Who's the Judge?

Say among the nations, “The Lord is king! The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved. He will judge the peoples with equity.” - Psalm 96:10 (NRSV) 

There's been quite a stir lately in society. In a historic decision, the Supreme Court of the United States has ruled in the affirmative of same-sex marriage, over-ruling state marriage amendments and requiring every state to recognize and legalize same-sex unions. Regardless of which side of the fence you're on, there seems to be a general agreement that the impact of this ruling has yet to be fully fleshed out in everyday life and, just as impacting upon the collective conscience of society, the debate is far from over.

I have friends, all of whom would classify themselves as fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ, who have diametrically opposing views concerning the issue of gay marriage. I have taken time to read their blogs and the multitudes of Facebook comments and conversations. I've taken time to read various opinions from authorities I respect on this and other important issues. I've gleaned a lot from the experience and am now ready to post my opinion.  

Here's what I think...you might want to buckle up for this.

I don't think the real issue is gay marriage. Much like a doctor would tell you that the swollen lymph node is not the primary issue, (it's merely a symptom of something else) I believe the issue of human relationships and the exercise of human sexuality is grounded in whose authority we live under. Another way to state it is something you're likely to hear if you bring up the topic of authority in regard to just about anything these days: "Who are you to judge?"

In my mind, that's the essential question. It's a question that is rooted in philosophy and theology in my opinion...not merely sociology. Let me try and explain what I mean. Many people today are living in the tension of two different philosophies that intersect on a hundred different stages each day. These philosophies are "modern" and "post-modern."

Many middle-of-the-road Evangelicals have been warned of the heresy of "post-modern" thought without ever really considering what it means. There are components of "post-modern" thought that I feel are quite helpful. But to explain what I mean, let me give an overly simplified understanding of "modernist" philosophy.

Modernists look at the world through the eyes of what can be quantifiable. Science is king. Nothing wrong with science. Science reveals a lot to us about the character of God and the majesty of His creation. However, when we apply "logic" and "scientific method" to defining God we run a great risk. We run the risk of putting ourselves on the same "level" of God in order for us to "quantify and qualify" God. Much of systematic theology and apologetics is formed from a modernist perspective and approach. A lot of it is very good. However, the shadow side of such a perspective is that we can actually impose "our" definitions and limitations upon God.

Postmodernists look at God from a different perspective. They question the concept of "knowing." Are there realms in which "knowing" can be found outside of quantifiable realms and the Scientific Method? I believe there are. How does one prove that love exists much less the existence of God? How can one quantify and define the existence and experience of the human soul? If we, as finite human beings, can stand on the same level as God and (based upon our assertions) put God in a box of our definition, then we all would have reason to join Nietzsche in asserting that "God is dead and we have killed him."  

There is much to find in both philosophical camps that is worthy of consideration. There is much to find in both camps that is debatable. Interestingly enough, both camps have an "authority" in question and it's not who we think. We are the authority in question. Even those in the post-modern camp start their inquiry from a set of glasses that looks outward at God. Both the modernist and the post-modernist make claims about the nature of God and His ways from their personal perspective and bias. Such is the nature of human inquiry.  

What if there were another basis for authority. What if it began from a perspective other than human "reasoning" about God? I believe there is such authority. It's called revelation.  The Book of Hebrews shares this about the person of Jesus:

"The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word." (Hebrews 1:3, NIV)

Second Corinthians 5:19 has this to share about the unique revelation of Jesus:

"God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them." (NIV)

So, in the words of an esteemed professor of mine, "If we want to know what God is like, we need to look at Jesus." Or in the words of Reuben Welch, former professor and chaplain at Point Loma Nazarene University, "God is the type of Father who would have a Son like Jesus."

I'm sure by now you're probably wondering what any of this has to do with the Supreme Court ruling, the issue of Gay Marriage and how we go about life and living in the 21st century.  In a word: everything. If God has revealed Himself to us in a human being, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, then He is the authority we should appeal to in matters as difficult as the ones we face in today's world. If Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords, our opinion is secondary to His. So what do we find Jesus revealing?

1. God established marriage as a lifelong union between a man and a woman

4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? (Matthew 19:4-5; NIV)

In a heated discussion with the Pharisees over divorce, Jesus reaffirms marriage as a divinely instituted, lifelong commitment between a man and a woman. The issue was a settled one in Jesus' mind and the minds of those attempting to put Jesus in an ethically compromising position. I do find it interesting to note that Jesus affirms the reality of heterosexuals causing violence to God's desire for marriage and human flourishing. This reality should be taken into serious consideration and reflection when vehement arguments break out over what "Gay Marriage" has done to the institution of marriage. Heterosexuals have caused as much heartache and destruction in the realms of marriage, family and human relationships throughout history as the concept of "Gay Marriage." 

2. God has offered homosexuals and heterosexuals a lifestyle alternative to marriage

12 For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.” (Matthew 19:12; NIV)

This passage is intriguing and without getting into all the "nitty-gritty" of how one "becomes" a eunuch, let's focus our attention on what the eunuch does. A eunuch offers themself in service of another. They sacrifice much in order to give their total focus and devotion to the one they serve. Jesus has stated that there are those who "choose to live like eunuchs." Why? For the sake of the kingdom of heaven.

A lot of discussion and debate has been given to the topic of whether or not human sexuality is a product of genetics or choice. Many have claimed that they didn't "choose" their sexuality.  Others have claimed that everyone "chooses" their sexuality. My personal opinion is that humanity was created with sexual drives and that there are some individuals who genuinely experience same-sex attraction. The source of those drives is debated, and I have my own opinion (rooted both in psychology and theology) but at the end of the day I find myself asking a different question regarding whether or not a person is born "straight" or "gay." My question is this: 

Why can't a person, regardless of sexual attraction, choose to forgo sexual relationships for the sake of the kingdom of God to the glory of God.  

It seems to me that we are acting as "authorities in question" when we refuse to look at all the alternatives, especially one provided to us by the One who knows us better than we know ourselves. It seems to me that we are acting as "authorities in question" when we place sexual expression at the top rung of the ladder of human existentialism.  

Regardless of what culture or the entertainment industry would have us believe, sexual identification and expression is not the most important issue of life. Humanity will continue to search for identity and significance outside of the context of human sexuality. A spouse or a lover cannot fill that need indefinitely. The writer of Ecclesiastes tells us that: "He (God) has also set eternity in the human heart..." (Eccl. 3:11; NIV) Outside an intimate relationship with our Creator (John 1:3 tells us that all creation came into being through the pre-incarnate Christ) we will find the words of Bono to be true: "(we) still haven't found what (we're) looking for."

There have been many throughout history (regardless of orientation) who have forgone sexual expression and relationships and have found identification as a Child of God to be more than enough to inform their identity and leave a lasting legacy of significance. One need only consider individuals such as Mother Teresa and Father Damien (the Leper Priest of Molokai) to see that a life lived in service of God and the least of these can provide a sense of peace and joy and relational connection that lasts and informs longer than mere sexual expression.

I have friends and acquaintances who experience homosexual and heterosexual orientation. They're single and I can imagine that based upon what I've said in this blog regarding God's authority to define marriage and sexual expression within its confines they probably think I'm crazy. They also may be tempted to think that God's intentions and thoughts toward them must relegate them as second-class citizens. Actually, that couldn't be any further from the truth.

In the book of Isaiah, the prophet speaks for God in regard to the status of "eunuchs." It couldn't be any more significant:

Let no foreigner who is bound to the Lord say, "The Lord will surely exclude me from his people. And let no eunuch complain, "I am only a dry tree." For this is what the Lord says: "To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant - them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will endure forever."  (Isaiah 56:3-5; NIV)

That's a promise from Someone who has true authority. I realize that this blog doesn't solve all the issues at play. I also realize that many who read this may have different opinions and interpretations. That's ok. My only request is that while we engage very important issues of culture such as these, we start with a foundational question: "Who's the judge?"

The Love of Power and the Power of Love

"In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross!"  (Philippians 2:5-8, NIV)

Power.  It's something we all love.  If you don't think so, just try going without it for a while.  I was reminded of just how dependent we are upon power a few winters back when we lost all power for a few days.  It's something we take for granted until we don't have it, then it becomes something that is always at the forefront of our thoughts and effects our attitudes and actions.  Go without it long, and there are many people who will do just about anything to acquire it.

The love of power and the lack of power has created havoc throughout the years.  Church history is blighted with the use and misuse of power.  One could make a case that the Reformation was, in part, a movement against what many at the time believed to be the abuse of power by the Roman Catholic Church.  Unfortunately, it wasn't long until those who were "protesting" took a page out of the "power play" book themselves and committed their own set of atrocities in the name of God.  It would seem that regardless of where power resides, it has the potential to corrupt even the purest of intentions and institutions.  Truly, power does have the potential to corrupt, and absolute power, the opportunity to corrupt absolutely.

Why do we long for power?  Is it fear of not having control?  A fear of losing personal liberty and being controlled by another?  Is it a hunger to determine one's "fate" or a desire to "protect" the well-being of others according to one's own definition of "the good life" or "right and wrong?"  One thing we do know, power is a force to be reckoned with, and if handled poorly, the collateral damage leaves wounds that sometimes never fully heal.   

I've been preaching through the Sermon on the Mount at One Life Church on Wednesdays for the last couple of months.  If I've learned anything (and hopefully I've learned something!) it's that being a Christian is a weird way to be alive.  Some have referred to it as living out the "upside down" Kingdom of God in the midst of other defining stories that purport to be "right-side up."  As a people who are called follow a particular "way" of living, i.e. "the way of Christ," we are to go about our use of power differently.  And of course, our model is Jesus Himself.

The passage from Philippians above is perhaps one of the oldest Christian hymns that we have.  Many scholars believe it was in liturgical use by the church very early in its existence and it hits on a key concept in the example and "way" of Christ - self emptying.  Known as the "kenosis" passage, we are drawn to the illustration of Christ's self-emptying.  Other translations emphasize that Christ did not "regard equality with God as something to be grasped" (Phil. 2:6, NASB).  No grasping for power here.  No clinging to rights and privileges.  No clamoring for attention.  No "schmoozing" for position.  Just sacrificial service and suffering love.  A death to self so that others might live. 

In recent weeks there have been stories flooding the web and social media concerning the use of power.  The ones I'm most concerned about are not found in the halls of the Capital building or in the assembly of world leaders.  My concern, my pastoral confession today, is that my heart has been excessively burdened by stories concerning the use of power within the Church of the Nazarene.  Within a short period of time we have received reports concerning NPH, MNU (demotion of Randy Beckum) and most recently from the halls of NNU (firing of tenured professor Thomas J. Oord).

I do not claim to know all of the facts concerning any of these situations and there have been goodly amounts of content published online in the forms of blogs, essays, public relations releases and Facebook posts aimed at convincing the reader to take one side or the other.  I believe the reality of leadership, regardless of position, is one of making decisions that not everyone will agree with.  Sometimes leaders have to make difficult decisions based upon information that is unknown or unavailable to a wider audience and were we to have access to such information, we too might be inclined to make the same decision.  However, experience has shown that some decisions were actually "power plays" masked in the pristine language of good public relations, knowing that the good-hearted individuals who support the institutions will receive them with seemingly little reason to question the validity and motives of such actions.  This in itself is an abuse of power for its desire is to coerce another into a perspective they might not have come to otherwise.

The few "hard" facts I do know surrounding the aforementioned situations and circumstances have led me to ask a different set of questions, first of all of myself as a pastor who has "power" to make decisions, but also of the institutions and people that I love and respect.  These questions are asked by Dr. Dan Boone, President of Trevecca Nazarene University, in his book Preaching the Story that Shapes Us, p. 154:

• Will we side with the weak or the strong, the rich or the poor?
• Will our words be coercive or comforting, manipulative or corrective?
• Will our policies dehumanize or liberate?  Will we discriminate or be just?
• Will our attitudes be shaped by majority opinion or by Jesus' likeness?
• Will we skew the facts to secure our power base or tell the truth?
• Will we worship money or God?

The answer to these questions, in my opinion, will reveal a great deal of the "defining narrative" that is informing our perceptions of things like "right and wrong," "ethics," "power," and "leadership."  As I look at Christ's example, I don't see a love of power, but I most certainly see the power of love.  It was the power of love that was fully demonstrated to us on the cross of Calvary.  It was the power of love that communicated to the world (including the leaders whose abuse of power had put Jesus on the cross) the extent to which the stubborn love of God would go.  It's the power of God's love that has changed history.

I'm a firm believer that God's love is the greatest "power" in the world.  It's the power of God's love that can transform people, systems, even all of creation.  The love of Christ functioning and rising up within us gives us the power to die to self and self-interest and self-aggrandizement for the sake of the well-being of another...even those whom we deeply disagree with.  Perhaps it could be said that "love" is the true test of our use of power.  Perhaps it could be said that the "power" of our love is the true test of what Kingdom we're participating in.

So where do we go from here?  What brave routes do we take in this world filled with complexity and the challenges that come with the use of power?  Professor Oord's own words give us good counsel:

    When we choose the best to which God calls in any particular moment, we act in holiness.  In that moment, we are "perfect...as [our] heavenly Father is perfect" (Matt. 5:48).  In that moment, we love.  Responding appropriately to God's prevenient call in any particular moment is a response of love (Relational Holiness, p. 82).

Heavenly Father grant us all the "power" to choose the best in any and all moments of decision that we might respond appropriately... in the way of Christ... the way of humble servitude and sacrificial love.  In your mercy, give us grace to humbly confess the gap that exists between our love of power and the power of your love.  In our confession Father, close the gap that exists between who we are and who you want us to be, that the name of your son Jesus might be glorified and the image of your character firmly imprinted upon our lives.  Let your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Amen.

Letters from Kenya - labels

The last thing I’d like to share with you is how God blew away my expectations in being fully present to others.  He reminded me of an important lesson regarding what it means to be human and to live the community of Christ.  And the lesson had entirely to do with labels… not the kind on our clothes or automobiles, but the distinctions we make between ourselves and others.

Check out these labels: Black, white, short, tall.  Chubby cheeks, husky, slim, daddy's girl, momma's boy.

As we get older people start assigning us labels: Jock, nerd, computer geek, life of the party, druggies, good little church kid.

As we get older, the labels change and take on a much grander scale: liberal, conservative, democrat, republican, pro-life, pro-choice, even Nazarene, Baptist, Catholic, or Assemblies of God.

One of the things that I'm learning about labels is that they dehumanize us.  Instead of taking the time to genuinely know someone, labels cut off the flow of relationship before they even get started.  Labels assign value to a person based solely upon perception, stereotype and prejudice.

Let me just state the obvious: this is not what God intended.  Let me take you to a couple of passages to explain what I mean.  The first is in Genesis, the second is in Galatians.

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:26-27 NIV)

This passage is crucial for us to understand if we're going to understand what it means to be human.  Before there was original sin, mankind (male and female) was created with original righteousness.  Theologians talk a lot about what it means for us to have been created in God's image, but I wonder if part of it refers to the ability to truly know a person and be known by them.  

One of the most tragic of consequences of the Fall of humankind was the damage done to this relational aspect of the image of God we were created with.  We began to take up fig leaves and make coverings for ourselves.  I don't know if you've seen a fig leaf or not, but they'd be just about as comfortable to wear as the 3 inch thorns growing on some of the bushes we saw in Kenya.  

Those thorns remind me a lot of the labels we have given and received.  They hurt and penetrate deeply.   They keep others at a manageable distance.  Don't get too close.  I don't know if I can trust you.  After all, you're a (insert label).  And so we continue to hide from the healing grace of God that comes through the practice of authentic community.

The good news is that the story doesn't stop here.  In Galatians 3 we find this amazing revelation:

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:26-28 NIV)

There's a lot of labels mentioned in this passage, a lot of things that had the potential to shipwreck those early believer's and the early church.  But Paul casts all the labels aside and says, "None of that matters.  You are one in Christ Jesus."

One of the things I've learned in my church history readings is that the early church was a counter-cultural force in society not just because they claimed to follow a resurrected Messiah, but because of the radical, counter-cultural way they viewed each other and lived out their faith:

- Women were not looked at as property, but as equal in the eyes of God and given full access to every role in the church...including pastor/preacher.

- Slaves were looked at as brothers and sisters in Christ, and many (including Philemon) were given their freedom.

- Orphans and widows and strangers were looked at as an opportunity to practice pure and faultless religion, not an excessive burden.

During our trip to Kenya I had the amazing opportunity to know and be known by brothers and sisters in Christ.  And in this process of knowing and being known I came to realize that one of my expectations of the trip was wrong.  I had expected to come to Kenya to serve “the least of these.” And while in a strictly financial sense that may be true, during my trip I came to grips with the fact that I had put a label on these brothers and sisters.

The reality that I’ve come to embrace is that I was the “least of these” in terms of the true realities of God’s Kingdom.  Our Kenyan brothers and sisters were the hands and feet of Jesus to me, revealing my need and ministering God’s grace in abundance.  

I was the one who needed someone to reach in and minister to my heart and my need.

I was the one whose eyes needed to be opened to who God really is and what it truly means to  be the community of Christ we call the church. 

And in their ministry to me, the Holy Spirit allowed me to discover just how rich the faith, love and grace of the Kenyan people really is.  There is no other label that I can give them than brothers and sisters in Christ.  

I needed my eyes to be opened and the Holy Spirit graciously did so through a group who cannot be defined by any other label than brothers and sisters in Christ.

So here’s some take home:  

-                             How are you going to choose to see and interact with people?  

                  Your answer might help you begin to see the image of God.

Letters from Kenya - the love of God

One of my expectations going into our work and witness trip to Kenya was to be fully present to God and to others during the trip.  I can honestly say that during our times of worship and devotions the presence of the Holy Spirit was near.  Selena Freeman and John Prichard did a fabulous job taking the word of God and applying it to what we were experiencing in Kenya and what we would experience as we returned home.  It was truly a spiritually “forming” experience.

What I wasn’t expecting was the spiritually forming experience I had with one of the workers at the jobsite.  God taught me as much, if not more, about His character and what it means to be human than I’ve learned in any book or seminary class.  All this through my interactions with an electrician named Naphtali.   

Naphtali is a quiet and serious man.  He’s the 7^th of 8 children born to a poor couple from the Lora Tribe.  Naphtali lost his father when he was quite young and he was raised by his mother and grandmother.  Naphtali speaks of them with great reverence, understanding that the love and discipline he received from them has allowed him to become the man he is today.

Naphtali makes 500 Kenyan shillings a day for his labor.  That’s roughly equivalent to $5.75 a day in American currency.  Naphtali considers himself blessed with his labor and his pay because he’s the only one in his family that has gone past what we would call junior high in education.  He graduated from high school and went on to Tech School where he learned the electrician’s trade.

Naphtali is considered the leader in his family because he’s bettered himself through education and because a great deal of the money he makes he sends back to his village to take care of his mother and siblings.  Where most of us would consider this to be a burden, Naphtali considers it a blessing, an expression of what the human spirit is truly supposed to be and do.  Because of his actions and attitude, Naphtali has also put one of his brothers through schooling to become an auto mechanic.

In order to do this, Naphtali lives in the slums of Nairobi… a very destitute and dangerous place.  He pays 1000 Kenyan Shillings a month to live in a one-room structure with no electricity or running water.  He has very few changes of clothes and oftentimes the only meal he eats during the day is the lunch that Panina (the foreman’s wife) makes for the workers.  All this he does with a true sense of purpose and fulfillment, knowing that He is doing what God would have him do as a man and family member.

As I mentioned, Naphtali is an electrician.  What I didn’t expect was that Naphtali was a theologian, instructed deeply by the Holy Spirit concerning the character of God and what it means to truly be human in this life.  The second day I worked with Naphtali he told me a modern day parable.  Naphtali shared with me that he had been thinking a lot about oxygen lately.  At first I thought that was kind of strange, then as I listened, I was taken to school.  Here’s the parable. 

Naphtali told me that if mankind had to pay for oxygen like we do the other necessities of life we would be in desperate trouble.  For the rich man would be able to purchase all he needed plus a surplus that would go to waste because it would never be used.  The poor man however would not be able to afford what he would need and would die because of it.

Naphtali then said this, “What a generous and merciful God we have!” “For God owns all the oxygen and gives to all equally so that they might live… not only so, but more than enough oxygen for every person.”  “What a loving Father in heaven we have!”

In such a simple reflection, Naphtali squarely recognized and confronted the systemic and individual injustices that are present in the world through the hands of mankind not living as they were created to.  But even more profound, Naphtali spoke of the true nature of God – His generosity and benevolence, His mercy and grace, and most important, His love for the creatures He created in His image.

As I’ve had time to reflect on this interaction it has caused me to take a long look at the way I see the world, the way I understand my responsibilities as a white man in the most powerful and resourced country in the world.  Will I support business and industry and governmental policies that only serve to “purchase and hoard a surplus of oxygen” for myself?  Or will I choose to love my neighbor as myself?  Will I choose to think of the needs of both my neighbors here in Springfield and my neighbors across the world? 

These are questions that I’m asking myself.  Questions that we as Christians need to reflect upon as members of a country and culture that controls 3/4ths of the world’s natural resources.  In the global village we live in today, our answer is very much one that will prove to be the difference between justice or injustice, human flourishing or human suffering.

Letters from Kenya - Luggage

Our first devotion on our trip to Kenya was given by Kevin Plain, the volunteer Youth Pastor at Scenic Nazarene.  During the devotion, he asked us to think about what our expectations were for the trip.  To be honest, coming into the trip I had been so busy with ministry stuff here at One Life that I was just glad to make it on the plane. 

The question began to resonate with my spirit however, and I came to the conclusion that my only expectations were to be fully present to God and others and to minister to the least of these.  What I didn’t expect was to lose my luggage.  

Our connection at London Heathrow was pretty hairy because of going through security checkpoints and when we finally got to our gate, boarding our flight to Kenya was almost finished.  It was there that we discovered that due to some sort of computer glitch, nearly half of our luggage was unaccounted for in the system.  And sure enough, when we got to Nairobi, half of it didn’t arrive with us.

Zandee and I had packed a couple days worth of clothes on our carry on, anticipating that this sort of thing might happen.  Well, come Tuesday word reached us at the work site that all of our luggage had arrived, save one.  I jokingly told our hosts that it had to be mine…well, it actually did turn out to be mine and over the course of the next few days I discovered a completely different form of recycling than I’d ever participated in. J

My luggage didn’t arrive until end of the day Thursday, just 2 days before we were to leave to come home.  Definitely not what I had expected out of my trip.  Neither was the lesson that I learned through it.  During that time of recycling my clothes and trying to keep the odor at a minimum I discovered a way of life that many people in Kenya (and in Springfield for that matter) have to live. 

There are many who only have one or two sets of clothes and don’t have access to new ones on a regular basis.   Zandee and I have never been “clothes horses” and we’ve always made a practice of “cleaning out our closets” and donating items to Goodwill and the Salvation Army. 

What I’ve learned from this experience is that I don’t need nearly as much as I think I do and there are many who would benefit if I would simply learn to live with “enough” and not a self-imposed “surplus.”  As Paul says, “⁷ For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. ⁸ But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.” (1 Tim. 6:7-8)

The interesting part of the whole experience of being without my luggage is that I didn’t feel that I was missing anything.  Now my wife and my teammates may have had other thoughts…after all, it is difficult to smell yourself.  But I was content and to be honest, I was thankful that I had the clothes I packed in my carry on. 

Perhaps this is the secret to lasting contentment and peace that seems so illusive this side of the Atlantic.  We have so much and strive after bigger and better things, but rarely experience fulfillment.  I had so little compared to what I normally experience at home and found myself to be at peace with my situation, my circumstances and myself. 

It makes me appreciate the words of Paul in 1 Timothy 6:6 – “6 But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment.”

Perhaps this is the reason why many Christians today seem to search for meaning apart from the holy life.  They haven’t discovered contentment in who God is and what He’s blessed them with and because they don’t experience the peace that goes beyond understanding, which comes from contentment, the holy life seems more like a burden than a blessing.  I think we would all do well to think about that and how it applies to our lives... it might just change our lives.

Grace and peace,

Pastor Jeremy