Heaven Invading Human Space

I'm reading Dallas Willard's classic book The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God. For some time Dallas Willard has interested me and I just have never gotten a chance to start digging into his books. After he died a few weeks ago I took it as a wake up call to pick one up. The Spirit of Disciplines is probably his most famous. In that one Willard makes his case for living out the spiritual disciplines as a means of embracing the gracious and loving presence of God.  In many ways Dallas Willard embodies what my whole purpose of this blog has been: gratefully receiving the unearned, eternal grace of God through Christ by living out that love through a life of gratitude, hope and joy. It's about time I read some of Willard's works.

Yesterday I got into a section of the third chapter of The Divine Conspiracy called "Heaven Invading Human Space." The images and language that Willard uses there is festering within my mind and soul. Willard emphasizes in his book that heaven is not some distant place where God lives and people go after they die. "The kingdom of the heavens," as he puts it, is not only breaking in, but is and has been upon us throughout all of human history. Jesus, God incarnate, points the way to this "kingdom of the heavens" and teaches how we can live as people of this kingdom right now.  I understand all of that, and do agree with him. As much as any place, John's Gospel reveals to us how we can live in this spiritual, heavenly kingdom right now. The problem is that, like so many of us, what I can understand in theory does not always play out in my life. Again, that's the call of this blog: Love Christ Live Faith. Start living the kingdom. Start living in grace.

Willard has given me an image that's going to stick for a long time:

     The inability to accept the fact that our familiar atmosphere is a "heaven" in which God dwells and from which he deals with us leads to some curious translations of biblical texts. In Acts 11:5-9, within a span of five verses, exactly the same phrase, tou ouranou, is translated in three different ways by the NASV, and by most others. It is translated "the sky" in verse 5, "the air" in verse 6, and "heaven" in verse 9.
     This, you may recall, is where Peter in a trance sees a sheet with all kinds of animals on it being let down through the atmosphere (tou ouranou). Among them are birds of the atmosphere. and he hears a voice from the atmosphere telling him to rise and eat. 
     Now our English sky means something quite different from air, and heaven means something quite different from either. The translation becomes entangled in these meanings. The sky is more a limit than a place, and as a place it is farther away than the air. Hence, we say, "The sky's the limit," not "the air's the limit." Heaven, of course, is strictly out of sight for us, beyond the moon for sure and quite likely "beyond" the physical cosmos.
     A consistent translation of tou ouranou drawing upon the biblical context could use "air" or "atmosphere" in each occurrence, as I have just done, and thus give the precise content of Peter's experience. God spoke to Peter from the surrounding "thin air," where birds fly and from which the sheet came. This conveys quite a different impression than the standard translations, which usually only speak of "heaven" in this passage. (Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy, Ch. 3)

Willard makes this point by lifting up a passage from Acts as an example. But even before Peter and the sheet full of food Willard gives many examples even in the Old Testament of heaven truly invading human space: from God appearing to Abraham to Jacob bridging the gap between heaven and earth. What happens when we truly no longer think of heaven as being some distant place in the sky, but present among us like air and atmosphere?

Jesus says "and remember, I am with you always until the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20).  The Spirit is given to the disciples like a gust of wind at Pentecost (Acts 2:2). Jesus compares being born of the spirit and living in the spirit to wind in John 3. "Do not be astonished that I said to you, 'You must be born from above.' The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."

Jesus' primary message to the world is that the Kingdom of God (or Kingdom of Heaven or "the kingdom of the heavens") has come near. "Repent, and believe the good news (Mark 1:15)." This repentance is more about changing your life than about confessing sin. It means breaking free from the confining structures of the worldly kingdom that limit us, tell us no, and enslave us to sin. Changing your life means loving Christ and living faith through embracing the consciousness of Christ. We are free to follow. We are free to live responsibly. We are free to live the Kingdom of God. And as Jesus says, this is "good news." Believe this "good news."

Back to the atmosphere, which is Willard's translation of literally "the heavens" in the Greek. What would it mean to feel a warm breeze and remember the presence of God and the inspiration of the Spirit? What would it mean to have the air conditioning blow upon you and remember you are a child of God, living the kingdom, partaking in the "Bread of Life" through faith.

As common as wind blowing through your hair are the moments of God's presence and guidance. God moments remind us of our connectedness and the helping hand of the Good Shepherd; they are moments of living in the freedom of the Kingdom of God.  And my friends, this is the truth you want to live in. It is a Kingdom of the Possible and a Kingdom of Hope. It is the reality of giving your burdens to Christ and taking upon yourself his yoke, which is so easy and light. The Kingdom of God, which is among us, is where we have life and have it abundantly.

Don't Leave Me

Today is Ascension Day. It's been forty days since Easter. A lot has happened, but it also doesn't seem so long ago. The ups and downs the disciples of Jesus went through over a two month span are enormous. The hope and optimism of Palm Sunday: Jesus will overthrow Rome. The bewilderment of the Last Supper: Surely not I Lord. The horror of the crucifixion: It is finished. The confusion of the resurrection: It seems an idle tale. The new hope and optimism of Jesus' resurrection life: My Lord and My God! Once we get to the Mount of the Ascension were right back to where the disciples started.

And then he leaves.

The disciples are left behind. Yes, they are left with a promise and a call... The promise: I will give you an Advocate, the Holy Spirit, to help, encourage, and empower you to serve. The call: look around you and reach out into the world that needs to hear about Jesus.

But you left us Jesus.

Those two months, between Palm Sunday and Pentecost, was a period of transition unlike any other in history. For those who lived it and experienced it, how painful it must have been. It concludes with Pentecost. Jesus fulfills his promise when the Spirit is given to the disciples. The Spirit gives them the ability to answer their God given call and the encouragement to persevere through enormous odds against them.

The same Holy Spirit serves as our Advocate as well. God helps us and inspires us through the Spirit. We stumble upon God-moment after God-moment and recognize them as such through the Spirit. The Holy Spirit helps us through our transitions. When we say goodbye to coworkers and friends, neighbors and family members the Spirit moves us forward with hope. We not only can get through this, we can come through transition stronger.

The Great Commission of Matthew's Gospel puts it well for us. Yes Jesus departs but he promises to be with us, to the end of the age. Jesus is with you and doesn't leave you stuck on the mount of your transitions. God has empowered with hope and gifts that move you forward.

Martin & Jackie; Django & Quentin

The film director Quentin Tarantino is known for making good movies and known for making violent movies. Yes violent movies can be good. Tarantino knows how to pull that off. In telling his stories Tarantino likes to pay homage to past eras through the costumes, language and look of his movies.  Some of his more recent movies are even set in the past. But instead of being non-fiction, his historical movies give you the sense of how Tarantino would have liked to have seen history play out. For example, in Inglorious Bastards, Tarantino creates an armed and extremely dangerous elite fighting corp of Jews who are parachuted into Germany during World War II. Instead of watching the horrors of Jews suffering at the hands of the Nazis in his movie, we instead watch these soldiers giving the Nazis a taste of their own medicine. If only that could have happened in the 1940's. 

In his recent Academy Award nominated movie Django Unchained Tarantino goes further back into the past: two years before the Civil War. The slave Django is given the opportunity to work with a bounty hunter.  He gains his freedom and makes it his mission to track down and rescue his wife, who he hasn't seen in years and is being severely abused as a slave. In the movie Tarantino has Django march through the south (and southern salve owners) like Rambo on steroids. He fulfills, all by himself, the abolitionist John Brown's dream of a salve uprising in the south. If only that could have happened in the 1850's. 

I wonder how Tarantino would film a movie about Jesus. It would probably play out like many of the Jesus movies in the beginning, but the tide would turn in the Garden of Gethsemane  Not only would a Tarantino Jesus not tell Peter to put away his sword, he would probably have taken it from him to begin the revolution. Look out Pilate. It won't be Jesus hanging on the cross this time.  

Jesus models a truth that is different from Tarantino's truth. Tarantino reveals justice through violent pay back; the wicked getting their just desserts. Jesus models the Kingdom of God.  Jesus models the Sermon on the Mount: "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."  Ultra-violence in the 1860's didn't come with a slave uprising, but did come with the Civil War... a war that did lead to the end of slavery but also a hundred years of Jim Crow. 

For as satisfying it might be to see Nazis and heartless slave owners getting their just desserts, real power and real change comes through love. Real change came when Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights protesters in the 1950's marched peacefully, even in the face of violence. Non-violent protest transformed into the riots of the late 1960's and the set back can still be felt in cities like Chicago today. 

What if Tarantino had made the current movie about the baseball player Jackie Robinson? It would have looked a whole lot different. Like King, Robinson responded to racist threats of violence with compassion, tolerance and love. He changed the world. 

If we are to model the life of Christ, taught to us in the Sermon on the Mount... If our conscience is to be the conscience of Christ, then we are called to boldly act with love and compassion. Yes, stand against injustice. Yes, stand with those who are oppressed. But do it prayerfully and with humility. Stand and let the light of Christ shine in your actions.  

Lord, Teach Us.

We learn so much about what it means to follow Christ through three chapters in Matthew's Gospel: The Sermon on the Mount. Dietrich Bonhoeffer felt that the Sermon on the Mount was critical to understanding what Christ's expectations are for us. He lifted up ideas from Matthew 5-7 in many of his writings. In his Ethics Bonhoeffer wrote this:

The Sermon on the Mount are divine commandments for action in history insofar as they are the reality that has been fulfilled in Christ... Thus, the Sermon on the Mount itself confronts a person with the necessity of responsible historical action... The Sermon on the Mount is either valid as the word of God's world-reconciling love everywhere and at all times, or it is not really relevant for us at all.

Bonhoeffer was critical of the idea that we can compartmentalize faith in Christ. The idea of saving Christian love and charity for Sunday and then embracing worldly pursuits and values the rest of the week is inconsistent with the teachings of Christ.  Jesus teaches us this very thing in the Sermon. "The eye is the lamp to the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great the darkness! (Matthew 6:22-23)"  You either live the Sermon on the Mount or you don't. You either live and believe what God has done and is doing through love and through Christ, or you don't.

"No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth (6:24)."

The Sermon on the Mount is truth about God's love for us through Christ. It is truth about the claim that God is making upon the world and its values. Followers of Christ seek to live their lives as a refection of God's truth that God's Kingdom is breaking in. Because it doesn't work to live out Christ's love only some of the time or to reflect his light only some of the time, our prayer is that God will guide us to always be true to his calling for us.

This is the point of the "Living Christ Love" guide.  It is a reminder that being "the light of the world (5:14)" is not easy.  But with the Spirit's help it is a spiritual pursuit that is worthwhile because it is based on love, on God, and on truth. Jesus teachings, when lived out, are freeing to your soul. "My yoke is easy and my burden is light (Matthew 11:30)."  Living Christ's love, you can be true to yourself. You can be in relationship with others, even with difficult people. You can always be hopeful through faith and prayer. You can engage with others in a spirit of compassion and humility. You can disagree and not risk everything. You can be vulnerable and trust others. You can stay connected and not give up your true self; your true call.

Lord, teach us. He has in the "Sermon on the Mount" and has modeled what he taught through his life, his cross, and his resurrection. Help us, O Lord, to serve only you. Help us, within community, to be the light of the world so that others may come to know what God is doing right now as his Kingdom is breaking into the world.

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not bring us to the time of trial,
but rescue us from the evil one.
 - Matthew 6:9-13

Tears of Joy

Near the end of Revelation, when the Seer sees "a new heaven and a new earth" there is a voice that is heard from the throne. What a voice and what a message:

See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them;
he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away. (Revelation 21:3-4)

Here is a message of hope for all time.
The first things... periods of time where there is death and mourning and crying and pain... have passed away. 
The first things... periods of time when it's not so clear that God is among us... have passed away.
The first things... periods of time when God's people freely choose paths of destruction instead of hope... have passed away.  
The first things... periods of time we dwell in right now as we struggle through the ups and downs of life... will pass away. It will not always be like this.  God, who dwells with us in Christ, will make us and all things new.

What a vision of hope for things to come. Write it down! Believe it! These words and this vision is "trustworthy and true."

Recently someone approached me in tears. We certainly do still live among "the first things." Her tears were not the result of any physical pain, or fear for her future, instead they were tears for her loved ones... for her brothers. She knows of the voice of Christ and believes in Jesus, but her brothers do not. They don't believe. "I don't think they will be saved. That scares me so much. What can I do?"

Scripture from Daniel to the New Testament does lift up the image of children of God being resurrected to both salvation and damnation on the Day of Judgement (Daniel 12, John 5, Revelation 20).  Imagine that... some raised to everlasting life and others raised to everlasting contempt. How does that connect with the image of Revelation 21? If our loved one's are judged poorly on that day, how could we possibly not feel pain, or mourning, or crying? Will we not be devastated?

An image of Christ's love and the power of the cross shared by the author Garry Wills helps me to understand what God has done for us in Jesus. It helps me understand this image of the Judgment Day.

One night a father was putting his eight-year-old daughter to bed when he notice that she was crying. "Why are you crying he asked?"

"Oh, it's nothing," she replied.

"No, tell me.  I want to know what's wrong."

"Well, I'm afraid that I'm going to hell. And hell is a terrible place where you are always on fire and feel pain and suffer and it never stops. I'm so scared Daddy."

The Father was stunned by what his little girl was saying. "Where in the world did you get that idea?"

"My teacher was telling us about hell and said that if I'm not good then that's where God is going to send me." The daughter was visibly shaken as she said this.

There was a pause as tears began to form in the Father's eyes. His first instinct was to say that her teacher was just flat out wrong. But instead he put it to her this way. He pulled his daughter close to him and he looked at her full in the face and said to her.

"My dear, know this... if that's where you are going to go then I am going to be right there with you, to love you and to protect you and to never let you go."

God so loved the world...
He suffered death and was buried...
If we have united with Christ in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

When that day comes when we are gathered together before God, when mourning, crying, death and pain will be no more, it won't be because we're glad we're the lucky ones or because we have had our hard drives erased so we don't remember those "left behind." Death, crying, morning and pain being wiped away means that God has fully reconciled creation to himself in Christ.

It will be just. 
It will be life. 
It will be love.
It will be new. 
It will be God. 

Crying will be no more... or maybe the crying will be made new just as we are made new: transformed into tears of joy. How amazing it will be when our faith becomes sight and we fully experience God living among us.

Now that we have written down these words and digested them into our souls we are called to live our lives in light of this news. Love one another. Be kind. Live in community. Be a light so that tears of pain may become tears of joy right now... for all God's children.

Matthew Warren

I was saddened this afternoon to hear the news that Rick Warren's son Matthew committed suicide today. The author of the best selling Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren is nationally known. I follow Rick on Twitter and am thankful for his ability to stand for a gospel of justice and spiritual life as he serves as Pastor of Saddleback Church near Los Angeles.

As I keep Rick and his family in my prayers I will also be lifting up the many families who have been struck by the senseless and tragic monster called suicide. When the darkness of mental illness casts it's shadow on a child of God it is terrible to think of what can happen. When such darkness results in suicide, it makes you want to fall to your knees in despair.

Walking in the light of Christ we are free to live love. It might be that no amount of love would have broken through the illness that held on to Matthew, but it is love that holds on to him today as he dwells in the hope given to him and the whole world through Jesus. Love will give the Warren family the chance to see the light of hope as they now wander in grief.  God is with them.

Skeptical Easter Faith

I picked up Bobby Knight's new book from the library the other day. It's title caught my eye as I was browsing through the New Books Section: The Power of Negative Thinking. Go figure. The famous... strike that... the infamous former Indiana basketball coach would title his book The Power of Negative Thinking.  Look up bully or grouch or mean in the dictionary, and there you will find Bobby Knight.

Instead of being a book about the value of loud intense screaming and intimidation to get results, the book actually is a testament to Knight's deep seated belief in skepticism. A skeptic is someone who doubts, questions or disagrees with assertions or generally accepted conclusions.  So add skeptic to the list of adjectives you can use for Coach Robert Montgomery Knight.

Throughout the book Knight throws in some of "Knight's Nuggets." His take on society's generally accepted conclusions:

A picture is worth a thousand words. Said, I'm guessing, by a lousy writer or an illiterate.

The boss won't mind if I'm a little late. What do you suppose this pink slip means?

I don't care what the weatherman said, it doesn't even feel like rain. Umbrellas aren't all that expensive, compared to pneumonia.

You can't always believe that gauge. I know there's plenty of gas to get us home. Remind him of that when he's walking two miles in snow to find a station.

Don't worry, Dad. This test is going to be easy. Better idea, Son: Study.

What a nice little dog. And what mean teeth.

Have faith that you'll be OK. Get a good doctor. 

You can do whatever you really believe you can do. Now, YOU are the coach I want to play against.

You can be whatever you want to be. Sure, jump out of a tree and try being a bird.

Knight doesn't even come from the school of Trust But Verify... It's more like Doubt, Verify... and then... Maybe. 

In Luke's telling of the Easter story there is all kinds of Doubt, Verify... and then... Maybe.  It is the skeptics' version of the Resurrection Story. The women can't believe the news that Jesus has been raised.  They then tell Jesus' disciples and they don't believe either. "But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them (Luke 24:11)." Peter runs to the tomb afterwards to verify if this might be true.

On Good Friday we embraced Paul's wise observation and confirmed it through our own experience that "The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18)."  We can put it this way:

The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are skeptical, pessimistic and doubt everything under the sun; but to us who walk by faith and live in the freedom of our baptism it is the power of God to live in the spirit and embrace a truth that not only can't be verified but stands against the lies even the skeptics fail to question.  

When the disciples refuse to believe the good news they risk remaining in the darkness of despair and sin.  It is a darkness where no one can be trusted and you get what you can when you can.  This is the primary lie of the world.  It fools us into thinking that "home-spun-Midwestern-skeptical-common-sense" are wise words for life.   

But you know... there's hope... even for the skeptics. God does not give up on those skeptical disciples and will not give up on us. The cross stands at the crossroads between the world's kingdom and a new Kingdom of Heaven that frees us to live in the Spirit now. God does not give up on them and will not give up on us.  Truth waits and dwells within your soul.

The tragedy is how much you are going to miss in the mean time.  Friday night my Michigan Wolverines beat Kansas in an amazing comeback game.  The biggest win for Michigan in twenty years.  After Good Friday services I checked the score and saw that Kansas was beating Michigan 70-59 with four minutes left.  When I got home I didn't turn on the game and had no idea what was happening until I got a text after the game was all over: "Now to you believe?"

Oh boy, what did I miss?

We miss so much when we embrace the common sense skepticism of the world. We miss so much what God is doing right in front of our face.  When we live in the Kingdom of the Skeptics instead of the Kingdom of the Possible, which Jesus institutes with the cross and empty tomb, we miss out on truth. 

God's not going to give up on you.  Faith will become sight and the day is coming soon.  In the mean time don't miss the power of the Christ's cross.  With God all things are possible. 

The Cross

Jesus died on a cross.

The cross is the main symbol of Christianity.

"If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." - Jesus (from Mark 8:34b)

"For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." - Paul (from 1 Corinthians 1:18)

The cross is at the crossroads of life in the flesh and life in the spirit. On the one hand the cross represents death. It represents everything that we fear as humans: betrayal, punishment, disgrace, mortality, the end of existence. Those that hold worldly power use it as a weapon to hold on to their power. To survive in the world the cross must be feared and ignored. Stay away from the cross as long as you can. Like the grim reaper, when the cross appears at your door. It's all over.

But the cross stands at the crossroads and points our way to a reality the world fights against: life in the Spirit. By dying on the cross Jesus, who is the living Word made flesh, enters fully into the reality of the world and claims lordship over it.  He opens the door to life in the Spirit and proclaims to us that we need not live in fear ever again. We are free.

When we Christians wear a cross... or place a cross in the heart of our assembly... we are saying that we stand in the crossroads as well with Christ. We are children of the flesh and live in the world, but the presence of the cross reminds us that we are born of the Spirit as well.  We are free from fear and free to serve our neighbor in love. 

To pick up this cross is this follow Jesus. To pick up this cross and give our life to this cross... well that's the meaning of discipleship. We are not slaves to the selfish ambitions and priorities of the world. We "deny ourselves" and instead live in the freedom of the cross. We are free from fear and free to serve our neighbor in love.

Of course all of this is foolishness, according to the world.  Paul's observation of the truth, is also our experience of the world's contempt for the cross.  Just plug into the noise the media makes. While we may be a society of tolerance it still is expected and quite acceptable to belittle, criticize, and laugh at those who would "carry their cross and follow" Christ.  This is to be expected., though.  We were warned. Our call from Jesus continues to be to live the radical love of the cross. Love one another. Love your neighbor. Love your enemies. Love. Love. Love.

The cross is the power of God giving us the freedom to live Christ's love. At the foot of the cross let go of the hate, the anger, the bitterness, our insecurities. Exchange the world's lies for the Lord's truth. May it define you. May it be what your bring to all of your relationships. We are free from fear and free to serve our neighbor in love.

What Are You Listening To?

When the women first discovered that Jesus' tomb was empty, "they were perplexed (Luke 24:4)." To cut through their confusion they listened to the very first proclamation of Jesus' resurrection when two men in dazzling clothes said to them "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while we was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again (Luke 25:5b-7)." They couldn't believe what the men said but still the disciples the news, nonetheless. Peter, listening to the women, immediately ran to the tomb to see for himself.  He couldn't believe it either. 

Jesus had warned the disciples and the women about what was going to happen to him, but were they too distracted, because of all the other noise about Jesus out there, to hear him?  There were those saying that Jesus would be the new King David.  There were those who were vocal about Jesus being a fraud. Just a few days earlier the voices were saying "crucify, crucify him." They heard Jesus' message, but it was just one voice out of many. The women and the disciples were not prepared for the truth.  

What are you listening to? Consumer Reports recently reported that the average American is exposed to 247 commercial messages every day. Just what message are they giving to you? If it's a message of hope, it is a hope that surely is connected to the product or event they are trying to sell to you.  

What are you listening to? Take a look at the old-fashion media device called a radio. If you are listening to music, what is the music's message? I was recently shocked when I took a closer look at catchy song I had been enjoying for a while.  Did he really sing that?  If you listen to talk radio, is the tone of the conversation or monologue a reflection of Living Christ's Love? How can the moves of a football team cause such passionate anger in March?  What did he say about our president?  

What are you listening to? 

We live in a world where a great deal of time, effort and money is spent to get you to listen. Others want to make the choice for you. But you know what, you do have a choice. You can choose what you are reading, and watching and listening to! 

Jesus Christ is Risen! We who are baptized in Christ are called share this good news to the world in how we live Christ's love and serve other people. Living for Christ means living in light... living in hope... living in truth. Expose yourself to media that is life giving and not life draining. If you like music discover how much fun the contemporary Christian music is being played on K-Love 94.3.  If you like current events and news, don't miss the often right-on-the-money commentary and views on Relevant Magazine's website, blogs and Twitter. 

The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Repent and believe the good news. Don't miss out on this good news because you have plugged yourself into the 24/7 spending, ranting, and complaining cycles. Instead open up to the Spirit and start discovering a fresh voice... based on Living Christ's Love.  The voice is out there.   

The Flavor of the Day

On Palm Sunday Jesus was the Flavor of the Day.

I downloaded the app for the restaurant Culver's.  I like Culver's. They have their roots in Wisconsin. The Culver family is also Lutheran. I almost feel its my duty to like Culver's. The butter burgers are okay. The Reuben is really good. But for me, most important than butter on the burgers is that they have Wisconsin Deep-Fried-Cheese-Curds on the menu and yummy frozen custard... a Wisconsin dairy treat.

Frozen custard should be vanilla in my mind, but Culver's soups their custard to make all kinds of different flavors.  They have a "Flavor of the Day" at every location, so if there is a particular flavor you have come to enjoy you better keep an eye open for when that flavor will appear on the calendar. This is where the app is such a helpful tool. At the push of a button you can find out what is on the schedule at your closest Culver's location.

Today the flavor is Kit Kat Swirl and tomorrow will be Oreo Overload.  The problem is that, lets say I just adore that Kit Kat Swirl. (Which is a pretty good bet, because I enjoy a delicious Kit Kat.) The next time I come to Culver's there's a really good chance they wont have it.  For they have moved on to the next one: Brownie Thunder or Just Drummy.  "I don't want Just Drummy, I would like Kit Kat Swirl," you say with a air of disappointment.  It wont matter.  Kit Kat Swirl is old news... at least until the next time it comes around.  McDonald's has made a three decade odyssey out of the ever popular McRib sandwich: always appearing and disappearing for a limited time.

On Palm Sunday Jesus was The Flavor of the Day.  I'd say week, but by the end of that week, the people have long ago moved on.  Jesus was celebrated as the new king, enter Jerusalem in triumph. Here's a flavor that will stick.  Here's a man with authority from God. He will surly put and end to the Roman's reign.

It didn't take long for the crowd to turn.  Jesus was not going to be the new King David, because what the world needed was a King of Kings for all time.  While the crowds at "Just Drummy" just reigned on the cross: meeting humanity at the very worst humanity can dish or experience.  He was the Flavor of the Week when people didn't even realize that the flavor they truly hungered for was the Bread of Life with a side of Living Waters.

Part of the human experience is that we all have experienced being the Flavor of the Week at some point. We've been the "Kit Kat Swirl" admired and popular one day; sent out to pasture the next.

Jesus has been there. He meets us in our struggles and knows how it feels to be abandoned for something or someone else.  God reveals to us that we are all Children of God. Even as other may forget us and move on to the next, Jesus never does. He loves you and embraces you today, tomorrow and always. You are God's flavor of all time.

I'm sticking with vanilla.    

What's Your Number 7, 77, or 119?

Last night the Chicago Blackhawks lost their first regular season game in regulation time since March 25, 2012.  For 30 games in a row the Hawks had make a point.  For the first 24 games of this season the Hawks did not lose a single game in regulation.  And, up till last night, they had won 11 games in a row.  Those are some amazing numbers for Hawks fans.

Well... for most Hawks fans.  Not for lifelong Hawks fan, Steven Schucker.  The Chicago Tribune reported that the only number that matters to Steven is 119.  119... as in the 119-day-long lockout that postponed the beginning of the NHL season.  In fact, for a long time it looked like there would be no season, just as there was no season in 2004 for the same reason.  Steven is fed up with greedy owners and blames NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman for all that is wrong with hockey. 

As a matter of principle, Steven vowed not to watch a single moment of NHL hockey this year.  Which, in light of his favorite team's amazing start, has made life very difficult for Steven.  Yes, difficult because it's so tempting to get on the bandwagon of enjoying the Hawks great start, but even more difficult because of the razzing he is getting from his friends.  Recently a "friend" posted on his Facebook: "Your (sic) a moron for not watching a sport because you don't like the commissioner."  At his favorite bars, Steven is immediately made fun of when they quickly turn the Bulls game off the big screens and put on hockey.  It's hard to hold a grudge on a matter or principle.  But a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.

It worked that way in the famous Parable of the Prodigal Son. In Luke's Gospel Jesus uses that parable to teach as lesson about forgiveness and the joy it gives God when one sinner repents.  The youngest of two son's is a bit of a scoundrel in that parable. He is offensive in how he insists on his share of the inheritance now, runs off with it, and then wastes it. As a last resort he returns home to dad and dad takes him in with loving arms: celebrating his lost son's return.

As a matter of principle the older son who stayed home refuses to participate in the festivities.  It's not fair and its not right.  Like lost our Hawks fan, the older son's principles stand on holding on to that grudge as long as he can.  I'm sure the older son's buddies did a bunch of razzing as well.  I can just picture them waving some of that delicious roast calf in his face... a delicacy that was cooked just for the occasion.

These are the principles that God stands on:
- I love all my children.
- I will rejoice for one sinner that repents more than for 99 righteous persons who don't.
- I will love all my children, even when it's difficult.
- I will not cut off from my children, even when they turn away from me.
- I will forgive them 7 times. 
- I will forgive them 77 times.
- I will give my children the freedom to live with these very same principles.

You do not need to be chained to your grudge.  Does Gary Bettman deserve forgiveness? I don't need to answer that.  Does the NHL and the Hawks deserve our attention? I'm not going to answer that either.  God's principles, or your principles, do not hinge on the actions of rich and spoiled owners and players.

But does God want you to be chained to a grudge of hate? NO

Does God want you to remain in the shadows of sin because wicked actions of others? NO

Be true to yourself and true to your principles... but may those principles reflect the same image that you were created in: God.

Forgive us our sins and we forgive those who sin against us.
      

Coaching Fundamentals

I'm attending a coaching conference this week near Tampa, Florida and I'm amazed by some of the new things I have learned.  I'm not amazed that I'm amazed.  I expected that.  Events like this always challenge me and help me see things in fresh ways.  My experience of learning coaching skills and then using coaching skills has been life changing for me. It's helped clarify for my my calling to be pastor of a church, to be a leader among followers, and to be an equipper of disciples. 

This is how I define coaching.  Coaching is helping others move ahead to live and act true to their unique calling from God.  To me it ties in so well with Living Christ's Love.  As a coach I'm called to help people discover #1: "Be true to myself."  Coaching give me the tools to help people discover the truth that God has planted deep in their soul and imprinted within their DNA.  It leads people to discover who they truly are, what God is truly calling them to be, and how they can be true to both in relationship with others.

Action in the coaching converstation is always going forward. The way Jonathan Reitz put's it, coaching is "X arrow X" (or X -------> X ) meaning coaching is helping the coachee identify where they are today, where they are called to go, and the route to take to bring those closer together.  Coaching gives people permission to discover the route themselves.  In fact, let me put it another way.  The coachee does the work because God has planted that truth within them.

God has given us all unique talents and gifts.  Every one of us is unique in all the world.  A coach walks along side the coachee to help them discover those unique gifts and hear the call about where they are going next.

I thank God for the training I have received and I'm excited about how I can use these skills to help people from my church, my fellow pastors, and other ministries from this area discover who they truly are and the steps to take to get to where they feel called to go.  

One Thing Needed

In a world full of distractions, our faith guides us in making the right priorities.  The Bible story in the Gospel of Luke of Jesus visiting the home of his friends, Mary and Martha, helps us see that setting priorties is not always easy.

Quick... Your boss has told you that she is coming over to your home tomorrow to meet with you. What do you need to do over the next 24 hours?

What ever came to your mind, I'm sure there's a good chance it sounded a whole lot like this: "But Martha was distrated by all the preparations that had to be made (Luke 10:40)."  There's a children's Bible I like a lot.  It's a smiplified verison of the Bible, but in the case of the story of Mary and Martha welcoming Jesus in their home, it gives us a whole lot more detail.  Maybe your preparations for your boss would look a bit like this. "Martha, on the other hand, was very busy. She didn't have time to sit down! She cooked - olives, fish bread. She cleaned - sweeping the dirt floor and shaking the mats. Martha worked to make Jesus' visit special."

After thinking about what you would need to do to prepare for your boss's visit, maybe your final conclusion might be: "I need to convince her to meet with me somewhere else."

In the text, Martha becomes of frustrated with Mary, she approaches Jesus to help her get Mary to help out. "Tell her to help me!"  Jesus response is a lesson in priorties and compassion.  With compassion in his heart Jesus knows Martha is struggling and opens her eyes to truth. "'Martha, Martha,' the Lord answered, 'you are worried and upset about may things, but few things are needed - or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her' (Luke 10:41-42)."

What is the one thing needed?  What is preventing Martha from doing the one thing needed?
I can think of a lot of words here: stuff, pride, appearances, fairness, frustration, fear, things. 

What is the one thing needed?

Living the Kingdom of God, living the spiritual reality we have been baptized into means making the one thing needed our priority in all things and in all our realtionships.  We view the world through the lens of that one thing needed.  We do our chores in light of the one thing needed.  

On that day Mary chose what is better because her actions were centered on the one thing needed.  She was free because of that one thing needed. 

What is preventing you from living in the light of that one thing needed?  Are you ready to place those discrations in their proper place in your life?  Are you open to being released to live for Christ my making that one thing needed your number one priority?  Are you ready to pray for the Holy Spirit to inspire you to center on that one thing needed?  Can that one thing needed become a spiritual habit that becomes second nature... I mean... first nature?

When that day comes, you will be ready to welcome your boss today, tomorrow, and anytime.  Mi casa es su casa when your life is defined by that one thing needed.

What in the World is Water?

What in the world is water?

I read this joke in Charles Duhigg's The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and in Business: "There are two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says 'Morning, boys. How's the water?' The two young fish swim on for a bit and eventually one of them looks over at the other and asks 'What in the world is water?'"

Ash Wednesday is about encountering realities we tend to not think about. When we are marked on our foreheads with ashes we remember the reality that "we are dust and to dust we shall return."  We are mortal and this life is finite. We are completely dependent on the graciousness of God to make through this live and beyond.

The fact that the ashes are marked on our forehead in the sign of the cross reminds us that we belong to Christ: "You belong to Christ in whom you are baptized." Our mortality is not the end of the story for us. Isaiah 43 is our reality: "I have called you by name. You are mine."

Which of course also reminds us of our baptismal reality. On Ash Wednesday we can see that we have been marked with the cross of Christ... but that marking lasts forever.  Our baptism lasts forever.  Reality is that marked with the cross long after the ashes are washed away.  Reality is that we are wet in the waters of baptism long after the water dries.  Christians who forget their baptisms are blind to reality just as much as our two young fish are blind to the reality around them when they ask: "what in the world is water?"

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus teaches us about treasures on earth and treasures in heaven.  Both heaven and earth are real, but too often we neglect the Kingdom of Heaven reality we are free to live in today.  We trudge on head in our earthly reality forgetting that we are free to live Christ's love... a Kingdom reality that is a real as the air we breathe... and as easily forgotten. 

The disciplines of Lent: self-examination and repentance, prayer and fasting, sacrificial giving and works of love are Kingdom habits that we can focus on in Lent with the hope that they endure for a lifetime.  They are the treasures in heaven we are free to live right now.  The world might try to convince us that they are burden and weigh us down.  They don't. Living Christ's love in that way actually liberates us.

There is a battle going on between two realities... both very real but only one with the power to give us life.  Paul shines some light these realities well in 2 Corinthians 6:8b-10:

We are treated as impostors, and yet are true;

as unknown, and yet are well known;

as dying, and see - we are alive;

as punished, and yet not killed;

as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing;

as poor, yet making may rich;

as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

People often say that Lent is a time of sorrowful mourning... of dirges and misery. Don't believe it. Through the disciplines of Lent. Through the Kingdom habits we live of prayer and kindness, of generosity and repentance our spiritual eyes are opened to reality.  Christ reveals to us "fish" the real "water" we swim in.   

Living Christ's Love

In John's Gospel, Jesus gives his followers a new commandment at the Last Supper.

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. 

Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 

- John 13:34

Christians every since have struggled with the question: how do I love as Christ loved?  It's not easy. Because of sin we never get it right. It becomes a spiritual disciple for us to even try.  Because it is Christ's command we are moved to just do it.

Thanks to the Lombard Menonnite Peace Center, my work in Bowen Theory, the colaborative work with the Shepherds Minsitry in my congregation, and the feedback of many people I journey through this life of loving Christ and living faith, I have come up with some steps we can take to do the work of living Christ's love. 

To live Christ's love means navigating within the reality that God made each and everyone of us as unique individuals called to live in community with other unique people.  How do we remain true to our self and live among others who are different?  So much of what we encounter in human relationships falls right here:

LIVING CHRIST'S LOVE

Being an individual child of God in community with others.

Living freely in the light of grace I can:

1. Be true to myself. I am created in the image of God and one with Jesus through baptism.
2. Be in community. I am created by God to live among other people as the body of Christ.
3. Accept disagreements. Conflict is a normal part of human relationships.
4. Affirm hope. God will use disagreements as an opportunity to grow.
5. Commit to prayer. God invited me to lift up my needs and the needs of others in prayer.
6. Humbly go directly to others. I can own my own part in a disagreement while communicating directly with the other.
7. Listen. I can seek to understand the other who is free to have a different opinion.
8. Be slow to judge. Having a different opinion on one issue does not make the other my opponent.
9. Negotiate. I can work through disagreements constructively, celebrating the possibility of reconciliation.  
10. Trust the community. Neutral people from the community can help mediate solutions.
11. Love, even when it's difficult. I can live the golden rule, "Love your neighbor as yourself."
12. Stay connected. I don't need to cut off from or insincerely give in to those I disagree with. 

  

All Showered and Ready to Go

Curtis blew it.  Things have been tense in his marriage for a while and  Samantha warned him to be ready by 6:30.  Their only daughter, Hannah, is four years old and has been deaf since birth.  Tonight was their sign-language class with her and they couldn't be late.  Curtis had every intention of being good and ready.  He didn't want to let Hannah or Sam down.  But Curtis blew it.

Curtis works for ComEd and things got really hectic out on the lines.  The rain was just not letting up and he had to get those repairs done.  By the end of the day he was pooped... and he stank... and he pulled into the driveway... at 6:22!  He completely forgot the class.  Sam said "get in the car."  But Curtis stank bad.  He wanted to get a quick shower.  Between apologizing to Sam, he begged her to let him get a quick shower.  But no... they had to go.  With his head down, dejected, Curtis got in passenger seat and off the three of them went.

There were about fifty others at the class that night... all sitting in rows... listening closely to the instructor before they would break up into the groups to practice the signs with their kids.  Curtis was the only one with mud all over his shoes.  Curtis was the only one who smelled like that.  He felt shame, and anger at Sam... then a little more shame and finally sadness for Hannah as he looked into her sweet eyes.  Curtis blew it.

If only Curtis would have gotten home a little sooner.  I mean how long does a quick shower take?  For a guy... three minutes tops... and dried off and dressed and ready to go in less than ten.  Curtis needed a shower bad.  Thankfully, someone took a bath for him a long time ago: Jesus.

The most famous bath in the history of the world occurred when Jesus was baptized in the River Jordan.  The Holy Spirit descended on him like a dove.  A voice claimed Jesus as his own: "You are my son, the beloved, with you I am well pleased (Luke 3:22)."  Curtis was baptized too, when he was a baby.  Now a good shower would have been quite a gift for him that day before the sign-language class, but his most important bath actually occurred that day he was baptized.  He was given the Holy Spirit, just as Jesus was when he was baptized. Curtis was claimed as God's child as well.  "I have called you by name. You are mine (Isaiah 43:1)."

Curtis learned the hard way just how important a shower can be.  When you make time for a quick shower you are then ready for anything.  All that dirt and grim go right down the drain.  The stink disappears.  Those who live by faith and live daily in the reality of their baptism are ready for anything too.  It's been called living wet: living the reality that because we are baptized God has forgiven our sin and has prepared us to live this day... this moment... in righteousness and purity.

When we forget the grace of our baptism the stick of sin remains with us and grips us like the dirt on Curtis' shoes.  It's a real tragedy too, because remembering your baptism is so easy.  Being centered in prayer or in the Word and "bang" you're there: you remember that amazing grace.  Your sins are forgiven so you may arise and live now before God in righteousness and purity.

That night at the school Curtis wasn't ready to arise and stand before anyone: not the other parents and kids, not the instructor and certainly not in front of Sam and Hannah.  Yes it was a long day... and he had excellent excuses... but in the end the feelings of anger, shame and sadness were what he was left with.  We're talking more than dirt and body odor here... when we start talking about anger and shame we are getting to the filth that sticks to us deep in our soul.  Think about it this way: when Curtis, or any one of us, gets so busy that we forget about grace and the love and forgiveness given in baptism, the stink of sin holds on to us.  Because we blow it, over and over again, we need to remember our baptism.

In baptism you are one with Jesus and receive the same gifts our Lord received in the Jordan.  "I have called you by name. You are mine."  You belong to the Lord.  The stink of sin has been washed away.  Feelings of shame, anger and sadness don't control you any more.  In Christ you are all showered and ready to go.  Now live "wet" before God in righteousness and purity forever.

The Star Shines on a New Kingdom

Tomorrow is the Epiphany of Our Lord.  We celebrate the festival in which wise men are led by a star to Bethlehem to pay homage to a new king for a new kingdom.  With the birth of Jesus, God turns the powers of the world upside-down.  Previously ultimate power was held by those with military strength and great wealth.  Now, power is expressed through love, humility, service and justice.  When the wise men visit King Herod, who represents old kingdom power, they quote Micah 5:2 that describes this new Kingdom of God: 

"And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, 

are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; 

for from you shall come a ruler 

who is to shepherd my people Israel."

At Christmas I compared the shepherds of the Christmas story to the TV show Duck Dynasty.  In Jesus, God becomes one with us and meets us right where we are at.  Not only may be approach God, fully human, but we should approach our Lord, just as we are.  We don't need to wear our Sunday best, instead we can let our hair down.

For Epiphany, the light is shining on a new kingdom.  God's Kingdom will be established through Jesus who will shepherd his people in the ways of peace.  Out with the old and in with the new.  For me that sounds a whole lot like the TV show Downton Abbey.  It just so happens that the third season of Downton Abbey will be premiering Epiphany night on PBS.  The general tone of the show is of a age on its last legs: an age where people knew their place.  At the head of the manor is Lord Grantham, Robert Crawley and his mother the Dowager Countess of Grantham.  Then everyone else in the Crawley family comes next.  Even among the servants there is a hierarchy.  Mr. Carson runs the house followed by Mrs. Hughes and then a whole list of various people who know their place, with poor little Daisy, the lowly kitchen maid at the bottom of the heap.  Downton Abbey depicts a time less than 100 years ago... the world of King George V and the great British Empire.  They used to say that the sun never sets on the British Empire... well, all of that is long gone.

While not described as such in the Matthew 2 text, the wise men have traditionally been described as kings or magi.  For centuries Christians have sung of the humble gifts the three kings present to the new king: Jesus.  In many respects in passing to Christ the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh... the "kings" are passing on the baton or the torch.  There are still monarchs.  Some respectable, like Elizabeth II, some tyrants like King Herod... but their age is ending.  Jesus never rules using any of their gifts.  He will not rule with gold.  He will not rule with the sword.  Jesus' instead rules with a shepherd's crook, leading his sheep to spiritual truth in him.  Jesus rules on the cross, meeting us humans at our worst. 

The star is the symbol of this reign of God.  It's light of truth breaks through the darkness and leads us in the way of peace.  They say that wise men still seek him.  From rich to poor.... from lowly Daisy, the kitchen maid to Lord Grantham... to King George himself... All will bow to this ruler: who is Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Twelfth Night

Tonight is Twelfth Night.  The Christmas season is twelve days long, as anyone who listened to even an hour of a 24/7 Christmas music radio station last month knows.  "The Twelve Days of Christmas," and its various variations, gets played over and over again.  Well... tonight is the twelfth night of Christmas.  In my family it's the night that we pray for God's blessings upon our house. 

We have claimed as our own an eastern European tradition of doing a yearly house blessing either at the time of Twelfth Night or Epiphany, which is January 6.  On Epiphany we celebrate the arrival of the wise men from the east to Bethlehem as it is described in Matthew 2.  They follow the star and after a conversation with King Herod they go to the house where Mary and the child Jesus are staying.  They give this new king gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Tradition says that these wise men were kings by the names of Casper, Melchior and Balthasar.  The blessing that is done over the main doorway of the home reflects this by using the first letter of each of their names: C M B.  In Latin the letters "C M B" also stand for words of blessing: Christus Mansionem Benedicat meaning "Christ bless this home."

Standing on a stool at the doorway this blessing is done, using chalk: 
The magi of old, known as
C   Caspar,
M   Melchior, and
B   Balthasar
followed the star of God's Son who came to dwell among us
20   two thousand
13   and thirteen years ago.
+   Christ, bless this house,
+   and remain with us throughout the new year.

in the end the blessing looks like this:

20 + C M B + 13

Afterwards, using a small branch from an evergreen tree, possibly the Christmas tree, you sprinkle water in each room, asking for God's blessings to be upon the whole household.

Its a beautiful blessing to do with children and those letters and numbers in chalk remind you throughout the year that Christ does bless your home and blesses you.  God is with you always.

What a nice tradition to end the Christmas season with.   

God becomes human... We can be human.

The wonder of Christmas is that God becomes a human:
God becomes human through a young and humble woman. 
God becomes human by being born in a stable with farm animals. 
When God becomes human the good news is first proclaimed to shepherds, who were not the highest ranking people in the society by any stretch of the imagination.
When God becomes human, he really becomes human.  He's not a super human.  He's not powerful or impressive by any worldly measurements.  God becomes human by meeting us right where we are. 

Most nativity scenes don't do justice to just how lowly the whole situation was.  The barn, manger, and animals were common, less than common even.  The shepherds are way overdressed and far too clean cut.  The shepherds in the Bethlehem countryside would have been a messy bunch and I'm sure they would have had long disheveled beards.  In fact as I sit hear and ponder those shepherds I can't help but think of the Robertson clan in the reality TV show: Duck Dynasty.

The idea behind that show lies behind the real-life story of a true Louisiana red-neck (his words), who loves hunting and the outdoors, making it rich because of an extremely successful line of duck calls he created under the name Duck Commander.  Now Phil has gotten up in years and its time for his son Willie to take over the business as the CEO.  The TV show follows Willie's struggles with keeping both the successful business and his crazy "red-neck" family together.  It's hilarious.  Phil and Willie are the stars, but its Uncle Si and brother Jase who really steal the show.  Yes they have money, and they are successful by worldly standards, but that doesn't stop them from being the people God created them to be.  Money or no money, success or no success, you know that this gang wouldn't be one bit different. 

This is why the Robertson Family would make fantastic shepherds for any church's Nativity Play.  They are the real deal.  They are human.  They are not going to pretend for anyone... not even for God.

God entering into created reality at Christmas means that we may be and should be humans before God.  God, who can do anything God chooses do to, chooses to meet us right where we are, just as we are.  Be yourself... and certainly don't pretend.

The authenticity of the show Duck Dynasty has me shaking my head every week: "They can't possibly be acting" I say to myself, shaking my head as I watch them get into another crazy conversation about life. 

God gives us permission to be the real deal before him.  Come to the Christ child, just as you are.  God has met you in Jesus.  Oh yes, the world is going to change through this Messiah.  And he will convict us through his cross and give us life through his resurrection, but the change that is made in you will be authentic, coming from your heart.

So be yourself this Christmas.  Let your hair grow out.  Don't put on a show.  Come to Bethlehem and see the baby... just as you are.      

We Made It!

So much for the Mayans.  Though their 5,000 year-old calendar expired Thursday, the world did not end and we are here to proceed on with life.  All of the predictions about the-end-of-the-world once again were proven false just by the fact that we're still here.  We made it.

Actually, those still connected with Mayan history have been pretty vocal for months that the conclusion of the old calendar didn't mean the-end-of-the-world at all.  Instead, those doomsday predictors were once again playing on our society's fears and expectations that the world is indeed ending.  The conclusion of the Mayan calendar was just another convenient tool for them to spread fear.

Mayans who actually know a thing or two about this calendar told us instead that the end of this calendar meant it was the end of the 13th Batkun, or age of about 400 years.  Time for a new Batkun.  Time for a new calendar.  I wonder if they will get one for Christmas.  We made it.  Time to turn the page.

For Christians, the birth of Christ ushered in and is continuing to usher in a new age.  God is one with us in Christ and his birth, death and resurrection means that the world is about to turn the page into a new reality.  "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, repent and believe the good news," was and is Jesus proclamation to us.  A wonderful place to read about this coming kingdom is in Mary's song to Elizabeth in Luke's Gospel.  A young and pregnant Mary visits her very old and very pregnant relative Elizabeth who's son will be John the Baptist.  Elizabeth, Mary's elder and the wife of a priest, differs honor and respect to young Mary who will be "the mother of my Lord."  Mary's song is one of the ages.  Faithfully she recognizes how God has blessed her.  She also describes a new age... a new kingdom... that will be ushered in through her son:

“My soul glorifies the Lord
⁴⁷     and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
⁴⁸ for he has been mindful
    of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
⁴⁹     for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
    holy is his name.
⁵⁰ His mercy extends to those who fear him,
    from generation to generation.
⁵¹ He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
    he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
⁵² He has brought down rulers from their thrones
    but has lifted up the humble.
⁵³ He has filled the hungry with good things
    but has sent the rich away empty.
⁵⁴ He has helped his servant Israel,
    remembering to be merciful
⁵⁵ to Abraham and his descendants forever,
    just as he promised our ancestors.” (Luke 1:46-55)

The world is going to change.  We have made it into the 14th Batkun, yes, but we have also made it into the Kingdom of God.  It's not yet fully revealed, but through faith in Christ we can already live according to this coming kingdom.  We can live by faith, share hope where there is only darkness, and know that God provides for all our needs.  The page is turning on the past age.  A new age is coming.  The humble are lifted up.  The hungry are filled with good things.  God's people are not forgotten.  The rich and haughty will have no part in this kingdom.  It will be a kingdom rich in mercy, justice and love.  Live this reality now. "God's mercy extends to those who fear him."