conjectural navel gazing; jesus in lint form

wilmette in the ny times

Here's an article about Wilmette Republicans and their frustrations with the GOP...

Oh, as an aside, not everyone thinks Fred Thompson is the answer. Hat tip to the Young Fogey.

susie and me

This is Susie. She is a good friend to me and my wife.
Everyone say hello to Susie.

prophetic preaching...

Here is something from the ABP again...

"The two great hungers in our world today are the hunger for spirituality and the hunger for social justice, and the connection between the two is the one the world's waiting for," [Jim] Wallis said. "There's a whole generation out there waiting for a different kind of message. I think prophetic preaching is meant to clear up the confusion, clear up the confusion of what faith means.”

and this...

Prophecy is not about gazing into the future. It's about passion for a better world right now, speakers at a celebration of preaching stressed in Nashville, Tenn.

This is the most difficult kind of preaching for me...and not because I don't get it, but because on some level there has to exist a relationship between the person in the pulpit and the people in the pews. There has to be trust. It is one thing to come in as a known "prophetic preacher," let people have it, and go on your merry way. It is entirely different to stare out over the congregation and see the pain that is there and say something this challenging.

I am not saying that it should not be done. I think it should be. Christianity is not a hiding place. It is the place where the needs of the world, our own brokenness, can encounter divine hope. And such hope will challenge us to be prophets. Spiritual healing is mercy and justice. Spirituality and Works (action, mercy, justice) cannot be separated from the other and still remain healthy. They must be understood (at the very least) as one and the same.

Note: There is also a question as to whether or not exhortation and prophesy are the same thing. Amos is a good prophet to read to get a sense as to what prophesy can be. So is Isaiah, but it is very long. I think these people may be speaking more about exhortation than prophesy. But I dunno. Your thoughts?

bump and grind

Susie is here at Chateau Ouilmette. She is in town for the Seabury graduation. It's nice to have a friend in town for a few days. After the graduation service, several SWTS grads and their friends etc will come to l'chateau for good eats. I am looking forward to cranking up the grill. I love grilling veggies and homemade sausages from the local butcher. That really makes me happy.

This Sunday is Trinity Sunday...and it is the first anniversary of my ministry at Community Church. I re-read my sermon from last year. Huh. I wonder what I'll do this year. I have some ideas about healing and hospitality...and that the Trinity is a sign of that kind of love, a demonstrable and relational expression of the divine.

Anyway, y'all be good.

huh

Why is it that I always seem to be cleaning on my day off?

wednesday linkage: the vacation edition

Even if a unity of faith is not possible, a unity of love is.
- Hans Urs von Balthasar

I am still on vacation. This is a great thing. There is a meeting tonight, however, and with that the vacation ends. But I don't mind at all. I will go to the office tomorrow. Friday is Seabury's graduation at St. Luke's. The Presiding Bishop is preaching. It should be interesting. Also, there will be a shin dig for some of the graduates and those of us who know them here at Chateau Ouilmette. Lovely.

The links below are all the things I did not blog about because I was away from the internet for three whole days. Yeah, e-rehab! Heh. That was a needed break as well. Had I been here, I would have blogged about these things as well. Enjoy the quotations. Follow the linkage.

"A lot of preaching today is in the proverbial mode," Willimon said. "Basically the sermon becomes an announcement that, 'I have found four, three, five biblical principles that will help you at work or help you in your marriage.' I wish being a Christian were that easy." - ABP

An argument I often encounter from my students is that our freedom to worship has been purchased at the price of the blood of our fellow citizens, therefore we owe our nation our allegiance. My response is that as precious as those lost lives are, if our country tomorrow withdrew that freedom, would we cease to worship? - Beth Newman

There was a greater sense of reverence and holy dread than I’ve ever known before as I approached the Chalice. But there was no “ecstasy,” no “warm fuzzies,” no swirling emotions at all, really. But there was a very real sense of finally “getting it” about certain aspects of the Orthodox Faith and life. Things clicked because of the experience. And I have a sense that my troublesome mind-heart split, my “life of the mind” reclusion, is beginning now to be healed. - Cliff Healy

To fail to act lovingly, either by commission or omission, toward all others in the personal/interpersonal realm, in this sense, is to act immorally. - Larry Greenfield

Many people see the main message of Jesus as "Jesus died for your sins"—and see Jesus' death as a sacrifice God requires to forgive human sins. This gospel asks, What does that make of God? Is he a bloodthirsty pagan god who demands human sacrifice? The God of Abraham prevented Abraham from offering his son as a sacrifice—does the God of Jesus then require it? - Elaine Pagels on Edge

The modern model for theological interpretation dominated theological hermeneutics of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; though many interpreters remain convinced that modern tenets should continue to determine legitimate interpretation of the Bible, an increasing constituency of scholars has imagined an approach to theology and Scripture that does not stand or fall with strictly modern premises. - AKMA

If “divine anger” is another name for the passion of a rejected love, then that love can achieve its aim only if it fully assumes the consequences of such a rejection. Anger must thus turn into solidarity in suffering, becoming indistinguishable from the utmost of mercy. Offering no resistance to evil, Christ swallows it up in an abyss of goodness. Death loses its sting (see 1 Corinthians 15:54-57) in order to become a road to Life. - Taize

All of the above is for your edification. I would love to comment on each, but there ya go.

the video

Peace!

sabbath 25: being sabbath

Let us remain as empty as possible so that God can fill us up.
- Mother Teresa

As part of my seminary training (a prerequisite for graduation and ordination) I served as a chaplain in a hospital. Hospitals provide mentors and educators for this purpose. This program is called Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE). There's even a national body that has oversight of these programs. It's very well organized. Most seminary graduates (MDiv) have one unit of CPE. I have four. I ain't braggin' about this. I am simply making a connection between what Wayne is after this week and what took me the better part of a year to learn.

The three units I have over and above the requirement were spent at a local "Trauma One" center. I served in the ER most of the time. But I also spent time in Ob/Peds and on a Medical/Surgical floor. For me, the constant work was about separating myself (or my self) out of the pastoral relationship. My job was not necessarily to come in as the "religious authority" or anything of the sort. I discovered that my role was to get out of the way...and let the patient or family make meaning of their struggles. This meant that I could find myself in varying roles with varying responsibilities...making room for God, and somehow making room for me off to the side somewhere, or in the middle if that were beneficial. Navigating this complicated engagement took the better part of the three extra units.

Like Muller confessed, I have often found myself on the listening end of someone's troubles. And I have had to learn and relearn that I cannot fix anyone else's troubles. It's simply not possible. My job is to make room, to provide a holy space or time for healing to happen...Sabbath. Any healing that comes is due to the work of God. Any experience I have from all that CPE simply relates to this dynamic.

A chaplain, as I understand it, is to facilitate the crafting of an environment for making meaning. Most of the work in this is done by the patient or the family. I could, eventually, anticipate some things, make some good educated guesses, and serve some religious functions. This is a pretty powerful position to say the least. But in the end, I had the role of mirroring the meaning they were making in the midst of their own struggles.

A pastor has a different role...well, that seems to be what Cristopher is suggesting in his post. He may have articulated something that I have been circling this past year working as a full-time pastor of a church. Good stuff.

Megan is balancing "being Sabbath" with life being so full. Do we have time to be Sabbath if our calendars are filled to the rim? Also, good stuff.

blue raspberry

Here is a link to the photo album from our trip. We stayed with our friends Julian and Susan in Bridgman. They have two boys, Tony (3) and Nat (9mos.). It was grand.

We are home.

Pictures from the trip will be posted soon. I hope everyone has enjoyed the long weekend. I'm going back to the office on the 31st. Huzzah. So, I have a couple more days to putz. Suffice it to say that we had a great time.

Oh! The Ouilmette Gardening Goddess struck while we were away. Holy cow is the lawn nice.

anniversaries

Yoda said, “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”

Today is the 30th Anniversary of the release of Star Wars! And it is also the birthday of Frank Oz, the voice of Yoda and many other Henson creations. I love me a muppet.

I am getting my hair cut at noon today...Nothing dramatic, but I need something done. Then I'll pick up Trish from the office and we'll head on around to Michigan for the weekend. Huzzah!

An aside: Cristopher finally posted on Chapter 24 of Sabbath. His post is incredible. Give it a read.

Y'all have a great weekend. The blog will be at rest while I am away.

'roids

The doctor is kind. I have both bronchitis and a bad case of allergies. Now I have a counter full of steroids. Yay?

mcclaren on worship...

do you like thursdays as much as I do?

Amma Syncletica said: In the beginning there is struggle and a lot of work for those who come near to God. But after that there is indescribable joy. It is just like building a fire: at first it is smoky and your eyes water, but later you get the desired result. Thus we ought to light the divine fire in ourselves with tears and effort.

Today I am going to make an appointment with the doctor. I am hoping that I can go in today. I woke up at four with yet another coughing fit. Urgh. I think its allergies. My sinuses are going on overtime. But I have no fever, no aches, nothing else that says "headcold." Perhaps it's some other kind of infection. But I dunno. I do know, however, that I would be happier if I could sleep for more that five hours at a shot. Heh. Blergh! Allergies are a new thing for me...that is assuming this hacking and wheezing are allergies and not Consumption or the Plague. But we'll see.

So, I read this interesting post at Theobilly about evangelism. He's struggling at his congregation to kick start them toward evangelism. They are kind, generous, interesting, playful folk. But they are so for the sake of one another. Getting them to turn outward is a trick. Getting them to turn outward as an evangelical function is a trick, more accurately.

How do we self-named liberals share our faith? I know we do. But what does it look like and are those practices sustainable? Do they introduce people to Jesus? Do they grow a church? And does it matter if they do not?

My hunch is that if the folk here can start sharing the good news with themselves, each other and others it will jump start the spiritual life of the congregation. It is just a hunch...

It's an interesting conversation with Pentecost on the horizon and all that.

Come, Holy Spirit!
Rain upon our dry and dusty lives.
Wash away our sin and heal our wounded spirits.
Kindle within us the fire of your love
to burn away our apathy.
With your warmth bend our rigidity,
and guide our wandering feet.

no bugs yet

So, the experts declared that the cicadas would arrive yesterday. No bugs. Not yet. This is probably a good thing. Still, I am waiting for the bugs.

Ah well.

It's a beautiful day. It's 80+ degrees outside right now. I have lunch planned with one of the ladies of the church. That should be lovely. I've been looking forward to it.

You know, the Wednesday Linkage thing is fun. I enjoy pulling it together. Essentially, however, it is a list of the things I wish I had time to go into more completely. "New Monasticism" just fascinates me. AKMA is challenging one of the more radical anti-religion folk out there in his radio interview. The sermons are interesting. Tattoos are once again on the theological chopping block. Michael Westmorland-White does a great job beginning to collate Baptist theology. That is an effort started in some sense by McClendon, whom Michael mentions in his post. I love it. Good stuff.

Yeah. All of those subjects and more are worth my time. But I just don't have the energy right now. I have the energy to muse privately. And I guess that will have to do.

Y'all have a good day. I have lunch, a meeting and then another meeting tonight. It should be a good one by the time it's all over.

Pax!

wednesday linkage

"A complaining, vindictive monk, prone to anger, cannot exist,” said Abba Poimen. “That is to say that, any who have such faults are not actually monks, even if they wear the schema.”

Now we bring you another installment of Wednesday Linkage. There's a lot happening "on campus" this week. So, take a few moments to gaze about. In the mean, I am going to continue to enjoy the warm weather we are having in Chicago. It's going to rain over the weekend. That's a shame...a predictable shame, but a shame no less. Trish and I are off to Michigan for the weekend. I am looking forward to getting out of the Chi-metro area for a few days. Oh! And I get a break from preaching. I love the preaching. But it is good to have a break. So, come to Community Church and hear someone else preach.

campus happenings
Sister Julie is posting about praying the hours.
Amy has posted ten things about being a pastor.
AKMA was interviewed on Open Source Radio. Way cool!
Michael Westmorland-White has asked "What is theology?"
Mike thinks that resurrection in politically subversive.

“I forbid him to raise the dead," Herod says. "This man must be found and told I don’t allow people to raise the dead.”

Herod knows that, as a tyrant, his primary tool of oppression is the threat of death. And so Jesus coming along raising the dead is a major threat to Herod's power. If God really will raise the dead, then this seriously undermines the powers of tyranny and injustice that ruled the world in Jesus' day, and continue to rule the world in our own time as well.

sermons
The Sacristan has posted his homily on the Seventh Sunday of Easter.
Rev Ref+ has posted his sermon as well.

almost current events
Shane Claibourn of Nu Monasticism fame was featured on Speaking of Faith. This is an interesting interview.
William Cavanaugh: Moral Reasoning or Just Trust the President?...ala beliefnet...
Here is an article on "preaching the whole gospel."
Is Newt really donning Falwell's crown? Read the Washington Post article.
Pope Benedict's new book is a "departure" from Catholic tradition. Here's the review.
The Christian Century posted this musing about tattoos. It's almost interesting.
First Things is talking about death.

1) The losses human beings suffer are the deepest reason for culture,
(2) The fundamental pattern for any community is a congregation at a funeral,
(3) A healthy society requires a lively sense of the reality and continuing presence of the dead.

Here is an LA Times article on the "democracy of blogging" and literary reviews. It's almost interesting, too.

Let me put this bluntly, in language even a busy blogger can understand: Criticism — and its humble cousin, reviewing — is not a democratic activity. It is, or should be, an elite enterprise, ideally undertaken by individuals who bring something to the party beyond their hasty, instinctive opinions of a book (or any other cultural object). It is work that requires disciplined taste, historical and theoretical knowledge and a fairly deep sense of the author's (or filmmaker's or painter's) entire body of work, among other qualities.

this week's video

bugs...

This cicadas are supposed to come out today. I understand that they are supposed to be noisy and hungry.

Once every seventeen years they come out en masse. Outdoor concerts are canceled. Bushes are eaten. It's quite the grand event!

a compliment...

"You are the best dunker I have ever seen."

No. This is not a compliment of my liturgical abilities. We baptists like to dunk. That's true. No...This is a compliment given to me by the five year old across the street. We have a basketball hoop in our driveway...it is stuck at 8' right now. I can dunk on eight feet.

And to a five year old boy, this is pretty impressive.

Thanks for the compliment. Oh yeah. I'm huge!

sabbath 24: practice humbleness

Abba Antonios said: “The time is coming when people will be seized by manias and will behave like madmen. And if they see anyone acting reasonably, they will rise up against him saying: ‘You are insane.’ And they will have accurately said this to him, for he will not be like them.”

Henri Nouwen was the focus of this chapter. Well, technically, it was a chapter about humility and letting go. But Wayne spoke of Henri Nouwen's example of this: downward mobility.

What Wayne remembers of Henri is his strong sense of place. Wayne believes that this is due to Henri's humility which is the product of years of contemplation and prayer...and Henri's personality. Sabbath can help us know our place in the universe. Humility is not self-deprecation. Humility is not low self-esteem. It is, in the end, the realization of a certain sense of cosmic scale.

Now, the temptation here is to assume powerlessness. The good news is that Nouwen's own life refutes this temptation. He was an activist, a teacher, a scholar...His book The Wounded Healer is considered by many to be a classic in the field of pastoral care. But it is also just a great book on the nature of human relationships and how we can allow God to redeem our pains and struggles.

I am a big fan of Nouwen. That likely comes as no surprise. His gentleness and his self-sacrifice...his humility. It's astounding stuff.

Sabbath can, if we incorporate it into our lives rightly, give us a sense of scale. It can show us how small we are...and yet, how essential we are in God's work on this earth...for our short span on it.

Megan posted here. Her reading of the chapter is different from mine. Her questions are good, and reflection powerful.

Cristopher's post will link here.

To learn more about Henri Nouwen, go here.

sermon: ascension sunday

Follow the extended link to the sermon. I am preaching this both at Community Church and at Reconciler. At Community Church it is also the Children and Youth service. They will lead us in all but the sermon. I offered the sermon to the kids and their teachers, but no one wanted to take a stab at it. Ah well. More of my heresy then.

Sermon: Feast of the Ascension
May 20, 2007
Community Church of Wilmette
Church of Jesus Christ, Reconciler

Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
(Luke 24:45-47)

Alleluia! The Lord is risen!
The Lord is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

I loved Jerry Falwell.

Yes, I admit it. I loved him. I imagine that may come as a surprise to many. He was a divisive, difficult, hyper-political, sometimes racist, vitriolic crazyman from Lynchburg, VA. And yet, I loved him.

For those of you who are unaware, Rev. Jerry Falwell died on May 15 at the age of 73. He has been a fixture on the national religious and political stages for as long as I can remember.

Now, I will also admit that my love of Jerry was not always gentle affection. No. Most of the time Falwell served that J.R. Ewing (Do you remember Dallas?) function in the Baptist peanut gallery that resides in my head. This is true. But he has been present no less, part of the "great cloud of witnesses" leading me toward salvation.

Growing up in Virginia, it was almost impossible to talk about or think about faith without Jerry's voice ringing in your head. And, eventually, it was almost impossible to talk about politic without the same thing happening. Jerry was simply present in the midst of all of it, haranguing us, his audience with word after word. It was almost impossible not to respond somehow.

So, I formed my faith life in the shadow of Jerry Falwell. I chose the reaction formation route. What Jerry did. I would do the opposite. At first it seemed like a really good idea.

But in the process there is this temptation, a strange temptation…

Maybe I am alone in this. Maybe I am the only one who does this when I encounter a personality as unwavering a Falwell's was. But just in case…

Do we accidentally undermine the church in the process of trying not to be like Jerry? Do we actually accomplish the opposite of our goal or presenting an alternative when we try to rescue our faith by succumbing to any one of the above temptations? Do we actually maroon our faith somewhere, or abandon it in some way?

I think so.

Instead of following this path, we need to speak out. As tiresome and implausible as it may seem to many of us, we have to speak out. I know that some of us might be tired of debating Jerry. I do. But it is essential that Christians of all stripes speak truth to the world, and not just the Jerry's. It has been so since the earliest days of the Church. It will continue to be so.

We cannot abandon the story. We cannot stop reading the scriptures and proclaiming our interpretations just because Jerry was never convinced that we were even remotely on to something.

We must seek alternative voices. We must go where people are speaking.

So, who are the alternative voices? Who else is speaking? Who can help us reclaim the church if, as I do, we believe we need to?

Was William Sloan Coffin, the esteemed preacher from Riverside in the 1960's and 1970's, your alternative voice?  Is Jim Wallis, from Sojourners and God's Politics fame? Perhaps that Emergent Church guru, Brian McLaren, has something to contribute in his "generous orthodoxy."

Perhaps I am that voice.
Perhaps you are that voice.

Perhaps it is you and I who are called to embrace the scriptures once again, to sit at the feet of Jesus and have our hearts and minds opened to the scriptures.

What would it sound like to embrace scripture? Is it something that people could listen to, something people could hear?

Have our minds been opened to hear the scriptures?

Are we willing to sit with Christ, and listen to what he says about the scriptures? Listen to the words again.

Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

Now, remember, the scriptures here are the Hebrew Bible, the books of Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms. Jesus was not reading from second Corinthians.

Our interpretive task today, however, is from Luke.

Do you see the parallel that Luke presents to us in this passage? Do you see how suffering goes with repentance? Do you see how resurrection is paralleled with forgiveness? Jesus' life is the ultimate model of compassion. This is what Luke wants us to know.

Repentance leads to forgiveness. Repentance teaches us compassion. Through repentance, we learn that all of us are struggling in this world. We all make mistakes, hurt people, hurt ourselves. And we must be prepared to name this kind of suffering. Then forgiveness is available to us…God's forgiveness and the forgiveness of those whom we have harmed. This is suffering and resurrection at the relational level.

The message that we are to proclaim to all the nations beginning from Jerusalem is this…Jesus is the model of all compassion. God is compassionate. Yes, there is suffering. No, faith is not easy. I do things wrong. I have to repent. But there is forgiveness. And that forgiveness is so great that it even overcomes death in the end.

We are to offer such compassion to all of the world. That is evangelism. That is mission.

In the process, we will encounter diversity. We will encounter hostility. We will encounter opposition. But there are ways to understand this as well.

Listen to these words from Becca Hartman, a senior at Northwestern University and an American Baptist. Her words are about interfaith dialogue, but they apply to our task today.

In interfaith dialogue, we do not suggest that all religions are the same; they are not. We do not ask individuals to give up or dilute their beliefs for the sake of peaceful conversation. In fact, it is in respectful listening and even vulnerable sharing with people of diverse religious traditions that we learn how to articulate and celebrate our own beautiful traditions and beliefs.

You see, what Becca says is true not just in interfaith dialogue, but in intra-faith dialogue as well. What I fear we often do as liberals or progressives, is give up the truth behind these words from Luke's Gospel. We dilute our faith hoping to not offend someone else. We dilute our faith hoping not to be mistaken for someone else.

We are to engage scripture. We are to deepen our roots in scripture and the tradition of the church, not abandon it because one individual voice seems to hold sway.

We are to proclaim and demonstrate the truth behind these words from Luke. Compassionate action and proclamation go hand in hand. We are to seek repentance and the forgiveness of those we harm. We are to interpret this passage on the public stage proclaiming it to all the nations, as well as in our personal lives. This passage is the seed of compassion. This interpretation of scripture is the seed of compassion. The story of the suffering and resurrection of the messiah is the story of compassion.

What is compassion without the self-knowledge that leads to repentance?

It is empty.

A dialogue like the one Becca describes is only possible when we have delved into our own traditions and learned to own them, warts and all, foibles, sins and their richness. We must become apologists for the faith. Jerry Falwell, in leading a conversation on the national stage compelled me to learn how to do this. Perhaps mine was to some degree a reaction formation, but he has shaped a debate for generations of Christians in America. The debate is not over. Jerry did not win it. It continues.

We are called to speak compassion. If people believe that our faith tradition is not about compassion and transformation of the individual and the community, most likely it is because no one is telling them. We are called to speak compassion.

Perhaps this is the interpretation that the world needs to hear…that we need to speak.

I share all this with you because of my own search for God and the incredible impact that Jerry Falwell had on that journey. I need a language. I need a community. And when I began my search, I was handed the rhetoric of the Moral Majority. I found its words and its actions confusing.

But, at the time at least, there were no other voices that I was aware of. No one else seemed to be speaking. So I chose to live without faith. It was much easier than any other course of action that I could devise. Perhaps I was lazy. This is certainly within the realm of possibility.

Eventually, intuitively, I turned to the church. I took classes in college. I lived with Christians. I sang hymns. I participated in the charitable life of the church. I marched on the state capital. I slowly found a voice. I learned compassion. I learned to love Jerry Falwell.

Jerry was right. Faith, though personal, is never private.

Jerry was right. Salvation can be found in the church…in the community of the faithful, the shared life of those who are the Body of Christ.

Jerry was right. We are to be passionate in the proclamation of the Gospel.

We dare not duplicate his mistakes in our attempts, however. We cannot marry the church to any one political party, to any one platform. And we must be constantly vigilant to follow the way of compassion, the way of repentance that leads to forgiveness. The more public our profession of faith becomes, the more difficult repentance becomes. Our egos get involved. We don't want the humiliation. And yet, if we are to speak and model such compassion as described by Luke's Gospel, then we have little choice.

This is our day to observe the Ascension of Christ, that strange moment in the history of the church where Jesus flies away in to the heavens. This is yet another moment in the story that shifts the definition of how God is present in the world.

At Christmas, God is born…a small child.

During Epiphany and Lent, we find God present in the life and work of Jesus.

Our understanding of incarnation is changed in the resurrection of Jesus proclaimed at Easter.

And again, our understanding is changed today. We are the Body of Christ. The Church is the incarnation of God. We are to go out into the world and be the incarnation of compassion.

It is an active faith.
It is a working faith.
It is a giving faith.
It is a speaking faith.

If we do not speak, proclaim what Jesus asked us to proclaim in Luke's Gospel, then the body is mute. Christ was a speaker. We remember his actions and his words. Many ask, "What would Jesus do?" I want to know, brothers and sisters, "What would Jesus say?"

Alleluia! The Lord is risen!
The Lord is risen, indeed. Alleluia!

some days

I guess I just need a nap. That's it. Really. I have worked on my sermon. It's getting closer. I think I even have a connection with a movie...but maybe not. I have made phone calls, sent letters, written many e-mails, and then there are the instant messages. Oy. Veh.

Trish and I want to go to a movie tonight...or something. I looked through the current listing. Spiderman 3 is the only movie I have even the faintest interest in. So, we'll see what she wants to do.

And then there's dinner.

Yeah, a nap. I think I'll nap a bit. That's it.

Crankypants...'Tis I!

eh...

Just not much to say lately, gang. I am off to a meeting in a bit and then to l'chateau. I'll see you around. Sermon prep continues apace. And that's all she wrote!

god's ultimate passion

Abba John the Dwarf said,"A house is not built by beginning at the top and working down. You must begin with the foundations in order to reach the top." They said to him,"What does this saying mean?" He said,"The foundation is our neighbor, whom we must win, and that is the place to begin. For all the commandments of Christ depend on this one."

One of the interesting things about blogging and being a pastor is that somehow I have gotten on the radar for people who wish me to blog about their books. Several months ago I received a copy of God's Ultimate Passion in the mail. Frank Viola is an interesting author and pushes many of my assumptions about church and polity around. Sometimes he is infuriating. Sometimes he is helpful. He is always helpful.

This book, put quite simply, is a story about love. Viola works overtime running through the teaxt, engaging proofs and narrative, to show the reader the entire purpose behind the creation of the universe, the choosing of a people, the incarnation and the creation of the Church. In the end it is as Fr. Foley said, "God is having a love affair with the world." Though the ecclesiology of a Catholic priest and the ecclesiology of Viola differ wildly, the same sentiment exists. God loves. How do we, the creation, respond?

I think that the book is a good read...Give it a shot. He's a house church loving iconoclast. You should not expect him to support mainline Protestantism, for example. But he is a lively conversation partner and worth our time.

ascension...

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Blessed are you, almighty God,
through Jesus Christ the King of glory.
Born of a woman,
he came to our rescue.
Dying for us,
he trampled death and conquered sin.
By the glory of his resurrection
he opened the way to life eternal
and by his ascension,
gave us the sure hope
that where he is we may also be.
For these and all your mercies, we praise you,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit:
Blessed be God for ever!
(link)

wednesday linkage

The angel when giving the rules of monasticism to St. Pachomius said to him: "... He laid down that in the course of the day they should make twelve prayers, and at the lamp-lighting time twelve, and in the nightly vigils twelve, and at the ninth hour three. When the multitude goes to eat, he laid down that a psalm should be sung before each prayer. As Pachomius objected to the angel that the prayer were too few ..."

The rain has finally come to Chicago. We have been without it for quite a while. So, now the herbs are starting to come up. That's a joy. Our potted plants are growing...thyme, basil...Dill is coming up out of the ground. All of this makes me very happy. It is nice to have a yard. It has been so very long.

Welcome to another installment of Wednesday Linkage! I hope your week has been fruitful. Mine has. Enjoy the musings below. Take your time.

First, the new Community Church of Wilmette website is up! Wahoo! There are still some things to work out, but that's cool with me. It's just so dern pretty.

what is happening at the u of b-sc
Sr. Julie is speaking about ecumenism.
AKMA is stressed. I am glad it had nothing to do with his teaching at Community Church.
The Young Fogey posted about the Pope and just war...and how the Catholics may be disappointing Neocons.
Larry has posted part two on Christendom.
Jane Ellen and others reminded me of this Mother's Day Proclamation.
Jorge reminded me of what I should have remembered. Pachomius rocks.

baptist news
Falwell has died (American Baptist Press)...
Opinion: The best way to a full Baptist remembrance

sabbath
Megan has posted.
Cristopher has posted.
I, too, have posted! Who knew?

the week's video
(Thanks to Wanda.)

sabbath 23: be still

One day Abba Moses said to brother Zacharias, 'Tell me what I ought to do?'At these words the latter threw himself on the ground at the old man's feet and said, 'Are you asking me, Father?' The old man said to him 'Believe me, Zacharias, my son, I have seen the Holy Spirit descending upon you and since then I am constrained to ask you.' Then Zacharias drew his hood off his head put it under his feet and trampled on it, saying, 'The man who does not let himself be treated thus, cannot become a monk.'

Wayne is at it again...Megan and Cristopher posted already. Read their entries for a good summary of the chapter. The sentence that grabbed my attention is the very first sentence of the chapter, "Sabbath is an incubator for wisdom." Wayne is a very practical guy. I know that he gets too much into "magical thinking" for Megan from time to time. I see that tendency as a sign of his practicality. He is always looking for the connection between his religious discipline and what he does the rest of his time. This is a laudable enterprise.

But he makes me nervous from time to time in his insistence that one is necessarily the result of another. "I know more about so-and-so's situation because I take time to make a sabbath." Eh. Maybe. Maybe honoring the sabbath helps you get to know God more. And by getting to know God, you have no choice but to face yourself. By facing yourself in the light of God you learn compassion for the stranger, the neighbor, your family, etc. This to me is wisdom...and it is wisdom that could have all the practical application Wayne's heart would desire.

I also think that Wayne would agree with me and we are picking nits. But I need to pick this nit. At the beginning of his book, he desperately wanted to steer the reader away from making sabbath observance one more thing to do. And this chapter as well as the last really treads the fine line between discipline and one more thing to do.

You want a just world? Take a break. Honor the Sabbath.

I could not agree more. But the Sabbath does not guarantee justice. It does not guarantee wisdom. It does not guarantee compassion in the virtuous practitioner. Oh no. But it seems to me that Wayne, in his rhetorical turn, wants it to be so. I don't think it's magic...though I could see what Megan is after. I get it. I think that it is really Wayne's seeking practical application that is showing through.

Yeah, I know. I don't know Wayne. Derrida...yada yada yada. But, I wonder if in his attempt to sway an ultimately busy and practical audience, he has strayed too far from his initial goal.

Be still and know that I am God. That is all the scripture asks. The rest will come on its own as God moves into our lives. But first, be still.

falwell

Falwell has died.

Peace and all good things to you, Jerry. You never knew me, but we never agreed on a damn thing. You shaped a debate that I have engaged in most of my life.

God bless ya, Jerry. May you know God's everlasting love.

oy

Hey.

The mac died Sunday. So, I did not get to several things I wanted to yesterday...Blog blight, indeed. Fortunately, we have a new hard drive. All will be well.

Follow the extended link for the sermon. And if I owe you an e-mail, I am getting there. I promise.

Working on it…

I saw no temple in the city,
for its temple is the Lord God
the Almighty and the Lamb.

Alleluia! The Lord is risen!
The Lord is risen, indeed, Alleluia!

In 313 AD, the emperor of Rome, Constantine, issued the Edict of Milan. This freed the Christians of the day from persecution by the Empire. Up until this point, being a Christian was dangerous business. During his lifetime, Constantine would gradually convert on his own, following his mother's earlier conversion. He would host ecumenical councils and sit as judge over disputes of heresy in the Church. Interestingly enough, he was baptized on his deathbed in 337 and not earlier.

This period of the life of the Church is considered by many to be a golden era of sorts. And why should it not be? They had been worshiping in graveyards and basements for a couple hundred years. Now they had the wondrous opportunity of figuring out where and how they would worship…

I saw no temple in the city,
for its temple is the Lord God
the Almighty and the Lamb.

Well, believe it or not, the Christians of the day had this verse in mind as they crafted the infrastructure of the Church. The Temple in Jerusalem, the place where Christians had first worshiped, had been torn down by the Romans. Paul had written extensively about the people of God being the Temple, their bodies being temple for God. For the early Christians, gathering was in fulfillment of the command "Do this in remembrance of me." They gathered around the Lord's Table. It was never about going somewhere that God resides. God has made the whole world new. God resides in the believer, in the gathered faithful…And, believe it or not, in spite of the persecutions, they grew like this…hidden and in danger. By the time Constantine issued his Edict, those professing Christ were ten percent of the population of the Empire.

Once Christianity was legalized, there was a flood of interest in the faith. And the Church had to respond somehow. They had to bring people into the existing worship life of the Church.

They had to build places of worship that were not temples.

Temples were places where gods resided. There were statues to emperors and deities in the temples. The statues were worshiped. People made sacrifice to them. This was not the model that the Christians of Constantine's day and the days that followed wished to emulate.

So where would they turn? They would turn to the vision of a Holy City, descending from the clouds. There would be no temple. God would be its light. The city, the place itself, would shine forth God's glory. So, the faithful chose to model their worship spaces after basilicas…places of civic gathering and work. The work of the Christian is the work of the Holy City. The redemption of the world would be the building of God's own city.

It's a lovely vision.

We may critique this deep marriage of church and state in our day, but this was great news to many of the Christians of Constantine's day. The persecutions would stop. They could work openly to bring about God's reign in the world. But something went wrong…something went awry along the way. Instead of founding the Church, they found themselves in Christendom…and not Christianity. No one knows exactly when the line was crossed. Was it when they invited the emperor to preside over ecumenical councils? Was it when the government decided that one had to be Christian to own property and hold public office? Who can say? Even in their own day, they debated the issue. Monasticism became more popular as a response against the growth of Christendom.

It is such a fine line to be certain.
It really is an easy mistake to make.

We have been given all of these images of Holy Cities…streets lined with gold, pure water flowing in the rivers, and the throne of God in every heart. And, honestly, these are great images, powerful images evoking the holy among us. So, why not build it? Is this not what we strive after? Is this not the hope of the gospel as it manifests itself in our communal lives? Our business lives? Our worship lives?

Heck, we pray for it every Sunday: "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth…" We ask for this. Christ himself has asked us to pray in this way. So we do. And what is the problem?

Well, you see, this is the problem…

The holy city actually challenges empire…corporate, economic, and cultural.
The holy city does not lock its doors.
It stands before us open and vulnerable.
God is open and vulnerable to all of creation.
There is no Temple. God resides everywhere.

All are welcome into the city…even the Kings of the earth (George Bush, Vladimir Putin, Queen Elizabeth…), the same people who were the focus of God's ire earlier in Revelation. All will come and give over their own glory. The appearance of the city means the end of all that damages, oppresses, injures, persecutes. Martyrdom will come to an end. Emperor worship, that kowtowing to the system that pervades our economic and civic life, will come to an end.

This is a complete reversal of how we understand our lives together. It is not civilization as we know it. In fact this is always the mysterious difficulty of our faith:

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.

What we build is always a reflection of who we think we are. Do we think that we are recipients of this blessing from Jesus? Do we realize that we have received the Holy Spirit? We celebrate Pentecost two weeks from today. Do we know what that means?

We struggle with how to receive God's blessing.

We worship the One God, maker of all things. There are no walls, no boundaries, no barriers. God's is present within and among us. If we were brave enough, we would take the doors off the hinges of our churches. They would be open twenty-four hours a day. We would open our hearts and our lives completely. We would tear down the walls that surround us.

But we are afraid. We are afraid of the forces of empire…even those of us who learn to navigate them successfully.

We believe on some level that our survival and salvation depend upon the forces of empire. We struggle with meritocracies. We struggle with individualism. We struggle with political strife, corporate control, terrorism, crime, homelessness, and hunger…We do not know where to turn.

There are those who are standing in the city of God. There are those who are finding ways to proclaim God's Holy City without caving to the pressures of empire…and fear.

WEST BANK REFLECTION: From Palestine to Virginia

by Mary Wendeln (Christian Peacemaker Teams)

…

On Friday 20 April 2007, at the weekly nonviolent action held in Um
Salmouna village near the West Bank City of Bethlehem, Palestinian
residents and international peace activists planted thirty-two olive
trees to commemorate the lives of the thirty-two Virginia Tech students
and teachers. In an area where the Israeli army bulldozed the land and
uprooted the trees to construct the wall, the sign near the newly
planted olive trees read, "From Palestine to Virginia We Support You."
In the newspaper article I read about the event, Khalid Al Azza, of the
Land Defense Committee in Bethlehem was quoted as saying, "We have  come to reaffirm our condemnation of all massacres and crimes carried out against civilians and innocent people regardless of sex, race and color."

…

At the foot of a thirty-foot wall that separates them from jobs and one another, they thought of us. In the face of oppression and brokenness, they thought of us. As their brothers and sisters are becoming terrorists, are falling victim to Israel, they thought of us. The saw past the wall into the Holy City of God…where all the faithful reside. They reached out to us and planted peace.

Empire only thinks of itself. And that is a difficult habit to break. We can see this struggle in all aspects of our lives. I began this sermon speaking the worship practices of the church…the enjoyment of the freedom from oppression. And I do not want to undervalue that freedom. But somehow Christianity became an empire. It became Christendom. We cannot fool ourselves into thinking that this is simply something that was a struggle for Christians 1700 years ago. Our nation was founded on this notion.

We still struggle with this in our own way in our own day.
We are focused on our own congregations, their survival and growth.
We are focused on American government demonstrating Christian values.
It is a precarious line to walk…asking for justice, mercy, and greater discipleship and not asking for Christendom.

And this is why we must rely upon Christ. This is why we must focus our worship life, our personal lives upon the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. We must open ourselves to receiving Jesus' blessing, to receive grace but not as the world would give it to us.

Sisters and brothers, we are always standing at the crossroads. Every day of our lives we stand where the early church stood. We have choices and options before us. Let us pray that God will send whom God has chosen to us on this corner. Let us pray that we will recognize them, see through the walls we have built, the doors we have erected. Let us always look outward as God does.

Alleluia! The Lord is risen!
The Lord is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

stories of salvation...

Abba Doulas, the disciple of Abba Bessarion said, 'One day when we were walking beside the sea I was thirsty and I said to Abba Bessarion, "Father, I am very thirsty." He said a prayer and said to me, "Drink some of the sea water." The water proved sweet when I drank some. I even poured some into a leather bottle for fear of being thirsty later on. Seeing this, the old man asked me why I was taking some. I said to him, "Forgive me, it is for fear of being thirsty later on." Then the old man said, "God is here, God is everywhere." '

The sun is shining on the pew we have on the back porch. Trish and I are reading together this morning. Some of our shared reading has been the Sur La Table catalog. But most of it has been from other books, Harry Potter and Girl Meets God. I finished The Spiral Staircase this week. It was beautiful. Girl Meets God is as well...a faster read, reflecting the different personality of the author, and her comparative youth. I know that I generalize when I say this, but Spiral is a story from a Boomer to a world of Boomers. Girl is for the Gen X crowd from a Gen X-er. Again, that may be a mistake...such qualifications may cheapen the entire endeavor. They are tales of journeys to and from faithfulness. They are stories of salvation...good for any age, any generation. There is wisdom for all in a good testimony. The differences make for richness and not confusion. Pilgrimages like these are made to be shared.

friday five: potato/po-tah-to

Once again a polemic is engaged...a charge has been made and I must participate. The RGBP folk have set me up again. You all know that I hate a polemic.

There are two types of people in the world, morning people and night owls. Or Red Sox fans and Yankees fans. Or boxers and briefs. Or people who divide the world into two types of people and those who don't. Let your preferences be known here. And if you're feeling verbose, defend your choices!

1. Mac? or PC?

Linux would be the preferred OS. But the machine is at issue here. I like PC because you can get it fixed without sending it to a spa for computers. You can use things like screw drivers and duct tape. Trust me. I know duct tape. But, as I type on my wife's mac, the mac is slick, sexy, and makes me feel like I know something about computers. Perhaps that illusion is worth the extra $800.

2. Pizza: Chicago style or New York style.

Okay, here we go. Now it's gettin' deep. New York. Every deep dish, Chicago style pizza is simply a casserole, a pizza casserole! What happened in the past that ever gave someone this idea? And, yes, I live in the Chicago metro area. Long live the thin crust, grease running down your arm, fold it in half pizza! All of those wondrous qualifiers are unnecessary to the enlightened. Pizza. Yum. Casserole...feh.

3. Brownies/fudge containing nuts:

Wow...I am a purist. The nuts are an abomination unto the Lord. Think Leviticus.

4. Do you hang your toilet paper so that the "tail" hangs flush with the wall, or over the top of the roll.

Oh, I have lost this war in our house. The tail now hangs flush with the wall. Someone here once worked in a hotel and was brainwashed. Did you know that you use less if you hang it next to the wall? Did you? Yep. The roller does not continue on unabated when you hang the t.p. against the wall. Not that I am concerned with the ecological fallout from using 5 extra sheets of t.p....but these things, I have been informed, add up.

5. Toothpaste: Do you squeeze the tube wantonly in the middle, or squeeze from the bottom and flatten as you go?

We no longer tube it. We have some other contraption for the dispensing of the tooth paste.

Bonus: Share your favorite either/or.

Coffee or tea...Is there a question?!!? Coffee. Always and forever, heart palpitations and all. No, decaf is not coffee. It is the watered down remains of what was a majestic expression of dark godliness.

sabbath 22 - doing good badly

Wayne Muller, in this week's chapter, spends some time musing and perhaps bemoaning well-intentioned but poorly implemeted public programs he has been involved with. He has quite a litany and carries a burden for these failures. What he wonders then is if he should have taken some Sabbath time to think things through. You see, if he had taken the time, maybe there would have been fewer mistakes. Well, that what he says.

Like Cristopher, I have great sympathy for Wayne's frustration. But the whole time I kept thinking "The best-laid plans..." Yeah, Sabbath should, if anything, be a reminder of our limitations. That he wants to turn it into a problem-solving exercise bothers me.

Sure, a little comtemplation, a little encounter with the Divine, can help one gain a little clarity or insight. I get it. Wisdom comes from God. Sure. Yep. I am there. But, as Wayne reminds us at the very beginning of his book, the Sabbath exists for us, not us for the Sabbath. This does not mean, however, that the Sabbath is a tool. I understand that the purpose of the Sabbath is also to remind us of our limitations. It exists because we need it. We are limited. We cannot fix it all. We cannot undo every sin/social ill on our own. Nope. God saves...perhaps through well wrought programs , but yeah...

In Christian theology there is this notion that we, the Church, are the Body of Christ. We have, thus, a responsibility to be the presence of God on Earth. But Paul also says that Christ, the Divine, is the head. God is involved. God must be involved. In fact, any salvation at all comes from God.

I guess Wayne pushed a button for me. We are Christ's Body. Yes. We act. But the Sabbath is not going to fix our mistakes or prevent our mistakes. God will potentially redeem our mistakes. The Sabbath exists because we are finite, oft mistaken creatures. We need rest. I think that Wayne may be conflating some notions here in ways that I disagree with.

Who knew?

Cristopher's post.
Megan's post.

Note: I was really late this week. I'll try to do better in the future. "Reasons but no excuses..."

sermon mumblings

A brother went to Abba Matoes and said to him, 'How is it that the monks of Scetis did more than the Scriptures required in loving their enemies more than themselves?' Abba Matoes said to him, 'As for me I have not yet managed to love those who love me as I love myself.'

The lectionary readings this week have me thinking about the Holy City again. Last week I flailed around in the idea of the city as sacrament. This week I am thinking about how the church proclaims the Holy City with its crystal rivers and such. Shall we gather at the river? Perhaps this is liturgical action...that on Sunday mornings this is exactly what we do. And if liturgical action forms an ethos for the worshiping community (an ideal if not a reality), then how do we, as Christians, live out this gathering? Is there a prophetic witness here?

“An authentic prophet, therefore, is not overly worried about doing works, which is undoubtedly important, but not essential. The prophet tries, above all, to be a witness of God’s love, trying to live it in today’s world, even if his presence is considered ‘uncomfortable’ to some, because it offers and incarnates alternative values.

“Only union with God can cause and strengthen the ‘prophetic’ role of your mission, which consists in the ‘proclamation of the heavenly kingdom,’ an indispensable proclamation in every age and society.”

Pope Benedict is at it again...and this time he's speaking to nuns. As a Baptist I wonder if the same ethos holds. I don't see why not. There is certainly work to be done. And that work will embody the proclamation. It will give flessh to the willingness to be a prophet. Being prophetic is not simply about saying "No! Don't do that!" It is about offering alternatives, living love out loud.

musings...worship communities

I don't know why, but the last two or three mornings I have had this post working in my mind. What worshiping communities have I participated in during my lifetime? I was part of each of these communities to a significant degree to make a difference to me...maybe not to them, but to me. Some are congregations where I served as a musician. Others I saw as my home church...or a sanctuary of some kind. Others are a combination of those dynamics...Anyway, where have you worshiped?

These are listed chronologically. In some cases, I was participating in more than one community simultaneously. For example, I lived at Richmond Hill for four years. We were encouraged to find a church as well. So, while I was there I sang at First Presbyterian and then at Holy Comforter. In Chicago, I still sing at St. Peter's from time to time...rarely now, but it does happen. You get the idea.

St James the Less, Ashland, VA (I was baptized here.)
St Matthew's Episcopal Church (We went here for a brief period in the '70's.)
Canon Memorial Chapel (college campus ministry)
Ginter Park Baptist (the first seminary hangout)
First Presbyterian, Richmond (bass soloist)
Richmond Hill (residential Christian community)
The Church of the Holy Comforter, ECUSA (I attended for two years? Three? Loved it! Still do.)
Holy Name Cathedral (My first choral gig in Chicago. I sang for the Cardinal! Ooo.)
St. Luke's, Evanston (This was my sanctuary between gigs as a soloist in Chicago. For a while I was just subbing in places and would come here on off Sundays.)
St. Peter's in the Loop (A Franciscan cathedral...I was in the schola and would sneak in for worship at lunch.)
North Shore Baptist Church (I was the bass soloist for several years, and eventually joined. This is the church that ordained me.)
Seabury Western Theological Seminary (Worship, worship and more worship!)
Church of Jesus Christ, Reconciler (You likely know about this already.)
Community Church of Wilmette (I am learning how to worship as the senior pastor. It's tricky!)

Well, there you have it...a post-modern confusion of Christian faithfulness. My mother sometimes reads the blog...So, Mom, if you find that anything is missing from childhood, let me know. I think we visited someplace between St James and St Matt's. But I am not sure.

Otherwise, between St. Matt's and college, as far as I can recall, I did not attend anywhere...I visited my step-grandfather's church (Park Place, Baptist) a few times. And every now and again I would go to church with a girl I dated in High School, but that was it.

Still, seen in "list form," that is a lot of church. Gee.

wednesday linkage

Abba Poemen said of Abba Nisterus that he was like the serpent of brass which Moses made for the healing of the people: he possessed all virtue and without speaking, he healed everyone.

Welcome to Wednesday Linkage! I know that you have been waiting anxiously since last week to see what e-gems I have uncovered for you. There's a lot out there people. I could not include all I wanted to because at some point I actually work. Heh.

No. Really. I do.

faculty news

I have added Sr. Julie Vieira, IHM to the faculty of St Cyprian's.

fun conversations

In Rites or Wrongs, Jorge is talking about the Latin Mass and liturgical diversity.
AKMA is all a'twitter for Wilmette.
Bryan Peters is blogging about Reformed theology and pacifism. "Total depravity" suggests that no one has the proper judgment to use a weapon righteously.
Geoff wants us to know that Christian is not an adjective.

somewhat current events

The NY Times has this article about rebuilding Riverside Church...and liberal mainline Protestantism in the process.

Spiritualpolitique?!

There is only one word for American foreign policy elites, Democratic and Republican, left and right, who downplay or disregard religion to their peril, ours--and the world's--in deference to the dogma that being faith-free promotes objectivity: preposterous.

The ideology of "gunism"...

Emotions of extreme attachment to and even sacralization of the gun pervade American society, and commercial interests shamelessly manipulate those emotions to produce wildly self-destructive policies.

Here is a link to a 2006 article on the Emergent Church. I think it is pretty good...current even.
They found Herod's tomb. Interesting. You can read the Trib here.
Is there hope for the church? This guy thinks so.
Northern mourns the loss of Bob Webber...There is a memorial page as well. Follow the links.

sermons

This is Jeff's offering for the Fifth Sunday of Easter.

To love and honour Christ is to live a virtuous life in the service of others...it is to bring others to the knowledge and love of God through Christ. It is to love and cherish Christ by being a disciple.

The Rev Ref+ has this to say about the readings.

Labeling people heretic or a non-Christian because they don't measure up to your litmus test doesn't engender lots of love. Getting into holy wars over who is and who isn't a disciple isn't exactly showing the love of Christ.

the video of the week

sermon: citified

You can go to the Reconciler blog or to the Community Church website to read the sermon.

is caffeine my friend?

There was in the Cells an old man called Apollo. If someone came to find him about doing a piece of work, he would set out joyfully, saying,'I am going to work with Christ today, for the salvation of my soul, for that is the reward he gives.'

I woke up this morning at 4:00...really a little earlier if you count the tossing and turning. I made the horrible mistake of having a little iced coffee after 7:00pm. That, it would seem, is just enough to encourage my insomnia. Joy. O Rapture unforseen! Well, you would think that after all these years that I would see it commin' but I don't. I am always hopeful. I want to enjoy a little java in the evening. The decaffeinated blends just don't cut it for me. The taste is all wrong. So, I pay the price. Even the semi-nocturnal cats wonder what I am doing up and vertical in the house at that hour.

Ah well. Perhaps caffeine after 7:00pm is not my friend. I hope it is before 7:00pm. I like the bean so very much.

Later today I will post my thoughts on Sabbath...and I will post my sermon from Sunday. It was an odd experience. I felt it went very poorly at Community Church...sort of flat. But it went very well at Reconciler. Perhaps I am misunderstanding the differences in preaching to the two congregations...The space may make more a difference than I realize. Community seats 250-ish. Reconciler's chapel seats 30. Neither are full. I preach from the pulpit at Community...and not from the pulpit at Reconciler. Interesting to ponder. Anyway, the manuscript is on the hard drive at the office. I'll post it later.

Here's to the morning coffee!

a little closer...

Trish took today off. Yesterday, um, as you may have noticed, was her birthday. So, she stayed home today so that we could play. It's been a great day of gardening and hanging out. Yesterday we bought this great garden bench. This morning we read and shared coffee on the bench. Wondrous indeed.

The day has not been all sunshine and peonies, sadly. Some things are going on at church that are more frustrating than I can express. All will be well in the end. And when I am able, I will make it public. But if you would keep us in your prayers, I would be grateful. We have some decisions to make. Oy.

Your prayers are welcome.

Right. Well, that should cover it. It's been a really good day. It has it's frustration built in. As Larry said last night at Reconciler, all communities have qualities of both Babylon and Jerusalem. Yeah.

Oh! Go to Larry's blog. He posted on the conference from Friday as well. He is asking questions about the difference between Christendom and the Church. I think he is right to go in this direction. It is the underlying issue from the conference. What are we looking to establish?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TRISH!

always talented...

no, really, always talented...

always playful...um...yeah

always beautiful...
My wife.
Today is her birthday. I love my wife.

satreday glee

It was also said of him (Abba Arsenius) that on Saturday evenings, preparing for the glory of Sunday, he would turn his back on the sun and stretch out his hands in prayer towards the heavens, till once again the sun shone on his face. Then he would sit down.

The conference was great. Go to the blog. The conference is promoted and organized by the Div School students. This is the third year that they have put this thing on and I have attended two of those years. I must admit that I am a U of C junkie. I absolutely love the place. I get this odd high when I am there. I can't explain it. But there you go. Wow. I went to college and somehow missed the whole "culture of learning" thing. Ah well. At least I am enjoying it now. I asked a question during the conference. It was a good question, I thought. Then afterward an alum approached me and said "That was a very Div School question! I liked it." Well, like a dweeb, I floated. God, help me. LOL. Dork. Idolater! Heh.

I awoke this morning with a million things on my mind. AKMA is coming to Community Church tomorrow. Did I tell him the correct time (9am, professor.)? I needed to finish my posting on the conference. That's done. The cats need more food...so that's an errand to run today. And, no small thing, I have a sermon to write today. I have played in the lectionary all week and I think I have something good to say. I am focusing on the Gospel passage and Revelation. I love the image of the holy city of God. I do. The trouble or challenge of the passage is making sure that my sermon does not slip into some kind of Christian utopianism. Utopianism is an interesting political philosophy, but it ain't quite the Gospel...well, kinda, anyway...

See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away."

This is the piece that I want to explore...when is this gonna happen. I think that the dispensationalists are wrong. But I do think that there is a second coming...and it is ongoing, in the hearts of all of us, in our communities and in our cities. The world is being remade every day. It's a kind of optimism that I try to live into. I will likely not see it's completion. That's okay. But one cannot know the hour, so I am optimistic. I look for glimpses of the holy city. I pray for our cities. I pray for our communities. I seek God in them. I do not want to escape to the country to avoid the city. If I ever live in the country again, it will be for some other reason. But it won't be to escape the city. The city can be a holy place.

I have been reading Michel Quoist again. Incredible stuff. His religious poetry is often inspired by the profane. I love it.

books on the shelf
There are many to read...I am currently reading The Spiral Staircase by Karen Armstrong. I have gotten on this memoir kick lately. I want to hear what people have to say about faith...contemporary folk. So, Karen is the quintessential Boomer, I am enjoying her work. Two of the books on this list are memoirs, one an atheist's and the other the story of a conversion from Judaism to Christianity. Interesting.

I Sold My Soul on eBay
Mudhouse Sabbath
Girl Meets God
The Heavenly Trumpet

The final book on the list is written by Margaret Mitchell. Holy cow, is she smart. Damn. Anyway, the book is going to be my reward for finishing the thesis. I thumbed through it and realized that it would be helpful for later on if I ever get to the other half of the research. The thesis is just on how Calvin used Chrysostom and not about Chrysostom per se. But Chrysostom's sermons are a wild ride and have had a tremendous influence on Christianity for more than one thousand years. Boy, is that a "gold standard" or what?

university of chicago divinity school (2)

Okay, gang, follow the extended link for the second panel. This was perhaps the liveliest conversation of the day. Everything presented was great, but this conversation was good...Once you get into practical ministry, people and our egos come into play. Who knew?

Panel: Discipleship in the Media Age
Lois Smidt
Rory Johnson a Ph.D. student in Psychology and Sociology of Religion and former Martin Marty Center Fellow (linking when I find a good one).
Mary Beth Morehouse
Sr. Julie Vieira

Rory Johnson He opened with guns blazing. He has a bone to pick with the mega church...He says that they have "rediscovered the crowd." The spiritual/religious/faithful appeal is made to the crowd and not to the individual. He suggests that their (the mega church) intersection with culture is at the level of infrastructure. They employ a variety of very powerful cultural tools to get their message across. Conversion, activism, biblio-centrism, christo-centrism are the theological tools they employ. Rory says that the mega church craft a hermeneutic of ambivalence...or a critical Christian conscience. They lean on mob mentality. Everything is on the mass scale.

He wants us to know that engaging the tools of popular culture (internet, amphitheater, billboards) means mediation. One has to translate these tools somehow. We as church exist somewhere between the poles of Christ and Constantine (Wow!). Our tools may take us somewhere we don't really want to go.

Julie Vieira Visit her blog. Culture, she says, can create a place for us through stereotypes and merchandising. "Nunzilla," the boxing nun, The Sound of Music...This culture challenges the culture of the order she belongs to. There are "expectations of the cloister" both from inside and out. For different reasons (I imagine) she has been met with "A nun who blogs?!"

She writes as a daily discipline. She's a writer. She writes a lot about being a nun...to begin to help undo some stereotypes. Her blog has also become a ministry. People comment or e-mail her their theological questions, their personal concerns. She says that there is a virtue implied in her blogging: "welcoming the stranger." Her blog is a place of hospitality and not suspicion. The internet is an odd place when it comes down to meeting people. You never really know who you are meeting and the abilities of the medium to communicate meaning is limited.

Mary Beth Morehouse She is from the new downtown Chicago Willow Creek. They share space with the Joffre. Why not? She says that they embrace culture, its tools, and by doing so they can engender discipleship through employing technology. Use billboards for advertising...they suggest a certain equality, and the audience has been much more diverse. They asked themselves the question "Do we want methodical evangelism or 'spirit led' evangelism?" Methodical is preferred, it would seem.

They do have a problem with measurement...what you measure matters. If they measure only numbers, then they have a problem. They are looking for the fruit of the spirit, for discipleship. They are not trying to create a "cruise ship" experience, but an "aircraft carrier experience." They want people to go off and do something, to take personal responsibility for their discipleship. Very utilitarian in her/their approach...They focus on young people.

...I liked he a lot. She's sharp and did not rise to meet the first commentator's rant. She stuck to the point of the conference and was very helpful.

Lois Smidt How do we bring people together in communities of love? How do we build relationships? Go to the website and watch the video. She showed some of it to us. It was lovely. And it broadened the notion of technology...

QnA

1. Church plant question...(not me!)...Should we use churchy language in our mailers etc?
2. What is the difference between the neighbor in your church and the geographic neighbor?
3. How do you all theologize technology? How comfortable or conscious are you all of this practice?

Well, there you go. The discussion was great. Let me know if you have any questions about it all. And I will be certain to link up the podcasts and videos when they become available.

university of chicago divinity school

And we re on...One of the students has logged me in.

The keynote speaker is Lauren Winner. You can go here to learn more about her. I asked her permission to blog while she speaks. I will not quote her directly per her request. And, if you see something objectionable, you should assume that I am the objectionable party. My powers of distortion are legendary.

Thus endeth the caveat.

Keynote:

Q: How do we employ pop culture (including technologies) in our lives in the church. Where is the engagement? What is appropriate engagement?

She mentions that pop culture, as a term, is dangerous (questionable?). It suggests a certain hierarchy of "high or low" culture...Disney vs. Brahms, perhaps? We need a wider understanding of culture. Thinking of terms is helpful. Stop lights, stores, computers, mores, and art are all "artifacts of culture."

Creation, Incarnation and Redemption...these Christian doctrines help us theologize about culture. God created a cultural being in humanity. God joined us in culture through the incarnation...and continues to do so through the faithful. God redeems culture, guides it, corrects it. How we are to participate in this redemption or not to participate in this redemption differs depending on your theological world view.

In the 20th Century, evangelical American Christianity engages culture to a greater or lesser degree. Scopes Trial: they drop out. America is less safe for evangelical Christians. Evangelicals build parallel institutions such as colleges and magazines because the existing "secular" institutions are no longer safe for them. 1950's and Billy Graham's Crusade suggests that evangelicals are participating more directly. Billy even talks to Catholics! Oh no! In 1976, Jimmy Carter is elected...and Ronald Reagan will follow. Well, the evangelical is back! Be ye warned.

She goes on, very articulately, to describe the various ways that mainline protestant Christianity engages American culture. Buy her books.

As Christian communities, we should be "creatingly" engaged in culture in the world. This, as we have mentioned here, a potentially dangerous position in American culture...the sacred vs. secular struggle is an ever-present reality. Read Dorothy Sayers. Can we engage in culture "createdly" and do so in such a way that does not infringe upon the freedom of our non-religious fellow citizens? By the way, that's my musing and not our speaker's. The speaker reminds us of the Christian doctrines above: Creation, Incarnation, Redemption. We are homo faber...we are makers. So, the church no less than any other agency will create. It is perhaps impossible to do otherwise.

She has taken a turn to capitalism...and wonders if it is a good thing that everything in our culture (read: religious life as well) is about a choice...not about piety or faithfulness, but about options, choices, shopping. Capitalism is cultural, no? How does this impact our spiritual life? What about the communal nature of Christian polity? How does Capitalism influence our engagement with one another, with communities?

Technologies, embodiment and time...Is scripture a manual in time keeping? Does a cell phone change our understanding embodiment? Same with the computer...Am I less present to this lecture by being online blogging the same lecture? We speak on cell phones when we could engage the people immediately present to us. There are costs to all the benefits of our technology. Do we now spend time when we once passed the time?

Yes, Sabbath practices matter. See: all that stuff Megan, Cristopher and I have been blogging about these past months. Silence is also an important "cultural artifact" of faith. The culture of the church may have specific disciplines to offer us..."cultural artifacts."

We have moved to the question and answer period. I'm gonna listen. The rest of the conference will be in the extended link. Come back. We'll be here all day...or as long as the battery lasts.

Note: Buy (pre-order) Andy Crouch's book on Christianity and culture...Intervarsity Press.

The Church and Popular Culture: They each present for a couple of minutes and then field our questions.
Jason DeRose
Amy Black
Fr. Edward Foley (still looking for a good link...he's at Catholic University, a liturgist and a musician)
Margaret Mitchell

Edward Foley...church and culture are both verbs...this is about ministry and not theology. He wants to press a difference there. So, his concerns are more "pastoral" than theoretical. "God's love affair is with the world...not the church..."

Incarnation is a second creation, a reaffirmation of humanity. Humanity is wed to divinity...He says so much. I am glad that they will eventually podcast this stuff. Holy cow is this guy quick and is this guy bright. I have one of his books on the Eucharist. I recommend him highly.

He asks about the liturgy of the church or the liturgy of the world. Which is preeminent in your theology, he wants to know. This is what a pastor needs to ask. Who gets priority? They church? The world? This is not about who holds "the keys to the kingdom." This is, again, about who or what is the absolute focus of God's love.

Okay, this is foolish...I am going to try to give some overarching themes, but I will absolutely post the podcasts when they are up and running.

Amy Black is speaking...politics and pop culture. How do we discern the intersection of politics and culture? Which is the tail? Which is the dog? When do they switch roles? This is an important question. Where do we learn about politics? Mostly through culture, through entertainment like movies, tv, music etc. This may be a challenge to the church. This may be why we have to create opportunities within the church to speak about politics.

How do we engage culture? Condemnation, appropriation, consumption...or perhaps "distinctive Christian engagement?" This is about intentionality.