"Meesa Back!"

Jar Jar Binks. Star Wars, Episode One.

Qui Gan meets Jar Jar as he’s running through the fields of Naboo. Although he’s reluctant, Jar Jar lets Qui Gan convince him to take them to the underwater Gungan City. It seems that Jar Jar was banished. But he decides there’s no sense in fighting it; he needs to go home. He announces his return by shouting “Meesa back!” (Editorial note: This blog is in no way meant to validate the racism that many feel is present in the Jar Jar character; it is simply meant to illustrate the difficulty that we sometimes have with going home.)

People used to ask me if I would ever want to pastor in my home town. My answer was always no. I figured people who knew me when I was growing up would never take me seriously as a pastor. “I knew the pastor when he used to rock and roll.” That whole “prophet in his home town” thing. Looking back, I think I was more afraid that I hadn’t really changed.

Fast forward an hour or so into the movie. Jar Jar is having a chat with Boss Nass, the one who banished him. Boss Nass credits Jar Jar with uniting the Gungans and the Naboo. He is credited with making peace between the two peoples. And Boss Nass promotes Jar Jar – clumsy, bumbling Jar Jar – to “Bombad General”. None of Jar Jar’s previous problems is noted, just his current accomplishments. Isn’t that really the case with us most of the time too?

I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock and Roll). We all used to “Rock and Roll” in our own way. We have all been rebellious people. The Bride of Christ used to rock and roll. But if we can claim anything through Christ it is this: we’ve been changed. Maybe not who we are, but the way we are. And while we probably still see ourselves as bumbling and clumsy and unfit to promote Jesus with our lives, God sees what we have truly become. And for God, it is precisely because of our imperfection that we are made able to serve.

Who says you can’t go home again? You can. People are far more likely to validate the changes they see in you than you are yourself.

This is Your Hometown

I’m back living in Eugene now. In a few weeks, Andrea and the boys will be joining me. I’m back in my hometown after almost twenty-five years. Several songs and thoughts have been going through my mind: Bruce Springteen’s “My Hometown”, the thought “You can’t go home again”, James Taylor and J.D. Souther’s “Her Town Too”… and of course the passage where Jesus talks about a prophet being honored everywhere except in his home town. Whew! Thankfully, I’m not a prophet. (That also brought to mind Nick Lowe singing “I Knew the Bride [When She Used to Rock and Roll]. More on that in a future blog).

Many people have asked if moving here means that we’re not planning on Thailand anymore. Not at all! We’re still working towards that. What it means is that it isn’t coming as quickly as we would like. It means that we want to take time to help both our mom’s get situated before we move ten time zones away. And, most importantly, it’s moving where we feel God wants us to be for the time being. Nobody in their right mind would move only to move again. Right?

I had kind of an epiphany this morning in church. We’re working our way through “The Story” as I’m sure many of you are. At one point the pastor talked about how God told Abraham, “Pack your stuff and move. I’m not telling you exactly where, you just have to do it.” And of course, Abraham did. The pastor then went on to say how crazy that was. He then asked if any of us would be crazy enough to do that. I turned to the person sitting next to me (who knows our situation) and chuckled. “Yes, in fact, I might have an idea of how Abraham must have felt.”

For whatever reason, God told us to move to Oregon. God told us to move to the Eugene / Springfield area. Why? I don’t know! But we’re both pretty certain that’s what he told us to do. In a few weeks, Andrea and the boys will be moving as well, bringing all our belongings with them. Hopefully I will have found us someplace to live by then.

Abraham and Sarah moved because they had faith. Now, I’m not going to say that my faith is anything close to Abraham’s. But maybe this is a test of just where our faith is. This is a pretty minor move, Idaho to Oregon; housing notwithstanding. But… if we can’t trust God with this small move, how can we possibly trust him with the big one that’s coming up?

Cross Town Traffic

Being from the West Coast of the U.S. (and for awhile a citizen of Seattle), I’ve always been kind of a Jimi Hendrix fan. And when I started thinking about this blog, the Hendrix song was playing in my mind. There’s really no connection between the blog and the song, other than the title. But this past several months has been a lot like trying to drive across town.

In Twin Falls, the main street of the city (really the only main street) is called “Blue Lakes”. It runs about five miles north and south through the center of town. And it is a rare occasion to make it from one end of Blue Lakes to the other without stopping for at least one red light. More often than not you end up stopping for most if not all of them. If you’re driving from one end to the other, that means about eight traffic lights. 

It can seem like forever.

Last October, we began our journey towards Thailand. It started out really quick, like a jackrabbit start from a green light. But, we had to stop for the next light, and it was a long one. We could see traffic going crossways from us, we could see people in the turn lane going past and heading off in their desired directions. And still we sat. Finally the light turned green and we were off, only to stop again shortly. More traffic moving that wasn’t us, more waiting. Stop and go. Stop and go. Frustration at the light that never seemed to turn. 

We’ve had several stop lights that we’ve sat at for seeming eternities, and we’ve had several times of traveling at comparatively high rates of speed. And the light always seems to turn green just at the time we begin to think we simply can’t sit any longer. But our direction has not changed. We’re still headed toward Thailand, we’re just not getting there as fast as we’d like. 

Some of you might be wondering if we’re ever going to really get there. We wonder the same thing sometimes. But we’re not giving up. Please don’t give up on us. We’ll make it, but right now we just seem to be hitting every light.