How did we get to a place where a man who earns almost $100,000 a year is so deep in debt that he has to kill himself and and his wife and 3 little children? This guy was my age and earning more than twice what I ever earned… how did we get here?
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/04/21/maryland.family.shot/index.html
As all student of UVA I was exposed to off-the-records stories about our beloved TJ, as he is “affectionately” known on Grounds. From stories of his original design and intentions for UVA to the more colorful accounts of his bachelor life and his legendary relationship with Sally. Our beloved TJ was indeed a fascinating character (certainly much more entertaining than the founders of The Olin and Preston Institute!).
Needless to say, my friend got my attention right away when he showed me the picture of an old wine bottle with the familiar “Th. J” inscription. In 1985 a Mr. Hardy Rodenstock claimed that some workers in Paris had knocked down a wall and found a stash of wine bottles dating back to the 18th Century. Each bottle had their vintage carved on the glass with the classic “Th. J.” clearly visible, exactly the way Thomas Jefferson used to write it. The years coincided with the times when Jefferson was in Paris. Wine enthusiasts around the world immediately began salivating over these bottles. In 1985 a single bottle was auction off at $160,000. To this day, it is still the most money ever paid for a single bottle of (very old) wine (vinegar?). More bottles were sold at ridiculously high prices until in 2005 a Mr. Bill Koch, who had spent half a million dollar buying four ThJ wine bottles decided to look into the authenticity of these bottles. The Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello was contacted and after pouring through their records they indicated that our TJ had nothing to do with those bottles. Consequently a large number of lawsuits were filed to sooth injured millionaire egos.
More interesting than the story involving TJ is the fact that there was a person in the world willing to spend $160,000 (in 1985 so adjust for inflation) for an undrinkable bottle of wine. To put it in perspective, the average American needs to work a full-time job for 5 years to make that much money. Why? I can only think of one reason: Validation through possession. At the core of our being we all have a need to be validated. We have a need to be legitimatized in this world, to feel that our existence is more than average. What makes me worthy? What makes me stand out? Material things have unfortunately became the fall back option for many. The ownership of highly expensive and extremely useless items have become the source of validating and demonstrating one’s hard work and economic achievements.
We don’t need to feel sorry for any of these millionaires who were duped. They are all still millionaires. More serious than the rich buying superfluous toys is the fact that the culture of validation-through-procession permeates our society. This is both a problem of the rich and the poor. The only difference are the objects of validation. The danger of this is most evident during economically hard times. The validation of one’s existence through material possessions has drastic consequences, especially when one is unable to hold on to such possessions. We have already heard of individuals and families who unfortunately concluded that the loss of their material possessions deprives them from a reason for living.
God recognized this problem from the very beginning. He made us so that we would have this need for validation and He gave us the very source of our value. We don’t need expensive wine to validate our worth. For what can make you more valuable than the very life of the Son of God? As we now know in this declining housing market, the value of a house is meaningless until someone actually buys it. The values banks and tax assessors give to these houses are insignificant. The real value is the selling price. In the same way, whatever value we ascribe to ourselves is meaningless until someone is willing to pay. The good news is that someone did pay. I want to invite you to investigate and share this very good news: That our worth is not found in us but in the One who purchased us with His blood.
I was talking to a pastor from Uruguay not too long ago. He started a Spanish speaking church in the West End and they have grown to the point that they need a place to worship. We were talking because I wanted to see if I could help him find a church through the Presbytery. During our conversation (in Spanish) I noticed that when we said the word “church” I always used the word “iglesia” (church) but he always used the word “templo” (temple). I though it was just a regional linguistic difference but after a few minutes of talking my friend said “Stop saying iglesia Tony, we already have a church. We just need a place to meet. We need a temple, a building, we have the church already.” As he said that I was convicted to realize that he had a more biblical and accurate understanding of church than I did.
According to the Bible, the church is not an organization or a building. It is always a group of people who profess and live out their salvation through faith alone, in Christ alone, as described in the Scripture alone. According to Acts 2:42 a church is a collection of people devoted to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of the bred and to prayer. According to the Bible my friend was right and I was convicted to realize how I, and so many Christians today, have an unbiblical understanding of church and specifically church membership. A careful reading of the Bible will reveal how much Jesus loves the church, His Body. In his final prayer, Jesus prayed not for the organized or institutional church, but for his followers. The actual church. Yet if Jesus loved the church so much, why do Christians love it so little? Institutional churches have shamefully loved their buildings and their organizations more than they have loved the members. In my experience, the majority of all the church-splitting controversies I have heard of happened as a result of loving the building, the organization and its tradition more than the people who fill it.
I was also convicted on the shallow understanding of what it means to be part of a church and why we even need to join a church. Committing yourself to a local group of believers is motivated by a call from God. Once committed, you are responsible to your fellow believers for the commitment you made. Biblical church membership has nothing to do birth rights or names on rolls. It has everything to do with commitment to a group of fellow believers. The church has always been filled with broken and sinful people. Yet that’s exactly the type of church the Bible calls us to affiliate with. The church Jesus loved always included sinful and broken people. The fact that churches are filled with selfish hypocrites who gossip and tear down is no excuse for staying away from the Body of Christ. The church is for sick, not the perfect. When the early church gathered they were devoted to the Apostles’ teachings, they were learning and growing.
We now live in a time when the fear of commitments is rampant. The fear that we might miss out on something if we commit ourselves to do something now is clear at every level of society. There are many factors that have led to creation of commitment-phobia. The highly individualistic society we live in, the globalized and highly mobile age where there is no longer a sense of a “home,” and the pragmatism of our, where we do the most practical and most convenient things in order to reach our goals. Add these together and you have a combination of a culture that is extremely hostile to the Biblical definition of a Christian. The life of a Christian, as described in the bible is one of commitment and sacrifice. It speaks directly against the anti-commitment and practical culture of our days. Christians are to make a decision and stick with it. We are called to do the difficult things, to take the un-practical and costly roads. As we end 2008 and prepare to begin 2009 I invite all of you to join me in prayer and hope as Providence Presbyterian Church seek to better be the Church. Join us as we devote ourselves to the Apostles’ teachings, the fellowship, the breaking of bread and to prayer. Join us as we live out the church.
To all single mothers struggling to raise your kids… Yes We Can!
To all children who grew up without your fathers… Yes We Can!
To all immigrants who came to the US with a dream… Yes We Can!
To those who have made mistakes in their youth… Yes We Can!
To all those who faced racism… Yes We Can!
To all those who gave their lives for the freedom of all people… Yes We Can!
To those of you in other countries, fighting for justice… Yes We Can!
To all the peacemakers in the midst of violence… Yes We Can!
To those who thought the glass ceiling was unbreakable… Yes We Can!
Most importantly…
To you, the first Hispanic President of the US, who has already been born and has an account on facebook… SI SE PUEDE!
Gayle Williams was a young woman who enjoyed the outdoors. She was an adventurous young lady and was happiest when she climbed mountains, played sports or went out on a jog. She was a fitness instructor and could have made a living at it. But by the grace of God, Gayle Williams was a sister of mine. Though we never met by God’s grace, we were both adopted as children of our Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ our Lord. She was a child of God convicted by the power of the Gospel. And so as a Christian, a safe and secure life, spent canoeing and enjoying the outdoors would have been a waste of life. Yes, a waste of life indeed. So Gayle took the teachings of Jesus to heart and she went out and served the “least of these” as Jesus commanded us.
She started by caring for severely special needs students. Then, as she experience the power of the Gospel, as she indeed encountered Jesus in her ministry, she made the brave decision to join Serve Afghanistan, a Christian Charity based in the United Kingdom. For the past two and half years, Gayle was in charge of providing education and training for people with disabilities. She worked with the poorest and most unfortunate children in Afghanistan, young boys and girls who had been born disabled or lost limbs to landmines and bombs. She was teaching the blind and deaf basic skills for independence. She expressed the love of God by teaching these children the skills they needed in order to survive in a violent world. Though her environment might have seem hopeless, Gayle knew exactly where her hope came from. In a newsletter report back home she wrote: “God has an amazing plan for this country and even though things so often look hopeless we can focus on Him knowing that He is able to see His plans and purposes fulfilled in Afghanistan.”
On Monday October 20, 2008 Gayle walked to work as she had done so many times before. She walked to work, enjoying the fresh air and open sky. I’ve wonder what she was thinking while she walked to work. Was she enjoying the view of the busy street? Was she imagining the smile of that little girl who would walk for the first time today? Was she thinking of the excitement she saw in the little boy who played ball again for the first time yesterday? Was she singing praises to her Savior? Or maybe she was hearing the voice of God. What was she thinking? I don’t know, but I know she walked. She walked with Jesus on that morning. She walked to the place where she would serve Jesus. She walked to meet Jesus in her ministry to the poor and disabled. And by God’s grace, yes, indeed by God’s grace, she kept on walking until she saw Jesus face to face. On that Monday morning Gayle Williams was gunned down because of the Lord she served.
A lot of Christians have been killed around the world recently. Seven of them in Iraq just this month. Thousands of them have had to flee for their lives in Mosul, Iraq. In the days to come more information might come to light about Gayle and her ministry. Some will debate whether Westerners should be there and whether they should be proselytizing, as if there existed such as creature as a Christian who does not proselytize. There will also be talks on security, whether these aid workers should also hire armed guards, as if their Boss could not have sent twelve legions of angels at their disposal. The fact is, Gayle preached Jesus, not with words, but with her life and now with her death. And because Jesus lives, Gayle now lives with him eternally.
Well done Gayle! A life well lived, a life not wasted. I can’t wait to hear your stories and what you were thinking that morning. I’ll catch up with you in Daddy’s house. For now, enjoy walking with Jesus.
One major wedge issue that the Republicans pulled in the 2004 election, a classic Rove tactic, was to place gay marriage amendments in statewide elections to drive voters to the polls. Tonight Sarah Palin essentially confirmed that McCain/Palin have exactly the same stance as Obama/Biden. Both parties want marriage to be between a man and a woman but they both support rights for gay couples.
At every election the respective candidates talk about the importance of the election. How this is the most important election in our times and how this election will change the course of the future. Yeah, whatever. Politics are politics…
This year, however, I think it’s different. There is something riding on the ticket. Something huge. Barack Obama is a bi-racial American. He is black. And I think, putting aside all politics and all possible political achievements. I think it is huge that there is a possibility that for the next 4, hopefully 8 years, my children will grow up through most of their childhood with a black family in the white house. I think that would do wonders, beyond the political achievements that Obama might accomplish. I believe it will make a tremendous difference in the life of my children and all Americans as far as their understanding of race relations. That is indeed something to look forward to.
Let me just make it clear that I fully agree with Senator Obama, that families should be off limits. Especially candidate’s children. Obama came out strongly and clearly the day after it was made public that Palin’s daughter was pregnant. And he said very clearly that people’s families should be off limits. And yes, I absolutely agree. Neither one of the campaigns should take advantage of the situation.
But… I’m not part of nor supporting Obama’s campaign. I’m a voter and I’m free to use anything and everything to make a sound judgment on whether I’m voting for the right candidate. Just like I take McCain’s POW experience as a testimony to his character, I will also take Palin’s decision as a mother to make my judgement.
First of all, to the conservative right wingers and left-wing opportunistic. Chill out! If Dick Cheney can have a lesbian daughter and be proud of the grandchild given to him by his lesbian daughter and partner… then Sarah Palin can have an unmarried pregnant teenage daughter. For purposes of election.
But, as a pastor. I’ll just put this out there. Let’s say a highly successful couple with five children came to my office. And they said “Pastor, we just found out our oldest daughter is pregnant.” Before I even dealt with the pregnancy of the daughter I would say to the couple. “Look, I know you two are very busy and very successful at your jobs. But look what you have done. You have worked so many hours and spent so little time with your young children that you are in the situation you are in right now.” Now, I know, I know that it might have happened even if the mother stayed at home full time and the father worked from his home office. It might have happened. But it didn’t. They were too busy chasing their careers that they ignored their kids enough for this to happen. So the first thing I would say to BOTH the father and the mother, is to cut back your work hours and pump up your home hours. If one of them asked “Pastor, I’m about to get a promotion that will require A LOT more of my time… what should I do?” I would say “Don’t take it.” No, I wouldn’t say “Pray about it.” I expect them to have prayed about it before they came to me. I would say don’t do it. Because this is going to add greater stress to your family. Husband OR wife, I would say that this pregnant teenagers will need her father AND her mother in the days to come. So they should not take the job. You get the point…
I know some of your reading this might think it’s sexists. But I would say this whether it was the father or the mother. If Barack Obama’s daugther was pregnant out of wedlock and Michelle Obama stayed at home full time, I would still tell Barack that this is NOT the best time to run for president. This is the time to be the man of his own household.
Which leads me to question McCain for picking Palin if he knew her daughter was pregnant. And it makes me question Palin… I think I could trust a “hockey mom” in the White House. Sure. But could I trust a hockey mom who decided to run for the VP at an extremely difficult time for his own daughter? Would I trust such great decisions to a person who decided that the care of a special needs baby is not as important as her political ambitions? I don’t know about that… See, for me it’s not about gender roles. It’s about parental roles. Political roles are conferred to you by a political system. Parental roles are coffered to you by God himself. The priority needs to be straight.
In the late 90’s and early 2000’s there was a fast move in the Christian community to move embrace the racial reconciliation theme. So a number of churches were started with the intention of being multi-ethnic. The multi-ethnic church was the goal and prime example of Christ power to wipe out divisions. There are certain degrees of success and failures through those churches but I wonder… why just race? We are racial divisions the only and main focus of such divide? What happened to social and economic divisions? Why is it that rich and the poor do not worship together? Why can’t the college educated and the illiterate worship together? Why just race?
