Live in Elgin

A Few Observations

- Elgin, Illinois might have the nicest public library in America.  (New release movie rentals, and coffee shops with magic shows!)

- Screaming children are great forms of birth control. 

- Loud talkers on the airplane make a two-hour flight seem like six. 

- Its really funny when a friend is trying to eat chocolate cake while watching a character in a movie write words using human feces. 

- Illinois is frickin' cold in late November. 

- Lucinda Williams doesn't do happy well. 

- Kitchen tables turned coffee shop tables with Sister are good for the unemployed soul. 

Bad Moon Rising

I don't usually believe in omens.  But last Friday seriously made me reconsider. 

I began the day in Philadelphia, where I was visiting Mission Year team members. As I made my way to the airport, I came to a red light.  The light turned green, and just as I was ready to go, a woman and her children started slowly crossing the street, right in front of my car. 

Not being thrilled, I honked my horn.  The woman, turned, stared intently at me, and then gave me the bird (yes, right in front of her children.)  This was no. 1. 

When I returned to Atlanta, my boss met me at the airport, and after I picked up my checked luggage, informed that my job was being cut due to budget problems.  (If you haven't heard about my response, rest assured it was characteristic and memorable.)  This was no. 2.  

If I have any doubt, I  had lunch with a former professor of mine yesterday.  As we were eating, he handed me my fortune cookie.  The message inside: Be prepared to change your plans. 

Enough said. 

On Elections and Heroes

I am frequently asked a question.  

I live in an impoverished neighborhood, which will probably vote 95 percent for Barack Obama today. 

I just graduated from one of the country's most liberal theological academies, where the split today will probably be 80-20 in favor of Barack Obama. 

I voted for John Kerry in 2004, Harold Ford in the Tennessee Senate race in 2006 and for Jim Martin in the 2008 Georgia Senate race. 

"Why, oh why, Daniel," they ask, "are you voting for John McCain?"  

Today, was a day I thought would never happen.  It was a historic day for our nation and a wonderful day for me.  Election Day 2008.  November 4, 2008.  

That's because this election day I voted for John McCain.

In an election that is historic and wonderful for many reasons, mostly connected to the candidacy of Barack Obama, I am incredibly grateful for the chance to vote for John McCain. 

Although I thoroughly expect the nation to take a historic step forward and elect Barack Obama, I am also personally sad that John McCain most likely will never be President. 

Like many people I discovered John McCain in the runup to the 2000 Presidential election and followed him throughout the last eight years as one of the few people willing to display political courage. 

He lashed out when President Bush and Karl Rove smeared him in South Carolina for the audacity to have adopted a child who wasn't white.

He worked countless times with some of the most liberal democrats in the Senate - Russ Feingold, Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden - to pass bills he thought would benefit the country, even if they hurt him politically.  

He notoriously supported the surge in Iraq, when everyone else was running for political cover. 

It is only the most recent in a trend that has defined his political career - McCain has never been afraid to say the tough truth, even if it cost him a vote.  Some say that was only the McCain in 2000 - I ask them to re-read his convention speech when he called out his party on the convention floor or the primary race in Michigan - when he told Michigan voters the truth about the auto industry. Michigan voted for Mitt Romney. 

Political courage doesn't get you big crowds.  

Unfortunately the country seems to be going in a different direction.  Like many I have been disappointed by John McCain's campaign and his pick of Sarah Palin.  He has not run his best campaign, but I do not know that it would have mattered, with the excitement over Barack Obama, the most hostile media climate for a major party candidate since Watergate, and the economic downturn all conspiring against him. 

My father frequently laments that one of the problems with America is we don't have any heroes anymore.  That's not true, at least for me. 

I discovered my hero eight years ago on the campaign trail, fighting in vain against President Bush, and I've watched him fight an uphill battle against Barack Obama too. But long odds won't stop me from wearing my McCain hat and t-shirt in South Atlanta today.  

America may reject a former war hero.  But it will take more than one lost election to make me forget what I know - John McCain is one of America's bright lights. The past year hasn't changed that. 

Church Leadership, by Honest Abe

As many of you know, I recently became so fed up with the current Presidential election, that I went on a political fast of sorts.  For almost two weeks, I consciously avoided some of my favorite websites - politico.com, washingtonpost.com, nytimes.com, huffingtonpost.com, and even dear old Red State.  What I found was that I really didn't miss presumptuous Hope, Sarah Baracuda, or the veering off track of the Straight Talk Express.  

One of the great things of swearing off politics for a while (and not having a television) is that it gives you the chance to do things you've wanted to do for a while.  Being a history dork and wanting to believe that a President (or Presidential candidate) might actually offer hope, I chose to limit the politics that came into my head to Abraham Lincoln.  I had long wanted to read Doris Kearns Goodwin's opus on Lincoln's cabinet, Team of Rivals, so I took the 753 pages as a challenge.  I finished my month-long journey last night, and emerged with the conviction that Honest Abe had some great advice for those of us trying to learn how to lead, whether that be in corporations, non-profits, or more specifically for me, the church.  

753 pages later, here's what I learned.  

1.  Surround yourself with talented people, even if you don't like them.  Lincoln won the contested nomination for President out of the Republican Party, defeating William Seward, Salmon Chase and Edward Bates.  After winning the Presidency, Lincoln worked to bring them all into his cabinet.  They fought, they schemed, and they bickered (with each other and with Lincoln), but their intelligence, experience, and differing ideological, theological and philosophical convictions strengthened the country and made Lincoln a better President.  

2.  Take the blame, share the credit. Throughout his Presidency, Lincoln made a habit of giving his cabinet members credit when things went well, and taking blame and responsibility upon himself when they didn't.  It not only reflected the reality (the buck stops with the President) but he gained immense respect from his cabinet and the country for it.  

3.  Find chances to be grateful.  Often times Lincoln found an opportunity to write an appreciative letter or thank a member of his cabinet when he had actually done the work.  It cultivated loyalty and allowed people to hear the criticism he would offer later.  

4.  Remember who is in charge.  Many who advocate this style of leadership forget one important part of Lincoln's office - everyone knew who was in charge, and it was Lincoln. Although Lincoln would listen to his cabinet, and take their advice even when he didn't like it, Goodwin consistently points out that it was Lincoln who ultimately made the decisions, and when he made up his mind, the discussion was over.  And everyone knew it. 

5.  Chemistry is overrated, competence is what matters. Salmon Chase spent much of 1863 cultivating Radical Republicans who thought Lincoln was not committed enough to their agenda.  His hope was that he would use this base to run for President against Lincoln in 1864. Lincoln was well aware of his scheming, but refused to let it persuade him to fire or marginalize Chase.  Chase tried to resign several times.  Lincoln denied his first several attempts, but eventually did accept it.   After he did so, he nominated Chase to be the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.  

6.  Be slow to anger.  What those who opposed Lincoln from the South couldn't grasp was that Lincoln was quick to forgive, and wanted to bring the South back into the Union a quickly as possible.   He didn't favor punitive damages to the South and hoped that Jefferson Davis would escape capture so he wouldn't be punished severely.  Lincoln was convinced that not berating and humiliating Southerners would be the best way to rebuild a fractured country and coalition.  

Why I Love My Church

By almost any definition, my church would be labeled as a failure.

We are located directly across the street from a large and prestigious college.  Our church is minutes from downtown Atlanta - a hop from the Aquarium, the Fox Theater, and perhaps most importantly, Octane Coffee Bar.

We were once a prestigious church featuring the who's who of Atlanta.But, in a typical Atlanta story, the neighborhood changed, people got scared, and moved out of Atlanta and out of our Church. 

So on a really good Sunday morning, we have thirty-five people attending our one worship service and six people attending our only Sunday School class.  Our United Methodist pastor is not a seasoned veteran of the appointment system, but a part-time student who has not yet completed seminary.  

But around 11:40 this morning, none of that seemed to matter.  

Because our church is not too far from downtown, we also get our fair share of homeless men and women to show up.  Our church has a relationship with one man in particular - I'll call him John (the same name as Jesus' friend and beloved disciple) - who often hangs around our church, sleeps on the steps, gets his mail delivered and is one of our most faithful attenders on Sunday morning.  

Well this Sunday, John missed Sunday School for the first time this semester and missed the entire sermon and most of the Sunday service.  He showed up about five minutes before communion, hair disheveled, speech slurred.  In short, he was late, he was drunk, and he was loud.  

One of our members walked John up the line to communion, where she helped him with the bread and then helped him dip it into the cup. Our pastor, the young seminarian, greeted John with a smile - "John, this is the body of Christ, broken for you.  We love you and we're glad to see you."

After communion, the pastor stood up and preached his second sermon of the day.  

"Sometimes I think that the words we say and the things we do here aren't all that real.  But then Jesus shows up in the forms I wouldn't expect - like a man walking in drunk, or high or God knows what.  John is a challenge to us and everything we say and we do.  He reminds us that while we may not be as outwardly broken as a drunk homeless man, inside we're just as broken.  And somehow God invites us into fellowship with Him and each other."

Afterwards we all went downstairs, and we shared another meal.  A potluck with the best chicken, vegetables, and dessert Southern church ladies can put together.  There were four tables, all full, and John was there, eating and drinking, laughing and smiling.  

We all had smiles on our faces too.  Because somehow we all knew that by the odd timing of the Spirit, God had given us a gift. A so-called failed church has been transformed - by a wild-eyed and raving Jesus disguised as our drunken friend. 

Feeding on the Word

As we’ve crisscrossed the country with Jesus over the past few weeks, we’ve found ourselves in a traveling classroom - walking with the Messiah in the school of the Kingdom. In the recent Gospel readings we’ve seen Jesus doing all sorts of teaching to all sorts of people. He intimately addresses his twelve disciples. He speaks to the large crowds who follow him. He even tries to teach his enemies.

His course of study is widely varied yet strangely focused. He lays out commands for discipleship – take up the cross and follow him. It will be a few chapters before we figure out just how hard this cross business is. Jesus tells us just who to fear –not the one who can kill the body but the one who can kill the soul. He announces that the people are to welcome the ones their leaders have historically rejected – the weak children and the worrisome prophets. And over the last three weeks Jesus has spent an awful lot of time trying to explain the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom, it turns out, is like a sower who extravagantly sows seed. It’s also like a mustard seed, and a treasure in a field. It’s a woman working a little leaven into a ton of flour, and a pearl of great price, a net that catches fish to be sorted later, and it’s somehow both weed and wheat.

But in today’s Gospel reading, Jesus tries to leave the teaching behind. He’s actually trying to mourn – he’s deeply moved when he gets word that Herod had executed his friend and colleague in kingdom work - John the Baptist. Jesus flees the city and we find him way out in the country, miles away from anything but the Sea of Galilee. The crowds won’t let him get away, and like the prophets warned, descend upon him from the North, the South, the East and West. It’s late, well after dinner time. They’re hungry, and to make matters worse, they’re miles away from anywhere where somebody could get something to eat.

Jesus’ disciples, like that ornery housemate or annoying co-worker I imagine some of you might know about, are always the one who seem to catch the blame for everything. They are the ultimate scapegoats for those of us with more than two thousand years of history on our side. If I were with Jesus, we say, I wouldn’t doubt like Thomas. I wouldn’t deny like Peter. But this time, it seems, they just might get it right. They have taken all of Jesus’ wisdom from the teaching they have heard and have tried to apply it. They are, it appears, perfect students.

Using excellent common sense they turn to Jesus and say, “Look man, it’s way after dinnertime. We’re out in the middle of nowhere, and these people are hungry. We don’t have near enough to feed them, so let’s get them home before it gets too late.” The disciples would win a medal for crowd control, Christian hospitality, and good housekeeping. But Jesus doesn’t quite see it that way.

As he tends to do, he blows them and us away with a simple line –

“Don’t send them away. You feed them.”

You feed them.

But Jesus, we’ve got five loaves of bread and two fish, and there is no way we can satisfy this crowd. There’s five thousand men and at least a few thousand women and children here. If we don’t get them out of here, they might not eat and they just might turn on you, and more importantly, on me.

But Jesus, being Jesus, wouldn’t flee. Oh no, instead he began a pattern that we continue in the church today - He took food, bread and fish, thanked his Father for it, blessed it broke it, and fed more anywhere between 10 and 20,000 people if you dare to count women and children.

It was, as we say, a full-on miracle. Jesus took meager proportions and turned them into a meal that really fed a whole bunch of people. Jesus turned five loaves and two fishes into a meal that satisfied. The Gospel writers leave us no doubt that this was a feast to be remembered – the feeding of the five thousand is the only miracle story that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all write about. Nothing else caught their attention that much – not walking on water, not calming storms, not even healing a man born blind.

Like most miracles, the feeding of the five thousand leaves us with all sorts of questions. The one that I’ve been asking is this - Why were the disciples so surprised? What did they miss? They had been following Jesus for a real long time, they had seen him do all sorts of things before. They had seen him perform plenty of miracles and healings. He had exorcised demons and even gotten the best of the Pharisees. I mean, after all, as Jimmy told me last Friday at his house, anything’s possible with Jesus. Thousands of books have been written about the faults of these disciples, but I don’t think we need to read them all to figure out how the disciples messed up this time - they didn’t know their Bibles.

That’s because from the beginning of God’s saving work with his people to the present day, God has been in the business of miraculous feeding.

- Remember in Exodus - When the Israelites were wondering in the wilderness, hungry and desperate for food, God dropped Manna from the sky. Out of thin air, the God of Israel fed an entire nation.

- And remember Deuteronomy when we found out that God’s promise wasn’t only about milk and honey, but “a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity in which you will lack nothing.”[1]

- And remember how it isn’t just God who miraculously feeds, but those charged with doing God’s work. Elijah had the audacity to tell a starving widow and malnourished son preparing for their dying meal together to fix him some dinner. He promised that God would provide and God did, to the tune of food for days.

- And remember Elijah’s partner in prophetic miracles, Elisha, who took twenty loaves of barley and some fresh grain and made it into enough food to feed 100 hundred people with plenty left over.

Yes, in the feeding of the five thousand, we see that Jesus has gone beyond teaching. Jesus is revealing that he is not only a prophet of God, but is God himself. Elijah and Elisha miraculously fed people, but not to the magnitude that Jesus did. This is no mere prophet - This is the Messiah.

We won’t get Jesus’ full identity for a few more chapters, but we’re starting to see glimpses. Jesus feeds four thousand more in another miraculous feeding. Peter confesses that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God, surrounded by the symbols of empire at Caesarea Philippi in chapter 16. He’ll manifest his glory in front of Peter, James, John, and of course Moses and Elijah, on the mount of transfiguration in chapter 17.

I’ve been here at Holy Comforter for just about two months now. Like many of you, I wasn’t sure quite what to make of the place when I first showed up and just what Father Mike, you all, and God had in store for me. But what I’ve found in visiting you in your homes, sharing coffee and getting a contact high on the Smoker’s Porch and making a joyful noise to the Lord in noon prayer (although I imagine God might be the only one who finds the noise that comes out of my mouth joyful) is what a whole lot of others have – that Jesus Christ is in the midst of us. Do you remember that time when Jesus told us how when two or three are gathered in his name he will be there? Well, he seems to show up in this place all the time.

Jesus also tells us that in the Gospel of John that he is the bread of life, that those who eat and drink of him will never die. Jesus sure did a lot of eating and a lot of feeding in his ministry. One of the worst charges directed at Jesus never seems to go away – the man ate with sinners. He joined them at table, and he also fed them – in miraculous feedings where he turned loaves and fishes, the ordinary meal of the First Century peasant, into food enough to feed a bundle.

His greatest feeding took place originally in an upper room, and he does it every Sunday in churches all over the world. Jesus took bread, he blessed it, gave thanks for it, and broke it, giving real bread to real people in real places. This is my body, broken for you. He ate with sinners, Judas was there after all.

He added wine this time and blessed it, poured it, gave it to his disciples, and told them to drink it. Real nourishment for men, women and children of all ages, stations and locations. This is my blood, the cup of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many. And we’ve been doing it for more than two thousand years.

I don’t know about you, but I’m never quite sure what to do when we’re invited to this table. It almost feels like too much – coming to eat at Jesus request. But if I’ve learned one thing from being fed again and again, it’s this - Jesus Christ is right here, right now. And he’s calling us forward, begging us to receive him and his life-giving bread. So, as we like to say at Holy Comforter – come on up, its time to eat. Thanks be to God.

In the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. AMEN.

---

[1] Deut. 8:9-10

Matthew 14:13-21

14:13 Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns.

14:14 When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick.

14:15 When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves."

14:16 Jesus said to them, "They need not go away; you give them something to eat."

14:17 They replied, "We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish."

14:18 And he said, "Bring them here to me."

14:19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.

14:20 And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full.

14:21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

The Angel's Couch

Her name is Jess.
She is a girlfriend of a friend of my roomates, and one morning about a week ago, I woke up to find her sleeping on our couch. And there she has been, every night ever since.
I've gotten bits and pieces of her stories over the past week. She has graduated high school and is planning to attend college in South Georgia, which will begin next week. A little while ago her mother decided that she would not allow Jess to attend college and refused to sign the loan she needed for school, for reasons unknown. Undeterred, Jess went out and got the loan anyway, and when she told her mother, her mom kicked her out of the house.
Needing a place to stay, she ended up on our couch, and she's been a part of our community ever since.
One of the great things about our house is that we are always entertaining guests. A roomate's sister is doing an internship and has been occupying the guest bedroom for about a month now. When Shane Claiborne came to Atlanta, his film crew threw their sleeping bags on our floor.
All our guests have left an impression, but none like Jess. She is a living reminder that the world outside our house is not always as kind as the one we try to make inside our home. Every night I drive home and see the problems - the street walkers and corner loiterers, the drug pushers and the prostitutes, and the despair and desperation that waits around every turn.
Then I come home and wait for Jess to show up. She usually arrives well after I have gone to bed, but in the morning there she is. She is a living reminder of the despair, how family can let us down. But she is also a reminder of the power of hope and faith. She is an incarnate testament to not being defined by circumstances.
This weekend Jess will leave for college and we will miss her. She is not much of a talker, but despite her quietness she has left an impression. There's a lot of talk these days in Christian circles about the recovery of hospitality as a vital practice. Its not only a vital practice but has been a great gift to our community.
That's because in offering a lumpy couch to this strong and beautiful woman, I know that we've entertained an angel, whether we were aware of it or not.