Violent Love - Fear of Death

Last week I woke up to a normal Sunday morning-- or so I thought. I began my routine of thinking through all the things I needed to do for the day. I started going through this process when I stopped for a minute to look outside. I saw the inches of snow covering the ground, and was completely caught off guard. I began to think through the snow routine and how my morning would change. I found out our snow plow guy was not ready to plow our parking lot. I began to worry about all the people in our congregation who might have trouble making it to church or getting into the parking lot.

I started driving to church. I called a buddy who could possibly help me figure out the parking lot situation. While I was on the call I got onto the 270 ramp from Manchester. My car fish-tailed and I did a complete 180, and was facing any traffic that would come down the ramp. I dropped the phone and tried to move off the road. Every car that came close to the ramp worried me, but not a single one came down. I got the car turned around and finally headed up the ramp toward 64/40.  After I left the ramp, I began reviewing the details about providing for my children and Mindy. I thought through all the things we have set up to make sure my family would be ok.  Putting those thoughts aside, I got to church and started shoveling.  I think it hit me later about how close I was to death. Had a single car come down that ramp, I could have been gone.

This week my friend went in for MRI results on a potential tumor. We all awaited the results and were glad they were clear. My dad had been clear from cancer for three years when it returned and he passed. One of my college friends who was going to be a pastor was killed in Iraq. We have enough to worry about with death without the threat of anybody coming into a place where we consider ourselves to be safe. But the fear of death is there. So how do we respond?

My grandpa once told me he was afraid to die because of all of his responsibilities. As a young man I thought that was a sad outlook on life. I was thrilled about heaven, but now as a dad of three and a wife, I understand what he meant.

Because of sin my life can be ripped away at any second. Sunday could have been the end for me, but it wasn’t. Why not? How does God decide? Sometimes I think it might be better if we knew. Then we could prepare. Yet, the unknown factor is good so we don’t have to contemplate our end.

The uncertainty of death leaves us with questions.  Living in a world of violence, we often observe life forcefully ripped away from people.   It is hard to watch. It is hard to take. It makes the fear of death stronger.

How do we trust the certainty of God while we face the uncertainty of death? This week we spend time hearing the response in 1 John to those who come to confuse us, and rip that certainty away. We listen to Jesus speak about the truth of knowing and believing in eternal life. It is the center of our faith to believe we are rescued from sin, death, and the devil; yet sin still plagues us everyday and makes us question and have a fear of death. This week we come back to the hope of a love so intense-- so violent that it responds to the fears we have and comes back with a hope so strong that it conquers all. Jesus came to embrace us in those moments where we face the fears of death, and remind us that He won that victory and it is ours.

Violent Love - Rights

This is the definition of rights:  “In accordance with what is just, good, or proper.“ The problem is that our world is often confused as to how to decide these things. If you throw out good, and only focus on just and proper—well, many people differ on this. Some of the hot button issues for Christians are:  abortion or co-habitation. These issues have people who approve a view opposite the Christian stand insisting that this is more proper or just.  The term just is most often defined as fair. Fair is something different all together. Because fair is not really that obvious.  Regardless, people stand on both sides fighting and getting offended.  While the fight for life and marriage is nothing to gloss over, how can we speak to people so against us and so adamant about their view of right, just, proper, or even good.

            Don’t worry! We aren’t going to get political, but we can’t deny what our people and world are facing. The recent shootings have propelled us into discussions about the value of life, and gun control. It also has brought our kids into more awareness for their well-being. All of a sudden more safety precautions are taking place, and because of that, people are asking questions. So what do we do? Do we stand by idly while our Facebook, email, and television get bombarded with the question or should we address it? For the next four weeks we will talk about Violent Love.

            Violent Love is a response to how, in the last several weeks, we have discussion after discussion on gun violence. How do we show Violent Love, an extreme or intense love to people struggling with a truly violent world? How do we respond to tragedies we can’t explain? How do we deal with four different areas that might be on our minds like rights, fear of death, protection, and evil? These will be the topics in the next four weeks as we learn how to respond to this violent world in love.

            This week we focus on rights and what is good or proper. All of this plays into our view of love.  We begin in 1 John 1 as we see God define us, and help us to love others. Jesus’ true rights belonged in His true home—Heaven. Yet He gave them up to be with us and to love us in a way that would rescue us forever. Jesus’ violent love changed this world forever because of the way He took on the earth’s violence, and showed His intense love to people. Violent Love means growing in the intense love of Jesus.

Facing Opposition

I had a former boss who was great at spontaneous accountability. This may be a new term to you, but trust me if you have ever faced this, it is not fun. Let me explain. I would work for days, and my boss would tell me I was a great guy. I was a rock star, actually. I would feel great, and everything seemed to be going well. Then he would come in and raise some issue that I had no clue that I did anything wrong. He would bring me into the office and then go off. This was so hard for me to handle. Since I love people, displeasing them is tremendously tough for me. I would spend hours trying to figure out how to respond to my boss. I have better ideas of how to handle situations like that now, but at the time it was challenging.

No matter how it happens, we all face opposition. Sometimes it comes from our enemies, but generally it is from people with whom we are in daily or weekly contact. The challenge is that when that opposition occurs, how do we handle it? Do we respond with anger? Do we walk away? Do we stare it in the face and deal with the conflict before us? What does Jesus want us to do?

In college I worked for a woman as her administrative assistant. Some of you might be laughing right now. It’s ok! Go ahead. It definitely wasn’t my best fit. Every day it seemed like I discovered something I missed for her. It was a tough first year listening to her critique me, but we made it through. Another friend of mine felt the same pressure, and he decided to leave, but I stuck it out. I was diligent in the fact that I wanted to get to know her, and to figure out how to best handle this situation. After four years of working together, we found jobs that fit me best, and we also started to become friends.  I would write long blog type emails joking about the guy jobs I had for the day. Let me tell you, I brought this quiet computer world to life. I would even joke with my boss that I would sign all the Christmas cards. She would gracefully decline-- considering my handwriting. I learned a lot about opposition in those four years, and about dealing with it diligently.

This week we discuss what it means to face challenging situations. How do we care for others and still respond in the best possible way? Jesus teaches us in His Gospel how He stared His opposition in the face, even though these were people from His hometown. Jesus dealt with it in a unique way, by walking away. Since opposition comes in different forms to all of us, it is good to address it, and then move forward. It is also great to observe how our Savior was able to display love to those who hated Him.

Nicknames

Sometimes being sheltered creates issues. I remember the first time I heard the word hickey. I had no clue what the word meant. So, like a dummy, I asked. This only created more issues. Kids in my class started saying, “You don’t know what a hickey is?” I think I was in fourth grade. I said, “No.” Thus began the nickname Willi Hickey.

When I got to college my neighbor asked if anyone had ever called me “Hanke Spanky?” I answered sarcastically, “No, you are the first person to rhyme my last name with anything.”

Nicknames were important in a long line of Karl William Hankes. My grandpa grew up being called Sonny. When my dad came along he was called Fritz. And when my mom agreed to name me Karl William Hanke IV, she was particular about my nickname. I grew up being called Willi until I entered college; at that point I decided to change it to Will. 

Names are important and I am sure you have a preference of what you want to be called. I would imagine that you have had someone call you something you didn’t appreciate. It’s possible that you know someone who always calls you the wrong thing no matter how many times you correct them.

This week we talk about nicknames and how God has named each of us. No matter what the world calls us, Jesus came to rename us and claim us as His children. We call Him Lord, which indicates that He is the One who has power not only to create this world, but to re-claim it from sin. We will touch on the many names of God, along with the reminder that He has the love and power to change our names to Children of God.  Because we know that He is our Father, we rejoice in the fact that we will be with Him forever. 

Naive

Most recently we rejoiced at the birth of Jesus, and got to celebrate the gift of God that He is to you and me. This weekend we reflect on the men commonly known as the Wise Men. I remember being in seminary and being shaken from my traditional view of these wise kings who came to visit Jesus. The term Magi was the spoken word that brought more to my attention. After looking at Scripture I could see that Magi was the word commonly used. In some ways the traditions of everything I had grown up were shaken. But in another way a fact was revealed in a way that did not affect the Absolute Truth that Jesus is my saving grace. Whether Magi or Wise Men came to visit Him, it doesn’t matter.

            Over Christmas I got an email discussing potentially historical corrections in the birth of Jesus versus the traditional view. Thoughts were given that the meaning of the Greek word “inn” was more like “home.” There were points made that suggested that it was possible that the family member’s house was full, so they had to stay in the stable with the animals. The details went on and on about differences in how the story is portrayed. I won’t go on about all the details, but I will say this: often this uncertainty fires Christians up.

            We want to say, “Who are you to question the traditional view of how we celebrate Christmas? You think you can change my view of my Jesus lying wrapped in cloths in a manger? “ I have seen many people become defensive about topics like this. Growing up, I’ve watched my family debate issues like this one. Sometimes they wanted to make them theological when they were really just insignificant details.

            Remember a few weeks ago we talked about how details just help us to see the whole story. They help us refocus, and make the story new to us every year. That is the power of God’s Word. Hebrews calls it a Living Word. The details bring back the life of Scripture, but the whole point of details was to enrich and develop the story.

            When I get emails like this I first look at the content and evaluate what the person is saying. I check their information and see if it fits with Scripture. And most importantly I check it with 1 John 4. Does it speak about my Jesus and His death and resurrection? If all these things check out, it becomes just information for me to think about.

            Sometimes we are so worried about things like this, which allows the devil to do his work. Then the devil can get us all fired up about some point where someone has just looked deeper into something new about the history of Scripture. When you think about it, what harm comes from someone looking into the details of Scripture? Lee Strobel wrote A Case for Christ, in which he dug deeply into Scripture trying to disprove it, and became an advocate of the faith instead.

            Our naïve nature about our traditional view of how we celebrate Christmas or some other historical or detail point can distract us from seeing how the power of the true Message of Jesus impacts people. This weekend we will discuss why they were not Three Wise Men but Three Naïve Men who never should have ended up worshiping Jesus. But God showed in the power of that story that He could, in fact, use unusual ways to not only see Jesus, but believe Him so much they would listen to His angels. Because of that, I am willing to allow some of this naïve detail to be altered-like the story of Jonah being in a whale instead of a Big Fish; or the story of my Savior being born in a relative’s house instead of in an inn whose keeper said there was no room. I want to look deeper into a life-changing story for me and for this world.

Covenanted

Years ago Mindy and I joined a gym in California. It was called LA Fitness. We still have some great memories of going to the gym and then coming home, making dinner and hanging out. We joined with some high level commitment and cost. We had to pay an opening fee, go through some rigorous explanation of the gym, and then agree to a continual ongoing fee that was pulled out of our account. Once our baby arrived, we decided to save money, stop going to the gym, and just use the equipment at our apartment. We had to put a freeze on our account so we could get right back in without having to re-enroll and pay all the start up fees. Crazy right? That was our culture only five years ago.

            Planet Fitness is my favorite gym right now. They just believe in getting people into the gym for regular workouts. They started out with a $10 a month fee. Then you just come and join with no real hassle. They have a pizza night where they serve pizza. They sponsor a bagel day. This may not be the gym for being the fit body builder; it is for regular people who just want to work out.

            Our culture has moved further and further away from being a membership culture. We are not joiners or members too much anymore. Ask anyone who is a part of any club that previously had tons of members. We are fast paced and much of our membership involves signing up and being connected to only the services we want. When I joined my most recent gym I did this. I signed up at Club Fitness, and wanted to be able to get in and work out when I needed to. I even passed over my free session with a trainer.

            One of the things you may have noticed is that we have an opportunity each month at Mt. Calvary to take a look at what’s going on, as well as an opportunity for new visitors to see who we are. This is a part of our ever-changing culture. We want to provide a way to change with culture, and help people see what it means to be a part of this community. We want to offer the opportunity to hear about God’s story, the LCMS story, and our story, along with hearing about the things we do in this place.

            Yet, covenant should not be lost. Membership may be taking a back seat in people’s minds, but the covenant is the important part. Jesus came into the covenant of God’s people. He was brought into that by Simeon.  Covenant is all about the promise to stay faithful. In our new discipleship model we are bringing people into that covenant to follow Jesus. What does it mean to be His disciple and to follow Him? This weekend as we prepare to begin a new year, we will talk about just that. We will talk about the Old Testament version of a covenant, and how that impacts us today. We will discuss how baptism is our new connection to that covenant. Our culture can change with its version of membership, but as people, commitment is still important. We all know that. As Christians we see that even on a deeper level as we watch how God is committed to us. We see how He kept His covenant with us, and this weekend we will learn how to respond and keep a covenant with Him.

Surprises that are Merry!

The other day someone told me they felt called to be a grandparent. I thought in my head that’s the easy work. You let the kids break things, spoil them, and send them home. Trust me, I am only quoting what my kids’ grandmas have said before. Not to mention, they look at the parents with tired eyes and say, “That’s why God gives you kids when you are young and you can handle it.” Maybe that is true but it isn’t always easy. My least favorite time is when the boys try to wake me up at 5 a.m. Mindy loves when I try and get Gavin back down at 5 a.m. by saying, “Look! Mr. Sun is still sleeping.” I am clinging to my last hour of sleep.

No matter where I am, I notice parents struggling with kids. Everyone is trying to put the best perspective on it, but it is just hard.  The days sometimes seem long, and you can’t wait for that break at the end of the day. This is the job of training young, sinful people. They still have their selfish desires, and are learning how to be responsible.

This week may seem like a weird time to talk about parenting or little kids, but the weight of the responsibility you bear caring for another person can be difficult. It doesn’t matter if it is your kid, nephew, niece, grandchild, your parents or someone else entrusted to you by God. The weight of your responsibilities, coupled with theirs, can sometimes be overwhelming.

Mary had to be feeling this as she felt the weight of everything she was experiencing. A child out of wedlock was even worse back then, than it is today.  She had a fear of her husband leaving her. She was carrying this child and felt all the responsibility. Plus, it was the child her people had waited for all these years! She had all this on her mind, along with all of the normal pregnancy feelings.

Life can be like this--all that heaviness of everything we carry, even in this season. On the outside we may be showing a happy face, but internally we are going through major struggles in our minds and in our hearts. We can’t help but feel that with the tragedies that occurred in Connecticut Friday. It was the time to hug your kids and make sure everyone was ok, no matter what shape your relationship or frustration was at the time. There are just days that are harder than others.

So how did Mary stay Merry?

It was simple. She was carrying Christ. The weight of the world was on her shoulders.  As a new mother, even with all her responsibilities, she knew inside of her was Jesus. The Savior the world was waiting for was on His way, and God gave Mary the chance to bring Him into this world. No matter the stress that existed for her, to know that Christ was in her, gave her and all the people who waited for Him a great sense of peace.

The surprises that came on us in 2012 may be immense. Add the predictions about the end of the world again, a shooting, and tax changes, plus all the things you were feeling and worrying about, and it seems too much to bear this season. But there is a reason to be Merry. God put Jesus inside you and me. We come to celebrate:  eat,

drink and be Merry because we know Jesus lives inside of us.  As you celebrate Christmas, I encourage you to reflect on what is inside of you. There may be tons of worries this year, but Jesus came as a baby and completely altered this world.