Undercover and the Simplicity of Devotion

So I used some of my Christmas iTunes gift card stash and picked up some old Undercover tunes. (Who?) Right; that Undercover. Think 80’s Christian new-wavey-punk-alternative and you’ve got it. Used to love these guys back inthe day.

As I listened to these old songs I kept chuckling to myself and thinking how very over-simplified– to the point of cheesy– the lyrics are. These were the in-your-face lyrics of 1980’s CCM and great fodder for Sunday schools, church youth groups, and church camps everywhere. Not very artsy, mind you; just straight up “Jesus is the greatest” and “God rules” and telling you why everyone should get saved because “loving God / made me a happy boy”. Seriously!

Now I wasn’t mad or anything, but kind of reminiscing and noting how very different music (Christian and otherwise) is now, and how much different is the larger culture.

And then I got teary. The lyrics were hitting my heart and I was starting to cry. I looked inside myself, and looked at God, and kind of said, “Whut…?”

And then it dawned on me. I’ve been in a season where I’ve been wrestling with so many things, sorting out theologies, ecclesiologies, personal growth, and relationships, that I’ve lost that sense of simplicity… that “simplicity of devotion to Christ” that Paul wrote about… and that Undercover was singing about.

Into the midst of wrangling about church structure, tithing and giving, poverty and justice, various scriptures, church planting strategies, kingdom theologies, priority management, working on my marriage, getting out of debt, playing with my kids and a bunch of other things, some 80’s punks sang:

He never ran away / He never was ashamed / To call me by my name

Now it’s not the same / Since I looked at things that way

And now I’m proud to say / I love God! / I love God!

The so the Spirit gently reminded me that whether I do this or that, or do church this way or that way, or believe this way or that way; that at the end of the day, God really loves me. And I really love Him. And that leads me to love others. And that’s all that matters. Isn’t it?

Prayer for This Week: Second Sunday After Christmas (1-3-10)

O God, who wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully restored, the dignity of human nature: Grant that we may share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our humanity, your Son Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

I am at least two parts (and so are you): dignity and depravity. I am at times very in tune with one or the other. In seasons past I have relished the depravity. There are times I have hated it. There are times I have relished the dignity. And there are times I have hated it. And I have screamed out “Who will rescue me from this body of death?”

See that’s the thing: God wonderfully created us with complete dignity, beauty, and wholeness… in His image. It was awesome!

Enter sin. Dignity smashed. Marred. Broken. Corrupted.

Enter Christmas. Enter Emmanuel. Enter Restoration. The rubble of the imago Dei is recreated and a new humanness filled with eternal life is born. And we actually begin to mystically participate in the very Divine Life that created and restored us. We become fully human. We become free to be all that the Creator intended in the first place.

And so, Merry Christmas (it is the 10th Day, y’know)… may we all become and walk in all that we were created and restored to be!

Jesus Had Poopy Diapers

UPDATE (12/31)– Ran across this article over at CT and thought it was a cool follow-up to what I had written. Read “The Dusty Messiah: Why I No Longer Believe In A Spiritual Jesus”  ==> http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/january/3.38.html?start=1

Yes, yes he did. Aren’t you glad I pointed that out?

It’s the Sixth Day of Christmas. So what? So… if December 25th was actually the day on which Jesus was born, he’d be (yep, you’re tracking with me) six days old. Which means?

Jesus had poopy diapers.

Um, so what’s my point? I’m glad you asked…

The point is this: How human is your Jesus? The miracle of Christmas is the Incarnation, the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe becoming a real live flesh-and-blood baby. Yes! But I think we tend to gloss over the human stuff and emphasize the GOD-ness of Jesus and forget how human he really was. And is.

Jesus had poopy diapers. Jesus spit up. Jesus probably peed on his parents when they were changing him. Jesus was breast-fed. But there’s more.

Jesus crawled. He had to learn how to walk… and probably whacked his head on the coffee table more than once falling down! Jesus cried and screamed when He was hungry. And needed changed. Or wanted his Mommy to pick Him up.

Baby Jesus was helpless. Jesus had to learn. Jesus fell down and scraped his knees. Jesus played. Jesus had friends. Jesus went to school. Jesus went through puberty. Jesus had wet dreams. Jesus became a real man.

Jesus had to relate to His heavenly Father to learn and understand who He was. Jesus had to obey.

And Jesus was… and is… God. For real.

Has what I’ve said made you feel uncomfortable? Angry or offended? Good. Made you think? Fantastic. Brought to to worship because of the mystery and wisdom of God? Even better.

The early church fought hard to understand, proclaim, and put into creeds the revelation that Jesus the Christ was fully God and fully man. Fully. In these 12 Days of Christmas– and beyond– may we remember how fully human Jesus was (and is) as well as how fully Divine. Acknowledging and embracing this truth is not only critical for understanding Jesus, but for understanding how we too can love, live in, and obey the Father. Just like Jesus did.

Prayer For The Fourth Week of Advent 2009

Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation,
that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a
mansion prepared for himself; who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

The Season of Advent is almost over. The waiting has almost come to an end, the time of fulfillment is at hand. What the prophets saw and foretold is about to come to pass. And yet… still we are waiting.

Sometimes waiting comes with an ache in our souls. Sometimes waiting brings joy and excitement. Sometimes there is a mixture of both ache and anticipation as we wait for the Messiah to come. We remember with the saints of old the waiting they endured prior to the coming of Jesus the Messiah. And now they watch with us as we wait for the coming again of the same Jesus.

And what should be our response? What should be our attitude and posture as we wait for this coming, this advent, this parousia?

We purify ourselves, and we cry out for the daily experience and in-breaking of Messiah’s presence, because at the end of the day (and the end of time for that matter), our living and waiting is a preparation of ourselves for Him.

The time is short. God is not slow in keeping His promises. The Spirit and the Bride do say “Come!” So we say “Come, Lord Jesus! Come!” Our waiting is not in vain. The fufillment of all that has been in the Father’s heart through His Son is upon us. And so we pray:

Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation,
that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a
mansion prepared for himself; who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Prayer for the Third Week of Advent 2009

Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come
among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins,
let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver
us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and
the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

DARE WE really pray this prayer? DARE WE  actually mean this? What would happen if God really released power? What would happen if the Father actually manifested among us with “great might”?

Would we embrace Him? Would we yield to the outpouring? Would we allow ourselves to be broken and repent “speedily” of our sins? Or would we resist? Avoid?

What would happen if we– as a people– really received the amazing bounty of Papa’s grace and mercy? Not assented theologically or accepted intellectually… but really received his favor and pardon into the depths of our woundedness, our brokenness, our selfishness, our religiosity?

Would we be changed? Would we do “church” differently? Would the world marvel at how we love each other? Hmmm….

So, yes. Let’s pray it again. But be careful what you pray for… because our God delights to answer the prayers of His people. Amen!