Chris Yaw

The highway to heaven has a lot of exit ramps.

Here we are driving along, and all of a sudden up pops a project, a hobby, a relationship, etc. And it becomes so absorbing we have to pull off the highway and check it out. This can take a few minutes, a few days, a few years...

Stay long enough and we form new habits, opinions, and even lifestyles that keep us preoccupied, distracted, and off the highway - so that our pursuit of Christ - which is our heart's desire - gets sidelined.

Been there, done that?

But while the highway to heaven has a lot of off ramps, it also has a lot of on-ramps.

These are the invitations we get to come back to Christ - which is what Lent is all about - to pray, ponder scripture, choose Godly influences, and pursue acts of goodness and kindness to others.

God is nudging us, inpiring us, and encouraging us in all sorts of ways to take the on-ramp and get back on the highway.

So where are we?

What gets us off the highway?

What gets us back on?

And how might we better stay focused so that we don't get off that road in the first place?

I once had a boss who, at every staff meeting, called out and commended a specific member of the team. His intention was to encourage and inspire us fellow workers, but all too often the results were petty jealousy and envy, as we looked at one another and muttered under our breath, "Why did they get called out this week? Doesn't the boss know I'm doing good stuff too?"

I'd often have to stop myself and say, 'Why can't I be more generous? Why can't I be happy when somebody else succeeds? Am I that insecure?'

Our failure to rejoice in the joy of others often stems from our outlook on the world.

And it starts at a young age. You may remember in school every time somebody got an 'A' on a paper, it was one less 'A' to be doled out to the rest of us.

We are programmed to look at the world as a zero-sum game, a place of scarcity, where there's only so much to go around and when somebody else gets it, I don't! Instead of looking at the world as a place of abundance, where there is plenty to go around, which is where Jesus takes us in Sunday's gospel.

That's when we will hear that iconic story of the Prodigal Son, the youngster who demands his Father's inheritance early, then goes and blows it on loose living, only to return when it dawns on him that the loving home that he left behind was actually what he was looking for all along.

When his older brother hears about his father's acceptance of this Prodigal Son, he becomes furious, jealous, and consumed with the same feelings we often feel when someone else gets a gift that we don't.

And what the older son does not understand is the Father's generosity, the abundance of God's love, that the loving home now shown to the younger son has been there all along for everybody.

I wonder how often God is telling you and me to chill out, because there's enough for everybody, everything's going to be okay, your time will come, for we are always, always, in the loving hands of our heavenly father.

So next time something good happens to somebody else, and those feelings of petty jealousy and envy come knocking, let's find a way to put things in perspective and look at those feelings as reminders of God's grace, God's goodness to all, and let's find a way to bless that other person, just as God does, knowing that God's abundance isn't just for that person, but for everybody.

My friend Rita was home from college and went to visit her elderly grandmother.

Noticing a messy kitchen, she got busy cleaning up by opening the dishwasher door and emptying it, walking around the kitchen putting things away.

That's when Grandma walked in, not noticing the open dishwasher door, tripping over it, falling to the ground, and getting ambulanced to the hospital with a very serious head injury.

Already a bit crotchety, Grandma immediately heaped blame on Rita, scolding her and telling family members it was all her fault. Family attitudes toward Rita got even worse when Grandma died of that head injury.

Confused, ostracized, and broken, Rita came looking for answers. And the place we began was with her. Rita was traumatized. This series of events had carved an impression in her brain, and created very sticky images she couldn't get away from - that continuously told her she was a careless, reckless, person and unworthy of living because she had taken another life.

We got Rita a therapist. And we came around her with words of truth to combat the negativity, assuring her that she was a good person and that she did well not to define herself by the worst thing she'd ever done.

In this Sunday's Gospel Jesus takes up a similar issue when he's asked, 'Why do deadly, random accidents happen? Who's to blame? God? Us? Someone else?'

And like Rita's friends, Jesus doesn't start there, instead, Jesus starts with them. We can't change what happened and we don't know how it did. What we can do is change ourselves - working to heal ourselves. Events like this can be used for transformation. We can take steps to minimize the damage and reverse the Negativity Train that seeks to shatter us and flatten us.

The suffering that surrounds us - from personal trauma, to COVID, to the war in Ukraine, we are all affected, some of us are traumatized. How are we tending to that? Are we taking our roundedness seriously? How well are we listening to ourselves - treating ourselves - and what does that look like? How are we being invited to use these occasions to do God's healing work in the world - and in ourselves?

I watched a woman pull out a Kleenex and dab a tear from her eye as she read the latest update on the tragedy in the Ukraine.

I saw a post from a pastor on Twitter garner thousands of likes earlier this week when he lobbied for an end to U.S. imports of Russian oil.

And I heard the news reports of unprecedented unity in our congress, especially these days, around legislation poised to constrain the aggressor in Ukraine, as well as aid war victims.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has set off a barrage of strong emotion, and not simply vengeance, violence, and retribution, but of sympathy, compassion, empathy, and heartfelt lament.

Putin's flagrant power grab has revealed an amazing depth of worldwide compassion and care for others that we must highlight and build upon.

The outrage we are feeling against Injustice and innocent suffering must be channeled to build the peaceful world that Jesus asks us to bring down from heaven. And that world is not built by selfishness, greed, and taking from our neighbor something that isn't ours.

It is built upon the shoulders of our better angels, mutual respect, honesty, and a determination to work for the common good.

A peaceful world, a compassionate world, a world that I want to live in, evolves not from vice, but virtue.

So, in this second week of Lent, our season of studying and mirroring the virtues of Christ, what does this say to us?

How are we being called to resist selfishness and division, and to not resist a generous, empathetic, and compassionate urge?

What does that look like for you and me? What can we do, today, to obey those inclinations of generosity, care for others, and empathy not just for Ukraine, but for our own worlds, our own daily lives?

We know that love is inside us, how are we going to let it loose?

(Image: The rock on a mount near Jericho where Jesus allegedly stood during The Three Temptations)

Sharing a pizza with a friend the other day I asked him if he wanted a third slice. He said he really did, but he refused because he was sticking to a new diet.

I asked him why he was dieting, and he said that he'd recently been to the doctor and the doctor had noticed some health markers were off and said that if he wanted to stay healthy he'd stick to this new diet.

So my friend said he was going to alter his diet because he wanted to be around for his wife and kids.

Today, Ash Wednesday, many of us will hear the familiar words of the prophet Isaiah who had similar reasonings when he chastised Israel for fasting solely for themselves, and not fasting for other people: Is this not the fast that I choose - to share your bread with the hungry,

and bring the homeless poor into your house;

The true fast, Isaiah says, is done so that our discomfort benefits other people.

Today many of us are altering our diets, in the Episcopal Church fasting is recommended twice a year, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. And in our individualistic and narcissistic world we're tempted to think that fasting is just about us, our own spirituality, our own personal Jesus - and we can forget that God's plan is not about one of us as much as it is about all of us.

So as we go through this sacred, holy day and season of awareness, sanctification, and commitment, how is God calling us not just to improve ourselves through our spiritual practices, but in the next 40 days, how can we improve the world we live in?

May our fasting be intentional, inspiring, and even joyful, as we seek first not our own well-being, but the well-being of others.

What kind of change do you want to make?

Do you want to be more fit, physically, spiritually, mentally? Do you want to be more of a peacemaker, reconciler, advocate for justice? Do you want to be more resilient in the face of change? Do you want to be more empathetic towards others? Do you want to find a way to let go of the things that bother you?

I ask this because a week from today we are going to kick off the holy season of Lent. Research shows that when we look to a season, look to a specific day, like New Year's, a birthday, or Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent, we can find a solid foundation for transformation.

This Sunday in church we will hear the epic story of Jesus ascending a mountain with his best friends and being transformed before them into an image of light, offering these close friends an icon of encouragement and faithfulness for the difficult times that lay ahead for Jesus and the Jesus movement, suffering, death, and resurrection.

It is a transfiguration that is so obviously linked with the divine. And you and I wonder how the transformations we want to make are also linked to the Divine - if taking intentional steps to draw nearer to God can help us make the kind of changes we'd like to see?

In the week ahead, let's think about Lent, and the transformation God is calling us to.

Let's think about what we would like to be like, advocate for, and take action about in 40 days time. Let's think about the virtues and habits we will need to get there. The good news of the Gospel is that yes, things can change, we can change, we can make decisions and take actions that bring more justice, reconciliation, healing, and love into the world: how can Lent 2022 help us so to do?

Ever notice how the Bible is chock-full of people we're supposed to love?

Love your parents, love the poor, love the immigrant, love your neighbor, even love your enemies. But the Bible doesn't talk much about loving ourselves, and what that actually looks like. After all, psychology experts like tell us that we can only love others to the degree that we love ourselves.

This Sunday in church, we are going to hear one of those iconic Biblle passages where Jesus charges us to love those around us, those who are in need, friends, enemies, even those who are ungrateful.

If you're like me, and talk more negatively about yourself than positively - and find certain parts of you, frankly, unlovable, then it makes me wonder if Jesus's strategy is this: when we do the work of loving others, especially those who are difficult to love, we also do the work of loving ourselves.

There is a saying I like that goes like this, who we are and who we become depends, to a large degree, on whom we love.

So when we choose to reach out and love those around us, especially those who are hard to love - we do the work of Jesus - the work that made Jesus who he was.

When we show forgiveness, encouragement, pardon, and good cheer, especially to those who we don't really like, we become the kind of people we want to be, that is, forgivers, encouragers, peacemakers, people who will be part of the solution and not part of the problem.

We all know this is really tough work! In our cancel culture we're much more likely to avoid, ignore, and denigrate, then we are to turn the other cheek. But how is that working out for us?

Because we know that when we do the more difficult work of trying to love, forgive, and care for those around us, we actually love ourselves - and do us and the world around us a whole lot more good.

Making things better starts by changing the only person we can change - ourselves - so let’s do that by loving others.

One of the strategies operators who answer phone calls at suicide prevention organizations use is to remind distressed callers of the cyclical nature of life.

When someone calls who is in dire straits, unstable, and deeply depressed, using this strategy, an operator will point out that the deep, dark place the caller is inhabiting is not a place of permanence, but is temporary, and that this, too, shall pass.

The operator will try to help the distressed caller think of times when things were better, vacations, job promotions, or the birth of a child, and let the caller see that despite life's ups and downs, things even out and life is worth living.

Having the fortitude to remember the good times when we're in the midst of bad times, is as important as having the humility to remember the bad times in the midst of good times.

Fortitude and humility are two traits you and I need as the ups and downs of life come and go. And it's at the heart of the famous words we hear from Jesus this Sunday.

That's when you we'll hear that familiar Bible passage commonly called the Beatitudes in which Jesus says 'Blessed are the poor, 'Blessed are the hungry,' etc. and then says, 'Woe to you who are rich,' 'Woe to you who are full,' etc.

One way to read this is as a description of the daily rhythm of life, noting that we all go through times of need and sorrow as well as fullness and joy - so that the message is of fortitude and humility.

As we go through good times, how can we stay grounded and thankful?

As we go through tough times, how can we remember that things will likely get better?

My friend Jim gets up early every morning, and gets dressed with a white shirt, a suit and tie. And he's done this for 60 years.

Of course it's a habit, but it's a habit that's rooted very deeply in his understanding of who he is and what he is on Earth to do.

"I spent my life in business, and I think if a person wants to be taken seriously, they need to look the part," he once told me.

Now I'm not sure if Jim's dress code is a result of his confidence or if his confidence is a result of his dress code, but either way I've always been envious about Jim's close connection with his purpose.

And this is what lies at the heart of our Gospel on Sunday, this is when you and I will hear the familiar story of Jesus calling his disciples. He will perform a miracle with a couple of fishermen and Peter will be so impressed that he'll fall at Jesus's feet and declare that he is not worthy to be in his presence.

In doing this, Peter will tap into our own feelings of inadequacy.

Who are we to be called by God? - to start a business, be a parent, wear nicer clothes, or speak up for the vulnerable?

We, like Peter, are programmed to always undervalue ourselves and overvalue others.

What we can find here is that a lack of self-worth and significance is related to our understanding and ownership of our purpose: our feelings of inadequacy are related to our disconnection with purpose.

So Jesus responds to Peter by telling him not to be afraid and to come and embrace his purpose - to be a fisher of men, to live a life rooted and grounded in God and in God's call and purpose, which only Peter will be able to fulfill.

To get nearer to Jesus means to get nearer to ourselves, to who we are, and what we're called to do. And it is Peter's example of taking Jesus's hand, amidst his fear, his poor self image, and his doubt, and following.

When we follow Jesus, when we move to order our paths after God, when we make our pursuit of God our first priority, and walk in the confidence that God has called us, equipped us, and is using us to do the work of love in the world, that only we can do, our sense of inadequacy can be greatly diminished.

Jesus' call to St Peter is the same call to you and me, that we put our feelings of poor self-worth and inadequacy aside and look to get busy with what we're called to do.

In what ways is God inviting us to double down on our calling, to take our lives in Christ more seriously, and to engage the purposes for which we've been called?

What Are You Looking For?

What Are You Leaving Behind?

These are the first two questions pilgrims to the Holy Land are frequently asked: what did we come to Jerusalem seeking? What are we hoping to leave behind here?

As Christians, what we’re looking for is Jesus. We are looking for love. Pilgrims are looking for the footsteps, the fingerprints, the vestiges of God’s presence in the place God once walked. And we find it in a myriad of places. We see it in the sacrifice Jesus made to devote his life to others - to heal, teacher and organize for justice. And we see it in the way he gave himself to us — to go off to torture and death, unjustly killed for facing off with injustice. And we are looking for ways to imitate and embody that love. We come seeking love.

What are we hoping to leave behind? All that keeps us from loving. Selfishness, personal ambition, idolatry, misaligned priorities, anger, disunity, and distrust. We come hoping to shed those filters and blinders that detour and distract from loving others. All of our biases, fears, and hesitations that keep us from being the force of love and reconciliation to which we are called, we seek to cast off and leave behind.

However these questions aren’t just applicable to pilgrims, but to everyone. When we awaken in the morning, can we ask, ‘What are we looking for?’ I find this a really effective way to frame the day’s journey — it helps me prioritize and to think more deeply about what I am hoping to accomplish.

And when I ask myself each morning what I want to leave behind, I am inspired to think about why I’m doing the things I’m doing: should I be spending my time in the meetings, on the calls, and engaged in the activities I’m undertaking?

What would tomorrow look like if we asked:

What am I looking for?

What am I leaving behind?

Like most of the sacred sites in the Holy Land, believers through the centuries have marked these places by building churches over them.

This is the case with the synagogue, or local church, where Jesus worshiped here in his hometown of Nazareth.

The synagogue is only a stone’s throw from where I’m sitting right now - and it's where a Malkite church now stands.

This Sunday, when we head to worship, we are going to hear about this synagogue.

Our gospel will tell us the story about Jesus when he went there, unrolled the scroll from Isaiah and announced that Isaiah's prophecy would be fulfilled in him.

This is a story about Jesus coming into his own, Jesus finding his own unique voice.

2,000 years ago, the overwhelming response of those people in that local synagogue was to reject Jesus, question his authority, not believe in him, even to try to kill him.

Subsequently Jesus hiked a day and a half over to Capernaum, where he moved, to launch his public ministry. That's where he found people who believed in him, that's where he found people who would support him.

And so what if Jesus hadn't done this? What if he had based his success on the opinions of those first hearers of his first sermon, just how far would he have gotten?

Not very far!

I think this teaches us something very important about how you and I are to live.

Be careful about how much public opinion we internalize.

Pay close attention to our hearts are telling us.

Listen to and respect our own unique voice.

Going against public opinion for you and me is no less controversial today - it means being hopeful, being understanding, negotiating, and turning the other cheek - it means loving our neighbor as ourselves.

In our divided and anxious society, this behavior is laughed at and scorned.

And this is why we need the same thing Jesus needed to move forward with our unique gifts of reconciliation and love.

May God give us courage, patience, and strength to carry out our call.

I'm here in Nazareth this Sunday so I won't see you, but I will miss you.

A question I get quite often, is, 'Why did you leave the religion of your youth to become an Episcopalian?'

Because Jesus called me.

Why did you leave sunny Southern California to take your first call as a clergyman to go to Battle Creek Michigan?

Because Jesus called me.

Why am I serving the same beloved parish in Southfield, Michigan for 13 years now and counting?

Because Jesus has called me.

Today I celebrate the 20th anniversary of my ordination into the Episcopal priesthood. And if there's anything I have learned through all of my mistakes, failures, and foibles, is to do my best to follow Jesus - to trust Jesus, to prioritize my attempts to imitate his example and heed his call.

We see a shadow of this in Sunday's gospel, which tells the story of Jesus' very first miracle, turning water into wine at a wedding reception. The story features an interaction between Mary and Jesus in which Mary gives probably the best instruction in Christianity I know of when, referring to Jesus, she tells the gathered servants, "Do whatever he tells you."

I realize how difficult it is to discern God's voice, especially amidst the noisy environment of social media, digital technology, and an increasingly fast pace of modern life; we live distracted lives.

I also realize how imperfect we are (I am!) at figuring out what God wants us to do at any specific point.

But how much more important it is for you and I to follow Mary's advice and 'do whatever he tells you.'

How might we do that?
What does that sound like in your life today?

See you Sunday - and thank you for your terrific support!

Chris Yaw

Hi, I am

Chris Yaw

ABOUT ME

Chris Yaw

Contact Details

How Can I Help?

St. David's

Disarmory Ministries

ChurchNext

Oakland Housing

Hyacinth Fellowship

Yaw Wedding

Blog

Highway to Heaven

Rejoicing in the Joy of Others

Heal Thyself!

A Peaceful World Evolves Not From Vice, But From Virtue

The Deal with Fasting

Lent: Time to Make a Change

Loving Others: Loving Yourself

Roller Coaster

Inadequacy and Purpose

Looking and Leaving

Claiming Your Voice

Do Whatever He Tells You

Popular Posts

SAY HELLO TO ME

Total Pageviews

Search This Blog

Blog Archive

ADDRESS

EMAIL

TELEPHONE