Epilogue – November 27, 2011 November 27, 2011
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It was a full day at the Austin Avenue church this morning. It was the 1st Sunday of Advent. We celebrated the Hanging of the Greens. The kids decorated the Chrismon Tree and then learned a new song about the animals at the manger. We were blessed to celebrate the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. All that was in the first 15 minutes.
Somehow, I even managed to squeeze in some preaching. I introduced the theme for this Advent season; music, or more specifically, the things we can learn from music. Today’s preaching song was In the Bleak Mid-Winter. We talked about how Christ enters into a bleak world and “un-bleaks” it. I introduced our Christmas Mission Project, shoes for the children of Swaziland. I gave everyone a little snow globe, a gift to help us remember how some people are experiencing a winter of discontent. And I invited everyone to imagine then difference we could make in a child’s winter by virtue of the Advent of Christ in our hearts. It really was a wonderful day.
The one thing I just ran out of time to talk about was the challenge. I’ll say more about it next week, but our Advent challenge is simply this: match the spending you do on yourselves this Christmas with a gift for a mission project beyond yourself. You’ve all heard me talk about how Christmas is a celebration of Christ’s birthday, not ours, and how utterly inappropriate it is for us to receive all the gifts at someone else’s birthday party. The challenge simply takes it one step further.
I love getting Christmas presents. I love giving Christmas presents. But the truth is I don’t really need too much more stuff. Stuff is getting to be more of a burden than a blessing. So Brenda and I have decided, once again this year, to (1) buy even less stuff for ourselves and to (2) make a matching gift (equal to the total amount we spent on gifts for ourselves) to the Austin Avenue shoe initiative. It’s a cause that would make Jesus smile, I think.
We still give gifts. We enjoy it way too much to stop. But the experience of giving thoughtful, less expensive gifts that enable us to be generous in mission giving is a gift in itself. It’s one we’ll give to ourselves this Christmas. And it’s one that feels really good. Don’t you deserve a feel-good gift this Christmas?
Epilogue – November 22 November 22, 2011
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We gave away bibles this past Sunday. They were these really cool (I think) Christmas-themed Common English Bibles. I wanted to give them away on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, because I knew that the day after Thanksgiving would be Black Friday and that the formidable machinery of Christmas marketing would be at full throttle even before the turkey got cold. In the midst of culture’s Christmas campaign that says “epic fail” if you don’t buy the right stuff, eat the right stuff, wear the right stuff, decorate with the right stuff, etc., the little Christmas bibles emphasize hope over hype, service over selfish, and Christ over consumerism. For those of you who were too tuckered out after last Saturday’s big Baylor win to attend church this past Sunday, I have your bible waiting. You see, the point was not for us to receive them; it was for us to pass them along to someone at risk of getting caught up in Christmas consumerism. That danger is real.
Last night, I went to visit a friend who had surgery earlier in the day. On my way back home, I decided to stop at the market and pick up a couple of things. Driving past a local shopping center, I noticed someone sitting in front of a consumer electronics store. She was bundled up in a blanket and sitting in a folding chair. Rarely do I see homeless persons there, and I stopped to speak to her. She wasn’t homeless. She had a home and a family. She was, in fact, camped out in front of this particular store in order to be the first in line to get one of their Black Friday bargains. She said she had been there since early that morning. This was Monday.
I asked what her family thought of her taking almost a whole week away from them, missing the Thanksgiving holiday, so that she could save a few bucks on Friday morning. She paused, and then said, “Once they see the TV I’m gonna get, they’ll understand.” I went back to my car and got her one of the Christmas bibles. I gave it to her, explaining that the CEB is a new, fresh translation of the bible, that it’s really easy to read, and that there’s even a foreword in this particular bible that talks about the meaning of Christmas. She said, “Oh believe me, I’ve got plenty of Christmas spirit. Can’t you tell?”
There are people in our communities who equate Christmas Spirit with spending a week camped out in front of an electronics store to get a deal on a TV. I have more Christmas bibles to give away. I think you know what to do.
Epilogue! November 13, 2011
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Since I was a kid, I’ve always liked watching those “Quinn Martin” productions. You know, those old cop/detective TV shows like The Fugitive, The F.B.I., Cannon, Barnaby Jones, and the like. And one of the coolest things about them, to me, was the “Epilogue.” The epilogue was the final scene, a conclusion which often included an off-screen narrator who offered us insight into what we had just seen. I like epilogues.
Perhaps the reason I like epilogues is because I need one every Sunday. Try as I might—and you know hard I try—I just can’t say everything I want to say to you on Sunday mornings. Either I run out of time, or I completely forget to say something I had intended to say, or I don’t think of that perfect illustration for my sermon until an hour after church is over. I need an epilogue.
So, I’ll start posting my epilogues here. Look for them on Sunday afternoons and/or evenings. And don’t forget to let me know what you think. This has been a CM production.
Epilogue—November 13, 2011
Today I preached on Romans 3 and our Christian responsibility to do more than the bare minimum, in light of the tragic situation at Penn State. We talked about Joe Paterno. Lots of people all around the nation are talking about him. And some are wondering why we are talking more about Paterno than Jerry Sandusky. After all, Sandusky is the real criminal here; he was the predator who abused these kids. Why all the focus on Joe?
Because he’s Joe. It doesn’t really shock us when evil people do evil things. As terrible as that is, it’s what we expect from them. We’re therefore neither surprised, nor are we particularly disappointed when bad people behave badly. But when good people make terribly tragic choices, it’s different. We expected more from them.
And that’s why we’re so shocked and surprised and disappointed with Joe. Because for half a century, Joe Paterno has epitomized character, ethics, and all that is good in college athletics. I can close my eyes and imagine Paterno giving a news conference in which he announces that the moment he learned of this heinous crime, he immediately called upon the highest levels of law enforcement and university administration to act and act decisively, so that no child might ever suffer such a fate at Penn State again. That’s what you expect a Joe Paterno to do.
But he didn’t.
Maybe he thought he had done enough. Maybe he didn’t understand. I’m not sure. But I am sure that most of us expected him to do more.
Most of us, but not all of us
Not everybody feels that way. In a recent interview, Hall of Fame running back and Penn State alum Franco Harris called the university’s decision to dismiss Paterno “disturbing.” I don’t know Franco Harris. He may be a thoughtful, intelligent man. But his public statement criticizing Penn State’s Board of Trustees for firing Joe Paterno borders on ludicrous. Here’s an excerpt from that interview:
“I feel that the board made a bad decision in letting Joe Paterno go,” Harris told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “I’m very disappointed in their decision. I thought they showed no courage, not to back someone who really needed it at the time.”
Harris thought the trustees “showed no courage” in failing “to back someone who really needed it at the time.” Really? Wasn’t that the very reason they fired Paterno and University President Graham Spanier? And what about the 10 year old kid who was being brutally raped in the shower of the Penn State football locker room? Did he not need someone to back him? Did he not deserve someone to be courageous for him? Harris’ mindlessly ironic comments only serve to remind us of the greatest failing of the man he’s trying to defend: showing no courage, while failing to back someone who really needed it at the time.
Way to go, Franco. Immaculate reception, maybe. Idiotic perception, definitely.
