"Precious blessings from Jesus..."

(What follows is a Plumbline that will be airing later this month on Dordt's radio station - KDCR. It connects to my earlier post about our California trip...)

Plumbline - Juno

During the latter part of June, my family spent 10 days in sunny southern California on a “working” vacation. Our first time in California, we planned to do the kid stuff – Sea World and Disneyland, while also seeing the sights. In our minds it would be a fun trip filled with trips to the beach, Shamu and the Princesses. The first day our 10 month old daughter wouldn’t stop crying. The kids, tired and cranky, fought terribly. The night before Sea World, my son became sick. We drove toward San Diego with two kids complaining of stomach aches, not sure if we should keep going or turn around. We pushed on. Sea World entailed waiting in line, trips to the bathroom, and maneuvering strollers through crowds of people… awaking the next morning to more sickness. By the next night, our daughter joined in. We postponed Disneyland for a day, opting to drive through LA and Hollywood – stopping a few times along the expressway to empty the big bowl we had taken along “just in case”. A few years ago a friend told me to have an Aristotelian Christmas, referring to the Greek philosopher Aristotle. He meant have a “real” Christmas, not an “ideal one”. We certainly had a real family vacation - but I’m ok with it. Through all the sickness, crying, and crabbiness – we ended up having a fun, memorable, time.

Our culture works hard to sell us images of the “ideal” life – the ideal spouse, ideal children, the ideal vacation. And for some reason, the Church has bought into it. We make people feel guilty for not having an ideal faith, an ideal prayer life – for not being ideal Christians. So books are written, seminars are given, tons of money is spent out of guilt – seeking the “ideal” spiritual life we think we should have. All the while missing out on real life, the ordinary moments of faith and spiritually. The times you hold your kids head over the toilet, consoling him, and wondering if the trip to Sea World is a good idea.

This is why I love the movie Juno. As far as movie’s go, it’s not earth shattering, it’s not even one of my favorites. But it’s a good dose of reality. The film follows a 16 year old girl named Juno who discovers she is pregnant. She contemplates an abortion, but decides against it when a classmate, who is picketing the abortion clinic, tells her “it has fingernails”. Juno decides to put the baby up for adoption, finding a couple “desperately seeking spawn” via an ad in the Pennysaver. As the story unfolds, we discover a life, a family, a world that is far from ideal. Becoming pregnant at 16 isn’t what Juno, or her father, had planned. Yet, there is a wonderful line in the film delivered by Juno’s step mom, who responds to the situation by saying, “somebody else is going to find a precious blessing from Jesus in this garbage dump of a situation.” Isn’t that the truth for all of us? Out of the messy reality of our lives, come daily “precious blessings from Jesus”.
Too often we equate “sin” with “imperfection”. We blame long lines at Sea World, teen age pregnancy, or vomiting children on the fall. Now I’m not trying to minimize sin… after all…I’m a Calvinist, and one thing we’re good at is acknowledging the problem of depravity. But maybe, just maybe, there are some imperfections that are not “sin”, but a beautiful part of being human. Recognizing that God has created so many different types of creatures, so many different types of people, that don’t measure up to the world’s “ideal”. Like the beauty of two unique individuals who finally find each other, or the congregation of cantankerous oddballs, who sing off pitch, and nod off during sermons. The one place you would expect this reality to be celebrated is the church. The Biblical story is full of misfits imperfectly carrying out their tasks with moments of humor and unexpected twists. Historically, churches have been full of quirky rejects who don’t fit the world’s “ideal” standard. Lately, it seems, the church has become more concerned with the “ideal”, with nicely packaged presentations and slick, hip, pastors, who look and sound so relevant. Providing emotional experiences and spiritual jargon that help us think we’re on our way to finally getting it all together. Reducing Sunday morning to a game of spiritual make believe…

Towards the end of the film, Juno’s father gives a bit of advice regarding relationships. He says “Look, in my opinion the best thing you can do is find a person who loves you for exactly what you are. Good mood, bad mood, ugly, pretty, handsome, what-have-you.” This is good advice for the church as well. Let’s quit seeking some unrealistic ideal, and embrace reality – let’s embrace our humanity, this world, our experiences for what they are… and who God is creating us to be in Jesus Christ. Believe me… when much of Disneyland and Sea World are long forgotten, the memory of my wife standing alongside the expressway dumping out the remnants of my daughters breakfast will vividly live on into old age, undoubtedly bringing much joy and laughter.