Lesson from Sodom

samuel kee —  January 11, 2012 — Leave a comment

What if just one righteous person were found?

Let me share with you three paragraphs that could give you great hope.  Consider an event that happened to the man that stands at the fount of three major world religions: Abraham.  In Genesis 18, Abraham risks his life by approaching God on behalf a wicked city.  Though God was going to destroy Sodom, Abraham stood before the Lord and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?  Suppose there are fifty righteous who are in it?  Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it?” (23-24).  God told Abraham that for the sake of fifty, he would not destroy it.  But Abraham is not satisfied.  He proceeds to ask on behalf of 45 righteous people, then forty, thirty, twenty, and ten people.  Each time, God says that he will not destroy Sodom if that number of righteous people can be found in it.  But Abraham is doing more than just bargaining with God, he is probing into the inner workings of the Divine, discovering an immutable principle that could change your life.

Though Abraham stops asking at ten righteous people, the reader carries on the conversation in her own mind.  The reader asks herself, “What if just one righteous person were found, then would God destroy the city?”  That is the dramatic question that stands and lingers on the edge of our hearts.  What if just one righteous person existed, then would God destroy us?  Then we go to our history books, in a mad search for just one righteous person.  Have any ever existed?  Here’s how Scripture answers this question: “None is righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:11).  As God looks at humankind, he is unable to find a single, righteous person.  This means only one thing: he has no reason not to destroy us.

Abraham learned that God is only looking for one righteous person.  You and I know that “none is righteous.”  All fall desperately short of complete goodness.  We ache at the thought that we’re so close to being saved—needing just one righteous person—but infinitely far from achieving this goal.  Nevertheless, if you read just a little further in Romans 3, you will discover a verse that will melt your heart with joy.  “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe” (21-22).  While humankind groped in the darkness, trembling beneath the wrath of God, God himself sent our solution into the world.  God sent the “one righteous” person that we need; his name is Jesus.  We have our righteous person and we must cling to him like a drowning man to a raft.  He is our raft and our salvation, both our present help and our eternal solution.  In Jesus Christ, you have everything that God is looking for.

© Samuel Kee, 2011

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Unravel

samuel kee —  January 10, 2012 — Leave a comment

designed by one my students, Derek Brumby

How do you move from God-as-concept to God-as-Reality?  I was recently listening to a sermon by Tim Keller, who helped me see this distinction.  God-as-concept keeps God in your brain.  He’s light, he’s digital, we might say.  He’s just an idea, that comes and goes.  He’s not real, in other words.  You may visit your idea about God every now and again, but only when you need some spiritual throat lozenges.  God-as-concept is lighter than your life; your life overpowers your God.  God is absorbed in you, rather than the reverse.

But God-as-Reality is smashingly different.  God-as-Reality is heavier than you; you quake under the pressure of him.  You do not absorb him, he absorbs you.  The best biblical word to describe God is “glory.”  This Hebrew word K-B-D, means something like “weighty.”  To be glorious is to be “heavy,” not in the literal sense, but in terms of importance.  It’s the only thing going on.  It’s what really matters.  It’s not ephemeral, not fleeting, not trivial or light.  When all else is boiled off, it’s what’s left behind.  God-as-Reality is the only thing that will last.

The example I’ve been using a lot recently is found in Isaiah 6.  In this narrative, Isaiah goes to meet God, but he didn’t expect actually to “meet” him.  He saw God’s glory and suddenly Isaiah moved from God-as-Concept to God-as-Reality.  There was no other trivial thought on his mind, before the presence and pressure of God.  God became “heavier” than any other desire, concern, or thought in Isaiah’s life.  The weight of God in his life broke him, coming crashing down on his soul.  God dropped from his brain and landed on his heart; and Isaiah couldn’t move out from under him.  He was “undone” as he put it.  “Woe is me! I am lost” (Isaiah 6:5).  I am like a dead man.  The Hebrew word for “lost” is the same word used to describe how a dead person responds.  That’s right.  Nothing.  His life is undone, lost forever before the glory of God.

You could say that he was unraveled.  Unravel.  One of my students, Phil, casually tossed this word out to me recently.  It’s a beautiful word to describe a true encounter with God, one where God is not just a concept in your life, but the reality of your life.  It’s your foundation, your base, your starting and ending point.

But it’s not all negative.  To unravel is to become undone before the glory of God, but it’s also to be made whole, for you’ve finally found life’s lasting meaning: God.  You have to unravel in order to get your life together.  You have to move from God-as-Concept to God-as-Reality; and the only way to do this is to be shattered by him.  Why do we have to be shattered?  Because our self-centeredness keeps us locked in the most dangerous orbit.  When life revolves only around me, I lose my life.  My center is hollow and will not last.  I’ll implode, as there’s nothing of weight within my heart.

Until God shatters our worlds and we unravel before Him, we will never emerge beautiful. Our self-reliance must be undone, we must come to God with no merits of our own.  And then he will give us the merits and beauty and righteousness of Christ.  We must unravel in order to come out of life alive.  We must unravel, to be healed.

Just at the point when Isaiah’s life was unraveling before God, God touched his lips and healed him (6:7).  And not only did God heal him, he also empowered him with a purpose (6:9-13).  He saved Isaiah in order to send him, out into the world to let others know about the weight of God.

God’s healing is deep, demanding that you unravel.  I believe that God is calling our narcissistic generation, myself included, to encounter him like never before.

© Samuel Kee, 2011

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Our Tree

samuel kee —  January 8, 2012 — 2 Comments

The tree is the portal through which we find God.

The summer after my second grade year, I fell from a tree.  No one knows how far up I was, it’s estimated that I was thirty to forty feet above the ground.  At least that’s what they tell me.  I can’t remember any of it.

Evidently, an ambulance came and picked me up, taking me to Children’s Hospital in Akron, Ohio; again, I’m sorry I “missed” that.  It would have been cool to see an ambulance drive through our yard.  Then I was unconscious at the hospital for a week or two, I’m not sure how long exactly.  Again, I can’t remember any of it.  I’ve seen some pictures of me in the hospital, but that’s about it.  The fall knocked the memory of this event clear out of my head.

I’m usually a very careful climber, so I’m not sure what went wrong that summer afternoon (or was it morning?).  My brother and I were playing in the woods together, as we usually did.  My guess is that a branch broke, in my zeal to get to the top.

While I don’t have a memory of “the tree,” my guess is that you do.  You remember the tree, though not the one in Northeastern, Ohio.  The tree that we all remember was in the Garden of Eden.  It’s the tree we’re aching for and, therefore, searching for.  It’s the Tree of Life, which God banned our first parents, Adam and Eve, from discovering.

The Tree of Life is in the collective memory of humankind.  It’s “home.”  It’s the place of longing, the place of dreams, the place we’re searching for, beneath and behind everything we do.  Love.  Life.  Joy.  Meaning.  Significance.  Relationship.  Eternity.  Beauty.

Unlike my tree, none of us can shake the memory of our Tree.  Though we’ve fallen from it, we desperately want to find it.  But is it still there?  In other words, can any human have the deepest desires of the heart met?

It’s curious to note that the cross of Jesus was also known as “the tree” (Galatians 3:13, 1 Peter 2:24, Acts 5:30).  Jesus died on the tree.  Jesus was broken by the curse on the tree.  The tree meant death for Jesus—but life for us.  At the same moment, it was both a place of cursing and blessing, of death and life.  The tree of the cross is the new Tree of Life, the portal through which we return to the Garden of Eden, the very Paradise of God—home.

Through the cross, we find God.  We find life.  Our longings and dreams meet their object at last.

© Samuel Kee, 2011

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The Question Love Asks

samuel kee —  January 4, 2012 — Leave a comment

Then will you still love me?

Who would still love you if you lied to him?  Who would still love you if you pretended like you were not his friend?  Who would still love you if you spoke an unkind word behind her back?  Who would still love you if you slandered him?  If you did not want to spend time with her?  If you had completely different interests?  If you hated what she loved?  And loved what she hated?  Who would still love you then?

Who would still love you if you abused him?  Who would still love you if you publicly ridiculed him?  If you gave false accusations against her, so much so that she was imprisoned?  Who would still love you then?

Unconditional love?  Is there such a thing?  Would anyone still love you if you did all of that to them?  Any of that to them?

Love is like a fire: it knows no limits.  Just as a fire never says, “This will be enough!” nor does love ever say, “I’ll only go this far.”  Love never fails, as the Apostle says in 1 Corinthians 13.  If love never fails, then it never stops.  It can never be quenched and it is never satisfied.  When you realize that someone finally loves you, you are not satisfied.  You ache to know just one more thing: How much do you love me?  How far will your love go?  What if I let you down?  What if I act like myself?  What if I hurt you?  Will you still love me?

Love asks the question of “How much?”

Deep down, at the center of our being, we want to find a love that knows no end.  We want a love that will never let up.  That will not say “enough.”  That will let us be ourselves, for a change.  That doesn’t judge.  That doesn’t threaten to leave.  That will keep its promises.  That will absorb when it needs to absorb.

The kind of love that melts my heart is found in just one place.  I’ve not seen it anywhere but here.  How far did this love go?  To death.

Jesus even came back from death in order to love us.  Not even the grave was a good enough condition to keep him away from us.  “God, what if I killed you, then would you still love me?”

“Yes.”

© Samuel Kee, 2011

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Some Poetry…The Fated Storm

samuel kee —  January 3, 2012 — 2 Comments

Upon my back, God's mercy pours.

The fated storm
Swirled above,
This my fierce
And certain judge.

I knew its powers
Would soon unleash,
The poisoned showers
Meant for me.

It would barrel down
Upon my brow,
And pin my soul
Fast to the ground.

There’s no escape
The storm’s for me,
The wages of
My anarchy.

I have no rest
I have no hope,
Justice is
My envelope.

It’s what I need
But what I hate,
Caught in the war
Of sin and fate.

I clench my teeth
And guard my face,
I know that there
Is no escape.

The lightning bolts
Come crashing through,
I do not know
What I should do.

I cannot hide
From its wrath,
My sin has chained me
To this path.

The storm attacks
The devil roars,
Upon my back
God’s mercy pours.

The lightning meant
To strike me dead,
Has fallen upon
Another head.

Lifted up
To my right,
With face up turned
Against the night.

The Son of God
The Christ, the King,
Gave my storm
An offering.

The fated storm
Meant for me,
Fell on him
And set me free.

© Samuel Kee, 2012

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Cut Flowers

samuel kee —  January 2, 2012 — Leave a comment

Life carries a little of the beauty of the Source, enough to keep us coming back.

The red flowers on our table were a welcoming bright spot against the brown wall.  They were for our neighbor, who needs some encouragement as the New Year begins.  My wife put the cut flowers in a vase until we could deliver them.  They were so beautiful, red petals surrounding a yellow center.

But I could not get over the irony of the cut flowers.  On the one hand, they were so beautiful and exemplary of life, but on the other hand, they were dead.  Yes, they would look pretty for a few days, but soon it would become obvious that they had been cut off from the life source.  The vibrant petals would fall off and the whole thing would shrivel.  It was only a matter of time.

We are surrounded by cut flowers, existing in a world of lifeless life.  Around me I see traces of life and energy, but really they are hollow.  I see beautiful forms and shapes, but they have no substance to them, no everlasting center.  The natural world around me, so ravishing and fierce, is just a shadow.  It will not last.  The accomplishments that drive me and give me a sense of worth are totally empty.  People in my life, whom I love and who love me, also will not last.  Whether people, pleasures, power, accomplishments, or beauty, everything has been cut off from its life source, and it’s now only a matter of time before every last petal falls off.

Nothing lasts.  Try giving your heart away to something of this world, and it will be broken.  Why?  Because everything dies.  Nothing here can stand the weight of a human heart, with all of its profound longings and needs.

Life carries a little of the beauty and energy of the Source, just enough to keep us coming back for more, but never enough to quench our thirst.  The Germans have a word for this intense longing, sehnsucht.  Sehnsucht is an intense form of missing something.  But what?

I love how the frustrated book of Ecclesiastes puts it, “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities!  All is vanity” (1:2).  The writer goes on, “What does mankind gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?” (1:3).  The answer, of course, is nothing.  No matter how hard we strive, we’ll never find anything that lasts or that satisfies.  Everything is vanity or meaningless or empty.

Empty.  That is a good word to summarize the irony of the cut flower.  And it is a good word to bring to another chapter of the Bible, Isaiah 6.  Here we witness the powerful cries of the fiery beings as they encircle the throne of God.  “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts!”  To repeat a description twice in Hebrew meant that it was not just comparative, but superlative.  To repeat a description three times was to put it totally out of reach.  We’re to understand that God is not just superlative to us, by completely beyond us.  He is holy, holy, holy.

We’re meant to carry our cry “Vanity, vanity, vanity!” to the throne of God in order to hear the answer, “Holy, holy, holy!” for that is the cure for our search, the life-source itself.  To be holy is to have weight and substance.  “Holy” indicates the stuff that will last, everlastingly.  When we arrive at the throne of God, we arrive at the unbroken source of life, our true home, where everyone longs to return.

Until then, we strive with the leftovers here on earth.  We lay in beds of cut flowers, waiting for that day when nothing dies.

Yet the only way to make it to that day, is to make it to God himself.  And to do that, you have to have a Mediator, someone on whose merits you might travel.  Our Man for the job is Jesus Christ, who was driven out from the presence of God, that we might be driven in.  He stripped himself of his merits and left them to us, that we might have something to bring before our King.

He became a cut flower, that we might be grafted in.

© Samuel Kee, 2012

 

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Your Beautiful, Little Life

samuel kee —  December 27, 2011 — Leave a comment

He made you to show the world more of him.

God made you for a special purpose.  He made you to show the world more of him.  And you can do it unlike any other person on earth can do it.  You were made in God’s image.  That isn’t supposed to be an end in itself, rather a beginning.  In other words, you were made to image God.  Read it like a verb, not a noun.  Realizing that you were made to image forth God into this world, you have a whole new life to discover and explore.  You have a new beginning and can leave behind past failures.  Your job now is to shine forth God’s truth into the darkness around you.  You are a priest, offering a radical gift to those in your life: forgiveness.  Only the forgiveness that you offer does not come from self-sacrifices or from good deeds that humans have to do; the forgiveness that you offer comes from the sacrifice that Jesus made and the life of good deeds that he did for us.  To be you, proclaim him.

If you don’t be the priest to those in your life, then who will?  What are you waiting for?  God has made you for this moment and he has gifted you for this time.  Be the priest.  There are no professionals when it comes to fulfilling your purpose.  Your training has come from your trials, the dark moments of your own life when you were forced to walk with God and depend on Jesus.  Your scars offer the surest source of hope to those around you.  It’s said that Jesus didn’t hide his scars after he rose from the dead, so neither should you.

God didn’t completely heal Jesus’ scars until he showed them to those around him.  Your scars are very useful to God.  They give testimony to him.  They bear the image of God the best.  The face of Christ is found in our losses and our death.  That is were he hides.  That is your gift to the world and the place where you begin to fulfill your life’s purpose.  Where are you bruised?  Where have you been hurt?  That is your ministry.  Look no further.

Step into your scars and trudge out into this dark world and plant a flag for God.  Claim the territory around you for him, letting every inhabitant know that love, forgiveness, and healing can be found.  Oust the darkness with your beautiful, little life.

© Samuel Kee, 2011

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How to Christmas Carol

samuel kee —  December 19, 2011 — 4 Comments

Love God. Sing loud.

Last night about 30 senior high students and adults took to the streets of Glenview, IL in order to pursue the original flash mob.  That’s right, we went Christmas caroling.  We practiced.  We were organized.  We had our sleigh bells, trumpet, and, oh yes, our kazoos.  Here’s how it went down.

First, someone would ring the doorbell.  At that moment, our trumpeter (who goes by Louis, but we call him Josh) would sound a beautiful C on his horn, at which time the Voices would begin to sing, Joy to the World.  Hopefully, and not all the time, as it’s important to exercise Great Patience when Christmas caroling, the homeowner would open the door.  Occasionally, the homeowner would hide behind the door, just cracking it open a little, to appear respectful.  And, occasionally, the homeowner would open the door more than just a little, in which case we would happily transition to Deck the Halls.  After singing the first verse of Deck the Halls, the Army Lieutenant in our group would bark out the command, “Second Verse!”  We all knew what to do next: With great stealth, we would unsheathe our plastic kazoos and put them to our lips (the plastic would keep them from sticking to our lips in the cold).  With the tenacity of a million buzzing mosquitoes, we would play the notoriously unquotable second verse of Deck the Halls with our kazoos, adding various musical flourishes at the end to give this instrumental version a grand finale.  For the record, my kazoo was yellow.

At this point, three things would typically happen.  Either the homeowner would break down in laughter, shut the door outright, or show genuine interest/sympathy.  When the latter happened, we would quickly transition to a somber version of Silent Night.  And, I must admit, our version of Silent Night was breathtaking.

A few of the homeowners offered us money, which we did NOT take.  We told them that we were doing this for the sheer joy of it.  In retrospect, nevertheless, I wonder if they were offering us money to leave.  But, I don’t think so.

Who were these unflappable modern day troubadours?  They were the students and leaders of North Suburban Church, representing Rush Youth Group.  Each one of them has a heart full of joy and the passion to change the world, one song at a time.

If you’ve never gone Christmas caroling before, I’ll let you know when we’re going next year, and maybe you could join us.  Until then, love God and sing loud.

© Samuel Kee, 2011

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Worth Video

samuel kee —  December 17, 2011 — Leave a comment

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Random Teenager

samuel kee —  December 14, 2011 — 2 Comments

"If you don't have it, then you're nothing."

On a whim I said to a random teenager at the mall, “Show me something that symbolizes this generation the best.”  With utter seriousness, he took out his wallet and showed me a twenty dollar bill.  “This,” he said, “represents my generation the best.”  I asked him to explain.  He responded quite simply, “If you don’t have it, then you’re nothing.”  He wasn’t proud and he didn’t speak condescendingly; rather, he was matter-of-fact and spoke with a bit of unease—he knew that if the money ran out, then he was a “nobody.”

That’s the atmosphere that our children are growing up in, one where identity is determined more by possessions than by intrinsic value.  If a kid doesn’t have all the perks that money can buy, then he or she will not fit in.  Or, of much greater concern (though the two are tied together), our children will honestly believe that they are not worth much.

Of course, children aren’t the only ones who wrestle with these feelings.

My two sons play baseball; and any time there is even a remote threat of lightning, all games are cancelled.  If you look at the stats, about 80 people die per year from lightning strikes in the United States.  With those kind of numbers, I’m very grateful that we do all that we can, to keep our children (and adults) safe.

But here’s what I don’t understand: over 80 people die per day from suicides in the United States.  And for every suicide there are 25 attempts.  So what are we doing about it?

During my time as a pastor, working deeply with individuals and families on life issues, I have found something that is completely ironic to me.  Too many people honestly think that they are worthless.  I look at these same vibrant individuals, many of them being young people, and see so much life and potential.  Yet, for multiple reasons, they can’t see their worth.

I want you to know that you are never without hope.  I want you to know exactly where your worth comes from, not only for yourself, but also to help those that you love.

While we may not have all of the status that money can give this Christmastime, we do have all the hope that God has already given.  Make sure you unwrap God’s gift of hope this year.

© Samuel Kee, 2011

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