redemption

One of the things I enjoy doing is playing basketball, and I play socially with a great bunch of guys on Saturday afternoons.  Last week, for a number of reasons, I got quite frustrated during our game.  I didn't go all Barry Hall and punch anyone, but I did say a few things in anger and wasn't pleased at all with my behaviour - in short, I felt like I didn't even come close to reflecting Jesus.

As a penalty, I decided to suspend myself from this week's game - there are no rules that I broke or anything that meant I had to, I just felt is was an appropriate way of reminding myself that basketball is supposed to be about fitness, camaraderie, fun, team, enjoyment, and if I'm going to take it to seriously, I shouldn't be playing.  I emailed my team and told them my decision, and resigned myself to not playing today.

It turned out that one of our other guys wasn't going to be able to play this week, though, so I was asked to consider playing, and I chose to use the AFL model of taking a guilty plea, which reduced my "points", so I could play (guess I'm now ineligible for the Brownlow...), but any more indiscretions, and it was a guaranteed suspension.

So, I played, we won by about 20, I scored 14, and really enjoyed the game.  As I was driving home, I started to think about the difference between redemption of that form - where I'm given another chance, an opportunity to dust myself off and get up and play again, rather than the "you're guilty, you've stuffed it, so there's a penalty to be served".  Instead of sitting at home, feeling sorry for myself, guilty that I'd messed up, and guilty that because of it, our team had to suffer (even if that was only because they didn't have an extra sub!), I had the opportunity to show that it was a mistake, that's not how I want to function, and that I can do better.  

(As an aside, I did also wonder where I would have felt as good if we had lost, or if I hadn't scored any points, but I think in the end, it was the opportunity to get back on the horse that gave me the feelings of redemption, rather than the end result.  One could argue, of course, that the result was due to the redemption, but things are starting to get circular and maybe I'm analyzing too much.)

In short, though, when we think about redemption and forgiveness for those around us, what's our response?  Should we penalise people, teaching them a lesson, drumming into them that they've messed up and haven't met whatever standard we've set or they've set?  What would happen instead if we, individually, and in our faith communities, gave people the opportunity to show us and (probably more importantly) themselves that they are better than that, that it was a mistake, and they're still a part of our life? 

That's certainly the perspective I get from Jesus, that grace looks much more like the second type of redemption than the first, and that God's focus is far more on getting us dusted off, back in the game, back to our best, rather than sitting at home feeling sorry for ourselves.

Easter photo

In a previous post (here), I mentioned about a photo that Josh was taken with when we went to my parents' church at Easter.  I did actually get it a while ago, but never got around to posting it, so here it is.  

Be interested in your thoughts - what strikes you about it?  what does it say to you?  do you find meaning in it?  

update

Well, it's been a while.  I've been extraordinarily slack of late, and it's well and truly time to get back into the habit of writing some comments (as much for the discipline of cognitively reflecting as for anyone else's benefit - but I hopt it's helpful for you, too).

To help me, I have a new toy... er, I mean work tool - a MacBook.  I haven't had a Mac before, but my friend Chris Folmsbee pretty much converted me to them with his passion for them when I had the great fortune of spending some time with him in 07 and 06.  I'll be honest... I love it, so hopefully the joy of Mac use will help me get back into the swing of things.  On the other hand, as J.J. Abrams (creator of Lost (which is still brilliant - if you stopped watching it, you have no staying power... and yes, they have answered some questions)) says, Macs are so brilliant that the work we do on them needs to be worthy, so maybe I'll just be intimidated.  

Anyhoo, enough rambling - here's some of what's been happening in my world...

1. I have a new job and a new faith community - I'm part of a fresh church plant in Adelaide's city, focussed on young adults.  We're looking at how we can best engage with young adults, and have a blank slate to create the community in whatever form seems appropriate.  Scary and exciting, both at the same time.

2. We're moving house - we move to a 1 year old house in 3 weeks... can't wait

3. Did I mention I have a MacBook?

4. I've been amazed at how well Facebook works - I've found, or been found, by countless people I'd lost contact with

5. One negative about moving house is that our front garden is looking fantastic - I've been amazed to see all the hard work I did a while ago has paid off, but sad to know I won't be seeing it much longer (looking forward to starting fresh at our new place though)

6. I discovered Muse some months ago, and man do I love Muse.  I bought the Haarp DVD a few weeks ago, which only increased my devotion

Well, that's probably enough rambling.  Hopefully in the days to come I'll have a little more to offer...

Easter thoughts

We had a pretty strange Easter weekend. For the past few years, I've been pretty involved with church stuff, so have known intimately what would happen with the services, etc, and that's been my primary focus. This year, I didn't have any of those responsibilities, so was looking forward to just heading along to the services as part of what we did over the weekend.

For Good Friday, we went to my parents' church, and up the front there was a painting that one of the women from the congregation did a few years ago (I'm hoping to get a copy of it to post on here later). It was a great piece of art, of Jesus on the cross, head bowed, hair in front of his eyes. I thought it was great - very poignant. What stunned Ali and I, though, was that a number of times, later in the day, Josh (who's 4, remember) kept talking about it. He started by saying "The picture at church made me sad". When we asked him why, he said "because the man in the painting looked sad". We explained to him that it was Jesus, and he was dying on the cross, which is why he was sad.

What struck me was how often I stop to recognise that I should be sad, too. It's so easy to know the story, to know Jesus died, but with Easter Sunday in the background, therefore not allowing the fullness of what transpired to hit home. As I said, I've been involved in many Easter services, and one of the things that used to irk me was when people would complain that our Good Friday service was too dark, or too depressing, or words to that effect. I need to be slapped around the head with the truth that this man, a man with feelings, who suffered incredible pain, who died, made an incredible sacrifice. It's not enough to stop at understanding atonement or penal substitution. Those things are important, but so is the fact that Jesus chose to die, for me, for you. I should be sad, and I'm glad that Josh was, too.

Easter Sunday, we had plans to go to another church, but unfortunately, Rachel got really crook late Saturday night, and spent most of Sunday throwing up. She was really weak, very lethargic, slept a lot, and was really quiet (something not quite normal for her...!) This morning (Monday), she was still pretty weak, but after some food throughout the day, she perked up and was back to her normal self. I was amazed at how great it was to hear her talk, laugh, cry... even scream. It was just wonderful to have our little girl back to normal.

In the midst of that, another Easter revelation came to me - the joy, the unspeakable joy that the disciples must have felt when Jesus was amongst them following his resurrection. To think you were never going to hear him again, laugh with him again, eat with him again... and then there he is, in the flesh, back.

As equally as Good Friday should be about grief, about darkness, sadness, reflection, Easter Sunday should be about joy, celebration, laughing, eating, remembering that Jesus is not gone, he's with us - he went through the darkness, and came out the other side, to bring light to all.

I love Easter.

absence >> yearning

We're currently in the middle of a record heatwave here in Adelaide (for any time of the year, let alone the first month of Autumn). Today is the 15th day in a row that we have had a temperature over 35C (95F). That's a lot of heat in anyone's language...

I'm unashamedly a summer person - I much prefer to get around in shorts and a t-shirt than anything else, and love the sunshine, daylight savings, warmth. Yet something funny has happened in the last few days (something which normally happens every summer at some point for me - I'm developing a yearning for winter! I'd really love to have a rainy day (we're in the middle of a drought here, as well), a cold night where we could switch the heater on, get into some trakkies, snuggle under a blanket and watch a good movie or read a good book. (I know it won't last - give me a few days of cold wind, driving rain and I'll be back on the summer bandwagon)

But it made me think - perhaps our yearnings are shaped a lot by absence, rather than presence (or perhaps a combination of the absence of one thing with the constant presence of the opposite?). During this heatwave, it's been the absence of cool, of rain, while living in the constant presence of heat (some nights it hasn't dipped below 30C) that has given me a yearning for winter. Conversely, in winter, when the sun is more absent, when warmth and light also go missing, and rain and darkness become constant companions, this produces a yearning for summer.

Does that give a new understanding to the purpose of lent, which finishes this weekend with Easter? The idea of fasting during lent is also about absence - about deliberately removing something from our presence. And when that yearning kicks in, we are to turn not to a yearning for whatever it is we are fasting from, but rather to a greater yearning for more of God in our lives.

May you know more of God's presence in your life, as we begin this Holy Week.

lent

As has become a part of my daily rhythm, I listened to the Jesuit "Pray as you go" podcast this morning. In it, they made reference to the meaning of Lent relating to Spring and new life, which makes sense, when you consider the seasons in the Northern Hemisphere.

As I'm in the Southern Hemisphere, it hit me how much difference that may make, in the lead up to Easter. For me, the most powerful aspects of Easter have always revolved around Good Friday - the sacrifice, the death, the pain, the suffering. The joy of Easter Sunday has always been part of Easter, absolutely, but for me, often the focus has been on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.

As I reflected on the comments about new life, I wondered whether it makes a difference that Easter for us is generally in April - the middle of Autumn - a time of dying, decay, daylight savings ending, darkness, and perhaps that shapes the Easter experience. For our friends in the Northern Hemisphere, Easter occurs at a time when new life is born in the fields, when it is warming up, the days are getting longer, and perhaps this shapes the focus on Easter to a more joyful, fresh experience.

It's funny how we can be affected by the environment we live in, without even realizing it...

foundations

I've been doing a bit more work around our house this week - some odd jobs that needed to be finished off, including some paving and some painting.

What's hit me again is just how important foundations are. It plays a huge part in whether you have to do something once, or keep doing the same things. If I pave the path with a solid foundation under it, taking a bit more time, it'll last a lot longer. If I take shortcuts, it'll fall apart, and probably have to be repaved. If paint jobs are done well the first time (good surface prep, good coverage), this will mean the job will look a lot better and, again, last a lot longer.

Surely, it's the same with our spirituality, but how much do we focus on the foundations - on two fronts?

For people who are involved in walking with those taking their first steps in finding out what it means to follow Jesus authentically, how much effort do we put into the "surface prep", the foundations? What is appropriate and helpful surface prep, foundation laying? And if we don't lay a foundation, why are we surprised when things are a lot more complicated down the track?

For all of us, when we shortcut the basics, and the fundamentals (of course, discerning what the fundamentals are is a whole other discussion), again, why are we surprised when things get complicated, confused? What would it mean for us to "last a lot longer"?

create/replace space

For Lent this year, I decided I'd give up a number of things - something I find helpful in my walk with God leading up to Easter. One of them is that I decided I wouldn't listen to music whenever I'm in the car. At the moment, I'm not driving around heaps, but even the bit that I am, it's amazing how much space is created by having that time with no noise.

What I've been aiming for is that when I am tempted to switch on the tunes, I do one of two things - either reaffirm my need for God is greater than my need for music, and/or take some time to acknowledge that God is there with me (something which is easy to forget).

I have been reading this blog during Lent, and was fascinated by this entry, which talks about the need to not just create space, but to replace it with something else. I agree with this, because not only can Lent be a time of preparation for Easter, a time of creating space for God, recognising our need for Him, but it also can be a time to form new habits - replacing junk with beauty, distraction with focus.

in and out

I've had a fair bit of spare time over the last month, so I've been going to the gym a lot more often - aiming for every weekday. It's been great, but one thing I have noticed is that I am so much more hungry now! I've been trying to eat more than I used to, yet I keep getting hungry...

While I was at the gym this morning, I started thinking about how important it is for me to up my intake, if I want to keep up this exercise routine. If I don't, all the good I do in building muscle, etc will be lost, as my body searches for food within itself (given from food intake, burning fat, etc), and if it can't find any, it'll look for other sources (muscles, etc), and all the good will be undone.

As I was thinking this, it hit me that there is a lesson to be learned there by those who are more active in ministry than others.

As we increase the frequency of our "exercise" (engaging with people, preaching, running meetings, etc, etc), are we increasing how much we are eating, too (prayer, silence, meditation, Bible reading, etc)? If not, why should we not expect our bodies (or is that our souls?) to start "eating themselves"? Soul care is important not just so that we are more productive, more efficient, or whatever, but so that we have the spiritual energy to exercise properly, and to benefit not only others, but ourselves, as we do so.

As I've written previously, doing weights is all about breaking down muscle, so that when it rebuilds, it is stronger. Without food for that rebuild process, though, it doesn't happen. So, when God calls us to step outside our comfort zone, we need to have the food there, so that our spiritual muscles can rebuild. If we don't take time in prayer, reflection, stillness, not only do we miss out on much needed rest, but also the food that will allow us to be stronger next time.

a perfect evening

Last night, we went to "Symphony Under The Stars" - the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra playing at Elder Park. It was a magnificent night for it...

The sunset was amazing, the ASO were spot on, there was a light breeze, so it wasn't too hot, not too cold.

As the orchestra played, I wondered why more has not been written about the concept of the Church as orchestra - there are so many parallels:

• Everyone needing to play their part
• No part more or less important than any other
• When they work together, the music is beautiful and awe-inspiring
• Sometimes it's your turn to shine, sometimes you need to allow others to step to the fore
• As you follow the conductor, things stay in synch

I was also struck by the parallels between the impact of the orchestra and the church on the people around:

• There are numbers of people who are pretty much unmoved by the music (eg "I'm just here to pick up...")
• There are others who think it's all about them, not about being moved by the music of the orchestra
• There are some who simply talk and miss the whole thing
• The orchestra continues playing, in the hope that in the end, people will be moved by the music

I'm sure there are lots of other thoughts, but there's some to get someone started - I'm sure there's a book idea there somewhere...