Richard Mourdock Does Not Speak for All Christians

Posted on October 30, 2012 by pastordavesimpson

I am pro-life.  Let me start with that so there’s no misconstrual of what I’m going to post here.  When I was an unChristian, I had no problem with abortion.  When I realized that I was a Christian Psalm 139 in particular caused me to reconsider:

Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
    you formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!
    Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
    I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
    you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
    how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
    all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
    before I’d even lived one day.  Psalm 139:13-16 (The Message)

Older translations say that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” by God in our mothers’ wombs.  Certainly that “fearfully and wonderfully made” fetus is a precious life.  But . . .

I’ve known women and girls who have had abortions.  Pro-life folks often caricature these women.  But none in my experience celebrated their abortions or saw them as expressions of their feminist identity.  Most of them grieved, at least on some level, at what they saw as their least-worst option in the reality of their lives.

I have never been sure that laws are the solution to the tragedy of abortion.  I’m not sure if throwing women and/or doctors in jail is the merciful and just way to proceed.  I’m not sure if that is what Jesus would do.

What I am sure about is that laws against the abortion of fetuses carried by rape victims cannot be merciful and just.  And that brings me to the comments of Indiana Senate Candidate Richard Mourdock.

In a debate on October 23, Mourdock was asked about abortion in cases where the pregnancy is the result of rape.  This is how he responded:

 “I struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize that life is that gift from God. And, I think, even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.”

Immediately, Mr. Mourdock was pilloried for seeming to say that a rape resulting in pregnancy “is something that God intended to happen.”  How can he say, people asked, that God intended for a woman to be raped?  Even fellow Republicans, including the Republican presidential candidate, disavowed what Mr. Mourdock said.

In interpreting the words of another person, we Lutherans are guided by Martin Luther’s explanation of the 8th Commandment.  In his Small Catechism paragraph on the meaning of the “Do not bear false witness” commandment, Luther writes that the commandment calls us to put the best possible construction on the words of another.

The best possible construction of what Mr. Mourdock said is that he inartfully expressed a basic Biblical truth.  As he has tried to explain in subsequent statements, he did not mean to say that any rape is “God’s will.”  Like all evil, rape is not God’s intention, although acts of human sinfulness can be redeemed by God.

Mourdock’s point apparently (hopefully) was that all human life is a gift from God, even human life that is rooted in an act of despicable violence.  Therefore, by Mr. Mourdock’s reasoning, abortion even in the case of rape should be illegal.

I disagree.  What is theologically true – that life is a gift of God – does not always make fair, just, and merciful law.  Do we really want to make abortion, as tragic as it is, against the law for women who are raped?  Do we want to hold the loaded gun of the law, threatening prison or whatever, to a women’s head who has already been violently violated?

Do we really want to say to a woman in that desperate position, “You deliver that baby or we’re going to throw you in jail!”

That is not a power I want my government to have.

“But what about the baby,” pro-lifers who agree with Mr. Mourdock will protest.  “What about the woman,” others will answer.

We live in a world that is fallen and filled with sinners (us).  That means that sometimes – perhaps often – there will be no “good” alternative, only the “least worst” of unfortunate possibilities.  Pretending that there is always a “right” either/or way to proceed in every situation ignores the reality in which we live.  It ignores the reality of the fallen world described in the Bible.

Certainly, when a woman is pregnant as a result of a rape Christians can lovingly, counsel, support and encourage her to deliver the child.*  But we must never coerce.

Here’s the thing – this support can only take place in a real way in the context of a pre-existing relationship.  This doesn’t begin with the post-rape situation.  What we are really talking about is an evangelism, not a legal, issue.  Not changing minds through the hammer of the law or through our own efforts, but change of hearts through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Too often we Christians give women who are considering abortion  – and women and men in general – the impression that God, and by extension we, only love them if they “do the right thing.”

With his reputation for unfortunate statements, I am surprised to be quoting Dan Quayle to conclude this post.  But here I go . . . once he was asked, in light of his pro-life stance, what he would do if one of his daughters became pregnant and decided to have an abortion.  He said that he would counsel her not to, but if she decided to go ahead he would support her decision and “hold her hand.”

I’m even more surprised to be agreeing with Dan Quayle.  But that sounds like pretty sound – and Christ-like – advice.

 —

*Christians who are able can make themselves available to adopt such children.  Christians can also be more open-minded about who can adopt children, but that’s a topic for another post.

Posted in Abortion, Christian Living, Christianity | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

A Reality Check

Posted on August 17, 2012 by pastordavesimpson

More about our need for someone else to force us to look in the mirror . . .

About 25 years ago, when I was about 25,  I received an unexpected windfall.  At the time, I was working as a Wilderness Camp Counselor, not making much money.  One day I opened a piece of mail from my bank, and inside was a check for $15,145.73.  That was more than my yearly salary!

I was conflicted about what to do.  Of course, it wasn’t my money.  But I hadn’t asked for it, so maybe it was like a gift.  (Yeah, right!)  It was probably a mistake, but it wasn’t my mistake.  It was the bank’s error, and they were a big, rich company.  They wouldn’t miss it.  At least not very much.  Maybe it was like that Chance card in Monopoly – “Bank Error in your favor, collect $200.”  Except it was much more than $200!

But deep down I knew I should turn the check in to the bank.

But  I really wanted to keep that money!  That meant the question I needed to ask was not, “Is it right,” but rather, “Can I get away with it?”  My friends and I spent a couple of days imagining all the things we could do with $15,000+.  We even called British Airways to find out how much it would cost to fly on the Concorde to London.

Finally, I called my mom.  You see, my mother was a legal secretary.  I told her what had happened, and asked her if she would please run the situation by one of her attorney bosses to see how I could maybe legally keep the money.

My mom’s answer was something like this: “I will NOT!  That is not your money.  I am disappointed in you.  You have always had so much integrity, I can’t believe you would even think about doing something so dishonest.  Now go give that check back to that bank!”

The next day, that’s what I did.  My mom had jolted me into taking an honest look in the mirror.  In Christian terms, I had repented.  With our amazing capacity for self-justification and rationalization, we all need to listen closely for those invitations to look in that clear mirror of reality.  It’s not comfortable (as I wrote earlier this week), but it is necessary if we are to cast off the shades of self-delusion and see ourselves as we really are – flawed . . .but forgiven.

Posted in Christian Living, Christianity, Parenting | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

My Adventure In Hairstyling, and a Look In the Mirror

Posted on August 14, 2012 by pastordavesimpson

We had a small family crisis this week.  my 15-year old daughter is currently in a play – the last performance is this afternoon – and had to be at the theater in Annapolis by 5:30 Thursday evening.  Before she left home, she had to do her makeup and hair.  The makeup part was no problem, but her hair for this play requires curling with hot rollers.  Unfortunately, it turned out that my wife Karen, who had been handling the hair rolling, couldn’t get home early from work on Thursday.  My daughter hadn’t learned to do it herself, especially in the back.  That left one option . . . me.

I was skeptical.  It was something I’d never done before, and I’m certainly no expert on hairstyling (I am, after all, well, bald).

My daughter showed me a 5 minute tutorial on YouTube and sat down in a chair in the bathroom.  The rollers were heated up; they were ready.  Sometimes as a parent you just have to suck it up and do your best for your kids.  I did my best.  And it must not have been too bad because my daughter, who’s playing The Mayor in the play, was told it looked like Hillary Clinton’s hair (I think that’s a compliment!).

But I tell you what – those rollers are HOT.  And if you touch them in the wrong place you get a good burn on your fingers.  I did that quite a few times – I guess I’m happy that I burned myself more than I did my daughter.  Once I really got hold of the hot part and without thinking, kind of went “Ow ow ow ow” and slapped my hands down.  Unfortunately, my daughter’s back was right there where I slapped my hands.

“Hey!” She said.  “You hit me!”

“I did not!”  Now, let me be clear.  I wasn’t lying.  I was so focused on my burning fingers that I hadn’t even realized I’d slapped her back a couple of times.

She again insisted that I had hit her, and I stepped back and kind of replayed the last moments and realized . . . she was right.

There are times and situations where we are so preoccupied with ourselves that we don’t even realize we’ve messed up and done  something that hurts someone else.  That’s when we need someone to slap us upside the head – not literally – to help us realize where we need to apologize and do better.

When my daughter told me that I had hit her, this is the first thing I thought: Those rollers are HOT – it’s not my fault.  And I’m doing HER a favor.  How dare she complain about a little slap on the back.  I DIDN’T MEAN TO, after all.  And it wasn’t a big deal, was it?  I hadn’t really hurt her.

But this is what I said after I went through that thought process (and maybe said one or two of those things – I don’t remember, you’ll have to ask my daughter): “I’m sorry.  I’ll be more careful.”

It is our human nature to avoid dealing with our mistakes.  When we fall short, we try to cover it up, to excuse our behavior.

It is our human nature to run away from saying we were wrong.  It is hard to turn around – to make that 180 degree turn that is repentance.

We need help.  And that help is not always pleasant because it forces us to look in the most painful place possible to find out why things are messed up:

THE MIRROR.

God wants us to stop running away, away from our responsibility for our mistakes, away from our blaming and our justifying and our minimizing and our “at least I’m not as bad as those people.”

God wants us to look into the mirror and see our sinfulness not just so that we’ll behave better, though.  Not even mostly.  No, God wants us to honestly look in the mirror  so that we will know how much we need a Savior, so that we will cling to the Cross because it is our only hope in the midst of our hopelessness on our own.

(This post is excerpted from last Sunday’s sermon on repentance, based on II Samuel 11:25-12:13, where David is confronted by the prophet Nathan and repents of the sins he committed in the Bathsheba affair.)

Posted in Christian Living, Christianity | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Is Faith Correlated to Religion? (and other great questions)

Posted on August 10, 2012 by pastordavesimpson

What a busy and challenging summer this has been.  Blogging has necessarily been on the back burner.

What’s brought me out of my hiatus are heartfelt questions posted  a few days ago in response to my comments about the film “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen.”  I wanted to share the questions and my response, and also to ask how others would respond to Kate’s queries:

Do you believe that faith is directly correlated to religion as the Sheikh had suggested? Or do you believe that faith can be correlated to what we have experienced and what we know? It is obviously possible for both to be directly correlated because religion can be what a person knows, but is faith possible without religion? I am assuming, because of your URL, you are religious, I, however, and an unproclaimed nineteen year old, curious about the world. ( I just finished the film and I have found myself unable to sleep, as my mind is running wild with these ideas)

And here is my response to Kate (slightly edited because every time you look at your own writing you see stuff that makes you cringe.  Or maybe that’s just me):

Kate, those are excellent questions. First, let me say that questions are awesome; they are our primary way of exploring and discovering what is true. Too many “religious” folks discourage questions, but I believe God values our questions – and that God is big enough to handle our questions and even our doubts. (Mark 9:24.)  As to your specific questions . . .

Do I “believe that faith is directly correlated to religion . . . or . . . that faith can be correlated to what we experience and what we know?” Yes. You see, I don’t think the “or” belongs between those two questions. If we define “religion” as our attempt to faithfully follow God, then I don’t believe that believing in God and trying to live out our belief faithfully is exclusive to our experiences and/or our knowledge. When I was an unChristian (an atheist/agnostic), I thought that to be a Christian you had to check your brain at the door of the church. But what I discovered, once I began to explore the Bible and theology, is that there is nothing anti-intellectual about Christianity . . . although there are certainly some Christians who are anti-intellectual. The mind of God is infinite; therefore, we will never fully understand God in a lifetime, or even an eternity, of striving.

If Christianity was totally antithetical to my experience, then I would not be one, much less a pastor. What Christianity explains is what my experience tells me is the human condition – I am capable of incredible selfishness, but also of acts that are self-sacrificing. Lutheran theology has a way of talking about this – we are totally “saint” and totally “sinner” at the same time. We are people created (and recreated in Baptism) in God’s image, but also people who fall short of God’s plan for us and are therefore in need of forgiveness. We are forgiven totally by the grace of God, not by anything that we do (or that we could do).*

You also ask if faith is possible without religion. Certainly! When I was an unChristian I had faith in lots of stuff – friends, family, my Isuzu I-Mark, the power of words and language, The Who, and especially knowledge. But I have come to believe that the only “thing” that is worthy of ultimate, eternal faith is God . . . and God’s promises.

So, I am sorry to hear that you are having trouble sleeping, but I am glad that you are searching and questioning. I have been there, and seeking can be an uncomfortable place to be. But it is the way to Truth (and I do believe there is a capital-”T” truth among all the lower-case “t” truths).

Finally, it is awesome that a film could inspire so much thought. It is an example of the power of art, and of God’s power to use artistic expression for God’s purposes.

So, how would you answer Kate’s questions.  Or how would you question my response?

[*That paragraph was partially inspired by Pastor Nadia Bolz Webber‘s excellent message at the ELCA Youth Gathering – you can see it here.]

 

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Getting Dad’s Car Stuck – A Father’s Day Remembrance

Posted on June 18, 2012 by pastordavesimpson

After I got my Driver’s License, I drove my dad’s car – a hulking, white Ford Galaxie 500.   Those cars were HUGE, like battleships on the street.  One night I was out with my girlfriend and I decided a car that big would work as an off-road vehicle.  I turned down a dirt road that was really more of a horse-trail or something that led back into some woods.  In Florida where I lived at the time dirt roads are mostly sand.  And this one was muddy.  I don’t know what I was thinking.

Actually, I do know what I was thinking but I don’t want to go there.

It wasn’t long up that road that the tires started spinning faster than we were moving.  I decided I better back out.  But the tires just dug in.  The car wouldn’t move.  The back tires had settled into a muddy dip in the road and weren’t coming out.  I tried to rock it out, frantically slashing the gear shift from Drive to Reverse and back again, over and over.  But the car wouldn’t budge.

My dad’s car wouldn’t budge.

I hopped out and told my girlfriend to get into the driver’s seat.  I sprinted to the back of the car and dug into the muddy sand as best I could.  I put my shoulder against the wide rear of that car.  I told my girlfriend to gun the engine.

As you might imagine, mud and sand pelted me until I yelled at my girlfriend, “STOP!”.

Panicked, I started digging around the tires with my hands.  It was my dad’s car.  His transportation to work.   My dad was big on taking care of things, making them last, returning them in better shape than you took them.  I had to get that car out of there . . . or else.

After several minutes of fruitless pawing at the mud, I stood up, exhausted.  There had been a phone booth (remember those?) not too far back on the main road.  My girlfriend and I began to walk.  I wasn’t an unChristian yet, but I already had lots of doubts about God.  On that walk, I offered God a variety of deals.  Get the car out and I’ll go to church willingly.  Get the car out and I’ll read the Bible.  Get the car out and I’ll never “go offroad” with my girlfriend again.  Get the car out and . . .

We reached the phone booth, and I started calling my closest friends.  I’m not sure what I thought they could do, but it didn’t matter because it was Friday night and none of them were home, anyway.  Finally, I had one dime left.

And one more prayer.  “God, please let my mom answer the phone.”

“Hello,” my dad said.

Briefly I thought of telling him I’d “lost” the car.  “Don’t know what happened to it.  One minute it was there . . . ”

But I knew he wouldn’t buy it.  So I told him I was stuck and where I was.  He said he’d be there as soon as he could.

He didn’t say anything when he got there but it was clear he was mad.  I was in the worst trouble of my life.  I’d gotten my father’s car stuck and he was nothing if not practical.  For him, the car was a tool, and you didn’t play with tools.  And what was I doing driving down that dirt road in the first place?  I don’t think he bought my, “We were looking for a place where we could talk alone because we never get to talk just by ourselves.”

After he saw the car wasn’t going to budge, we walked back to the pay phone where he called a tow truck.

Then came a looong, silent wait.  Eventually, the tow truck got there and pulled the car out.  I watched my father paying  – every bill he put into that driver’s hand felt like a slap upside my head.  It was like he was counting out the days, months . . . years of my impending grounding.  I was sure my driving days were done.

After the tow truck pulled away, dad said, “Take you girlfriend home and come straight home.”

I didn’t talk to my girlfriend at all on that drive.  Fear will silence you that way.  I was also waxing nostalgic about driving.  After all, this was probably the Last Time I’d Be Able To Drive, at least until I got out of college.

When I got home, I really looked at the car for the first time.  It was a muddy mess, inside and out.  I took my time examining the car – I was in no hurry to get into the house.

Finally, I went in, and there was my father in his La-z-boy recliner.

Except he wasn’t reclining.

There was no point in excuses or explanations.  “Dad, I’m really, really . . . really sorry.”  He kind of glanced at me, and I wondered what kind of punishments were going to be heaped upon me besides not driving – grounding, extra chores, the rack?

Slowly, dad rose from the chair.  He looked right at me, and said, “I know you’re sorry.  Just get the car cleaned up.  I’m going to bed.”

That was it.  I thought he was going to let me have it in the morning, but he didn’t say anything about it.  My dad died not too many years later when I was 25, and he never said another word about that night.  He didn’t ground me and he didn’t hold onto my mistake to use against me.

I was simply . . . forgiven.

Posted in Christianity, Father | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Mystery: The Trinity, Juggling, and a Poem

Posted on June 4, 2012 by pastordavesimpson

Yesterday was Trinity Sunday, the day set aside for congregations to contemplate the mystery of the three in oneness of God.  And for pastors to struggle at writing sermons that address church doctrine without putting their congregations to sleep.

To keep folks awake yesterday, I included a Juggling Interlude in the sermon (Three Balls, One Juggling!).  It’s one time when I can say with assurance that I didn’t drop the ball (or balls, although I was woefully out of practice).

The non-circuslike bulk of the  sermon dealt with our discomfort at dealing with unresolved mystery in general and the mystery of the Trinity specifically.

It was one of those sermons where I was preaching to myself.  I want ANSWERS, doggone it, not mystery.  I wrote a poem while I was struggling with the sermon.  I left it out when I preached – it didn’t really “fit” (as if the juggling did).  I’m no poet, but here it is:

I want answers
Explanations
Equations that balance
Rational rationalities
But God!
God you give me mystery
Agatha Christie with the last page ripped out
Murder mystery movie missing the last reel
And you want me to be okay with that?!
One plus One plus One
Equals One?!
I struggle and strain against the unresolved
With analogies and theories and doctrines
Solve for x
Measure it
Fit it into a tweet
(144 characters or fewer)
But that’s not God
That’s God in my image
Not the other way around
God says “Come”
God says “Lay down your calculator
And your dictionary
And your commentaries
And your theologians
And your Google searches”
God says “Come”
God says “Believe”
God says “I love you”
God says “We love you”
God says “Don’t try to figure Me out”
God says “Dance with us”

Posted in Bible, Christianity, Church, Pastors | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Pastor Dave’s Dozen Tips for a Successful Game Show Audition

Posted on June 1, 2012 by pastordavesimpson

And now for something completely different . . .

People sometimes ask, “So how did you get on Jeopardy / Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”  You have to pass a test, then audition.  All game shows that I know of have auditions.  Here are some tips I’ve compiled over the years.  Some of them might work for job interviews or life in general.

Back to theological stuff on Monday.

 1. BE YOURSELF, ONLY BIGGER! This is not original with me, but it’s the best advice I ever heard.

2. Be familiar with the show.  Know how it works and be aware of what they are looking for in “typical” contestants (for example, the energy level of a Jeopardy! contestant is very different than that of a Wheel of Fortune player).

3. Dress as you would for the show, BUT make sure you wear comfortable shoes – you’ll probably be standing a lot.

4. SMILE!!!

5. As in #4, have fun and show it!  Remember, the shows are ENTERTAINMENT!

6. Remember that you should be “on” from the time you arrive at the audition site – Contestant Coordinators may be watching at any time.

7. Try to tell a story with your application and your interview – if you can sum up your story in one line, try to stick to that.  (For Millionaire, I was “The Stay-Home Dad,” for Jeopardy, I was “The Late-in-Life Career Changer”)

8. Remember things about yourself and your life that will stand out – interesting experiences, encounters with famous folks, embarrassing incidents.

9. You will probably be asked what you will do with any money you win – DON’T say “Pay Bills” even if that’s what you will do – BORING!  Travel/home improvements are also too-common answers.  For my successful Jeopardy audition, I said, “You know how anniversaries have different types of gifts – first is paper, etc.?  If I win a lot I’m going to convince my wife that the next anniversary is the Plasma Anniversary” (this was when big-screen TVs were more rare and expensive than they are now.)  The best answer I heard at an audition was “Cash the check in small bills, dump it out on my bed and roll around in it nude.”

10. Speak up!!!  Even if you are normally soft-spoken, bump it up a notch (or two, or three) for the audition – if they can’t hear you then neither will the TV viewers.

11. Get any information that you can about the process from web sites, message boards, etc.  The more familiar you are with the drill, the more relaxed you will be.

And finally, if you don’t make it the first time KEEP TRYING!  Before I got on, I auditioned four times for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and three times  for Jeopardy!.

Other game show veterans, I hope you’ll add your own . . .

Posted in Game Shows, Jeopardy, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Hot Topics

Posted on May 30, 2012 by pastordavesimpson

Tonight is the “Hot Topics” class in our “Questions for God” Bible Study.  That’s the Wednesday evening course that’s based on questions submitted by my congregation.  It’s been a well-attended, fun to teach course.  The best part is that I’ve heard from many participants that it’s gotten them more into their Bibles.

Tonight we’re going to cover questions folks submitted about homosexuality, abortion, racism, in-vitro fertilization, and so on.

Come to think of it, [cough cough] I think I might be coming down with something.  I may not be able to make it tonight . . .

I’m kidding, of course.  If Christians can’t discuss how their faith impacts the “hot issues” that are realities in our world, then our faith is pretty useless.  It’s in these discussions that the Holy Spirit really bursts onto the scene.  As we chew on the Bible and share our experiences, the Spirit works in and through those conversations to lead us toward Truth.

On the journey to that big-T Truth, we learn to live together despite our sometimes divergent ideas about what Truth might be.

It is the disagreement that is scary for some folks.  If I’m totally honest, sometimes it’s scary for me as a pastor.  My life would be a lot easier if everyone came to the same conclusions about every issue; if everyone would come to my conclusions.  That might seem egotistical but it’s actually very altruistic – I am willing to share my conclusions with anyone. . . anyone who wants to be right.

Okay, I’m kidding again.  Maybe when we get to heaven we’ll all be on the same page.  But in this life, Truth is always going to be filtered through our inherent sinfulness.  We have the Holy Spirit to guide us, but we don’t always want to listen.  Sometimes it’s too painful to listen.  Other times the voice of the Holy Spirit gets drowned out by other stuff.  We are expert at self-delusion, at self-justification, and at just plain being stubborn.

That’s why HUMILITY is vital to our growth in faith and knowledge.

I heard someone in seminary say that the most widely heard sound on the Last Day when all Truth is revealed will be .  . . “Ohhhhh.”  In other words, “Oh, that’s what You meant!”

God is infinite.  We will never totally understand God.  Not in this life – and maybe not in eternity, either.  (C. S. Lewis wrote somewhere that we will keep learning in eternity because there will always be more to learn about God.  I hope he’s right.)

Systematic Theology was the very first graduate religion course I took.  On the first day, the professor said, “We’re going to look at how Christians have tried to understand God throughout history.  God probably sits in heaven laughing at our great intellectual attempts to explain Him.  But maybe we can learn something.”

As we gather tonight to talk about Hot Topics, I hope we can all (me included; perhaps me especially) learn something.  I hope we will be guided by the Spirit toward what God wants us to know and to do.  I especially hope we will be united by the Spirit so that we can keep loving each other in spite of our differences, and agree finally that we are all saved by the Grace of God not by our perfect understanding of religion.

Posted in Christian Living, Christianity, Church | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Big Dreams, A Bigger Dreamer

Posted on May 25, 2012 by pastordavesimpson

(Last evening I had the privilege of giving the graduation address at Trinity Lutheran Middle School.  It is the school affiliated with the church I served for over 10 years as a layperson and as a pastor.  I also taught Christian Education in the school, and had coached several of the young people in this graduating class in soccer.)

Thank you Pastor John.   And good evening graduates, parents, faculty, and friends.  It is an honor to be your speaker this evening.  It is great to be back at Trinity, this is the community of faith where I found my faith and where I experienced a call to ministry.  But more about that later.

On this evening we celebrate your success, I’m going to begin by talking about failure.  As you may know, I was on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and Jeopardy while serving here at Trinity.

What you may not know is that I auditioned and was rejected by Jeopardy and Millionaire a total of 7 times before I got on.  The first time was for Jeopardy way back in the 80’s, when I flew to Los Angeles with my friend Jackson convinced that he was going to get on Wheel of Fortune and I was going to get on Jeopardy. . . .

It was a long flight back from California.

And speaking of Jeopardy and failure, what was my very first response when I finally got on the show?  I had been beaten on the buzzer on the first clue so I was determined to be ready for the second one.  The way it works is that you have to wait for Alex Trebek to finish reading the clue, and then there are these lights that come on around the game board that you can’t see at home that mean the buzzers are activated.  So I waited, and as soon as those lights came on I started furiously mashing the button.  And sure enough, the lights on top of my podium lit up.  I had rung in first.

“Dave,” Alex said, waiting for my response.  I freaked out a little.  Alex Trebek had said my name!!

But it seemed like he was waiting for something.  What was it?  Oh yeah, I was supposed to give the right response to the clue.

And here’s what I said: [silence with exaggerated deer-in-headlights expression].

You see, I had been so focused on beating the other players on the buzzer that I forgot I had to have a response.  All I could do is stand there and watch the lights that count down the five seconds you have to answer dwindle away.

I always laughed at people who rang in and then stood there, [exaggerated deer-in-headlights expression II].  Now I was one of them.

Not a great start.

But now there I was, negative $400.  It was like a slap in the face; I didn’t give up or dwell on the failure, I went on to win that game and 3 more and made it to the Tournament of Champions.

I’m not just telling you this stuff to reminisce about being on Game Shows.  Graduates, this is what I want you to get – failure is part of a life that is LIVED instead of observed.  Failure happens when you actually do things rather than just watching other people do stuff.  Failure is part of success. If you take on new challenges sometimes things are going to go wonderfully.  But sometimes, you’re going to fall on your face.  (Hopefully not in front of 9 million people!)  You’re going to be rejected sometimes.  But each failure is an opportunity for growth – a chance learn and to do it better the next time.  Or to do something different.  Don’t be afraid to fail!!

Most of you have been here at Trinity a long time.  This is a very safe place, where you know your classmates AND the teachers and the staff.  And they know you. When you go off to high school there are going to be many opportunities to take new courses, to try new activities, to make new friends.  Go for it!  Don’t be afraid of failure.

To achieve my dream of being on a game show, I had to take risks – like the chance of being rejected – to achieve my dream.  And I had to keep trying even after I failed at the auditions and in the game when I finally got there.

My favorite part of our conversation last month when I got to meet with you was when many of you shared your dreams for the future – where you saw yourself in a few years.  You have some wonderful dreams – dreams about occupations, education, about acquiring money and possessions, even about being on Broadway.  Keep dreaming!   As you leave Middle School and go into High School, it’s time to get serious about your dreams.

Here at Trinity, you have been able to lay down an excellent academic and spiritual foundation for success.

Now it’s up to you to build on that foundation.  As you go into high school, your parents and your teachers will have less and less control over what you do.  Sorry parents, but that’s the truth.  The only way around it is to follow Mark Twain’s advice: When a boy turns 13 (I suppose it would work for a girl, too), seal him in a barrel and feed him through a knot hole. When he turns 16, plug up the hole.

Since most of your parents won’t be sealing you up in barrels, it’s going to be mostly up to you to make good choices.

And that’s not easy.  It’s not easy to do the right thing and make good choices in a world that pushes and pulls you in so many directions away from God’s ideal.

When I was a Juvenile Probation Officer, young people who’d gotten into trouble with the law used to tell me, “I’m not going to try to get into any more trouble.”  Here’s the truth – you don’t have to try to get INTO trouble.   Trouble happens without any effort.  It is staying out of trouble – doing the right thing, the Godly thing – that takes effort.

Here’s something else young people said to me after they got into trouble – “I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.” They had snuck out of home at night, or been in a car with someone they weren’t supposed to, they had lied to their parents about where they were or who they were with.  And I’ll say to you all what I said to them: “There is never a right time to be in the wrong place.”

Big trouble starts with small compromises.  I’m not just talking about big trouble that gets you arrested, but any trouble that interferes with your dreams.

And interferes with God’s dreams for you.

Did you know God has dreams for you?  God has good stuff planned for you.  We heard that in our reading from Ephesians.

I picked the Ephesians reading because it has my absolute favorite verse in the Bible – Ephesians 2:10.  Here’s the New Living Translation of that verse: “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

We are God’s masterpiece.  I brought some pictures of masterpieces this evening – I want to see if you can tell me what they are.

[Hold up painting #1]

Do you know what this is?  (Mona Lisa)  Who painted it? (Leonardo da Vinci)

[Hold up painting #2]

Do you know what this is? (The Scream) That’s how some of you are going to look next year when you get your first high school term paper assignment. Who painted it?  (Edvard Munch)

I have one more masterpiece to show you.  [Take mirror out of the backpack and hold it up.  Pan the audience with it.]

Every time you look in the mirror, you are looking at a masterpiece!

You are God’s masterpiece! You are God’s work of art.  Psalm 139 says that God knit you together in your mother’s womb – just like da Vinci and Munch created these paintings.

Here’s another painting that you might not be as familiar with.  [Hold up painting #3]

It’s a painting from the 1500’s called “Savior of the World.”  It sold for $70 in 1958. I wish I could have bought it for $70 in 1958, even though that was four years before I was born.  Because in 2005, it was auctioned for almost 200 . . . million dollars.  Same painting.  Why the difference?  Because in 1958 they thought some random 16th century student painted it..  Since then it’s been discovered that da Vinci painted it.

It’s the artist that gave the painting value.  It’s valuable because it’s da Vinci’s masterpiece.

How much more valuable are you – God’s masterpiece!

Don’t ever think you are not worthwhile, or special, or important.  The creator of the universe – the same infinite genius who created everything as big as the red-hypergiant stars that are 2000 times bigger than our sun,  and everything as small as the subatomic particles like quarks and bosons  – lovingly knit you together.  You ARE valuable.

And never think that you’re not here for a reason – You are God’s masterpiece. He has created you anew in Christ Jesus, so that you can do the good things he planned for you.  There is good stuff God planned for you to do.

You have dreams, and God has dreams for you.  And God just might surprise you.

It was my dream to be on a game show.  Thanks to God giving me a sticky brain and the opportunities, I got onto two of them and won over $200,000.

But I had no clue that it was God’s dream for me to be a pastor.  Seventeen years or so ago, if you had told me I was going to be a pastor I would have laughed at you.

I would have seen two immediate problems.  First, I was – and am – a mega-introvert.  I’m naturally quite shy.  And pastors have to be around people all the time and have to speak in front of people.  Well, it’s only by the grace of God that I can do stuff like this.  The other problem was bigger, though . . . I didn’t believe in God.

But God took care of that – I told you when I met with you about how God brought Karen into my life when I was an atheist, who is now my wife.  And how Karen said that in order to date her I’d have to go to church with her.  I thought it was worth a wasted hour a week, so I came right here to Trinity Lutheran Church.  And God’s Word read and sung – and preached by Pastor John and Pastor Paul and Pastor Chuck – worked on me along with the Holy Spirit and after a few months I realized “I believe this stuff.”

And then I joined the church, and started to feel God’s call to ministry.  I was really struggling with it.  One day Pastor John asked me to meet with him – I had no idea what for (and even if he was my  pastor and not my headmaster I was still kind of nervous when I heard he wanted to meet with me . . . I thought, “Oh my, what did I do!?”)  He offered me a part-time job as director of Christian Education.  And that led to seminary which led to being a pastor and here I am.  I am, as the title of my blog says, the Unexpected Pastor.

What unexpected dreams does God have for you?  It will be exciting to discover the surprising things God has planned for you!  He has “good things” for you to do – keep God close and He will reveal His will to you.  I told you at the beginning of my talk tonight that we learn from failures; I hope you will learn from my biggest failure of all – when I walked away from my faith when I was in college.  That walk away started in high school – I starting thinking I was too smart for God and stopped going to church, stopped reading the Bible, stopped praying (except on test days when I hadn’t studied).  I missed out on 15 years of walking with God – who knows what “good things” God had planned for me that I will never know.

God created you.  God loves you.  God has good things for you to do.

At one time I worked at a wilderness camp for juvenile delinquents – kids who had broken the law.  They came to that camp in the mountains of North Carolina for at least a year.  When a young person was ready to go home, he would stand up in front of the other campers – about 60 – and the camp staff and everyone would share their memories of that person.  The last to go would always be the Assistant Director of the Camp.  He was an intimidatingly large man who had played linebacker in college.  But he had a heart just as big. His last words to the young person who was leaving were always the same. He would jab his finger in their direction and say, “Son, go and make home a better place because you are there.”

As you leave this place where you have been nurtured and prayed for and taught and loved, GO and make your home, your high school, your community, your world a better place because you are there.

You are God’s masterpiece.  But God didn’t create you to hang on the wall of some museum.  God created you to change the world!

AMEN

Posted in Bible, Christianity, Jeopardy, Pastors | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Maryland 5-0

Posted on May 21, 2012 by pastordavesimpson

So, now I’m 50.  The big 5-0.  Half a century.

It’s only a number, right?  But the arrival of my AARP Card in last week’s mail was something of a shock.

I remember how old 50 used to seem. In 1975 I was looking through the Almanac (that’s what 13-year old nerds who grow up to be on Jeopardy do in their spare time)  and noticed that the talk show hosts Johnny Carson, Mike Douglas, and Merv Griffin were all born in 1925.  They were all 50!  Old men, I thought.  Ancient.

When I was about 25 and worked at a Wilderness Camp for adjudicated youth, I was in the dining hall once when a food salesman came in. I overheard part of his conversation with the cook:  “Yeah, I’m 50.  But it’s great. The pressure’s off.  I know now I will never be the Governor of the Great State of North Carolina.  I will never be a millionaire.  I will never go into space.”

It sounded like he was saying 50 is when you put your dreams away.  When you give up.

Well now I’m 50 and my response to that is . . . not me!  I see no reason not to keep dreaming, and no reason not to believe that God still has surprises left for me.  I’m the Unexpected Pastor (and unexpected Christian); what unexpected things await I have no idea (that’s why they are unexpected, silly).

My favorite Bible verse – Ephesians 2:10 – still says, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

I’m still God’s masterpiece (and so are you), and masterpieces only get more valuable as they get older!  And God still has “good things” planned for me to do, I’m sure.  I can’t wait to find out what they are.

But I do have to give up some of my dreams.

Ever since I learned my times tables I have hoped that I could remember that 7×8 is 56 without doing 7×4 in my head then adding 28 plus 28. That’s probably not going to happen.

I hoped that someday I would be able to remember whether Romeo’s last name was Montague or Capulet without first remembering Juliet’s by going “Juli-ET Capu-LET.” (That actually came up in a game my trivia team played yesterday.  Yeah, I’m on a Trivia Team.  It’s what 50-year old nerds who have been on Jeopardy do.)  Not going to happen, either.

And I hoped that someday I would remember how many “m’s” tomorrow has without looking it up or being corrected by spell check.  But that’s probably a lost cause, too.

Other than that, I’m ready for tomorrow even if I can’t spell it.  Ready for my second half-century.  Ready for whatever God has planned!

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