The Stories That Surround Us

"There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories." Ursula K. Le Guin 

Last Sunday as usual I was hurrying to check on everyone and make sure all of the hungry mouths had a morning meal so I could get ready for church. At the sheep field before I could start the head count, I noticed a set of twin lambs born two days prior running around frantic without their mother. And she had proved a good, attentive mother. 

All sheep were accounted for except the mother ewe. That was strange. Even if a coyote managed to get through the fencing, the sly predator would have never made it past the watchful eyes of two Great Pyrenees, and still a coyote wouldn't have attacked a big sheep with such easy prey as vulnerable babies in the field. It didn't make sense. 

I scooped up the lambs as I proceeded to walk around basically in circles, wondering where in the world the mom could be. Then all of a sudden I heard a faint, muffled baa. "Oh Jesus, help us!" The voice came from under a heavy round bale of hay that had fallen over on its side. I couldn't even see any part of the mom at all; she was completely hidden. I shifted the lambs to one arm and grabbed my phone to call the Farmer. 

"Come now with the tractor a bale fell on a sheep; hurry!" 

When the Farmer arrived and lifted the bale with the hay spear, I handed him the lambs inside of the cab so I could help their mom. She was lying on her side, and I expected her to be as flat as a pancake. 

Amazingly she seemed okay. Sheep aren't known for being the brightest beast in the animal kingdom, but if a hay bale is tipping over, they usually have enough sense to get out of the way. I immediately saw her problem. 

She must have been eating deep inside of the hay because a piece of hemp bailing twine was wrapped around her ear tag so when she went to move, she couldn't. Poor thing. I untangled her and slid her out into the field. Her front leg was hurt, but the Farmer assured me it wasn't broken that she just needed to get the circulation going in it again. He was right. 

Sheep get unbelievably stressed at the least little thing, so I knew this scary ordeal had to have traumatized her to the core. I gave her a bucket of water, a pan of grain, her lambs, and some space. The Farmer and I stood there for a bit in the chilly air watching her from a distance, mesmerized, thanking God. It was one of those moments you cherish because you know it doesn't always go that way. 

Then we went to church. 

In "Narrative Apologetics; Sharing the Relevance, Joy, and Wonder of the Christian Faith," Oxford University professor Alister McGrath writes: 

"Humans are storytellers and story-dwellers. Some stories are received, some are discovered, and some are simply invented. C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia are fundamentally about discovering a story that makes sense of all other stories - and then embracing it, because of its power to give meaning and value to life. But which is the true story? Which are merely its shadows and echoes? And which are fabrications, tales spun to entrap and deceive?" 

This is a crucial question Dr. McGrath asks because all of us live by the story we believe.  

Christian Smith points out in his book "Moral, Believing Animals," that there are eleven contemporary meta-narratives that he believes shape the thinking of Western people. ( I won't list them all just some of the most common.)  

The Progressive Socialism narrative. The Scientific Enlightenment narrative. The Capitalist Prosperity narrative. The Expressive Romantic narrative. The Chance and Purposelessness narrative. The Christian Meta-narrative.   

Dr. McGrath offers helpful guidance to his readers in deciding which stories about our world and ourselves we should choose and how to know whether it is truthful and reliable: 

"Which 'grand story' allows the best rendering of our complex universe? Which meta-narrative offers the most illumination of our shadowy world?"

Likewise in Lewis's Narnia we see the same perplexing dilemma faced by the Pevensie siblings as they listen to stories about the true origin of Narnia. They realize that they must make decisions about which persons and which stories are to be trusted. Will they believe the narrative of the White Witch or the one of the mysterious Aslan whose return is expected at any time? 

This is the work of Christian apologetics: To concentrate on the question of the trustworthiness of the Bible narrative, the Gospel of Jesus Christ and its power to illuminate and then change our lives. 

Later that day I leaned against a fence post in the sheep field and watched the mama ewe and her twins. They were stretched out together on a soft layer of flattened hay sleeping in the afternoon sunshine. Thankfully they rested content, none the worse for wear. 

I thought about how God seems to create stories to swirl and echo around us in our everyday lives. Stories that don't just encircle our ordinary routines, but actually draw us into his grand narrative. 

Stories, some happy, some sad, but both challenge the latest cultural narratives of our day or of ages gone by, stories that excite the imagination and give us a glimpse of some glorious, eternal future we long to embrace. 

Stories that whisper of One who will rescue and redeem us from sin and a wicked, deceiving enemy who relentlessly pursues us. A Shepherd, who is firmly, but also gently, sliding us out into his marvelous light, into the story that resonates with the cry of every human heart while dispelling existential despair. A story that ends, but really begins, when we are finally guided safely home to rest content in the arms of Jesus, having been removed from the entanglements and entrapments of this "shadowy world."   

But the question remains: Which story will you believe? 

The Stories Within Us

"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen - not only because I see it, but because by it, I see everything else." C.S. Lewis  

The Farmer was up at daybreak last Monday morning to load a Hereford steer onto the livestock trailer so he could head to the beef processor before his work phone started ringing. The day before as I was filling up the water trough in the cow field, the steer moseyed over for a drink. While he lapped up the water with his huge tongue I thanked him for his sacrifice. In supplying our family with food his life possessed great worth, purpose, and meaning.  

"Thank you, Buddy. I'll see you on the other side." 

Animals give so much to mankind in the way of friendship, protection, nourishment, clothing, joy, and if we have ears to hear and eyes to see a reason for God. 

Sadly, they were subjected to their fallen state because of us. ( Romans 8:20-21 ) Some animals however, seem to hold a measure of compassion and forgiveness toward humans. Dogs, favorite cows and possibly a few cats. 

Last year I experienced two difficult losses. After a long, never long enough, productive life here at Healing Brook, leaving behind a legacy embodied in the shape of ten adorable litters of puppies and a stellar guarding record of the farm and his food bowl, my lovable Atlas died in July. 

When the end was near I was able to cradle that big old head in both hands and tell him no other dog will ever live up to him. Although his grandson Aslan is gaining much ground, Atlas was simply the best.

I was reminded of the Elizabeth Barrett Browning quote: "His ears were often the first thing to catch my tears." It wasn't the first time Atlas caught my tears, but it was the last. 

In November I found myself again cradling the big head of yet another favorite animal close to death. My cow Starlight. 

Starlight was the first baby moo born here, and she had given us many healthy calves since and much joy. But this time she was pregnant with twins, and the labor did not go well. We weren't able to save her or her young. Before the end, I had "my moment" with her. Before she slipped away into the grassy cow fields of heaven, her huge, furry head was soaked in my tears and snot. 

Since my spiritual awakening five years ago and the desire to pursue my faith with more of an academic passion, I've found that in chasing God with my mind and not only my heart has actually helped to make sense of the desires, both good and bad, residing in my heart. Sound biblical doctrine has slowly reordered the loves of my heart, helping to identify and banish the idols that lived there while at the same time driving the Gospel deeper into the empty crevices vacated by the inordinate loves.  

One new love is the study of Christian Apologetics. ( Defending the faith ) I never realized there were so many subsections in this field, nor did I realize until my sabbatical that my life long curiosity in stories and especially the same apparent story in all of us, is actually a thing: "Narrative Apologetics." 

No matter what apologetic course we choose, the longing for transcendence deep in the human soul points us to God even if many in our current culture need to be awakened first beneath the heavy blankets of doubt, unbelief, fear, and hopelessness. 

Someone prayed for me to wake up, so now, I pray for others. I want to encourage the uncovering of these existential questions and administer permission to breathe and feel them; denying they exist in our human experience doesn't make them disappear. The self-deception only adds to the angst and existential despair we feel whether we believe in the existence of God or not. Christians face doubts too. I see now that God allows this and even leads us this way at times. 

A healthy faith keeps studying and asking questions, plunging the depths to grasp more and more of God. 

Saying we arrived at our current destination by the strong eating the weak and now we must stop all of that cannibalism and start loving each other doesn't work for me. And I don't think it works for you either. I don't think it works for the 'new atheists' like Richard Dawkins even though they don't have the guts to admit it like the older atheists. Bertrand Russell, Aldous Huxley, and even Nietzsche at least had the integrity to admit that in subtracting God out of the equation of life we also subtract out our very basis for morality. 

But no matter what areas we embrace to appeal to our Christian faith, I can't help but wonder if God is shouting to us through nature and paradoxically through the allowance of suffering, questions, and divine hiddenness: "Here I am! Here I am!" Before we can hear his voice we have to have the courage and integrity to awaken to the questions inside of us and wiggle out of our comfortable sleeping bags. 

Why is there something and not nothing? Have you really ever thought about nothing? It's not black or empty or dark because black and empty and dark are something. Why is there beauty? Why do we feel a connection to others and to animals? Why are the same stories inside of all of us? Why these longings? 

Could these yearnings and glimpses of mystery and beauty be bread crumbs guiding us to something wonderful and warm and deliciously hopeful beyond this world? 

In an effort to shorten my blogs, I'm stopping here, but I'll take this up in my next post. 

Recently, I encountered another sad loss - my friend Bernie. Bernie passed away January 22nd at the age of 87. He read each of my blogs, and then waited to discuss them with me at church. His interest in my abstract wonderings meant a lot. And why is that? He asked many questions concerning the things I wrote ( one bluntly being, why are your blogs so long? lol ) while leaving me with many things to think about. So in memory of Bernie, I'm working on conciseness. I will miss his friendship and encouragement greatly. 

"Thank you, Buddy, I'll see you on the other side." 

Atlas the Great 

Holier Than Thou

During my social media sabbatical, I caught some of the news from the recent Republican primaries, the mudslinging between political parties as well as within political parties, and the concerns our nation is facing. At the same time, I was determined to shield myself from the anxiety that can begin to mount after being exposed to all of these issues, talking points, and opinions. 

We've heard it said that America was build on godly principals, on the Judeo-Christian tradition. It seems if we were really built on these good things that we would not be, how can I say it? At times, seemingly going down the toilet. There's much debate about just how accurate this knowledge is of our founding fathers being Christians and of the formation of America, only God can perceive a heart, but we can in fact find biblical truths embedded in our founding documents. ( 1 Kings 8:39 ) 

So why are we such a mess? Because all people, whether we realize it or not, are such a mess without the Gospel. 

"Hey, I thought you said that America was built on godly, biblical principals?" 

I did, and that's just it. Biblical rules and commandments never saved anyone. Without the underpinning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ beneath our morality, as our firm foundation in all of its truth, beauty, and grace, we become legalistic, rigid, and no better than the Pharisees as we attempt, consciously or unconsciously, to build a nation on a foundation of moralism. Constructing our own way to salvation or to a healthy nation through a list of rules and regulations sets us up for failure. 

Jesus said that unless our righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees we will never enter the kingdom of heaven,  ( Matthew 5:20 ) so we had better get a handle on what exactly that pharisaical righteousness is that Jesus is talking about in this text. 

Digging into the gospels, we see that the Pharisees, the religious leaders of Jesus's day, were all about keeping the law, even adding their own traditions to it while enforcing it upon the people. And yet throughout the four gospel accounts, Jesus calls the Pharisees a brood of vipers, hypocrites, white-washed tombs full of dead bones, fools, blind guides, children of hell, and serpents. 

I want to be clear: Legislating laws in America, or any nation we live in, based on biblical truths that promote human flourishing is something followers of Jesus should always take a stand for and work towards. I want to be clear on this because Scripture is clear on this. ( See Romans 13 ) 

"When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when a wicked man rules, the people groan." ( Proverbs 29:2 )  

How much groaning has echoed down through the ages? Or now? How many times did "righteous" rules and rulers result in wars fought in the name of religion, god, or "Christianity?" 

All government systems are flawed, some more than others, but even still we are called to work within these broken regimes to bring order out of chaos. Think about Daniel working inside the government of the Babylonian Empire.  

Some Christians are called to work inside of the government, and they need our prayers daily as satan has been infiltrating and corrupting government systems since the very beginning of time. If the enemy can control a government, imagine how many people he can get under his thumb. It's no surprise that government leaders are one of his main targets. Our brothers and sisters working within governments need our prayers as they navigate through the lion's den. Yes, Daniel again. 

I love my country, and I pray everyday for righteous leaders to rule and be elected. However, what I'm saying is that it is not enough to legislate and execute laws based on biblical rules because the rules alone will not save us - they can't. They do not possess the power to do what only the Gospel of Jesus Christ has the power to do. 

In light of the legalistic teaching of the Pharisees and their rejection of him, Jesus stressed awareness to the crowds that followed him of the danger in attempting to live by their own right standing. The Apostle Paul worked tirelessly to unravel this truth to his church plants in the Gentile communities, but mainly to the Jews living in those cities who were bent on obedience to the law producing salvation.   

"So, what is the Gospel?" I'm glad you asked. 

Romans 3:23 - 25: "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith." 

Please don't be intimidated by the terms justified, grace, redemption, and propitiation; once we understand the meanings, they will string together around us like a strand of precious pearls. Take time to process the above verses, meditate on them, research, study, self reflect, and dive deeply into the richness. These are some of the greatest words ever written. 

If the law could save us, Jesus's sacrificial atoning death would not have been needed. Jesus did not die, contrary to what some believe, to just show us how to love and forgive. No, Jesus died as "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." ( John 1:29 ) 

But we have to know that we are sinners desperately in need of the sacrifice he has given on our behalf and repent, meaning to turn from our sin and our own righteousness, which actually amounts to "unrighteousness" and "filthy rags."  ( Isaiah 64:6 ) 

Then we must believe; meaning we must trust Jesus and what he has done for us. God doesn't believe for us. We must believe. Once the Gospel truth takes hold in our hearts, we have not only the desire to obey, but the power to do so. The commandments are important, however; we obey now, not out of fear or obligation or self-righteousness, but because of the grace God has upon us. The transformation that took place in my heart and the continued growth is something that never fails to overwhelm me with joy, even in the midst of suffering. 

Is the good news of the Gospel overwhelming us and taking our breath away because it seems too good to be true? Are we sharing it with those around us or are we just trying to get them to behave? Jesus commanded his followers to spread the Gospel, not a list of dos and don'ts, to the ends of the earth.  

Never stop looking into the Gospel - we never get beyond it. It has no bottom. It's both the journey and the destination. 

Paul wrote to the Philippians that as much education and prestige as he may have gained from being a Pharisee he now counted all of that "righteousness" as a loss and as rubbish ( Greek word "skubalon" meaning animal excrement - in other words, manure or poop ) 

"in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith and the power of his resurrection... " ( 3:4-10 ) 

We see at least two other Pharisees in the Scriptures who got it besides Paul, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. Their story together is beautiful. 

During my sabbatical I also joyfully experienced being in the midst of brothers and sisters in Christ living out the Gospel in their every day lives and sharing the live-giving message with others. It's exciting to be a part of this work. 

I've come to realize that despite the problems we face here at home and abroad, as in all of church history, as he promised, Jesus continues to build his church. He builds through all types of cultural landscapes and social structures. The church, through the ages and presently, moves out into the world boldly, not intimidated in desperate times, but being a light, sharing our hope; church growth historically has been exponential in times of persecution. 

I've realized that the church is growing strong in the margins, in the fringes of society, in the nooks and crannies of this world. 

I see the church growing and flourishing in small churches, in big churches too, but especially within small Bible studies and life groups where people are hungry for the Gospel and gather at any expense to hear the Truth and fellowship with each other. 

I see the growth in believers working and volunteering in the mental health field who are heartbroken by the amount of disenchantment, despair, and loss of meaning found in people throughout our modern western culture. They tirelessly pour themselves out daily to bring hope and healing to these who suffer so intensely. 

The church is growing and maturing in individuals waking up early excited to feast on the Word before the events of the day take hold. It's growing in families gathering for times of devotion together and in humble parents falling on their knees begging God for mercy in a job like child rearing that is far above their pay grade. 

The church is growing in humble, grass roots ministries where believers care deeply about their lonely neighbors, coworkers, friends, and the waitress struggling to make ends meet for her children. 

It's growing in believers who aren't afraid to get their hands dirty in the lives of addicts and prostitutes and those incarcerated because they understand everyone is created in the image of God. They know we are all clothed in soiled garments until Jesus cleanses us in his blood, and they'll stop at nothing to share this Good News with everyone. 

Because they have been changed and healed by the Gospel story being driven deep into the recesses of their broken souls by the power of the Holy Spirit, the church is growing. You can not stop the Gospel. No government organization can stop the Gospel. Look at China. 

The Church is growing in people whose names we will never know on this earth. But God knows. 

We will never come to the end of the Gospel and the desire to gaze into its never-ending beauty and grace and holiness.

The Gospel awakens in us a continuing beauty and grace as well, growing stronger the more we look into its loveliness and power. We come and are accepted as we are; but praise God that Jesus doesn't leave us as we are! He saves us, keeps us, and grows us. 

Jesus is building his Church in much the same way he built his earthly ministry: Not in the way people were expecting. He is not building it on an endless, rigid list of rules and regulations; no, he is building it upon himself.  And that glorious structure will stand for all eternity. 💜