Tribute Tattoo

The headline caught my eye and the eerie nature of it evoked an unsettled feeling but a genuine curiosity. A British tattoo artist was designing a tattoo to memorialize his young son who passed away from a rare disease at the age of two and half. He planned to use an ink mixture that included ashes from his cremated son’s remains. After a little research I discovered that ancient Middle Eastern people memorialized their dead this way and I uncovered many headlines of a variety of people who have these very personal tattoos. It made me wonder if this was more than just trying to hang on to the physical presence of past loved ones. Was it as simple as the funeral remarks that loved ones will live on in our memories? Or was this an act of denial that death can not separate us from our loved ones? Whatever the answer might be to these questions it is obvious that once again we are reminded how precious life is and our longing for immortality underscores the reality of a God who created us in His image and put eternity into our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

No doubt there may be some who’s first reaction is that this is more than bizarre behavior and is a blatant disregard for the sacred in both the living and the dead. I grew up in a household where we were not allowed to put bubblegum tattoos on because the bible strictly forbade tattooing the body (Leviticus 19:28). Besides, only riffraff sported tattoos that more often than not were lewd, crude and unrefined (as the saying went). However, even a brief glance at the text reveals that to be consistent you would also have to be adamant about forbidding certain hairstyles and beard trimming. The scaring and tattoo prohibition in Leviticus was a warning to Israel to not indulge in pagan religious practices. In verse 19 one of these miscellaneous laws is not to wear clothing woven of two kinds of material (raise your hand in you are presently in violation of this one). Again this is a reference to pagan religious practices that was wrong by association not by nature.

So, are you suggesting one should get a tattoo that mixes inks with cremation ashes? I’m reserving my judgment even though it still seems eerie and bizarre. What I believe to be important is that we never forget that the sting of death has been swallowed up in the Christ victory of the cross (1 Corinthians 15:50-57). Thus, what I desire is the ultimate marks… the marks of Jesus (Galatians 6:17). Then we can honor those who have gone before us by sharing the faith that they shared with us. Now, that’s a tattoo! -DAN

The Best

What makes your “best” list? Is the list populated with incredible experiences ranging from gourmet meals to dazzling vacation destinations? Or is it more cerebral with outstanding literature or media? Are you enthralled more by Mozart and Van Gough or sunsets and panoramic views? Is the best for you more relational and what you immediately think of is your loved ones? Maybe you find the best as the product of skilled competition whether on the sports field or the Home and Garden Network. Whatever makes your best list not only tells something about you but reminds you that in the midst of a chaotic and fallen world there are reminders of the Garden of Eden. Innocent and nascent beauty survives and even from the garbage heap springs forth new life. In a world where we think we settle for the proverbial “whatever” it’s nice to experience the best here and there.

The best is always dependent upon its source. James writes in his letter, “Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring (James 3:11)?” His point is that bitterness and divisiveness are “of the devil” but wisdom from above produces a “harvest of righteousness.” That is, if we draw from the best we can expect the best. No wonder when Jesus turns water into wine to keep the party going the result is the best wine (I would assume ever made)! Your mom’s cooking was “the best” not because she was a gourmet cook but because she was mom! That memorable sunset was “the best” not because its magentas and vermilions were superior but because for a moment it was clear to your heart and your eyes how beautiful is God’s creation. Mankind longs for the best when their hearts are set toward Zion and paradise regained. What constitutes the best is that no greater fulfillment or joy can be imagined and therefore heaven is realized.

I want to suggest that heaven realized is truly the best and yet assuredly quite simple. Heaven is resting in God’s presence with a heart full of praise and wonder. It will not find its ultimate completion until God calls us home… however, we can have a taste of heaven… a taste of the best even now. Resting in God’s presence can happen in church, it can happen in a moment shared with nature or in private meditations. The possible places are only limited by our imaginations. The door to moments of “the best” are always awaiting our arrival. So, where will you find your next best? Best wishes to you in your journey. -DAN

Random

As a lifetime victim of ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) I liked it better when we were called day dreamers. Being distracted from daily tasks by a dream almost sounds biblical where deficit disorder sounds like there’s a short in my wiring. I’d like to think of my ADD more as single minded (again more biblical sounding) as opposed to task driven. That is, I find following the rabbit down the hole much more entertaining than staying on the path. Alice and I are often treated to a world beyond the looking glass that offers new insights. I know for those who are dedicated to well worn paths our tendency to run in different directions is not only frustrating but perceived to be random wandering and less than productive. Truth is, that often that is the case but none-the-less there are times that random thoughts and the road less traveled open up new worlds of adventure and blessings. Now, I’m not abandoning staying on task or the Pauline avocation to let all things be done decently and in order… but I am suggesting that freeing the body, soul and mind to follow some random thinking, praying and acting might be a healthy thing to do from time to time.

So, here are some random thoughts… Worry more about inviting people inside the church doors than about if the church doors get locked. “Do this in remembrance of me” is much broader than the events of the cross. Heaven is more heavenly when pearly gates and golden streets lead not to a mansion but a place at the table of the Lord. The Holy Spirit settles for nothing less than a temple to dwell in so clean up, straighten up and open up what’s between your temples. If God is love (and He IS) then godliness is not about cleanliness –it’s about loving. Church is about coming together not just assembling… it’s togetherness in heart, purpose and care. If you don’t like the way something is being done spend more time thinking about how I can help than you do on whom I can blame. I think opportunity knocks all the time. Try your best not to be an oxymoron. Always be the voice of love and kindness. Let the name of Jesus always put a smile on your face and warmth in your heart. Finally, all that you do in word or in deed do in the name of the Lord Jesus!

Wouldn’t it be random if R.A.N.D.O.M. was an acronym? If it was I think it would be Remember And Never Doubt Our Maker! Of course, that’s the random thinking of a random preacher. -DAN

XPO FERENS

In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue… so goes the mnemonic we learned in school. His three ship (the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria) fleet set sail from Spain to discover and claim the “New World” for Spain. Much has been argued as to Columbus’ motives and countless details of his life debated so that volumes of revisionist history books have been written. Yet, without exception on the second Monday of October our nation celebrates the one to which we attribute the discovery of the Americas. A Columbus Day sale raises the flag that once again Columbus sails into our memory and history. What is often missed is the convincing argument that swayed Queen Isabella of Spain to finance Columbus’ voyage. The answer is discovered in the cryptic way Columbus signed his name, Xpo Ferens (the cross bearer). This distinctive mark joined Greek and Latin to hail Christopher Columbus as an ambassador of Spain to bring Christianity to the New World (i.e. carry the cross and its message to the natives). Evangelizing the New World was the convincing argument that captured the Queen’s favor.

If truth be known, mixed in with this holy calling was probably the all too human elements of greed, exploitation via slavery and territorial domination. Religion has and will continue to be used to exploit others for financial gain and control but none-the-less the cross carried will ultimately win out. “Xpo Ferens” should be the signature that we all address our lives with. “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world (Galatians 6:14).” As cross carrying ambassadors we reaffirm the enigma of the gospel… the good news is that death produced true life and weakness affirmed real strength. The cross shaped message is one that conquerors new and old worlds with a message of redemption through sacrifice and surrender. God has reconciled with His creation by giving His one and only Son to purchase mankind’s pardon with His blood. This act of love and grace happened on the unlikely mast of a Roman cross where innocent blood was shed. It at once underscores the depth of man’s sins and the unfathomable expanse of God’s love!

So, how do you sign your name? Are you a cross bearer? Has the message of the cross financed your life? I believe that most would affirm that they wear the name of Christ proudly and do their best to share the good news. I also believe that most would confess that all too often we have either put the cross down or reshaped it to make it more comfortable for our journey. We’re not proud of it… we just own our failure. However, let us all unite to sing, “God is Love!” And may we encourage one another to be cross bearers! -DAN

Why?

Bill Cosby’s 1965 Album entitled, “Why Is There Air?” answers the question in a humorous but insightful way. Cosby quips, “Any Physical Education major knows that the reason there is air is to inflate volleyballs and basketballs.” Cosby’s college girlfriend, the Philosophy major with an IQ of 300… thousand had queried, “Why is there air?” Within the humorous imagination of Bill Cosby is the sardonic insight that much of what we question is overkill at best. We often not only ask too many questions filled with pointless platitudes but often we ask the wrong questions. This is more than curiosity gyrating into cat extermination but rather a reflection of our inability to see the obvious or comprehend the bigger picture. Like insatiable children asking why at every juncture we fail to stop and reflect on what we know before chasing after the unknown. Okay, but isn’t curiosity the road to higher education and the foundation of both the sciences and the arts?

I’m glad you asked! Yes, man’s questioning nature has led him to many important discoveries and inventions. No doubt, that sometimes curiosity has built the cat instead of executing it. Light has replaced darkness. Understanding has dispelled ignorance. However, there seems to me to be one “Why?” that alone deserves our allegiance. It is valuable to our faith and our discipleship. It is the question, “Why do I do what I do?” Forget about why there is air and who’s full of it and reflect on what motivates us to be Christ followers. In our text this morning the religious elite sent representatives to question John the Baptist (John 1:19-28). John had no reservations about who he was or what he was doing. He was a witness to something greater than himself. His venue was the desert, his successor’s the temple. He was a foot servant unworthy to unlace the sandals of the one who would be King of kings. His voice was a summons to make ready for the Lord of lords. He was a witness, not a prophet nor the Christ. He was John the baptizing one calling people to repentance.

Such clarity of identity and purpose is why we are here! It is the answer to why we do what we do. It is the big picture that brings into focus all the other whys we often impale ourselves upon. We are witnesses of the Christ. Our testimony is that we are not worthy and our voice is a summons for all to make ready for His place in their hearts. I’m not trivializing the harrowing “whys”… why do the innocent suffer? Or why do the wicked persist while the righteous fail? Or why hasn’t Christ returned? What I am saying is that the very personal answer to the question, “Why do I do what I do?” Is the answer that witnesses to the one who is the answer! He alone makes sense out of the nonsense and He alone bridges the gap between God and man! That’s why I’m His witness! -DAN

Buried

Girl 27 is a documentary about Patricia Douglas who as a 17 year old movie extra found herself buried in a horrendous shroud of deceit and sexual violation that not only robbed her of her innocence but shattered her life into shards of ill fate. Thinking she was an extra on a new film the young Douglas discovered she was part of 100 girls hired to entertain at a wild salesmen party sponsored by MGM studios. This was the studio’s way of saying thanks to these salesmen who had made MGM the only successful studio in 1937. After being held down and forced fed from the abundant source of MGM supplied liquor, Douglas stumbled outside to purge her stomach of the unwanted intruder only to find she was followed by a salesman who ultimately violently defiled the youth. After a grand jury trial being dismissed and a federal court appeal buried by an attorney who was in MGM’s pocket, the young Douglas found she couldn’t fight the studio giant. MGM even paid her mother off with hush money. Her case was buried but more tragically her life was buried until a journalist and film director inadvertently stumbled across it while researching a book on Jean Harlow.

We would like to think that life is more like David and Goliath where the little guy fells the giant but all too often the malevolent magnates of life crush the innocent under their mammoth resources. “You can’t fight city hall,” we regale as we acquiesce to our self imposed retreat. O, we believe that the bigger they are the harder they fall but we’re convinced that they hardly fall. Patricia Douglas is both victim and reminder of the triumph of injustice and the reign of corruption. She’s not an exception but a tragic reminder of how dark is the degradation of mankind. So, do we curl up in a ball and wait for the Second Coming? Doesn’t Paul say something about being more than conquerors? Now, let’s put the fight back in the dog!

The cross is a reminder that one can take that which is devised for destruction and turn it into an emblem of victory! What makes the difference is how one views the world. If our fate is circumstantial or scripted by the master of the moment then truly we will be victims and not conquerors. However, if our destiny has been shaped by the divine then as Paul simply puts it, “If God is for us who can be against us (Romans 8:31)?” In God’s hands we find death leads to life, last puts us first and when buried we are raised! Does this mean we are invincible or that Giants won’t crush us beneath their weight? Hardly… but it does mean, “There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known (Luke 12:2).” Why? Because God is in charge… even on a cross! -DAN

The Big Finish

More often than not when I’m on the telephone with Leah I can hear Payden in the background singing. Recently, Leah asked me if I heard him and if I could understand what he was singing. He was singing one of his favorite church songs but unfortunately he doesn’t quite know the lyrics. No problem however, for our adolescent troubadour, he simply makes up his own lyrics. Apparently, the lyric of the day was that God had gone to the store where He was rock-a-bying a baby. Leah is entertained but sometimes it’s a bit much. She informed me that His very favorite church song is Dennis Jernigan’s song, “Thank You, Lord!” (781 in our song books). Now, to understand why this particular song might lend itself to a you-got-to-love-the-kid moment you have to understand two things. First, that the song as you recall has a dramatic sustained note in the chorus where the men sing, “And I thank You, thank You, Lord (with “Lord” being a high sustained note).” And second, that Payden is the aficionado of the big finish… that is, he likes to belt those sustained notes with unabashed pubescent punch! He often has a giggling audience in church when the Spirit moves him to offer up one of his big finishes. Mom loves it and bears it at the same time… and Pappy chuckles at imagining the scene.

Now, there’s something I want to say about big finishes but first I want to commend us all to make up our own lyrics. You see, God singing “Rock-a-bye Baby” in the grocery store is exactly what leads the soul to big finishes. When one sees God’s presence wherever they find themselves and know that He’s involved in rocking babies as much as He’s involved in state affairs… then, we have a God as big as the one the Bible reveals! If singing is heart melodies that speak to one another then let us never forget to affirm His presence in all that we say and do. Now, if we keep this lyric alive I believe we ought to give it a Payden finish. We need to belt it out with child-like exuberance! We need to… sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before Him with thanksgiving and extol Him with music and song (Psalm 95:1,2)!

And Here’s the big finish… and a little child will lead them (Isaiah 11:6)! Jesus suffered the little children to come to Him to remind the disciples and you and I that the nature of the kingdom of God is more about imaginative play than it is about rules and regulations. It’s about those unafraid to belt out the big finish because they know the one who is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end… the Big Finish! Their lyrics are full of His presence and His place in their lives. So, what’s your favorite song to belt out? -DAN