The episode of Tim Riley’s bar is one in which a middle age man begins to face his mortality as a result of the tearing down of a local neighborhood bar in which many of his greatest memories have taken place; his first date, his welcome home after the war, and his meetings with his father.  At the point of the story he finds himself alone and the tearing down of the bar seems to be the tearing down of a part of his past that can never be recaptured.  You can watch the episode in one of two ways: One you can purchase the series, and there are some great stories here, from Amazon by clicking this link.  The other way is to watch it on you tube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuWX4ZZv2YQ&feature=related) which cuts you out of a lot of the background that the DVD collection provides.

I of course recommend getting the entire season.  There are some real gems if you like fantasy and soft sci-fi.

As to the story at hand, the hero sees his favorite watering hole being torn down and realizes that he must say goodbye to many things that he has loved.  Here is my updated version: Goodbye Andy Griffith and Opie, and Barny nipping it in the bud; Goodbye picking up hitchhiker because the person probably just needed a ride; Goodbye trusting a man just because he was a minister; So long to your favorite athlete who stayed with his team because he loved it, not because of money; Goodbye to the time when America was looked upon as a nation that would always be the land that did the right and moral thing with prisoners of war; and more and more, goodbye to the church where, like at Cheers, everybody knows your name.  We have torn down a lot of buildings over the years but the questions is, are we really any better off?

We can microwave our dinners, set our coffee pots to percolate before we get up, and even have books read to us while we do other things.  We have more time saving devices than any culture in the history of civilization, but what do we do with that time?

This afternoon I was able to see some of the fruit of my time.  Two of my former students Eric and Tommy passed their ordination exams at presbytery.  For those of you not familiar with our system of government, this is a big deal.  I didn’t have much to do with either of these two men passing their exam.  I taught them a few things, but these are men whose gifts are great and far outshine the small things that I helped them with.  As I saw them pass the exam, I was proud.  I felt like I was perhaps a small brick, or better a little piece of morter in the building of their lives.  I was so proud of them.  If all that I do in my life is influence students like Tommy and Erick (and believe me there are many professors who likely had much more influence than I) it will be a building project that I am proud of.  No matter when my building comes down.

A building showing its age,

DrSamLam

Years ago there was at my father’s church a building that we called, appropriately enough, “the old building.” It had been the place where the first church had started and over the years had become more and more of a problem.  The roof leaked, the water pooled in the floor when there was a bad rain, there was no way to properly lock the place up, it was time for it to go.  I remember when it finally came time to tear that old building down what an emotional experience it was for me. The day before the demolition company came I walked through the twenty or so rooms looking around and was flooded with memories of what had happened in those rooms.  I had been in sixth grade Sunday School and won a fishing trip for memorizing the books of the Bible; I had sat in the big room watching movies (or films as we were required to call them) like “Thief in the Night” and “If the footman Tire You (a film so violent that it would receive at least a pg13 today); I had come to know much about the Lord’s grace and love in those rooms many times through the words of my Dad or Mom.  In another day the rooms would be gone, the building would cease to exist.  In another fifteen or twenty years very few people would even remember that building.

I realized then that I needed to live my life so that when the building is gone I will have left something behind.  Maybe just a small footprint of a few blogs on a website, maybe a couple of sermons that someone found helpful, or maybe just a life that was honorable to our Lord, but something.  If you happen to drive by a building that is being torn down, think about what that building accomplished in its day.  What did it mean to those who used it?  Will the memory last?  Then think of your own activities, the building that you are housed in is someday going to come down.  Will anyone remember having visited it?  I’m trying, despite my building being a little broken down.  And You?

Onward . . .

DrSamLam

Onward to greater exegesis . . .

DrSamLam

Now let me tell you that since I started preaching regularly at Coral Ridge, I have had my share of criticism.  I have been criticized for not preaching patriotic sermons on patriotic Sundays; I have been criticized for using too much humor; I have been criticized for not lifting up Mary the mother of Christ on Mother’s Day; I have been criticized for telling too many stories; and I have been criticized for not letting other ministers have a chance at preaching (I have no control over that and only preach when I am asked, I do what I am told).  One thing that I have not been criticized for, until this morning, was not having enough exegesis (a fancy word for Bible teaching).  This morning though, right before I was to deliver the word, I heard “I don’t mean to be critical, but you need more exegesis.”

One of the things that I try hard, very hard to do is to make sure that I spend time studying and seeking to understand what the text has to say.  I translate the text from the Greek, look at the parallel passages in Mark and Luke in Greek, look at what seven or eight different Greek grammars have to say about each verse, read the best (the most careful with the Greek text) commentaries, and work really hard to try to understand what the background of the text is as well as trying to study all of the cultural elements (like buried treasure, fishing boats, the first century view of divorce, etc.).  I expect to be criticized about most other things and most of the time I probably deserve it, but if there is anything that I try to make sure of it is that I teach what the passage has to say.

In thinking about all of this I thought that I would give you a few tips on how best to help your pastor if you have something that he should hear:

1.  Don’t tell him on Sunday morning before he is about to preach.  I can only speak for myself, but every Sunday I am walking a fine line between stepping into the pulpit and running away to see if I can get into the witness protection program.  Don’t give anyone any more to think about before the message than he already has.

2.  Offer something constructive.  “You need more exegesis” offers nothing helpful.  “I am troubled by you making fun of yourself so much, do you think that you might be able to cut back on that a little?” (I’ve heard this from five or six people who truly had my best interest in mind) This comment is much softer, kinder, and not even a criticism, but a genuine constructive comment that can be worked on.  This kind of thing comes from a person who cares and wants to help, a purely negative jibe is not the same

3. If you offer your comment in writing, sign your name.  There is nothing worse than a nameless person who throws a hand-grenade without even owning up to it.

4.  Don’t underestimate how much damage your comments can do.  James says that the tongue is like a small match, capable of creating great fires.  Only those who have worked hard, only to see their work criticized by mean statements can tell how these comments can be like a splinter in the soul.

Well, I have the week off next week for a guest speaker.  Maybe I’ll be able to get my exegesis in order by the next time I am up.  Then again, maybe I should stick to Vacation Bible School where the kids tell you exactly what they think with real honesty.  When they say they love it, you know they do.

There is a saying in ministerial circles: “Never resign on a Sunday or Monday.” Give yourself a little space to think about those comments.  I’ll be thinking . . .

DrSamLam

I say that because Bill cropped this shot of the prodigal’s father and a close up of his hands.  For those of you who didn’t read my blog about this painting, go back and read it, it is only a couple of forms back.  This shot will give you a little better look at the hands of the father on the kneeling son.

Luke 15:11. He went on to say, “A man had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Dad, give me my share of the business.’ So he split up the business between them. Not so long after that the younger one packed up all his stuff and took off for a foreign land, where he threw his money away living like a fool. Soon he ran out of cash, and on top of that, the country was in a deep depression. So he was really hard up. He finally landed a job with one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into the fields to feed hogs! And he was hungry enough to tank up on the slop the hogs were eating. Nobody was giving him even a hand-out.
“One day an idea bowled him over. ‘A lot of my father’s hired hands have more than enough bread to eat, and out here I’m starving in this depression. I’m gonna get up and go to my father and say, ‘Dad, I’ve sinned against God and you, and am no longer fit to be called your son—just make me one of your hired hands.’
“So he got up and came to his father. While he was some distance down the road, his father saw him and was moved to tears. He ran to him and hugged him and kissed him and kissed him.
“The boy said, ‘Dad, I’ve sinned against God and you, and I’m not fit to be your son any more—’ But the father said to his servants, ‘You all run quick and get the best suit you can find and put it on him. Get his family ring for his hand and some dress shoes for his feet. Then I want you to bring that stall-fed steer and butcher it, and let’s all eat and whoop it up, because this son of mine was given up for dead, and he’s still alive; he was lost and is now found.’ And they began to whoop it up.
“But his older son was out in the field. When he came in and got almost home, he heard the music and the dancing, and he called one of the little boys and asked him what in the world was going on. The little boy said, ‘Why, your brother has come home, and your daddy has butchered the stall-fed steer, because he got him back safe and sound. At this he blew his top, and wouldn’t go in. His father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look here, all these years I’ve slaved for you, and never once went contrary to your orders. And yet, at no time have you ever given me so much as a baby goat with which to pitch a party for my friends. But when this son of yours—who has squandered the business on whores—comes home, you butcher for him the stall-fed steer.’ But he said to him, ‘My boy, my dear boy, you are with me all the time, and what’s mine is yours. But I just can’t help getting happy and whooping it up, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive; he was lost and has been found.’ ”

Jordan, C. (2004). The cotton patch gospel.  Macon, Ga.: Smyth & Helwys Pub.

Here is a copy of the famous painting called ‘The Return of the Prodigal’ by Rembrandt:

A couple of interesting things about this painting.  One is that the prodigals face is unseen.  I think that is to remind us that this is our face.  In the midst of this heartrending scene, we all, who depend upon the grace of God are in the middle.  Not proud because we have forgiven someone else, but thankful because we have been forgiven.  Until we realize how much we have been forgiven of, it is impossible for us to show the kind of forgiveness that we should to others.

A second thing, and maybe this is just me, but look at the father’s hands.  It seems that the left hand sits on the shoulder of the boy with great strength, it is a powerful, manly hand.  The right hand, situated between the returning prodigals shoulder blades seems almost feminine.  It is a picture of the justice and mercy of our father.  A strong hand of justice that did not just “forget about” our sin, but required payment be made (in the form of our Lord); a gentle hand of love that does not overlook justice, but makes a way for the prodigals to make a way back home in spite of our having wasted our money. 

This story and thus this painting speaks to me in a way that the phrase “God loves you” does not.  Maybe it’s just me, but somehow I hope not.  Somehow I think that there are lots of us who have hearts of poets who are spoken to by stories, songs, and paintings.  Maybe you have one of those inside you.  Let your story, your song, your poem out; for the glory of God and the blessing of those of us who are a little different.

Knox Seminary’s incurable story lover,
DrSamLam

For the Lamb,

DrSamLam

I look forward to seeing you in class where we will use a variety of teaching methods, from video, forum discussions, reading and listening to debates, and thinking deeply about the truth that is set before us.

All of that to say that I have been doing CRPCs Vacation Bible School for the last 13 years and have done a lot of the same stuff with a lot of the same puppets for all of that time.  Many of the older kids know my stuff as well as I do. This years theme is outer space and I will be “Space Man Sam” (not an entirely bad title for me I am told by some).  I decided since this year’s theme is outer space that I would get an alien puppet.  I actually waited until the last minute, but I bought one today from EBay.  I don’t want to spoil the whole surprise, but here is a shot of his face.

Let me know what you think.  I don’t have him yet, but I’ll let you know how he acts, sounds, and what his personality is like once he arrives.  If you are around Ft. Lauderdale in a few weeks and would like to help out or just stop by for VBS, call Coral Ridge at 954 771-8840 for more details.  I remember VBS as one of the great times of my life as a child and I want to pass that on to the kids at Coral Ridge.  I want them to leave thinking, this is a great place to be; I really like coming to church.  I’ll let you know how that turns out.

DrSamLam
AKA “The Space Man”