What Comes Next?

This May, I gave the message at York College's graduation chapel service. Here's what I shared:

So, what comes next? You are here standing on the edge of graduation, you’ve paid your dues, and now it’s time to get moving. You may have a picture in your head of what your life should look like a year or 5 from now. I know I did!

Many of us have been told that the path to a life of comfort and success is through higher education. And now, you are here – tomorrow, you’ll be receiving the most expensive piece of paper you’ll ever own (unless, perhaps, you go to grad school). What will life hold for you? What comes next? And how will you define success?

Many of us, grew up believing that success looked like owning your home, not renting. Owning a car for each driver in the household, not resorting to the bus. Being salaried, not paid hourly (or God forbid, in tips). Marriage, kids, maybe some dogs. Respect of your peers, approval of your boss, getting a leg up on retirement.

What comes next?

Jesus once told a story about how to live a life well… or not.

The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, "What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops." Then he said, "This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, 'You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.'"

But God said to him, "You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?"

This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

- Luke 12:16-21

By any objective measure, this guy was living the dream. Well provisioned, master of his destiny, the means to achieve anything that he could want. He spent a life pursuing the dream that our culture markets to us from every imaginable angle today. But the story ends with a grim reminder – what good does all of that do you? The story calls into question many of the yardsticks by which we measure success. We all die, eventually, and what have we done with our lives, besides seeking comfort?

An uplifting thought, for sure.

Fortunately Jesus continues with words of hope and wisdom:

God loves us even more than
the Ravens ;)

Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

“Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
 

- Luke 12:22-34

Where do you keep your treasure? In your wallet or your relationships? In your car and home equity, or in care and social equity? In your retirement account or an account of your service of God and others?

What if, instead of working so hard to measure up to this one popular conception of success, you spent your life in pursuit of God’s kingdom righteousness? What if you put this privilege, these resources, this means to affect change in the world in service of God and others, rather than our collective obsession with accumulating “stuff?”

This used car (an '82 Nissan Sentra)
got me through some tough times.

“Sell your possessions and give to the poor?” What if, instead of buying that new car, you picked up a ride from the classifieds and began supporting a world-vision child with the surplus? What if instead of taking the job that simply pays the highest salary and has the best location, you instead took the job that pays poorly but serves those who are in the greatest need?

What if you took as your own our collegiate motto – Servire Est Vivere. To serve is to live. To make it your life’s goal to view your privilege as a sacred trust, a holy stewardship, a means by which you would live as a blessing to those around you. This is the challenging call that God directs toward each of us. Just a few verses later, Jesus phrased it this way: "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." (Luke 12:48)

Friends, you have received much. And you have many choices ahead of you. Where to work, who to befriend, how to live. So I pose the question once more to you, and perhaps share the challenge – What comes next?

This is my prayer for you. That you would find contentment in God, and not succumb to the pressure to measure you life according to outward appearances. Rather, that you’d know the joy and contentment of living simply, using your privilege, position, and provision in service of God, and in caring for those who are unable to provide for themselves.

God bless you as you step into what comes next.

Kegs and Eggs... and Jesus?

Is it beer? Is it anti-freeze?
Guessing is half the fun!

by Evan

Saint Patrick's Day is upon us, and in 3 days, York College students will join in the venerable tradition of drinking themselves to the brink of consciousness - and some will drink a bit further. It's an annual ritual that dates back to, well, whenever someone had the bright idea of putting green food-coloring into cheap beer.

Actually, many students have been 'pre-gaming' for a week already, possibly so that their livers will be good and hard by the time the actual day arrives. In fact, many will start with a newer tradition called "Kegs and Eggs," beginning with a hearty breakfast of omelets and oat sodas.

Really, it's just one more pulsating symptom of a collegiate culture that's whole-heartedly committed to a life in pursuit of a particular kind of fun. As more and more young adults become convinced that this is the one and only standard by which to measure the good life, we see campuses devolving into communities of nascent alcoholism, addiction, and escapism. St. Patty's Day offers an excuse get drunk in so spectacular a fashion that friends will be talking about it for weeks, though you yourself will have no memory of it.

What is a Christian to do?

Should good Christian students stand at the fringes, loudly condemning their peers? Maybe they should join in on the pub-crawls as a way to 'show relevance to the culture.' Or (and this is the more frequent response) perhaps the faithful should gather in someone's room for a movie or game night, thanking God that we aren't like those sinners?

What would Jesus do?

In Luke 5, Jesus meets a man named Levi. Levi's a notorious guy in his community. As a tax collector, he's considered a traitor to his people, a collaborator with the enemy, collecting crushing taxes for the occupying army's emperor. He is certainly a despised figure, avoided by the powerful and the poor alike. Oddly, Jesus decides he'd like to befriend Levi. Naturally, Jesus catches some flak for it, but that's okay. Because Levi leaves his lucrative, if unpopular, trade and follows Jesus.

Later, in Luke 19, we meet another treasonous tax-man. When Zacchaeus hears that Jesus is passing through, he decides to have a look. Perhaps Zach had heard about how his low-life colleague Levi had abandoned his post (a move that certainly would have caused waves in the shady tax collection community), or maybe he had heard stories about this controversial and polarizing miracle-worker/heretic. Whatever the reason, Zacchaeus (being extremely short) climbed a tree to get a good look at Jesus as he was coming through. And, before long, Jesus had another tax collecting hooligan for a friend.

You see where this is going... Jesus managed to hang with some pretty unsavory types. He liked them. He went where they lived, he ate their food, he sat on their couches, and he listened to their stories. Jesus loves broken folks, dirty folks, poorly-behaved folks. Why? Because like a doctor making house calls, he's come for the sick.

As a broken, dirty, poorly-behaved dude myself, I'm grateful.

Fast forward 2,000 years to this Thursday. Based on the kind of folks Jesus went out of his way to befriend, where would you see him? Some student friends and I have decided where we're spending our Saint Patrick's Day - How about you?

Missional Church

by Evan

The reflection offered in the bulletin at my church this morning was a fantastic articulation of one of the primary issues facing the church today. Thought I'd share it with you all!

Most traditional evangelical churches still can only win people to Christ who are temperamentally traditional and conservative. But, this is a 'shrinking market.' And eventually evangelical churches ensconced in the declining, remaining enclaves of "Christendom" will have to learn how to become 'missional.' If it does not do that it will decline or die. We don't simply need evangelistic churches, but rather 'missional' churches. - Tim Keller 

I've long felt this tension in the congregations I've visited or participated in. We feel comfortable with one sort of people, so it's easier for us to imagine Jesus as a part of their lives. Thus, the people we build relationships with and eventually invite to follow Christ are the people who look and act just like us. It's resulted in an American evangelicalism that, at times, looks weirdly homogeneous.

Problem is, as Keller puts it, there are only so many 'people like us' around. The question it begs, in the prophetic phrasing of one of my students, is, "Are we just going for the low-hanging fruit?"

Good question. Are we?

Do we love our Jesus? Do we believe he's good? Do we love our neighbors? How about our enemies? Are we lazy in our evangelicalism, or do we choose to live with a mission to a world that's hurting, and getting worse every day? Let us cling to what some might call a 'foolish optimism,' a visionary prayer life, and an imaginative missionalism as we go forth with love as Jesus' ambassadors to the world.

Jesus Brings the Party

by Evan

My wedding was
considerably shorter

Here's a story I read with some of my new friends on campus tonight (from John 2):

A long time ago, there was a wedding. Back then, weddings lasted for days, and there was no guest list – the whole city would show up, along with friends and family from out of town. This particular happy couple had invited their widowed friend and her adult children to come from their home in the next town over.

Near the end of the third day of celebration, though, disaster struck. 

The women’s area was near the wine cellars, so the women noticed the commotion when the wait-staff realized there was no wine left. Perhaps the expected delivery was late, or perhaps the family had failed to accurately judge how much the revelers would drink. Either way, it wouldn't be long before the newly married couple would be exposed to public disgrace. The festivities  had been planned for months, ending earlier than expected would be profoundly insulting.

The widow from the next town over, though, had a thought. She called one of her sons over, and explained the situation. The terrified servers, procrastinating telling the Chief Sommelier about this inexcusable lack of wine, overheard snippets of the terse back-and-forth between the man and his mother. 

The woman, with a twinkle in her eye, turned from her son toward them, saying, “You guys, do whatever he (nodding at her son) tells you to do.” 

The servers maybe thought this random guy knew about a hidden cache of wine. Maybe they thought he had a connection with a vineyard and could get wine quickly. They certainly didn’t expect the directions he gave them. 

“See those stone tanks over there? The ones used for filling the ritual cleansing pool? Fill them with water, and we’ll go from there.”

The servers are faced with a choice: Do they follow the instructions of a total stranger, whose only recommendation comes from his mom (another stranger)? Or do they throw themselves into the tedious and strenuous work of lugging 180 gallons of water up from the well, bucket by bucket? What will they choose?

Well, the "correct" answer is easy if you come from a churched background. We know the stranger is Jesus. We know he is the son of God, and that he always has a plan. We're conditioned to see dilemmas like this as no-brainers. When a random stranger asks you to do something strenuous and, apparently, pointless, you don't do it. But when Jesus asks you to do it, you don't ask questions. Right?

However, the servers never went to Sunday school. They'd never heard a sermon on dropping everything to follow Jesus, and the author of Hebrews hadn't yet written the exhortation to faith as "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen." All they knew was that this party was in jeopardy and, more importantly, the reputation of a family hung in the balance. And this Jesus, otherwise unremarkable in appearance and presentation, had them filling colossal jugs with water. What could that possibly accomplish? As anyone who's been to a truly great wedding reception can tell you, water is no substitute for wine. Let's return to the story...

We can only guess why, but the servers comply with the stranger's direction. They begin the slow, tedious task of lugging water from the well to fill up the stone tanks. And even more surprisingly, they really throw themselves into it. They don't stop until the tanks are filled to the tippy-top. 

Then the stranger gives them a far less strenuous (but terrifically more nerve-wracking) task: "Go to the tanks you just filled with water. Draw some out, and take it to the Sommelier."

Is Jesus off his rocker? Is he trying to get these guys fired? I have no idea why they comply with this request, but I'm glad that they do... What comes next is a miraculous event (which hardly anyone notices).

The servers take the cup to the Chief Sommelier, and give it to him to sample. As he sips, swishes, and swallows, his eyes light up. "This," he tells them, "is the good stuff!" (Can you picture the servers' eyes bugging out in surprise?) He calls the groom aside and, almost playfully, ribs him for holding onto the good wine until now. "Most people serve the great wine first, while everyone's still able to savor it, and serve the cheap stuff after the guests are buzzed. You, on the other hand, saved the top-shelf stuff till now. Sneaky!"

Let Jesus be the sommelierat your next party or function.

Of course the groom has no clue what the Sommelier is talking about (and probably doesn't care) - after all, he just got married! He's not thinking about which wine is served when, so he just rolls with it.  The bride and groom enjoy their celebration uninterrupted. The party continues for another few days, propelled by the massive tanks filled with top-notch wine (the equivalent of over 900 bottles-worth). The city of Cana remains utterly unaware of the nail-biting, behind-the-scenes drama that unfolded that third evening.

Only the servers, the stranger and his traveling buddies, and the stranger's mom know how close their friends, the newlyweds, came to disaster during the happiest week of their life.

Thus, the scriptures tell us, was revealed the glory of Jesus. At a wedding in need. With a miracle that went completely unnoticed (except to those who responded with obedience to Jesus' direction). What does this tell us about him?

I could tell you what we came up with as a small group... but that takes all the fun out of it ;). What strikes you about this story? How do you read it? Post a comment as you reflect, I'd love to hear what you think!