Being yourself

[The Lord] took [Abram] outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” 

Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness. --Genesis 15:5-6

Sometimes we, as Christ-followers, can have a tendency to slough off the Old Testament as somehow less important than the New Testament. But that act denies the very heritage of Jesus, who was himself born into the Jewish culture. 

So be very careful about doing that. Instead, try taking a closer look and seeing what's there.

In this short pair of verses, I see two things:

First, Abram believed God. It does not say he believed in God (although he did; in those times, God truly dwelt among his people). It does not say Abram followed a certain doctrine or belief system.

No. It says that in this instance, when God lovingly invited Abram to lift his eyes and try-- just try to count the stars and imagine having even greater numbers of offspring than these, Abram remembered times in the past when God had been faithful and kept his promises, and he believed that the Lord would again be faithful. Based on his past experience, Abram knew.

That was his part of the bargain: believing the Lord.

* * * * *

Then comes that church word: righteousness. Ugh. Church-speak can be challenging to pin down and define, even for those of us raised in the church.

Believe me, I try. But there are two church words that I somehow know what they mean, but please don't ask me to explain them. Holy is one; righteous is the other.

So I looked up the one we are talking about here, righteousness. And the Urban Dictionary (www.urbandictionary.com) gave me a definition that suddenly made sense.

Righteous. Anything that is amazing, awesome or cool.

In other words, in this encounter with God, Abram believed God-- and the Lord saw this as an awesome development.

Abram, created as a Child of the Most High, trusts fully in the One who created him. Believes his promises are true, because in the past the Most High has been true and faithful.

Awesome. Amazing. Exceptionally cool.

Go forth, today and every day, and believe God's promise for your life. 

And God will smile and declare you righteous. And awesome.

Awesome Creator, help us to see ourselves through your eyes, to remember your faithfulness in the past and know you will be faithful again. Amen

Finishing strong

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

--Hebrews 12:1

Lately I've been getting schooled in life, especially in living. 

In my vocation, I spend a lot of time with people who are ill, who have lost someone or who are, themselves, dying. (We are all dying. It's simply more pertinent for some than others.) This means I spend a lot of time with hospice participants, volunteers and employees. And some conversations have left me thinking. (Uh-oh. Stand back. . . .)

Last week, I was walking across the parking lot of an absolutely gorgeous local hospice facility. The sun was out, there was a lovely breeze-- and I was enjoying the day. A woman coming out saw me, said hello, noticed my PASTORAL VISITOR identification tag and said, "How can you stand coming out here all the time to visit people? Doesn't it get depressing?"

In another conversation with a pastoral colleague, I made mention of someone who has declined treatment for an incurable form of cancer. My colleague's response: "It sounds like they're just giving up."

These two are related, because in my opinion, it speaks to who we are as professing believers in Christ.

Visiting hospice participants can be one of the most invigorating, life-giving parts of my job. I am invited into so many sacred spaces, listening to stories from long ago or last week. We laugh together, we weep together. We share the very amazing gift of being human with one another.

We talk about yesterday, we talk about today-- and we talk about tomorrow. Or more specifically, about eternity.

As Christians, we profess to there being more. More than just the thirty or sixty or even a hundred years we are given to wander this big blue marble together.

But as the hallway begins to narrow, as we are confronted by the mortality of self or other-- do we live like people of the promise?

For the record: hospice is not about dying. Hospice is about finishing well, running full-on in the race, as St. Paul might say, straining for the tape, knowing we have given it our best shot. Every single day, with every single breath, until we can draw no more.

Does that sound depressing to you?

As for "giving up"? We humans have not yet figured everything out. There are still things deemed incurable, conditions considered, as yet, insurmountable. Some people may choose to try everything in their efforts to have more time with family and loved ones. And that's fine. It is each person's choice.

But another person, perhaps one further along in years, may look at the prospect of chemotherapy, surgery, drugs, radiation, side effects . . . need I go on? They may look at this and reflect. Life has been great. Maybe-- maybe in this situation, finishing strong means accepting the disease-- and living full-out in spite of it all. 

Where now, O Death, is thy victory? Where, O Death, thy sting?

Whatever decision a person makes, in light of our faithful profession as Christ-followers, our choice should always, always be to affirm life. To decide for ourselves what it will mean for us to finish our race with flair and not fizzle. Red hats, purple shoes-- dancing all the way home.

And to remember that our faith tradition as Christians views the end of this earthly run not as the end, but as a bridge leading to eternity.

Giving up? Hardly. My friend is lacing up the Reeboks and preparing for a sprint. 

These decisions, these choices are tough-- and they are personal. If (when) you are faced with this choice, for yourself or a loved one, listen to your heart. 

Affirm life. Always. But only you can know what that means in the stretch run.

Almighty Lord, we are so grateful for this time you give us to wander and ponder together, and we thank you, as well, for what lies ahead. Help us listen for the voices of those who cheer us on, and help us each to live our lives as a victory lap run to the cheering of the saints. Amen.