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Pastor David Hewitt
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Pastor David is Associate Pastor of King of Glory Lutheran Church and blogs these devotionals. He invites your comments which will be considered for posting for a period of 5 days from each blog entry date.
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Thursday, 29 April 2010
New York City, the summer of 1975. America's biggest metropolis was dirtier and grimier back then; we didn't stick around Times Square and walk around. My family was taking one of those Grey Line Bus Tours. We had taken the ferry to see the Statue of Liberty; by the end of the day, we had to substitute a trip to top of the Empire State Building instead of the top of the World Trade Center because emergency and police vehicles surrounded World Trade Square; Someone on one of the floors was angry and holding a whole office hostage. We saw the story that night on the Cronkite's evening news.
I remember one of the promised "sights to see" was the famous New York "Chinatown." There really wasn't much to see, except, as I recall, a poor alcoholic homeless Asian-American man, laying there in amongst the trash. It was hard to tell if he was sleeping, drunk, or unconscious. Or dying. But we didn't think about that as we quickly walked around him and on by.
A similar situation confronted people in New York just the other day. A homeless man lay face down on the sidewalk outside an apartment building, not moving. Don't know how unusual that was in that sectoin of the city. Video cameras recorded one person, and then another, and then still others (seven of them) just walking on by him. Some turned their heads to look; others stopped to gawk; one even lifted the man's body, exposing what appeared to be blood on the sidewalk underneath him, before walking away.
It was for nearly an hour that he lied there until emergency workers arrived, but it was too late. 31-year-old Alfredo Tale-Yax, a Guatemalan immigrant, was dead from several knife wounds. The Good Samaritan had died.
Oops. Wait a minute. Maybe you thought the seven that walked by were the (possible) Good Samaritans, only to fail their audition, so to speak. And that much is true. But it's also true that Mr. Tale-Yax tried to help someone; he tried to be a Good Samaritan; and that's what led to his death.
You see, Tale-Yax was walking behind a man and woman on 144th Street in Queens around 6 am April 18 when the couple got into a fight that became physical, police later discovered. When the woman looked like she needed help, Tale-Yax intervened; the man then stabbed him. Tale-Yax still pursued the man as he ran away, then collapsed.
Some are wondering whether there's any decency in this world anymore, blaming the seven people who walked by. I like to focus instead on the reality of the situation, and how it relates to the parable of the Good Samaritan.
You know, the Good Samaritan helped the injured man at a very specific location. Rarely does Jesus get that specific, but this time He did. The story takes place on the road from Jerusalem (which lies on a high plain) "down" to Jericho (which lies so low it's below sea level, not far from the Jordan River). This road was and is notorious for its danger and difficulty, and was known as "The Way of Blood" because of "the blood which is often shed there by robbers," according to an article in the Biblical Archaeologist. Some attribute "fear of being robbed or killed" as the reason the priest and the levite walk on by someone who had just been robbed and almost killed, in this parable. That could very well be one of the chief reasons. In a way, it would have been "reasonable" behavior.
We shouldn't kid ourselves. What Jesus calls us to do sometimes isn't "reasonable," and sometimes isn't "in our best interests." Some proclaim words to the effect that it's smarter to be a Christian. It's not necessarily smarter; it IS more loving, however. That we know for sure.
We cannot and should not sugarcoat the Christian life. Jesus is inviting us to life HIS life, which is sometimes a life of danger and sacrifice. HE lived that life. He died on a cross, in a bloody, tortuous, horrible death. You remember the movie "The Passion of the Christ," Gibson's movie? I've seen it twice. So much blood. I don't look forward to seeing it again. But there's a reason why Jesus puts our call in certain terms: "If any want to become My followers, let them deny themselves and take up their crosses and follow Me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for My sake, and for the sake of the Gospel, will save it." (Mark 8:34-35)
I don't know what I would have done on that New York street on April 18 -- both when that woman was being beaten, or later when Mr. Tale-Yax lay there dying. I like to think that at least I would have dialed 9-1-1 and waited around to make sure someone got help. I like to think that I would have been willing to be a witness. God's call urges me on, maybe to do more than that, even to endanger my life.
I can ignore the darker, tougher implications of the Good Samaritan parable, of God's call to discipleship. But it's not wise for me or for any of us to downplay the urgency and the danger of God's call, just to avoid its burdensome quality. God's Word is both a challenge and a mercy. Not just a mercy. Challenge + Mercy = Life.
David Hewitt
Tuesday, 27 April 2010
If you live in the Indianapolis area, you may have run across the headline story in the Indy Star newspaper lately. It's about a teenager, a senior in high school named Brent Jones, who came up to the reporter, Matthew Tully, and said, "I''m Brent Jones. I'm the kid who doesn't exist."
Late in the long article, Tully reveals a scene he witnessed. He watched as Brent tried to buy an energy drink at a convenience store, but because you have to be 18 to buy it (he is), and because this particular clerk wasn't sure and asked for i.d. to see if Brent was 18 or not, Brent could not get his energy drink. Tully describes the young man's frustration. Brent even showed the clerk several sheets from a personal file he likes to carry around with him, with medical records dating back to 1993, and court records dating back to 1994, when he was three years old. Nothing worked.
Brent is lucky that he goes to a high school that will even accept a young man as a student who doesn't have a social security number. Because he has no social security number, Brent cannot get a driver's license, or other i.d.; he cannot get a job to earn money to, among other things, afford to go to school; he cannot apply for financial aid or scholarships for college. You've heard of the old novel The Man without a Country? Brent's The Youth without a Name!
A local judge who knows Tully says she has seen "a handful of such cases every year," cases that often begin with "a birth parent handing off a child to a friend without taking the legal steps required." Brent's mother, at the time he was born, was addicted to drugs and prostituting her body to get them. Another woman stepped in for her in order to take care of Brent. Then the mother left and was never heard from again. None of the phone numbers she gave reached her. The woman Brent now calls mom -- the one who took care of him -- never knew the birth mother's maiden name, the birth father's name, or what state Brent was born in. The judge relates, "You can't penalize the child for the sins of the parent." But that is just what it was doing to Brent.
Even though his personal file didn't get Brent his energy drink, he's still basically optimistic about life, getting A's and B's, is popular with other kids, and tells them that they should follow his example and not let their circumstances be "an excuse to fall into common traps such as drugs and alcohol."
Yet Brent still carries around his file like a lucky rabbit's foot. "It's my security," he says. "I can say, I am this person. I've lived a life, and I can prove it...This is who I am." (By the way, Mr. Tully helped find his birth mom; now he's on his way to a real, adult life.)
Sometimes we may wonder who we are. What makes us "us"? George Bailey (in the movie It's a Wonderful Life) walked around after Clarence the angel's spell took effect. He was dazed and confused. No matter who he talked to, they didn't know him. He related all sorts of shared memories, but they weren't shared any more. Left without these anchors to his everyday life (and our everyday lives!), George Bailey just about flipped his lid.
No one knew George Bailey. No one could vouch for Brent Jones. But God steps in for both. "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you," says God, to George, and to Brent, and to you and me. "I have called you by name, and you are mine." (Isaiah 43:1)
We may wonder, sometimes, in this topsy-turvy world, where our identity lies. Does it lie with our personal records? Other people's memories? With what our egoes think we are? No, no, and no. Our identity lies with God, our Creator and Redeemer, and with God alone. Remember that, the next time you feel lost and alone, rejected or isolated, or haughty and proud.
Only He knows our real name.
David Hewitt
Friday, 23 April 2010
Indulge me for a little bit. I have (wink wink) some ABSOLUTELY SHOCKING news to share with all of you.....
...Did you know that fully HALF of all children who grow up in bread-consuming households score below average on standardized tests?!!
...Did you know that 98 percent of convicted felons are bread users?!!
...Did you know that in the 1700s, when virtually all bread was baked in the home, the average life expectancy was less that 50 years?!! That infant mortality rates were unacceptably high?!! That many women died in childbirth?!!
...Did you know that bread has been proven to be addictive?!! Subjects deprived of bread and being fed only water begged for bread after as little as two days!!
...Did you know that bread is often a "gateway" food item, leading the user to "harder" items such as butter, jelly, peanut butter, and even (shudder) cold cuts?!!
...And finally, did you know that most bread eaters are utterly unable to distinguish between significant scientific fact and meaningless statistical babbling?!!
You knew all of that, especially that last part? Well then maybe you won't campaign against bread use. Maybe you are able to tell the difference between news you can use and news purposely manufactured to sway your opinion, one way or the other. God knows we have plenty of the latter, from all shades of political and societal opinion, out there.....
Since we're talking about "bread," I am reminded of the Man who said, "I am the Bread of Life." I am reminded that He is the same Man and God who said, "I am the Way and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father, except through Me."
So Jesus is the Truth, and He gives us the Spirit of Truth. How can we best work with the Spirit of Truth every day, to find what are the lesser truths, amidst all the information and pseudo-information flying about us these days?
Well, let us look at what the fruit (the end result) of having the Spirit, according to Galatians 5:22-23, is gaining the following: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." Perhaps it's important to use these to help us figure out our earthly, "lesser" truths.
For example: "Self-control" allows us not to jump to conclusions after we hear a "factoid," but rather to ask around and look around at other (even opposite) views, and get a fuller picture. It takes "Patience" to take the time to do that. It is a "kindness" to check with the person or people themselves, if you've heard something negative about someone else, before one rushes to judgment. Love is the opposite of fear, so when someone tries to instill fear in us by manipulating "facts," we go to "God's love," and we remain "at peace" while "gently" explore an issue further. And, all the while, we keep remain "faithful," believing that God will take care of us no matter what, which allows us to feel "joyful" and still function in life in a "generous" fashion -- not letting fear paralyze us.
Such, I have found, is one Spirit-ual path to the Truth or truths of this life.
David Hewitt
Tuesday, 20 April 2010
"Chilling" doesn't adequately describe listening last night on TV to Timothy McVeigh tell a reporter (caught on tape) about what he did in Oklahoma City 15 years ago and why he did it. One of the detectives who got to know McVeigh so well that he invited her to his execution called him "cold," noting that, in regards to the victims, McVeigh "detached himself from their hurt altogether."
Of course that is the definition of a sociopath -- someone who cannot feel someone else's pain. Yet McVeigh DID claim to feel the pain of the women and children killed in the raid on David Koresh and his group at their compound near Waco, Texas, exactly one year earlier. Seeing them die, his heart filled with rage. His heart filled with vengeance. Of course those feelings of revenge helped McVeigh to de-humanize all the people who happened to be in the Murrah building the day of the blast -- even young children. Yet the detective asks, "How can you feel so much for the people of Waco and you can't have feelings for the people you killed?"
As one woman who lost her two young grandsons said of McVeigh, "It seemed like he was angry with us, like we had done something to him." He had objectified his enemy, "the government," into anyone who happened to be in a federal government building that morning.
Of the victims' families' stories, he remarked, "But I'd like to say to them, I've heard your story many times before; the specific details may be unique, but the truth is, you're not the first mother to lose a kid; you're not the first grandparent to lose a grandson or granddaughter. I'll use the phrase, and it sounds cold, but I'm sorry, I'm going to use it, because it's the truth: get over it." What lengths we humans can go to try to justify our wicked deeds! His logic justifies every murder that has been committed since life began. He's like Cain when Cain said to God, "Am I my brother's keeper?" (Genesis 4:9) In other words, "I don't care about what others feel."
Of hell he said, "First of all, I believe there is no hell. But if I go further and say, even if there is [hell], I don't think I'm going [there]." Of course not; no one thinks they are evil. In fact, as a seminary professor once told me, "Sin becomes Evil when Sin is not acknowledged as Sin." Sin is uncontrollable in its destructiveness when there is no repentance from it, no remorse. Hitler thought the greatest thing he ever did was kill 6 million Jews.
Yet we must go deeper than that, and McVeigh helps us in trying to do so. He is someone who not only refuses to back down about what he did, he even revels in it. When confronted about why he left clues that led to his arrest, he calls himself "a groundbreaker. My objective was state-assisted suicide....I'm manipulating the system for my own gain." He was suicidal, but he didn't want to "lose" to the enemy by going alone. He took 168 people with him. "In the crudest terms," he said just before his death, gloating in victory, that the final score was "168 to 1 on the scoreboard" so "there's no way they can beat me by executing me." This is the theology of a Middle East suicide bomber.
But notice that he wanted to commit suicide. He had given up on himself and on this world. He couldn't fulfill the command to "love your neighbor as yourself" because he didn't love himself. Nor did he allow someone else (or Someone Else) to love him. Breathtaking in his honesty, McVeigh reveals the bare knuckles logic of evil itself, of the devil himself. He (McVeigh or Satan) knows he's losing...but he's going to take as many down with him as possible.
David Hewitt
Friday, 09 April 2010
Of course I was watching Butler lose to Duke last night -- a very well played game by both teams. Butler should be proud of a very strong effort, reflective of all that they had accomplished in the NCAA tournament thus far -- except they didn't win. Does that mean they failed? Do WE fail, if someone else "wins" and we "lose" at something?
One of the top players on the Butler team, Gordon Hayward was given the opportunity -- twice -- to shoot the game-winning shot in the closing seconds of the game. Twice he shot. Twice he missed. Is he a failure? I feel for him. I've been there. Oh, not in a basketball game, but in other things, other competitions, endeavors. To come so close to "winning it all" feels a bit like failure. There's plenty of people -- in sports and out -- who are ready to remind someone who's never "won it all" that, no matter how good they are, they "have never won the big one."
No, Gordon is not a failure. All he needs to do is properly interpret the Bible verse he chose when he was confirmed in the faith several years ago -- Philippians 4:13 -- "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
I say, "properly interpret," because there are many people -- especially many Christian athletes -- who have, over the years, misappropriated this verse as their favorite verse because they think it means that if you serve God in your heart, God will give you all the victories you desire -- on the basketball court, football field, whatever.
But St. Paul, when he wrote this, did not write that we can "accomplish" all things through Christ, but rather that we can DO all things through Christ. "Accomplishment" assumes a kind of contest, something judged by human standards. Paul himself could have felt himself a failure because he was in prison when he wrote his letter to the Philippians. Yet he did not feel that way. He knew that the standard he was to follow was a heavenly, not an earthly, standard. He was simply called upon to be as faithful to God as possible, and DO his best, whatever the result may be -- whether he accomplishes all his earthly goals or not. "We are more called upon," the saying goes, "to be faithful than successful."
Back on March 23, out in Salt Jose, California for the 1st round of the tourney, Gordon's wife and twin sister were looking for something that would raise his spirits. Gordon hadn't been playing as well. They went to a Christian bookstore, trying to find anything upon which Philippians 4:13 was written. Unsuccessful, they turned to a clerk, who looked around. Finally he returned to them, looking downhearted. Perhaps he thought they were looking for a more "girlish" gift. "Well," he said, "all we have is a medallion witht the verse on one side -- and this drawing of a basketball on the other." Perfect. Gordon loved the gift, and he played better to boot.
In the days leading up to the Super Bowl, some kids wanted me to pray for the Colts to win. I discussed with them why we shouldn't pray for that, but rather that the men on both teams play up to their God-given potential, showing in their attitudes, win or lose, something "of God."
I think both Butler and Duke showed that last night -- in their attitudes, their teamwork, their unselfish play, in their hard work and dedication. When Hayward went to his Brownsburg church the day before the final game, on Easter, he was mobbed by some of the parishioners and was called upon to autograph their church bulletins. But let's not kid ourselves. The most important autograph we can collect comes from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Let's let Him write His name on our hearts with the subscript, "You're mine."
David Hewitt
Tuesday, 06 April 2010
Of course I was watching Butler lose to Duke last night -- a very well played game by both teams. Butler should be proud of a very strong effort, reflective of all that they had accomplished in the NCAA tournament thus far -- except they didn't win. Does that mean they failed? Do WE fail, if someone else "wins" and we "lose" at something?
One of the top players on the Butler team, Gordon Hayward was given the opportunity -- twice -- to shoot the game-winning shot in the closing seconds of the game. Twice he shot. Twice he missed. Is he a failure? I feel for him. I've been there. Oh, not in a basketball game, but in other things, other competitions, endeavors. To come so close to "winning it all" feels a bit like failure. There's plenty of people -- in sports and out -- who are ready to remind someone who's never "won it all" that, no matter how good they are, they "have never won the big one."
No, Gordon is not a failure. All he needs to do is properly interpret the Bible verse he chose when he was confirmed in the faith several years ago -- Philippians 4:13 -- "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
I say, "properly interpret," because there are many people -- especially many Christian athletes -- who have, over the years, misappropriated this verse as their favorite verse because they think it means that if you serve God in your heart, God will give you all the victories you desire -- on the basketball court, football field, whatever.
But St. Paul, when he wrote this, did not write that we can "accomplish" all things through Christ, but rather that we can DO all things through Christ. "Accomplishment" assumes a kind of contest, something judged by human standards. Paul himself could have felt himself a failure because he was in prison when he wrote his letter to the Philippians. Yet he did not feel that way. He knew that the standard he was to follow was a heavenly, not an earthly, standard. He was simply called upon to be as faithful to God as possible, and DO his best, whatever the result may be -- whether he accomplishes all his earthly goals or not. "We are more called upon," the saying goes, "to be faithful than successful."
Back on March 23, out in Salt Jose, California for the 1st round of the tourney, Gordon's wife and twin sister were looking for something that would raise his spirits. Gordon hadn't been playing as well. They went to a Christian bookstore, trying to find anything upon which Philippians 4:13 was written. Unsuccessful, they turned to a clerk, who looked around. Finally he returned to them, looking downhearted. Perhaps he thought they were looking for a more "girlish" gift. "Well," he said, "all we have is a medallion witht the verse on one side -- and this drawing of a basketball on the other." Perfect. Gordon loved the gift, and he played better to boot.
In the days leading up to the Super Bowl, some kids wanted me to pray for the Colts to win. I discussed with them why we shouldn't pray for that, but rather that the men on both teams play up to their God-given potential, showing in their attitudes, win or lose, something "of God."
I think both Butler and Duke showed that last night -- in their attitudes, their teamwork, their unselfish play, in their hard work and dedication. When Hayward went to his Brownsburg church the day before the final game, on Easter, he was mobbed by some of the parishioners and was called upon to autograph their church bulletins. But let's not kid ourselves. The most important autograph we can collect comes from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Let's let Him write His name on our hearts with the subscript, "You're mine."
David Hewitt
Friday, 02 April 2010
I like seeing the Butler Bulldogs play basketball. They are so unselfish. They will, as the saying goes, "turn down a good shot so that one of their teammates will get a great shot." I've gone to a few of their games, and seen them play on TV. They love to pass this ball around the perimeter, starting on one side and, if that area is not a good place to shoot from, they REVERSE the ball and pass it around to the other side.
Such reversal is an important concept in life, as well as in sports.
Sometimes we need such reversal in our lives, even in our spiritual lives. To our worldly eyes, we sometimes meet a "reversal of fortune" -- a string of "bad luck" or "bad breaks," which we usually regret. Yet if we are patient and are able to remember...we may find that, weeks and months and even years later, God was speaking through such "reversals" in order to get us in the right place, at the right time.
Let me use a little "Butler metaphor" to prove my point.
One day I went to see an important game on the Butler home schedule. In late February of 2008, Butler was ranked high in the national polls and, being a "mid-major," was involved in the special "bracket-buster" weekend that was occurring all across the nation. This was an innovative idea in which all of the top "mid-majors" in all of the small-school conferences played each other during this one special weekend every year. Drake, a small college in Iowa that was, at the time, leading the race in the Missouri Valley conference, was, according to this plan, invited to Butler to play the Bulldogs in Hinkle Fieldhouse.
The 16th-ranked Drake team was not expected to beat the 8th-ranked Butler 'Dawgs on their home court. But, right in front of my eyes, they did. It was a tough loss for Butler. It meant they were not going to be ranked as high in the NCAA tourney coming up. Meanwhile, Drake moved up and got a higher seed in the NCAA tournament. One might say that it's losses like that that can do permanent damage to a basketball program -- unless you forget about the principle of "reversal."
You see, when Drake played in the NCAA first round, a month later, they had to play a Western Kentucky team that upset them, beating Drake and sending them home early. That Western Kentucky team was so impressive, their coach was hired right after the tourney by big University of South Carolina. One of WKU's new recruits was quite upset that the coach had left. His name? Ronald Norad.
Sure enough, Ronald let go of his commitment to Western KY, and Butler came a-calling, convincing him to come instead to Butler. Now Norad is a key component of their march to this weekend's Final Four. Such is the reality of "reversal." If Drake hadn't beaten Butler, maybe Drake doesn't play Western Ky. and maybe Western Ky. loses to someone else in the first round and Norad doesn't ever play for Butler, keeping Butler out of the Final Four.
What does this have to do with our relationship with God? Well, as the saying goes, "When God shuts a door, He often opens a window." One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is patience -- which includes having the patience to perceive a potential "loss" as a possible "victory." There have been many times in my life that a "loss" that I suffered let to an even greater "gain," spiritually, in my life. "For where I am weak, there I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:10) Strong with God's Spirit -- for HE determines my ways, not the plans I make, which sometimes work, and sometimes don't. We should always look for "God's great reversal."
David Hewitt
Friday, 02 April 2010
Last night a bunch of us were studying the Bible together, which is fun. We were looking at a section of Paul's letter to the Roman Christians in which Paul starts to talk about faith in relation to our Baptism. He writes, "Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore, we have been buried with Him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life." (Rom. 6:3-4)
As we enter into the month of April on this Holy Thursday, I am reminded that I was baptized on this day: April 1, 1962 -- almost 6 months after I was born. Yes, the day I officially became a Christian was...April Fool's Day!
Some might consider that "a bad break," but I do not. You see, one of my favorite verses in all of Holy Scripture is found in another of Paul's letters, 1st Corinthians, where he says to his Christian brothers and sisters
"Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Quite apart from us you have become kings! Indeed, I wish that you had become kings,
so that we might be kings with you! For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as least of all, as though sentenced to death, because we have
become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to mortals. We are fools for the sake of Christ, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are
strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute." [1 Cor. 4:8-10)
So I, the April fool kid, have been a "fool for Christ" from the beginning! Many times I have heard people use that phrase, "I am a fool for Christ," as a kind of badge of honor, and I agree with them! Pastor Paul, in writing up our Holy Thursday worship service for today, has used quotes from the noted Christian author Frederick Buechner in the liturgy. Since we're talking about foolishness, here's one of those quotes:
"'We're fools for Christ's sake,' Paul says. Faith says that ultimately the foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of men, the lunacy of Jesus
saner than the grim sanity of the world. Through the eyes of faith, too, the Last Supper, though on one level a tragic farewell and failure...is also, at its
deeper level, the foreshadowing of a great hope and the bodying forth of deep mystery. Frail, fallible, foolish as He knows His disciples to be, Jesus
feeds them with Himself. The bread is His flesh, the wine is His blood, adn they are all of them, including Judas, to drink Him down. They are to take
His life into themselves and come alive with it, to be His hands and feet in a world where He no longer has hands and feet to feed His lambs."
Love always seems foolish at first. It requires a step forward in faith to love someone -- a leap of faith to go ahead and tell someone "I love you," because they may not say, "I love you" back, and they may take advantage of your love and care and they reject you. We've done that to Jesus. But Jesus is a fool, a divine fool. He loves us anyway.
David Hewitt
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