sea life to a room add a fabulous chair to each room; frame important notes; add books about subjects you love to your space; make your rooms personal.

On Monday, Oprah says diet, so we diet. On Tuesday, Oprah says eat a waffle cone full of ice cream, so we eat a waffle cone full of ice cream.

See "Juno" asap.

Read the Dr. Christiane Northrup book, Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom.

Go to the movie "27 Dresses" and then go have margaritas.

Run out and get "A New Earth" by Eckhart Tolle then go to Oprah.com to register for for the 10-week, world-wide class that Eckhart and I will be teaching on A New Earth.

Each day we're meant to kiss our partner for 10 seconds. Pecking doesn't count. Actual 10 second quality kissing.

Look at our genitals.

Quite an array of advice. The book/blog seems to have gotten a lot of publicity and one thing I hope comes out of this is a discussion about who guides our lives and whose advice do we follow. Is it our culture? Is it Oprah? Is it ourselves? Or is it God?

It's difficult to get a handle on just how much influence other cultural messages have on us. We may think we're taking control of our own lives, but there are many voices that vie to be our voice. And they're often too successful. True renewal comes when we do our best to listen to one Voice, the voice that invites himself over to our home and our heart. God's voice. My mantra so far in 2010 has been to ask, "What is your desire, O God, in this situation?" I won't always follow it as I should, but I'm trying to make sure it's the main advice I'm following.

I resolve...

I'm all about resolutions. And not just resolutions for a new year. Each day, week, month, I try to take advantage of newness to improve some aspect of my life. As I type this, I realize it may read like I'm sort of insufferable self-improvement fanatic, but that's not the case. At least I don't think it is. I think it's more of my recognition that I am and always will be a work in progress and want to do all I can to be open to, well, progressing.

I try to keep my resolutions short and practical. Not sure if I make them realistic or not, but I give it a shot.

In 2010, I want to:

**Be intentional about having devotional time every day (I've slacked on this in recent months)

**Eat more fruit

**Send birthday cards. Real, paper birthday cards.

That's it. There are other things I also try to make progress on, but, for now, these will do. I thought about resolving to have a smaller carbon footprint. Certainly I'll try to do that, but I need to think of something that makes it more practical.