July 30, 2007
a quick post
Someone brought their laptop. Yeah. Sometimes it's just like that.
This is where we are working...
The devestation is worse than I imagined.
July 28, 2007
new orleans
And I am outta here! I leave this morning with the youth of the church to go to New Orleans and (hopefully) Mississippi for a week of building or rebuilding homes. It should be a good time.
Keep us in your prayers. Traveling mercies and all that.
And continue to pray for Deborah, Trish's sister. I'd appreciate it.
Danke!
July 26, 2007
the girls at the bong
Yeah, this was from a week or so ago now. It was a great night. You should go to the One of the Girls website and sign up for the mailing list.
some of the cast from 12th Night
This is a picture from 2005. My wife is in the center...quite the fool you know!
prayers
Hey, y'all. Would you take a moment today to lift Deborah, my wife's sister, up in your prayers? Send her good vibes, general good will. She is going in to the doctor today. Keep her and her family in mind as you go about your day.
I'd appreciate it!
Danke.
July 25, 2007
pastoral thinking: perception and ministry
Do not wait; the time will never be "just right." Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along.
- George Herbert
In alluding to what it's like to be a pastor, speaking all around it but not directly to it, I am confessing my own fears of being mistaken as critical of my churches if I speak of my struggles of being a pastor. I am confessing my fears of being perceived as naive if I speak of the beauty of pastoral ministry. Perception guides the small but public sphere of this blog. It just does. I have not been able to escape that. So, I figured I should talk about my own struggles with public perception.
It's silly, really. I cannot believe that I have to think about public perception. I don't think of myself as a public personage, but I am simply because I stand in two pulpits, engage in community conversations in Rogers Park and Wilmette. I meet people in my capacity as the ecclesial representative of two congregations. What I say matters because people allow it to matter. What I say has weight because people give it weight. My representative position carries a certain weight...and as such is a burden to me. It is an expected burden, but a burden no less.
Sometimes I am simply aware that I am perceived as young in one congregation and older in another congregation. I am aware that my hair is long. Yes, I have received some comments about my hair, but nothing horrible or convincing. It's just the lay of the land. Ask a female preacher about how she wrestles with other people's opinions about her appearance. It's really embarrassing stuff. Imagined and real public perception dictates much of how people live as Christians and participate in church life. And small things can have large consequences for some people.
Ministry is influenced by public perception. I am one of those people who is perhaps too sensitive to the perception of others. I can be a people pleaser. I can sometimes react to that aspect of myself by being contrary for the sake of mere shock value. It's absurd. And it is more complicated than that. I am aware, also, more and more that by accepting the mantle of pastoral ministry I have begun a "second conversion."
I know that is a strange thing to say. But I am aware that my own spiritual journey has shifted. I do pray that this is not the spiritual mirror to my other struggles. I pray that it is instead God working in me in spite of my struggles with aspects of ministry that can be unpleasant, in spite of the various iterations of public perception. God is asking me to reach deeper, to sit still longer, to pray more, to lean more on the Word, and to love more...to love all God loves as fiercely as God loves it.
Conversion, as I understand it, is continuous. It is not the fruit of a single moment. But there are moments, periods in life that suggest a more dramatic spiritual geography. "I have decided to follow Jesus." Those moments of decision, of revelation, of great intention or struggle are the geography of conversion. This shift for me, the last few years, have coalessed into what I am calling a second conversion.
I am being converted all over again. I am having to shift my own perception of what it means to follow Christ. The Spirit has compelled me to take another hard look at myself. I am a public person suffering under the "burden of perception." But, it seems, the only perception that matters is what God's. Does the Spirit perceive Gospel truth in my life?
I pray that the Spirit does. I need the Spirit's forgiveness when I fail. Scripture says I have it. And scripture says that I need forgiveness...the forgiveness of the Spirit and the continual forgiveness of the community if my salvation, my conversion, is to continue rightly. We are called to forgive one another, that without such a grace, God's grace is stymied.
I struggle with perception. I just want people to be happy. Sometimes I even want people to like me. Sometimes. But mostly, I cannot bear the disappointment of others, the sadness of others when their hopes are not actualized. I pray that God will give me the strength for those moments when I fail. I am assured that those moments will be frequent. I pray for forgiveness. I pray for patience. I pray for conversion.
wednesday linkage
Well -- it's just that you seem to be laboring under the delusion that I am going to -- what is the phrase? -- come quietly. I am afraid I am not going to come quietly at all, Cornelius. I have absolutely no intention of being sent to Azkaban. I could break out, of course -- but what a waste of time, and frankly, I can think of a whole host of things I would rather be doing.
- Albus Dumbledore
Here is some UBSC news for you...and some random current events. Have fun!
university events
Cliff is hoping Fred will run.
The Young Fogey is not so convinced. Why? Well, this.
Sister Julie is training for her first triathlon.
AKMA is continuing his countdown. He leaves in three days.
Mike is thrilled at how well the Emergent conference went.
Amy has switched to Wordpress. Man...now I have to fix my links!
current events:
Dems are looking at faith again...and again, and again, and again.
You Tube was at the debate. I was not.
The US has been talking to Iran about Iraq...follow the BBC link.
Christianity Today has this about Bush's heresy as reported in the NY Times. It ain't all roses.
Jim Wallis was critical of Bush's "theology of Empire."
baptist events:
Vatican's claim of link to apostles has parallels in Baptist successionism. Who knew that I was a pastor in the one true church? Fabulous!
ABP Editorial - Guest Opinion: Creeds, chaos, and the Holy Spirit by Carol Crawford Holcomb...This is a pretty good attempt to explain how and why Baptists are not creedal. Give her a read.
John Russell, the second pastor of the Boston Baptist congregation, referred to this as “tenderness of conscience” -- not a conscience informed by a secular individualism, but a conscience made tender by the Word of God and guided by the Holy Spirit.It is clearer and clearer to me that Baptist belief, of this period at least, assumed the truth expressed in the creeds if not the particulars of the systematic that undergirds them. No majesterium. No ecumenical councils. No humanist individualism. Just the Holy Spirit. So it ain't about your opinion, but it is about discerning the work of the Holy Spirit in community.
sermons:
Trevor posted this a while ago. Lovely.
...Jesus' answer is clever. Foxholes and birdnests provide natural places where foxes and birds can easily go. The natural world has an order and it's easy to see. If you want to follow me the road is going to be more difficult. Because I live very much in the world of foxes and birds but in a way that I am always trying to see the creativity that courses in, through, above and below that world. Truly, earth is one holy gift; life is one holy breath.
Gretchen let it fly. This was fierce.
For this Sunday then, here's a definition of a Christian disciple: A Christian is anyone with the guts to open [their] door and let Jesus in, to listen to Jesus even when he criticizes the way the Christian spends [their] time. A Christian is anyone willing to be mystified by Jesus, to stay with Jesus, and to let Jesus work within [them].the video: fixing the bible:
July 24, 2007
finished it (ALERT!!: some spoilage expected)
Yep.
I started this morning and in spite of a few lengthy interruptions, I managed to finish it...
...the last Harry Potter book.
Anyone else? What did you think of it? I liked it a lot...(cont.)
...because, in the end, he's just a kid. Everyone around him is pulling strings and trying to get something spectacular done. And he's just himself all the way through...It's really quite remarkable.
Lovely.
And, man, Rowling ain't afraid to kill off her characters. Harry has lost so much. It's an unusual move for a "children's book." But it worked. I think she stayed true to the story the whole way through.
Well done.
in memoriam:
Fred Weasly
Remus Lupin
Tonks Lupin
"Mad Eye" Moody
Hedwig the Owl
Dobby the Free Elf
Colin Creavy
Severus "Count on me" Snape
I knew he was a good guy. I just knew it! Wow. That was intense.
LONG LIVE PROFESSOR SNAPE!!!
July 23, 2007
sabbath: the way of enough
I make myself rich by making my wants few.
- Thoreau
I know, this is perhaps silly to some, but let me play this out a bit. If I do have a cultural bias, it is Virginian. But that culture is suspect. Second sons of English aristocrats came over seeking wealth. They came over because they were have-nots in England. Here in the new world, they would be "Haves." Albion's Seed is an interesting book that chronicles the various immigration movements from the UK. The one that shapes me, I imagine, is this immigration to the mid-Atlantic region. They were not fleeing religious persecution. They were seeking what they imagined they did not have. They established harsh parish systems where even the wives of landowners were, essentially, owned. Slavery was rampant. They were focused on gain. This is the shadow side of the life at least. I inherited this, I know. And I inherited my grandfather's fretfulness as a child of the Great Depression. I inherited my father and mother's reaction to that. It is a long inheritance.
So, as I read this chapter in Sabbath, I encountered my own sense of entitlement. I deserve stuff. I need stuff. I want more stuff. And I am afraid of what life would be like without stuff. Stuff. Stuff. Stuff. The irony about stuff and wanting it is that I am not afraid of poverty. I am afraid of not having. It is not about wealth, liquidity. It is about possessions. Strange. I'll have to puzzle that out. For physical desire is a mirror for spiritual desire...and spiritual seeking is no less a distraction than stuff seeking. Wayne says:
When we are trapped in seeking, nothing is enough. Everything we have mocks us; we see only what is missing, ans all that is already here seems pale and unsatisfying. In Sabbath time we bless what there is for being. The time for seeking is over; the time for finding has begun.This chapter really pushes me around in a good way. I preached on this topic without having read the chapter. Now I want to go back to my sermon and see what is already there that I know, to find what I have and to begin (again) to let go...simply let go. Enough is enough.
I'm interested in what Megan and Christopher have to say as well.
July 22, 2007
satisfying
Crystallizing my feelings about the game, I find that squash is less frustrating than golf, less fickle than tennis. It is easier than badminton, cheaper than polo. It is better exercise than bowls, quicker than cricket, less boring than jogging, drier than swimming, safer than hang gliding. ~John Hopkins, Squash: A Joyful Game, 1980
It's okay. Sometimes one simply cannot keep up.
The ice cream social was great. The Girls did a nice job providing the entertainment. There were a lot of kids present as well playing games and running around. The lawn was a swarm of visitors. I have to say that I hope to see that kind of crowd more often some day. It was great.
Later, some of us came back to Chateau Ouilmette for an impromptu cook out. And there was badminton. I tried to find a quotation about badminton, but there just wasn't a good one to be found. This quotation about squash being easier than badminton was surprising. Really, I think that we played "Smashminton" and not badminton. Smashminton is a great sport. I encourage you all to try it.
It was just a beautiful day. It just was.
Peace to you all.
sermon: distracted by god
Follow the extended link for the sermon.
Sermon: Proper 11 (16) Year C 2007
Community Church of Wilmette
July 22, 2007
Distracted by God
Once upon a time I stressed myself out until I was ill. Yep, sometime during my junior year of college I ended up with some sort of stress related malaise that, according to my doctors, was entirely related to my overloading my academic credits. I could not even tell you now what I was taking that semester. I know that there was theater and music and probably a religion class and some Greek. Heck, I think that Physics may have been in the mix, but I’m not entirely sure. The whole semester was this blur of activity and sleeplessness. Four hours of sleep a night was “plentyfine” for me! I thought I was finally achieving the college dream of astute productivity!
Somewhere in there it all fell apart. Somewhere in the second semester my body just quit on me. It just stopped. The sleep deprivation and high level of activity caught up with me and I ended up in the emergency room. The doctor changed my diet. No more caffeine. It would seem that my seven to ten cans of cola a day were not beneficial after all. No more sugar. I had to steer away from all kinds of things. And, of all the outlandish prescriptions ever offered, I had to schedule in at least eight hours of sleep a night.
Yes. I reminded the doctor that I was in college.
Yes. The doctor showed great pity for my plight.
No. The doctor did not relent. Eight. Hours.
The most amazing thing happened then. My grades improved. Yep. It’s true. Now, there was a great deal of room for improvement, mind you. So maybe it is really no miracle, but they improved nonetheless. To my amazement, I found that I could concentrate in class, retain what I read and then communicate my own thoughts and the necessary information for tests with increased clarity. I also felt better. Sleep cures a multitude of ills. I am convinced.
A lot of things changed for me that year. Relationships shifted. That was the beginning of a very long process or self-discovery. One of the things that happened for me when I slowed down was that I started noticing God more. At this point in my journey I would not have called myself Christian. I would not have called myself much of anything. But there it was.
I started concentrating on God.
In a sense, I found myself no longer distracted by all the coming and going of my busy college life.
I found myself distracted by God.
Today we find ourselves in the midst of the famous story of Mary and Martha. Mary adores Christ. Her adoration is her activity. She is utterly and completely distracted by Jesus…his presence with her and the promises he embodies. Martha, on the other hand, is distracted by every other possible thing around her. She is the Martha Stewart of her day.
Hold on. I did not catch that until I wrote it. Huh. Maybe there is a lesson to be learned there as well. Anyway…going on…
Martha is the ultimate in hospitality. She shall see to your every need. She shall treat you right. She will ignore you to make sure that you are getting what you need. Is that even possible? So Jesus stops her. He calls her out on her anxiety and the various things she uses to distract herself. All her good deeds, her hospitality, her cooking, cleaning, her handiwork…all one big cover-up for her anxiety and troubles.
You know, it’s a difficult task. It’s not that Martha did a single thing wrong. She did everything right. And I imagine that she had been rewarded time and again for the same behavior. She just did them all for the wrong reasons. This is what is so important to realize about this little story from our scripture. It is really easy to say, “Mary was good. Martha was bad.” So, you quit your job, stop making your bed (assuming you do in the first place), never finish a single school paper again, and plop yourself on the floor in some feigned adoration of inactivity. We cannot fall into the trap of saying “I’ll just sit and pray with Mary. That’s it. That’s all I’ll ever do. Someone will feed me, I’m sure.”
As usual, scripture paints a picture that is just a little more complicated than all that.
Martha is an ideal worker. She is doing good things. She is doing what the Law might ask of a woman. She is perfect. Except that she’s not perfect. She’s distracted. Now, Mary on the other hand is caught up in the opposite conundrum. She is not being dutiful. She is not an active partner in offering hospitality. And Jesus wants to reward this? Mary has, as Jesus said, chosen the better part. It is better to make Mary’s choice.
Doing good up to the point of distraction, or worshiping the God that is seated before you…This is a really hard choice. But Jesus makes it clear what the answer is. Adoration of God. Get distracted by God.
I really get Martha. I want to do the right thing…and I often do them for the wrong reasons. Do, that is, and not be the right thing. I do things to alleviate my anxieties about performance and productivity. I do things in order to feel important and an active part of a community. I do things so that I will feel included. So much is wrapped up in my doing that has absolutely nothing to do with being Godly.
I would rather do the things that seem to matter, whether that is all the class work from college, the bands and choirs and the AIDSRides from my previous work, or the committees and meetings and programs and meetings and programs, programs and programs of a so-called successful ministry.
And I would rather be some cantankerous and colorful person, channeling my anxieties into humor or activity. I don’t want to be known for my adoration of Christ. I mean, that’s just creepy, no? To be known for my adoration of Christ? God forbid!
Jesus points this out to me…this sin of misplaced priorities. Mary has chosen the better part.
Kyle Childress, a Baptist minister said recently in response to a question about just how busy a pastor needs to be: “Who do you think you are? Are you so important that you have to be busy at every moment? No one is paying you to be busy.” That is a bit of a paraphrase…
But he raises a good point for all of us. Is the world going to come screeching to a halt if we stop and adore God? It’s a hard feeling to shake. It is a difficult piece of Christian discernment to figure out when we are simply being busy and when we are doing good works. Faith without works is dead. Works without adoration is nothing but misplaced activity.
It is a difficult bit of Christian discipline to make time in our days our weeks, our lives…for Christ. We must become distracted by God.
Kyle gets distracted by God. He has a discipline of porch sitting. He meets with people on their porches…and they talk about Jesus and their lives. They make time to muse and pray. They share their days, their worries and concerns. This has become such a strong part of Kyle’s ministry that his congregation recently built a porch on his house specifically for the discipline of porch sitting. And people come…just to sit and to be distracted by God. Kyle drinks a lot of iced tea and coffee.
And he told another story…He was young man and new to ministry when he had a chance to meet one of the organizers of the march from Selma to Montgomery. It was at a prayer meeting. In walks this man with scars on his legs from the police dogs. So, to honor him, Kyle and the others asked him to begin their meeting with a prayer. And, as Kyle said, they were all expecting this fierce social consciousness raising prayer, this “Git ‘er done!” moment. In stead, they heard a man thank God for a long litany of simple things like getting up with the sun and the love of his friends and the hope that God provides.
He was distracted by God. Utterly and completely distracted by God.
Being distracted by God is not like being distracted by a video game or a long list of tasks set out before us. Being distracted by God allows us to begin to see the world through God’s own eyes. It allows us to see what is important. So, when we act, it is not out of a reactive stance, an anxious stance. No, it is simply a movement of adoration to God.
This is what Paul means when he says “pray without ceasing.” This is why Christian contemplatives, monks, and nuns build in their Rules nine times for prayer each day. Mother Teresa of Calcutta would not have been able to do the work that she did without such prayer…a constant devotion and adoration of Christ. She was always distracted by God. And this allowed her to find Jesus in the eyes of the people living in the sewage of a city.
Finally, this is why we have two prayer services a week here at Community Church. It is not to make sure we have alternative opportunities for people to join us. It is so that I am reminded why it is that I am here. I am to be formed as Christ. I am to be in adoration of Christ, the God who created all things, and the Holy Spirit who sustains me. The noon prayer service is time to be distracted by God so that I may learn to always be so distracted.
If we do not allow for these times to be distracted by God, will we ever truly encounter one another? If we spend our time being busy, ending up in some emergency room with a doctor prying the caffeine out of our clenched fists, will we ever have time and vision for porch swings or noon prayers or marches when injustice comes?
If we are to participate in the merciful and just reordering of the world, we have to make time for it in our own lives, our own hearts.
We have to make time for ourselves to be reordered. We must still ourselves somehow…
…and allow ourselves to be distracted by God.
Amen.
July 21, 2007
satreday...
The coffee, she is ready.
The garden, she too is ready for the weeding of the weeds.
The sermon, she is continuing her elusiveness anon.
The laundry, has she ever not been ready (Special thanks for Megan for pointing out a glaring error in word choice. - Ed.) for the washing of the socks?
The pastor, he is ready for the napping or the caffeine.
All hail caffeine!
(Editor's comment: The pastor typically drinks a half-caf/half-decaf blend of beans. It's better for all of us this way.)
July 20, 2007
come hear some music
One of the Girls will be playing at the Community Church of Wilmette! Yes, you read it rightly. The two worlds collide! And what is born from such extravagance? Ice cream!
Ice Cream Social
FREE!
3:30 - 5:00
Sunday, July 22
Community Church of Wilmette
www.communitychurchofwilmette.org
1020 Forest Ave.
Wilmette, IL
Bring your friends. Bring their kids. Come prepared to dance and eat of the ice cream!
We were at Community Church last year, too!
the day ahead
An update on moving can be found in the comments. - The Editor
I am moving my office from the lovely sanctum sanctorum upstairs to the more public space downstairs. I need to be in lanes of public traffic in the church. I am missing too much otherwise. The sanctum is a communication blackout zone. But, Lordy, will I miss the sanctum. Walking into it's embrace every morning is a lovely thing. Alas, it was not meant to be. For the time being, I'll keep my books up there and sneak around once a week to work on my sermon. I think I will have to assign myself a weekday for sermon prep. I have allowed myself to get sucked into too much other stuff.
Fellow preacher types, how long on average do you spend on your sermons? And how long are your sermons? I spend 2 hours on a fifteen minute sermon. This is not laudable. But I suspect that it is also very common. Thought? Confessions?
July 19, 2007
an afternoon reflection
Many of us who had thought ourselves religious awoke to the limitations of this attitude. Refusing to place God first, we had deprived ourselves of God's help.
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 75
I have been reading through this AA devotional guide again lately. I don't always get to it. The reflections are brief, perfect for a quick moment as I rise in the morning or when I need just a little extra boost in the afternoon.
My pride is great. It always has been. It's a bit misplaced, however, since I am the Grand Underachiever. I typically have pride in what I have screwed up, messed up, misplaced, misused, misunderstood etc. I shy away from anything I might have done that is positive. It's a problem in either case. This is one way that my pride reveals itself.
Pride is always the sin of not putting God first. We can find all sorts of things to put in the place of God and God's grace. Money works. So too does activity or alcohol (substance of choice here) or, as this quotation suggests, religion can take that place. I struggle with this myself.
If I just hold to the formula, I will not even need God.
If I just paint this just so, pray these words, stand here, bow there, then I will not be bothered by the almighty.
You see, I think that if I fill in the blanks, then God will leave me alone. I will have fulfilled my obligation somehow. But it just does not work that way. If I truly fulfill my obligation, then I will find myself in the very midst of God being changed, transformed to God's purposes. Yes, there is peace in ritual and rite. Certainly, but there is also no escape from God if I participate in them truly and honestly.
Sometimes I won't put God first.
Sometimes I am simply afraid of what God might ask of me.
Basil the Great is remembered as the founder of Eastern monasticism. All Eastern Orthodox monks are Basilian monks and follow a variation of the monastic rule that he outlined. However, it is often overlooked that the community of monks organized by Basil was preceded and inspired by a community of nuns organized by his sister, Macrina.Macrina the Elder lived in the days of the Emperor Diocletian, who made a determined effort to destroy the Christian faith. She and her husband fled into hiding, and survived into the time of Constantine. One of their sons, Basil the Elder, and his wife Emmelia, had several distinguished sons, including Basil the Great (14 June), Gregory of Nyssa (9 March), Peter of Sebastea, Naucratios, and Dios of Antioch.
Their oldest offspring, however, was their daughter Macrina (called Macrina the Younger to distinguish her from her grandmother). She was betrothed at the age of twelve, after the custom of the day, but when her fiance died, she determined to devote her life to prayer and contemplation and to works of charity. After the death of her father, she and her mother formed a community of women who shared her goals. She often brought poor and hungry women home to be fed, clothed, nursed, or otherwise taken care of, and many eventually joined the community, as did many women of means.
After the death of their parents, Macrina was chiefly responsible for the upbringing of her ten younger brothers. When they were disposed to be conceited about their intellectual accomplishments, she deflated them with affectionate but pointed jibes. Her example encouraged some of them to pursue the monastic ideal, and to found monastic communities for men. (Dios founded one of the most celebrated monasteries in Constantinople.) Three of them (Basil, Gregory, Peter) became bishops, and all of them were leading contenders for the faith of Nicea against the Arians.
Gregory, in his Life of Macrina, records his last visit with her, and her farewell speech and her prayers and teachings about the resurrection.
Gregory of Nyssa, his brother Basil the Great (14 June), and Basil's best friend Gregory of Nazianzus (9 May), are known collectively as the Cappadocian Fathers. They were a major force in the triumph of the Athanasian position at the Council of Constantinople in 381. Gregory of Nyssa tends to be overshadowed by the other two.
Gregory of Nyssa was born in Caesarea, the capital of Cappadocia (central Turkey) in about 334, the younger brother of Basil the Great and of Macrina (19 July), and of several other distinguished persons. As a youth, he was at best a lukewarm Christian. However, when he was twenty, some of the relics of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste (10 March) were transferred to a chapel near his home, and their presence made a deep impression on him, confronting him with the fact that to acknowledge God at all is to acknowledge His right to demand a total commitment. Gregory became an active and fervent Christian. He considered the priesthood, decided it was not for him, became a professional orator like his father, married, and settled down to the life of a Christian layman. However, his brother Basil and his friend Gregory of Nazianzus persuaded him to reconsider, and he became a priest in about 362.
His brother Basil, who had become archbishop of Caesarea in 370, was engaged in a struggle with the Arian Emperor Valens, who was trying to stamp out belief in the deity of Christ. Basil desperately needed the votes and support of Athanasian bishops, and he maneuvered his friend Gregory into the bishopric of Sasima, and (in about 371) his brother Gregory into the bishopric of Nyssa, a small town about ten miles from Caesarea. Neither one wanted to be a bishop, neither was suited to be a bishop, and both were furious with Basil.) Gregory did not get along well with his flock, was falsely accused of embezzling church funds, fled the scene in about 376, and did not return until after the death of Valens about two years later.
In 379, Basil died, having lived to see the death of Valens and the end of the persecution. Shortly thereafter, Macrina died. Gregory was with her in the last few days of her life. Afterwards, he took to writing sermons and treatises on theology and philosophy. His philosophy was a form of Christian Platonism. In his approach to the Scriptures, he was heavily influenced by Origen, and his writings on the Trinity and the Incarnation build on and develop insights found in germ in the writings of his brother Basil. But he is chiefly remembered as a writer on the spiritual life, on the contemplation of God, not only in private prayer and meditation, but in corporate worship and in the sacramental life of the Church.
His treatise On The Making of Man deals with God as Creator, and with the world as a good thing, as something that God takes delight in, and that ought to delight us. His Great Catechism is esteemed as a work of systematic theology. His Commentary on the Song of Songs is a work of contemplative, devotional, mystical theology. [James Kiefer, abridged]link
good news...
I have a title for my sermon this Sunday: Distracted by God.
Here is the lectionary. Now, let's see if I can come up with a sermon. Heh.
okay...breathe...
I'm back from the Ekklesia Project Gathering. It was lovely. AKMA posted once or twice. Go and read his musings. I need to get some work done. There is a consultant to hire, people to visit, worship to plan, substitute preachers to manage...and more and more and more and more...
July 16, 2007
sabbath: mindfulness and holiness
In every case, pain had been the price of admission into a new life. But this admission price had purchased more than we expected. It brought a measure of humility, which we soon discovered to be a healer of pain.
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 75
Anyway, this is the beginning to a new section of Muller's book. The section is entitled Consecration. I am not quite sure what Wayne is after yet, but the first little chapter is about mindfulness and holiness. By this, I think Wayne means that Sabbath is...
...a sanctuary in time when we consecrate our loved ones, our yearnings for peace, our prayers for strength and well-being for our children. We consecrate them, we en-holy them, with our mindfulness, gratefulness and care...We are not blessed because we are wealthy; we are wealthy because we bless.Throughout this little chapter, he speaks of time, the great American commodity. Taking time and making time to be grateful is key. We have to remember our loved one. We cannot assume them. We have to be mindful of one another. That they are with us is a gift, a great gift that needs our attention...our remembering.
So, what is his little exercise? Well, confession. Yep. He suggests that we find a way to go to confession. I'm very interested in Megan's take on this exercise. I think I get it. And that is why I included the quotation from AA this morning. Humility is part and parcel of mindfulness. Attentiveness is difficult to many because we ourselves often come to the fore, our own issues, pains, concerns, embarrassments. So we need to tell someone about them. Wayne uses this culturally laden word "confession" to say that we simply need to make a practice of telling people about our lives, our struggles. This, potentially, can teach us humility. And such humility can lead to "proper mindfulness" of others.
Well, that's the connection I am making.
Links to Megan's and Cristopher's posts
meditation: the good samaritan
Our culture professionalizes everything...childcare, justice, healthcare, farming, faith and even friendship. It's possible that western culture has exhibited this preference for centuries.
Perfection (eternal life), as encountered in the story of the Good Samartian is as much about the failure of professionalism as it is about neighborliness. Two professional religious, perhaps even professional caretakers, will walk by the injured man. They have credentials to worry about, purity and rite. Too often neighborliness is overcome by professionalism. Thus Jesus issues his warning.
Brother Roger of Taize said: "Every human being yearns to be loved as to love. It is not for nothing that the Gospel alerts us about not withdrawing into isolation."
The icon before you is entitled "The Hospitality of Abraham and Sarah" or "The Holy Trinity." The iconographer wants us to know the principal place that neighborliness has in the story of salvation - the relationship between God and God's creation.
In this icon, there is even room at the table for you and me. This is the invitation that God issues the Universe.
Come and love.
Come and be loved.
So we say, "Come, Holy Spirit, come."
July 15, 2007
more on politics and baptist life
Well, here are some things for you to consider as the political landscape shuffles and reshuffles before the Primary in February and then the Presidential later the same year. As the political landscape shifts, so to does the Baptist. We Baptists have been political loudmouths throughout American history. We just cannot seem to keep our ideas to ourselves. We have brought you the Religious Right. Now it seems that the left and such is working through its own self-identification. It should be an interesting ride.
Ethics Daily is to thank for this post.
Amy Butler is thinking of being Baptist. Theobilly is thinking about his Anglican Over-Soul. Brilliant!!
ekklesia project
Here are the points the Gathering will focus upon. I will be there Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
1) We desire that people leave the gathering with both a renewed sense of the centrality of formation to everything the church is/does, and a clear sense that God's Spirit is the primary actor in all of this.2) We desire that people leave the gathering encouraged and inspired by hearing stories of congregations that are being formed into communities of more faithful disciples.
3) We desire that people leave the gathering with a sense of both the joys and messiness of formation--and with a clear sense that formation is always a process and never looks just one way.
4) We desire that the gathering not only talk about formation, but also be in some sense formative. For this reason, our times of gathered worship will be central and everything else will flow from them.
5) We desire that there be ample time provided for conversation and connection and that a special effort be made to break down the dividing walls between newer and older comers.
6) We desire to introduce those who attend to resources that EP is developing to help congregations nurture and sustain faithful formation. We are also interested in introducing people to those who have been "doing" formation for decades and who can offer wisdom about this without offering blueprints.
7) We desire that nothing said at the gathering leaves the impression that any of us have formation figured out. Every congregation is God's work in progress and there is much that we can learn from one another.
I'll try to participate in as much as I can. There's a lot going on at Community Church this week...pastoral concerns, you know. So, we'll see what I can do. I am hopeful. This is the kind of "growth" I am looking at...not so much measurable by standard means, but revealed in relationships and action. Doctrine will play a part in the conversations. It just does. The first point suggests theology. Discipleship is impossible without theology. So, I am interested in the theological underpinnings. The longer I serve as a pastor, the more I am convinced that all aspects of the life of a church are undergirded with theology. Administration, pastoral care, worship, play...are all undergirded with the theological life of the congregation. Understand the theology of a congregation, understand the life of a congregation.
sermon preparation
I am working through my little reflection for this morning. We're having a Taize-inspired service this morning. Lots of little choruses. Lots of silence. I'll offer up one very short reflection on the good samaritan. It may last three minutes. But the core of the reflection is this quotation from Brother Roger:
Every human being yearns to be loved as well as to love. It is not for nothing that the Gospel alerts us about not withdrawing in isolation.The parable is essentially that kind of warning. In Luke, neighborliness is the backbone of love and righteousness. It is the backbone of self-sacrifice and gets us away from our individualism. Our individualism ends where need begins. For God so loved the world...
July 14, 2007
must...wake...up
Several late nights in a row...several busy days in the same week...There is simply not enough coffee on the planet to compensate for this.
Saw Harry Potter Tuesday...up too late (3:30).
Cafe Bong on Thursday...up too late (2:30).
Poker last night...up too late (Though by now, 11:00 is too late.).
I know I have only myself to blame. Can't find the "poor decision gremlins" as I had hoped. Sometimes you just cannot pass the buck. Ah well.
I have spent a lot of time in the hospital this week...feeling a little useless but present. That's how this gig works sometimes. A pastor is not always to reflect the usefulness of God. Nope. A pastor is about the presence of God...or at least the presence of herself if not God. I have been present an awful lot this week. And I am off to be present again! But this is much easier.
Come to the Wilmette "Sidewalk Sale!" Community Church has a booth set up for the Turkey Trot we are hosting this fall. Come on over. Sign up to participate! It should be a grand time. I'll be there until noon today, but much more interesting people will be around as well. Swing on by!
Tomorrow I'll be at a booth for Reconciler at the Celebrate Clark Street festival. There will be people there today and tomorrow...again, people more interesting than myself. Excellent! Yahoo!
July 13, 2007
huh
I need a nap.
The concert was great.
Here are some pictures from last night. Enjoy.
July 12, 2007
free to speak
Cliff has an interesting response to Gushee's seventeen rules. Go and read the blog. Essentially, it boils down to freedom of speech. Are church leaders free to speak? Do we lose our rights to speak when we become ordained leaders? Is the government worried about our influence? Perhaps. But I promise you that the local leader of the teachers' union has a larger constituency than I do and thus a more powerful influence. Is that person hindered? Heck no. Politicians court them. Does this cause problems? Sure. Special interest groups run our government. Well, that is a perceived problem at least.
So, do congregations want to be special interest groups? Are they already? I think that they are, but there is something in our government's DNA that fears the church. The separation of church and state is a great and necessary idea. But is the church supposed to be hindered then in all public dialogue? Discouraged? Excluded? Perhaps that is the best. But then we create a second class citizenry in this country. And that is simply unlawful.
Unless of course Gushee has his way. Then he has done the government's work for it. Gushee is saying that Christians are naturally second class citizens, unable to choose candidates in a public religious forum.
Now, there are all kinds of questions of bringing political candidates into the pulpit during the worship service. A worship service is not a political rally. So, I have liturgical issues with the practice. But bringing candidates into churches at coffee hour, and churches choosing to support political candidates makes sense to me. Why not?
Anyway...there you go, some beginning thoughts about this. I am going to try to have some adult education options before the Primary elections this winter. I think that this is the kind of thing that congregations need to better understand. Our assumptions are too vague...ill-informed.
a thursday political linkage
I did not get a chance to post a Wednesday Linkage. Sorry, gang. I hope no one is overly disappointed. But here is a very brief Thursday morning attempt. Specifically, I am thinking about politics and faith.
Here are two "pastor blogs" that demonstrate how one might go about talking about politics and faith:
Amy Butler started a bit of a firestorm. She ended up on Ethics Daily with the same post.Here is an example of what Gushee is saying not to do.
The Theobilly (a.k.a. Travy) posted a thought or two about politics and Naaman's Vineyard. Not such a firestorm.
Doug Marlette passed away. He was killed in a car accident. His political cartoons challenged the way many religious folk participate in politics. I posted one of his cartoons to your right. I remember that one. If you go to the site, you can see his frustration with the religious right...and left, but mostly right.
Sojourners is a political religious group. Here is an example.
Crossleft is another political religious group.
Focus on the Family is an old standard.
The Trinity Broadcasting Network is an interesting one as well...another old standard. It is the expansion of the Praise the Lord Network. It is, as a whole, simply evangelical. But there is a political voice as well.
Anyway, the are some links for you. Megan, in response to my posting Gusgee's rules yesterday, asked me what I thought of them. And I am still not entirely sure. Gushee is asking us to take a big step back. Though I don't think I would have ever promoted a candidate from the pulpit, the rules even ask me to fall back a bit. So, I am musing and wondering still. It is hard to be a responsible citizen and not uphold a certain candidate. We have a democracy. It is about making a choice and debating about and around that choice whether it be the side of an issue one chooses or a candidate. If Gushee is right, and the Christian has to choose another path, being a faithful citizen may be impossible...unless we relegate politics to the private sphere...or decide that Christianity has nothing to say to politics or politicians.
July 11, 2007
rules of the road
David Gushee has these seventeen rules for "Christian engagement in politics." Check 'em out. And read the rest of the article here.
1. Christian leaders must not officially or unofficially endorse political candidates or a political party.2. Christian leaders must not distribute essentially partisan or single-issue voter guides that purport to be apolitical or nonpartisan.
3. Christian leaders must not publicly handicap or comment upon the political horse race.
4. Christian leaders must not provide private or public advice to particular politicians, parties, or campaigns concerning how they can strategize in order to win evangelical or Christian votes.
5. Christian leaders must not calibrate their public teachings or writings in order to affect the outcome of political elections or to gain and hold the support of politicians.
6. Christian leaders must not attend political rallies or campaign events of one candidate or party unless they are prepared to attend rallies and events of all candidates and parties.
7. Christian leaders must not invite political candidates to speak in church pulpits or on church grounds unless they are prepared to invite all political candidates of all parties to do so.
8. Christian leaders must not identify the potential or actual victory of any politician as a victory for God or God’s kingdom.
9. Christian leaders must limit their direct contact with politicians or staff in order to avoid even the appearance of undue loyalty or involvement.
10. Christian leaders must not engage in voter registration campaigns or get out the vote efforts aimed at mobilizing the voters of one political party rather than another.
11. Christian leaders must not direct the funds of their organizations toward direct or indirect support for a particular political candidate or party.
12. Christian leaders may not sidestep these rules by drawing a distinction between their activities as a “private individual” over against their service in their public role.
13. Christian leaders must offer Christian proclamation related to the large number of public issues clearly addressed by biblical principles or direct biblical teaching.
14. Christian leaders must encourage Christian people toward active citizenship, including studying the issues and the candidates and testing policy stances and candidates according to biblical criteria.
15. Christian leaders must model and encourage respectful and civil discourse related to significant public issues as well as political candidates.
16. Christian leaders must model and encourage prayer for God-ordained government, its leaders and their policies.
17. Christian leaders must teach and model respect for the constitutional relationship between religion and the state as spelled out in the First Amendment.
a distraction
 | You scored as Jürgen Moltmann, The problem of evil is central to your thought, and only a crucified God can show that God is not indifferent to human suffering. Christian discipleship means identifying with suffering but also anticipating the new creation of all things that God will bring about.
Which theologian are you? created with QuizFarm.com |
July 10, 2007
perhaps this is news...
I dunno why, but here you go:
And this would be the downside to being Baptist when the Pope is in the conversation. Now, the SBC would say that it is the true church because it holds the true faith, and that faithfulness communicates apostolic succession. As an ABC Pastor, I would say that we are all in the church, but the church is institutionally splintered, broken. Yes, our faithfulness is all the "succession" we need. However, that we are split from other Christians institutionally damages the overall Christian witness and this indeed jeopardizes our mutual sanctification.LORENZAGO DI CADORE, Italy -- Pope Benedict XVI has reasserted the universal primacy of the Roman Catholic Church, approving a document released Tuesday that says Orthodox churches were defective and that other Christian denominations were not true churches.
Benedict approved a document from his old offices at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith that restates church teaching on relations with other Christians. It was the second time in a week the pope has corrected what he says are erroneous interpretations of the Second Vatican Council, the 1962-65 meetings that modernized the church.
On Saturday, Benedict revisited another key aspect of Vatican II by reviving the old Latin Mass. Traditional Catholics cheered the move, but more liberal ones called it a step back from Vatican II.
Benedict, who attended Vatican II as a young theologian, has long complained about what he considers the erroneous interpretation of the council by liberals, saying it was not a break from the past but rather a renewal of church tradition.In the latest document -- formulated as five questions and answers -- the Vatican seeks to set the record straight on Vatican II's ecumenical intent, saying some contemporary theological interpretation had been "erroneous or ambiguous" and had prompted confusion and doubt.
It restates key sections of a 2000 document the pope wrote when he was prefect of the congregation, "Dominus Iesus," which set off a firestorm of criticism among Protestant and other Christian denominations because it said they were not true churches but merely ecclesial communities and therefore did not have the "means of salvation."
In the new document and an accompanying commentary, which were released as the pope vacations here in Italy's Dolomite mountains, the Vatican repeated that position.
"Christ 'established here on earth' only one church," the document said. The other communities "cannot be called 'churches' in the proper sense" because they do not have apostolic succession -- the ability to trace their bishops back to Christ's original apostles.
The Rev. Sara MacVane of the Anglican Centre in Rome, said there was nothing new in the document.
"I don't know what motivated it at this time," she said. "But it's important always to point out that there's the official position and there's the huge amount of friendship and fellowship and worshipping together that goes on at all levels, certainly between Anglican and Catholics and all the other groups and Catholics."
The document said Orthodox churches were indeed "churches" because they have apostolic succession and that they enjoyed "many elements of sanctification and of truth." But it said they lack something because they do not recognize the primacy of the pope -- a defect, or a "wound" that harmed them, it said.
"This is obviously not compatible with the doctrine of primacy which, according to the Catholic faith, is an 'internal constitutive principle' of the very existence of a particular church," the commentary said.
Despite the harsh tone of the document, it stresses that Benedict remains committed to ecumenical dialogue.
"However, if such dialogue is to be truly constructive, it must involve not just the mutual openness of the participants but also fidelity to the identity of the Catholic faith," the commentary said.
The document, signed by the congregation prefect, U.S. Cardinal William Levada, was approved by Benedict on June 29, the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul -- a major ecumenical feast day.
There was no indication about why the pope felt it necessary to release the document, particularly since his 2000 document summed up the same principles. Some analysts suggested it could be a question of internal church politics, or that it could simply be an indication of Benedict using his office as pope to again stress key doctrinal issues from his time at the congregation.
I know..."mutual sanctification" is not a particularly Baptist sentiment.
gobble
You all have to check this out. Scroll down for the pictures from the parade. CCW did this while I was away in DC. Wondrous indeed!
morning at l'chateau
Ah, there’s the catch—opening. We have to open from the inside. God doesn’t drive a bulldozer. The catch is . . . it’s so hard to open in a culture which keeps us on a treadmill of activity for activity’s sake and which endlessly distracts us with its cacophony of noise and its whirl of psychedelic lights. Life’s storms cause us to pull our shutters to and to bar our doors from the inside. But if you can open just a crack, love will slip in through the teeniest aperture and create deep-down security, God’s shalom. Energies of fear can become energies of hope for peace.
-E Glenn Hinson, pastor, educator (link)
Urf...today is Tuesday. I've been busy already with the week at church. Some our elderly are struggling. It is always a great sadness to me...an inevitable reality, but sad nonetheless.
I'll post the rest of my vacation report later today if I can. The vacation beyond the Biennial was great fun, too.
July 09, 2007
what I did on my summer vacation: part one
I have three things I'd like to say today. First, while you were sleeping last night, 30,000 kids died of starvation or diseases related to malnutrition. Second, most of you don't give a shit. What's worse is that you're more upset with the fact that I said shit than the fact that 30,000 kids died last night.
-Tony Campolo, pastor, evangelist, educator
It's good to be back at l'chateau!
Thursday, June 28 Up early for the flight to DC. Everything went well. The cab driver did not know how to get to the airport. That was almost amusing, but otherwise it was a fine trip. We arrived at Reagan National, hopped the Metro to Chinatown and checked into our hotel. I registered for the Biennial just up the street at the convention center. And Trish and I had dinner with our friends Jim and Anne at a local pub that Trish loves. Wandering about Chinatown was a blast...Capital Hill was better.
Friday, June 29 The Biennial begins in earnest for me. Trish spent time with Anne and Amy. I went to the Baptist World Alliance breakfast. Dr. Denton Lotz spoke. He's retiring. Also, Alan Stanford was there. This was one of my first flashback moment. Alan was the pastor of a church I visited as a missionary. He offered me a job for the following summer as the youth minister. I turned it down because I was leaving the seminary. I was never going to be a pastor, you know. He smiled when he recognized me. We exchanged cards...and we'll speak again. It was good...and strange to see him. There were many moments like this at the Biennial.
Another such moment came after the breakfast. I sat next to a woman on a bench at the convention center. We exchanged pleasantries. In the process I learned that she was attending as the representative from my step-grandfather's first pulpit. Wow! I kid you not. She remembered him. It was a lovely moment.
I then attended a seminar with Diana Butler Bass and Parush Parushev as the speakers. They were both incredible. I had met Diana at the Seabury alum thingy last fall. She did not remember at first and then she exclaimed "Wait! You're the AngloBaptist! My husband loves your blog." She reads it upon occasion as well. Dear Jesus...who else reads my blog? I should edit more. Oy! It was a sobering and fun thing to hear. So, hey there Mr. Diana Butler Bass! I hope that you all are doing well and that you get to spend some time with your wife this summer. Thanks for letting us Baptists borrow her!
The afternoon was spent palling around with Anne and Amy Dale and Jan (from CCW) at a folk festival on the National Mall. John, a friend from college, joined us for dinner that night. It was good to see him. Jan and I ended up spending a lot of time at the Biennial together...
Later in the evening, I attended a communion service shared between the ABC-USA, the Cooperative Baptists Fellowship, The Lott Carey Baptist Foreign Mission Convention, and the Progressive National Baptist Convention. Yes, a lot of Baptists in one place. Afterward I attended a reception for the ABC-Metro Chicago. There I met Pastor Jim. He was pastor at CCW for 20+ years ending about ten years ago. It was great to meet him. I saw much of he and his wife over the course of the Biennial.
Saturday, June 30 Trish rented a car and drove to Lynchburg in the morning to see family. So, this left me with a couple of days to myself. This was also my happy progressive/liberal day. I attended the Baptist Peace Fellowship Breakfast. Theobilly, if you read this, know that I did meet a couple of the people you mentioned. They are concerned about the chickens. The rest of the morning was spent hanging out with the kind folk from the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists. Lovely. Lunch was the Centennial Luncheon. Rev. Dr. Wallace Charles Smith preached for us. Holy cow. Incredible! Dinner was a wonderful gathering of crazy people. Amy, Doug and Carol from North Shore, and Amy Butler with her husband. Meeting Amy Butler was great. She's a bright, insightful and courageous pastor. I hope I am half as capable as she is. She also married well. At least I did that part right.
Oh...this was also the day that I found out the church credit card had accidentally been canceled. Oy. Veh. All is well...and would be the next day, but it meant a couple of harrowing days without Trish's money. Thanks to all who fed me. Heh.
Sunday, July 1 I worshiped at Calvary Baptist. Amy Butler's sermon was great. Faith language leads us to action that will, invariably, take us out of our comfort zones. Following Christ is not about being comfortable. Who knew?
I did not do too much with the Biennial. I had dinner with my mother who was coming through town to see some other friends for the July 4th holiday. And afterward I went to a seminar with Dr. Walter Shurden speaking. He's remarkable as well. Every Baptist should read his Four Fragile Freedoms.
Sunday, July 2 This was the first real day of business...I managed to go to the first two business meetings. There was very little that needed debate or conversation. The denomination is restructuring, so little can be done. There were a couple of "statements of concern" that came to the floor. One was about the war in Iraq. Members of the denomination are trying to put forward a statement to speak out against it. I think it will go through. We'll see.
I met Trish at the car rental place and we took the train to our friends' home out west of DC. The afternoon was spent getting Trish ready for her audition at the National Shakespeare Theater the next day. I loved it...We stayed with our friends for three days. I'll tell you more about that with the next installment!
Y'all have a great day!
July 08, 2007
sermon: the linoleum effect
Sermon: Proper 9 (14) Year C, 2007
Community Church of Wilmette
Church of Jesus Christ, Reconciler
2 Kings 5:1-14
This is the outline I used. When I have a chance, I'll fill it out a little bit. There are a couple of stories I told without the manuscript. Some of the sermon is written out. Enjoy!
A trip home has the power to remind us of who we are, where we come from.
DC reminds us of our nation’s history…monuments…etc.
Trish and I went to Jamestown (400th anniversary, you know), to Yorktown (Gen Cornwallis surrendered there) and to Williamsburg (Yes, I am the proud owner of a clay tavern pipe…perfect for smoking the Virginia weed). Rich in history and memory. It’s good to look back from time to time and remember.
The story about linoleum and the 10th Don
Connely’s Tae Kwon Do Academy
The linoleum effect is about what we have to learn and relearn again and again. It is principally about aging, but the ties to other areas of change in our lives is also clear.
The Biennial: 100 Years
Remembering whom the great Baptists were. A good list?
John D. Rockefeller – industrialist, philanthropist
Walter Rauschenbusch – pastor, educator, author
Booker T. Washington – born a slave, became an educator
James L. Kraft – business leader
Harry Emerson Fosdick – preacher, peace activist
Harry S. Truman
Martin Luther King – activist, pastor
Roberto Clemente – baseball player
Tony Campolo – educator, pastor, evangelist
The temptation is to assume that their greatness, their stature, political clout, fame, success…is what made them remarkable. Admittedly, there is something to say about their greatness…their wealth and notoriety. That these things were often purposed for the Kingdom of God is laudable.
But to get stuck on that aspect of who they are is a symptom of the linoleum effect.
In our story today, Naaman suffers from the linoleum effect.
- great general
- serves the anointed, Aram
- is waiting to do other great deeds.
- Leper
The King too suffers the linoleum effect.
- Downtrodden
- He thinks he is being asked the impossible
- Forgets about Elisha
Both seem to have forgotten their roots, they have let the linoleum roll up behind them. But there is a prophet in Israel.
Who remembers this?
A slave girl
Naaman’s servant
A prophet, Elisha…the anointed of Elijah, the one who asked for the double portion, left his family and became a slave for Lord, the God Most High.
Kings and generals, those who seek greatness, sometimes forget the past… and in this they are tempted to forget God. They allow the linoleum to roll up behind them.
They forget that there is a prophet in Israel.
This is always our spiritual struggle. It does not matter who we are or where we come from. Age matters not in this. Experience counts for nothing. The linoleum seems to roll up behind us sometimes. We get caught up in wealth, in poverty, in bitterness or grief. We forget that there is a prophet in Israel.
We live lives in fear.
But there is a prophet in Israel.
We wrestle with debt.
But there is a prophet in Israel.
We stuffer with poor health.
But there is a prophet in Israel.
We struggle with family and friends.
But there is a prophet in Israel.
We fight wars in foreign countries.
Governments fall.
Innocents die.
We are stuck in corporate ruts.
We buy and buy and buy. And for what?
What great act will save you?
What Herculean effort do you anticipate?
We fear for our future.
But there is a prophet in Israel.
Do not let the linoleum roll up behind you. Turn around. See what’s there.
The people we remembered in DC at the Biennial were not great because they had money, or a degree, or some special opportunity. No. They were great because they were rooted in the promise of scripture. They knew that there is a prophet in Israel. There was a prophet for them. There is a prophet for us.
They went seeking healing. And they found it.
They went to find a prophet. And they found him.
They listened to the servants, the slaves, to “the least of these.”
And in the process they became slaves themselves.
Booker T. Washington was born a slave to someone just like me…but he became a slave for Christ, and in that he was an instrument of our salvation.
Harry Emerson Fosdick was fired again and again for preaching the Gospel…for challenging the status quo of war and domination, of empire. He never stopped. He had been to see the prophet. He was a slave to the gospel.
And the list goes on…
People gave what they had.
They gave it away.
They lifted it up.
They preached and sang and taught, and led marches and all because they went to see the prophet.
Their lives were lived in praise to the God who had saved them.
They turned around and saw that linoleum.
They went looking for the prophet.
They knew the promises…
God shall not leave us comfortless.
God does not leave us stranded.
A slave and a servant will lead us.
Jesus.
Jesus is slave and servant.
Jesus is our prophet in Israel.
And all he asks of us is to wash and be made clean.
Amen.
urf...morning
Good morning.
We arrived in Chicago later than anticipated last night. These things happen, I realize. Nonetheless, I am pooped and my sermon has become more of a "What I Did on My Summer Vacation" moment. Hopefully I will not completely freeze like I did when I was seven years old. Heh.
We're back.
Let the blogging continue anon! There is much to share...bloggers to link to...stuff to say...
Hey, Earthchick! Hey, Pastor!
Now I can hear your voices when I read your blogs.
An aside for your conversational enjoyment:
The philosopher [Immanuel] Kant was right long ago to
notice that moral activity implies a religious dimension. The
atheist [Friedrich] Nietzsche also saw the point and argued
forcefully that the person who gives up belief in God must be
consistent and give up Christian morals as well, because the
former is the foundation of the latter. He had nothing but
contempt for fellow humanists who refused to see that
Christian morality cannot survive the loss of its theological
moorings, except as habit or as lifeless tradition. As Ayn
Rand also sees so clearly, love of the neighbor cannot be
rationally justified within the framework of secular humanism.
Love for one's neighbor is an ethical implication of the
Christian position. This suggests to me that the world's
deepest problem is not economic or technological, but
spiritual and moral. What is missing is the vision of reality
that can sustain the neighbor-oriented life style that is so
urgently needed in our world today.
... Clark H. Pinnock (b.1937), Reason Enough [1980]
July 05, 2007
quickly
The fireworks in DC were incredible...we did get to the Mall. Wondrous indeed.
Now we are off to Doswell...the land with no internet.
And then to Williamsburg/Jamestown...Celebrating 400 years!
Finally to Chicago.
July 04, 2007
checking in
So far...so good..
The Biennial was great (read more here). There were some issues around credit cards again, but that was taken care of in time for me to check out of the hotel in Chinatown.
Trish and I are staying with friends now...and will be at the Mall tonight for the fireworks. It should be really nice...VERY CROWDED...but nice.
For those who have e-mailed me...know that I will respond to you some time after the 8th. I am trying desperately to be on vacation. Next time I am leaving the cell phone at home, too.