Afraid of Something New

Starting something new, making a big change, or doing something different, is scary. Did you know I almost didn’t go to Brazil because of my fear? I’d never flown so far, I’d never had to navigate customs by myself, I’d never arrived by myself in a land where I didn’t speak the language, I’d never been apart from my family for so long… That’s just a few of the new, scary things that I’d be doing for the first time! I really thought that, maybe, I should just stay home and do what was familiar and safe: just relax at my dining room table and drink tea for 16 days. That way, I wouldn’t have to face the fear and anxiety of doing something new and different.

Fortunately I had bought my plane ticket six months in advance, and I wasn’t going to waste that $700. So I went. My fear and anxiety couldn’t stop me. I had to pack extra deodorant in my carry-on, but I went.

And of course, I ended up having one of the most amazing experiences of my life!

Life is full of potential changes: Starting a new job. Moving to a new city. Creating a new living arrangement. Developing new eating habits & exercise routines for our health. Finding new ways to do church.

What positive change do you need to make? What new activity or behavior do you need to start? What idea has been lurking in the back of your mind, hidden away by your desire to stick with what’s safe and familiar?

How can you work through that fear and anxiety, and make the change?

I Weep (A Response to the Shooting in Orlando)

My view at a vigil in downtown Long Beach, June 12, 2016,
in memory of the shooting victims in Orlando.

Sunday morning I woke up to the news that 50 people had been killed and many more injured in the worst mass-shooting in U.S. history, at a gay nightclub in Orlando. The news reports I heard said that the shooter used a legally-acquired semi-automatic assault weapon, the same weapon used at other mass shootings in Newton, Aurora, and San Bernardino. Reports also said the shooter was homophobic and abusive, and claimed to be a follower of Islam.

As the day progressed, and even as I led worship at Bixby Knolls Christian Church, I wept for the victims. I also wept because I knew that people who claim to be Christian were at least as responsible for what happened as any who might claim to be Muslim.

Those who spew hate-fueled rhetoric against the LGBT community often claim to be Christian. Politicians who allow anyone to legally acquire semi-automatic assault weapons without having to pass any sort of background check also claim to be Christian. None of them are true to their faith or true to the teachings of Jesus, just as the shooter was not true to the Islamic faith or to the teachings of Muhammed.

I weep, because these leaders have destroyed lives in the name of Jesus.

I weep, because a close friend of mine who has listened to their words now has only one thing to say about religion, something too crude for me to share here – and I don’t blame him.

I weep, because this is not the only time Christian leaders have destroyed lives. A few months ago I saw the movie Spotlight, which won the Oscar for best picture. As the closing credits rolled, I wept because of all those Christian leaders who used the power and trust placed in them to abuse innocent people.

I weep, because Jesus taught a message of love, peace, and acceptance, but that message is lost on the world today. His teachings have become so distorted that many associate the Christian faith with judgment and hypocrisy. What so many Christians stand for is the exact opposite of what Jesus himself stood for, lived for, and died for.

I weep. I pray that God weeps with me. I pray that God weeps with the loved ones of those who died. I pray that God weeps for our nation and for our world, and that God’s compassion shines down on us. Never have I prayed more fervently, “Lord, have mercy.”

God Is With Us

One month from now, I will be taking a month off from ministry at Bixby Knolls Christian Church. I have been working with our elders and board to arrange my time off so that I can have a sort of “mini-sabbatical,” which – as I’ve mentioned before – will include a trip to Brazil.

The timing is right. I may not have the money to do all I want, but for various reasons this is the time for me to go.

Even so, I’m nervous. I’ve never taken a trip like this, much less by myself. Both fear and lack of money are the two reasons why I’ve never taken a trip like this before.

Strangely, my anxiety has been helped recently by funerals and memorial services. We’ve remembered the lives of Zoila Esperanza Melgar and Hattie Smith, and this week will be the funeral for Rick McIntosh. And the most-read scripture at funerals and memorial services is Psalm 23.

So I have been reminded that, no matter what journey we take, God is with us. If that journey takes us through the “darkest valley,” the “valley of the shadow of death,” God is with us. If that journey takes us from this life into the life-to-come, God is with us. If that journey takes us on a 12-hour plane flight to South America, God is with us. God’s rod and staff protect us. And no matter what, we have nothing to fear.

And this is true for us as a congregation. Where will our journey lead? For starters, it leads to a month-long period without a pastor. Fortunately we have an excellent group of elders, whose spiritual leadership I continue to be impressed by and thankful for. In fact, elsewhere in this newsletter you will see the first two Stewardship articles that I have asked our elders to write. Although usually only one will appear in each newsletter, there are two in this newsletter because I want you to see the diversity of thought among them even though they are on the same topic. I cherish this diversity. It’s one of BKCC’s greatest strengths.

One final thing: the elders have told me that they are struggling with this assignment. My response to them is that transformation or renewal never comes without struggle. Whatever kind of transformation or renewal we seek, we are going to have to struggle to make it happen. But even then, in the struggle, God is with us, and we have nothing to fear.

Blessings, Pastor Danny

How fascinating!

In high school, I took Spanish as a second language. At first it was easy: I had no problem learning nouns and simple phrases like “¿Como está?”

Then I learned that, in Spanish, adjectives usually followed nouns, unlike English in which adjectives usually come first. After that, we started conjugating verbs, which was sometimes confusing. And THEN, the hardest thing of all for me: learning when and how to use prepositions.

The rules didn’t make any sense to me. It was all so different. I said to my teenage self, “this is dumb!” and I gave up learning Spanish.

Now I’m trying to learn Portuguese. I’m running into many of the same challenges I encountered when I tried to learn Spanish. But this time, instead of saying, “this is dumb!” I say, “How fascinating!” And instead of giving up, I say, “This is going to take me awhile, but I’m going to keep trying!”

I like to think the difference is that I’ve matured a bit since high school.

In the same way, my attitude toward different faiths and religions has grown. Growing up, trying to be the best Christian I could, I didn’t understand other religions – and I didn’t want to. They were dumb and false.

I think differently now. As I learn about other religions, I am more likely to think, “How fascinating!” I find myself wanting to learn more; and the more I learn, the more I am fascinated by the differences, as well as the similarities.

Portuguese and English are very different languages; yet they have the same purpose: to enable communication among people.

Christianity is very different from other religions, yet all religions – Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and others – all seek to find meaning and connection in a world created by a benevolent, loving power that we call God.

The more we learn, the more we understand; and the more we understand, the more likely we are to find peace in our world.

Why Daily Prayer & Weekly Worship Matter

This summer, I’ll be taking a trip to Brazil. In preparation, I’ve been trying to learn some words and phrases in Portuguese. Here are some of the words I’ve learned:

igreja (church)

abacaxi (pineapple)

almoço (lunch)

cenoura (carrot)

cebola (onion)

Learning a new language is hard. Since January, I’ve been spending a little time every day practicing, and I’m still a long way from being able to communicate in Portuguese.

The only reason I am able to read and speak English is that I’ve been practicing nonstop, every day for over 45 years… and I still get things wrong! (Thank goodness for spellcheck!) It takes lots and lots of practice, with lots and lots of repetition, to learn a language.

The Portuguese words above are all simple nouns. I won’t even go into how verbs are conjugated in various tenses, or how prepositions are used – because I still haven’t figured such things out. In my practice, the same words and phrases keep coming up, and I keep getting them wrong. But with enough practice and repetition day after day after day, eventually the learning will come.

Why am I telling you this? Well, if learning a new language requires lots of daily repetition, what makes us think that we can learn how to be a Christian without practicing our faith every day? It takes a lot of repetition, day after day after day.

One of the best forms of practice is to go to worship regularly. Worship is where we learn the language of God, so that we can then use that language in our daily lives. Those who don’t go to worship regularly will never be fluent in God-language.

Other forms of practice include daily (yes, daily) prayer; time spent in service to others; and regular giving to the church.

Now – without looking back to the beginning of this article, let’s see how well you remember those five Portuguese words I shared with you:

igreja

abacaxi

almoço

cenoura

cebola

Make your guess, then look back and see how many you got correct. I’ll tell you, it took me a long time to stop confusing cenoura and cebola; those two words look a lot alike, and it took me a lot of daily practice to get that right.

And so it is with faith.

Resurrection

The Bible says that Jesus of Nazareth was crucified (executed), his body placed in a tomb, and three days later came back to life. This is the central story of the Christian faith. But did the resurrection really happen?

Here are three faith-based responses:

1. Yes - and it was a physical, bodily resurrection. This response is suggested by scriptures such Matthew 28:9 (two women grab hold of Jesus's feet) and Luke 24:36-43 (Jesus speaks of his "flesh and blood" and eats a meal).

2. Yes - but it was a spiritual resurrection, not "flesh-and-blood." This response is suggested by scriptures such as Luke 24 (a story in which his followers do not recognize him, and in which he mysteriously vanishes), and John 20 (in which Jesus is able to pass through locked doors).

3. The resurrection is a metaphor: it describes the moment when the disciples realized that everything Jesus stood for would last indefinitely, despite his death. This realization gave "new life" to their movement. Some scholars have suggested this; they mention the Gospel of Mark, which - in its original form - did not mention the resurrection. (This was "corrected" by later editors who were dissatisfied with Mark's ending, and they added their own endings which told of the resurrection.)

Even though there are different ideas about the resurrection (even in scripture!), it is clear that something happened. Crucifixions were common in ancient Rome; at times, the roads were lined with bodies hanging from crosses as a warning to would-be revolutionaries. When a leader was executed, the movement he started generally died with him, but the movement Jesus started exploded across Rome and gained new life in the years that followed.

Most of us at Bixby Knolls Christian Church prefer response #1 or #2; some are willing to consider #3; and some just aren't sure. We are, after all, a congregation that allows for diverse theological viewpoints. However, one thing we all agree on is that the God of the Universe is the God of New Life and New Beginnings, the God who makes all things new, the God whose love is stronger than even death.

No matter which response you choose - or if you are just not sure - you are invited to join us for our Easter worship. Join with us as we celebrate the joy - and the mystery - of new life. For worship info, click here.

The Most Segregated Hour

At Sunday's very moving and powerful worship service celebrating the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., members of Pacific Southwest Region (Disciples of Christ) congregations were called to task for allowing 10:00 a.m. Sunday morning to remain the most segregated hour in America... even among Disciples... even in the Pacific Southwest region.

In response, I would like to extend an invitation to all those who recognize the truth of that statement to visit Bixby Knolls Christian Church. We are a small congregation, one that often remains outside the spotlight; and yet -- if it is true that 10:00 a.m. Sunday is still the most segregated hour -- I feel called to share this simple message:

We are Bixby Knolls Christian Church, and we are black, white, Asian, and Hispanic. In our pews are people who have come from other countries, such as Cambodia, Pakistan, Burma, Samoa, and Canada. Our members speak over a half dozen languages. We are heterosexual, homosexual, transgender and cisgender.

And we worship together every week.

This is not due to anything I have done in my 6+ years as BKCC's pastor. I think most in the congregation would say this is not because of anything any person or persons have done. It's because of what God's Spirit has done among us. Mostly, we just try to not get in the Spirit's way, and not mess up what God has been doing through us.

I extend to you an invitation to visit us, but please don't come expecting a "perfect" church. We are diverse, but we are not perfect. For example, last Sunday we couldn't even figure out how to turn the microphone on.

Yet we are thankful for the gift God has given us: a beautifully diverse, multi-cultural congregation that gathers each week at the Lord's Table, a table where the welcome never ends.

What Fighter Jets Taught Me About Christmas

I did not preach the Sunday before Christmas. Instead, our worship was a special music-filled event presented by our choir and instrumentalists.

The service began with our handbell choir ringing "Silent Night." At the first note, I was ready to be transported to a heavenly realm for a wonderful out-of-this-world experience. But then something happened that kept me firmly rooted in this world.

A low, distant rumbling was heard that grew louder and louder until it drowned out the handbells. A fighter jet from nearby Long Beach airport had just taken off and was flying directly above the church. The pews themselves shook with the deafening noise, and though we could see the handbells, we could not hear them.

The sound of the jet faded away, and the bells could once again be heard. However, fighter jets usually travel in pairs, and sure enough, a second earth-shaking roar filled the sanctuary and again kept us from hearing "Silent Night."

Once that jet passed, the song was all but over.  The service continued; more songs and music were heard, as well as more sounds from outside the sanctuary. Traffic. Sirens.

I was in a sour mood. Instead of being transported to a heavenly realm by wonderful out-of-this-world music, the thunderous interruption at the start of our worship, and the other unwanted noises that continued, did not allow my mind to escape this world.

It wasn't until halfway through the service that a thought occurred to me. Maybe Christmas, I thought, isn't about being transported to a heavenly realm. After all, 2,000 years ago, God didn't choose to take the faithful out of this world. Instead, God chose to come down to the world, to dwell among the people, to share all the worldly experiences humanity deals with. At Jesus's birth, there were angels singing, but also sheep bleating and cows mooing. (Try imagining the sound of a cow mooing in your ear while your child is born; not very romantic or idyllic, is it?) Also, there was the distant (and perhaps not so distant) sound of Roman soldiers marching through the streets.

The beauty of Christmas, I realized, isn't that we are taken out of our world and all its troubles. The beauty of Christmas is found in the fact that God chooses to dwell with us, in the midst of this world and all its troubles.

Worship ended, and I was filled with joy, a joy that was perhaps greater than it would have been if I had felt transported to a heavenly realm, because I was reminded that God is here in this world, with us - with me - working to bring wholeness to a world that is troubled, but still good.

National Day of Prayer

Wait... I thought this blog was for sermons?  

Today is the National Day of Prayer.  What am I doing to honor this day?

Nothing.

The truth is, I don't really pray, at least not the way one might expect a pastor to pray.  When I was younger, I would pray, with words spoken out loud or in my head, for so many things.  But after awhile, all those words seemed to be ... just words.

I still pray with words, on Sunday mornings in worship, and other times when I'm called to lead groups in prayer.

But when I'm alone, and I want to pray, I sit in silence.  No words.  I sit, and try to become aware of my oneness with God.

Most gatherings taking place today for the National Day of Prayer are filled with words.  Too many words for me.  If I were asked to take part in one of these gatherings (I wasn't), it would only be to add even more words to the occasion.

I figure that God knows what the desires of my heart are.  I can feel them, and when I sit and become aware of my oneness with God, I sense that God feels them, too.  No words are necessary.

To me, that's prayer.

How do you pray?