Everyday Christian: Chapter 1

In the weekly Bible study I attend we've begun reading "Everyday Christian: Living Like Christ Seven Days a Week" by Dr Edwin Robinson.  It is a part of the Dialog Series which is specifically intended to initiate conversation in small groups.  Without turning this post into a book report, I'd like to spend the next seven weeks developing the material we cover in our gatherings.

Chapter 1: Being Christian at Home.
"Household codes like those included in Paul's and Peter's letters were common in other religious literature of the first century.  Instructions for family life as part of the social expectations were not unusual at all."

Ephesians 5:21-6:9

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. 

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— for we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. 

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” 

Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. 

Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free. 

And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.

I can almost picture the scene as this letter was read to the church at Ephesus.  As this section begins to discuss submitting to one another, the men of the room are elbowing each other, suddenly certain this particular wisdom was specifically ordained for their families.  But as it should be, the instructions take a turn and suddenly the men were being instructed to love their wives in a way they had never been taught before - to which the women of the room started nodding and giving their husbands the look.  You know what look.  You may have given your husband that same look a time or two.  Then suddenly husband and wife, forgetting their opposing viewpoints, were excited to hear their children being addressed.  Yep, that's right kids, he said honor us.  Had they learned nothing?  Their children could only honor them if they too were treated appropriately.  And so it went: Husbands, Wives.  Children, Parents.  Slaves, Masters.

The truth is we are always looking for someone else to start the behavioral cycle.  I rationalize that I will submit to my husband when he begins to love me the way he should.  But the difficult and wonderful fact of the matter is we can't control what anyone else does, nor are we responsible for their actions. And thank God for that!

Wives - what would it look like if you treated your husband like the head of your home?  If you regarded him above all?  If you respected him for what he's done and what he's yet to do?

Husbands - what would it look like if you loved your wife with a pure and blameless love?  If you were willing to lay down your life (or your newspaper, or your sports broadcast) for her?  If you treated her as if she were holy and blameless?

Lord, help me to be the person You have called me to be. Especially at home. 

A Life Remembered

To his students he was "Dr. Bullock."  To his friends he was "Chuck."  To me he was always just "Pastor."  It's strange to think I hadn't seen him in more years than I actually knew him, but so it goes it with people who touch your life: the lessons you learn from them are not quickly forgotten. If ever. A few things I learned from my pastor, the Cowboys- and Coke-loving pastor who always had a good story and a smile, Reverened Charles E. Bullock:

On Scripture:

When you read a passage and see the word "therefore" you always have to go back and see what the word is there for. 

On Faith:

The main thing is that the main thing remain the main thing. 

On Marriage:

Every night before you go to bed, tell your spouse, "Honey, I love you and I've been faithful to you today."

On Time:

When you say you don't have enough time, you're telling God He made a mistake in His creation. 

On Theology:

The most profound theology of all time lies in these lyrics, "Jesus loves me / This I know know / For the Bible tells me so."

Traditions

It's a funny thought to consider that all traditions were once a new idea.

One tradition most Americans (and many people around the world) connect with is "the ball" dropping on New Years Eve in New York. While we confidently look for this event each year on the television, there was a time just over a hundred years ago when it was nothing more than an idea.

And what about our religious traditions? On Sunday night I had a discussion with a pastor in my denomination who told me we are expected to have communion seven times each year. While some local churches surely observe communion less than that, there are other local churches - like the one at which the aforementioned pastor works at - whose tradition is to participate in communion every Sunday. Same denomination, different implementations of our tradition.

And while on the topic of communion, this too was once a new idea. It was implemented by Christ at the Last Supper when, gathered together with His closest friends, the Lord broke bread and changed an old tradition (Passover) to a new one (Communion or Eucherist, depending on your tradition - see where I'm going).

And so it was last night at the church I attend when I gathered together for a planning meeting. This meeting happen to fall on Epiphany - the 12th day after Christmas historically observed as the date when the Wise Men found the Christ Child. Or, as it's known in Spanish speaking cultures, Dia de Reyes. This is not a day we normally celebrate at our church, but, thanks to my good friend who does celebrate it and told me about the tradition, I stopped at my local bakery and purchased a Rosca on my way to the meeting.

For those of you not familiar with this holiday, according to Wikipedia, "The tradition of placing a trinket (a figurine of the Christ child) in the cake is very old. The baby Jesus hidden in the bread represents the flight of the Holy Family, fleeing from King Herod's Massacre of the Innocents. Whoever finds the baby Jesus figurine is blessed and must take the figurine to the nearest church on February 2."

Will this event become a tradition? Only time will tell. In the meantime, what are some of your traditions?

"When the wise men saw the star, they were filled with joy. They came to the house where the child was and saw him with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. They opened their gifts and gave him treasures of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. But God warned the wise men in a dream not to go back to Herod, so they returned to their own country by a different way" (Matthew 2:10-12).

Monica

It's that time of year when all is new and all is old simultaneously.  There is something about looking to the future that causes us to also remember the past.  The New Year is always a difficult time for me.  Regardless of how happy I am, I get lost in remembering years gone by.

God prepared a comfort for me this year weeks before I need them.  The words I'd need leaped out of the pages of Ann Voskamp's advent devotional, The Greatest Gift.  Ann quoted these words of CS Lewis in context of the story of Jonah, but they have been comforting me during these holidays

"We all want progress... [but] if you are on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; and in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive."

I've spent a good amount of time over the last few weeks thinking about this idea of progress.  Where am I?  Where do I want to go?  And also I've been thinking about the concept of turning around?  Where would I go back to?  What have I given up that maybe I shouldn't have?  A thought came to my mind this morning: Monica.

This morning I was praying for Mary, a friend from high school.  I hadn't seen Mary since I graduated, but I ran into her a few years ago at a mutual friend's birthday party.  Since then we have stayed loosely connected through social media.  Mary was a year or two younger than me, she was in the band, and she had this friend she called Monica.  Monica was, by all regards, your average teenage girl.  With one exception: she wasn't real.  She was me.  In case you're confused, or you think I've lost my mind, let me clarify.  For reasons neither Mary or I could remember - and boy did we get a good laugh trying to remember - she called me Monica.

In no way am I looking to go back my high school self.  That Amie missed out on opportunities because she cared too much about what other people thought and was too insecure about who she was.  But there was a part of her that was amazing too: she was passionate and optimistic about what life held for her.  That alter-Amie (the Monica, if you will) is long gone, but perhaps there are things I can learn from her if I remember a little more about who she was.

"Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of a great fish, as the Son of Man will spend three days and three nights in the belly of the earth. One day, the people of Nineveh will rise up in judgment and will condemn your present generation—for the Ninevites turned from sin to God when they heard Jonah preach, and now One far greater than Jonah is here." (Matthew 12:40-41)

And just like Jonah, when we face that turning point in our lives, when we've been going the wrong way and know we need to turn around, when we are ready to finally go the direction we are supposed to, don't be surprised if you find yourself sitting in the belly of a fish for a few days.

God, I pray it be a metaphorical belly, and not a literal one.  Although a literal one might not be too bad because I'd have some great writing material when I came out...

The Story of the Toy Soldier

As the kids played at our church Christmas party on Saturday they received prizes including these toy soldiers. At the end of the night Jacob (10) realized he had lost his. We looked for it but could not find it.  My sister found one, but noticing it was not the same - this new one had a grenade instead of a rifle - he did not want it.  He wanted the one that he had been given.  He was heartbroken.

The next day, Sunday, when we arrived at church one little girl, Emily (6), ran up to Jacob and pulled a toy soldier out of her purse.

"Wow, Jacob, tell Emily thank you for finding your toy soldier," I prompted him.  Emily said nothing and happily ran off.

Later, Emily's grandma set the record straight: that was not actually Jacob's toy soldier. It was her toy, but seeing how much more her friend wanted it, she freely gave it to him. Thank you God for this model of generosity!

But wait, the story gets better!  Sunday evening when my two sons were playing with their toy soldiers I saw they had three.  So, I asked my son where the extra had come from.  He told me that Emily's brother (also named Jacob) had given his to my son Jacob as well.

Generosity is contagious: Catch it, Share it.

Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. (1 Timothy 6:18-19, NIV)