Friday, March 30, 2007

Even Peyton Longs for Community

Christian Perspectives Article 08-26-06

I watched the Indianapolis Colts’ preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks last week and something that John Madden said caught my attention. He said that Peyton Manning said something that Madden hadn’t heard in twenty years. Peyton startled him by asking, “Do you know what I love about training camp?”

John Madden’s broadcasting partner interrupted with the play by play and then followed up. “Well, what was it?” Good question.

What could possibly be loveable about training camp? Is there anything appealing about two practices a day in 90 degree heat in Central Indiana in August? What could one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL like, let alone love, about training camp?

Peyton said, “I love the fact that we can’t get away from each other. Guys come by the room and hang out. We play cards. We’re together.” What Peyton Manning loves about training camp is community.

But Peyton’s not alone. Ask any kid what they like most about the summer and more often than not they will respond with something like this: “I loved camp with all my friends,” or “our family vacation together,” or “when our little league team won the championship together.” The highlights of people’s lives are the times when they experience togetherness.

What was so magical about the days following September 11, 2001? We had all experienced something together as a nation. What is so appealing about a honeymoon? It’s the time that two people can focus exclusively on their “togetherness.”

Have you ever spent a relaxing evening together with friends that you haven’t seen “in forever”? As the evening winds to an end, you look at each other and say, “We should do this again!” What did you want to do again? It was the experience of togetherness or community.

God created us for community. Many of us are deficient in experiencing community. We feel that there is something missing but we can’t quite put our finger on it. When it finally happens, often by accident, it takes us by surprise and overwhelms us. We don’t want to leave, and when we are forced to leave we are eager to reproduce the experience as soon as possible.

The writer of Hebrews says, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing.” Why? Because we need to encourage one another. We need to love one another. We need to help one another. We need to bless one another. We need to challenge one another to do great things for the kingdom. We need to weep with one another. We need to party with one another. We simply need one another.

How good do you think the Colts would be if they refused to attend training camp with each other? They need to spend time with each other so that they can accomplish the job that they were assembled for – to win every game they play.

How good can the church possibly be if we refuse to spend time with one another? We need to spend time together so that we can accomplish the job that we were assembled for – to advance the Kingdom of God.

They probably didn’t know it, but Sunday Night Football touched on a profound truth that effects every person alive. We were made for community. We crave community. We are at our best when we live in community.

For Peyton and the Colts, the season is just around the corner. For the church, we are very likely in the second half of the most important game of the season. It’s time to get together and build community.

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Is It God Or A Ghost?

HeartLine Newsletter Article February 2007

This story has recently piqued my imagination. The gospel writer, Mark, at the end of chapter 6, tells of Jesus walking on the water. The amazing thing about this story is the response of the disciples.

They all saw Him, but they were terrified because they all thought He was a ghost. Question: How did they know what a ghost looked like? Had they ever seen a ghost before? Why was it easier for them to believe that this image of Jesus was a ghost and not Jesus Himself walking in their midst?
Many times I have missed God as He walked nearby because I was unable to identify Him. I have said things like, “What a strange coincidence.” I have been puzzled by the events taking place around me. Sometimes I was even fearful and unsure of what future events would hold me and my family.

Now I am trying a new response. I’ve not got it down perfect, but I am getting better. You might want to try it yourself. My new response is this: I ask how is God working in my life? What is God doing in the people around me? Has God been speaking to me, and if so, what is He saying?

It’s amazing how the ghosts in our lives disappear when we begin to look for the hand of God. It’s incredible to see how consistent His message is when we intentionally listen for God’s voice. My prayer for us is that we will see God walking among us, and respond with hope, not fear.

Do I Really Love My Neighbor?

Christian Perspectives Article – Saturday, March 17th, 2007

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

One month ago the body of four-year-old Ariana Payne was discovered in a storage locker in Arizona. She had been dead for at least six months and no one knew. Her five-year-old brother, Tyler, has been missing at least that long and is feared dead, but no one has missed him either. It is possible that these kids have been missing for almost a year but it didn’t bother anyone until they found little Ariana.

On the same day Ariana was found, police entered a Long Island apartment and found the body of 70-year-old blind, diabetic Vincenzo Riccardi, sitting in front of a TV that was still on. No one had seen Vincenzo for more than a year. No one had missed him. His neighbors thought he had been hospitalized or moved to a nursing home so they didn’t check on him.

Two cases, a country apart. Two souls, a generation apart.

What breaks down in a society, or in a nation, that allows the most vulnerable to disappear without notice? Why is that two individuals, who should be receiving the most watch-care, can be missing for a year and no one knows? No one cares.

It is the second great commandment that is broken; Love your neighbor as yourself. It is community that has disintegrated. How can we love our neighbors when we don’t even recognize that they are missing?

I am convinced that most Americans are so busy with the busy-ness of life, so focused on our own needs, so consumed with consumer-ism, that we have left the “community” and not even recognized it. Do you know your neighbors? Could your neighbor be missing for more than a year and you not know about it, or care about it?

There are neighbors within one-hundred-yards of my house that I am ashamed to say could have been missing for a year and I wouldn’t know.

Sometimes we get tied up in do’s and don’ts, trying to live up to the standard we think God has set for our lives. Or we reach for the “brass ring” of success by climbing the next rung on the corporate ladder. We strive for athletic, academic, or artistic success and sacrifice time and relationships to attain it. Even in the church sometimes there is more busy-ness than effectiveness.

But Jesus said only two things are required; Love God and love your neighbor. If you do these things, the rest of the law of God will take care of itself. But how can you love God if you don’t invest any energy in getting to know Him? And how can you love your neighbor, if you don’t even know that they are missing?

John, Jesus’ closest friend during His earthly ministry, goes even farther. “Anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.” John ties the two together. If we don’t love our neighbor, how can we claim to love God? If we truly love God, we must also love our neighbor.

Who do you know that needs extra watch-care? Who are the ones in your neighborhood that need “checking in on?” Who’s watching out for you? Who should have been watching our for Ariana and Vincenzo?

I was stunned by the recent re-publication of pictures of the destruction in the wake of the 1917 New Castle Tornado. Whole neighborhoods were destroyed. 22 people lost their lives, and hundreds were injured. If we were hit by another tornado in 2007, would you know who to look for in the piles of rubble? Would you know if your neighbor was missing? Would you care?

During this season as we prepare for an Easter celebration, let’s build community on all levels. Get to know your neighbors and what their needs are. Only then will you be able to love them. And get to know God and what He desires. Only then will you be able to love Him.