King

Posted on January 18, 2010 by Jason

Commemoration of King's "I Have a Dream" speech

To our most bitter opponents we say: “We shall match your capacity to inflict suffering by our capacity to endure suffering. We shall meet your physical force with soul force. Do to us what you will, and we shall continue to love you. We cannot in all good conscience obey your unjust laws because noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good. Throw us in jail and we shall still love you. Bomb our homes and threaten our children, and we shall still love you. Send your hooded perpetrators of violence into our community at the midnight hour and beat us and leave us half dead, and we shall still love you. But be ye assured that we will wear you down by our capacity to suffer. One day we shall win freedom but not only for ourselves. We shall so appeal to your heart and conscience that we shall win you in the process and our victory will be a double victory.”

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The Sermon on the Mount 8

Posted on January 16, 2010 by Jason

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. — Matthew 5.6

I find it interesting that Jesus doesn’t say “Blessed are the righteous”. In a culture like ours — one that is so individualistic and possessive — we might think of righteousness as something we are capable of possessing. I think a lot of people buy into this kind of thought: Blessed are the righteous, for they will be rewarded.

But that’s not what Jesus says. He says the blessed ones hunger and thirst for righteousness. According to Glen Stassen in Living the Sermon on the Mount, the Hebrew word for “righteousness”, tsedaqah means a justice that rescues and releases the oppressed; a justice that restores the powerless and the outcasts to their rightful place in covenant community. This is why it so often appears in the OT with another Hebrew word, mishpat, which means justice.

Jesus gives voice to this in his inaugural sermon in Luke’s Gospel, Luke 4. He unrolls the scroll and reads from Isaiah 61, a text about the justice of God that delivers the oppressed and the poor:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” — Luke 4.18-19

It should come as no surprise that the people who flock to Jesus are these types of people — the ones who hunger and thirst for justice and righteousness.

We would do well to link this Beatitude with 5.4, “Blessed are those who are grieved to the point of action, for they will be strengthened / encouraged / comforted.” Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness yearn for the reign of God to be complete, a place where His character is fully manifest. Their highest ideal is the passionate pursuit of the Kingdom of God. They seek a community where they can eat and drink that which they desire most.

As Christians, we should feel something when we hear the plight of our Haitian brothers and sisters whose sons and daughters are still buried beneath the rubble in their communities. We should be deeply concerned about an entire generation of young people being orphaned in Africa by the AIDS and malaria pandemics sweeping across that continent. We should be deeply moved in spirit by the circumstances of the poor, the prisoners, the blind, the oppressed in our own communities — because these are the ones especially concerning to Jesus. To hunger and thirst for righteousness is to actively seek to deliver people from need. Again, we’re grieved to the point of action.

“They will be filled…” because God is ultimately the one who will bring this kind of justice and righteousness to the earth in the new heavens, the new earth. We see a foretaste of this in Acts 2.42-47 – a community of mutual sharing, eating, where justice and peace and righteousness reign. Isaiah envisions this as a Messianic banquet on the mountain of the LORD (Isa 25):

You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in his distress…On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine – the best of meats and the finest of wines.

Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are those who dare to faintly imagine such a place and pour themselves out in single-minded pursuit of such a dream.

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Football Friday Round Two: Divisional Round

Posted on January 15, 2010 by Jason

Well, in keeping with tradition, my NFL picks were woefully awful last week. And, in keeping with tradition, Sunny — who doesn’t really follow the NFL outside of the Titans and occasionally the Colts — completely mopped the floor with her picks. Here are last week’s results:

Sunny: 3-1

Jason: 1-3

Joshua: 1-3

At least Joshua’s keeping me some company down here in the cellar.

As for this week’s picks, here they are:

NFC Divisional Round: Arizona Cardinals at New Orleans Saints

This one has the potential to repeat last week’s high scoring affair between the Cards and Packers. The Saints tailed off a bit down the stretch, but they were still the class of the NFC all season. It’s hard to count out the Cardinals when Kurt Warner is on; last week he had more touchdown passes than incompletions. But I have to go with N’awlins here. Naturally, Sunny likes the Cardinals, so they’ll probably win.

Jason’s pick: Saints

Sunny’s pick: Cardinals

Joshua’s pick: Saints

NFC Divisional Round: Dallas Cowboys at Minnesota Vikings

Is anyone playing better football than Dallas right now? The offense has always been fairly high octane, but the defense is simply carrying this club. I think this will be a great game. Favre and Peterson indoors this time of year will be awfully tough, but you’d have to be crazy to pick against the ‘Boys with the way they’re playing right now.

Jason’s pick: Cowboys

Sunny’s pick: Cowboys

Joshua’s pick: Cowboys

AFC Divisional Round: Baltimore Ravens at Indianapolis Colts

Peyton Manning. Enough said. We’re all chalk with this pick. Peyton is really the only thing us Tennessee fans have to be proud about these days. Go Colts.

Jason’s pick: Colts

Sunny’s pick: Colts

Joshua’s pick: Colts

AFC Divisional Round: New York Jets at San Diego Chargers

This is where Sunny has just decided to rub it in. She’s taking the Jets — led by a rookie head coach and a rookie QB — on the road against a team that’s won 11 straight games. At this point, who am I to say she’s wrong? But I gotta go Super Chargers here. Maybe I’ll be able to gain a game on her with this pick. But if she’s right, go ahead and put her name on the trophy.

Jason’s pick: Chargers

Sunny’s pick: Jets

Joshua’s pick: Chargers

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Perspective

Posted on January 15, 2010 by Jason

My resolution was to try and write a little bit each day. But honestly, with all that’s been going on over the past few days, writing about some of the things I normally write about — music, sports, stories about my kids — all seems a little frivolous.

The other day I found out that an acquaintance of mine — a young couple that’s expecting twins this spring — found out that one of their boys is having some serious health issues in utero. These friends are only 24 weeks along in their pregnancy. The doctors have already given her a steroid shot; they’re just hoping that she’ll make it another 2 weeks at which time they’ll take the babies. I can’t help but lift up these friends in prayer right now. And I hope with all that’s in me that these little babies will stay put for as long as possible.

I’m also struck by the catastrophe in Haiti right now. About 7 or 8 years ago, I visited Haiti with a few of my good friends on an evangelistic mission. One of the most significant worship experiences of my life occurred with the good brothers and sisters there in Port au Prince. I can’t imagine the horror these people must be dealing with: collapsed buildings, bodies in the streets, confusion and chaos. Our church is mobilizing to provide financial assistance (we’ll be taking a collection on Jan 24). If that’s something you’d like to help with, let me know. But tonight my heart is heavy.

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. — Psalm 34.18

Be close to us tonight, LORD.

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Things I Want to Remember, Vol. 2

Posted on January 12, 2010 by Jason

Two stories I remembered today and I wanted to record them here for posterity:

  1. We were at the grocery store one night, maybe it was before Jackson was born. Joshua and Abby Kate were riding in the cart together, whispering and laughing and having a big time. We were going down the cereal aisle and there was this older gentleman about halfway down the aisle, looking at the Shredded Wheat. As we approached him, Joshua leaned over and whispered something in Abby Kate’s ear. That should’ve tipped me off that something was coming. She listened to what he had to say, and then grinned from ear to ear and nodded her head. When we got right behind the old man, Joshua and Abby Kate each jump up and yell in full voice: “COME! AND I WILL MAKE YOU FISHERS OF MEN!!!” I really thought the old guy was going to have a heart attack right there. After I apologized to him, I gave the twins the “Dad death glare”, but the old man (after regaining his composure) said something like, “No, it’s all right. I actually appreciate somebody that bold in their faith.” Of course, this just further encouraged them to do this again in the future. But it was a good memory.
  2. That story reminded me of the first time I had the chance to tell my kids about Jesus. This is probably overly sentimental, but when each of our children were just a day or two old, I pulled them aside and told them the story of Jesus. It was a proud moment for me, getting to share that Gospel — the most important thing of all — with my children. And being the first person to tell them the story they’ll hear over and over in their lives was very special. With Joshua and Abby Kate, I told them while we were there together in the NICU. I opened the little doors to their isolettes and told them how special they were and how much Jesus loved them. With Jack, I had the chance to talk with him while he was sleeping in our room that first night. That’s something that I never want to forget.
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Dealing with Disappointment

Posted on January 11, 2010 by Jason

Today the news broke about Mark McGwire’s steroid use during his playing career. I can’t really say that I’m surprised by the news, but it’s hard not to be disappointed. Joshua’s been watching this old VHS tape I had about the ’98 home run chase. So he knows all about Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa; he can tell you how many home runs they hit and how they both broke Roger Maris’ record. But he saw the news report tonight and asked me what it was all about, so I had to tell him.

This summer, we saw the Cards play the Dodgers in St. Louis. Every time Manny Ramirez came to the plate to hit, just about everybody in the stadium started booing. Joshua wanted to know what that was about, so I told him that Manny had cheated. I told him that he had taken some medicine that he wasn’t supposed to and that medicine gave him an unfair advantage in the game. Tonight, I had to tell Joshua that McGwire had done the same thing. The look on his face when I told him almost broke my heart. “Why would he do something like that?” he asked me.

We were almost done talking about it when Joshua asked me another question: “What about Albert Pujols? Does he cheat, Daddy?” I knew it wouldn’t take long for this to happen. Joshua idolizes Pujols, more so than any other player. He knows Pujols is one of the best players in the game today, so naturally, he’s curious to know whether or not he’s a “cheater”, too. Honestly, I don’t know what to tell him these days. I can’t help but think a little of my son’s innocence was lost today. But sooner or later, I’m going to have to accept the fact that my children have to learn to deal with disappointment just like the rest of us.

And that’s a tough lesson for anybody to learn.

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Football Friday: Round One

Posted on January 8, 2010 by Jason

UPDATE: Kids picks have been added

__________________

Every year, Sunny and I have some fun by picking the NFL playoff game winners. Seems like she usually beats me, but it’s fun anyway. Last year we let the kids make their picks and — wouldn’t you know it — Joshua had the best winning percentage of any of us. A lot of people have compared our little sports nut to the kid in The Blind Side. Swap out Ole Miss for St. Louis Cardinals / Tennessee Vols / Tennessee Titans, and I think it’s a fair comparison.

Anyway, it’s time for this year’s opening round picks. I forgot to get the picks from the kids before they went to bed — I’ll update theirs in the morning. But here are the picks Sunny and I have made:

AFC Wild Card Round: Jets at Bengals

Despite the Bengals total trouncing by the Jets on Sunday night, part of me still likes Cincy here. With little to play for last week, I can understand why the Bengals mailed it in. But I don’t think that happens again. Both teams are built around their solid defenses. But the Jets D is the best in the league. Rookie QBs scare me in the playoffs, but I like Mark Sanchez to do what he’s learned to do well the past few weeks: manage the game, hand the ball off, throw it away when nothing’s there, and rely on that smash mouth defense to do the rest. With the league’s top defense and ground attack, I like New York in the upset here.

Jason’s pick: Jets

Sunny’s pick: Jets

Joshua’s pick: Bengals

AFC Wild Card Round: Ravens at Patriots

This is a no-brainer. New England is undefeated at home this year. Tom Brady is back in the saddle. Bill Belichick has this squad motivated to make another Super Bowl run. Right? Not so fast. The loss of Wes Welker is huge to this offense. Brady relies on him as an outlet receiver; his absence puts even more pressure on the running game, which is mediocre to begin with. Baltimore loves to pound the rock with Ray Rice and Willis McGahee. And that defense is always scary. In the end, I still like New England to take care of business at home, but expect this one to be close.

Jason’s pick: Patriots

Sunny’s pick: Patriots

Joshua’s pick: Patriots

NFC Wild Card Round: Eagles at Cowboys

This is the marquee matchup of the weekend in my opinion. I love this game and its latent intrigue: division rivals, squaring off for the second week in a row, same city, same venue; Dallas looking for it’s first playoff win since Taylor Swift was in diapers; Donovan McNabb trying to follow the Phightin’ Phils’ lead and bring a championship to the city of brotherly love. In a rivalry game like this, stats don’t matter. I like Philly here in another road win. But I’ll enjoy this one either way.

Jason’s pick: Eagles

Sunny’s pick: Cowboys

Joshua’s pick: Eagles

NFC Wild Card Round: Packers at Cardinals

This pick gives me fits. Arizona is a .500 team at home; the Pack are 5-3 on the road. Additionally, Green Bay was one of the most prolific offenses in the league this year, ranking 6th in total yardage. Maybe even more importantly, their defense ranked second — only behind the Jets — in total yardage allowed. But who can forget Arizona’s Cinderella run to the Super Bowl last season? As long as Larry Fitzgerald is on the field, the Cards have a chance. I hate to pick a third road win here, but I think Green Bay is the better team. But I wouldn’t be surprised if I get this one wrong.

Jason’s pick: Packers

Sunny’s pick: Cardinals

Joshua’s pick: Cardinals

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The Sermon on the Mount 7

Posted on January 7, 2010 by Jason

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. — Matthew 5.5

The Beatitudes operate on a counter-intuitive level. At first blush, we might wonder if Jesus has missed it on this one. The meek? Inherit the earth? I don’t think so, Jesus. We look around and it doesn’t seem as if the meek are inheriting much of anything. And the earth? It belongs to the power brokers, the ones with clout to throw around and muscle to flex and wealth with which to acquire…qualities that aren’t exactly synonymous with meekness.

It’s an unfortunate association that we often make between the terms “meek” and “weak”. Weakness, of course, implies a lack of power. But meekness is different. Meekness is controlled power. It’s about restraint, submission. There’s an association between meekness and the bridled thoroughbred; the power remains, but it has been harnessed.

In this way, meekness is about not going around doing everything you’re capable of doing simply because you can. If we all went around doing everything we were capable of doing, the result would be anarchy. Take traffic laws, for instance. Do I have the power to disregard stop signs, red lights, speed limit signs? Well, sure. But if we all went around driving this way, there’d be no order. There would be chaos. To drive this way isn’t good for me or anyone else. When we yield our power in that circumstance, we are creating a better society. We all know this to be true.

Why, then, do I find it so difficult to submit myself to the will of God? Why do I continue to white knuckle certain areas of my life, refusing to submit myself fully to God? Why do I think that unrestrained power in another area of my life is any less harmful than it would be on the highway behind the wheel of my truck?

In 2 Kings 2, Elisha has just received a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. How does he use this power? He calls down a pack of wild she-bears to maul 42 children that mock him and call him “baldhead”. There’s simply no way to sugarcoat this story: unrestrained power is a dangerous thing.

2 Samuel 11 tells the same story. Why did David take Bathsheeba? Because he could. Plain and simple. And the story is repeated throughout scripture. Solomon’s uncontrolled passion; Moses striking the rock; Peter striking Malchus. The figures and circumstances change, but the point is the same. Unrestrained power is a very dangerous thing.

We get to Jesus and we realize that it was never about power anyway. With Jesus, it’s about being strong enough to assume powerlessness. That’s the message of the cross. There’s something profound here – that God’s most definitive act in the world was not an act of power, but an act of powerlessness. And by submitting ourselves to His power, we become inheritors of the earth.

From Clarence Jordan:

…a surrendered human will is the agency through which God’s power is released upon the earth. They become God’s “workhorses” on earth. Through them God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven; through them the kingdom of heaven comes to earth. That’s why you can’t stop them. That’s why they “inherit the land,” that is, the promised land or the kingdom. Only the meek, “the terrible meek,” the totally committed meek, are considered worthy of an inheritance in the new land, the kingdom of God on earth.

There is indeed a blessing for those who surrender their will to the will of God.

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Blessed

Posted on January 7, 2010 by Jason

Today has been a long day, but it’s been a good one. I spent the day with God’s people: men’s class this morning; a funeral for a fellow minister’s mother; lunch with a good friend; coffee & conversation with a missionary on furlough; an afternoon strategy session with our local outreach team; and another class time with a cross-section of the Mayfair family.

At the end of a day like today, the word that comes to mind is blessed. It’s an overused term in my line of work and because of that, it loses some of its weight and gravity. But there’s no better way to describe how I feel after spending the day in the presence of so many dear brothers and sisters. It truly is a gift of God to share — as Bonhoeffer wrote about — life together. At the end of this good day, the words of David are on my heart:

I rejoiced with those who said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the LORD.” — Psalm 122.1

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120 Million Dollar Man

Posted on January 5, 2010 by Jason

Ever wondered what $120 million can get you in this economy?

A small Caribbean island? 33,613,445 Big Macs? The GNP of Malaysia?

Try a corner outfielder that can’t catch a fly ball.

Doink!

Granted, said corner outfielder is one of the most feared hitters in the National League in the prime of his career. Doubly granted, his signing is intended to send a signal to the MOST feared hitter in the National League that we’re going to step up to the plate next season when it’s time to renegotiate HIS contract.

But still, I haven’t forgotten about that fly ball, Matt.

Ahh, who am I kidding? I can’t hide my giddy-ness that the Cardinals re-upped the biggest bat on this winter’s free agent market. Pujols and Holliday give the Cards an imposing one-two punch for the next several years — if that big extension comes through for El Hombre. As it stands, the Cards are only one of three teams (the other two play in New York) with more than one $100 million dollar man on their squad.

I’m liking this deal tonight; let’s hope I feel the same way in 7 years.

But I’d like it a whole lot more if it weren’t for that flyball.

Go Cards.

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