Faith Matters

Something New

2007-10-18T18:00:00.000-04:00

So I've been working on a web page for the past few weeks and finally just decided to launch it and add stuff as I developed it. I had been trying to transfer my blog but for the most part that was unsuccessful. So come see me there and check the continuation of the blog. The site is at www.baldpreacher.net.

Remembering My Grandmother Marie

2007-08-16T15:18:00.001-04:00

As many already know, my grandmother, Marie, died on Monday after a brief battle with cancer. My dad called on Saturday before I left for the young adult work trip to tell me that she had just been diagnosed with lung cancer. He told me that they were still looking at options and that he'd keep me posted while I was away. He called on Tuesday to tell me she had been admitted to the hospital and on Friday to say that she had entered hospice care.

While I was on the mission trip, I chose not to process all that I was feeling. For good or bad, I'm not really sure why I did that but I did. When I returned home on Saturday afternoon, I jumped in my car and drove to Taylorsville, Kentucky, to my grandmother's home. I am thankful to have had that opportunity. She was not really responsive and I could tell that even after a fresh dose of morphine her pain was still significant. But I got to say goodbye and thank you and to tell her that I loved her.

One of my earliest childhood memories comes from about age 4. I stood up in wagon, convinced my brother Kevin to pull it along the sidewalk and then promptly went out the back and cracked my head open. I cut an artery in my head as my mother tells the story. My mother didn't drive at the time, my father was not at home and my grandmother came to the house on an International tractor, probably with a bushhog (sp?) attached, to watch my brothers as my mother and I went to the hospital in the local ambulance - a hearse that did double duty. Then there was the time I went through a storm door back before they were made of plexi-glass. I had little cuts all over my chest and back. She covered them in tincture of iodine or something like that. Wow, did that ever sting! I got my taste for sweet tea from the week-long summer visits as well as my love of gravy and biscuits that I remember having every morning. Traci commented after the funeral service yesterday that she hadn't realized how central to our early childhood our time there had been for my brothers and I. They are wonderful memories that I hold in my heart.

As I drove home Saturday evening after my quick visit, I began processing the grief that I had kept away during the mission trip. In the midst of the silence, I began opening up and seeing what was there. It was in the midst of that exercise that I discovered God was reaching in and touching that pain and sense of loss and helping me to see that it would be okay for my grandmother's pain to end.

WRapping Up the Week

2007-08-11T05:59:00.000-04:00

That's Kyle H. at the end of the roof ridge as he nails in the final cap nails on the tar paper and helps Matt, our new friend, finish off covering the new porch. Friday was a great day on the weather front- the weather was wonderful with temps in the low 80s, low humidity, and a few sprinkles at just the right moments. It was a great day work wise as well. We finished putting down the roof decking, put on the ice guard strip along the edges of the roof, and put down tar paper. I think I can speak for the group in saying that we are very pleased with what we physically accomplished this week.

We concluded our time at the work site with a short worship service. We shared our hopes for the family that will move into this house - decent housing, safety, joy, happiness, an understanding of generosity, a home. We closed by sharing communion using the elements that sustained us through the week, a sandwich bun and Gatorade.

We plan to leave in a couple of hours after loading up the van and breakfast. We're all ready to come home but we also celebrate and give thanks for this week together.

Moving Along

2007-08-10T06:19:00.000-04:00

I have no pictures to post because about 2:30 yesterday the sky opened up and it rained, and it rained, and then it rained some more. We spent the morning rearranging storage at the Habitat office and then headed out to the work site. We put another course of roof decking on, set the trusses on the porch, and put up the overhang boxes on the front of the house. We got a lot done on Thursday and the rain turned out to be a nice point to stop for the day. It was hot and humid and we were all spent. On Wednesday we went into Pittsburgh and visited a water park for our day off. A good time was had by all.

On Wednesday evening, we began a conversation with the young adults about leadership and how they can take on roles of leadership. Specifically, we were speaking of this mission trip but the implications are more far reaching. As we talked, some of them started counting how many mission trips they had participated in - 7, 5, 12,... These folks know how to do this. So we talked about them beginning to take over the leadership of this trip - how to do that, how to encourage others to participate, coordinating sites, as well as many other aspects of the trip.

We finished the night off continuing our game of chicken foot. We picked it up again last night during the rain. Christian A. came out on top after edging ahead of Robin H. with 3 rounds to go.

In a little while we'll head to the work site and hopefully finish putting on the roof decking. I look forward to seeing the progress that far along.

Lots of Progress

2007-08-08T07:09:00.000-04:00

We awoke to 96% humidity here in Washington, PA. Isn't at 100% that it is raining? We quickly adapted though and started getting trusses up. By lunch we had the trusses up and after lunch we started putting down the roof decking. You can see in the picture the 2 courses of sheeting we put down. It is challenging to get the OSB up onto the roof because of the slope of the hill and the "moat" around the foundation of the house. But we managed to do so without any incidents.

We accomplished a lot and our bodies felt the amount of work that we did. After a hearty meal and a spirited game of chicken foot, we were feeling better. Today, we have the day off and plan to head towards Pittsburgh and a water park. The young adults have all worked hard and have been a delight to get to know at even deeper levels.

First Day of Work

2007-08-06T19:53:00.001-04:00

We started our day off with a visit to the Habitat office but we were quickly moving off to our first work site. Matt, the volunteer construction coordinator, took us to a completed house to complete a couple of punch-list items - forming a sidewalk and putting down a gravel bed in another sidewalk form and the removal of a stump. Flashbacks to Puente Azul. It was the pickax, shovel and wheelbarrow for the next couple of hours. Robin H. quickly observed that someone should have recognized that that stump would need to go sooner. They could have just quickly have removed it when they were digging the footers. Great point Robin. So often we don't look just a little further and consider what else we could do to make tomorrow a little better. Nevertheless, we tackled it and we were quickly soaked through with sweat. The next stop was a similar situation that called for us to form two more sidewalks including digging out the path for each.

By mid-afternoon, we were on site of a house and began to carry in the trusses. We got the two end trusses up and several others ready to put in place first thing in the morning. Here are some pictures of the new construction site.

Just Found Some Pictures from LA

2007-08-06T06:24:00.001-04:00

I found these pictures this morning as I was preparing for the day on the Habitat site. This is the nature of what we saw in Louisiana of the damage caused by Hurricane Rita.

Now, I'm in Washington, PA

2007-08-06T05:53:00.000-04:00

The last time I posted, I was with a group of Chi Rho youth (junior high) in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and we were doing hurricane recovery work. The opportunity to get online at that work site was difficult and the only reason I was able to do so then was because Becky's Blackberry let me access the internet. Take care of necessities like laundry, groceries, and sermon prep, I've had little time to do other writing. I have traveled many miles since then - church camp, a quick trip to Tennessee, and General Assembly in Fort Worth. I arrived last night in Washington, Pennsylvania, along with 7 other faithful travelers to participate in a Habitat for Humanity project.

I have to say that I was not looking forward to getting back in the car or the van for that matter. But it was a relatively easy drive and the company was good. We drove all afternoon in the mist and fog, arrived, got our bellies full, and stocked up for Monday's meals. We concluded the day with a short time of worship using Lectio Divina and 1 Kings 19:11-13 - Elijah's encounter with God in the utter, sheer silence. We explored our expectations for the week, our thoughts about where we might encounter God, and why we were here.

I'm here because I think such experiences open us up more fully to the possibility of God's transforming work. Elijah was running from the prophets of Baal as well as the wrath of Jezebel and Ahab. He went into the wilderness to hide and encountered God. I'm here because it is holy and sacred time and space and company. God will move among us this week in unexpected ways and will come to us in unexpected places. We sometimes get trapped in the day-to-day mundaneness in which we let our calendars and our to-do lists close us off from God. Those are stripped away here and we are reminded that God is moving in the world and even in the midst of the mundane.

I've got access here so I'll post as I'm able and will include pictures if I can.

In Lake Charles

2007-06-27T18:46:00.000-04:00

It is Wednesday and we just finished our third day of work. Internet access is limited here at the mission station so this is just a quick update to say that I'll post some stuff after I get home. But I do want to offer a little bit of an update.

We've made great progress at our work site. We've demolished a room, closed in the opening, painted ceilings and a couple of rooms with 2 more to go. We're kind of puny today. Two of the kids are sick with a stomach flu that is making its way around Lake Charles. We'll be back up to full strength tomorrow we hope.

It has been a great trip and has included a lot of interesting stories, sites, and experiences. More to come later.

I have posted in the last month because of the schedule at home and church. I've got more on that later too.

Getting on the road

2007-06-24T03:19:00.000-04:00

We leave in a few minutes for Lake Charles, Louisiana, and our Chi Rho Mission Trip. It has been a busy summer so far with no opportunity to update the blog. If I have the opportunity, I'll post some pictures and commentary from Lake Charles. We are going as a part of the Disciples Hurricane Recovery Initiative.

Decisions, Decisions...

2007-05-30T10:07:00.000-04:00

I've been thinking about discernment and decision making lately, as an individual and as a group process. Sometimes such reflection is local and sometimes it is global. Right now, I'm still at the global stage. In my reading today, I came across this comment from Luke Timothy Johnson in his book, Scripture & Discernment: Decision Making in the Church,

Groups have a fragile hold on their existence. They depend on the commitment of their members to the way things are done, and the reasons for so doing them (14)

Here, "group" means church.

I am struck by this assessment of group integrity. It suggests that we spin on 2 poles, both necessary for group cohesion. I would have to think that the latter of Johnson's poles is the start of group existence but the former is the more tenacious of the two. I wonder what happens when we forget how things are done? What happens when we change how things are done? Do we know the reasons we do the things we do? What does it mean to keep doing these things if we have forgotten why we do them?

A number of assessments of today's church suggest that we (the church universal, or at least the western version) have forgotten the reasons for doing what we do. But we keep doing them the way they always have been done. If they are right, then we hang on to doing things the way we have always done them because we have lost one of the poles that balances group integrity. That leaves us teetering on a dangerous precipice.

So how do we step away from the precipice? Or better yet, how do we discover again the poles upon which we can balance our life together?

words

2007-05-23T10:26:00.000-04:00

The words we use describe and in turn define the reality in which we live.

They can build or destroy. They can take apart and put back together. How we use words matters. Perhaps for me as a part of the Judeo-Christian tradition, such an idea comes with the territory. The book of words we call sacred in this tradition begins with God creating using nothing more than words - a call to come into being. All of the rest of the words may be heard as a continuation of that initial call. God speaks and Abram and Sarai take off for a new land; Moses hears words coming from a burning bush; Isaiah sings a song of the wolf laying down with the lamb; a wild man speaks of a messiah coming; Paul argues there is no longer Jew or Greek.

Words keep circling within me, trying to come together, to make sense, to describe what I see, make sense and define the reality in which I live...

Coming Alive

2007-05-18T18:30:00.000-04:00

The shadows are brisk from the giant trees that temper the sunlight. Throughout them the ground is coming alive. Some of the life grows beyond itself it seems, lapping up the dampness of the air and the earth. Other comes more timidly, hiding one under the other. It is easily overlooked. I missed it the first time through. Maybe that is just what happens when we are swirling from all of the clutter that fills us up. Or maybe it wasn't there.

Ah, but the time after... it leapt out at me, begging my focus to turn its way, inviting me to see life springing forth in ever new ways. It is difficult at times to take everything in and to see all that is coming alive around me. It looked fragile peeking out from under the life around it.

That's how it is with life springing forth in us. It grows up out of the cracks in us, behind other parts of life, sometimes going unnoticed. But when we do, oh how it grows and spreads.

The Value of Silence

2007-05-15T11:34:00.000-04:00

Fr. Thomas Keating says something to the effect that centering prayer is a means of evacuating the psyche just as the intestines are the means of evacuating the body. In practicing centering prayer, we enter into silence so that we can begin to listen. It is my experience at that point the evacuation of the psyche begins.

My daughter suggests this is no "pretty picture" of silence and that I should find another way to describe this form of prayer to others. She's right about the nature of the picture that can follow upon the silence; it isn't always a pretty picture. There can be much in our psyches that is ugly, painful, or difficult to face. But the alternative is even less of a "pretty picture" because the longer we keep the mess locked up deep inside us the more messy it gets. But when the silence comes, then we can process the mess and see more clearly the path that leads deeper into the Holy.

Sinking Into Life

2007-05-10T13:21:00.000-04:00

I walked among ancient rocks and aged trees. The information signs said that this place was as it was when the last ice age ended. The place itself formed by the creeping glacier, reshaping the ground and dumping remains of other places in its wake.

It was cool in this crevice of the earth - like a cool cloth placed on a fevered forehead. The green was alive to me as if I had never seen such life before. I just wanted to stay and sink down into its life. Lichens now reshape this place - perhaps as slowly as the glaciers. Water too, running slowly over the rocks taking imperceptible boulders along with it. Other times, colder moments when the water is present but cannot move, the water will move a mountain or at least it will break off a piece of mountain. Changes come slowly to our perception.

Sinking into such a place is like sinking into God and the changes that come with a life lived in God.

The Heart of the Matter - More from My Retreat

2007-05-09T14:59:00.000-04:00

As I walked into the stillness of creation, I came upon the heart of God pouring itself out to quench the thirst of a dry and parched creature.

It was such a striking image in the midst of this retreat. I wish I had actually had something besides 800 speed film for my SLR camera. Only by accident did I even have it with me.

Searching for Stillness

2007-05-08T14:24:00.000-04:00

Last week there was nothing posted here because I took a 48-hour silent retreat. What follows is a reflection penned on Friday morning.

The noise interrupts the silence like fingernails on a blackboard. You jump as when hearing the screeching tires and squealing brakes of someone desperately trying to stop before colliding with another car. It is not so much absolute silence that it interrupts as it is stillness disturbed.

The birds call to another lusting for a mate or announcing some unknown but important news. The air gently caresses the leaves and then your face and finally breezes past your ears making an ever so faint sound. Leaves rustle as chipmunks and squirrels scurry along looking for food or whatever it is they do in the spring of the year. These all are noise - but noise that constitutes stillness --just now the gentle sound of water sprinkling on leaves. In this stillness I begin again to hear what is deep within creation. It begins with the sound of the rising and falling of my own chest as new air finds my lungs as if I hadn't known how to breathe until that moment. I slow down, I hear the torrent sound of thoughts flooding my mind. I try to just let them pass. Sometimes they do...

The cacophonous sound comes from others entering this space for what they and I say we long for - quiet, peace, rest, and renewal. Perhaps that is not what they want or we just define those words differently. The four of them play first one game and then another. The two men offering all they are in order to conquer the other. I wonder if they have a volume control? Are they longing to impress their wives or just prove their prowess to one another? What would it take to receive what you say you want, the quiet? There are groans intermingled with shouts of joy. After they have conquered the stillness, and one another, they turn to conversation saying not so much anything but saying really nothing about one topic and then the next - there's so much blood in Iraq... I wonder why they speak Iraqi and others speak Afghani? ...they've been fighting there for centuries, they'll just keep fighting... you know when we liberated the concentration camps, the Jews needed a homeland... they were right. the sun never did really set on the British empire... MacArthur didn't listen to Truman... Patton was seriously anti-Semitic... WHY DO THEY SPEAK IRAQI ANYWAY?

When one pair finally departs, the other tires to analyze the first. It turns out the conversation was about winning as well. I wondered if I had made a mistake or if I should have just removed myself from the racket? I tried that and it seemed to work. I walked into a stretch of stillness, which added a rhythmic melody of trickling water. I found a spot absent of any blackboard. Then I heard the faint sounds returning, moving ever closer. Should I move on again? No, these simply were passing through and stillness remained.

The sounds of the earlier encounter though returned to my mind. It turns out they had left a mark - a wound really. The four are not wholly accountable in the sense they didn't know they were cutting so deep. Perhaps they didn't know as well how to find what it was they said they were looking for? But, they represent the wound our culture leaves upon each of us. We are driven to win, to come out on top, to shout our acclamations over the top of others' groans.

I need stillness to heal such a wound. For stillness is a balm that brings life when all else seeks to take it. In the stillness, I can hear again what is deep within creation - the breath of God.

Thinking about Grief

2007-04-26T14:49:00.000-04:00

I'm posting my newsletter contribution this week, mostly because I wanted to open it up to comment. I was mostly thinking aloud on paper for this contribution and would appreciate your thoughts and comments about grief and the process of grieving and anything else that you'd like to add:

The air from near and far in recent days has been filled with words of tragedy and deep sadness. The images whether received as a live feed from a news service or still photographs published in the black and white of a newspaper cause us to pause and wonder what in the world is going on and how in the world can things like this happen – again and again – as they do.

Every form of media seems to be locked in on the tragic shooting on the campus of Virginia Tech as well as any and all potential threads of related stories. All of it is there for our watching and absorption. Krista Tippett, host of National Public Radio program "Speaking of Faith", comments on our watching these news reports unfold, “As perpetually horrified as we are of terror and violence, we are riveted by them and we let them define our take on reality. The communications miracles of the 21st century make wondrous connections possible, and yet they also bring us images of horror with an immediacy and vividness that are debilitating. Violent images seem altogether more solid and substantial, more decisive and telling, somehow, than kindness, goodness, and lived peace. It is easy to bow down before these images and give in to the despair they preach (“Wrenching Light Out of the Darkness,” Speaking of Faith Newsletter, April 19, 2007. speakingoffaith.publicradio.org).

Maybe Tippett is correct in suggesting that the images are just more solid and substantial and that is why we are so hooked by them. Or perhaps, she gets only half of it correct. Her response doesn’t account for what’s behind our desire for such solid and substantial images. Please note that I am not suggesting anything about the motivations of the news reporters and media outlets but rather am wondering about what hooks others and us into watching endless hours of stories in and around this tragedy as well as others like it.

As I think about why we’re hooked, I wonder if the encounter with such events doesn’t stir some of our own grief from other parts of our lives. I know that has been part of my own response to the shootings at Virginia Tech. I served as an interim minister with a congregation in Metropolis, Illinois, not too long after the shootings at the high school in Paducah, Kentucky. Metropolis is just across the Ohio River from Paducah. Not even that great flow of water could separate these communities and the aftermath of that shooting.

In response to personal loss or communal tragedy, we may often hear or even say, “Everything will be okay.” That’s not the case nor is it the natural flow of grief and maybe not even a helpful way to grieve. Grief is our response to loss of any kind and includes an emotional dimension as well as physical, cognitive, social, behavioral, and theological dimensions. Moving through the grief process is not a return to normalcy or to a place where everything is okay. Rather it is the process of acknowledging and coming to terms with the loss and moving towards a new way of being or living in the face of loss. This process is sometimes enumerated in terms of stages including a stage of initial shock and even denial or the loss. This point is when the pain of loss first touches us and may include a response or feeling of un-realness. This first stage is followed by the second that maybe characterized by anger, frustration, a sense of helplessness, and other emotions. It as well maybe characterized not only by feelings but action or behavior rooted in those emotions. The anger and frustration can be difficult to acknowledge and it may make others around us feel uncomfortable to the point of them suggesting that we shouldn’t be angry. It is not wrong to be angry. Instead, what we have to understand and seek to make sense of is why we are angry and frustrated and examine how that anger and frustration are finding expression. Sometimes our anger and frustration about one issue come out in relation to another unrelated issue. Being aware of our feelings and their connections can help us process the anger in constructive ways while discouraging our expression of it aimed at unrelated and undeserving issues. From this stage, we often move into a period when we feel the full weight of the loss, which may stir feelings of great pain and despair. Here may wish the pain of loss would just go away. But it will not and ultimately it cannot if we are to move towards finding a new way of living in the face of our loss, which is the last of the stages of grief. In this last stage we re-organize life by assimilating the loss into our lives and redefining our lives and the meaning of life without the person or other thing lost.

Grief is the natural response to loss in our lives. These losses may come as the death of another or the loss of a relationship or the loss of a career or job. In other words, grief is the natural response to change. For whenever there is change, something is lost and we must find a way to reorganize life. Therefore, we grieve. We may or may not be aware of stages of grief that psychiatry and pastoral theology enumerate to describe the process but they can be helpful for understanding our own losses and our own grief. Understanding and processing our grief in turn helps us step into life – to step into the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Fragility of Life

2007-04-19T11:43:00.000-04:00

We have been reminded this week of the fragility of life. The news hounds have been rushing around to get the "back story," trying to get information about why it happened, why someone didn't intervene in this young man's life sooner, as well as the human interest elements focused on the stories of the victims. It is an effort to make sense of the tragedy, to express the anger and frustration about it, and to deal with the fear that it has stirred. This is not a critique but rather an assessment or description of what I've seen the news reporters doing. I have not watched endless hours of the reports but just enough to keep up with what is happening in and around this tragedy.

The governor of Virginia has called for Friday to be a day of remembrance and I know that pastors of various traditions will work diligently to lead memorial services and vigils that faithfully witness to God's presence in the midst of such pain.

I also include below a letter from NAPAD (North American Asian/Pacific Disciples) leader Dr. Geunhee Yu sent out by Disciples Home Missions via email earlier today.

From Dr. Yu:
We at North American Pacific/Asian Disciples (NAPAD) are deeply shocked and profoundly saddened by the massacre at Virginia Tech on April 16. On behalf of the community of NAPAD and the Korean Disciples Convocation (KDC), I sincerely offer my condolences to the families and friends of the victims, as well as all who have been adversely affected. It is indeed my most heartfelt prayer that our gracious God sends comfort and healing. I also steadfastly and tearfully pray for the souls of the victims.

It is horrifying that a Korean-American student is at the center of these heinous acts. It is my sincere hope, however, that we make great efforts to not allow racial overtones to further darken this tragedy. Simply put, he committed a brutal crime--a deranged madman sinned against all humanity. Allowing this to drive an ethnic wedge between us would do nothing but make a bad situation worse. I hope you agree.

All of the NAPAD churches have been in prayer vigils for the victims and their families--as well as for our entire nation. I urge all of our fellow Disciples to join us in prayer and mourning.

May God comfort the victims and heal our nation.

Rev. Geunhee Yu 
Executive Pastor 
North American Pacific/Asian Disciples (NAPAD)

The Shadow of Easter

2007-04-11T10:59:00.000-04:00

It is a cold, rainy day here in central Indiana. I've gotten soaked twice today and my umbrella now catches rain instead of shielding others from it. It feels more like November than April. Maybe that's why Easter has a new patina. Or...maybe that just always happens. We celebrate in that moment but as we move away its shadow is all we can really see as it grows longer and longer the further we move away from it.

Perhaps such a feeling is only from the perspective of a clergy person. We are so busy in Lent, then comes Holy Week and we rush to get everything ready. Then Easter morn arrives and there is all of this great activity - the special programs, the confirmations and baptisms (- which I'm still really excited about. They all went well and I hope serve as a significant moment in the faith journeys of those who participated.), the crowds, and the gatherings after worship. We get through all of this and I'm wiped out, ready for a break, just trying to catch my breath.

But I'm still haunted by the question from Luke's gospel, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?" Through my preparation for last Sunday's sermon, I decided that another way to ask that question or one that brings it home to us, or at least me, is, "Will you now rise and do - be - live life differently?" The resurrection finds meaning I think when we see it in our own lives.

We reach a point in relation to most shadows when they can no longer be seen. The light casting the shadow goes away; we move too far away from the light such that the shadow becomes imperceptible; or something blocks our view. Not so with the Easter shadow. It continues to be there where we can see it and inviting us back towards the light that casts it. Even darkness cannot eclipse it.

A Different Kind of Baptism?

2007-04-05T09:55:00.000-04:00

We'll celebrate 2 confirmations and 4 baptisms on Easter Sunday. It is special day in the life of the congregation that we can be a part of these lives. I don't anticipate this kind of splash but thought it was hilarious. Thanks for this video goes to the parishioner that shared it with me.

Chocolate Jesus

2007-04-04T10:30:00.000-04:00

Have you heard about the fight over the "Chocolate Jesus?"

"My Sweet Lord" is a 6' milk chocolate sculpture of Jesus on the cross by Cosimo Cavallaro and was to be displayed this week at the Lab Gallery in Manhattan. However, there was such outrage last week that the hotel that houses the gallery closed the show before it ever opened.

It is interesting that such a sculpture would create so much vituperation. I think though that it is probably an indication of the emotions related to the ongoing discussions about who Jesus is or was and what Jesus means for the church in all of its manifestations today. We see that argument usually carried out in books and articles from all perspectives.

I wonder though why no one gets so upset about a chocolate cross? A couple of weeks ago, I stopped in one of those super-sized arts and crafts stores and happened upon a display of chocolate crosses. I suppose they will sell countless numbers of those for folks to add to their children's Easter baskets. Why doesn't anyone get all up in arms about chocolate crosses? This symbol of torture, capital punishment, and gruesome death is acceptable for Easter baskets but we can't display a milk chocolate Jesus without a public outcry? What's the deal?

Here's my take on "My Sweet Lord." I think the artist makes an interesting statement about how we have misunderstood Jesus and his message. We've turned him into a piece of candy that can sooth us in our moments of anxiety and that can satisfy our momentary hankering for something sweet. This artist challenges us to reassess our relationship with Jesus and to ask ourselves if we understand who he is and if we want to follow him wherever he leads. It's too bad that the show won't go on.

The Personal Journal of Maximillus - 5 Days Later

2007-04-02T11:04:00.000-04:00

Pilate kept his word; he took the rebel who rode into the city on the donkey. Last evening, he sent the temple guard to take him. It was not difficult to arrange the capture. One of the Galilean’s own sold him out. It is my understanding that he led the guard right to the rebel. But it all nearly ended right there. One of the Galilean’s followers struck a soldier and cut off his ear but then this Jesus healed him – nothing more than a magician’s trick. After the temple guard took him to the Jewish council, he was handed over to Pilate. The governor had orchestrated it all without anyone being the wiser.

The charges brought against this Jesus were his claim to be the “king of the Jews” and that he had forbid people from paying taxes to Caesar. It is said that when he was asked about this that he said, “give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s and to God the things that are God’s."

Didn’t he know what he was saying? Doesn’t he realize that “the emperor [manifests] the sovereignty, presence, will, and blessings of the gods among human beings[?]” Everything belongs to Caesar; giving to God is giving to Caesar.

Then Pilate cunningly sent this Jesus to see Herod, tetrarch of the region of Galilee. Pilate said it was a courtesy, but I believe he did it for political reasons. He wanted Herod as a political ally. And Herod played along. He and his companions spent several hours humiliating this “king of the Jews.” When Herod returned him to Pilate, he had even dressed him mockingly in a royal robe.

Then I was privileged to witness the craftiest political move I can imagine. Pilate offered to release Jesus. He manipulated the entire series of events, all leading up to their demand for him to take action. He riled them to the point of frenzy and they could ask for nothing less. In so doing, he took care of the insurrectionist, Jesus, and he increased his approval ratings simultaneously. So, the sentence was set; it would be crucifixion just like for all the other insurrectionists who dared to challenge Mother Rome.

We carried it out like we have the dozens of times before. We led him along with 2 others, all 3 criminals carrying their transverse beams out to a hill on the main road so that everyone could see them. “Whenever we crucify the guilty, the most crowded roads are chosen, where the most people can see and be moved by this fear. For penalties relate not so much to retribution as to their exemplary effect” (Quintillian, Decl. 274). It is amazing to me that this punishment doesn’t deter more people than it does. You would think they would give up and settle for the stability of Pax Romana. But they just cannot take it.

We were out there for several hours. Nothing out of the ordinary. When it was all over and we were headed home, I noticed some of those that I had seen with the rebel several days ago. They stood some distance away, I guess hoping that they would not be next. I don’t know why Pilate didn’t just arrest them all. It has been such an effective deterrent in other places. I believe it can be here. I suppose it is because they denied knowing him that they escaped trial themselves.

This is our routine as we occupy this land. The end to another who would be king. I will continue to develop my relationship with Pilate. Perhaps he will be the one to bring stability to this land and that will mean that he will advance in the government and I believe that I will be able to follow along. But there will need to be more crucifixions like the one today if we are to rule this land.

Some New Thoughts

2007-03-29T10:52:00.000-04:00

It has taken me a couple of months to get caught up enough to post again. I wouldn't say that I'm completely caught up, just enough to add something else to the mix. As we approach Holy Week, I thought of this reflection that I wrote a few years ago. It is longer so I'm going to post the first part today and the next part tomorrow.

The Personal Journal of Maximillus
Centurion of the 3rd Legion

The first day of the fourth month in the 16th year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius

We returned today from patrolling the province. I tire of Idumea, or as the people of this land call it, Judea. In other places, the occupation has gone easier. (Why is it that I could not have received such an assignment?) In other lands, the people adopted our ways. They welcomed the stability that we brought – mainly because of the wealth that comes with it. They adapt to our religion and readily offer sacrifices to Caesar as a god.

But here – here there seems to be constant unrest, especially around their holy days. The Jews will only offer sacrifices to their God in honor of Caesar. They still dream of independence and believe their God will send a king as their savior from our rule.

The situation is especially tense now, perhaps it is best described as a tinderbox, as they prepare for another of their festivals – Passover is what I believe they call it. It is a celebration of their liberation from Egypt. It is only a dream that they could escape Caesar’s rule. Someone though is always ready to bring that dream to fruition.

As we returned to Jerusalem today, I witnessed such a group proclaiming that the savior of the Jews has come. There was a group of 50 – 75 people coming from Mt. Olivet following a man riding a donkey. They threw their cloaks on the road before him and as they drew closer I could hear them shout, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” I couldn’t believe what was before my eyes. Even when some of those called Pharisees saw us and tried to stop the other’s shouts of acclamation, they continued. “Blessed is the king…” He hardly looked the part of a king, dirty, dressed in little more than rags, riding a donkey across a carpet of more rags. He just looked silly on top of that donkey. I wonder if he was trying to mock the emperor’s triumphal entry into Rome?

When I was a boy, I watched as Caesar Tiberius triumphantly rode into Rome. There were thousands filling the streets and watching as he rode that great, black stallion into the city. And it was not across any dirty cloaks but on a carpet of blood red silk, edged in gold.

The small rag, tag bunch I witnessed today did not know how sad they looked. Nor did they know how sad they will be after Pilate is finished with them. I reported their treasonous act as soon as I reached the garrison house in the Antonia.

Pilate assured me that they would not go unpunished. I wonder if it will be decapitation, burning, or crucifixion?

A shrewd politician is that Pilate. I had understood Pilate to be “a man of very inflexible disposition, and very merciless as well as very obstinate” (Philo, Embassy). Crafty is the word that I would use. I must keep my eye on him for he seems to be going places.

Working to Get Back

2007-01-31T10:07:00.000-05:00

Well it has taken 4 weeks but I'm back online. It is official; my laptop has hardware problems - the logic board is bad. So late last week, I got a new machine. I'm busy putting everything back together now. Luckily I had my stuff backed up and can put it into the new laptop. But that takes some time and so it will take a few more days before I'm posting here again. I just wanted to pass along an update and let you know what's going on - if anyone is interested or still reading this page.

Happy New Year!

2007-01-04T18:45:00.000-05:00

I trust that everyone had a happy start to the New Year. We finished off 2006 with a trip to visit our extended families and then a trip to Atlanta to celebrate the wedding of our friends Troy and Leigh Ann. It was a wonderful worship service and the reception afterwards was nice also. We travelled home in the rain but have had a couple of pretty days since.

I had planned to post an update and New Year greetings earlier in the week but I'm having computer problems. I've fought with it all week. I think I've ruled out infection and now think that it is a hardware problem and that maybe my screen is going out. I've gone as far as I can go with it so tomorrow I take it to the Apple Store and let them work on it. So I'll make do with other avenues. Luckily, I've got a backup of my data - except for my last couple of weeks of emails and I can recover most of that via webmail.

So, look for more stuff here next week.

Have a Blessed Christmas!

2006-12-22T17:23:00.000-05:00

I'll be away the week following Christmas. We plan to visit family as well as attend the wedding of our friends Troy and Leigh Ann. As I wrap things for Christmas Eve and we get ready for the trip, it is my prayer that all have a blessed Christmas celebration this year.

This Christmas and every Christmas are about the birth of Christ in us. The story of Jesus’ conception by the Spirit describes how it always happens: Christ is born in us through the union of the Spirit of God with our flesh. This Good News brings joy and empowers hope as it unwraps our souls and reveals that God loves us just because that is who God is!

The earth meets the transcendent.
Waiting ends.
God comes to us.

2006-12-19T13:10:00.000-05:00

Helsinki Complaints Choir

A friend shared this with me and I'd like to share it with you. I thought it was pretty funny!

Joy! Joy! Joy! - How can it be?

2006-12-14T20:15:00.000-05:00

Joy! Joy! Joy! That is what our culture says it is all to be about in these days of the Christmas season. What do you do with that message when you have grief to deal with? Are we just to leave it aside? Pretend it isn't there? Deny it?

This topic is on my mind because I presided at a funeral service today. It was a service of memory and hope for a parishioner. It had been a tough year for her with the death of her husband earlier in the year as well as with her own physical health even before that. She decided earlier this fall not to pursue treatment related to her recent diagnosis. As she and I talked about things, she approached our conversations with tremendous honesty and clarity. When she had something to say, she said it. When she had questions, she asked them. When I didn't offer an easy answer, she asked more questions. Tonight as I write these thoughts, I feel as if she shared a gift with me over these past weeks. She invited me into her struggles and pain and grief. She also invited me to know her hope.

I've been thinking about hope a lot lately - particularly as it relates to the coming of the Christ child. How does God in our midst - God with us - give us hope? How is it real to us? Is it something that we can touch and feel or even see? Or is it nothing more than a nice idea to hang onto?

As we talked about hope last week at the Elders' Circle (a time when the elders gather for prayer and discussion), one of the elders suggested that perhaps we have to face adversity before we can really know what to look for or know what it is that we are looking for. Maybe sharing hope means standing with another and holding her hand as she stares into the abyss??
I know that doesn't fully capture the essence of hope but I do think it says something about hope's essence.

Today wasn't Joy! Joy! Joy! But I find myself this night with a deeper sense of hope even if I can't quite describe it well as my ramblings above suggest. May hope be with you as God is with us always!

Never Not Nothing

2006-12-12T11:53:00.000-05:00

I need some help parsing this phrase.

Last night as I was leaving a cabinet meeting at church, I hit the scan button on the radio and happened to hear these words used in one sentence. Some will be perhaps appalled by the use of such grammar others will perhaps care less. My mind went racing elsewhere - the implications of what the person was saying.

As it turns out, I had inadvertently found the local ABC affiliate who evidently broadcasts on FM radio in addition to television. I discovered later that I was listening to the start of "Wifeswap" and one of the participants was a mother, from Kentucky, who spent 1/4 of her family's income on beauty pageants for her 5 year old daughter. Now before you start railing on Kentucky, remember that is the state of my birth, the state in which I attended college, and the state of my favorite basketball team which happened to defeat Indiana over the weekend (although I'm not sure they'll win any further games this year). As they were introducing the participants, I heard this woman say that "My daughter never walked off the stage with not nothing." I'm not promising that this is an exact quote but I do believe it is what I heard.

It started me thinking about what she was really saying. I think she was trying to say that this was a rewarding experience for her daughter and that she always took home a crown or trophy of some kind. But I think what she really said was that her daughter always walks off the stage with nothing. Where is the meaning in these activities? Where is the depth? Is this mother teaching her daughter to contribute to the world and make it a more humane place? Never, not nothing -- nothing to hang on to, nothing to build upon, nothing to share with anyone else.

If you get it parsed, please let me know so that I might find something else in the words she offered. By the way, the next station that the scan button found was the "Classical Connection" - a nightly offering of classical music on public radio. It was a fascinating juxtaposition.

What Are your Questions?

2006-12-08T14:33:00.000-05:00

In my post yesterday, I suggested that in order to experience substantive change in our lives that we need to wrestle with the questions of ultimate meaning. I listed a few examples -

Why am here?
What am I supposed to do with my life?
Where is it all going?
What are my relationships with other human beings to be?

There are other questions as well as other ways to frame these questions. What I am curious about are the questions that other people wrestle with at the deepest level. Maybe they are the questions that come and stay with you for a while or they are the ones that pop up for you in moments of crisis. Maybe they come to you in the midst of prayer. Perhaps they are the questions that nag at your in the midst of facing struggles or your moments of great joy.

What I want to hear are the questions that you are wrestling with. Please feel free to post them as a comment on the blog or email them to me.

An Interesting Idea

2006-12-07T18:33:00.000-05:00

A friend put a copy of a newspaper article in my mailbox at the church this last Sunday. It is an opinion piece and I'm sorry to say I don't know what paper it is from. The author is Mary Jane Wilkie from Morristown, NJ, and the title of the essay is "To truly honor Christmas, end its status as an official holiday." It is an interesting suggestion Ms. Wilkie makes - that if the official holiday status of Christmas was removed by Congress, as it bestowed that status in 1870, that we as Christians and consequently the church could recover the deeper meanings of this holy day.

I suspect Ms. Wilkie is struggling with the consumerist mentality that pervades this holiday season and she wants to recover some sense of a "truer", or more faithful, celebration of Christmas. As her argument goes, we as followers of Christ would have to consciously choose to celebrate the holiday by taking personal days or vacation time and therefore would be more committed to the faithful celebration of Christ's birth. There is something appealing about this suggestion.

What is appealing about it is not that her suggestion would work but rather that she has accurately described the problem with the culture's celebration (i.e. consumerism) of Christmas and taken a stab at a solution. While I like the idea, I personally don't think it would work because the issues that she describes are ultimately symptomatic and don't go to the source of the issue. While it would be good if we were less consumeristic, we cannot be unless we address the issues that are behind that turn to consumerism. To address those issues, then we have to turn to face the ultimate meaning questions of living - "Why am I here?" "What am I supposed to do with my life?" "Where is it all going?" "What are my relationships with other human begins to be?" These are only a few examples of the kinds of questions that I think we would have to wrestle with in order to address the deeper issue. It seems to me that we turn to consumerism in an effort to bring meaning to life when we don't have the opportunity, we don't choose to take the opportunity, and/or we don't have the skills to ask or answer those ultimate meaning questions. For the church to reclaim Christmas, or for that matter any holy day and its relevance and message of good news, then we have to reclaim teaching folks how to wrestle with those questions and help them find some answers. It won't always be easy or necessarily lead to easily found answers. But like Jacob at the Jabbok, if we don't give up the wrestling, then we'll discover a blessing in the struggle even if we walk a little gingerly afterwards.

Holiday Shopping - Saying Yes and Saying No

2006-11-29T10:44:00.000-05:00

It has officially begun! Have you finished yours yet? What, you may ask, am I talking about? Well, Christmas shopping of course.

One of my sisters-in-law worked in the retail industry for many years and she always dreaded the day after Thanksgiving. I seem to recall that a few years ago it was designated the busiest shopping day of the year and serves as the more or less formal start of the holiday shopping season. From now until late December, we’ll receive countless mail fliers informing us of upcoming sales, the lowest prices of the season, and a guarantee to have that hard-to-find item in stock. Each and every television station as well as radio station will inundate us with promotions for all of the newest gadgets and gizmos as well as a wealthy portion of past season favorites.

I think, though, that the advertisers and stores started well before last Friday. I noticed it one evening a few weeks ago when Will began announcing all of his desires for Christmas gifts. He proceeded to tell me about all of the cool things he had just seen on the television and that he thought he just had to have. Of course, he wanted us to say, “Yes, we’ll get you that…” And of course, we did not do that.

That “Yes” is the goal of all of the advertising to which we are submitted year round and in larger doses in this holiday season. They want us and even need us to say, “Yes”, to our children, ourselves, and to the salespeople in all the stores where we find ourselves when we shop. Sometimes, we will say yes and make purchases in order to give these items as gifts to another. Other times, we will say no. As I consider these “Yeses” and these “Nos”, I wonder how it is that I am supposed to know when to say, “Yes”, and when to say, “No”? A variety of factors figure into my response: cost, appropriateness for the recipient, and value among others. As I seek to faithfully follow Jesus, I also want my faith commitments to be the prominent factor in these choices. In other words, “How do I know when to say ‘Yes’ and when to say ‘No’? My instinct is that knowing when to say which is important to more than just what gifts to purchase and give but is relevant to all aspects of life.

Living a life of Christian faith that leads us into deeper relationship with God requires us to pray, study, be conscientious, and engaged in mutually supportive relationships with others. To live lives that are whole and holy takes self-discipline. If we are to live such lives, then we must learn the practice of saying no to that which crowds God out and yes to a way of life that makes space for God (Copeland Practicing 60).

The holiday shopping season particularly focuses this challenge because it represents a key aspect of our contemporary culture – we live in a context of seemingly unlimited choices. Playing on the themes of the holiday season, advertisers attempt to lure us down these paths of seemingly endless choice. As we follow their lead, we find ourselves at some point in a place where we discover that we have no choices and that the freedom of choice was an illusion. Our acquisitiveness prevents us from saying yes to the greater demands of God and in doing so it crowds God out of our lives. We find out that we don’t own our possessions – they own us.
It is hard to say no. Even when we know that choosing this path leads to a more whole and holy life, saying no can feel like deprivation and loss and then even the best of intentions can be laid aside. “In order for a no to be effective,” Shawn Copeland suggests, “it must be placed in the larger context of a life-affirming yes. But saying yes is not always easy either. Sometimes, even as the yes forms on the tongue, we pull back. Every yes brings with it new duties, new tasks; every yes calls up the unsettling potential of change in our lives” (Practicing 66).

Knowing when, how, to what, and to who to give our yes and no evolves throughout our lives. To live the life of faith and to strengthen our yes and our no, we need to engage intentional prayer – intimate conversation with God. Such conversation requires listening as much as it does talking on our parts. We also need the practice of discernment that includes our deliberate reflection our choices and decisions – past, present, and future. Additionally, the support and accountability of a small group with whom we openly share our struggles and successes can greatly aid this process of saying yes and saying no as well as many other spiritual disciplines.

If we are to live such lives, then we must learn the practice of saying no to that which crowds God out and yes to a way of life that makes space for God (Copeland Practicing 60).

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth...

2006-11-26T09:45:00.000-05:00

Can it be the last Sunday of Novemeber already? I was just preparing for a week of vacation at the end of October. What happened to the last 4 weeks? That's what it feels like to me. It has been incredibly busy around our house and the church between the Traci's, the kid's, and my schedules. School projects abound. We had our annual congregational meeting last week which meant reports, budgets, and nominations. Advent is just around the corner. There is a Hanging of the Greens service to finish writing/adapting, cantata just around the corner - not that I'm singing so don't panic, but I am one of the narrators - Advent sermons, Christmas Eve services to prep and a wedding on New Year's Eve for our good friend Troy Tatum.

All of this to say that, life is hectic. That's nothing new for most folks. It is kind of like we've merged into traffic on an interstate loop and traffic is moving so fast and is so thick that we can't make our way over to the exit. I think I probably need to listen to the pastoral advice that I offer others and slow down and focus on my spiritual disciplines. That means discerning when to say "Yes" and when to say "No", taking sabbath time, practicing lectio divina, and extending and receiving hospitality.

Some Light that I Encountered Anew

2006-10-20T12:49:00.000-04:00

I've been trying to post for a couple of days but have had trouble getting onto the Blogger site. Don't know what the trouble is but it looks like it might finally work!

Joy Davidman in her book, Smoke on the Mountain (Hodder and Stoughton, 1955, 125), writes,

And perhaps Christianity, if we ever embrace it not for our own worldly advantage but through surrender to God, will not only enable us to...save this transitory world for the few perpexled years we spend in it, but bring us out of this noise and darkness and helplessness and terror that we call the world into the full Light: Light we remember from our childhood dreams and from glimpses through music and art and the ecstasy of first love; Light we have known through a brief glow in our few moments of really selfless charity; Light which, in our secret hearts, we desire more than money and sex and power and the pride of the self. We men are all theives who have stolen the self which was meant as a part of God and tried to keep it for ourselves alone. But if we give it up again, we might hear the words he spoke to a penitent thief once: 'Today shalt though be with me in paradise.'

More Friday Night Lights

2006-10-15T16:36:00.000-04:00

I watched the next installment in this new series. I guess I'm intrigued and what to see how the writers will continue to weave together the stories of this team and the hopes and dreams of Dillion, Texas, as a kind-of religious exploration of life's meaning.

The show opened last week with parallel scenes of the community in church - two different churches. The African-American players and their families are in one church; the Anglo-American players, their families, and the coaches are in another church. The topic of that Sunday's reflections are Jason Street and the likelihood of his ever walking again. As the show continues, we see the apparent president of the quarterback club, and owner of the local auto dealership, suggesting to the head coach that he must win or lose his job. "What this town needs is a 'W', he says in his Texas drawl.

In an 1979 essay, Michael Novak suggested that sports in the United States creates a kind of civil religion and that sporting events are about half political rally and half religious worship service. He writes about sports that "They feed a deep human hunger, place humans in touch with certain dimly perceived features of human life within the cosmos, and provide an experience of at least a pagan sense of godliness" ("The Natural Religion," in Sport in Contemporary Society: An Anthology, St. Martin's Press, 335-41). In this show, I see deep longing on the part of a number of the characters to belong. Hope is a dominant theme here as well. Finally, I see played out the theology of Deuteronomy through 2 Kings - the righteous win and the unrighteous lose. You get what you deserve.

The end of 2 Kings tells us that this theology leads the people of Judah down a path that ends in destruction. I think it will be interesting to see where the writers lead the audience as we continue move through these stories lines.

Where We Encountered God

2006-10-11T10:40:00.000-04:00

This past Sunday, October 8, the El Salvador mission group led worship in our congregation and they did a great job. They wrote the call to worship, prayers, and reflections on how they encountered God on the streets of San Salvador, in the people from across the country, and in the dirt while digging footer trenches. Needless to say, we shared a bunch of pictures. It was a powerful worship experience for those who led worship and those joined together for this service. I encourage you to check out their reflections that are beginning to be posted on the blog, El Salvador Reflections.

At the end of the service, I announced a gathering on October 29 for anyone interested in returning to El Salvador sometime in 2007. I cannot wait to begin making these plans.

Lectio Divina - How I Try to Pray?

2006-10-09T17:47:00.000-04:00

Lectio Divina literally means spiritual reading and probably goes back to meditating on scripture in the Jewish tradition. In the 6th century, Benedict adapted the practice to be used in the monastic community. It is a way of praying scripture that is not so much about reading scripture for information as it is about letting scripture read us for the purpose of formation. Have you ever read a verse or a few verses in the bible that seem to speak directly to you? Or, have you read a passage that hits you right where you live? Lectio Divina moves us that direction.

Here's how I practice this discipline? Sometimes, more effectively than at other times! First, I find a quiet space and time - where and when I can limit the interruptions. Then I open the bible and select a short passage of scripture, usually between 1 and 4 verses. Now, I prepare to listen. I read the passage through a couple of times and listen for a word, phrase or idea that latches onto me. Usually some word stands out from all of the others. Then I just focus on that word, phrase or idea. After a little while, I'll read the passage again and then spend some more time in silence and let the word, phrase or idea echo within me while I listen for what it stirs up and then explore that stirred up stuff. Finally, I move into a longer time of silence enjoying the presence of God.

Some folks journal about this experience by writing down their insights, discoveries, or questions. I have a friend who does practices this discipline in this way and she finds it very fruitful. I don't journal but recommend it for those who want to try it.

Does God Love Football?

2006-10-04T10:39:00.000-04:00

Last night, I Tivo'd NBC's new series, Friday Night Lights, which is about big time high school football in west Texas and a take off of the movie with some minor changes - it is hard not to take the Dillon Panthers for the Parmian team in the movie. H.S. football in Texas, as well as Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Tennessee, is like H.S. basketball in Indiana and Kentucky. Everyone in the community knows what is happening with the team, might have the scheduled memorized, and knows that the outlook of the community rises and falls with the team's success. I've heard more than one story about Indiana school consolidation in the 1960s being largely determined by basketball rivalries. Perhaps that understanding is an urban myth. Even if it is, the description still speaks to the understanding of the importance of H.S. athletics in many communities.

I love football, especially H.S. football. I played it along with 2 younger brothers. The three of us started in Pee Wee leagues and played through college. In one of the scenes, the Dillon Panthers have a Wednesday practice with a local Pee Wee team, complete with the flashes of mother and fathers dreaming of their sons one day staring on the Panther team. At the end of the practice, all of the players gather together in the locker room as the star quarterback prepares to lead them in prayer. One of the Pee Wee players asks just before the prayer starts, "Do you think God loves football?" "Everybody loves football," answers the star QB. The prayer continues - The Lord's Prayer that is.

There are several other scenes in the show which include prayer - in the locker room just before gametime and at the center of the field after the game. The latter occasion involves prayers for the star QB who has just experienced the likely end of his H.S. football career and hopes of college or NFL stardom. Such scenes might be seen in any town, on any football field across the U.S. Even if God does love football, does prayer actually have a place in such moments and in such places? Prayer at such moments kind of has a "Holy War" feel to it for me.

It struck me also that football in this show, and perhaps even in our culture, is a religion. The fictional Dillon Panthers' stadium is a cathedral. The football stadium in Celina, Tennessee, (which we pass when we travel to see our parents) is like a white clapboard church upon a hill along some rural road. Players are like acolytes, liturgists, lay readers, interns, elders and deacons. The band along with the cheerleaders represent the choir. The officials work well as stand-ins for ushers and greeters who help everyone get where they are going. The coaches are like the priests and the head coach is the High Priest. The coach in Friday Night Lights certainly served in the role illustrated most fully at the end of the episode as he walks into the crowded hospital to see his injured, star QB. He walks through the crowd offering, I suppose, words of assurance, hugs for the parents, prayers for healing and safety. It closes with him taking the hand of the QB. It reminded me of the television representations of last rites.

Does God love football? What do you think?

Problems With the Video

2006-09-28T14:22:00.000-04:00

If you've tried to click on the video link in yesterday's post and come to screen at YouTube that says that it is blocked, I apologize. There is a problem with the link and I can't sort it out. So, if you really want to see the video, go to www.youtu be.com and then do a search for "Say No to Torture." Again, I remind you this video is graphic and such be viewed with caution.

How Do We Respond?

2006-09-26T15:12:00.000-04:00

Questions about U.S. policies and practices regarding prisoners of the war on terror have dominated news reports in recent weeks. Both sides of the legislative isle are using this issue to make political hay. As they do, it seems to me, our political leaders play on our worst fears hoping to generate support for the continued interrogation practices that they report have saved us from additional "9/11s." Maybe such practices have and maybe they haven't prevented such terrible acts. I believe, though, that there is a more fundamental question looming for us as Christians.

Regardless of the consequences, is it faithful and/or ethical for us to permit, either explicit or implicit , the use of torture such as waterboarding or stress positions to acquire information from the prisoners held at Guantonomo Bay, in Afghanistan, or at secret prisons around the globe?

My answer to the question is that it is certainly not faithful, at least according to any reading of the Gospel that I can come up with, nor is it ethical. Maybe there isn't a distinction between faithful and ethical. Either way, my faith leads me to say that it is wrong!

As I was wrestling with my thoughts about this topic, I came across a video clip (click on the hightlighted text to watch) from YouTube that goes to this point. The on-screen title places blame on President Bush and the Republican congress. I disagree with limiting responsibility to one party or another. Blame goes to both sides of the aisle just as credit goes to some on both sides of the aisle trying to address this issue. However, I include the link to the clip above because I think it poses a difficult question in a way that thousands of words cannot. (I warn you that the video includes graphic images. I urge caution!)

What would Jesus do? How would Jesus respond? Who would Jesus identify with in the midst of torture?

As I watched the images flash across the screen, it hit me that these scenes are inhuman. The people tortured are robbed of their humanity. Those off camera who do the torturing give up their humanity. I am reminded of Jesus' instruction to love our neighbors with all of our hearts, mind, and strength as well as to "love your enemies." Jesus teaches such a path because he desires to see realized God's vision of reconciliation among all creatures and nature with God, themselves, and one another. When we love our neighbors and our enemies, then we are pursuing that path of reconciliation. When we act to destroy others through these acts of torture, we deny that they are human, we deny they are created in the image of God, we deny that God desires to be reconciled to them. As we do these things, we also deny that we are human, created in the image of God, and that God desires and acts to reconcile us to Godself. We reach for power that is not ours to have. When we permit such torture, either implicitly or explicitly, then we sin. Our relationship with God and our fellow creatures and nature is breached and yearns to be redeemed.

So what do we do in the face of such circumstances? We repent. We turn around and go in another direction - a direction back towards God's desire for reconciliation. We repent, not just feeling sorrow or guilt in such moments, but by taking action and saying no we will not stand by and let such things happen to our neighbor or even our enemies. Then we have begun to follow Christ's instructions.

Tasting Salt

2006-09-21T21:23:00.000-04:00

Every six weeks or so, I put together a list of scripture passages to use for the prayer discipline of Lectio Divina. I pass it out to the elders here at Central and some other folks here who use this practice as well. If you are interested just let me know; I'd be glad to make the list of readings available to you. This most recent series uses the "Sermon on the Mount" from Matthew 5-7. Last week included mostly the Beatitudes and this week continues in chapter 5.

Yesterday's reading was Matthew 5:13, "You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot." The way I practice Lectio is to read the passage and then silently listen for a little while and see what latches onto me. "Taste" latched onto me and at first I wasn't sure why. Then I read it again and let the word "taste" and the rest of the passage echo around inside me for a few minutes. That stirred in me the idea that salt cannot lose its saltiness. It can get dirty because you spill it on the ground and have to sweep it up or you can drop something else into it; salt particles can bond with other salt particles and kind of become a paste. But if it is dirty or is nothing but a big clump, it still tastes salty. Salt cannot lose its saltiness. Even if you put some in a big pot of chili or stew, it remains salty. You may not directly taste the salt but it remains adding season and taste to the soup. Salt is salt and remains so regardless.

Then I read the passage again and listen in a period silence for anything that might get stirred up. This last time I was reminded that the Beatitudes are not "Be - Attitudes;" they are not instructions about how to "be." Rather they are pronouncement of blessing. As Jesus utters them, they are so. Perhaps this is what he says with regard to salt. You are salt and always will be salt. You cannot deny your identity. You may get a little dirty. You may get a little stuck together. But you are still salt.

As I came to the next verses, Matthew 5:14-16, I heard, "You are the light of the world..." I heard again, "you cannot deny your identity."

How We See the World

2006-09-20T11:01:00.000-04:00

Here's a picture of a cross that I designed and crafted for use during worship through Lent and Easter 2006 at Central Christian Church. The cross is made of copper and the design intends to evoke the idea that we see the world through the cross.

Wrestling with Salvation - Wrestling with Sin

2006-09-18T11:02:00.000-04:00

Sin is anything that leads to our separation or alienation from God. It can be our decisions and actions or it can be outside forces that act upon us that breach our relationship with God. It would be easier for us if we could just come up with a list of does and don'ts for the Christian life. Perhaps that would enable us to know definitively what is a sin and what is not a sin and provide a firm foundation from which to launch out into life. Because then we could easily distinguish between what is good and desirable for the Christian life and what is not.

The problem with such a list, however, is that it could never be long enough. Additionally, in some circumstances, what may be a sin for me may not be a sin for you. For some the occasional use of alcohol presents no problems regarding relationships with others, themselves, or God. But for others, alcohol represents a self-destructive force that impacts relationships with others and God.

We also sometimes struggle with what our faith calls a good and what our culture or society calls a good. For example, our culture says that it is good to acquire more and more wealth. But our faith calls that acquisitiveness into question. Jesus points to the lilies of the field and the birds of the air, challenges the rich young man, and teaches that where our treasure is there our hearts are also. If our hearts focus on acquiring things, then it is awfully difficult for our hearts to be about moving into deeper relationship with God.

Another problem with such a list of dos and don'ts is that it would present a particular problem when dealing with systemic sin, those forces that act upon us and drive a wedge in our relationship with God. We see this kind of sin all about us but often don't look at it in terms of sin. It is represented in systems that encourage people to escape from poverty but then does everything it can to keep people where they are. It is represented on a global scale as we take for ourselves at rates greater than our fair share or at rates that prevent others from enough food, natural resources, or life itself. The indicators of such systemic sin struck me as we saw the hovels along side tremendous shopping centers in San Salvador.

We may long for that list of dos and don'ts, a list of sins to avoid. But such a list is not enough. In order to know what it is that leads us from the path of following Christ, what leads to a breach in our relationship with God, what cuts us off form the source of life, we have to work much harder by carefully looking over and assessing our lives.

When we consider sin in our lives, the image for each of us will be different. You may see a wide array of images such as the image of a thief, or someone sharing a bed with another's beloved, or a bottle of alcohol or pills, or people living upon the death and waste of a lava field with no hope of anything more. As we participate in the self-reflective work necessary to consider sin and our own lives, Barbara Brown Taylor offers the suggestion that the experience to search for, to dig for in order to know the sin of our lives is that "one that makes part of you die" (Speaking 62). When we find such an image, we can identify the sin present in our own lives.

She further suggests that there are those moments in life, deep down in our experiences where we have seen the light of God and we've turned away from it because it is "too beautiful to behold or because it spoils the dank but familiar darkness;" there are those moments when you've broken something just to prove that you can; there are those moments of doing whatever you have to in order to feed or comfort yourself (Speaking 62-3). Sin is whatever makes part of you die, whatever alienates you from God.

That sin is our only hope may sound contradictory to you but it isn't. When we look at our lives and we examine those parts of us that are dead, those decisions, choices, and forces that alienate us from God, that cause a breach in our relationship with God and one another, then we have taken the first important step towards reconciliation - God's own goal. Such realization awakens us to the need to do things differently, not just to feel sorrow or guilt, but to change ourselves and the societal conditions that lead to death. This act of turning back to the path of following God is repentance and it is a choice of life over death.

Jesus says, "Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live."

Wrestling with Salvation

2006-09-18T10:00:00.000-04:00

Sin is our only hope" hope for what? To what? To salvation? But what does that mean? This worldly? Other worldly? Something else entirely? Just exactly what does it mean to be saved?

Traditional understandings of salvation are that we are saved from sin, death and evil. There has always been, though, a tension in the theology of the church around the understanding of salvation. You can hear the tension in the dialogue between Martha and Jesus as he comes to mourn for his friend, Lazarus. She says to him, Lord, if you had been here Jesus responds, Your brother will rise again. Maybe a bit confused by this exchange, Martha assures Jesus that she knows he will rise again on the last day, on that history is consummated and the reign of God is fully present throughout creation. But Jesus continues, I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die (John 11:21-26)

Is salvation resurrection on the last day, that day when history is consummated? Or, is it at the point of our own deaths that we experience resurrection and enjoyment of an eternal abode in God? Does salvation have to do with this world? Is it otherworldly? Is it about heaven?

We often times assume that everyone knows what we mean when we say salvation. But Ive heard enough conversation around the subject among Gods faithful to know that it is a mistake to assume everyone has the same meaning in mind when they use the word - salvation.

Perhaps that surprises you. But it has really been that way since the first writers of the books we call scripture put a stylus to skin or parchment. Salvation comes in the Hebrew Bible as God promises a child to the barren Abraham and Sarah and then as God remembers Gods covenant and liberates the people from slavery in Egypt and from the perspective of Isaiah when God gives power to the faint and strengthens the powerless (40:29) and for Ezekiel it is described as resurrection when God addresses the problem of the Babylonian exile.

The gospels describe Jesus ministry as preaching the Good News of the reign of God; or described a little differently, Jesus preached about Gods consummation of history. But even in the gospels and all of the New Testament, there is no uniform understanding of salvation. Sometimes, Jesus says the reign of God is almost here. He even encourages the disciples to pray for the coming of Gods kingdom. But other times, Jesus says the reign of God is already present and among us, Truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it (Matt 13:16). The tension inherit in the teaching of Jesus is a problem for the church. Even the author of 2 Peter recognizes it, he sees that the kingdom has not fully arrived and he wants to know whats up (cf. 3:4). This tension has not disappeared for the church.

I suspect your definitions and understandings would testify to still a variety of beliefs around this topic. You are not alone. Throughout the centuries, the church has argued, sometimes passionately, over these issues. Is salvation about this world or is it about getting to heaven? Is the reign of God present or yet to be?

We want and need an answer to these questions. But how do we find it? In searching for the answer, I am struck by the concept of salvation in the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. In the Hebrew Bible, salvation can describe Gods activity to deliver, bring to safety, buy back, restore, vindicate, or rescue the people and individuals. In the New Testament, salvation can describe God or Jesus activity to protect from harm, rescue, heal, liberate, or give life. These, I believe, in both testaments, point to salvation as being about a new relationship with God that is neither exclusively in this world or the next. The issue is not either/or. It is not that salvation is either this worldly or other worldly. Rather, salvation is about this new relationship with God in the here and now and at the end of life and history. Salvation is both/and it is about both this world and the next. Because to live in one way and not the other robs both of their significance.

If our concern is only for ultimate salvation, at our own deaths or the end of history, it cannot ignore the liberation of all people and all of nature from oppression. For if we fail to love our neighbor, feed the hungry, and give drink to the thirsty, then we give up the gospel. If we ignore our neighbors, the hungry, the thirsty, or all of creation itself, then we deny the very ones to whom Jesus went. God seeks to reconcile all of creation to Godself and will never cease seeking this reconciliation. We must not stop seeking it either.

While we cannot ignore the liberation from oppression for this world, it is equally a mistake to limit salvation to only such liberation. Disciple theologian, Clark Williamson, suggests there are 3 reasons that such an understanding of salvation is inadequate. First he suggests, if salvation only is about the liberation of this world from oppression, then those who die before such liberation are not saved but damned (Way of Blessing 311). Ten years ago as I walked into the Childrens memorial at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial in Israel, and I saw the countless symbols of children killed by the Nazis, the idea that salvation is only this worldly turned to ash in my mouth. Second, all we have to do is look at human history and see that we will never arrive at a utopian state of total liberation (Way 311). So often as one group is liberated from oppression the oppressed become the oppressors. Finally, for those who work so diligently for the liberation of this world, without any sense of Gods activity to ultimately redeem, will run out of gas with no means to refill the tank. Eventually, the size of the task and repeated failures will lead to resignation and perhaps disillusionment (Way 312).

Salvation describes Gods desire and activity to reconcile all creatures and nature with God, themselves, and one another (Way 306). The means of salvation is Gods presence with us. To know salvation is to participate in this relationship with God in the here and now as well as eternally. When we speak of the cross putting an end to the old world and beginning a new world, we are speaking of this new relationship. It is symbolized in our baptism. We go down into the water and die with Christ and rise to new life.

Following Christ is living this life. My sense of that and the experiences of my own faith journey, however, indicate that this is more easily described than it is lived. We make decisions that take us off this path and there are forces that act upon us that lead us from the path of following Christ. These choices and these forces are what we call sin in the Christian tradition.

Some Interesting Thoughts on Cling Wrapping

2006-09-13T16:42:00.000-04:00

Blue Band-Aids - The Long Term Solution

2006-08-30T11:27:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's landfall along the Gulf Coast. A year later, it is an occasion for the news media to pull out old video, send anchors to the area for weeklong specials, and for more finger pointing. I've heard a lot about "plans" the past few days - plans for rehabilitating the region, plans of governors and mayors, plans of President Bush and FEMA, and occasionally the plans of folks trying to go home or stay in their homes. All of this strikes me as a bit empty because instead of finding a common vision and then working together in that direction we witness a variety of groups pulling in many different directions. Perhaps such pulling is a part of finding the answer and taking action that ultimately makes a difference. Let us hope that is the case.

As I listen to all of this "news" though I am reminded of a comment by my friend and parishioner, Glen. We traveled together to Beaumont, Texas, 3 weeks ago to participate in our denominations rebuilding efforts in the area impacted by Hurricane Rita. His comment that keeps echoing in my head is, "All I saw were blue tarps and I kept thinking that this is the long term solution for too many folks." My apologies if I didn't get the quote exact but nevertheless I believe it is a profound insight into the situation all along the Gulf Coast. I am sure the blue tarps began as band-aids intended to protect from the weather and additional damage to homes, churches, and business. Like Glen said, these bandages though are no long term solution.

Band-aids don't work for deep and painful wounds. They are usually too small to cover wounds that require stitches or staples. When they are used in such circumstances, they are used to cover and protect those other medical interventions that can aid in the healing of such wounds. In those times when they are used, the band-aids get changed regularly and other wound care accompanies this small aid intended to keep dirt out. Sometimes this additional care is regular washing, other times it is anti-bacterial ointment, and sometimes it is like my mother said, "It just needs some air." The wounds from Hurricane Katrina and Rita and numerous others whose names we have forgotten take a long time to heal. They require more than band-aids but like band-aids ripping them off to provide the other necessary care will be painful.

Let us hope the finger pointing can end and we can find a way to work together and move towards a solution that gives hope and a balm that can heal.

The Politics of Immigration

2006-08-28T13:53:00.000-04:00

An Associated Press story on Friday, August 25, 2006, reported, "Many migrants from El Salvador received the temporary status after a devastating earthquake struck the Central American country in 2001. The temporary protection allowed those already in the U.S. to work legally. Their status must be renewed annually, and Sept. 1 is the deadline.

But Saca is concerned that with all the discussion about U.S. immigration reform, some Salvadorans living here may become complacent and decide not to renew their status in hopes that Congress will approve a broader change to U.S. immigration law that would put them on the path to permanent residency.

'If they don't register for this program, they will lose their immigration status and will get an order for deportation. Then they won't be able to apply for future programs that might lead to a permanent residency, so it is very important that they renew,' said Rene Leon, El Salvador's ambassador to the U.S."

Such issues are critical for a country in which 16% of the GDP and 91% of the government's budget come from remittances or monies sent back to El Salvador by immigrants. Such numbers should not be surprising when between 10 and 40% (depending on the study you consider) of the population has emigrated.

During our July mission trip, we encountered numerous folks who had family members who had emigrated, mostly to the United States. We heard one story about an attorney in San Salvador whose service to others had earned him various awards. However, he often took on the cases of folks who couldn't pay or could pay only a little. He emigrated to the United States where he can now make enough money to send some home. He works though not as an attorney but as a janitor. Then there were the stories about teenagers trying to reach the United States and who paid "coyotes" - people smugglers - to get them across the U.S. border. They paid whether they were successful or not. Many times such efforts result in prison for those who immigrate illegally. All of their efforts, all of their beings, everything they are about becomes focused on emigration. So they move from the frying pan into the fire.

Immigration has been a hot political topic in the United States recently. I suspect that will only increase as we move towards mid-term congressional elections and look towards the 2008 presidential election. On every side of this issue there are passionate feelings and intricate arguments. So often though it seems as if it is turned into an either/or argument. Is there some other path?

I raise that question because what struck me during our trip to El Salvador is that emigration is depleting that countries greatest resource. Given the percentages of GDP and governmental budget, it is not surprising to hear Salvadoran political leaders advocating for the renewal of the temporary protection status of immigrants in the U.S. They depend upon the immigrants to fund their economy. What saddens me is to see a situation in which the government of a country is raping its own people in order to continue in power. Hopelessness cannot help but become a serious problem in such a situation.

I have to wonder if there isn't another option, another path to travel with regard to this issue. Is there some way that El Salvador's economy can be strengthened so that people there have some sense of hope? Is there some way to make some changes in order that families are not broken and essentially living in a situation in which spouses, parents and children, or siblings may never see one another again? How do we, individually and collectively, participate in some other option or different direction?

2006-08-24T18:51:00.000-04:00

A Creative Answer to Struggling Church Finances

Do you think this would work?

Disproportionate Proportionality - ???

2006-08-24T10:43:00.000-04:00

In his weekly piece on language in the August 13, 2006, edition of The New York Times Magazine, William Safire comments on the ongoing situation involving Israel and Lebanon and specifically the fighting between the Israeli forces and the forces of Hezbollah. He writes, "This attack [Hezbollah's], widely considered 'unprovoked,' provoked a fierce military reaction from Israel. The ensuing counterattack - aerial and artillery bombardment of suspected terrorist positions, missile launching sites as well as Lebanese sea and air supply lines and power stations - not only infuriated the Arab 'street' but also raised ethical and diplomatic questions" (20). The questions center around a word and that word is proportional.

In an earlier article in The Washington Post, Eugene Robinson had called Israel's response "disproportionate." The Post adjoined Robinson's article with one by Richard Cohen in which he suggested "proportionality is madness..." for Israel.

I found Safire's article interesting and helpful for understanding current discussions around the topic of proportionality in the conduct of war. The element missing from his article, however, was the placement in the larger context of why the discussion of proportionality matters. In other words, why does proportionality matter as an element in the conduct of war?

The answer to that question is that proportionality is an element of the Just War Tradition. It is a criterion of JUS AD BELLUM (about when to go to war) and of JUS IN BELLO (how war is conducted). There are 6 criteria in the Just War Tradition that need to be satisfied before going to war. These criteria are: 1) Just Cause - war is for the defense of innocents against unjust attack and/or the defense of human rights, 2) Legitimate Authority - individuals cannot declare war and it must be authorized by duly acknowledged government, 3) Right Intent - war is conducted to reestablish a just peace, which rules out vengeance, revenge, and hatred as reasons for war, 4) Probability of Success - there must be a reasonable hope of achieving these aims and winning, 5) Last Resort - all nonviolent means must be exhausted first, 6) Proportionality - the evils associated with going to war must not outweigh the evils already present and that we are attempting to prevent. Once hostilities have begun, there are 2 criteria for the means of conducting war: 1) Proportionality - use only the amount of force necessary and not excessive force, don't use a tank against someone attacking with a knife,
2) Discrimination - do not directly or intentionally target civilians, avoid collateral damage, target, directly and intentionally, only combatants and perpetrators.

The Just War Tradition within Christianity is not a universal precept but proponents of this position throughout history include: Ambrose, Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, and the mainline denominations in the United States. The tradition has a presumption against violence, harm, and war, but certain injustices require the use of force. The presumption against force, however, continues to impact the use of force as we see in the criteria above.

In the last decade, I can recall numerous times that there have been partial references to the Just War Tradition such as Safire's comments. I don't know if there is a presumption that everyone knows the criteria and so can locate the discussion of one criterion in relation to the others or if it is something else. It seems to me though that the Just War Tradition is not being discussed as a whole nor is it being taught widely and the circumstances leading to this situation feel as if they are leading us to a place where we are not able to reflect upon conflict or war with any ethical framework other than the one Richard Cohen advocates, "you slap me, I will punch out your lights." Look out Rambo, here we come...

Back Home Again

2006-08-17T11:57:00.000-04:00

The week of work in Beaumont went well. It was a hot trip but a fulfilling trip. We completed the work on Temple of Praise Christian Church. It was quite satisfying to complete the work at a mission site and not just be a part of the beginning or middle of the work.

I have a lot of experience to process after this trip and the El Salvador trip. But that will have to wait. I moved some furniture on Sunday evening at home and paid the price for it on Monday as I bent over to pick something up. Now my back isn't working too well and prevents me from sitting comfortably for extended periods of time. So, I'll move to thinking aloud in this space next week. I hope, anyway.

Arriving in Beaumont

2006-08-06T22:00:00.000-04:00

We're here after another long day driving. We waited for about an hour on the interstate west of Baton Rouge. It turns out that there was a semi-truck off the road with part of the trailer back across the road. We've had our orientation and heard about our work for the day tomorrow. If the rain holds off, we'll be working on a fellow Disciple congregation's building that volunteers have been working on for the past 5 weeks. We'll be joined in our work tomorrow by 12 folks from National Avenue Christian Church in Springfield, Missouri. I think it is 4 adults and 8 Chi Rho kids.

We 've had excellent barbeque tonight for supper and are gathering supplies for tomorrow's meals. I'll keep things updated as I can. Right now, Glen and I are sitting outside a closed restaurant called Wings to Go piggy-backing off of their free internet service. I don't know what the deal is and whether I will be able to gain access in the days ahead. Check it out and I'll update it as I'm able.

On the Road Again

2006-08-06T05:13:00.000-04:00

On the road again; I just can't wait to get on the road again... That's where I find myself this morning as I awake in Batesville, Mississippi. I'm heading to Beaumont, Texas, along with 6 other folks from Central Christian. We heading south to put roofs on houses in the Beaumont area as a part of hurricane recovery efforts. We should arrive there later today and then we'll begin work tomorrow morning.

As part of my preparations for the trip, I pulled out the Christian Century from October 4, 2005, that carries the cover title "Ministry through the storm" along with a photograph of the devastated building of First Baptist Church in Gulfport, Mississippi. I read through the essays, sermons, and reflections again to be reminded where my heart and mind was almost 12 months ago, to reflect on the changes that have occurred since then, and generally to prepare myself psychologically for what we will see or not see as we move further south. I also brought along the June 27, 2006, issue of the Christian Century that carries the cover title, "Ministry after Katrina." As this recent issue points out there is still much work to do. Some of that work is putting shingles on houses. But much more of that work includes the yet-to-happen conversations on poverty and race. Why is it that this other part of the work remains yet undone? It is certainly hard work, maybe harder than shingling houses during the first week of August in Texas and Louisiana. Maybe it is too hard for us to travel down that road...

...but maybe at some point we'll be singing as we head down a path that addresses those issues. I just can't wait to get on the road again...

Death: Where do we find meaning?

2006-08-04T08:28:00.000-04:00

This post is more of a dialogue that has been going on in my head over the past few days. It is the most like a journal entry of anything else that I've posted here and departs from my previous practice of mostly putting information out here. Some of my friends at times encourage me to share my thoughts and opinions on various topics and to step out of the teacher mode. Here is an example of that. It feels garbled and unresolved. I'm okay with this ambiguity. I welcome your comments and thoughts so send them to me as a comment to this posting.

A few days ago I heard an interview on the radio with Lisa Takeuchi Cullen about her new book, Remember Me: A Lively Tour of the New American Way of Death. A recent review says this of the book, "This intriguing survey of America's rapidly mutating funeral customs probes the one force mightier than death: consumerism. Journalist Cullen explores the innumerable ways in which funerals are being personalized, publicized, economized, commercialized, trivialized and, perhaps, humanized. Among the many offbeat memorials she unearths are funerals with Hawaiian, tango or Harley-Davidson themes, as well as beer-themed caskets, eco-friendly funerals, "human diamonds" manufactured from a loved one's ashes, and a Colorado town that celebrates a do-it-yourself cryonics pioneer with its Frozen Dead Guy Days Festival, now a major tourist attraction" (Publishers Weekly).

During the interview there was a caller who shared her experiences being a part of funerals for skydivers and who related a story of doing a jump the day after the "church" funeral. This day-after jump was coordinated with a release of glitter mixed with flour done to create a brief sparkling cloud intended, I believe, to symbolize the ashes and transformation of the caller's deceased friend and fellow jumper. She described it as a brief but poignant moment for her and her fellow skydivers. I heard all of this as I have been reflecting on the death of my friends' son last Friday after an 11 month struggle with childhood leukemia. Another friend and colleague, Paul, presided at the funeral service yesterday. (I am certain that he offered words filled with grace and mercy that are the Good News that we have to proclaim as the church.) As I listened to the interview about current practices related to death in our culture, I wondered where is the meaning in all of these practices and what does all of this say about life. At one point in her comments, Lisa Cullen suggested that we as a people are not afraid to talk about death.

I'm not sure that I agree with her assessment of that willingness. I will concede that we are happy to talk about the elements that the reviewer in Publishers Weekly highlights. However, those elements seem to me to be our efforts to talk around the issues of death. Where are the questions that children are more than willing to ask but that we seem unwilling to ask or to which we fail to offer any response: What happens at death? What happens after death? Where is God in all of this? The fight over Terri Shiavo's death over a year ago represents, for me, our unwillingness to face these issues. Maybe it is that we are willing to talk at the surface of the issue of death but that we are unwilling to plumb its depths?

Do we not have the tools to engage this exercise? Does the tradition of which we are a part prevent us from crossing certain boundaries of exploration? Are we afraid of the answers? Is it just too much of an abyss in which to stare? Where and how do we find meaning in death?

Next Steps in Processing

2006-08-02T16:56:00.000-04:00

It has been 10 days since we returned from El Salvador and I still find it difficult to process everything that was and is a part of that experience and a part of the ongoing impact of the trip. I'm not sure what the difficulty is. Perhaps a part of the issue is that I did some of that on the trip and posted a least a part of my thoughts here in this forum. Another part of that is, I think, the return to the routine of the day to day. Being away for 11 days meant that there would be a lot of catching up after returning. Then there is the next mission trip that the congregation is taking in a few days. On Sunday, we'll begin our mission experience in Beaumont, Texas, as a part of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) disaster recovery ministry. The word we've gotten is that the work will be putting shingles on houses in the area. It is hard to process when there is so much to do in preparation for leaving again. My friend and colleague, Troy, does this most summers. I'm not sure how he does it?

I think another part of the struggle to begin processing is perhaps the biggest piece of the puzzle. Haley expressed it to me at the airport in El Salvador as we were preparing to board the plane back to home. She said, she didn't want to leave these people. I want to figure out how soon we can go back and what more we can do to nurture the relationship between the folks there and here. Is it December? Is it next summer? Is it some other time? Those questions are swirling at the front of my mind right now. Maybe if I address them or find some way to set them aside for a little while then I can move on to process the other parts of the trip. Either way, I still know that it will be a long process. I'll share some more as I can get it out. Plus there will be the experience from the Gulf Coast to share as well.

Starting to Tell the Story

2006-07-24T14:32:00.000-04:00

After last Wednesday, I was without internet access and so didn't have the chance to post anything else to the blog. So I just want to update things as we concluded last week in El Salvador and traveled home yesterday. First, we finished pouring the footers in the design to limit seismic related building damage. In the earthquakes a few years ago, the collapse of traditional adobe and wood structures in the more rural areas contributed a great deal to injury and death. So our footers were dug to a depth of 90 cms with rebar reinforcements running throughout the footers and then extending up into the block walls. The design is such that seismic related damage should be limited. It was harder to do the project in this fashion but in the long run it offers a better living option. On Friday as we went to Puente Azul to say goodbye and to worship with the community there, the local masons were laying the first two courses of block before backfilling with dirt. That was exciting to see and I hope that we will be able to see pictures at some point of the completed parsonage. As I mentioned above, we worshipped with the community. Pastor Luis asked me to preach and I offered a short meditation/sermon on Jesus' new commandment (John 13:34). It was challenging to preach with a translator since I kept wanting to rush ahead but I had to force myself to stop and wait. Marco did a fantastic job translating and with everything else on the trip. What jewels he, Wilson, and Gus all are. After the short sermon, we presented the church with a guitar and some clothing that Pastor Luis will distribute in the community to those who have need. We also present Pastor Luis with a cot, sheets, pillow, lanterns, and 2 camp showers for his personal use in his ministry. He is sleeping in the church while the parsonage is being built. In a U.S. church that would be no big deal as someone has surely donated a used sofa for about every classroom. But in Puente Azul, that means sleeping on a hard tile floor with no electricity, padding, bedding, or storage space of any kind. So as we finished up, we celebrated with the children of the community by taking turns with pinatas filled with candy. There was a mad rush as each one was broken open.

On Friday evening, we had dinner with Bishop Gomez and his wife at their home and we heard some more of his personal story including his disappearance during the war. It was a great evening that I believe everyone enjoyed. Saturday was a day spent at the artisans' market then at the beach. I went to the market, made a few purchases and then stayed at the synod guest house with a few others who didn't go to the beach. Those who went said it was fantastic with 10-12 waves. Then Sunday, we spent the day traveling. It was good to return home late last evening.

As I told the group on Saturday evening at worship, the trip has offered more than I can process - at least with any expediency. But at the same time it is not too much or overwhelming. I think in the long run that is good that it is more than can be processed quickly. For me that means, I will have to let things cook within me and new connections will be made as I recall and remember different parts and experiences. I'll share what I can in this forum. Also, look for and listen to the reflections of others in the context of worship and beyond over the next several weeks if you happen to be familiar with Central Christian Church.

Will, my son, came running up to me at the airport last night, gave me a big hug and said, "Daddy, I've missed you so much!" We've spent most of today together and it has been great to be with him. I missed him a lot as well as my partner and spouse, Traci. Haley, my daughter, was with me on the trip and I greatly appreciated sharing the experience with her.

For now, I'm off to spend some more time with them.

Birthdays and Anniversarys

2006-07-19T23:25:00.000-04:00

It is Wednesday in Sonsonate and Puente Azul and part of the world west of here. It was hump day for us. We were all moving slowly with aching bones, joints, and muscles as we headed to the bus this morning. We did make it though to the village where we finished the trenches and poured the initial portion of the foundation. There will be two more steps in the foundation process before the walls go up on the parsonage. We will not see those walls go up this trip but we will finish the foudation's second step tomorrow. On Friday, we have planned a worship service with the church. I'm preaching on short notice and we will also present some gifts to the church at that time. That's about it for the update today. Now please forgive me as I backtrack in my reflections. I am unable to get these thoughts out of my head. Perhaps I need to get them down on paper or at least on the web.

We've experienced a bit of everything on this trip. Sunday we celebrated Denise and Shari's birthdays with a surprise of two birthday cakes after we shared dinner in Sonsonate. Rob and Laura also celebrated their 18th (I think I've got that correct) wedding anniversary that day. I've left off the last names because there really is no need to include them; the folks at Central Christian Church know who I am writing about; and others who don't know them only need to be aware that they are part of our mission team. So...

I also experienced an anniversary on Sunday. On July 17, 2005, I celebrated worship for the first time as the pastor of Central Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Lebanon, Indiana. In that first service, I read Sandy Sasso's book, God In Between, and talked with the kids and the adults both about where and how we encounter God - that we encounter God between our interactions and community with one another. This year on July 16, 2006, I was sitting on the chancel of the Lutheran Church of the Resurrection, the Bishop's home church, sweating profusely mostly because of nerves and hoping that I wouldn't mess up too badly. Then I remembered the anniversary - that it had been 1 year ago that I had offered that message through the sermon and worship. When I had nervously stepped from the chancel into the midst of the congregation at Central Christian Church on July 17, 2005, I was hoping that at some point I would step with them into the midst of a mission experience where we would encounter God in between us and all of the others we met. I just never imagined that it would mean stepping onto the chancel at the Lutheran Church of the Resurrection. It has been more powerful for me than I can give words to express.

I hope the anniversary of this relationship always brings such energy and vision for the future and happens in ever increasingly unexpected ways for me even if never for anyone else.

How bad is it?

2006-07-18T20:06:00.000-04:00

First an update and then some reflection. It is Tuesday evening about 6:15 local time and we are just finishing up our showers and preparing for dinner. The hotel has an internet cafe but the modem got fried by the tropical storm that passed through Sonsonate on Sunday afternoon. So I haven't been able to put anything up on the blog since we left the Lutheran Synod in San Salvador.

It was an interesting ride to Sonsonate on Sunday. Water was flowing inches deep across the road in most places and feet deep in some places. That storm forced us to pull over at one point in time. Sunday evening was for settling in and the beginnings of sick stomachs for a few. Nothing major. A few more experienced today. On Monday at 8:00 we left for Puente Azul. Upon arrival we quickly discovered that the foundation and the floor for the parsonage that we were to build was not completed nor even started. But that is no big deal, you go with the flow in this situation. So we discovered that we would be digging the footers and preparing the foundation and floor for the parsonage. Marco quickly laid out the lines for the footers and we began digging and moving rocks. There were two huge ones in the middle of the layout. They were real fun - NOT!!!! But we did manage to get one out and the other we are still just breaking off enough of the top so that the floor will pour over it. The footers have to be 36" deep and that has been a real challenge. We've been digging down through rocks (ranging in size from a basketball to a basketball backboard), hard clay, and fire ants. We're almost deep enough in most places. Tomorrow we'll finish that up and start pouring the footers.

Puente Azul has no electricity and is extremely rural and poor. The dogs and the chickens running around the village all look like they are ill and starving. It is pretty rugged and very poor conditions in which these brothers and sisters live. Some in our group have been surprised by the conditions here. In conversations, some have said that they have been surprised by the severity of the poverty. Others have said, they are surprised that the poverty here is not as severe as they thought it would be. Across the board among those commenting though, there seems to be a consensus that even living in poverty that the people are happy. What might that very observation have to teach us as culture and as a church in that culture?

In recent weeks, immigration has been a hot topic of conversation in the western hemisphere. In the United States, the conversation has been about the question of illegal immigration and how to handle all of the illegal immigrants already living in the United States. A variety of perspectives have been offered up via the media. On the south side of the U.S. border the conversation has been different. I can't say for the rest of Central America but I can tell you what we've heard in El Salvador. Leaders in the churches and communities that we've talked with don't want to see the people emigrate. The Lutheran Synod held a youth assembly last Saturday to which 80 youth from across the country came. It was an event designed to encourage them to not attempt to emigrate. At the gathering, we heard a letter from a young man, a high school aged teenage, who was currently in prison in Crystal City, Texas, after his 3rd attempt to cross the border. His mother and sisters wrenchingly wept as the letter was read. The leaders in the Lutheran Church don't want to see people emigrate because it robs the country of its capital - not finanicial capital but the resource of people, ones who can make a difference.

At the youth event, Pastor Sandra who works in the human rights office of the Lutheran Church spoke encouraging the youth not to emigrate but if they chose to do so anyway to please contact them so that the church could be of assistance if they ran into trouble. She was weeping as she uttered these words. Marco leaned over to me and told me that she was crying because her husband had emigrated and was now living in California and pushing a broom for a living. Marco also shared with me that this man is a well respected attorney in El Salvador who has received awards from the bar association and other groups for his work as a lawyer. His situation is that he refuses to charge or force poor folks to pay their bills for his legal work and he refuses to be the kind of attorney that only serves the intersts of those who can make him wealthy. This man is one who could make a tremendous difference in this country - not by the wealth of his wallet but the wealth of his integrity, conviction, and ability to see a different tomorrow. But at some point he couldn't see a different tomorrow apart from emigrating to the U.S.

How bad is it? I've seen worse, but I've also seen much better. This question though is only the beginning of the discussion. From there it can take off towards immigration/emigration issues, peace and justice issues, and questions about our own relationship to these situations as well as many others. This is a powerful trip for us as a group and we hope that we can share some of our experience with the congregation at home as well as others. For now, keep us in your prayers and please pray for no more rocks!

One Bread, One Body

2006-07-16T10:57:00.000-04:00

This post will be quick. There was no chance to get on a keyboard yesterday and we are heading out to church in just a few minutes at the church that the Lutheran Bishop of El Salvador leads. Later today we leave for Sonsonate and Puente Azul. Everyone is ready and anxious to get there.

On Friday, one of the staff from the Lutheran Synod spoke with us about the ministry of the church here and specifically we had questions about the organizations of groups and the response of the government to the ministry that the church is doing. It led to questions about unity and how groups are bound together, about what happens when groups organize in El Salvador, and what happens when groups organize as a part of the church. This conversation obviously led to reflection about our own unity and organization and our ministry as a congregation in Lebanon, Indiana.

My question, not asked aloud until this moment, is, ¨So what does that mean if we are the ONE body of Christ? Are we really willing to go that far and truly be the ONE body?

In the afternoon on Friday, I sat and watched as our group of teenagers and a group of younger kids who live here at the Synod all played Hide-n-Go Seek and soccer with one another. Watching them, all of the barriers were overcome. Smile broke out all over the place along with healthy doses of laughter. They played as ONE, they laughed as ONE, they were becoming the ONE body of Christ. At dinner, Vannessa asked why those who cooked for us didn´t eat with us. It is a question about being ONE, I believe. At worship on Friday night, 6 of those same kids who live here at the synod joined us for worship and communion. We all partook together. It was a powerful image and moment for me.

I suspect I wasn´t the only one for whom that is the case.

There are more stories that I want to share but time on the computer is limited and I´ve already had the experience of a couple of power failures. So, I´m posting and will add more as soon as I am able.

We´re Here in El Salvador

2006-07-14T15:38:00.000-04:00

I wrote this post yesterday but just as I was hitting the post button the power went out and I lost the whole thing. So here goes another attempt at it.

The trip yesterday went well and we arrived in San Salvador after a drive from the international airport in San Salvador. For the most part everything went very smoothly.

I am so excited about being here in El Salvador. Marco and I were talking about our schedule for Friday and we made plans to visit the Romero sites as well as the Catholic University in San Salvador. These places are important to me because it was around such events as the assassination of Archbishop Romero that I discovered that the church was more than a place to gather on Sundays and had a message of real Good News to share with those who are poor and downtrodden. As I learned about Romero´s death and then the subsequent deaths here, I discovered different and refreshing ideas about who the church can be and is in the world today. Bishop Gomez of the Lutheran Synod sounds like a man along the same lines as Bishop Romero. It is the hospitality of the Lutheran Synod that makes possible this trip.
Several years ago, the bishop disappeared for a period of time evidently because of his outspokenness about the Gospel. We heard some more about the social justice work that the
Marco also shared with me that the pastor in Puente Azul is bi-lingual and that we should be able to explore the possibility of developing a longer term relationship with that congregation. That excites me! It looks like we will be working on a parsonage and another out-building for the church. Right now the pastor cannot live in Puente Azul but must commute some distance. With a parsonage, that could change.

Please forgive any mis-spellings as Í´m working on an international keyboard and trying to get this done as quickly as possible before the power goes out or somehting else happens. As I am able, I´ll add more to the blog so check back.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

2006-07-12T13:28:00.000-04:00

It has been a few weeks since I posted anything. Oh, the best laid plans of mice and men!

There was a week at church camp in that time. It was outstanding by the way. Traci and I served as counselors at our regional camp for a camp designed for grandparents and grandchildren. It was just wonderful. If you ever get the chance to do something like this - Do It! We had a great time and our son Will went along with us. He's been asking at least once a week since we returned when he could go back.

Then there was a week of vacation squeezed in there. It was a fast one, but renewing.

In the intervening time, it was the catch up game for a pastor. Checking on folks, getting things ready for various services, some pastoral emergencies, as well as some other things. This week has been all about preparing to leave for a mission trip to El Salvador. We have 23 adults and youth from the church going down to work on a church building at Puente Azul, northwest of San Salvador, near the city of Sonsonate. We are excited and a bit nervous. There may be a chance of posting some blog comments during the trip. We've been told that internet cafes are readily accessible. If I can, I'll post a comment or two while we are away. If not, I'll add some posts related to the trip when I return.

Please keep us in your prayers as we make this journey.

Stormy Seas

2006-06-15T10:37:00.000-04:00

Mark's telling of Jesus' quieting the storm is a story that touches all of us. It is a metaphor for some of the more difficult things we encounter in life. They tend to pop up like unexpected storms and then we try to hang on until it subsides.

I’d like to tell you right now that every time the sea buffets us, Jesus steps forward and quiets the chaos of life. But in the human condition sometimes the sea tossed journeys don’t end as happily or safely as the one Mark describes. Sometimes, the waves just keep coming and driving you into the sand and disorienting you. At such moments, one does well just to hang on. One may even ask, like the disciples, “Lord, don’t you care?” Or, “God, what are you up to here?”

When such waves threaten to swamp us, there will be questions. “Lord, don’t you care that we are perishing?” “What will tomorrow bring?” “Is there any comfort?” “Is there any hope, any way to go on?” These are questions that some will ask freely while others will hesitate unsure whether or not they are supposed to or even allowed to ask them. To put it another way, these are moments when we stare into the abyss. Staring into such places can be paralyzing.

At such moments, we as the church have the opportunity for a powerful witness. It is not a witness that denies the questions or even discourages the asking of them. Instead, it is the witness of abiding with those staring into the abyss – being a non-anxious presence in moments of great anxiety, exhibiting supreme trust in God just as Jesus does in the storm tossed boat. In such moments, we carry the faith of those in distress and even have faith for them when they cannot.

Mark’s story of a sea crossing isn’t so much about coping with the trials and tribulations of stormy seas as it is about salvation. The church as the body of Christ can be a non-anxious hopeful presence because we know that even if the boat is lost, God is not done. Not even the sealed tomb can prevent God from bringing life out of death. We have hope not because somehow God is absolutely in control of absolutely everything, micromanaging history, but because God is with us even when the chaos of life threatens and does swamp us. Even in the face of chaos, we can sleep, not because the danger isn’t real, but because ultimately death is conquered.

Hot Coals & A Hot Summer Mission Trip

2006-06-06T10:47:00.000-04:00

The lectionary for this week offers the dramatic account of the prophet Isaiah's re-commissioning. Up to this point in his prophetic ministry, or rather I should say, according to the order of his oracles in the canonized version (chapters 1-5), Isaiah's preaching addresses social issues but after this re-commissioning his preaching addresses political issues - the ongoing relationship between Israel and Assyria and the prospects of war. I don't particularly like dividing the description of his preaching, before and after chapter 6, in this manner but there does seem to be a clear change of direction in the prophet's focus. For the sake of this forum, I'm leaving alone the questions of 1st Isaiah, 2nd Isaiah, and the possibility of 3rd Isaiah.

As the prophet worships in the temple, he has a vision of the heavenly court and overhears the singing of the seraphs and feels the world beginning to shake. "Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips..." (6:5). Isaiah is silenced or paralyzed by the whole experience. But then one of the seraphs flies to him and touches his mouth with a live, hot coal. It is a cleansing experience for the prophet - one that is life-changing for him. It is as if the touch of the live coal gives him a new mouth, a new tongue, new lips, and a new message to proclaim. This experience gives him the ability to respond to God's call, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" (6:8). When God's call comes, it can be a daunting thing to hear and even harder to respond to it. This encounter prepares the prophet to hear the message and respond to the call.

This next Sunday, our congregation will be sending out the first of three mission teams. They are going to UrbanSpirit in Louisville, Kentucky, for a poverty immersion experience. The group is a mix of adults and youth. The kids on the trip range from middle school to early high school age. The folks at UrbanSpirit describe on their web page the experience this way, "We will engage your group by leading you through an experience of living poverty. From the moment you arrive, you step into the world of the working poor -- those tens of millions of Americans who work hard and never really get anywhere. Poverty isn't just about money; it is about what you eat, where you stay, how you work, how much or little control you have over your circumstances, what surprises and anxieties you encounter day-to-day, and how it never ever ends...In addition to experiences, activities, studies, and games we've developed, you'll also work with our partner agencies, to shape your simulation experience with a real payday and real-life stories from the neighborhood."

I suspect that those going on this mission trip may utter the same words as the prophet, "Woe is me! I am lost..." They may wonder what they've gotten themselves into as a part of this trip. My guess is though that like the prophet's encounter with the seraph this experience will be life changing. It will be life changing because it will challenge fundamental beliefs and ideas about poverty, the church, neighbor, and the purpose of life. The changes maybe imperceptible at first but they will continue to percolate within each participant. Over time and with continued emphasis in such areas, we will see and benefit from these changes that will impact the participants and eventually all of us as we interact with these we have sent out for us.

I'm envious of them and wish that I could go along. But I'm able to do that this year. So it leads me to think about the experiences that I've had that have changed my life. It leads me also to wonder about the experiences you have had that have changed your life. Would you share those with others who read and participate here?

I invite you to post those experiences as a comment, anonymously or otherwise.

"Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones..."

2006-06-01T13:08:00.000-04:00

I know Sunday is Pentecost and that the lectionary has Ezekiel as only an alternative reading for the day but I find it particularly appropriate. Maybe because I'm feeling a little bit dry right now or maybe because I just love this passage - Ezekiel 37:1-14. The title of this post might more appropriately be "The Desert Places of Our Lives.”

There are times in our lives when we feel drained, empty, and uninspired; just down right dry - no energy, no creativity. When these times come to us, they touch every part of our lives – work, the relationship with our spouse or significant other, the relationships with our children, and even with our friends. It is as if we are in a desert searching for water to quench our thirst yet there is none to be found. Unfortunately, it seems that the more earnestly we search the drier we become. Or, we think we have finally found water to renew us only to discover that it was a mirage and the sand that we have imagined to be water only dries us more.

How do these times occur? Why do they come? Perhaps because we overextend ourselves; get our priorities out of order; remain absent from the presence of God for too long. There's more that we could say to answer those questions. From my own experiences, and I suspect you could do the same, I can more easily describe what those moments are like than tell you precisely why or how they arrived. In these moments, I can set the pen to paper yet no words will flow onto the paper. Or, I can sit with someone who is hurting, yet not know what to say or do even if saying or doing nothing is the appropriate response. Or, I can be present with a group, all the while feeling out of the group and unable to participate. In these moments, it is as if I am a collection of dry bones lying upon the ground.

Ezekiel knows of this feeling. He sees it among his brothers and sisters in exile. They feel emptied out, drained of hope by the situation. Their land had been taken, their temple destroyed, and now they reside in a land far from home. They lack any hope of restoration to the land God had promised their ancestors. As each day passed and they left their new homes to go and work for the Babylonians and then the Persians, they must have felt as if they were trapped in a desert without water. They were a collection of dry bones lying lifelessly upon the ground.

But in the midst of this desert, God speaks a word of hope through the prophet Ezekiel. In a vision, God comes to this prophet and shows him a valley full of dry bones. It sounds like scene of battlefield slaughter to me - maybe it is like the Brady photographs of civil war battlefields. In the midst of this carnage and absence of life, God gives to Ezekiel a command. The prophet is to call, through the gift of God’s spirit, the bones back to life. God says to the prophet that bone will come together with bone, sinews will cover the bones, the skin will again cover both, and the breath of life will again fill the lungs of these dry bones brought to life. Ezekiel does so and it comes to pass before his eyes. He calls the Spirit of God to come from the four winds to bring life back to the dry bones.

If you were to hear this story read in Hebrew, you would hear a word repeated 10 times throughout the story. The word is ruah and it can be translated spirit, breath, and wind. It is the spirit that carries Ezekiel into the valley and sets him down there. It is the breath that God breathes into the dry bones. It is the four winds that Ezekiel summons to bring the life-giving breath. With one word, the poet ties the story together.

Now, you might say, “I can see how it ties the story together. But what does it matter?” I call your attention to this repetitive use of ruah because this story from Ezekiel is a reenactment of creation. It is God’s ruah that passes over the waters and it is God’s ruah that breathes life into the creatures formed from the earth. And, it is God’s ruah that brings life out of death.

In our lives when we are in the midst of the desert feeling as if we are nothing but a collection of dry bones, it is God’s ruah that fills us with life. The more that we search for water to quench the dryness of our thirst, the drier we become. But when God’s ruah breathes into us, life returns.

What are the desert places of your life? Where does God's ruah need to blow through your life?

Not of this World!??? John 17:6-9

2006-05-25T12:21:00.000-04:00

There are a variety of rich phrases and directions that a reflection on John 17:6-19 might go. Two are Jesus' petition "that all may be one" and his petition for the disciples' protection as the coming events unfold. Yesterday as I was driving to a meeting, another possibility hit me -- what about Jesus' comment that the disciples "are not of the world, even as I am not of the world" (v. 14)?

Given John's perspective on the incarnation, this description is not Docetic (the idea that Jesus only appeared human and only appeared to die) or Gnostic (among others it includes the idea that all matter is evil). These words are no call to the disciples to withdraw from their surrounds or us for that matter. Rather as Christians, I think that Jesus is saying that we interpret our experiences in the world from a different perspective. We look at life and death and everything in between through a different set of lenses. Each Sunday, we corporately pray the Lord's Prayer saying, "...your kingdom come, your will be done..." As Easter people, we live aware of God's grace and live such that others are aware of that grace as well. Others, believers and non-believers alike, should be able to look at us and our actions and see something different about us.

The lection for this week closes with the portion of the prayer in which Jesus consecrates himself and the disciples. I think that consecration also applies to us. The disciples then and the church today are consecrated for a particular reason - so others may hear the good news of God's resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Why Is It So Hard To Accept?

2006-05-18T11:26:00.000-04:00

As a young child, my family moved several times before we settled down around my fourth grade year. The first time was before I began kindergarten and the next few times were in those early years of elementary school. With each change in school, there was the issue of making new friends and fitting in. In other words I wondered, "Will I be picked to play battle?" or "Will I be picked to play touch football?" I know that things haven't changed much over the years. Oh, the games change but all we have to do is listen to our children when they talk about their day to see that they haven't changed. As we age, the issue doesn't disappear for us either. As adults, our questions are about being included in the right circle of friends or social group in town, living in the right neighborhood and being accepted there, or even being a member at the right church.

Over the years, I found two ways to deal with my desire to get picked. One way was to watch everyone and figure out who was in charge and then you could be extra nice to them, try to make friends with them, or figure out whatever you had to do to move onto this person's list. Another approach to the problem was to pretend you didn't really want to be a part of that group anyway. If you pretended you weren't interested, then they might ask you to join them. But whichever way I approached the problem, there was no guarantee that it would work from one day to the next. For me and others, the desire to be included, or picked, often led to hurt feelings and broken hearts.

Sometimes, as Christians, our understanding of God is something akin to our approach to the playground, the childhood and adult ones. We think that if we can curry the favor of God through our thoughts and deeds then we will get picked for God's team. Martin Luther, when commenting on John 15, suggests it is as if we are saying, "It is not God who chooses us, but we seek him and make God our friend, that we may glory in that He has received much good from us. That is what all the word does in seeking to merit God's grace by previous works." It is as if our merit goes first and God's grace toddles along afterwards.

The gospel says though, "You did not choose me but I chose you" (John 15:16). Repeatedly in the gospel stories, we find that Jesus picks those least likely to be picked on the playground or anywhere else. He chooses them for no merit of their own. He chooses them because they have no hope other than God. Is it really any different for any of us? We don't choose God, God chooses us.

So why is it so hard to accept being chosen?

Have You Met Many Eunuchs Lately?

2006-05-10T16:22:00.000-04:00

I suspect you haven't met many lately and so we may wonder if there is anyway that we can identify with this character in the story. The Ethiopian eunuch is far from home and a stranger in the land of Judea; he is a man of some stature and power as a court official from the court of the Candace; we know he has money because he has purchased or somehow received a scroll of the prophet Isaiah, which would not have been an inexpensive purchase, and he's literate because he's reading the scroll; he is also mutilated and scarred, made into a sexual deviant so that he will be safe around the queen.

Philip has been fighting through a variety of barriers in his preaching and teaching and that pattern continues as he encounters the Ethiopian eunuch. He is redrawing the boundaries of Israel to include those who are excluded. It is a powerful message for the church today and one which I hope we heed.

We need to heed this message not because we will be wrong if we don't, or somehow find disfavor with God if we don't, but we need to heed it because we are all at one point in time or another outside the boundaries and desire to be included. Our desire is to open the circle to welcome others just as we have been welcomed. We are all broken, scarred and mutilated in one way or another, and we are all welcomed into God's reign. This is good news that we need to hear as much as anyone else. Jung says something about finding the path to wholeness via a path of wrong turns.

Regardless of the circuitous path we travel, thanks be to God that they all lead to our Divine Source of Being.

Gone All Week

2006-05-06T16:14:00.000-04:00

I didn't get the chance to post anything this week given that I was out of the office most all of the week with meetings and visits.

I look forward to returning to the regular routine next week and getting some posts here then.

Jesus Ministers to Their Doubts - Luke 24:36b-49, Third Sunday of Easter

2006-04-26T19:06:00.000-04:00

An experienced pastor once advised, "...that when making grief calls to a home, when it seems that the grieving are disoriented and having difficulty focusing, it is helpful to ask, 'Do you have the coffee pot on?…' It helps to keep going about ordinary tasks in the midst of life’s moments of disorientation.” I'm not sure where I read or heard that sage wisdom but it makes sense at some level to me.

As Jesus appears to the disciples, Luke describes the disciples as "startled" and "terrified" which might be a reflection of their own disorientation and inability to focus. Even after showing them his wounds, they are still struggling with who stands before them. That's when he asks, “Have you anything here to eat?”

In the midst of all this, Jesus helps the disciples get reoriented by helping them go about this ordinary task of eating. He continues to help them get back on track by again explaining the scriptures to them and then reminds them that they are witnesses of all of these happenings. They have a mission to be about. As I've been writing these notes I am reminded that while Jesus' helps the disciples be reoriented through the ordinary task of eating, eating in the gospels is never an ordinary thing. It always has political and theological significance. Who you eat with says a lot. So as Jesus reminds them to be about the ordinary tasks of living, he is also reminding them how those ordinary tasks and our manner of doing them points beyond ourselves to God.

It is easy in many ways to make sense of the crucifixion. Throughout history, we see people put to death for upsetting the status quo or for failing to bow down to the powers that be. But the resurrection? It just doesn't make sense; it doesn't seem to be in the realm of logical possibility. So I can see why the disciples are full of terror. But even in the midst of this disorientation though, Jesus is present to the disciples and still to us ministering to our doubts and fears.

Labels & The Second Sunday of Easter, John 20:19-31

2006-04-20T11:19:00.000-04:00

Labels are difficult to move past, aren’t they? Maybe it is because of the assumptions and in turn the limitations that follow the labels. When we label, I believe it tends to limit the scope of our vision – we fail to see the whole person, we fail to see potential meanings, we fail to see how God’s imagination might be at work or where it might lead.

Even though this Gospel elsewhere portrays Thomas as devoted to Jesus (11:16) and theologically alert (14:5); even though a non-canonical gospel bears his name, even though tradition has it that Thomas went on a mission to India, because of this text, he has been labeled "Doubting Thomas."

I remember various preachers and their sermons on this text. They all seemed to tag Thomas with this label. This act was discouraging to me as a young person. I, like Thomas, would have liked to be able to put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side. It would have been easier to believe. Such sermons can create incredible guilt in those hearing such a message. “Don't be like Thomas; believe without seeing!” The preachers would say, “it's not like our modern conception of science where we don't believe until it can be seen, until it can be proven. You just have to believe. Don't be like ol' doubting Thomas."

These words can create incredible amounts of guilt on the part of the hearers. They begin to question their faith and even if they are worthy to be in the presence of such a group of believers. More often than not, I suspect that the feelings of guilt turn to feelings of anger directed at those in the congregation. Those labeled as being like ol' doubting Thomas feel they aren't good enough to be included by those in the church. Eventually, they leave or they remain with festering sores. I would guess that there aren't many who wouldn't feel the guilt imposed by such sermons. We all want to portray an image of a faithful Christian. That image is usually one of no questions, no doubts, and no problems. It is a title of great honor. To talk about feelings of doubt is not a possibility where such a label has been declared dishonorable. So we all go about as if nothing has happened. Hoping to be seen as a faithful Christian, even if we feel that we are not.

For those preachers who preach don't be like ol' doubting Thomas, faith is born full blown. Just add water and its done. I believe that is a naive assessment of our relationship with God as reflected in our own lives and the bible. It denies our struggle to live a faithful life; it denies our successes and our failures as Christians. A relationship with God is a journey with a variety of twists and turns in the road. Just consider Job or those to whom Paul wrote as to encourage their faith. In our own lives there are times when that journey is difficult - the loss of a loved one, the loss of a job, conflict in the church, conflict in our families. Sometimes, if we could touch the nail marks with our fingers, it might be easier.

Jesus comes to Thomas and invites him to do just that. He says to him, “See my hands and my feet, touch my side. See, I come among you as one of you.” Seeing is believing in John’s gospel. Jesus wants Thomas to see, and in turn wants us to see. He continues to invite us to see those wounds today. Where is it we see them today? Perhaps, we see them in the victims of terror, among those shut up in prisons and concentration camps, those worn out by ill treatment and torture, those who have been abducted, those who live daily with threats of violence, those who suffer unexpected calamity, those who are excluded and not invited into the community, and wherever we see sin, death, and brokenness. Christ invites us to touch these wounds.

Thomas encounters the wounds of the risen Christ. The wounds are there to touch but something is changed, Jesus is different, and the wounds are different. Because we also encounter the risen Christ, we see these wounds differently. When we touch the wounds of Christ, we realize that sin, death, and brokenness are not the last word. When we reach out to touch Christ’s wounds, we are empowered to do something about the places of those wounds.
Thomas Merton, a monk who lived a while at Gethsemane Monastery near Bardstown, Kentucky, once said, “A true encounter with Christ liberates something in us, a power we did not know we had, a hope, a capacity for life, a resilience, an ability to bounce back when we thought we were completely defeated, a capacity to grow and change, a power of creative transformation” (Citation lost).

Death does not have the last word. God who gives life does!

"Touching Jesus" - A New Hymn for Sunday

2006-04-18T14:55:00.000-04:00

What follows is a hymn newly composed by my friend David Weiss. It particularly touched me and I asked David if I could share it in this forum. We are singing it this Sunday as our closing hymn at our 10:30 service. If you'd like a copy of the hymn formated as an insert for your bulletin, I've got that and would be glad to send it to you.

Precious Lord, in my need, many years did I bleed;
I reach out, and I touch - touch your hem.
I am healed, like the rest; lepers cleansed, children blest.
Touch your hem, precious Lord, make me whole!

By the well, as I drew, there to drink, I drank you.
I am down, I am out, I am naught.
But you stop, and you speak; you're the One whom we seek;
Our lives touch, precious Lord, and I'm whole!

At the edge, of the town, there I knelt, to the ground.
Pour the nard, wipe your feet, with my hair.
While you dine, on the bread, through my tears, see you dead
Precious Lord, fragrant love, in the air!

Easter morn, through my tears, call my name, bring me near,
And I hear, and I look, and I hope.
Over the cross, over death, bringing life, drawing breath;
Precious Lord, once again, you are whole!

Easter Eve, I'm away; you were there, but I say,
Let me see, let me touch, let me know.
Once again, there you are; fingertips touch your scars;
In my heart, precious Lord, now I know!

Precious Lord, still your hands, bear your wounds, many lands:
Some are lost, some are least, some are hurt,
Let me touch you in deed, as I touch those in need;
Use my hands, Precious Lord, make them whole!

Text: David R. Weiss b. 1959 (April 2006)
Tune: Thomas A. Dorsey, 1899-1993 (Precious Lord)

Author's note: This hymn, written for the 2nd Sunday of Easter (when we commemorate Thomas' need to touch Jesus), lifts up a variety of images of touching Jesus. Verse 1: the woman with the flow of blood (Mark 5:25-34). Verse 2: the woman at the well (John 4:4-29). Verse 3: the anointing at Bethany (John 12:1-8). Verse 4: Mary Magdalene at the tomb on Easter morning (John 20:1-18). Verse 5: Thomas' Easter encounter (John 20:19-29). And Verse 6 suggests that we, too, touch Jesus whenever we offer our healing touch to the wounds of the world today.

Seeing Is Believing - Easter Sunday, John 20:1-18

2006-04-12T16:38:00.000-04:00

It appears that there are two stories within this one reading for the day, or at least two significant themes. One is the episode of Peter and the “Beloved” disciple racing to the cemetery after Mary’s discovery of the empty tomb (vv. 1-10). The “Beloved” arrives first but doesn’t enter. Peter arrives, enters, and inspects the findings. His companion follows him inside and believes. They turn and leave with no mention of the impact on Peter. Fred Craddock points out concerning the different responses of these two disciples that “miracles and faith that understands are not as closely joined as some might suppose” (Preaching: Year A, 246).

The other episode in this passage focuses upon the experience of Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb (vv. 12-18). She returns to the tomb and stands outside weeping. At this point she begins seeing. In John, seeing equates to faith. In Mary’s episode, she first sees the messengers from God. Then, she sees the gardener, and finally she sees Christ. After each, she enters into conversation – first with the messengers, then the gardener, and then Christ. I wonder why Mary doesn't recognize Jesus from the start? Perhaps it is because of some intended progression in Mary’s encounters. As with Peter, the empty tomb does not create faith. Still, it seems that the progressive steps of each encounter represent some significance.

Mary comes to faith when she hears Christ call her name and takes us back to John 10:3-4 which declares Jesus as the shepherd who knows his own. She comes to faith at hearing the word. How does a contemporary proclamation of the word continue to do this for the community and those outside the community? As most commentators remind us, the encounter between the resurrected Jesus and Mary is not a return to pre-crucifixion time but reflects a new kind of relationship. “Easter opens up a new future.” Maybe that's the reason Jesus says, “Do not hold on to me…” (v. 17).

It is also interesting to note how the passage opens, “Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark…” (NRSV). I wonder if there might be a connection with Gen 1:1 where darkness covers the deep, the Spirit moves, then there is light, and we have the first day. Here there is darkness, the light comes, and there is a new day and a new way of "seeing."

Palm Sunday - How It Really Unfolds in the Church Today?

2006-04-11T19:42:00.000-04:00

The following is a note from my dear friend Ruth Channels. I asked and she agreed to allow me to use this in the blog as I thought it worthy of sharing with all of you.

"Greetings. While reading the Palm Sunday account in preparation for teaching SS last weekend, I had a really fun insight. It seems to me that on both sides, the arrival of a new minister is a Palm Sunday experience. He/she is to be the savior - bring in young people, grow the giving, get rid of... (fill in the blank). Eventually, the minister does something that over turns the money changers' tables - perhaps changing the order of worship or removing an American flag? It may take years or months or weeks, but in my own experience and that shared by others, eventually the Holy Week events play themselves out. You can imagine that Paul and I had great fun discussing this. However, as the time has passed, I think that some acknowledgement of this trap could help the process greatly." Ruth

Greeting Easter Morning - A Time of Worship for Home

2006-04-07T11:06:00.000-04:00

Find a special place, outside or in, where you can begin this day in worship, alone or with your family. Select some music to play as you begin this time of worship - piano, instrumental classical, or instrumental jazz may provide the best option. Before you settle into your space for worship, turn off the phones, television, and any other possible distractions. Enter the space of worship and sense the joy of this day.

Opening Psalm from Psalm 118

Out of my distress I called upon You;
You answered, setting me
on a new path.
With You beside me, I do not fear.
What can others do to me?
You live within me and answer
my prayer as
I face the fears that
well up from within.
It is better to abandon yourself
to the Beloved
than to trust in yourself alone.
It is better to surrender to Love
than to seek the riches
of the world.

Gospel Reading John 20:1-10

Prayer
Risen Lord,
You step forth out of death into life, again, different, changed.

With your coming out, you splinter the tombs in which we live;
living with death all around us, you scatter our despair;
as the Water of Life you fill our parched souls.

Bathed in your light, you draw us to yourself and as we look
all around we see life, new and different.

In the radiance of your light, we worship and listen. Amen.

Silence
(Enter an extended period of silence and listen for God. As you settle into this time, do not worry if distracting thoughts enter your mind or if your mind wanders. Simply let the thoughts pass on through and let your mind return to listening.)

Epistle Reading Colossians 3:1-4

Prayer of Intercession
Let us pray for…
The whole world, the place of Jesus’ ministry,
death, and resurrection…

The church, that we may be one in witnessing to
the Good News…

Those divided by enmity, that the joy of this Easter
may be impetus to reconciliation…

Those who are hungry, thirsty, and naked, that
their hunger pangs may be sated, their thirst
quenched, and their bodies protected…

Those who live in fear and anxiety, that they may
know the wholeness of God…

Those who are ill and injured, that they may be
healed…

The leaders of the world, that they may be servants
of others and that they may rule with grace and
mercy…

Risen Lord, hear our prayers. Amen.

Benediction
Be graceful in spirit, hopeful in word, and faithful in deed.
Live for the Risen Christ as Christ lives in you.
Alleluia and Amen!

Where do we go from here?

2006-04-05T08:08:00.000-04:00

Three years ago this past week (at least I think that is about the time it was) I found myself full of hope. Hope emerging from the pictures that looped through CNN, MSNBC, and all of the other news channels. They were pictures of cheering crowds pouring into the streets, statues being pulled over, palm branches waving in the air to welcome the marines and soldiers driving into Basra and Baghdad. The story they seemed to tell was one of joy, longed for liberation, of great hopefulness that things were on the brink of changing. Whether or not this is the way that such change should occur, regardless of your position on the war, I suspect that three years ago we all passionately hoped that the hopes of the Iraqi people would not be disappointed. Even with all of the uncertainty and the ongoing turmoil there today, we still desire that the hopes of the Iraqi people will not be disappointed.

I know I didn’t want my hopes to be disappointed either. As I saw those pictures three years ago, I was filled with hope that Neil, my brother-in-law, would not have to leave Nashville; that my cousin Alex would stay in Kentucky. Maybe it was the kind of hope of which the prophet Zechariah sings, “[the Messiah] will command peace to the nations” (9:10d).

These pictures that the news channels showed without ceasing must have been similar to the scene in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago. Many folks, Mark’s crowd doesn’t sound quite as large as the crowds in the other gospels, …many folks out along the road running up to Jerusalem from Bethphage and Bethany throwing their clothing as a carpet on the road before Jesus. Those there filled with hope of liberation from the Romans, and end to the occupation that had begun with the Greeks over 300 years before, with the exception of the brief period around the Maccabean revolt.

Just as soon as it had begun, though, it all ended. According to Mark, Jesus enters Jerusalem, goes to the temple, finds no one there, and then goes back out to Bethany for the night. The cheering, chanting, dizzy crowd goes home.

This whole scene is a bit puzzling. The crowd is there singing of Jesus’ enthronement as king. Yet nothing happens. Other than his instructions to the disciples to go and get the colt, Jesus remains silent through out this scene. He is really low-key about the whole thing. He doesn’t disagree with the chants of the crowd but then when he gets to the temple nothing happens. He and the disciples head back out to Bethany. The crowd in their excitement must have been somewhat disappointed. They are ready for the oppression at the hands of the Romans to end, ready to live in freedom after centuries of invasion and occupation, and ready to be led by the descendent of David, their king.

Jesus appears to take all of this in stride, handling it all very nonchalantly. He apparently doesn’t speak or even do anything other than ride in on this donkey. The expectations hang all around him lifting the hopes of the people to new heights. Yet he does nothing.

Well what in the world are we to do with that?

Culture's Liturgy & Crowning a New King

2006-04-03T17:25:00.000-04:00

The beginning of April always includes several major sporting events. Tonight is the NCAA men’s basketball championship game between Florida and UCLA. Even though I didn’t pick either one to go this far, I expect to see Florida cutting the nets down on the front page of the paper tomorrow. The Masters starts Thursday down in Augusta. The weather looks like it is miserable down that direction right now. Yesterday was opening day of the Major League Baseball season. My favorite team, Cincinnati, opened up today – in the last report I heard, the Cubs were pounding Cincinnati. The season always begins filled with such hope and dreams of playing in October. There is always great ceremony around these opening games – celebrities throwing out the first pitches, the stands often filled with families, and kids who have cut class to go watch the first game of the season. But mostly it is adults that are the celebrants at such gatherings. It seems to me that around such sporting events we act out our cultural liturgy. With our rituals and officials on hand, we state through these celebrations our core beliefs as a society. Such times are always filled with such hopes and dreams – the promise that tomorrow will be better than today and all of the ideas like that.

In the church year, we stand on the cusp again of one such day in our life together as the church – Palm Sunday. It is a day when we in word and action retell the story of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, which initiates the telling of his passion story. As we act it out, we’ve always got the palm branches ready to wave. It is interesting that it is usually into the hands of our children that we place the palm fronds. I wonder if we do that because it is in them that we see hope. Hope for an end to the distress that the world always seems to live in the midst of? Hope that the story might turn out differently this time? Hope for something else? Why don't the adults pick up the palm fronds as well? Are our adults without such hope for themselves? Have we given up on this story? Is it because we know where it leads that we can no longer pick up the palm branches?

The lectionary readings for the day depend upon the year in which we live. In other words, the gospel readings rotate between the different versions of the story. But Psalm 118 is always included as a reading. Often entitled a psalm of victory, the feel of it to me is of an enthronement psalm. The victory psalm title comes from the description of the king, or some other national leader, facing some form of distress which is later described as being from the nations that surrounded him (vv. 10-11). He sings that it was a difficult trial but he survives (vv. 13-18). The part that strikes me as having to do with an enthronement is the part that we will read in worship this next Sunday – vv. 19-29. In these verses, the king leads a processional of people towards the city, maybe even around the city first, and then to the gate of the city where he knocks and calls for the gates to the city to be opened. We hear shouts of great praise for God as the processional moves towards the altar where the king ties the festal procession with branches to the horns of the altar. We find something similar with the coronation of King Jehu in 2 Kings 9:1-13 as well as with the success of the Maccabean revolt when they retake the citadel in Jerusalem (1 Maccabees 13:51) and the recovery and purification of the temple (2 Maccabees 10:6-7).

Are we to understand Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem in the same manner? Was he re-enacting a coronation processional into Jerusalem? If we are to understand his triumphal entry into Jerusalem in such a manner, then we need to understand how the Romans would have been threatened by such an act. It would amount to an act of revolt and they would have responded quickly and decisively to squash it. We know ultimately that is exactly what they did. We’ll be telling that story all next week.

Again I wonder why it is that we only put palm branches in the hands of our children when most of those in attendance – at the RCA Dome this evening, in Augusta at the Masters later this week, in the baseball parks all across the country, and in our churches next Sunday – will be adults?

Thinking about Sunday, April 2, 2006 - John 12:22-30

2006-03-29T13:56:00.000-05:00

My blogging went dormant for a while after the one Sunday school class finished reading the Lost Books. I had largely taken my direction for this blog from the topics they were exploring. So when they finished, I was without a clear direction about where to go next here in this spot. Then I happened on the idea of offering some background information and other thoughts related to the text, or texts, for the following Sunday’s worship. In other words, here is some of my thoughts and info from reading and thinking about my sermon for the next week.

So here is my first installment along those lines. I welcome suggestions, questions, and other comments as this process gets refined and hopefully better as it goes along.

It is a bit of an unusual time to begin such an endeavor given that it is the 5th Sunday in Lent. The Sundays are in Lent and not of Lent because they are not a part of Lent’s 40 days. We’ve departed from the Markan gospel readings and picked up a few Sundays with readings from John. For Sunday, April 2, the gospel reading is John 12:22-30 wherein we hear some Greeks coming and asking to see Jesus. It is always helpful to situate the text in context and understand what comes before and after it. Just before our reading, Jesus has raised Lazarus from the dead. Before receiving news of his friend’s illness, Jesus had withdrawn across the Jordan most likely because the powers that be were already after him. They were just looking for a reason to get Jesus out of the way. When I say the powers that be, I’m predominately referring to the Romans. They were the ones with the real power in Palestine during this time. If any Jewish sect was involved in trying to get Jesus out of the way (John 11:45-57), there motivations were quite different from the Romans. They looked at the crowds and knew that Rome would not be pleased with the turmoil that would surely come with this man. They acted out of self-preservation and likely at the direction of the Roman authorities as well. Also remember that John is written about 70 years after the ministry of Jesus. At the end of the 1st century and the beginning of the 2nd, it is easier to blame the Jews than it is to blame the Romans who still rule the Mediterranean world in which the church lives. So when Jesus comes to the home of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, he puts himself at risk.

Between our reading for this Sunday and the raising of Lazarus, several important events unfold. Back at the home of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, Mary anoints Jesus’ feet with a costly perfume as a foreshadowing of his death. There is also a nice connection here with Jesus washing the disciples feet in John 13 – both stories use the verb wipe (ekmasso) to describe the act. The crowds continue to grow as well when Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey and they greet him with palm branches waving. In response to this scene, the Pharisees can only throw their hands up in frustration – “You see, you can do nothing. Look, the whole world has gone after him!” Perhaps these words point to the mission to the Gentiles.

As we come finally to our reading for the day, lo and behold, the Gentiles come looking for Jesus. They approach Philip and ask to see Jesus. Interestingly at the start of John’s gospel, Philip wonders if anything good can come out of Nazareth when Andrew invites him to come and see Jesus. Now, he brings others to see what good can come out of such a place. Philip has come full circle after seeing Jesus and observing his ministry. Can we say the same or do the same? Has our experience with the Messiah changed us such that we can lead others to see Jesus?

As I look at Jesus’ response to those who would see him, I am initially confused by it. Why wouldn’t Jesus welcome them with open arms? Maybe this is my own transference onto the text.(?) We chase down anyone that comes wanting to enter the church. Jesus on the other hand, here, offers a summation of Jesus’ message and a fulfillment statement about Jesus’ time of death being upon him. For wheat to be wheat, it has to be used for its purpose. For us to live and truly know life, we have to live our purpose. As followers of Jesus, that means serving others. We’re used to earning our own way, getting where we want and need to go via our own wits. Such a viewpoint is challenged here. We’re called to be servants and everyone knows servants cannot earn their own way.

“My soul is troubled,” Jesus says. He chose the life he would live and he knew it could lead only to one thing – death. Jesus accepts that path yet again. The sounds of heaven confirm Jesus’ identity as the messiah and Jesus suggests that his death by crucifixion will draw people to him and in turn draw them to God. He says that the cross will be salvific. But…I don’t think he is saying that God is demanding his death as a sacrifice. Rather, I believe that Jesus knew where his life would lead him, that all of the things he did would so anger the powers that be and upset their apple carts that they would have to respond by getting rid of him. He also knew that even if what he did and taught would lead to death that he had to travel that path anyway. He knows that the time for the response of the authorities is approaching and he is preparing himself and other around him for death.

I find several questions in this Sunday’s text. What is a servant? How is Jesus’ death a salvific act? What is our nature and purpose? There are others as well that I’m skipping over to get to the one that keeps popping into my head. The question that won’t leave me alone is, “Where do we come to see Jesus?” Theologian Douglas John Hall writes, “Faith needs not only to hear but in some real – if different – sense to ‘see’ Jesus” (Citation lost but I think it is from an essay that he wrote for The Living Pulpit.) To fill this need, we create images of Jesus. Hall offers 3 examples of such created images: the Divine Jesus who is out of this world, removed from our pain and suffering; the Conquering Jesus who sits in final judgment, one ready to give the thumbs up or thumbs down; the Accepting Jesus who loves me, even if we’re not ready for the truth and hard work of the transformation that such love brings.

So which one do we prefer? Is there another image that might serve us better? Jesus calls us to life here and now and as such shouldn’t we witness his presence with us in this "here and now" life? I think so! I witness that presence in our life together as the Body of Christ, as the church, in those moments as we reach out to neighbor and stranger alike, and as we offer forgiveness and love to one another. Answering the question of where we see Jesus for me comes in the form of the stories we tell of our life together. Where are those places and what are those stories?

What's Authoritative For You?

2006-02-03T12:33:00.000-05:00

As Ehrman notes in the introduction to the Canon Lists that conclude his book, the arguments between the “orthodox” and the “heretical” branches of the church contributes greatly to the formation of the canon. Remember a canon is a list of texts that a community deems authoritative for its life together and worthy for teaching and use in liturgy. An interesting question for each of us is to ask ourselves, “What does our community deem authoritative for our life together?” And another with it, “What’s worthy for teaching the faith we profess and for use in our liturgy?”

Is it only those texts that make sense to us? Do we include those texts that offend our sense of morality? Is a text worthy to be included only if we can prove it accurately reports the events described within it?

Thomas Jefferson created his own canon. He trimmed from the Bible all of the supernatural references so that scripture fit the expectations of modern people. His canon, along with Jefferson himself, is a product of the Enlightenment. Perhaps the dominant question regarding scripture that the Enlightenment leaves us with is, “Does the Bible report accurately the events it describes?”

Fundamentalists and historical-critical scholars alike are obsessed with this question. When it comes down to it, they really aren’t very different in their approach to scripture even though they end up on opposite ends of the spectrum regarding the text they both love. The former of these understand scripture to be inerrant and divinely inspired and as such will argue to their last breath that the Bible does report accurately in most if not all instances the events it describes – even if the historical and scientific evidence points to the contrary. Historical-critical scholars, using any and all available means at their disposal, point out that the Bible rarely reports accurately the events it describes. Instead, they see the Bible for what it is – a mytho-poetic document that intends to do something other than report history. As such, the predominance of their work describes more of what the Bible is not about than what it is about.

As you might guess, I’m more in line with the historical critical approach to the Bible. However, I believe that ultimately both the approach of these scholars and that of fundamentalists (and many more between the two spectrums) tend to read scripture in a flat method. We take a couple of verses or even a whole story and read it out of context asking only if the events are reported accurately. We miss the mytho-poetic nature of the text. But when we see those few verses or even a whole story in the wider context our reading is enriched.

Karl Barth, a 20th century German theologian, described the Bible as an alternative network of symbols that yields a script about God that acts as a counter-script to the dominant modes of meaning in the wider culture. This counter-script within scripture asks what needs are worth having and what goals are ultimately good. Perhaps an illustration will describe this approach best.

Will Willimon tells a story about preaching on the text of the Rich Man and Lazarus. In his sermon, he points out that most of us know best the position of the Rich Man – we don’t really know hunger, we’ve not lived in utter poverty, and we’ve generally always had enough. The rest of the world though lives in a different way. As he continued his homily, he read a newspaper description of poor folks in Brazil selling their body’s organs to rich buyers. The article told the story of a man named Walter who sold his eyes for $20,000. Walter said, “Now I can see that my family has a better life.” Willimon ended his sermon there but it didn’t end there. The next morning, he received a call from a parishioner who said she couldn’t sleep the previous night because she couldn’t get Walter out of her mind. The woman and her husband lived modestly but they had decided that they had to re-examine their lifestyle. They were going to buy a new car but they decided they didn’t really need one. They were going to buy a new stereo but they could continue with the one they already had. Then she said, “The reason I am calling you is to tell you that we want to double our giving to the church if you can assure us that some of it has a good chance of reaching someone like Walter.” (Willimon recounts this story in his book, Shaped By the Bible, 40-42).

So what’s authoritative for you?

Need Some Gnosis to Know

2006-01-18T16:18:00.000-05:00

“Great things have arisen in your mind, for it is difficult to explain them to others except those who are from the immovable race” (Ehrman 306).

Yea, I can see why it is difficult to explain them if we take this text as an example of explanation. You need a playbill to keep all of the characters straight and a map of this world and others to understand the characters in their appropriate realm. Finally, I would add that I think I saw a movie similar to the themes here except it had characters named Zeus, Hera, Apollos, Hercules, etc. It was on the Saturday afternoon special back in the 70s. I flippantly put it this way to say that what we have here sounds more like what we typically think of as a part of Greco-Roman mythology. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. I don’t really know.

For those who aren’t familiar with the many “bracketed” words and phrases, particularly at the early parts of the text, these “bracketed” items represent breaks in the original manuscript. These breaks could represent literal holes in the text or a missing corner or an illegible section. These parts are then filled in with other extant manuscripts or filled in with best guesses.

What the Apocryphon of John illustrates for us is a clear example of the origin of creation and the means of salvation as understood by mythological Gnosticism. It presents a description of the high Spirit, the divine realm of light, the origin of Sophia, the origin of the god of creation – Yaldabaoth, who is clearly Yahweh of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, the various other spiritual realms, and the means of salvation or release from Yaldabaoth’s creation.

The importance of this text seemingly lies with its comparative value with other texts from mythological Gnosticism as well as biblical interpretation in the 2nd and 3rd centuries.

Perhaps, our reading of this material encourages us to ask ourselves about our own understandings of creation (Is it good or evil, flawed or something else?) and the role God plays in creating and creation.

Gender, Sex, and Freedom - The Acts of Thecla

2006-01-05T18:48:00.000-05:00

In Paul's Letter to the Galatians, he writes, "As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus" (Gal 3:27-28). I wonder if we really understand how radical of an idea Paul presents here - in Christ, the distinctions of race, social position, and gender no longer matter. Culture and society are often built around such distinctions, or at least reinforce them. Paul undermines culture and society with these words. My guess is that such ideas upset the "apple cart" in the ancient world and folks were no too pleased about it.

But I wonder if we are any more pleased about it? Do we live out this gift of freedom that comes with following Christ?

In every TV or movie wedding that I've seen and in more than a few church weddings that I've attended, there has been something about "Giving the Bride Away." All of the participants enter the sacred space and then the note plays, "Here Comes the Bride." When she arrives at the "altar" the liturgy continues with the officiant asking, "Who gives this bride away?" These words suggest that the bride is some kind of property to be given. The practices goes back to the medieval period while the idea of brides being property probably goes back well into the ancient world. Marriage was, and still is, in this liturgy a financial transaction. A dowry of some sort was presented to the bride's father in exchange for the bride. In contemporary Catholic and Protestant worship, the question is sometimes changed to "Who brings this woman to be married?" It sounds better than giving away but I wonder if it is much different.

As I think about this issue, I have to wonder if either of these options faithfully reflects the teaching of Galatians 3:27-28? Does the liturgy reflect the freedom of "no longer Jew or Greek...no longer slave or free...no longer male and female" in Christ?

The Acts of Thecla addresses this very issue. When you first read this short collection of stories about a female Christian convert, it seems inordinately obsessed with sex and abstaining from sexual activity. When we look more carefully at this material though, the focus of the text is not on some moral objection to sex. Rather it seems to me that the issue at hand is the freedom that one has in Christ. Marriage and sexual intercourse leading to the birthing of children are key components to societal and cultural propagation. As long as a community is having children, the population is growing and someone will be present to carry on the traditions of the given community. Marriage also ensures good order in society as it puts people in their proper places and defines roles for males and females.

Theocleia, Thecla's mother, says to her daughter's fiance, "Thamyris, this man [Paul] is stirring up the city of the Iconians as well as your own Thecla. For all the wives and youth are going in to see him, learning from him that, 'You must fear the one and only God and live a chaste life.' Even my daughter is bound to the window like a spider..." (Ch. 9). More is going on in this situation than Theocleia simply not liking Paul and his message. Also key to this story is that Thamyris is a leading citizen of Iconium. If all of the women and youth begin to live the life that Paul calls them to live with his preaching of the gospel, then soon the society of Iconium will begin to unravel. Thamyris cannot allow this to happen. This example raises the question for us, "How does the gospel challenge social systems, cultural expectations, and even world order?"

Gender is not strictly anatomically defined. The roles which we fill also can define gender. When Thecla chooses to live the chaste life, she takes ownership of herself. In other words, her life is no longer defined by the expectations of her mother or her soon-to-be husband. She no longer is a daughter of marrying age who can serve as a child bearer for Thamyris and thus secure his legacy and her own mother's future well-being and security. In choosing this life, she steps out of her culturally defined role and thus out of her gender definition and in doing so she embraces the freedom that is in Christ - "there is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus" (Gal 3:28). It is a radical idea and I wonder if we are ready to live in such a way?

On a side note, did anyone notice the description of Paul included in the chapter 3? It sounds to me that he was a short, round, bald-head man who walked bow-legged and to top it all off he had a uni-brow. Interesting image, huh!

If you want to explore these issues and others further, then check out these links:
The Acts of Thecla: A Pauline Tradition Linked to Women

Women, the Roman Empire, and Early Christianity Links

The First Christians: The Roles for Women

Have you read it and what's it about?

2005-12-21T16:16:00.000-05:00

I recently began reading the non-canonical Acts of the Apostles that Ehrman includes in his book, Lost Scriptures. It struck me as I was reading The Acts of John and The Acts of Paul that there are some similarities between these, what we might call legendary tales about holy men, and the legendary tales about Elijah and Elisha in 1 Kings 17 – 2 Kings 8. One example of the similarities can be found in 2 Kings 4 and Elisha’s healing of the Shunnamite woman’s son and John’s healing of Cleopatra in chapter 19 of The Acts of John. Another example is the contest between Elijah and the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18 and John’s visit to the Temple of Artemis in chapters 38-44 of The Acts of John.

The stories about the Israelite prophets do not in and of themselves include anything of religious significance. They are really more about the power of the respective holy man. The religious, or maybe better put, the theological significance of these stories comes from the narrative framework around them – the books of 1 and 2 Kings and the Hebrew Bible as a whole. One could argue the same thing with regard to The Acts of John. The work seems to say more about John than it does about the God he worships. John though does offer us a glimpse of the God he worships as we overhear his prayers in the midst of his encounters with others, or at least a glimpse of how he understands this God. The prayer at the end of chapter 21 casts the struggles of Cleopatra and Lycomedes into the larger framework of the cosmic battle between good and evil. John offers an altar call of sorts in chapter 22 as he prays that God perform this miracle so that others will believe.

In fairness to The Acts of John, I was struck with several questions in response to particular aspects of the text. When John is preaching at the Temple of Artemis, he says to the crowd, “How many miraculous deeds did you see me perform, how many cures! And still you are hardened in the heart and cannot see clearly” (Ch. 39, Lns 9-13). John appears to believe that the miraculous should lead to belief. It prompts me to ask myself, “What does lead to belief?” “Is the proof in the pudding?”

When John eulogizes Drusiana, he says of her, “And she preferred to die rather than to commit the repugnant act [consenting to sexual intercourse after vowing abstinence]” (Ch. 63, Lns 14-16). Now before anyone asks, I’m not advocating sexual abstinence as an absolute. Rather, John prompts me to wonder, “How far am I willing to go out faith or for my faith?” Regardless the area of my life, “How does my faith define or effect my behavior?” I am also driven to contemplate the significance of the body as Callimachus breaks into Drusiana’s tomb in order to practice necrophilia.

The last question that I will offer in this post is in response to John’s words, “The believer must above all things consider the end and carefully examine how it will come, whether energetic and sober and without impediment, or in confusion and flattering worldly things and bound by passions” (Ch. 69, Lns. 1-6). The question is, “How do I want to die?” It is a question related to many situations covered in the media in recent years and in particularly memorable ways this past year.

I found these texts to be provocative. I also noticed what Ehrman describes as a more gnostic or docetic characteristic of chapters 88 and following. That probably indicates that these were added to the material from a different source. Also, did anyone notice the hymns in chapters 94-96?

Literary Categories in the New Testament

2005-12-21T16:05:00.000-05:00

Gospel – Matthew, Mark, Luke, John

Derives from the Greek evangelion which means “good news”
New Testament gospels appear to take previous oral preaching about Jesus along with sayings attributed to him and then form them into biographies of sorts
NT gospels are written to particular contexts and with particular agendas
Focuses upon the events of Jesus’ life

Narrative History – Acts

Only one example in the NT
Complements the gospels in that the story of Jesus and the story of the church are incomplete without one another

Letters – Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, Philemon, 3 John

Private correspondence between pastor and people
Address particular peoples and circumstances
Typically follow pattern of letter writing in the ancient world

Epistle – Ephesians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Hebrews, James, 1 & 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, Jude

More sophisticated literary form typically in the ancient world
Intended more for publication
Intended for a general audience
Addresses broader issues

Letters and epistles in the NT include liturgical materials, moral instruction, and religious instruction. Because of this nature, both tend to break literary stylistic rules.

Apocalyptic – Revelation

Derives from the Greek word apokalypsis which means disclosure, unveiling, or revelation
Often includes a negative view of the present time and highlights hope in a new order, time, or creation
Uses highly symbolic language

Canon - Usually Not a Weapon

2005-12-14T18:49:00.000-05:00

This kind of canon is not a projectile-firing weapon from the battlefield. Although sometimes it is used as a weapon. In our context, it instead refers to the measuring rod by which a faith community judges writings authoritative for its life together. As a religious movement chronologically moves away from its founder or central figure, it must find ways to define its identity, followers, and acceptable practices. A canon offers a list of texts deemed worthy for liturgy and teaching and in turn definines its identity and practice.

Marcion’s mid 2nd century delineation of a list of NT texts was the first attempt at the determination of a canon. In the New Testament and the early church, references to scripture refer to the Hebrew Bible and specifically the Greek version called the Septuagint, abbreviated LXX.

Much like our practice today of reading scripture lessons, the worship practice of the early church appears to have included the reading of scripture (Hebrew Bible) along with received letters and other texts. Partially in response to Marcion’s list of authoritative New Testament books , a counter-list began to emerge. The Hebrew Bible was considered scripture without question; the Christian faith was seen as the fulfillment of the promises to Israel and the Hebrew Bible became the Christian Old Testament.

The four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, were the first to gain general recognition as authoritative. The multiple witnesses and emphasis on the incarnation and resurrection offered a rebuttal of the Gnostics as well as Marcion. Acts and Pauline epistles were the next ones to be considered authoritative. By the end of the 2nd Century, the core of the canon was established.

The Political Landscape in Palestine - 587 B.C.E. to 135 C.E.

2005-12-14T18:41:00.000-05:00

Palestine was a fault line in the ancient world, a place where empires rubbed against one another. Like a fault line in the earth’s tectonic plates, when the different empires rubbed against one another the ground shook. All of these empires wanted to dominate this trade crossroads and access the somewhat fertile region. The Assyrians, Egyptians, Babylonians, Persians, and Greeks, each in their turn, controlled Palestine as an occupied territory from 587 B.C.E. until 143 B.C.E. In the middle of the 2nd Century B.C.E., the Maccabeans revolted against their Hellenistic rulers. The Hasmonean dynasty ruled until 63 B.C.E. when the Roman general Pompey conquered Palestine.

Throughout the Roman rule of Palestine there was almost continual unrest. Syncretism is perhaps the best way to describe Rome’s approach to the religions of her territories. The Romans wanted their subjects to see all of their gods as the same; it presented no difficulty to add gods to the Roman pantheon. While the Romans were tolerant of religion as a general practice in the territories they occupied, the Jews became unsettled at the slightest threat to their faith. Emperor worship presented a major problem for Jews and Christians alike. From 66 – 70 C.E., the Jews waged a major revolt against their occupiers. The end of the revolt arrived when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and razed the temple. Bar Kochba led another revolt in 135 C.E. that ended much as the earlier one.

What If You Didn't Believe What You Believe?

2005-12-13T12:07:00.000-05:00

Have you been wondering what Christianity and the church would look like if the intellectual battles of the first and second centuries had gone a different way? What would you believe about who Jesus is? How would you describe your faith if the Marcionites, the Gnostics, or the Ebionites had come out on top in these arguments?

Tom Ehrman explores these issues and others in his book, Lost Christianities. On beliefnet, Deborah Caldwell has an interesting interview with Ehrman on these questions and his book that might make for some interesting conversation. Check out the interview.

The Gospel of John - An Overview

2005-12-10T11:24:00.000-05:00

Authorship – probably written about 100 C.E. and authorship unknown, variously attributed to John the disciple, John the Presbyter of Ephesus, the Beloved Disciple

Structure – 2 major sections, the Book of Signs (chs. 1-12) and the Book of Glory (chs. 13-20), John does not employ the same geographical, lineal progression of the Synoptic Gospels.

Purpose – All the gospels are written rhetoric intended to proclaim and persuade who Jesus is and why he should be believed in. John wants to encourage belief in his community’s high Christology.

Symbolism and Use of Language – Note how Jesus is compared to such realities as light, water, bread, a shepherd, a vine, and resurrection and life. John makes wide use of irony (Pilot’s posting of the sign on the cross) and double entendre (“born again” with Nicodemus).

Vocabulary – There is considerable dualistic language in the gospel such as light and darkness, and life and death.

Representative Examples of Material Found Only in John

1. Doctrine of the Logos – Before coming to earth, Jesus preexisted with God, where he was God’s mediator in creating the universe (1:1-18), (8:12-59)

2. Miracle at Cana – Jesus changes water into wine (2:1-12)

3. Spiritual Rebirth – Conversation with Nicodemus (3:1-21)

4. Jesus is the water of eternal life – Conversation with Samaritan Woman (4:1-42)

5. Jesus heals the invalid at Jerusalem’s Sheep Pool (5:1-47)

6. “I am” sayings – Jesus speaks as divine Wisdom revealed, equating himself with objects or concepts of symbolic value, such as “the bread of life” (6:22-66), “the good shepherd” (10:1-21), “the resurrection and the life” (11:25), “the way,” “the truth” (14:6), and “the true vine” (15:1-17).

7. Cure of the man born blind – debate between church and synagogue (9:1-41)

8. Resurrection of Lazarus (11:1-12:11)

9. Different tradition of the Last Supper – washing the disciples’ feet (13:1-20) and the farewell discourses; promise of the Holy Spirit that will empoer the disciples and interpret the meaning of Jesus’ life (13:31-17:26)

10. Resurrection appearances in or near Jerusalem – to Mary Magdalene, the disciples, and Thomas (20:1-29)

11. Resurrection appearances in Galilee – to Peter and the Beloved Disciple (21:1-23)

The Gospel of Matthew - An Overview

2005-12-10T11:21:00.000-05:00

Authorship: Unknown, 2nd century tradition connects it to the tax collector, Levi, however there is no way to verify this point

Date: Late 80s or early 90s, after the synagogue and church split between 85 and 90 C.E., it also presupposes the destruction of the temple in 70 C.E. (Matt 22:7)

Highlights:
• It is placed first in the NT because it serves as good connector with OT by including a genealogy for Jesus and emphasizing the nature and function of the church (chs 10 & 18)
• Presents Jesus’ life as fulfillment of biblical law and prophecy
• Organized around 5 discourses of Jesus:
1. chs 5-7, Sermon on the Mount
2. ch 10, Instructions for missionary disciples
3. ch 13, Parables of the kingdom of Heaven
4. ch 18, Sincere Discipleship
5. chs 24-25, End of the present age

The Gospel of Luke - An Overview

2005-12-10T11:17:00.000-05:00

Authorship: Unknown, tradition suggests Luke is a traveling companion of Paul, Luke & Acts are thought to be a 2 volume work

Date: Luke includes an awareness of the Temple’s destruction in 70 C.E. (21:20-24) so it is after 70 C.E. but before the compilation of Paul’s writings c. 95 C.E. Most scholars date Luke to around 85 C.E.

Highlights:
• Luke-Acts has a positive view of the world. Gentiles can be followers of God. These books downplay the role of the Roman Empire in the crucifixion (23:22).
• Jesus effects a great reversal-the lowly are raised up, the haughty are brought down. Human security and complacency are challenged. While Luke’s worldview is generally positive, there is a reversal of understanding regarding how the world works.
• Jesus is the messiah of “all nations” or all people. Luke portrays Jesus as a savior, which is in terms that Greek and Roman audiences can understand given their involvement in mystery cults.
• Emphasis on the power of the prophetic word to share God’s message to the world.
• God’s message reverses human expectations and calls for conversion and repentance.
• The people of God respond to Good News by bearing fruits of faith.

The Gospel of Mark - An Overview

2005-12-10T11:12:00.000-05:00

Authorship: Unknown but seems to be in response to Nero’s persecution of Christians in Rome in 64-65 C.E.

Date: Along with Nero’s persecutions in 64-65 C.E., there is a Jewish uprising in Palestine in 66-73 C.E. that included the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem in 70 C.E. Mark’s emphasizes the troubles of the day and encourages believers to remain steadfast because these troubles point to Jesus’ return. All of this suggests a date around 70 C.E. for the composition of this gospel.

Highlights:
• Presents Jesus as universally misunderstood, rejected by his own people and condemned by the Romans
• Interprets Jesus as an apocalyptic preacher, healer, and exorcist
• Emphasizes Jesus’ actions over and above his teachings
• Equates discipleship with suffering
• Narrative movement is from north to south, ministry in the north, journey to Jerusalem, the events in Jerusalem
• Paints the 12 disciples as dull-witted, inept, unreliable, and cowardly

Gaps, Ambiguity, and the Reading Process

2005-12-08T14:46:00.000-05:00

There are all kinds of different ways of reading. What follows below is a description of a reading process that has profoundly influenced me. The material included here you should consider the work of Meir Sternberg. I have quoted him at places and summarized material at other points. The work referenced is his book, The Poetics of Biblical Narrative: Ideological Literature and the Drama of Reading (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1985).

Sternberg writes, “To understand a literary work, we have to answer, in the course of reading, a series of such questions as: What is happening or has happened, and why? What connects the present event or situation to what went before, and how do both relate to what will probably come after? What are the features, motives, or designs of this or that character? How does he/she view his/her fellow characters? What norms govern the existence and conduct of all?” (186).

Answering such questions enables us as readers to make sense of the world (or world view) represented in the text.

Yet often times, answers to these questions are not provided by the text itself. Sometimes, they are provided by the larger context of the text. Other times, the ambiguities are filled automatically from information supplied in the text. Still other times, we as readers supply the answers to the questions. Sometimes we offer temporary, partial, or tentative answers. Sometimes we offer whole and final answers.

As illustrated by some of the non-canonical gospels the Disciples class has been reading, ancient literary works sometimes are not much more than small pieces, sentences and fragments, placed next to each other but without a narrative to tie them together. Even when the narrative is present, the works remain constituent pieces but sewn together more coherently (at least sometimes). In either instance, stories contain gaps that must be filled. Such gap-filling may involve simple linkage of elements that we do automatically. When the gaps are larger and more intricate networks, the gap-filling requires conscious, laborious, hesitant, and constant modification (186).

Even children’s literature requires such gap-filling. Sternberg offer the Hebrew nursery rhyme, “Little Jonathan,” as an example. It goes like this:

Every day, that’s the way
Jonathan goes out to play.
Climbed a tree. What did he see?
Birdies: one, two, three!

Naughty boy! What have we seen?
There’s a hole in your new jeans!

How did the jeans get torn? We tend to automatically say the tree. Could it not also have been some fence that the boy crawled under? We prefer the tree because it lets us link the elements of the rhyme. It “offers the simplest and most probable explanation for the coexistence and unfolding of the different givens in the text” (187).

In literary works of greater complexity, the gap-filling is more difficult and requires more conscious and intentional work. For example, “what was Abraham’s state of mind while answering the questions ‘Where is the lamb for the burnt offering?’ put to him by his son Isaac?” (187).

Ancient Gnosticism: An Overview

2005-12-07T16:54:00.000-05:00

Gnosis is the Greek word meaning knowledge. Gnosticism refers to an amorphous ideology in ancient Greco-Roman culture as well as the early church. Gnostics claimed they possessed a special knowledge that led to true understanding and ultimately salvation. They believed that all matter is evil and that the spirit, or the receptacle of the special knowledge, was imprisoned in the human body. Gnostics await a divine messenger who comes to awaken a divine spark present in human beings, at least some human beings. The view that all matter is evil raised the question for Gnostics about how they should live in the world. Should one choose the ascetic life in order that the spirit can gain control of the urges, passions, and desires of the evil body? Or, should one choose a libertine life and leave the body to its own devices since the spirit is indestructible?

Gnostic Christians believed that Christ, not Jesus, was this divine messenger. They believed that Christ only appeared to be human and therefore could not have been crucified and in turn he was not resurrected. Gnosticism was not the only belief system that asserted this belief. Docetism describes the general belief that Christ appeared to be human but was not.

Orthodox Christianity, referred to as such because it became the dominant or authoritative perspective, objected to and opposed Gnosticism partly because Gnosticism denies creation, the incarnation, and the resurrection.

To Learn More About Gnosticism Check Out:
An encylcopedia article on Gnosticism

The Gnosis Archive

Other Sites on Gnosticism

What Happens When You Die?

2005-12-07T16:12:00.000-05:00

I asked that question last Sunday in the midst of a group discussion in the Disciples class related to some of the Gnostic gospels. I must say that this adult group has been gracious in allowing me to sit in on their study and offer comments along the way and even ask, sometimes, pointed questions. I asked the question in this way because I think that sometimes we aren't always able to articulate fully what we believe and that it is sometimes difficult for us to see the inconsistencies in our own belief systems. Asking a question like "What happens when you die?" enables us to cut through some other stuff and get to the heart of the matter.

Because this material is so foreign to us and seemingly far removed from our context, it can be a struggle to enter the world of the text and explore the Gnostic understandings of creation, human beings, and Christ. How do we make sense of this stuff, how does it relate to us, and does it matter? Maybe we can frame the discussion and make sense of it by stating what we believe about these things. We do this not to gain a condemnatory measuring rod but in order to create a dialogue partner that can help us interpret what we're reading.

Who Do You Say He Is?

2005-12-07T14:09:00.000-05:00

According to the Gospel of Matthew (16:15), Jesus asks the disciples “Who do you say that I am?”

That question to the disciples is one that all who profess to follow Jesus, whether ancient or modern, whether heretical or orthodox, must answer. In the canonical gospels, we receive 4 different, if similar, answers to that question. The other writings of the early church offer a variety of answers to that same question. We can receive a general perspective, and sometimes a quiet detailed perspective, of how a given community understands Jesus by examining the texts that the given community used to convey their answer to the question Jesus asked of the disciples. This opportunity exists as we read those texts in the New Testament as well as those texts not considered a part of scripture. The latter category includes other texts omitted from the New Testament and the writings of early church mothers and fathers.

Perhaps the description above is a bit confusing. That’s not my goal. So let me state it a different way. Any of these texts that we’re considering reflect a community’s efforts to understand Jesus, his message, his meaning for their life together, their history, and the world. We are still doing that same thing. In that way the story of Jesus is not finished and never can be. We are still wrestling, like Jacob at the Jabbok, with who God is, how God deals with the world, and how God deals with us.

Now, who do you say that he is?

Marcion

2005-12-04T18:36:00.000-05:00

Considered a heretic by orthodox Christianity, Marcion was the son of a Christian bishop and active in the church in Rome in the 2nd century (c. 144 C.E.). He saw the world as evil and despised Judaism. He concluded that the creator of earth was evil, rejected the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), and believed the God of the Hebrew Bible was arbitrary and vindicative illustrated respectively by the deity’s choice of the Hebrews over all other people and by the deity’s accounting for all disobedience and punishment of all such disobedience.

Marcion believed the God of Jesus intended only a spiritual world and this God is loving, requires nothing of us, and gives salvation freely. Marcion denied the birth narratives of Matthew and Luke and believed that Jesus appeared full-grown during the reign of Tiberius. Because of his rejection of the Hebrew Bible, he delineated his own New Testament that included Paul’s epistles and a version of Luke’s gospel expunged of any references to the Hebrew Bible or Judaism. In opposition to the church in Rome, Marcion established another church in Rome that lasted for a few centuries after his death.

To learn more about Marcion, check out the following:
Fragments of His Writings

An Encyclopedia Article on Marcion

What One Early Church Father Had To Say In Response

Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus

2005-12-04T17:02:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures of a model of Jerusalem from about the time of Jesus. I took these photos on a 1992 trip to Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Israel, and Greece. This model is located at the Holyland Hotel in Jerusalem. It is a 1:50 scale model of the city as it may have looked around the beginning of the revolt in 66 C.E.

Here is a side view of the Herodian temple.

Here is a front view of the Herodian temple.

Click on the link to see more of the model.

NT Books: Approximate Order of Composition

2005-11-30T17:11:00.000-05:00

50 1 Thessalonians (Paul)
2 Thessalonians (if by Paul)

54-55 1 and 2 Corinthians (Paul)

56 Galatians (Paul)

56-57 Romans (Paul)

61 Colossians (if by Paul)

61 Philippians (Paul)

62 Philemon (Paul)

66-70 Gospel of Mark (Anonymous)

66-73 Jewish War Against Rome: Destruction of Jerusalem and Temple

80-85 Gospel of Matthew (Anonymous)

85-90 Gospel of Luke and Acts (Anonymous)

85-95 Hebrews, 1 Peter, Ephesians, James (Anonymous)

90-95 Gospel of John (Anonymous)

95 Revelation (the Apocalypse) (John of Patmos)

95-100 Letters of John (1,2, and 3 John) (The Elder?)

110-30 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus (Anonymous)

130-50 Jude, 2 Peter (Anonymous)

Major Events in NT Hisory

2005-11-30T16:42:00.000-05:00

These events are organized and listed with the approximate date, event, and biblical reference.

332 B.C.E. - Alexander the Great of Macedonia includes Palestine in his empire. 1 Macc. 1:1-5

323-197 B.C.E. - The Ptolemys of Egypt rule Palestine. 1 Macc. 1:6-10

197-142 B.C.E. - Seleucid dynasty of Syria rules Palestine. 2 Macc. 4

167-164 B.C.E. - Antiochus IV attempts to force Hellenistic religion on the Jews and poluutes the Temple. 1 Macc. 1:10-67

164 B.C.E. - The Maccabean revolt is successful; the Temple is cleansed and rededicated. 1 Macc. 2-6; Macc. 8-10; Dan. 7:25, 8:14, 9:27, 12:7

142-63 B.C.E. - The Jews expel the Seleucids; Judea becomes an independent kingdom under the Hasmonean dynasty.
1 Macc.

63 B.C.E. - General Pompey makes Palestine part of the Roman Empire and partitions Judea.

40-4 B.C.E. - Herod the Great rules as Roman-appointed king of Judea; he rebuilds the Temple.

30 B.C.E-14 C.E. - Augustus Caesar rules as emperor of Rome.

6-4 B.C.E. - Birth of Jesus. Matt. 2; Luke 2

4 B.C.E.-39 C.E. - Herod Antipas rules as tetrarch of Galilee. Luke 14:31-32; Mark 6:14-29

5-10 C.E. - Birth of Saul at Tarsus (the Apostle Paul).

14-37 C.E. - Tiberius Caesar rules as emperor of Rome. Luke 3:1

26-36 C.E. - Pontius Pilate serves as procurator of Judea.

27-29 C.E. (?) - Ministry of John the Baptist. Mark 1:2-11, 6:17-29; John 1:19-36, 3:22-36

27-30 or 29-33 C.E. - Ministry of Jesus. Matt., Mark, Luke, & John

30-33 C.E. (?) - Crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Matt., Mark, Luke, & John

33-35 C.E. (?) - Conversion of Paul. Acts 9:1-19, 22:1-21,26:1-23; Gal. 1:11-16

41-54 C.E. - Claudius serves as emperor of Rome; he banishes the Jews from Rome (49 C.E.). Act 18:2

41-44 C.E. (?) - Herod Agrippa I is king of Judea; he imprisons Peter; he beheads James and possibly John as well (44 C.E.?) Acts 12

47-56 C.E. - Paul conducts missionary tours among the Gentiles.

49 C.E. - Paul attends the first church council held in Jerusalem. Acts 15; Gal. 2

50 C.E. - Paul writes 1 and 2 Thessalonians; the “Sayings: of Jesus are compiled (?)

54-68 C.E. - Nero serves as emperor of Rome.

54-62 C.E. - Paul writes a series of letters to various churches he founded or visited. 1 Cor. (54-55 C.E.);
2 Cor. (55-56 C.E.); Gal. (56 C.E.); Rom. (56-57C.E.) Col. (61 C.E.); Philem. (61 C.E.); Phil. (62C.E.)

60-62 or 63 C.E.(?) - Paul under house arrest in Rome.

62 C.E. - James, brother of Jesus, is martyred.

64 C.E. - Rome is burned, and Christians are persecuted.

66-70 C.E. - Gospel of Mark is written.

66-73 C.E. - Jewish Revolt against Rome, destruction of Jerusalem.

69-79 C.E. - Vespasian serves as emperor of Rome.

79-81 C.E. - Titus, conqueror of Jerusalem, is emperor.

80-85 C.E. - Gospel of Matthew is written.

80-90 C.E. - Gospel of Luke and Acts are written.

80-100 C.E. - Letter of James is written.

81-96 C.E. - Domitian is emperor; Christians in Asia Minor experience general hostility.

85-90 C.E. - Book of Hebrews is written.

90 C.E. (?) - Letter to the Ephesians is written; Paul’s letters are collected (?)

90-100 C.E. - 1 Clement is written; Gospel of John is composed.

90-91 C.E. (?) - Rabbis hold council at Jamnia; third part of the Hebrew Bible-the Writings-is defined.

95-100 C.E. - Various Jewish and Christian apocalypses are composed: 2 Esdras, Revelation, and 3 Baruch.

98-117 C.E. - Trajan serves as emperor and persecutes the Christians.

100-110 C.E. - Letters of 1,2, and 3 John are written.

100-140 C.E. - The Didache, Shepherd of Hermas, and epistle of Ignatius are written; canonical New Testament books of 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, 1 peter, and Jude also appear.

117-138 C.E. - Hadrian is emperor.

132-135 C.E. - Jews revolt against Rome for the last time.

150 C.E. (?) - 2 Peter is written.

Getting Started - Check Out Lost Scriptures

2005-11-30T16:29:00.000-05:00

I first had the thought of starting this blog as a way to provide background resources and links to online info for a bible study that I taught last year. But, then we moved and I began a new ministry with Central Christian Church, Lebanon, Indiana. As I prepare for a bible study starting in early January, it made sense to me to think about this again. At about the same time, an adult Sunday school class (The Disciples) started reading Bart Ehrman's book, Lost Scriptures: Books That Did Not Make It into the New Testament, and I thought why not put some background info for both groups together where anyone can access it. Who knows maybe we can save a few trees in the process as well!

I hope that you find some things useful here to aid you in reflecting on your faith and whatever material you maybe reading. As material is added and as you use it, please feel free to make comments or ask questions. I will relish the opportunity to wrestle along side you with your questions. We might even discover some answers. I will warn you upfront though that I don't profess to have all the answers. In fact, I tend to have more questions than I do answers.