Interlude (A Christmas Night)

Lately, my Christmases have been odd. Not "Christmas Carol"-being-visited-by-ghosts-"odd," but oddly twisted in such a way that it's just not like when I was a kid. Last Christmas I was driving home after visiting my parents, when a little less than half way home my transmission went out. So last December 25th I spent Christmas night sleeping in the cab of my truck at a gas station in Globe, Arizona. Then, this year I flew out to my girlfriend's graduation (of her Masters Degree) and then flew back on the 23rd. Well, when I got my bag from baggage claim it had been opened. When I looked in it I found out that TSA went through it, and not only that...but a bag that contained a Christmas gift was MISSING! The 24th I had to do the Christmas Eve service at my church, and that night I had a Christmas dinner (at Denny's...God bless Denny's) with my parents who came to town for the service. My Christmas day was sleeping in, reading a book, reading the Bible, watching the Disney Parade on TV, catching a movie, talking to my girlfriend, and preparing for Church the next day. All in all, my past two Christmases have been anything BUT traditional.

The question: "What is Christmas?" is a question that I always get introspective with every year. Today, I heard someone on TV say, "It's a time of being with family, which is what Christmas is all about." Now, with all the wide-world of statements of what Christmas is about (or isn't about) I tend to take a solid stance that it is about Jesus Christ. I'm not going to debate about the real date of the birth of Christ, or about what the date of December the 25th was originally about. I say, if I have a choice (which I do) I'm going to celebrate Jesus every chance I get. I believe that, even in the spiritual sense, Christmas is about family. The message of Christmas is that God reconciled us to Himself. He didn't have to do it the way He did it, but I think He wanted to be with us, even more than we could comprehend. When we were separated from God, His idea was not just saving us pitifuls, it wasn't a get-out-of-jail-free pass, His idea was...family. He doesn't want us to be His slaves, He wants us to be His children. So this Christmas, through the craziness, (for me) Christmas is about being with family. I can be with my Heavenly Father because He made a way for me to be with Him.

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure." ~1John 3:1-3

Unlikely Heroes III

For about 8 months I had a homeless guy living in my yard, his name was Purple. I think I have a heart for the poor. That was challenged when a friend told me about Purple, and asked if I'd open up my yard to him. I said, "OK," and After a few weeks Purple came to my door with his long knotted grey hair and beard. Introducing himself, we looked around the yard for where he could pitch his tent. Buried back in the pines we found a spot, and Purple and his dog (Bear) soon became landmates. When Purple first approached me he said that he wouldn't be staying long because the end of the world was about to happen in a couple of weeks, and he was heading up to the Hopi reservation because that was apparently going to be the only place to escape the meteor that was about to crash into earth. So in view of mass destruction of the planet, I figured I should let him have a place to put his tent. A couple of weeks later the end of the world didn't come, and he was as shocked as anyone. Rebounding from this craziness, Purple got a job at a nursery in town aiding with watering plants and loading trucks. I told Purple that as long as he had a job he could stay on the land. Soon the summer ended (with the job) and Purple said he'd be off the land soon. Months passed...he begged outside of the local Super Walmart, and continued to do so contently. Eventually I had to ask him to leave, because soon I was leaving, and I didn't feel good about him being on land that wasn't even mine to begin with. Purple ended up leaving with Bear and I hope he's doing ok.

The reason I'm telling you this is because, for me, Purple is a hero. Not the kind of hero that zooms in to save the day, and not even because he taught me any objective nomadic wisdom. Purple is a hero because some days he would knock on my door and politely ask if he could use the shower, or even internet. Some days we would have some casual conversations about nothing more than the weather, or plants, or beliefs. Purple is one of my unnoticed heroes, but not because he taught me about faith, or living day to day, or about trust. Purple taught me that having a heart for the poor was not just giving them money, or a place to lay their head. Having a heart for the poor is opening your heart to them, to talk to them, and to not dismiss them. We live in a world where every class, including the poor, will try to take advantage of you, but I believe the Christian can stand out by reaching out. In a dog eat dog world, maybe it's the Christian's job to not be one of the dogs. Purple, thanks. I'm not perfect, I don't love perfectly, but I pray that in your journeys God would lead you to Himself, and that through my attempts to love, you would see Jesus' great love for you through our brief time together.

Unlikely Heroes II

I think the comedy of the Gospel is that God uses the least likely people to do unlikely things. The world may look at compassion, mercy, and selflessness as a weak thing, but it’s interesting that when God sees those things He sees leadership material. We see this humungous contrast (especially at this time of year) that God uses the weak things of the world to show up the strong, and the foolish things to shame the smart.

So the hand that created the universe positioned Himself for His greatest display. A long, long time ago, on a certain night in a village far, far away, a brisk cry of a baby came from a barn. Shortly there after, shepherds showed up to take a look. The baby was put in an animal’s trough as its parent’s improvisational McGuyver ploy at a creating a crib. Since when do you think of barns when you think of childbirth? It may be the last thought in my mind (or your mind) regarding the matter, but God wouldn’t have it any other way. Can you imagine being one of the shepherds? You’re in the field with sheep, and all of the sudden…BRIGHT LIGHT, LOUD MUSIC AND A CACOPHONY OF ANGELS giving a singing telegram of how God’s come down to earth Himself, and you can find Him in the newborn ward at the corner of Halal St. and David Dr….in a barn. The simple fact of the matter is that God doesn’t care if you’re Native American, African American, Asian, Hispanic, Islander, Caucasian, or a mix of all of those. He cares about your heart, and if you give that to Him He’ll do miracles in and through you. It might not be tears coming from statues or lightening bolts coming from your pinky, but if there are hungry people in your town He can fill those people with food. If there are lonely teenagers in your town He can use you to give them hope.

He can use the weak, the bankrupt, the prisoner, the handicapped, the illiterate, the drop-outs, the social outcasts, and the bottom of the barrel. If you have a heart, and are breathing, He can use you.

Unlikely Heroes

I got together with a friend of mine the other day for Coffee. Ben, Praying Mantis, is a laid-back guy. In his early thirties, Ben often reminds me a little like a kid. Not in the immature kind of way, I think it's in his outlook on life. He has a great family too, 3 kids, and a cool wife. A few things that always stick out in my mind when I'm with Ben are that (1) he's a dreamer, (2) he likes to work towards those dreams and see what God does with them, and (3) he's honest. Sitting outside of Starbucks on Thursday afternoon, our conversation turned to the topic of being used by God. I remember Ben leaning over to me in his blue cammo cargo pants and saying something to the effect of, "Do you ever think that the people that God uses aren't really right in the head?" I mean, think about Luther throwing ink bottles acrossed the room when he sensed that there was an evil spirit present in the room, or how about Francis of Assisi stripping down to his birthday suit in the middle of town, or kissing a leper. What about G.K. Chesterton who would always be so much in his own little world that he would forget where he was, or Thomas Merton who would say some down right weird things when he was around his friends. Or how about Moses with his studdering, Elijah with his manic depression, Jeremiah who would cry all the time, or even David who danced naked. In view of all that, I'm a little less awed by the fact that God might use me and more scared that He chooses to. I might not compare with the great acheivements of these other people, but are my quirks any competition? I'm not sure if I want to know the answer to that. :-)

I'm introducing a new series. It's called "Unlikely Heroes."

I want God to use me, I don't know how He will but that's up to Him to decide. I'll be thinking about this topic this week. But right now...I'm going to go Christmas caroling.