Judge away

I'm preaching about service and ministry with the poor this Sunday and yet again I am convicted and humbled by the number of passages in the Scriptures that highlight God's preference for those on the outside looking in.

And yet people still want to judge one another based on their stance on issues like homosexuality because of a handful of passages. If you want to judge me or Urban Village Church, judge us on how we're treating the outcast and you'd probably find that we're lacking.

Speaking of homosexuality, though, I appreciated this podcast from Being (formerly Speaking of Faith): http://bit.ly/duDJG6. It's entitled "Restoring Political Civility: An Evangelical View."

Slowly out of the funk

I've been in a bit of a funk the last few days and it mainly stems from "productivity" and "results." We seem to have a big cloud of witnesses who have come to Urban Village at least once. Word seems to be spreading. And yet average worship attendance hasn't increased like we thought. I fret way too much about this and it weighs me down.

So, last night, I did something small. That always seems to help. I was at a neighborhood community meeting (and a contentious one at that--I'd never experienced anything like it) and the room was packed with people who wanted to talk about things like parking spaces and parks. These are the things that can get the community juices flowing. About 45 minutes into the meeting, I noticed an older woman standing and listening. I stood up and offered my chair and she acted as if I'd just awarded her the lottery.

This morning, I was walking through Daley Plaza and a guy was standing on the corner handing out free tastes of Dove chocolate. I stopped by to get one and he told me, "Take a handful." So I did. I had a meeting in the Chicago Temple (First United Methodist) and shared my chocolate largesse with folks who worked in the building, brightening their day. One woman commented, "I really needed this today."

Such small, small things. But it's amazing how service can trump self-pity.

Mary's witness

From my contribution to our eNews:

Tuesday was World AIDS Day and, rightfully so, emphasis has been given in recent years on the AIDS epidemic in Africa. While that certainly deserves our attention, I also remember Darryl on Dec. 1.

I first moved to the Chicago area in 1992 and soon started volunteering with an organization that was then called Open Hands Chicago. My task was pretty simple--deliver meals in the Uptown and Edgewater neighborhoods to people with AIDS who were unable to make meals for themselves. Darryl was one of those people. We were never close, but our relationship reminded me that there were real people at these addresses who struggled as they lived with this disease.

It's appropriate that World AIDS Day comes during the Advent season. While I enjoy the pre-Christmas preparation as much as anyone (I'm listening to "Silent Night" on Pandora as I type this), it's important to remember the radical words that Mary sang when she discovered that she was pregnant: "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowlinesss of his servant...He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty" (an excerpt from Luke 1:46-55).

Mary reminds me that God came first to the the forgotten, the sick, the lonely. We must never forget that because the only way that God will lift up the lowly and fill the hungry with good things is through you and me doing things like delivering meals, advocating for the voiceless, and loving the lonely.