I’m 71 years old. I have spent about 60 of those years accumulating stuff. And I have been pretty good at it. So has Cindy. Old stuff, new stuff, useful stuff, frivolous stuff. I have piled my stuff up in my house…….literally surrounded myself with it………you might say that I am buried in it. And I must say that I have really enjoyed my stuff. Most of it is tools and toys. I love working…..and playing…..with my stuff.

Lately, however, my relationship with my stuff has been changing. The experts who study life expectancy tell me that I have about 13 years to live. And if the next 13 years are anything like the last 13…….. they will be gone in a flash. This has led me to an epiphany. I can control my stuff. I can decide what to do with it and who gets to use and enjoy it. I have legal pieces of paper that prove that my stuff is mine. It belongs to me.

And yet

In a few short years, none of that will matter. I will die and all of my stuff will be distributed to other people……most of whom I don’t know…….most of whom I have never met. My stuff and I will be separated…….permanently and completely. Then it hit me. This big pile of stuff is not mine. It never was. I was simply a temporary custodian.

So…….what’s the point?

The point is that my relationship with my stuff has been fatally flawed for the last 60 years. And in about 13 years……give or take……that error will be rectified…….suddenly, perhaps brutally. It will be corrected without my input……without my permission……regardless of what my stack of papers says. My death will trigger the ultimate……100%………”estate tax”.

And so, I begin the work of redefining my relationship with my stuff. Some of this work is easy. The attic and the crawl spaces of my house are packed with stuff that is just this side of trash. I am hauling it to the dump…..one truckload at a time. Some of this work is emotionally very hard. It goes to the core of who I am. It goes to the heart of what I value. It is an indicator of my identity.

What it comes down to is this. In about 13 years, I will die. The only thing that l will take with me is my relationship with the guy who created me. That will be the only thing that will matter. This huge pile of stuff that I call “mine” will instantly become utterly and completely irrelevant.

So what are the implications?

First, I need to begin working on my relationship with my creator………God. I am headed for a face to face conversation with him. And I need to begin that conversation now……because if I don’t start now…….it could be really awkward. This conversation will occur…….whether I recognize God or deny him. It will be the most important conversation of my life. And I will not be in charge……of the conversation or of any decisions or consequences that flow from that conversation.

Second, I need a new attitude toward my stuff. Because, it really isn’t mine……..it never was.

These two things are true. This is crystal clear to me at age 71. But, it is also true for you………even if you are 21.

for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

Jesus explaining “stuff”, in Luke 12:15-21, ESV

Do you ever find yourself in a place that you don’t want to be in? Maybe you got lost on the way to someplace important. Maybe catastrophe struck and your plans were wrecked. The result was that you found yourself in a situation that you didn’t choose. It could be a big improvement over what you had planned. More often than not, however, you find yourself in a situation that you would never have chosen. You might even call your new situation a disaster. In our secular world we call these things “bad luck”. Some eastern philosophies would blame it on you…….”bad Karma”. Today, I want to explore bad things that happen to good people, because they do happen…….every day.

Take a minute and call to mind the worst thing that ever happened to you. This could be tough. Many of us have lots of “disasters” to sort through. It could very well be the death of someone important to you. Maybe it was the job you didn’t get, the school that rejected your application, the marriage proposal that was rejected……or worse, the marriage that failed. For a lot of men my age, it was a low number in the Viet Nam war draft lottery (my number was 17). At the time, it looked to me like my world was ending. My long range plan was reduced to shreds in a matter of seconds. It looked like I would trade medical school for the jungles of Viet Nam. Instead, I spent 6 years in the National Guard and never saw the jungle.

If you are a secular humanist, then you can write all of this off to bad luck……or Karma. But……if you are a Christian……. things get far more complicated. I believe that an intelligent creator made everything here, including me, for a purpose. That purpose is usually hidden from me. Believe it or not, God does not consult me…….ask for my approval……before he acts. I believe that the creator, God, has his hand in everything that happens, good and bad. I believe that God is working out his long range plan every day. It is unbelievably complex, and I am oblivious to the vast majority of it. Furthermore, I am usually not at the center of God’s plan. My part is usually that of a minor supporting actor. So, from time to time, God sends something into my life that I just don’t understand……something that I just don’t like…….something that compromises my goals and foils my appetites for the foreseeable future. I call this a disaster, because from my limited perspective, that is what it looks like. I ask God “why?” and I rarely get an answer that I can use.

So……how do we handle it……..when God sends what looks like a disaster into our lives?

Deny God:

This is patently absurd. God is either real or he is not. The fact that we disapprove of his work today is irrelevant. He either is or he is not. God does not ask for……God does not need…….our approval.

Get mad at God:

This is even worse. We recognize that God is large and in charge…….and we then throw mud at him…….to teach him a lesson. We believe that we can punish God by witholding our favor. Good luck with that.

Feel sorry for ourselves:

We focus on the things that God sends us that we don’t like…….to the exclusion of his blessings. We do this because we believe that our plan is better than his plan. We do this because, in practice, we believe that we are the center of the universe. This often works it’s way back to anger at God. It never improves the situation.

Or.

We can trust God. We can lean into his love for us. We can rely on his promises…….that it’s all going to be OK in the end……..that if it’s not OK now, then this isn’t the end. And this is very hard. It is very easy to love and trust God when you get into a top college. It is much harder when, that blessing is ripped away and replaced with the possibility of a one way trip to a jungle on the other side of the world.

In the end, God demands two things from us:

Love and Trust. Love for his person and trust in his plan.

And there’s more:

There is a very real possibility that the “disaster” that you are facing is God placing you in the path of someone who needs you. Perhaps, the disruption that you are facing is happening because God has a job for you to do…..a job that would have never crossed your desk if you stuck to your plan. So……when disaster strikes…….listen. Listen very hard.

Maybe God has an errand for you.

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Revelation 21: 4, ESV

I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.

Psalm 23: 4-6, ES6

People talk…..a lot. Politicians are a special case. The election is winding down……and we have heard a lot, probably too much. Unfortunately, a great deal of what we have heard is untrue. This includes the media, the politicians, and the people around us. It has reached the point where we don’t discuss politics in polite conversation. And that is sad, not to mention dangerous for our republic. Today, I want to discuss the things that people say…….that are not true.

Donald Trump promises a booming economy that will fix all of our problems, lower our debt, raise our wages, and lower our taxes. I doubt that all of this is true.

Oprah Winfrey warns of a fascist takeover that will never allow us to vote again. I doubt that this is true.

If these things happen in the next four years, I will apologize and retract this post.

So….what do we do when someone tells us something that just isn’t true?

The first step is to recognize the untruth. This is harder than it sounds because there is so much of it out there and it is repeated ad nauseum by an army of talking heads who think we are gullible. And we are pretty gullible…..especially when the untruth supports our appetites, our prejudices, and our political identity. But, this first step is essential. When anyone, friend or foe, tells us anything, our first decision must be…….”is this true?” In the realm of politics, the probability of an untruth is extremely high. And we need to know how to react.

The next step is to categorize the untruth. And this is the core of this post. It goes to the heart of the person who said it, their motivation, and how we deal with them. It goes to our relationships which, after all, is the reason that we were put here in the first place.

I divide untruth into three classes:

Lies
Hyperbole
Mistakes

Lies:
The heart of the lie is that the person who tells the lie knows it is untrue and is using it to manipulate you into giving them something that they want. Typically, a politician lies about his/her opponent in order to get your vote.

Hyperbole:
Hyperbole is an exaggeration of a situation. It typically begins with something that the speaker believes. At the core of the hyperbole, there is often, but not always, a grain of truth. The problem is that the speaker exaggerates the situation to the point where it is no longer true. Hyperbole can be difficult to spot, especially when it is built around a grain of truth that we like. Any political statement that uses the word Hitler is likely hyperbole. Most name calling is hyperbole.

Mistakes:
This may be the most common form of untruth. Someone analyses a situation, comes to an incorrect conclusion, and then shares that conclusion with you. The problem is that the conclusion is wrong. The thing that they tell you is untrue. Mistakes often manifest when a friend digests a lie or a hyperbole, believes it and passes it on. I see this every day when a friend shares a Facebook post that is untrue or even hateful. When you share a Facebook post that is hateful or untrue, you are endorsing that hate/lie. Good people do this all of the time.

So……what to do?

First, you must ask. Is this true?
Second, you must categorize the untruth because this affects your response.

The lie: The speaker knows that what he is saying is false. He is doing it intentionally in order to manipulate you. Do not allow yourself to be manipulated…..fooled. You are required to love him and treat him well. You are not required to believe him or to act on his lie. You can try to argue with him, educate him, but you are probably wasting your time, because even he doesn’t believe what he is saying. Calling him a liar is useless…….he already knows. Just love him and move on.

The hyperbole: The speaker believes he is doing a good thing, because there is a particle of truth in what he says. He may believe some of what he is saying. Still, he is trying to manipulate you. His motivation is not so evil as the liar, but your response is the same. Love him. Argument/education may work here, but it must grow out of love.

The mistake: There is no evil here. There is no malfeasance. There is no manipulation. There may be some bias in his analysis. He may be operating on a bad assumption. He could be the unwitting victim of a liar. He may be carrying some baggage that you know nothing about. The key is that he sincerely believes what he is saying. Conversation can work here. But, there is a very real possibility that you may alienate, or even hurt him. Be gentle. Love him. Above all, do not be angry or hurt. He has just made a mistake…….like the one you will make in the next hour.

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”

Jesus in Matthew 7:15, ESV

An exaggeration is a truth that has lost its temper.

Kahil Gibran

For we all stumble in many ways.

James 3:2, ESV

“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so. “

Mark Twain……a good working definition of a mistake.

The details that led up to this are not terribly important…..perhaps a topic for another day. We arrived at the prison early in the morning. There was a remarkably detailed security screening to get in. I was rejected and sent back outside 4 times to correct some violation of the rules before they finally let me in. We went to a well lit room and waited with about 100 other visitors. There was a 3 foot by 3 foot space marked out on the floor. We were allowed to hug my son briefly inside of the square; but, no other physical contact was allowed. There were other similar rules posted on the walls. My son was extremely careful about following these rules……so careful that it was almost strange. It turns out that breaking the rules could add a year or two to his imprisonment.

What was so strange was that my son, who had spent his life making and following his own set of rules was now carefully studying and adhering to an extensive set of external rules. He followed the rules even when he disagreed with them. He followed the rules even when he didn’t understand them …..when he couldn’t see the logic behind them.

There are two things that I learned about rules during that visit:

Rules are costly. They cost the person who must follow them by restricting their freedom. They cost the person who made the rules by the price of monitoring and enforcing the rules. It can cost up to $70,000/year to imprison someone…….and that doesn’t include the cost of law enforcement prior to imprisonment. Why do we tolerate these costs? We spend all of this time, effort, and money, because the rules help our society to function smoothly and safely. Every rule that I encountered in that prison was designed to make my visit with my son safer and more productive…….and every one of them was a pain in the neck.

Rules are the interface between us and a legitimate authority. Whether we understand the rules……whether we like the rules……whether we agree with the rules or not…….we are subject to them and their consequences. The fact that we may not like the authority…….that we may not even know the authority…….that we don’t understand the motivation and the plan of the authority is irrelevant.

Like a child……we chafe against the rules. Once, my wife asked my son why he didn’t like school. His reply:

“Because I can’t do whatever I want!”.

And that pretty much sums up our relationship with God and his rules. The rules become a problem when our plans are different from God’s plans.

There are three things about God’s plan:

It comes out of love. Love for his entire creation is the essence of God.

The rules are a manifestation of God’s plan…….and his plan is a manifestation of his love…….and his rules are good…….even when we cannot see where they are taking us. It may even be a destination that is generations away.

The rules are a manifestation of God’s authority. It is his plan for us that counts…….not ours.

So……you discover that you are pregnant. You are going to have a child……and that child is not a part of your plan. Fact is, your child is going to disrupt your plan for your life. Having just returned from the prison, I can tell you that this disruption is not just a possibility…….it is a certainty.

Know that your child is a creation of God and is a part of his good plan. Maybe your child will make a big contribution to mankind…….maybe it will be your great grandchild who cures cancer. Maybe your great great granddaughter has a critical role…….in God’s plan.

And that is your delimma……every day.

My rules……..or God’s rules.

My plan……or God’s plan.

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Paul, Romans 13:10 ESV

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

John 20:21-22 ESV

The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.

Matthew 8:8-10 ESV

I was born with it.

20/200.

And that is my good eye. I’m now 71 years old and can no longer adjust my focus from near to far. Add in the “floaters” and, someday soon, cataracts and you can get an idea of my vision.

I’ll never forget my first pair of glasses. I got them in second grade. Intellectually, I knew that trees had leaves……but I never dreamed that I was supposed to be able to see them.

Now I have lots of glasses:

Bifocals for general use.
Computer glasses…..for mid distance work.
Shooting glasses for the range
Safety glasses for up close work in the shop.
Magnifying glasses for super close work.
No glasses for reading.

You get the point.

I get ready to do something……then I choose the glasses best suited for that specific job. And it usually works pretty well…….as long as I am diligent and honest about my choice of glasses….as long as I have access to the right pair of glasses. We’ve all been in a restaurant where an older person can’t read the menu because they didn’t bring their reading glasses.

There is a flip side to the glasses problem, though. Every pair of glasses that I own shows me the world……at a very specific and fairly limited distance. In effect, my glasses filter everything else out. My shop glasses are great for work from 1 to 4 feet. But they confine me to a world where the trees are great green blobs…….without leaves. For me, every pair of glasses is also a filter.

The problem arises when we begin to use filters to eliminate things in our world that we just don’t like. This has become the norm in our political conversation. Conservatives watch Fox which filters out anything positive about liberals. Liberals watch CNN which filters out anything positive about Conservatives. Both sides wind up operating on a different set of facts.

And so we fight. And so we call each other names. We even try to kill each other. But, that is not the worst side of “filters”.

We shop around for a church that we like. This often means a church that teaches a brand of religion that agrees with our opinions…….a church that filters out any teaching that makes us uncomfortable. Possibly a church that tells us that whatever we are doing is OK and filters out passages of the Bible that convict us. The pastor chooses Bible verses that reinforce our life choices and filter out anything that might challenge us. If the pastor starts preaching on topics that are challenging……we fire him or her. This works because most Christians don’t read the Bible on their own.

And that is my challenge for you today. If you are to avoid the trap of a church that sells you a filtered brand of Jesus, you must study the Bible…….all of it……on your own. You must go to the primary source…….the owners manual. Because, if your understanding of Jesus and his teaching doesn’t tell you that you need to make adjustments, you are either a saint……or you are consuming a filtered brand of Christianity.

When was the last time your pastor preached about a burning hell?

When was the last time your pastor preached about loving your enemy……in concrete terms (i.e. loving the political candidate that you are going to vote against)?

When was the last time your pastor preached about creation…….in seven days?

If you haven’t been hearing about these things, it is possible that you are suffering from Christian myopia……..caused by a poor set of glasses or a filter.

Maybe you need to spend more time with the owners manual.

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Jesus in Matthew 16: 24