A Deadly Silence

Before our summer sputters to a close, it’s worth noting how often illegal guns were involved in numerous tragedies.  The summer’s news included:

·         On July 20 in Aurora, Colorado, a single gunman killed 12 people and wounded 58 in a movie theatre.

·         Less than 3 weeks later, on August 5, a lone gunman with a 9 mm handgun shot and killed 6 people and injured four others in a Wisconsin Sikh temple.  Among the wounded were police officer Lt. Brian Murphy, shot 8-9 times at close range.  The gunman eventually shot himself.

·         On August 7, Jared Loughner pleaded guilty to shooting and killing 6 people and wounding 13 in Tucson in January 2011.

·         On August 12, 67 family members of the Virginia Tech massacre victims wrote President Obama and Governor Romney, pleading with them to break their silence and present a plan for gun control.

·         On August 24, a lone gunman shot and killed 2 people and wounded 9 near the Empire State Building in New York City.

·         Earlier this week, more than a dozen survivors and family members of the 2011 Tucson shootings outlined for Attorney General Eric Holder their campaign to stem gun violence. Their petition had over half a million signatures.

Every day in the United States, 34 persons are shot and killed by guns.  This is more than a Virginia Tech massacre every single day.  The national death rate by handguns would compare to the entire population of Fairfax being obliterated every two years.

I’m sick of hearing this sort of news week after week.

The petition that the Tucson and Virginia Tech families are proposing is available at www.demandaplan.org.  It calls upon both President Obama and Governor Romney to move beyond “a moment of silence” and propose a plan to curb handgun violence.

The petition doesn’t outline or advocate one specific set of solutions.  In that sense it’s intentionally non-partisan.  Rather, it pleads with both men – one of them surely our President for the next 4 years – to break their deadly silence on this most deadly issue.  We’re not well-served as a nation by allowing our leaders to ignore this problem altogether.  Yet that’s what both men aim to do.

That’s why I’ve signed the petition and posted it on Facebook.  I invite you to do the same.

My candidate, Jesus Christ, said, “Those who live by the sword will perish by the sword.”  And Lord, we are perishing!

Demand a plan.

Pastor Larry

Gas Up!

Any car that starts out on a road trip makes one essential stop before hitting the highway.  The gas station.  You need a full tank before you begin your trip.  The metaphor is pretty apparent:  As this new season of your life begins, do you have the fuel?       What’s in your tank?

 

I just read the story of John Sage and Greg Forsythe, two friends leading a creative business venture whose profits went to help street children in Costa Rica.  Greg, their chief financial officer, was an experienced executive who brought tremendous business skill and mentoring wisdom to the company.  Unexpectedly, Greg was invited to come to Houston to interview for the Number Two spot at Jiffy Lube.  John knew his company could never match that offer financially, but he drove Greg to the airport.

As Greg was getting out of the car, John said, “Just remember the Jiffy Lube slogan.”  Greg looked puzzled.  John continued, “I saw it on TV last night.  Their tag line is, ‘We don’t want to change the world, we just want to change your oil.’” He then wished Greg good luck.

When he returned two days later, Greg had rejected the Jiffy Lube offer.  He returned to their company for a fraction of the pay. Greg realized that his life couldn’t be about the money, it had to be about the meaning.

That’s what fills our tanks – the conviction that we’re doing something important with our lives. Your job may bring you that fulfillment.  You may also want to make more of your life, to add more meaning, to live your life more fully. 

We’re a congregation full of people like Greg.  Our fuel is meaning.  So we teach children, we sing in worship, and we mentor youth.  We go on mission trips, study more intentionally, and give generously. As we grow, we learn to recognize God’s opportunities when they appear.

 

This fall you'll have two opportunities to "fill your tank" with an understanding of the Bible.  Disciple 1 classes will meet Tuesday morning and Tuesday evening. This is the best gift you can give yourself and the world you want to change for the better.

The Apostle Paul praises the God “who fills all in all.” (Ephesians 1:23)  Why not make God your first stop this fall?

Pastor Larry

A Prayer for the Big Picture

I was looking for the word to describe why I’m going to do what I’m going to do this weekend. I discovered it:  multivocal.  (It’s actually pronounced mul-TIV-o-kul.)   From the basic interpretation of “many voices,” it denotes something having different meanings of relatively equal validity. 

Scripture is multivocal. Rarely does a Bible passage have a point. Rarely can we determine the meaning of a word or sentence. The richness of God’s word to us is that it can say different things to us at different times.

This weekend I plan to preach on the same passage that Morgan preached on last week:  Ephesians 3:14-21. I have no quibble with his excellent sermon and no reason to correct what he said. Rather, as our Monday evening RE-Focus group pondered this passage and Morgan’s sermon, we found ourselves going down a different path – one that I hadn’t yet taken from this passage before.   

Paul offers here what I call “A Prayer for the Big Picture.”  He prays these things for his hearers:

·        That they may be strengthened inwardly                               (v. 16)
·        That the love of Jesus Christ will dwell in their hearts          (vs. 17, 19a)
·        That they will grasp the immensity of God                             (v. 18)
·        That they will be filled with God’s fullness.                            (v. 19b)

This can be another way of grasping the Big Picture called Why Am I Here?  When life is fragile and short, what marks time on earth well-spent?  When life is long, what matters most?  When we dwell in the valley of the shadow of death, what do we focus on? 

Paul points us in this prayer to the Big Picture. We’re not here to figure life out – to answer some cosmic question – or just to “do the best we can.” The quality of human life is measured by our capacity to open our hearts to God and experience love.

This is Paul’s prayer for Ephesian people and for you.  How well is your life responding to this prayer?  Do you know the inner strength of God that enables you to be patient – forgiving – thoughtful – and kind?  Do you know you are loved with a love that surpasses all human understanding?  Are you ever bowled-over and awed by the hand of God in the world?  And are you growing in love?  Is your heart becoming fuller as you age, or emptier, or more apathetic and cynical?

Scripture is multivocal.  Familiar passages, read again, will yield new meanings.  I’ll invite you this weekend – at Saturday LifeSign and at Sunday services – to listen again to this familiar prayer.  See if it helps you see God’s “BIG Picture” for your life in a new light.

Pastor Larry