God Must Laugh

Someone asked me, “What’s the deal with your blog’s name?”

1. Most people assume religion is either sad or angry.  When I read the Bible, especially the stories of Jesus, I see so much laughter there that most Christians seem to miss because they’ve got holy blinders on.

2. When I look at the world, I see too much beauty and creativity.  If God did make it all, then he could’ve made it all boring and samey (tofu!) but chose to make it like this.

3. My favorite kind of humor is big man/little man stuff.  God “must” is kind of a joke in itself, especially when we mean it.

But some days, for whatever reason, I’m not laughing.  Today is one of those.  I read a bit out of Hosea and Micah and it’s like looking in a mirror. We take so much, and turn it into so little.

I’m certain of nothing, but as sure as I am that God must laugh, that’s how sure I am that God must cry.

Originally published in the May/June 2008 issue of YouthWorker Journal. (story here) Reprinted with permission. Those who would rather bask in type-set goodness can grab the PDF.

Confessions of a Clan Chaplain:
Loving God, games, and the gamers who play them

My name is Rob, and I’ve got a secret. I’m a 30-year-old gamer. Ever since Frogger, I’ve been hooked. Side-scrollers, roleplaying games, adventure games, first person shooters, simulations, massively multi-player on-line games, I love ‘em all. But that’s not my secret.

I’m also a pastor, an Associate of Youth and Family Ministries to be exact. Over the years, many have asked me when I was finally going to become a “real” minister. I usually just laugh and say, “I’m very happy where I’m at, thank you.” Inside, it ticks me off. But that’s not my secret either.

Like most secrets, mine started small. I was bored one day, and broke, so I searched the net for a new game, something fun and free. I stumbled on what I still believe is one of the greatest games ever made. (Gamers can find out more at freeallegiance.org) I tried it, loved it, and joined a squad.

For the non-gamers, the difference between squad games and pick-up games is like the difference between Church League Softball and AAA Minor Leagues. Squad members discuss tactics in online forums. They schedule practices to improve skill and teamwork. What started as a simple distraction had turned into a commitment.

You know what the greatest part was? I was one of the guys. When someone swore, they didn’t apologize to me. When I got angry, they didn’t lecture me. And best of all no one assumed they knew me just because they could label me. It was a meritocracy of humor, intelligence, and skill. Finally, after a year, I took the big step. I told them I was a minister. What started as a commitment had become a community.

Members joined and members left, but the core became fast friends. We shared family pictures and work frustrations. We argued philosophy and politics. And because they trusted me, occasionally they would come to me with a question, or a problem, or even a prayer request.

Another year passed, and I posted a poll in our forum volunteering for clan chaplain. (clan instead of squad because the connotations hinted at the family we had become for each other, and chaplain because our community was so diverse) They overwhelmingly accepted, and dubbed me “Padre.” What started as a community had become a ministry.

So now you know. My big secret is out. I’m a shepherd with two flocks. I minister to kids in a suburb of Milwaukee. I also minister to a misfit band of gamers from LA, to Slovakia, to Australia, and points in between.

What surprises me every day is how much these two groups have in common. They like Jesus and hate church, which means I can’t hold a service and wait for them to show; I go to them. When they cry, I mourn with them. When they laugh, I dance with them. When we talk, I try to listen as much as I speak. I show them as much love as I’m able. When they ask why, I tell them stories.

“Did you hear the one about the guy with two sons?”

That’s real ministry even if the guy you’re praying for is a computer programmer from Germany. That’s real ministry even if the girl you’re counseling has braces and ADHD. It’s ministry because Christ is present, transforming us. These glimpses of the coming/present kingdom remind me that God is here too, inescapable, relentlessly loving, even on the Internet. Why would I give that up just to be a “real” minister?

We made the paper! Walked into work this morning and our administrator showed me the article. Turns out someone over at the Journal Sentinel thought the story of a church that supports skaters was worth sharing. Why would a church give a care about a bunch of skateboarders? You’ll just have to read for yourself. Better yet, go out and buy a copy, then email Annysa Johnson to tell her what a great job she did writing the article, and then go to your church/business and challenge them to get on board too!

Audio here

Title: Up and Out (Confirmation Sunday - shared sermon)
Texts: Acts 1:1-11, Luke 24:44-53
Date: May 4, 2008

UP – Rev. Robert J. Brink
There are three moments in the story of Jesus that we might label, “thin places.” Places where the physical world, and the spiritual world seem for a moment to touch. The first is his baptism, when the spirit descends in the form of a dove, and a voice calls from heaven, “This is my son, in whom I am well pleased.” The second is the transfiguration, where Jesus shines like the sun and again a voice calls out from heaven, “This is my son, listen to him.” The third thin place is the ascension, when Jesus gives his great commission to his disciples, promises to send them the Holy Spirit, and then ascends to the right hand of the Father.

What are we to make of this story? It’s not very appealing. There are no masterful teaching moments, no confrontations. He just goes away. If he had stayed with them forever, that would have made a better story, but he doesn’t. If he had gone away and sent the Spirit at the same moment, that would have made for a better story, but he doesn’t. He makes them wait, without him, in Jerusalem. They have to wait until Pentecost before the Spirit comes. And in the meantime, where is he? Off with God somewhere, unreachable.

At least that’s what I always thought. Then I went to seminary and learned something interesting. When Jesus ascended into heaven, he wasn’t leaving his humanity behind. He was bringing it along. So now some piece of us, some part of who we are is united with the very heart of God. It’s not as if he got up there, and said “Phew, I’m glad that’s over, now to get back to this whole eternal perfection thing.” The change Jesus made goes much deeper than that, so that for all eternity, there is a piece of God that identifies with us completely, that understands us at our best and our worst. And since there is no division within God, that piece is not really a piece at all, but is brought up and in, and united with the whole, so that there is no piece of God that fails to understand, no corner of God that sees us as the enemy.

If all this sounds a bit too big for our heads, that’s because it is. God is too big for our heads, so all that we know of God is what God has revealed. There is no way for us to build a ladder of logic that reaches to the sky, no experiment we could create that would prove it. All these things we accept on faith because there is no other way. That’s not an admission of failure, only a recognition of reality. God is too big for our heads.

God may be too big, but God’s revelation is not. God reveals to us things we could never have figured out for ourselves, things that hurt our brains even to think about, and yet they reveal something of the nature of God. The incarnation that we talked about last week is one of those revelations. This week’s ascension is another. Incarnation teaches us that when we look at Jesus we see God, and ascension teaches us that in some way far beyond our understanding, God has become one with us.

Obviously, that process is not complete. God has accepted us, but we have not accepted God. Imagine a couple that gets married but then doesn’t move in together, doesn’t share a bed, doesn’t share bank accounts, doesn’t even see each other except for an hour on weekends. Sure, they’re married, but they don’t have a marriage.

You confirmands have reached the age where you can make choices for yourselves. The vows you made are similar to marriage vows, except directed toward God instead of another person. You’re old enough to know what you’re saying. It will take a lifetime to figure out what you mean, of course, but you’re mature enough to begin. The question is, what kind of marriage will it be? Will you be married in word alone, or will you share a life together?

We’ve all received God’s love, but has it changed the way we live? He ascended so that we could be one with God, and someday he will descend again. We will come face to face with God. And for some of us it will be like coming home again, like remembering a cherished memory long forgotten, like putting on a glove you’ve worn so long it feels like a second skin. It will be the fulfillment of all we have longed for and worked for and hoped for.

But for others, it will be like cold water on the face, like a cloying smell, like ringing in the ears. It will be the unavoidable confrontation with the one we have worked so long and so hard to avoid. This is judgment, not a gavel and a man in a black robe making decisions. Judgment is revelation. Do not fear hell. Fear living your life in such a way that hell would be preferable to living with God.

Our world is full of thin places. Today one of them. It is a chance for us to ascend into the presence of God, to experience a fraction of what will be when we are at last reunited with our creator. You have been chosen. Rise and be loved.

OUT – Rev. Steven A. Peay, Ph.D.
Jesus had been with them as Luke tells us, “he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.” All through his ministry Jesus focused on the kingdom of God, which he preached was “at hand.” The problem was that those listening to him couldn’t get away from the notion that a “kingdom” or “reign” was a place. Jesus was revealing, in himself, that it was not a place, but a person – himself. The kingdom of God was among them and they couldn’t get it. Even after the resurrection and the forty days together they asked, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” Rob’s sermon title from last Sunday would work again here, “you just don’t get it.”

So, he reminds them again that what is important is for them to wait for the coming, in fullness, of the Spirit he has promised. He tells them, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witness in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” There’s the point – Jesus goes UP and now we are sent OUT. The kingdom is now within us and we are to be witnesses to that kingdom right here and right now.

This is what Augustine preached to his folks in the early days of the church:
“Today our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven; let our hearts ascend with him. Listen to the words of the Apostle: ‘If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is in earth.’ For just as he remained with us even after his ascension, so too we are already in heaven with him, even though what is promised us had not yet been fulfilled in our bodies.
Christ is now exalted above the heavens, but he still suffers on earth all the pain that we, the members of his body, have to bear. He showed this when he cried out from above, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ and when he said: ‘I was hungry and you gave me food.’

Why do we here on earth not strive to find rest with him in heaven even now, by way of faith, hope, and love that unites us to him? While in heaven he is also with us; and we, though on earth, are with him. He is here with us by his divinity, his power, and his love. We cannot be in heaven, as he is on earth, by divinity, but in him, we can be there by love.” [Sermon for Ascension Day, quoted in Days of the Lord, vol. 3, p. 223-4]

So, we are already one with the Lord, joined by love, and now we are to go out to be his witnesses. We begin close to home and then move out more and more. Our outreach here at First Church needs a bit of work. We’re doing ok with the “uttermost parts of the earth,” but it’s the close to home we have to work on. Let’s be honest – when is the last time you spoke favorably about your church to a friend, co-worker or neighbor? When is the last time you invited someone to attend a worship service here with you? Study after study clearly shows that it is you (and I normally don’t like to do that) the folks in the pews, who are the most effective in getting people to come to church. Eighty-five percent plus of folks who are involved in a church are because a friend or neighbor invited them to come. That’s the point of being the Lord’s witness.

Witness isn’t just by words, but by deeds. How we live our lives makes a huge statement about who we are and Whose we are. Even how we leave this building, leave the parking lot makes a difference. I like what one of our neighboring churches has as you leave the parking lot – now you are entering the mission field. That’s the point of OUT – we are to take the message of love, hope, peace and community we have received and share it.

I like what my old New Testament professor from Saint Meinrad Seminary, Bernard Brandon Scott, says about the angels’ question there in Acts. “The angels are asking ‘Why are you hanging around here? Get on with it.’ Just as Jesus offered no hint as to when Israel would be redeemed, so the angels offer no hint as to when Jesus will return. Our goal is to be witnesses, not to speculate about the signs of the future.” [New Proclamation Commentary Year B – Easter through Pentecost, p. 63] I don’t know if I can make it any plainer than that. Our faith tells us that God is looking for us and for relationship with us. Perhaps we should just “get on with it” and then witness to it?

As we have opened the Word, soon we will share the bread and the cup. The goal of both is to give us food for the journey out. Our mission is to go out from here and make a difference in the lives of people, in the life of this world in which we live. Jesus goes up, sends us the Spirit and sends us out. Our task is to go in peace and be his witnesses. I pray that we get it, realize that the kingdom is in us, and go live like it – out beyond these walls, as we used to say, “in front of God and everybody.” It’s our mission as Christ-followers: UP and OUT.

Video (with sound) here.
Audio alone here. Please forgive the random tone quality changes in the recording. We were experiencing microphone difficulties.

Title: You Just Don’t Get It
Texts: 1 Cor. 9:19-22, Acts 17:22-31
Date: April 27, 2008

I love being a dad. Right now, being a dad means being the second coolest person on the planet. Mom comes first, of course, but that doesn’t bother me a bit because she deserves it. When they come running toward me, arms outstretched, it’s the greatest thing the world. Fortunately, I’ve worked with young people long enough to know I better enjoy it now. Because sooner than I can blink they’ll turn thirteen, when I will change from second coolest person on the planet, to stupidest human being on the face of the earth.

It’s not their fault. Parents just don’t understand. My Grandpa didn’t get the Beatles, and my Dad didn’t get Metallica, and I surely don’t get Justin Timberlake. It’s just how the world works. The silver lining is that somewhere around or after the college years, parents’ stock starts to rise. Slowly they begin to look less and less like lumbering idiots, until one day, if you’re lucky, a little light goes on and you say, “Wow, they’re human beings. And they’re kind of smart in their own way. Who knew?”

Unfortunately, the same process doesn’t apply in the realms of politics and religion. Why bother to have a discussion when you can play gotcha? The political end of this as shown by the presidential race is so obvious that I won’t bore you with it, but religion is no better. Religious radio makes a pile of cash year in and year out with a very simple formula. Take something someone else said, run it out to its absurdest possible conclusion, and then shame them for it.

Even in seminary, it’s not much better. At least there, they make you cite your sources. But that didn’t stop me from setting up a straw man argument or two. Much easier to oversimplify someone else’s work and then knock it down than to reach inside and understand, especially when time is short and your grade is on the line. A straw man paper, well constructed, and submitted on time earns you a moderate grade, but to step inside the mind of another and see the world through their eyes? That could take a lifetime.

“Don’t you understand,” they say, “A woman has a right to choose.” “No you don’t understand,” they respond, “It’s a baby, not a choice.” “Don’t you understand,” they say, “Your evolutionary theory undercuts the foundation of our faith.” “No you don’t understand,” they respond, “Your blind faith undercuts all science.” “Don’t you understand I’m trying to save you from hell?” “No, you don’t understand that your aggressive questions and arguments make me feel like I’m there already.” And round and round it goes.

You even find it in scripture, especially the Old Testament, when the poets weep and the prophets shake their fists at the sky. “Where are you, God? How long must we endure? Why do you not answer your people? Do you not see what they do to us? Do you not hear our cries? Do you not understand?” And God replies, “No, you are the one who does not understand. Did you create the world? Can you order its ways?”

The world sits in this uneasy tension, until the coming of Jesus, when God puts on flesh and becomes one of us. The theological word is incarnation, fully God and fully man, without confusion, change, division, or separation. In practical terms it means two things. 1. God fully understands what it is to be human. 2. When we look at Jesus we see God as God really is. But those are just ideas. How does play out in real life?

If we follow Jesus, then we become incarnational too. As God entered into our life, so we enter into the lives of others. This is what Paul was talking about when he said, “To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews… To the gentiles I became like gentile to win the gentiles… I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.” Paul entered into the lives of the people he served, connected with them, and spoke their language.

His speech from the book of Acts shows this clearly. He’s a Jewish scholar, and those writings that have come down to us are full of references to the Hebrew scriptures. But in this speech before the Greek intelligentsia, he abandons all of that and chooses instead to open with a comment on their polytheism. If this were religious radio, he’d be blasting away with both barrels, telling them in no uncertain terms that those who worship false gods are destined for a fiery end, but he doesn’t do any of that.

He says, “I can see by your many statues that you are very religious. So religious that you even put up a statue to the unknown God, just to make sure all your bases are covered. Let me tell you what I know of that unknown God.” And then he proceeds to quote their own songs and poets to them, showing them how their own culture and beliefs point toward a God bigger than a mere idol. Thousands of years of Hebrew scripture, culture, and history, the story of the chosen people of God and he doesn’t mention a second of it. He puts himself aside and becomes for a moment, one of them, to reach them on their own terms. If he were speaking today he’d be quoting Justin Timberlake and Rhianna!

But just because he puts himself aside for their sake doesn’t mean he puts Christ aside too. We live in a world of political correctness. And you graduates are heading off to college are going to be in the very heart of it. Political correctness that says you can believe whatever you want as long as you keep it to yourself. That’s not what Paul did, and that’s not what Jesus did either.

Jesus did not become incarnate and then “go native”. He didn’t try to fit in, didn’t abandon his calling. What makes him so compelling is how completely centered he is in within himself and his purpose. He exists to do his Father’s will, and the rest of the world can either help him or kill him, but that’s what he’s going to do.

For generations, philosophers talked about the unbridgeable chasm between God and humanity. God is so holy, perfect, and pure that he could never come down into the dirt and the mire. It would be beneath his dignity to dirty himself by entering our world.

But Jesus showed us exactly the opposite. There is nothing that God will not stoop to. There is nothing below his dignity, if doing it might heal us. And in becoming one of us, God does not become broken. We become whole. It’s as if he jumped into a cesspool and instead of getting dirty, his presence transformed the cesspool into a spring. No amount of evil could overcome his goodness. No amount of darkness could put out his light. Everywhere Jesus went, things around him began to become what they were always mean to be… whole.

Want to heal the world? Start listening. Build relationships. Learn to speak their language. See the world through their eyes. Then, when the time finally comes to speak, you will have words they can hear, ideas that resonate. Not only that, I guarantee you will learn something new from them about the God you claim to follow. If you listen, they will teach you about God.

If you like it, be sure to let Paul Lewis know. He’s the one who did most of the filming and all of the editing. He’s also our most faithful volunteer advisor, and the kids love him. Thanks for everything, Paul!

Start out with a messed up system. We can take this for granted because we live in a system and it’s pretty clearly messed up. It could be funny to come up with an icon for evil, but I’m in a hurry, so you’ll have to use your imagination.

When faced with evil, we’ve got two big popular options. We can be active or passive, defiant or obedient. The warrior takes on evil. The monk endures evil. Both make logical sense. They’re predictable responses. If I invade your country, I can reasonably expect that some of you are going to take up arms to kick me out and some of you are just going to put up with it and wait for me to die.

Defiance feels great emotionally, but it might get you killed. Obedience doesn’t feel great emotionally, but you’ll probably save your neck and that feels pretty good too. But Even if you fight and win, you’re going to have to fight again. Even if you obey and the king dies, there’s just going to be a new king. Violence and victimization just give birth to more violence and victimization.

We need a third way. You might call it defiant obedience: walking the extra mile, turning the other cheek. It takes people by surprise. It feels bad emotionally and might get you killed, but it’s the only thing that might change the system for everyone else. If you win, you win your enemy. If you lose, you reveal your enemy. Salt and light.

Kids, don’t ever ever do this.

What an amazing show. I went to see Wizard of Oz over at Tosa East last weekend and it was great! The leads were compelling, the orchestra was solid, and the special effects? Wow! People flying around all over the place! It was an incredible show and a wonderful way to spend an evening.

And there’s still time! Don’t miss out! Check out Wauwatosa Now for another review and showtimes.

Lest you think the kingdom of God is all about suffering and sadness.