Timothy Merrill

It's No Secret

The secret is out, and has been for some time, I guess.

The tattle-tale is Aussie Rhonda Byrne who three years ago was an over-50 divorced woman without a clue.

Today’s she the best-selling author of a book that’s sold in the millions, and the money keeps rolling in from 1.5 million DVDs. A franchise has been born.

The “secret” is based on a book written in 1910 called “The Science of Getting Rich.” In it, she found some clues that she thought would help her get out of her personal and financial morass.

In her book she talks about the “Law of Attraction,” arguing that our thoughts attract more thoughts of the same kind, building a sort of moral, ethical and even behavioral inertia that can be good or bad. Depends on whether the object of our attention is wholesome or loathsome.

So, if you want to be thin, you don’t look at fat people.

The real secret of Byrne’s success, argue some Madison Avenue mavens, is that she called her book The Secret. People love being in on a secret, love being privy to hitherto undisclosed knowledge. Byrne’s fans are at some level voyeur Gnostics, and they’re hoping to cash in on whatever Byrne has found. Like the woman in the diner, watching Meg Ryan emoting with Billy Crystal: “I’ll have whatever she’s having.”

Sara Nelson, editor of Publishers Weekly, says The Secret "could become this decade's Tuesdays With Morrie." "Nobody," she adds, "ever went broke overestimating the desperate unhappiness of the American public."

But Byrne pushes it even further. It’s not a secret—like one secret among others. It’s THE secret. It’s the one secret we need to have, and without which we really won’t be able to survive.

If you’d like to read more about this, check out the material in Homiletics for this Sunday’s epistle reading in 1 Timothy 6. It’s called “It’s No Secret” and I think it’s a helpful piece to deal with yet another cultural attempt to understand what life is all about.

Let’s Talk About Religious Obligations

Next month, Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, Malaysia’s first astronaut, will blast off into space from a Russian-based launch pad in Kazakhstan.

He’s not just any astronaut, he’s a Muslim astronaut, and he’ll be flying during the holy month of Ramadan, and flying with Russians not usually known for their piety and strength of their religious convictions. (And yes, I know that’s changing.)

He and his colleagues are headed for the International Space Station (ISS) where, as a doctor, he will be conducting experiments in a zero-gravity environment.

But there are potential problems when you allow a person who actually takes his religious obligations seriously to travel into space. In Shukor’s case, there’s the issue of praying five times a day. When does “day” start? And are you flying on Moscow Daylight Time or Moon Standard Time or what?

And if you do pray, what about the prayer rug? How are you going to keep that sucker flat and keep it from sort of just floating out from under you? Come to think of it, how is that kneeling thing going to work if you’re weightless? Aren’t you supposed to pray facing Mecca? How does that work when you’re orbiting the Earth and Mecca is on the dark side of the planet?

What about fasting from dawn to dusk? In space is there a “dawn” and a “dusk”?

You can see that sometimes taking your faith to work can really be problematic. Yet, the Russian Space agency is not asking Shukor to check his convictions at the rocket hatch. They’re going to figure this thing out.

Fortunately, the Islamic National Fatwa Council has determined that it is in fact possible to be a Muslim and fly in space at the same time, even during Ramadan. Showing remarkable flexibility on this issue, the council coughed up some do’ s and don’ts for Muslims who are in an extraterrestrial orbit, and therefore outside of and beyond the rules that constrain mortal Muslims on Earth. These new rules are codifed in a twelve-page pamphlet called, “Muslim Obligations in the ISS.”

Shukor is highly qualified, but frankly, he got his gig because the Russians, desperate to sell Malaysia eighteen Su-30MKM air superiority fighters, sweetened the deal by offering to send a Malaysian scientist into space. Buy our fighters and we’ll send your boy into space.

I don’t know how much research Putin and his pals put into this, but they should have known that you don’t want to send Jewish or Muslim religious zealots into space, together or alone. Either way, you get saddled with a ton of annoying accommodations you got to make for religious obligations and observances.

That’s why, to my knowledge, NASA only sends Christians into space. Christians don’t have no obligations. Well, I take that back. Protestant Christians don’t have no obligations. They don’t have to do nothing, thanks to Luther, Calvin and the Geneva Gang. Catholics and Orthodox—they got obligations.

But on the issue of works and obligations, Protestant Christians are pretty much liberated. “Free from the law—Oh happy condition!” That’s how hymn writer Philip P. Bliss put it: “Free from the law, Oh happy condition,/ Jesus has bled/ And there is remission,/ Curs’d by the law/ And bruised by the fall,/Grace hath redeemed us/Once for all.” Verse two: “Now we are free — There’s no condemnation, Jesus provides/ A perfect salvation./ ‘Come unto Me,’/ Oh, hear his sweet call,/ Come, and He saves us/ Once for all.”

No religious obligations. As Christians, especially as American Christians, we probably consider ourselves to be the most religious people in the world. Religion without religiosity.

Faith without works. Religion without obligation. Belief without obedience. Spirituality without duties.

What a deal!

Happy Birthday :-)

The : - ) is 25 years old.

Twenty-five years ago, Carnegie Mellon University professor Scott E. Fahlman used three keystrokes that suggest a horizontal smiley face.

Today, the smiley face and other emotional icons known as emoticons, help people to express their feelings when they’re typing an electronic message. In fact, the smiley face has generated a cottage industry. I had to insert a space in the characters above to key my own computer from showing you this: 

Fahlman first used the smiley face emoticon in a message to an online bulletin board on September 19, 1982. He was talking about the difficulty of online humor and how one could ensure that his or her comments were to be taken lightly.

I have a couple of questions/comments: First, I didn’t know there were computers in 1982, much less anyone posting electronic messages to online bulletin boards.

Second, I hope by now you realize, boys and girls, that this is a big, beautiful SERMONIC opportunity. :) You have to ask yourself, and your congregation, if the smiley face was REALLY invented 25 years ago. Only 25 years ago?

See, I think God invented the smiley face (this is where my sermon is going—and I’m making this up as I go along here—your sermon might go in a different direction—and I would certainly provide a demonstration of some kind on the screen of other emoticons like the frowny face :( for example).

Anyway, God invented the smiley face. You could use any number of biblical texts: In Genesis, God saw that “it was good.” And then there is this from the Aaronic Benediction: “The Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.” Those are smiley faces if there ever was one. And you could think of the Old Testament benedictions as spiritual smiley faces.

Of course, there’s John 3:16, the theological smiley face of all of Scripture.

You could talk about our call to offer to the world a smiley face—not just a superficial emoticon, but genuine Christocon—give them the face of Jesus himself as you reach out to lift people up, to touch their eyes giving them sight, help the faltering to walk, as you offer love to the unloved.

And so on. I’m telling you. There’s a sermon here, knuckleheads! :) (I’ve been watching Pardon the Interruption on ESPN too much. Sorry. :) Not really!)

The Tribal Church

I got a note from David Pratt at The Alban Institute about a new book from Alban. It’s Tribal Church: Ministering to the Missing Generation. I am going to simply cite the blurb I got about it. I think it sounds intriguing and helpful. I have not read it, but I’m putting it on my list. If you have read it and would like to comment, please do. Here more:

Tribal Church offers tremendous insight into what the generation now in their twenties and thirties want in a church. Author Carol Howard Merritt is a pastor in her mid-thirties whose congregation doubled in size by attracting people under 45. She presents a vision of the "tribal church" that intentionally reaches out to the nomadic culture of young adults and responds to their special gifts and needs.

Merritt's metaphor of a tribe describes the close bonds that form when people of all ages decide to walk together on their spiritual journeys. Merritt points out that mainline churches have much to offer young adults as well as much to learn from them. By breaking down artificial age barriers and building up intentional relationships, congregations can provide a space for all people to connect with God, each other, and the world.

With few places left in society that allow for real intergenerational connections to be made, Merritt suggests a compelling way for churches to be able to approach young adults on their own terms. Outlining the financial, social, and familial situations that affect many young adults today, she describes how churches can provide a safe, supportive place for young adults to nurture relationships and foster spiritual growth.

The book combines real-life stories, current research, and the author's personal reflections within the tribe of young, spiritual, progressive adults. Merritt offers congregations a clearer, more compassionate view not only of the "missing generation," but of themselves and their ministry.

Carol Howard Merritt has served as a pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Abbeville, Louisiana, and Barrington Presbyterian Church in Barrington, Rhode Island. She is currently a pastor at Western Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C. Her blog can be found at www.tribalchurch.org

Kathy Griffin is Right

Comedian Kathy Griffin should not complain about being on the D-List. Her recent comments while accepting an award in Hollywood Friday puts her on the U-list, as in Unfunny. She’s a comedian. She makes people giggle. When she started talking about Jesus, she made a ton of people gag.

I can’t even repeat here all of what she said about Jesus, except the part when she hysterically shouted “Jesus had nothing to do with this award.”

To which I say, “Amen.” She got that right. It’s not funny, but it’s true. Credit where credit is due: Griffin’s vulgarity and unfunniness is entirely of Griffin’s doing.

Of course many are upset. But this will not become a political flash fire as it would if say, she had used the name Mohammad instead of Jesus. I mean, Al Qaeda has just authorized a hit on a Swedish cartoonist for some offensive drawing—what is it about those Scandinavians cartoonists anyway? Still, I am glad to see that there is widespread outrage. Some interpret her rant as a sign that the culture is radically hostile to Christianity. I don’t. I see it as yet another example of a few celebrities whose importance is vastly overstated—Rosie, Whoopi, to name a couple of egregious examples—and whose talent can’t justify their notoriety. Rosie, Whoopi, and Kathy, a trinity of vulgarity—father, son and unholy spirit, if you will—are in the news these days only because they rude and crude. They’re the Sisterhood of the Unraveling Pants. They’re at the helm of a new underclass in our culture, a cadre of classless and clueless celebrities who can do little more these days than be vulgar and ugly. You will hear from them again. No doubt.

Anyway, in a country with a free press, I am glad that those who give Griffin a free pass, will give one also to others, like Coach Dungy—when he offers thanks to Jesus Christ for the good things that have happened in his life.

If you think I’ve been too hard on the lady—don’t worry. She’s no lady. She’s no Tony Dungy. Sadly, she’s just not too much at all right now.

The Opposite of Revenge

Jodie Foster has a new movie opening tomorrow, The Brave One. She plays a Erica Bain whose life is disrupted when she and her boyfriend are attacked by three thugs and David is killed.

Erica turns in on her self, buys a gun, and prowls the streets at night looking for David’s killers. And that’s all I will say so that I don’t give anything away.

Obviously, I haven’t seen the film, but I’ve read about it enough to believe that Erica seems to be a mish-mash of Charles Bronson and Thelma and Louise, another movie in which a woman takes control by imitating men behaving badly.

The theme here is both fear and revenge, but I am musing mostly about revenge.

Is revenge a theme we treat in a pastoral and homiletical way very often? We live in a litigious culture, a gun culture, among so many people who seem to be angry and irritated. We’re rude in e-mails and blogs flaming people we don’t know, and we erupt in road rage on our highways. We carry around a sense that we’ve been wronged. Half the country is mad at Bush, and many of those are almost vehemently angry with the administration. The political culture is poisoned. And so on.

So all the ingredients are ripe for revenge. The web abounds with sites that provide help for those seeking revenge, including The Revenge Guy.

I was thinking about this when I read the epistle text for this week, and it led me to think about the opposite of revenge.

What is, after all, the opposite of revenge?

It’s a question that could provoke a Bible class-long of discussion. But you could argue that the opposite of revenge is grace.

Paul says that he is “grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who … even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence … I received mercy … and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 1:12ff).

He goes on to say: “The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the foremost. But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life.”

In a culture such as I described above, we can be Christians who offer generous grace toward those who use, misuse and abuse us. It’s how Christ himself treated us.

The Apology Factor

Hey there. Hi. I’m just taking a break here from checking out Britney’s comeback video. Newsflash. She ain’t coming back—yet, anyway.

So today, I’d like to ask you what you think are the biggest (as in “most important”) three words? Let me suggest that they are:

Not, “I love you” or even “I hate you.”

Not, “You’re a loser,” or “You’re a winner.”

Not, “Winning is everything.”

Not, “I’ve got beer.”

Not, “It’s a girl,” or “It’s a boy.”

Not, “I’ll be there.”

Not, “Let me help.”

Not, “I miss you.”

Not, “Maybe you’re right.” (Comes close, though.)

The three most important words—and these are huge—are: “I am sorry.”

The problem, however, with those three words, is that they’re emptied of significance, if not followed by three more equally important words: “Please forgive me.”

You can’t just say, “Please forgive me” in the absence of genuine regret and sorrow. And you can’t just say, “I am sorry” but not seek forgiveness.

Three more words that should probably be slotted between these two three-word expressions are: “I was wrong.” Now you have a full Trinitarian formula for healing relationships.

If Tony Blair, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, G.W.H.B, and other ex-leaders who fancy themselves as peace players on the world’s stage could get warring factions in a room where they were only permitted to utter those three expressions over and over to their enemies, we’d have peace.

I know. Not going to happen. It’s hard enough to do on a personal level when you’re in the kitchen with your spouse who’s is unaccountably steamed at you.

I deal with this whole topic of forgiveness in a chapter in my book Learning to Fall: A Guide for the Spiritually Clumsy (Chalice, 1998). But what actually got me to thinking about this was a notice about a corporate honcho in China. Go to ABCnews, CNN, or the BBC and China is in the news because of health issues and defective toys, and much of the blame has been placed on managers who took bribes and compromised safety.

Anyway, there’s this guy in China, Zhang Shaocang, who’s the former head of the Anhui Energy Group, and he was tried on July 11 on charges of taking millions of dollars in bribes.

At the end of his trial Zhang broke down and cried. He read a four page document in which he confessed his misdeeds and expressed repentance. It was a moving performance.

A performance, because it was later discovered that the four-page document was actually written by Zhu Fuzhong, an official from the Sichuan province now in prison for similar offenses. His apology had been printed in the local paper last May!

The guy plagiarized his apology! He couldn’t simply apologize himself. He had to use someone else’s words. LOL.

So, think about it. You’re going have those days when you’re going to need to mend a tear in the love fabric. Make it real, boys and girls. And remember the three threes: “I am sorry. I was wrong. Please forgive me.”

November-December Issue is Online!

Just a quick note to alert readers of Homiletics that the new issue, November-December, 2007, is now online. The cover story relates to the ever-shrinking lunch period as Americans try to cram in as much work as possible. It connects the 2 Thessalonians 3 text where Paul says, among other things, that whoever doesn’t work, shouldn’t eat. You’ll be surprised, I guarantee it, at what you find in this material.

The rest is all good stuff, including the Sunday before Christmas, “A Boy Named Jesus,” which is a treatment that takes off on the story of a man whose parents gave him the name “Kelsie.” A provocative piece for Thanksgiving—but it can be used in other contexts—is called, “Jesus is NOT All I Need.”

Just wanted you to know that the grocery shopping for November-December is done. You can starting cooking, mixing ingredients and stirring up some awesome homiletical creations any time.

Santa's Not Happy! Someone's Been Naughty!

The theme of today’s sermon is: “Claiming New Ground.”

The text could be any number of Scriptures, including Caleb’s declaration about choosing the mountain as his inheritance for himself and his children.

The operative metaphor is Russia’s recent dive to the sea bed at the north polar cap where they planted a flag.

About 10 days ago or so, Russia sent a submarine about 4 kilometers beneath the ice at the North Pole and stuck it’s national flag in the goo. It was a sign that Russia intends to be an active player in the science, research and development of the Artic region.

Other’s were not impressed—like the Canadians, Norwegians, Danes, and the Americans. True, the U.S. flew to the moon, hit a Titleist with a 7-iron and stuck an American flag in the soil. But, I don’t think they regarded that as a territorial claim.

Anyway, the Canadians, Norwegians, Danes and Yanks are the least of Putin’s worries.

I have it on good authority that Santa Claus is one un-jolly old fat man about this meddling in a region that—as everyone knows, duh!—is his and that of his toy-making elves. Stay-tuned for the outcome of this spat, but one thing is certain, Putin has been naughty, not nice, and he’s not on Santa’s Christmas list come December.

Now … having told this little story, you can begin to talk about this territorial instinct human beings—and even beasts on the animal planet—have, and how they use it.

It’s not necessarily a bad thing. And, in fact, when it comes to reassessing our spiritual life, our relationship with God through Jesus Christ, it can be a good thing.

There are times when we got to plant a flag, claim some new ground.

Hey, isn’t there an old hymn along these lines?—I think it ties in to the Caleb story: “I'm pressing on the upward way, New heights I'm gaining every day; Still praying as I onward bound, "Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.” Lord, lift me up and let me stand, By faith, on heaven's tableland, A higher plane than I have found; Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”

How do we do this? You can take it from here …

My Mammoth Cheese

I've just finished reading a novel which I loved. Called The Mammoth Cheese, it's written by Sheri Holman, an author hitherto unknown to me.

I loved it. It's about Margaret Prickett, a single parent of a 14-year girl, who's struggling to keep a dairy farm afloat, a farm that's been in the family there in northern Virginia, for many generations. In this, she's helped by an able friend, whos known her single childhood and still nurtures a romantic interest in her, an interest in which she shows no interest. Her only hope is in presidential candidate Adam Brooke who has promised amnesty to the debt of the small farmer. When he's elected, Margaret at the urging of friends, creates a 1,200 pound mammoth cheese, replicating a similar event when Thomas Jefferson was president. The plan is for there to be a huge procession with this cheese on a flatbed truck to the Potomac river, and from thence on a barge to the capitol.

While Margaret is working on her cheese, she neglects her daughter who's flirting with disaster, ignores the obvious love of her assistant with the farm, and has continual confrontations with her ex-husband.

There are a few other interesting sub-plots that, when woven together, make for a great story about what happens when you have only one obsession: building your cheese.

Of course, we all know about the book that posed the question in its title: Who Moved My Cheese? This fiction, however, asks you to think about the wisdom of building a cheese at all, especially if, in the process, you lose or put at risk so much else.

If you like to read novels, and if you like to read Thomas Hardy, I think you'll like this book. It has the flavor of the rural settings in Hardy's Essex, and with similar conflicts as well.

The book struck a chord with me, because I have the crumbling remains of a few mammoth cheeses laying around … how about you?