David Swanson

No Excuse

David Swanson — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 05:36:10 -0700

I’m not sure if you have noticed this or not, but it seems like people make up a lot of excuses these days. No one is ever at fault. They always have an excuse. Winnona Ryder, after being arrested at Saks Fifth Avenue with $4700 worth of clothing stuffed in her bag, said “I was told I should shoplift. My director said I should try it out.” Even in the midst of the ongoing oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, BP executives said they were unprepared for a spill of this magnitude because of faulty data they had received from the U.S Government. Apparently, 2004 projections said that any oil spilled in the gulf would rapidly evaporate or get broken up by waves or weather. In other words, they said, “How were we supposed to know the oil would come ashore – you said it wouldn’t!”

It is this cultural trend that makes Romans 1:20 all the more jarring: "..so that men are without excuse." When it comes to our lives and how we live them, because of God's faithful revelation, we have no excuse. None. We should know better.

Now, sure, we'll try to come up with some, but that's often based on a cultural creation of the God we want, not the God who truly is. We mold God into our image so that our excuses work. Dietrich Bonhoeffer saw this in the German Church during the days of Hitler's rise. He said “If it is I who determine where God is to be found, then I shall always find a God who corresponds to me in some way, who is obliging, who is connected with my own nature. But if God determines where he is to be found, then it will be in a place which is not immediately pleasing to my nature and which is not at all congenial to me. This place is the Cross of Christ. And whoever would find Him, must go to the foot of the cross…”

As I think about the call God has placed upon my life - and yours - my desire is to answer that call as purely as I can. There is no excuse for me. All I can do is throw myself at the foot of the cross, humbly relying on His Spirit to empower me to live as He has commanded. I do not shape Him - He shapes me - so God, keep me still and pliable in your Hands.

Where Does the Time Go?

David Swanson — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 11:02:31 -0700

As my wife and I prepare to take our first born to college this week, we have that oft-asked question before us: Where does the time go? Eighteen years - whoosh. Gone. Did I spend it well? One of my favorite books of the past year has been James Bryan Smith’s The Good and Beautiful God. In that book, he talks about how we spend our time. We are so busy – so hurried – that we often have no idea where our time goes. In an average lifetime, we will spend

- six months sitting at traffic lights

- eight months opening junk mail

- one year searching through desk clutter

- two years trying to call people who are not in

- three years in meetings (this MUST be low for Presbyterians)

- five years waiting in lines

It makes you think, doesn’t it? How are we spending out time? In Mark 1:35, we find the model of Jesus. Mark writes, “In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.” We find Jesus doing this over and over again. Let’s not forget: Jesus was a busy man. He was in demand. People were clamoring to see Him, and yet solitude – being alone and quiet before God– was a regular practice in his daily life. It was, I believe, the place from which He drew strength in order to endure the challenges that He faced.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in Life Together, “One who wants fellowship without solitude plunges into the void of words and feelings, and one who seeks solitude without fellowship perishes in the abyss of vanity, self-infatuation, and despair.” As disciples of Jesus Christ, we need both. Yes, we need fellowship. We need others, but we also need solitude. Without it, how will we ever hear the voice of God against the constant din and chatter of our world? We can’t.

Here’s the thing: If it was central to Jesus’ life and ministry, it seems to me that we would be well-served to make it central to ours as well. You don't have to do anything grand. Start small. Fifteen minutes. Slow down. Stop talking. Turn off your phone. Be quiet. Listen. You might just find that God has been talking all along.

Watch What You Wear

David Swanson — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 05:19:48 -0700

Not long ago, I had occasion to observe a group of high school students serving a meal to about 200 homeless people in our city. They had come to fulfill a high school requirement to complete a certain number of community service hours, which probably should have been my first clue. I was floored by the complete disconnect between those students and the human suffering right before their eyes. Many laughed or made jokes. A man or woman who did not look nice or smell particularly good would draw odd looks and quips. Serving the food looked like more of a game to them than an opportunity to help someone.

As the students prepared to leave, it did not seem as if they had been affected at all. They were huddled in their little group, busily chatting about the next activity of the day, oblivious to the many who filed out into the searing summer heat, not sure where they might find their next meal.

A few days later, I found a Tribune News story (May 31, 2010) on a University of Michigan Study presented last May to the Association for Psychological Science. The study measured empathy among college students and found that, from 1979 to 2009, empathic concern for others dropped by an astounding 48% while “perspective taking” (how people imagine others points of view) dropped by 34%. Jeannine Stein, the article’s author, wrote “researchers attribute these changes to…an increasing emphasis on self, an overactive media that bombards people with violent images and desensitizes them; and the growth of social media.” In light of my time with those students, I was not surprised.

Compare that with Colossians 3:12, 14 “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience….and over all these virtues, put on love…”

Bottom line: our culture has stopped paying much attention to the attire of the heart. We are draped in self, a covering that obscures our vision of those around us, especially those that Jesus described as “the least of these.” I find a continuing ebb of compassionate care among us, and while I am guilty of my own selfish ends, I am trying hard to watch what I’m wearing, such that those around me will find sincere compassion and love instead of the disconnected, self-driven attire of our time. As Christians, we are called to live differently. At the very least, that should mean that we are paying attention to how we are spiritually clothed each day. As you dress for this day, put on compassion and love - and may those you encounter notice how differently you dress - all for God's glory.

Living With The End in Mind

David Swanson — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 07:14:13 -0700

Time is such a precious thing.

For most of us, it is precious because with live with the knowledge that we do not have a limitless supply of it. We all wish we could find a 25th hour in the day. I have petitioned the Lord for such to no avail. On a larger scale, however, we are oblivious to what "not enough time" really means.

As Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 15:24, the end WILL come. Time eventually runs out. The odd thing is that I often live in ignorance of that truth. I live as if I have all the time in world to do the things I really need to do - things like loving my wife well or building Christ into the lives of my children. I live with a youthful, though misguided, notion that I am in control of my days and my time. William Henley's concluding words to his poem, Invictus, resonate somewhere deep within me:

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

Those word are so American, aren't they? I want them to be true. I want to be, and often believe I am, the "captain of my soul." While it sounds inspiring, it's also a lie. I don't control my life or my time. Life circumstances reveal this to me over and over again. But here's what I've found: when I live with the end in mind - when I realize that time is not in my control and that my time is limited - I discover how precious every day becomes. I discover that even in my limited form, I have been given this life - this day - this hour - and as a gift of God, and I want to live it with all the joy and all the love that I can. The urgent things seem less urgent. My true priorities fall more easily into place. I sense God's presence more clearly and more deeply.

Yes, the end does come, but far from some morbid obsession, living with the end in mind has allowed my life to become more of what God wants it to be. Not a bad way to start each day..

Learning From My Mistakes

David Swanson — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 15:51:22 -0700

As I approach my 20th year of ordained ministry, I can say that my biggest mistake has been trying to will transformation in people's lives. At one point, I was so consumed by my own efforts and creative ideas to revitalize a church that I completely omitted God from the process. I was going to do it by the sheer force of my determination and work ethic.

Right. Try that. See how it works for you. I was trying to lead people towards abundant living, but I didn't know it myself. Guess what? I didn't lead them very far or very well.

Psalm 30 became a constant refrain for me as I found my heart crying "out of the depths." I had to address certain habits and ways of thinking in my own life before I was going to lead effectively towards vitality in Christ.

From that posture of searching, the contents of my new book, Vital Signs, began to emerge. The lessons became the foundation for a sermon series that I preached in Ft. Myers, Florida. With revision and further growth, I preached it again at First Presbyterian, Orlando. In both churches, God has been so faithful to do what I could never do on my own: revitalize and heal people and communities.

Too often, I think we depend on a new program, a new study, or a new mountaintop experience to get us going. The reality is that we need to invest more in the daily walk of discipleship instead of constantly searching for the next spiritual fix. Yes, those things can help, but an abundant Christian life is one carved over years of faithfully engaging in the basics--the solid food of God's Word, the power of worship, the blessing of community, the joy of giving, the sense of purpose derived from mission. These are the essential elements through which God pours out His life in us.

My desire is to use this space to personally share with you what I have learned--including what I have learned from my mistakes--so that you will find a deep hunger to know more of these things and more of the presence of God in your life. It is not something I have mastered by any means, but it is a journey I humbly share with you.