Fighting for Last

When was the last time you saw a story about people fighting to be last? I imagine it's been some time, if at all.
We don't fight to come in last. We don't strive to be behind someone else. We don't struggle to take the final spot in line, unless by final we mean the last spot available for something truly desirous.
No, I'm talking about being last. The end. It's generally not coveted.

Unless you're a Chilean miner.

If you've been following the story you know that there are some 33 miners trapped in a mine shaft in Chile a bit below 2,000 feet. They've resided there for two months. Today they have announced that the test of a capsule into which the miners will crawl, individually, to be lifted to the surface, was successful and they hope to begin bringing them out this week. And that's where the battle ensued; the battle over who would be last.

The news report that broadcast this as I was on my way into the office today didn't elaborate except to say that there was this "good natured" battle for last place. It struck me odd since it is the total antithesis of what we are inclined to nearly since day one.

First place is the bomb. Being number one is what it's all about whether you're competing in sports or in the financial markets or just on the job. We all learn from the start to desire first. The move to the end of the line is at best counter cultural. For many, its down right foreign.

It wasn't to Jesus, however. Paul made sure we knew that. He told us that this "quest for last" type attitude was what was to typify us. He told the church at Philippi, "...in humility, consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others."

Now we all have moments when we push ourselves into compliance with this less than regular routine. We will allow someone to go ahead of us at the store if they have just one or two items. We may even slow down to allow someone to merge who has waited until the last minute. And, if we're really in a giving mood, we'll do that for someone that hasn't even put on their turn signal! What's worse, we'll pat ourselves on the back and feel as if we've really done well. But, I think Paul was aiming at something more consistent here. I think he was shooting for a 24/7 kind of attitude.

And, since there were no Safeways or I-405's then, he was writing this to a church and his goal
was that our dealings in the church would be characteristic of this kind of "you first, me last" attitude. As one comedian use to say, "Oh, well that's very different, then, isn't it!"

It's odd, is it not, that our "Paul instructed" kind of attitude is lived out with more difficulty at church than in the marketplace? No problem letting the VW bug cut in, but if you don't sing my music, well that's unforgivable. Sixteen items in the "fifteen maximum" line, I'll let you through. But if you think I'm bending my attitude as to how long worship should last, you've got another thing coming!

Let's start a fight in the church. Let's fight for last place. And go ahead...you first.

A Fresh Start

I finally have found someone else that likes Mondays!

I saw a Facebook status of a former student of mine who asked "Is it weired that Monday is my favorite day?" I have yet to reply to his posting, but I intend to encourage him with words from an equally weired perspective. I love Mondays.

I'm sure it has something to do with being a pastor and that Sunday is such a busy, exhausting, and climatic day. The majority of my week is working toward Sunday, so what Monday represents is a new start to a new goal; the following Sunday.

My Monday morning routine once I hit the office is filing away the clutter of paper that gets dropped on my desk in between and following Sunday services. After checking emails and answering those that need to be answered right away, I pull out my calendar and a pad and begin a "to do" list for the coming week. Often, by noon or so on Monday, the rest of the week is fully booked. What were nearly blank squares on my calendar are now filled with times and names. And with that, I'm off and running toward Sunday again, with the knowledge that by next Monday it will all begin again.

But what I've come to relish is the fresh start. The "clean slate" feel of Mondays. I have many times come before the Lord on Monday mornings with a simple request: "What do you want to show me in this new week? What would you have me to do in this new week? What do you want me to say when your people gather at the close of this week and the beginning of the next?"

Perhaps for you Mondays are not so sweet. Maybe they are filled with agony of another week before you. Mondays, for some, are filled with regrets from the previous weekend. Words said carelessly; actions pursued without adquate forethought. For some, Monday is a "mop up" day from the "spills" of the weekend.

May I begin your week (if you are indeed reading this on Monday) with a reminder from the book of Lamentations? Even the writer (who we think is probably Jeremiah) was having what many would see as a "Monday" type of experience. In chapter 3, beginning with verse 19, he writes:

I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

So not only on Mondays, but the rest of the week, freshness and newness is yours because of the Lord's great love. Even in the midst of a downcast soul (like Jeremiah) it takes but "calling to mind" the compassion of the Lord to be renewed in his faithfulness. So, happy Monday!