How to Pray Jesus' Way # 4 - "Forgive Us Our Trespasses"

When I was a kid, my brother and I used to trespass all over the neighborhood.  It was a rural area, and there was always somebody’s patch of woods to explore, or a neighbor’s pond to skip rocks into, or an abandoned house to investigate.  We thought of it as archaeology when we discovered what was inside those collapsing homes.  Trespassing would have been a harsh word in our minds, but that’s exactly what it was.  If our mother had only known!  First, trespassing is dangerous—you could get yourself hurt.  Second, trespassing is rude—even though it’s not your place, you don’t have permission, and what if you break something.  Third, trespassing is illegal—what if you get arrested?  (Almost happened to me, once, but that’s another story.)  The fact is, I certainly have a past (and might have gotten a record) of trespassing—and if you’re honest with yourself, you do too. 

This is why, in the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus taught His disciples to say, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”  Since my childhood, I now realize just how many trespasses I need to have forgiven!  And if God has forgiven me, then I’m under obligation to forgive those who have trespassed against me.

In Matthew 18, Jesus tells the story of an employee who owes his employer an astronomical amount of money that he could never repay—but in his mercy, the boss forgives the debt.  Then the employee turns on his friend who owes him a small sum, choking him and demanding repayment.  When the friend can’t pay, the employee has him thrown into prison.  The employer hears of this and says, “You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?”[i]  As a harsh lesson, he has the employee thrown into debtor’s prison until he could pay this unpayable debt.

In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus says to forgive others AS we have been forgiven.  This little word “as” means at the same time, in the same way, and to the same degree.  In Luke 6:37-38[ii], Jesus says, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”  This means if you want to use a tiny amount of grace, you can expect a tiny amount of grace.  If you give a heavy helping of judgment, God will give you the same.  So we pray that God will forgive us AS we forgive others.  For our sake and theirs, that needs to be a lot.

In Luke 6:39, Jesus asks, “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit?”  Picture this ridiculous image of a blind man reaching out for someone to lead him—yet the person who offers guidance can’t see, himself!  “Sure, follow me!” says the blind guide, as he leads them both to destruction.  That’s the way religious people are when they think they can lead other people spiritually, but they themselves are so blinded by unforgiveness that they can’t see two feet in front of them.  Jesus continues with the blindness analogy by saying:

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye (verses 41-42).”

            Now, nothing is funny about blindness—and nothing’s funny about spiritual blindness, either.  Though Jesus might make His audience chuckle with this outrageous picture, unforgiveness and judgment are no laughing matter.  They blind us from our own condition, causing us to focus on other people’s faults instead of our own.  The Lord’s Prayer teaches us to give grace at the same time, the same way, and the same degree that we’ve received grace.  Any less, and we’re not loving people the way that Jesus loved us.  This is the only way we can relate to God honestly in prayer—if we’re also relating to people honestly, recognizing that “all have sinned (Romans 3:23),” including ourselves. 

            When I was a teenager, one night I sneaked out of the house with a friend and climbed one of those old fire observation towers—just to say we’d done it.  Whenever cars drove by, we flattened our bodies out on the platform we were on, so nobody would see us.  One of those times, the car slowed down and came to a stop just beneath the tower.  Our breath came heavy as we waited to see what would happen.  Then we heard the squawk of a police siren, and saw the blue light rotate just once, before the gravel crunched again and the car drove away.  In one squawk, that unseen officer spoke volumes to us.  He said, “Ok, boys—I was a teenager too, and I did things I could have gotten in trouble for, myself.  So instead of getting in trouble, why don’t you just come down before somebody gets hurt?”  And that’s all he needed to do—we scrambled down, and never climbed that tower again.  The officer had the power to bring judgment down on us, but chose grace instead.  He embodied Colossians 3:13, which says, “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

            So the next time you’re tempted to judge someone, choose grace instead.  “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”  It’s more than just a line in a prayer.  It’s the only way we can relate to a God of grace—by also being gracious to others.

           

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[i] Matthew 18:32-33

[ii] All scripture quotations taken from the NIV.

How to Pray Jesus' Way # 3 - Our Daily Bread

When I was in high school and college, I worked at a grocery store. I worked as a bagger, cashier, and in the produce department. But my favorite was when I worked in the bakery. I gained so much weight when I worked in the bakery! When new products came in, we were supposed to sample them. When they didn’t sell, we were able get huge discounts for cakes, cookies, and pies bring them home. And the donuts—oh, my—the donuts! When it was my job to ice and fill the donuts, I put extra on and in them, because I knew I’d be carrying some home. In fact, I hoped that some of them wouldn’t sell, so I could bring some home.

“Give me this day my daily donuts!”

Unfortunately, many of us approach prayer this way. It’s a method of getting what we want from God, as if God were behind the bakery counter and we were placing our order. “I’d like a birthday cake with Happy Birthday to Me written on it in green icing.” But prayer doesn’t work like that. So Jesus gave us the Lord’s Prayer as a way of relating to God in humility and love.

Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. This teaches us to honor and worship God for who God is, not for what we can get out of prayer. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. In this, we learn to “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well (Matthew 6:33[i]).” By praying this, we remind us that it’s all about God, and not about our desires. Which brings us to the next phrase, Give us this day our daily bread. It’s such a short sentence, but it holds so much for those who want to relate to God. And much of it, I learned from working at the bakery.

GIVE US…OUR. The first thing I learned was it’s not good to be whiney and demanding. At the bakery where I worked, we had a policy of giving small sample cookies to any child who asked, or whose parents asked on their behalf. Don’t get me wrong—I appreciate the commercial purpose for this. Samples encourage purchases. Plus they keep loud children from squalling in the store. But the down side is that it encouraged toddlers to march right up to the counter and say to the adult working there, “Gimme my cookie!” It became about “me” and what’s “mine” by right—I deserve to have a cookie! No matter that they’d tried those same sample cookies a hundred times, those selfish customers would rather get for me, what is free, rather than simply buying the bag that was for sharing. So the next thing I learned is that it’s not good to be selfish. When you pray, remember that there’s a difference between “gimme” and “give us.” When you pray, “Give us…our,” you’re praying for the whole bag, not just a cookie for yourself. And you’re not doing it selfishly. You’re asking for a blessing to share.

THIS DAY…DAILY. Now, there are two ways to look at this. The first is to misunderstand and think that Jesus was modeling the selfish “gimme” and adding “NOW” to it. Jesus isn’t teaching us to be like Veruca Salt in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, who stubbornly and selfishly declared “I want it now!” But if not that, what does Jesus mean? By emphasizing the present tense, Jesus is telling us to live in the moment. In Matthew 6, verses 25, and 34, Jesus says:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?... Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

The longer version of the Serenity Prayer teaches us about “Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time.”[ii] Living in the moment means we don’t get disappointed if we don’t have as much today as we did yesterday. It also means we don’t get scared that we won’t have enough tomorrow, or so excited about tomorrow’s abundance that we lack gratitude for today. “This day…daily” means we’re storing up our treasures in heaven rather than hoarding more than we need here on earth. It promotes a sense of having enough, which creates inner peace and contentment. Besides, you don’t have to work in a bakery to know that the freshest bread is baked the same day. God’s best for you means trusting God for today, each day.

BREAD. Nothing is simpler than bread, in this culture. In Jesus’ culture, it was the same way. In eastern Asia, Jesus might have said, “Give us this day our daily rice,” and it would have meant the same thing. Or in Ireland, “daily potatoes” would make sense. The point is that you’re asking for God to give you what you need, rather than what you want. You’re not praying for daily donuts, but for sustenance. If you want donuts, that’s okay—but you’ve got to work for them. And by asking God for something simple, you’re not trying to control the details. Notice that Jesus didn’t say, “Give us this day our daily cinnamon-raisin swirl bread with icing on top. Oh, and be sure to bake it at 400 degrees for 40 minutes.” Daily bread. That’s all. God already knows you’re hungry, anyway—God can handle the details and give you what’s best.

So that’s it—what I learned about prayer from working in a bakery. “Give us this day our daily bread.” It’s okay to pray for yourself—to ask God to provide what you need each day, for the common good. So go ahead, and trust God for the bread. And maybe every now and then, when it isn’t too bad for you, he’ll throw in a donut as well.

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[i] All scripture quotations are taken from the NIV.

[ii] http://www.lords-prayer-words.com/famous_prayers/god_grant_me_the_serenity.html.  January 11, 2018.

How to Pray Jesus' Way # 2 - "Thy Kingdom Come"

When I was a kid, I was confused about the meaning of the expression, kingdom come. It’s a spiritual term, but I always associated it with things being blown up. When I’d watch movies and hear people say, “I’m going to blow you to kingdom come,” I’d imagine (in cartoon-fashion) an explosion where someone is projected all the way to some other country. I thought I knew the other name for this place called Kingdom Come. I figured it was called Timbuktu, because in my child’s mind, that’s where people flew off to once a cartoon-prize-fighter rolled up his sleeves and walloped them one. So when it came time to say the Lord’s prayer, “Thy kingdom come” sounded odd to me.

What comes to mind when you pray those words? If you’re like many Christians, nothing at all comes to mind—because so many believers rattle off the Lord’s Prayer without even thinking about its meaning. But maybe that phrase conjures images of Christ coming in the clouds to claim an earthly throne. Those who believe in a literal second coming long for the day when evil is defeated and God’s victory is complete. And I think that this is partially what we’re praying for when we use that phrase, “Thy kingdom come.” After all, Revelation 22:17[i] says, “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’” And the book ends with “Come, Lord Jesus (22:20)!” But perhaps there’s more to it than simply an expectation of physical kingdom.

Theologian and poet François Fénelon said, “The kingdom of God which is within us consists in our willing whatever God wills, always, in everything, and without reservation; and thus His kingdom comes; for His will is then done as it is in heaven, since we will nothing but what is dictated by His sovereign pleasure.”[ii] This means that in the Lord’s Prayer, the phrase, “Thy kingdom come” is inextricably linked to “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

To pray for God’s kingdom is to pray for God’s will to be accomplished as perfectly here on earth as it is in heaven. Do I believe God’s will is always done on earth? Certainly not! I don’t believe genocide and child abuse and marital unfaithfulness and climate change are God’s will—but God gives us free will as a free gift, and humanity has paid dearly for it. So we recognize that for God’s kingdom to come, Jesus’ followers must be able to discern God’s will. Then, we have to be willing to put our own desires aside and embrace God’s will instead. Alan Redpath said, “Before we can pray, ‘Lord, Thy Kingdom come,’ we must be willing to pray, "My Kingdom go."[iii]

There was man who desperately wanted a pet snake. He also wanted a divorce, but he didn’t want to be the one to leave his wife. But he knew she hated snakes. Time and time again he’d heard her say, “If you get a snake, I’m out of here!” So he got a snake—and she left. Later he told a friend at church, “You know, I really wanted to stay married, but I guess God had other plans.” Folks—this is what people do with God’s will. They shape their lives any way they please, and then when they finally get what they forced to happen, they say it was God’s will. And what does God not want? Anything that displeases them. No—for us to pray God’s kingdom come, we must pray, “My kingdom go.” And then give up control.

What does this look like—this giving up of control? When my kids were younger and I took them to the beach, we had fun facing the waves down and karate chopping them when they crashed on them. We’d shout taunts and kick them as they washed over us. “Is that all you got?” We’d ask—just before they bowled us over. A lot of us end up doing that with God. The psalmist writes, “all your waves and breakers have swept over me (Psalm 42:7).” But instead of fighting against God, giving up control means you turn the opposite direction, hop up on your surf board, and ride the wave. In these two situations, the wave never changed—but how you respond to the waves makes all the difference. To ride the wave means you let your kingdom go, and you seek God’s kingdom and God’s will instead.

But how can you know God’s will, when it seems those breakers and waves are making so much noise? It can be really hard (but very important) to know what another person wants, especially if there are barriers to understanding. For example, if you speak another language. Once when I was working as a hospital chaplain, I was called in to help translate for a Spanish-speaking patient. My Spanish is a little rusty now, but it was pretty proficient in those days. Still, nothing will make you second-guess whether you’ve understood something simple like the difference between “left” and “right” than when your translation will determine which side of the body an appendage is to be removed. Other times there are barriers like bad sound systems at drive-thru windows. If we’re honest with ourselves, sometimes trying to understand God’s will is like trying to discern the garble that comes out of those speakers. We know someone is talking on the other end, but just can’t make English out of it. But if you sit still and listen with a discerning heart, you can hear clearly.

In prayer, listening becomes all important. Perhaps there should be a pause written in the text of the Lord’s Prayer. “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven (pause).” Because this is the phrase where you stop and focus not on your own will, but on discerning and doing God’s will. Ever tried putting your head all the way under the water when the waves crash? When you’re immersed in the ocean, beneath the waves, the crashing becomes quiet. How can you understand God’s will and surrender your kingdom to God? Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." Today I challenge you—not in public but in private, when you pray this phrase of the Lord’s Prayer, take several minutes to pause, reflect, and listen to the voice of God in the waves. Feel the press and surge and current and flow—then align your body with it and not against it. This is how you ride the wave.





[i] Scripture quotations taken from the NIV.


[ii] Quotes reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895). Pg. 269. https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_F%C3%A9nelon. January 4, 2018.


[iii] http://www.azquotes.com/quote/545361. January 4, 2018.

How to Pray Jesus' Way # 1 - "Hallowed Be Thy Name"

Recently, I read about a little boy kneeling beside his bed with his mother and grandmother and softly saying his prayers, "Dear God, please bless Mummy and Daddy and all the family and please give me a good night's sleep."  Suddenly he looked up and shouted, "And don't forget to give me a bicycle for my birthday!!"  His mother said, "There is no need to shout like that.  God isn't deaf." The little boy replied, "No, but Grandma is."[i]

            A lot of people grow up learning to pray this way—enumerating a wish list as if God were a grandparent in the sky, waiting to grant their requests.  The disciples likely heard their religious teachers doing the same thing, but noticed that Jesus never prayed this way.  So they asked Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples (Luke 11:1).” [ii]  In response, Jesus gave what we call the Lord’s Prayer—and there are two versions found in Luke 11:2-4 and Matthew 6:9-13.  Over the next few weeks, we’ll learn to pray, Jesus’ way. 

Matthew 6:9 begins the prayer, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.”  From the very beginning, Jesus wants us to understand that the name of God is sacred and holy—that’s what the word “hallowed” means.  “Hallowed be thy name” means that God’s name is so much higher than any human name.  In fact, God’s name is so holy that God didn’t want us human beings to name God—because God knew that we’re bad at coming up with names.  For example, have you noticed how bad some of the names of Bible characters are?  Some of them are hard to pronounce, but I’m talking about some Bible names that are just bad.  Like…

There are three separate guys in the Bible named Dodo.  Seriously, can you imagine being David and going into battle and saying, “Yeah, I’d like to take Samuel and Daniel and Dodo over there.”  Yeah, Dodo—I’m sure he’ll have your back.  Then there’s a guy named On.  I don’t know what to say about that, so I’ll just move On, and talk about someone else.  Abraham’s nephew was probably the youngest of a big family.  They had such huge families in those days—Finally, after maybe fifty kids or so, when Daddy named this little baby, he wiped his forehead and said, “Now that’s a Lot!”

See, I’m pretty sure that people giving their babies names like this proved to God we weren’t good at naming things.  God wanted to name Himself instead.  If we got to name God, we’d probably call Him something like Sky Daddy, or Super Judge, or Thunder Chief!  And, unfortunately, that’s how many of us see God.  But instead of letting people name God, God defined Himself.  Exodus 3:13-15 says:

Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”

God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’

“This is my name forever,
    the name you shall call me
    from generation to generation.

In Hebrew, I AM is YHWH, because Hebrew has no printed vowels.  If it were pronounced, it would be Yahweh, but this is a name so hallowed that many devout Jewish people refuse to pronounce it.  To avoid pronouncing Yahweh, some have altered and Latinized the name as Jehovah.  Even in English, some who refuse to pronounce the name of God render it as G-d instead.  The translators of the King James Version of the Bible chose to honor God’s name by substituting the phrase LORD (all caps) whenever YHWH is found.  All of these are ways of honoring the name of God by avoiding pronunciation or printing—which is silly, considering God told Moses and the people to actually use the Divine Name.

So, perhaps instead of avoiding God’s name, we ought to call God by the many names we find in the Hebrew and Greek scriptures, which all point to aspects of God’s character.  The Bible uses male imagery for God such as lord, king, father, and defender.  Yet it also compares God to a mother bear, mother eagle, mother hen, a woman in childbirth, and a nursing mother.  Still other names for God are genderless—images such as a rock, or light, strength, song, beginning and end, or living water.  Jesus started The Lord’s Prayer by honoring the name of God.  Perhaps one way to do this is to recognize the attributes of God when you pray.  Make your understanding of who God is more complete by calling God by different names, perhaps according to the way you’re feeling that day, or depending on your situation. 

Another way to honor the name of God is by not taking it in vain.  This is perhaps the most misunderstood of the commandments God gave Moses.  Many people think it means that we shouldn’t use God’s holy name as a curse word (which we shouldn’t).  But I think it goes deeper than that.  When one person takes another person’s name in marriage, they fully identify with that person, and become part of their family.  To then be unfaithful, or to act as if they weren’t married, would be taking that person’s name in vain.  In a country where claiming to be Christian can be advantageous, many politicians and people of business join religious organizations or call themselves Evangelicals, all the while behaving as if they’d never heard of Jesus.  If you pray, “Hallowed be thy name,” you’ve got to be kind of person who strives to live the principles of God.  When you pray, “Hallowed be thy name,” perhaps in addition to recognizing God for who God is, you’re saying, “May I honor Your name, not just with the words I say but the with the things I do.”  To call yourself a Christian means to try to live the character (or the names of God) in your own life.  Only when you do this, does the rest of the Lord’s Prayer make any sense.

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[i] http://jokes.christiansunite.com/Prayer/Speak_Up.shtml.  December 15, 2017.

[ii] Scripture quotations taken from the NIV.

Kickstarter # 4 - "Know Your Audience"

             Over the years, I’ve had a lot of jobs besides ministry, to help pay the bills.  When I was young, I sold meat from a freezer off the back of a pickup truck, door to door.  It was a tough sell, and often quite sketchy.  The guy who trained me showed me how to know your target audience and sell your meat in different ways, depending on who your customer is.  He told me, “If it’s a married man, you sell the steaks, you sell the sizzle.”  I tried it, and I was surprised that it worked.  He told me, “If it’s a married woman, you sell the marinade chicken, you sell the convenience.”  I tried it, and was impressed that it worked.  He told me, “If it’s a single man, you sell the seafood, you sell the romance of a preparing dinner for his date.”  I tried it, and was astonished that it worked.  “What if it’s a single woman?” I asked him.  He told me, “Flirt.”  I decided that wouldn’t work, because I didn’t have much to sell, and this meat was off the market.

            When you’re selling something, it’s important to know your customer base.  You don’t change the product, but you change the way you market it, to appeal to different potential buyers.  Over the past weeks, we’ve talked about catching a dream for new ministry, finding friends and partners to help make it happen, and making capital investments in entrepreneurial ministries to make them successful.  We’ve looked at how Kickstarter[i] connects inventors with investors and funds new business ventures.  The church needs to be in the same business of promoting people with ideas for innovative ministry, matching them up with those who can partner with them in terms of help and funding, and assisting them to launch their new endeavors. But no matter how good the product of the Gospel is, or how helpful your ministry, you’ve got to know your target audience in order to get buy-in from both partners and investors on the one hand, and your ministry recipients on the other.

            For example, the inventors of the Fidget Cube[ii] used Kickstarter to get them in touch with their customer base.  They didn’t market their product as a toy, but as a solution to a problem for people who constantly fidget.  They knew their target audience, and tailored their sales pitch directly to them.  In the same way, BauBax chose not to advertise their travel jacket[iii] as the height of fashion.  Instead, they knew their audience valued comfort and practicality over fashion, so they had no issue with creating four kinds of jackets full of pockets—even a blazer with a hood.  As weird as that is, customers are buying them up.  Knowing your target audience makes all the difference in a successful venture.

           

            The same is true in ministry.  When Jesus sent His disciples out on mission, He knew that the Gospel isn’t one-size-fits-all.  He sent them to a variety of audiences, each of which would take a different approach.  In Matthew 28:19[iv], Jesus says, “Go and make disciples of all nations.”  Following up on that Great Commission in Acts 1:8, Jesus says, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  All nations.  All people groups.  All kinds of folks, from all races, all orientations, all languages, all socioeconomic backgrounds, all levels of education.  Every little subculture you can imagine—bikers, Rastafarians, school teachers, white supremacists, people in the fitness culture, soccer moms, heavily-tattooed and pierced people, pagans, gamers, liberals and conservatives—take the blessing of God to them.  Remember—the Gospel never changes, but the way we present it certainly changes, depending our audience.  When Jesus ministered to different people, He knew that some people needed physical healing, while others needed a word of grace, and still others needed to be told to quit being so religious.  Some needed to be challenged to live differently, while others needed no challenge, but simply needed to be lifted from despair.  Jesus understood that knowing your target audience makes all the difference in a successful venture.

            The problem is that the church often takes a cookie-cutter approach to ministry. “Who’s your target audience?” we might ask, and the church answers, “People.”  And when you ask them what they want these people to do, their answer is, “Come to church.”  But Jesus’ commission to go to the ends of the earth means more than putting “Y’all come!” on the church kiosk.  It means finding the specific problems that are in your neighborhood or society, and offering a solution.  Fidget too much?  Here’s a solution.  Traveling uncomfortably?  Here’s a solution.  Need a little more meat in your diet?  Here’s the solution.  What if the church understood our target audience and offered solutions and approaches to real needs that are around us?  Illiteracy?  The church offers an after-school program.  Poverty?  Why doesn’t your church offer a clothes closet or food pantry?  Racial tension?  Let your church be the one to bridge the divide and promote reconciliation and real relationships.  To follow Jesus’ commission, you’ve got to know your target audience and offer a solution to meet those needs.

            Now, I’ve heard it said, “They won’t listen to the Gospel if their bellies are empty, so you’ve got to feed them to get them to listen.”  While this may be true, this smacks at a disingenuous kind of marketing strategy, where Christians do good things so that people will listen to them, so that Christians can convert them.  Instead, let’s think of it this way: It’s not until you begin living out your faith that anybody’s going to be interested in hearing what you believe.  So instead of clothing the naked for the sake of drawing in a target audience, offer them clothing because it’s the right thing to do.  Go ahead and shelter the homeless or offer English-as a-Second-Language classes or A.A. meetings.  That’s what the church should be doing.  But not so that you’ll look like you care, so that they’ll come to you, so you can evangelize them.  Instead, start with actually caring about your community, learning the needs of your target audience, meeting those needs, and then maybe, just maybe, you’ll have an opportunity to tell them about Jesus.  Because only then will you really be living like Him.  Rather than having a conversation with your Buddhist, Muslim, atheist, Jewish, or Hindu neighbor so that you can give your personal testimony and win them to Christ, how about having an open conversation with them because by doing so, you’re acting like Jesus?  And then, when there’s a true relationship, you can have faith-based dialogue based on mutual respect.  That’s knowing your target audience—because kickstarting ministries doesn’t mean you’re selling something.  It means you’re giving something away—the love of God and hopefully the love of Christ-followers who act like the One whose product they represent.

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[i] http://kickstarter.com

[ii] https://www.antsylabs.com/products/fidget-cube?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2qyR57nR1AIV1I-zCh0KgwHUEAAYASAAEgL7-fD_BwE. 

[iii] https://www.baubax.com/. 

[iv] Scripture quotations are taken from the NIV.

Kickstarter # 3 - Capital Investment

            When I went on my last cross-country flight of 3,000 miles, I traveled overnight so I could arrive in the morning.  My plan was to sleep comfortably on the airplane—seated in coach.  I thought I could put my seat back into a reclining position, close my eyes, and drift off to sleep.  Furthermore, I expected that everyone else would also be sleeping, so the cabin would be quiet.  I also thought my carry-on was sufficient for all the little items I might need.  Boy, was I wrong in all those things!  The seats didn’t tip back, the cabin lights were too bright, people talked through the flight, and it was so cumbersome every time I needed something, to drag my carry-on out from under the seat.  I wished I had purchased an amazing product for frequent travelers.  The travel jacket from BauBax[i] features a pocket for charging your cell phone, a built-in inflatable neck pillow and eye mask for when you want to sleep, earbud holder in the hood, built-in gloves, a drink pocket, pockets for your phone, passport, and sunglasses, a large pouch for your tablet, a secret pocket in case of pickpockets, and even a pocket for your blanket.  These comfortable, versatile jackets are perfect gifts for friends (or pastors/writers) who travel often.  😉 

BauBax’s travel jacket is one example of the many products made possible by Kickstarter[ii], an online service that matches inventors with investors to help turn great ideas into realities.  For ages, would-be inventors have had trouble getting their ideas off the ground because they lacked funding for the expensive patent process, production, or advertising.  But with Kickstarter, inventors make promotional videos about their potential products and then sell these items before production ever happens.  Investors pledge to purchase the products only if enough investors back the project, reaching a goal that makes production possible.  This way there’s no risk for the investor, and the inventor doesn’t have to worry about refunding potential investments if they don’t make their fundraising goal.  Kickstarter makes investing easy, and maximizes its helpfulness to those inventors who can put that capital to good use.

You might say that kickstarting new things is one of the main topics of the Bible.  God says, “See, I am doing a new thing (Isaiah 43:19).”  Again, God says, “I am making everything new (Revelation 21:5)!”  But in order to do a new thing, God wants us to invest.  Yes, the Bible has a lot to say about how we use our money—how we lend, borrow, spend, give, and invest.  In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells a story about a wealthy business owner who goes away and leaves his servants in charge of his finances:

To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more.  But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money (Matthew 25:15-18).[iii]

            When the business owner returns, he rewards those servants who invest his money and return both capital and profits.  But the servant who buries his bag of gold and returns simply a full but dirty bag—that servant is punished and fired.  Jesus’ point is this: God wants believers to be investors.

            Now, I want you to think about this.  With Kickstarter, investors win in a couple of  ways.  First, they get the satisfaction of knowing that they have helped an entrepreneur get their idea off the ground and jump start a new business.  By pledging their support, they play a part in helping somebody make a success in life.  But they also win because once that product has taken off, they receive the travel jacket or fidget cube or other product that they’ve helped create.  So, it’s a win-win situation.

            In the same way, you win when you invest in the ministries of your church.  Your offerings might go to support the kinds of things your church has been doing for the past couple of hundred years.  Or, it could be that someone in your church has had an entrepreneurial idea for ministering to your community in a new way that nobody has ever thought of before.  Like a Kickstarter inventor, they have a bold vision that just needs the backing of someone like you to support them.  When you invest into the ministries of your church, you win in a few ways.  First, you get the satisfaction of knowing you’ve paid the church’s electric bill, or you pastor’s salary, or funded a missionary, or fed the hungry, or clothed the shivering, or sheltered the refugee.  Second, you win because God says you get blessed when you give (not necessarily in a financial way, but there are many kinds of blessings).  Third, when your church is effective, it will thrive—and a thriving church will make a big spiritual impact on many people.  Fourth, a thriving church will grow in attendees, who will become investors who help more ministries thrive, until God’s influence expands more and more in your community and around the world.

            Now, I want you to know that this article isn’t off the cuff—it’s been fully approved by my stepmom!  I was talking it over with her, and she comes from a tradition where her congregation sold tickets to the highest-attended worship services.  So, she reminded me to tell you that investing in God’s work isn’t all about money.  Sure, there are bills to be paid (and a lot of them!) but when you invest your time and talent into your church, guess what happens.  People are helped, inspired, and challenged to grow.  The hungry are fed, the shivering clothed, and refugees sheltered, just the same.  How does this happen?  Well, maybe your hand is the one that puts free food on the hungry person’s plate.  Or, maybe you help the congregation in other ways that save the church money—dollars that can be put to better use when they sponsor the visionary, entrepreneurial, or daring outreach ministries of the church.  There are lots of ways to invest in the church—and when you do so, you invest in the lives of people who need God the most.

            Sometimes a weary traveler just needs a little comfort—and maybe, just maybe, BauBax’s travel jacket will help somebody find relief along the way.  Kickstarter investors help make that happen.  But life can be far more wearisome than an overnight flight or crowded airport.  Travelers through life need a little help on the journey—and maybe you as an investor can ease them on them on their way.  As Christians, we see people struggling every day, and we believe that, through Jesus, we have the answer.  Through your generosity you can invest in God’s people and the work of your church.  You can provide shelter and rest to those who need it most.  When you do, you can hear the Master say, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”[iv]

           

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[i] https://www.baubax.com/.  November 29, 2017.

[ii] http://kickstarter.com

[iii] Scripture quotations are taken from the NIV.

[iv] Matthew 25:21, 23

Kickstarter # 2 - "Friends and Partners"

            In his blog, inventor and writer Dan Provost writes about the process of creating and marketing his invention, the Glif, ^[i] a tripod mount for the iPod that doubles as a stand.  Provost tells how he and his friend Tom first designed the simple gizmo on paper, improved the design through a computer program, and got it printed on a 3D printer, working out the bugs along the way. To fund the mass production and sale of their invention, they turned to Kickstarter[ii], an online agency that matches inventors with investors.  Unlike big corporate deals, these investors are generally average people like you and me.  By pledging to purchase an item once it reaches production, they enable the inventors to sell the product based on the idea, rather than having to mass produce the merchandise and sell it post-production.  The investors are actually buyers, purchasing the product ahead of production schedule.  For most inventors, the concept is the easy part.  Finding partners to help create a prototype and fund production—that’s something else entirely.  Kickstarter bridges that gap by crowdfunding, finding partners to help amateur inventors break into a difficult business.

Last week I pointed out that, “God still works through visionaries, Christ-followers who see the problems in our world and have enough faith to fix them.”[iii]  Perhaps, like the Old Testament character Joseph, God has given you a vision of a brighter future.  Or maybe, like another Joseph in the New Testament, you have dreamed of a solution to a problem you seen in our world.  It all begins with dreams and ideas.  For example, the church on your corner or the one you attend was established by someone who had a dream of a place where people could worship, learn, and grow in their relationship with God.  But it took more than an idea.  It took friends and partners to make that dream a reality.  About partnership and friendship, The Bible’s book of Ecclesiastes says:

Two are better than one,
    because they have a good return for their labor:
If either of them falls down,
    one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
    and has no one to help them up.
Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
    But how can one keep warm alone?
Though one may be overpowered,
    two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.[iv]

Throughout the Bible, we read of great heroes of the faith who succeed not on the own, but because they partner with others to make dreams a reality.  In a time of danger, Moredecai relied on his niece Esther to carry out the plan to save their people.  Jesus sent the disciples out two by two, knowing the strength in friendship and partnership.  Paul never did his missionary work alone, but always together with companions like Silas, Timothy, and Barnabas.  These champions of faith knew the secret we find in the book of Ecclesiastes: that a cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

What does this mean?  While one strand may be strong, and two twisted together may be stronger, a braided cord is strongest of all.  Two twisted strands represent friends who work toward a common goal, but the third strand in a braid is a picture of God’s partnership with them.  As God binds friends together, great things can be accomplished. 

Today I wonder, what vision has God given you, and how can you partner with others to make that dream a reality?  Maybe, like Esther, God has brought you to your church or your community “for such a time as this,”[v] so that you can communicate your ideas for new ministries or outreaches with others who can help make them happen. 

In my town of South Boston, Virginia, Bonita Nelson is one such visionary who has partnered with others to make miracles happen.  She told me, “I have been dealing with homeless people probably ten years. About two years ago, God spoke to me and said, ‘You're going open a home for these people.’ I said, ‘No, I'm not. I don't have the resources or the education. I'm old.’ But [God’s voice] kept coming back, ‘You're going to open a shelter.’"  Inspired by the Matthew West song, “Do Something”[vi], she began a ministry of the same name.  That song says:

I woke up this morning
Saw a world full of trouble now, thought
How’d we ever get so far down, and
How’s it ever gonna turn around
So I turned my eyes to Heaven
I thought, “God, why don’t You do something?”
Well, I just couldn’t bear the thought of
People living in poverty
Children sold into slavery
The thought disgusted me
So, I shook my fist at Heaven
Said, “God, why don’t You do something?”
He said, “I did, yeah, I created you” (now listen)

If not us, then who
If not me and you
Right now, it’s time for us to do something

As of December, Do Something has opened a house called the Passage Place, located at 1332 Moore St in South Boston, to serve as transitional housing and an education center for people in need.  In the beginning, a different building was donated for the cause.  Because it required too much renovation, it was sold and the proceeds went into The Passage Place.  Generous donations from other sources including churches, individuals, and organizations, have brought The Passage place to the point of recent opening. 

At the Passage Place, applicants who are approved will receive counseling, Christian teaching, aid for getting clean and sober, classes on budgeting, life-skills, and help being productive citizens.  They will also receive assistance getting jobs and new places to live.  Room and board will be provided free of charge to those receiving care, but will be funded by donations.  Nelson explains that The Passage Place is not a homeless shelter, but a transition ministry.  There, struggling people will move from a “can’t do it” mindset to a “can-do” attitude.  If you would like to contribute, you can make a check out to “Do Something” and send your tax-deductible donation to:

Do Something

P.O. Box 144

South Boston VA 24592

            Just like Kickstarter inventors need partners to get their businesses off the ground, ministries like Do Something need friends to come alongside and give their financial and practical support.  Maybe you’ve got some time or money you can donate to help see a charity like this get started.  Or, maybe like Bonita Nelson, you also have a dream.  I challenge you not to keep it inside—but talk with friends, pastors, and others who can make that dream possible, who can help you to “do something.”

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[i] Provost, Dan.  “Idea to Market in 5 Moths: Making the Glif.”  The Russians Used a Pencil: A Blog about Simplicity.  http://therussiansusedapencil.com/post/2794775825/idea-to-market-in-5-months-making-the-glif.  November 22, 2017.

[ii] http://kickstarter.com

[iii] Smith, Greg.  Spirit and Truth # 553.  Kickstarter: “I Have a Dream.”  2017.

[iv] Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 NIV

[v] Esther 4:14 NV

[vi]Matthew West.  “Do Something.” Warner/Chappell Music, Inc. Released 2012.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_RjndG0IX8.  November 22, 2017.