I saw a news report this week suggesting that the Chinese police should try not to scowl so much. It scares the tourists.  It’s not just China. It’s Seattle.  It’s nearly everyone you pass on a downtown sidewalk.  If not scowls, it’s mostly blank expressions and no eye contact. That’s understandable.  The city can be a dangerous place, and eye contact is risky business, especially with strangers.

I think it’s usually worth the risk.  Jess and Erik thought so, and they did something about it. Last week they decided to smile at the city.  Walking along Broadway, they actually looked at passersby, smiled at them, said hello, even prayed with a few people and tipped a barista $20.00 for a cup of coffee. The responses were varied. Some were surprised, even startled. Others were ambivalent. Some went from scowl to smile. A few even stopped to talk.  The barista was blown away.

So what’s the catch?  No catch. Just two people smiling at the city.  Two people trying to be a blessing. A smile does that.  It blesses.  Well, not every smile. Joker’s pearly whites doesn’t exactly warm the heart. It’s amazing how many conflicting emotions and intentions one simple facial expression can express – joy, fear, honesty, deception.  It’s actually quite complex, the psychology of smile.

There is a theology of smile that is simple and sweet.  Smile is a gift of God. Yes, like most of God’s gifts, we’ve managed to twist and turn it into something its not. But that doesn’t change the fact that it’s a gift of God.  A grace. A blessing. The Old Testament often speaks of God’s face “shining” upon people.  Numbers 6:23-25 is good example, a well-known blessing that still finds its way into worship today:

“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious unto you; the Lord lift his countenance upon you, and give you peace.”

In The Message, Eugene Peterson translates v.25 this way:  “God smile on you and gift you.”  Do you see?  A smile – a real smile - is a gift.  A gift from God. You might call it the face of grace.   

It’s the kind of face that God loves to shine on us, and through us.  

Mother Theresa said it this way:  “Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.”

God is smiling on you.  Share the smile.  It could make someone’s day.  And change a city.

Blogging Off,

Jeff

This isn’t just a picture. It’s actually a new billboard in Seattle.  I mentioned it in my message last Sunday and a number of people wanted to hear more about it. Here’s the info and a few thoughts to ponder…

The billboard is on Denny Way east of Stewart Street on Capitol Hill.  It’s sponsored by Freedom From Religion Foundation, Americas’s largest assocation of “freethinkers.”  Their goal is to put one of these billboards in every state, part of the their campaign to advertise some alternatives to religion.  To find out more, check out www.ffrf.org.

You might expect a Christian pastor-type to write the billboard off as another sad example of how post-Christian our culture has become.  Actually, I think there’s an upside here. Let me tell you what I mean.

At least the ffrf people care. They care enough about the “God question,” and care enough about letting people know how important it is, to actually do something about it. I like that. In an ironic sort of way, I think God does, too.  In the Book of Revelation, God says to the church in Laodicea: ”I wish that you were either cold or hot.  So, because you are luke-warm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” This paradoxical saying needs interpretation, but I think we can at least say this:  God prefers a passionate atheism over a lukewarm Christianity. Why?  At least a passionate atheist realizes the importance, the ultimate significance, of God. European theologian Martin Luther said it this way: “Nobody in this life is nearer to God than those who hate and deny him, and he has no more pleasing, no more dear children than these.”  What do you make of that?  Here’s my take:  Like first century Laodicea and Luther’s 15th century Europe, 21st century America is full of spirituality, Christian and non-Christian alike. I dare say a lot of it is lukewarm, a sort of addendum, something that flavors life but, like the salt and pepper, it’s nice but not essential.  Genuine Christians, just like genuine Atheists, realize that the “God question” is the essential question of life.

So, if Luther is right, the upside of the billboard is that the people behind it may be closer to God than we might have thought - maybe even closer than a lot of Christians.  Ponder that.

Here’s another thing. The way I see it, Jesus wasn’t all that enamored with “religion” either. He was fairly critical of his own religion, Judaism, at least the way the religious professionals practiced it. I think he would be fairly critical of a lot of religion today, as well - Christian and non-Christian alike. In fact, I could imagine walking and talking with him up Denny Way, seeing the billboard, and hearing Jesus say, “Hmm…let’s do that. Imagine no religion. What would the world be like?  Better? Worse?”  After a lively debate,  I think he might say something like:  “Well, that was interesting, but the essential question isn’t about religion, anyway. It’s about reality. What do you say? Am I really standing here?” 

Here’s what the Gospel says:  He is.  He rose from the dead.  That’s not a religion.  It’s a resurrection. If he rose from the dead, he is who he said he was, and what he said is that he woud be with us. And that we can be with him. That’s not a religion.  It’s a relationship.  With a living, loving God. That’s pretty cool.  That’s something that could actually be appealing to Athestis, Agnostics, and Christians alike. Ponder that. 

For my part, I think I’ll call the local ffrf member who funded the billboard and see if we’re as close to God as Luther says. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Blogging Off,

Jeff

I just returned from vacation with my family in Colorado, and the long car-rides there and back provided lots of time to get acquainted with some new music. Just to give you an idea of what we’ve been listening to, here are a few new additions to our music bag, along with a few reflections.
For those into the indie music scene, check out the second release by Brent Adair, Austin-based singer/songwriter, called “Ostrich.” My favorite is the first song, “Time Away.” It was fitting for a family on vacation and became the theme song for our trip. You can probably relate to the opening lines: 

Lately I been feeling kinda strange
Maybe a little bit deranged 
Think I need some kinda change in my life
I’m gonna pack my little car
Pick me out some distant star
Follow it as far as I can see
By the sugar and coffee
It’s time to ease the monotony

Everybody needs some time away
Everybody needs some time away

That’s for sure. We know what it’s like to feel a little strange, even deranged by the monotony of everyday life. We know what it’s like to need a vacation, some time away from it all, and that’s the whole point of the song. The Austin Chronicle called it “a wit-soaked spin on the old-fashioned sabbatical.”

Sabbatical – it’s a Biblical word that means “rest”. Originally it meant time away from work.  After six days of work, God rested on the seventh, and the people of God did the same. A few thousand years later, “Sabbath” means a variety of things – a day off from work, an extended leave of absence, a vacation – but the basic meaning, like the song says, is “some time away” to rest from our daily labors.

The irony, at least in my life, is that, especially with a family of six, taking a vacation is hardly a rest from labor. It’s actually a lot of work: Organizing, planning, packing, driving, biking, hiking, baiting hooks, cleaning fish, cooking, cleaning…you get the picture. And yet, even though it’s a lot of work, it’s a kind of labor that ends up being restful and re-creational. Testimony to that: When I got back, though I felt a little physically fatigued, several people said I looked refreshed and renewed.

There is something elusive about Sabbath rest, but that is worth trying to grasp. I think it’s something like this: We’re always doing something. The question is whether what we are doing, whether it’s working, vacationing, doing nothing (it actually takes a lot of work to do that, doesn’t it?), is actually restful for our souls. I think the answer is that it’s not. There is nothing we can do to create the rest and peace for which our souls long. It is something only God can do, and has done, through the work of Christ on the cross, dying for our sins, that we might receive the forgiveness, healing, and wholeness that only come through him. It is something that can only be received. That’s why the Book of Hebrews says that there is “another Sabbath,” a deeper more authentic rest of the soul that comes only through believing, through entrusting oneself to Christ. (Heb. 4:3)

Here’s the paradox: That’s something we can do no matter what we are doing. Time away means time with him, and that can happen any time, any place. I would say it’s the key to the “abundant life” the Bible talks about. We could all use a little more of that. Like Adair sings, “I had the less so now I’m all for the more.” Sabbath is where you’ll find it.

Blogging off,

Jeff

P.S. Yes, Adair is the brother of my wife, and he did send us the CD, but that doesn’t for a minute mean that I’m not totally up on the Austin indie music scene…and if you want to check out “Ostrich,” go to Adair’s Myspace.