Pass the Chicken and Beam Me Up

by Matt Brown

Hey, let’s get the sauce on and then talk some God stuff, and how it may or may not relate to Star Trek.

2 cups of plain Kraft BBQ sauce
2 cups of Texas Pete
3 heaping tablespoons of frozen orange juice concentrate
3 heaping tablespoons of minced garlic
1 stick of butter

Place ingredients in a pot and simmer until the butter and orange juice are melted.

Heat charcoal. If you do not use a charcoal grill, then you should be banished from BBQ land, and you probably never really appreciated why some of us like to play with fire, but God probably loves you, so I guess you can stay.

If you are using charcoal, then watch those flames as they leap and dance out and around the Weber. Don’t tell your fireman friend, but sometimes the flames almost reach my tree in back. Anyway, as you wait for the charcoal to ash, and as you watch the smoke rise (hopefully not from your burning house or deck) you can ask yourself this question:

Ever wonder why the apostles saw Jesus “taken up into Heaven” Luke 24:50? I mean, that’s a metaphor. Jesus does not live in the sky – heaven is not in a blimp or something, so it makes me wonder: what would the ascension look like today? Now I am not saying that the ascension of Jesus did not happen, and I am not at all saying that Jesus did not go back to heaven, but what I am saying is that to the 1st century audience going up into the sky would be a powerful image. However, the 21st century audience sees stuff go into the sky all the time (small children’s balloons, heavy airplanes, UFOs, and blimps (blimps are cool). So if we saw Jesus ascend today, I think it would be more like seeing him get beamed up like on Star Trek. We would not even call it the ascension, but the beam up, or time-warp or something like that. All those paintings that depict Jesus going up on a cloud might look a lot more like an episode of Deep Space Nine or something (I’m not a geek, but I know a lot of geeks – no really, I can only name like 10 or 11 original Star Trek episodes by title).

You might say “hey that’s a stupid thing to think about” or you might roll your eyes and ask “hey is that charcoal ready yet?”, but here’s the thing that scares some people, but that I think is cool. God speaks deep truths to us in metaphor and image. Our broken and fallen language is often too feeble to even begin to touch some of the truths that God lays out for us. Our life, like scripture, is multilayered and rich with meaning. Sometimes I wonder if the people who want the Bible to be totally literally true are really afraid of the deeper meanings that they might uncover if they had to deal with its nuances.

Think about that while you watch the fire.

Now that the coals have ashed over, place the chicken on the grill (make sure to manage those flare-ups). Sprinkle the chicken with a nice dry seasoning (rotisserie seasoning works well) and cook covered for 5 minutes. Flip the chicken, sprinkle the dry seasoning again, and cover for 5 minutes. Now get the sauce.

Flip, baste, and cook until the chicken is done.
Heat the left over sauce for dipping.
Say grace.
Take no (chicken) prisoners.

Connecting the Physical and Spiritual

If you read Rob Bell's "Velvet Elvis" you know how powerful his spare, elegant way of thinking and writing can challenge you to explore the God-human connection.

Sex God, his latest offering, is another such treasure. What appears to be a short, simple read will likely take you months to truly digest. It isn't a sex manual or a marriage treatise, but rather a beautiful exploration of how our physical relationships are also spiritual relationships.

Jennifer Davis recently sent me this powerful quote from the book:

You can't be connected with God until you're at peace with who you are. If you are still upset that God gave you this body or this life or this family or these circumstances, you will never be able to connect with God in a healthy, thriving, sustainable sort of way. You'll be at odds with your maker. And if you can't come to terms with who you are and the life you've been given, you'll never be able to accept others and how they were made and the lives they've been given. And until you're at peace with God and those around you, you will continue to struggle with your role on the planet, your part to play in the ongoing creation of the universe. You will continue to struggle and resist and fail to connect.

Being a Christian vs. Being Religious

A quote collected by Dana Derosier from the book Circle of Seven, by Clay Jacobsen:

There is a big difference in being religious and being a Christian. Being religious is following a system of Do's and Don'ts. The Do's- go to church, read the bible, help others, pray. The Don'ts- don't drink, don't smoke, don't kill people. The trouble with religion is that it traps people into a flash sense of security that if they follow the rules, then they will somehow be acceptable to God. Christians believe that no matter what you do or how perfect you are- you still aren't good enough to be accepted by God. With other religions you have to achieve some level of perfection within yourself by adhering to their guidelines. With Christianity it's all about Grace. It's not about what you can do- it's about what Jesus did. Being a Christian is not a boring set of rules or following a fun killing religion. Being a Christian is an exciting daily walk doing our best to follow what we see out God doing.

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