October 31, 2008
k. norris
Here's another quotation from Kathleen Norris' book:
Eugene Ionesco wrote that "there is no religion in which everyday life is not considered a prison; there is no philosophy or ideology that does not think we live in alienation: in one way or another...humanity has always had a nostalgia for the freedom that is only beauty, that is only real life, plenitude, light." Heaven or hell? Either place is withing our reach, for we carry it within us. Today is the first day, and the last. Heaven or hell: this is the moment, here, now. Make of it what you will.
halloween musings
Happy Halloween, everyone. It's one of my favorite pagan holidays. I hope it's one of yours! Heh. Seriously, I love the day. Trish and I have a lot going on. We'll be handing out candy in our old neighborhood in the city (We don't get any foot traffic here at the church parsonage.). Then we might go to Columbia College for their showing of Rocky Horror. That could be great fun. Then, finally, there's a party that one of Trish's theater pals gives every year that is mindblowingly cool. The whole townhouse is transformed. We just need good costumes. I have no idea what I'm going to do. I never do.
The sermon is done. It all kind of came together yesterday morning. I don't know how these things happen. There's enough about sermon writing that is founded on inspiration and the movement of God that I can never truly predict when a sermon will be finished. It looks like this one is done. It's shorter than most I write...oh, and it is written. We are celebrating All Saints and since there is so much in the service already, I tried to keep the sermon short.
Speaking of All Saints, if my voice holds up, I may be singing an Evensong Service at a local Episcopal church. Christ Church, Winnetka is celebrating a choral Evensong service. The choir director and his wife are friends of mine and so I am going to sing in the bass section. Byrd. Ives. Jesus. It's a great trio! I hope my voice holds up, that this head cold does not migrate.
One last thing that I neglected to mention yesterday...Yesterday was my younger brother's birthday. Happy Birthday, Chuck!
Here he is with Trish last Christmas.
October 30, 2008
genius
After McCain left, as the crowd filed out, Munoz made his way to an area near some loudspeakers. He attracted a few reporters when he started talking loudly, in heavily-accented English, about media mistreatment of Wurzelbacher. (It was clear that Spanish was Munoz’s native language, and he later told me he was born in Colombia.) When I first made my way over to him, Munoz thought I was there to give him the third degree.I admit I don't know the full details of the Joe the Plumber stuff, but I spent that entire week (and more now) disappointed with our press. I guess it's the world we live in, but it's tremendously disappointing.“Are you going to check my license, too?” he asked me. “Are you going to check my immigration status? I’m ready, I have everything here. Whatever you want, I have it. I have my green card, I have my passport — “
I was a little surprised. Did Munoz really bring his papers with him to a McCain rally? I asked.
“Yeah, I have my papers right here,” he said. “I’m an American citizen. Right here, right here.” With that, he produced a U.S. passport, turned it to the page with his picture on it, and thrust it about an inch from my nose. “Right here,” he said. “In your face.”
Munoz said he owned a small construction business. “I have a license, if you guys want to check,” he said.
Someone asked why Munoz had come to the rally. “I support McCain, but I’ve come to face you guys because I’m disgusted with you guys,” he said. “Why the hell are you going after Joe the Plumber? Joe the Plumber has an idea. He has a future. He wants to be something else. Why is that wrong? Everything is possible in America. I made it. Joe the Plumber could make it even better than me. . . . I was born in Colombia, but I was made in the U.S.A.”
a sermon title
Commandeered by God
That's all I have right now. It's a good start, though.
thursday sermon protomublings
The coffee is steeping. Can coffee steep? I mean, it's all ground up and floating in water in the french press. I guess one could call that steeping. Interesting. I've never thought of it as steeping. On steeps tea. One brews coffee. But perhaps this is steeping coffee...huh.
I am still congested. It's ugly. I'm able to work and I guess that's a good thing. Heh. Today's to do list consists of one item: prepare the sermon. Usually by this time in the week I have had time to muddle through the lectionary a few times. The headcold, however, has kept me from doing this with any degree of cogency. What I know is that we are celebrating the Feast of All Saints (not Souls) on Sunday. Yes, I moved it. It's a communion Sunday as well. So, the sermon needs not be 15 - 20 minutes. We'll see what happens.
I'm thinking about saints. That's all I have thus far. You? Here are the readings: Revelation 7:9-17; 1 John 3:1-3; Matthew 5:1-12.
a prayer from Taize
Holy Spirit, breath of the love of God, within each person you place faith. It can only be a quite simple trust, so simple that everyone can receive it.
October 29, 2008
still illin'
Yes, I am still sick. It would seem another friend is struggling with a similar malaise. He suggested that he "is all congestion." I get that. I feel like my sinuses belong to a much larger mammal. Oy. Still, I am not feverish and need to do some work things today. I have a breakfast meeting and a newsletter article to write. I'm sure there are other things I could do as well. The Feast of All Saints is being honored at CCW this Sunday. I love this particular feast. I chose it for my ordination four years ago. Anyway...That's my day today. How are you?
a poem
VERTUE, by George Herbert
SWEET day, so cool, so calm, so bright,
The bridall of the earth and skie :
The dew shall weep thy fall to-night ;
For thou must die.
Sweet rose, whose hue angrie and brave
Bids the rash gazer wipe his eye,
Thy root is ever in its grave,
And thou must die.
Sweet spring, full of sweet dayes and roses,
A box where sweets compacted lie,
My musick shows ye have your closes,
And all must die.
Onely a sweet and vertuous soul,
Like season'd timber, never gives ;
But though the whole world turn to coal,
Then chiefly lives.
October 28, 2008
October 27, 2008
monday videoblog: adult language alert!
Blessed St Cecilia – by, me (who knew)
Shapeless urbanities with
Concrete dreams and
These tired streets pass far from me
Digital communities and
Prophet’s schemes
Have taken this kind of hold on me
St. Cecilia, can’t you see
Exactly what’s become of me?
This singer’s heart has turned to stone.
So, I stand here all alone, with blessed St. Cecilia
Private gatherings
Things just as they seem
Loosely joined, this cluetrain harmony
Snow alights the sky
10,000 angels sigh
Who extols this Holy Three?
St. Cecilia, won’t you cry
As these tears fall from my eye?
This singer’s heart has turned to stone.
So, I stand here all alone, with blessed St. Cecilia
Wondering patiently
Just where God could be
When he sends some silent muse to me.
Just what should I hear
When my God draws near?
Its just another f***ing Mystery
St. Cecilia, lift me up.
I can’t bear my master’s cup.
This singer’s heart has turned to stone.
So, I stand here all alone, with blessed St. Cecilia
October 25, 2008
worrisome?
Here's a distraction from sermonizing for you:
We have long been a country that has treasured its diversity of banks; up until the 1980s, in fact, there were no national banks at all. If Treasury is using the bailout bill to turn the banking system into the oligopoly of giant national institutions, it is hard to see how that will help anybody. Except, of course, the giant banks that are declared the winners by Treasury.
October 24, 2008
morning pages
In the morning when I rise...in the morning when I rise...in the morning when I rise...give me coooooffeeee. Okay, maybe that's not how the song goes, but that's where I am this morning. Actually I am in the church office. There's a lot to do. I have errands to run about town. There is a concert tonight and a run/walk on Sunday. The sermon, too, needs my attention. That's really why I am writing this morning. This blog has become a storehouse for my "morning pages." Have you read The Artist's Way? The author speaks of morning pages...writing in the early morning to get the juices flowing and to sweep the mental dust bunnies aside. That's often what I am doing especially as the weekend approaches.
I am in the office. There is a candle lit near my icons. Rublev's Trinity is there as is an icon of the women at the tomb. Lately I have been focusing on an icon of the stations of the cross called The King of Glory. Likely that's one reason why I have been blogging about suffering and the like. The icon evokes such musings from me.
I am thinking through the sermon and wondering if the title works any more. "Just One..." is what came to me on Tuesday. It's the articulation of my first intuition about the scripture. If just one of us would live like Jesus asks in Matthew's Gospel, what would that do? Is there a just one out there? It's about justice, divine justice that loves God first and recognizes that the love of neighbor is like the love of God but different. It is not the first step, but it is the necessary second step in faithful living.
We spend our lives struggling to navigate the territory between these two commandments. And most days we fail. We don't love. We harbor resentments, shore up distrust, build walls of neglect. We don't love our enemies. We rely on violence to bring peace. We do not love God first. We do not go to God first. We go to ourselves first. Calvin called this depravity. I call it humanity. Others call it honesty or wisdom.
We can only look to the other faithfully if we are first looking to God faithfully. But what the heck does that mean?
That's where I am this morning. I hope your day goes well. Come to the concert tonight or the run/walk on Sunday. It would be great to see you.
October 23, 2008
political care and sermon prep
We should pray for the next President no matter who it is. This country believes it is in a mess...and it's mostly right. The next President will inherit that mess. What joy for them.
These are one of the many thoughts inhabiting my brain this morning as I begin my sermon preparation. I have chosen two verses from the lectionary to highlight.
1 Thessalonians 2:1-8andYou yourselves know, brothers and sisters, that our coming to you was not in vain, but though we had already suffered and been shamefully mistreated at Philippi, as you know, we had courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in spite of great opposition.
For our appeal does not spring from deceit or impure motives or trickery, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the message of the gospel, even so we speak, not to please mortals, but to please God who tests our hearts. As you know and as God is our witness, we never came with words of flattery or with a pretext for greed; nor did we seek praise from mortals, whether from you or from others, though we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children.
So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us.
Matthew 22:34-46Ah, that Jesus. He's a tricksy hobbit. He out lawyered the lawyer. I'm not sure if that matters much to me this go around. This kind of assigned reading always puzzles me a little. There have been so many sermons on this passage that one is left to wonder what else can be said, how many reminders do we need, and can I say anything of use? I really don't know. I'm going to spend my morning musing on this one. Somehow I know that our political landscape can be rolled into this without saying "Republicans/Democrats don't love their neighbors like the Republicans/Democrats do!" I mean...it might get people fired up...but it would not necessarily be the Gospel. Ah well.When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him.
"Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?"
He said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."
Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them this question: "What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?"
They said to him, "The son of David."
He said to them, "How is it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord, saying, 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet"'? If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?"
No one was able to give him an answer, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.
The sermon has a title "Just One..." That came to me on Tuesday. More later as I have it. Keep us preachers in your thoughts as we muddle through this passage.
October 22, 2008
midmorning musings
"Terrifically unfair" are words that echo in my mind this morning. There's no reason. They are simply inhabiting my brain. They are almost audible. I can't explain it. It's not as if I have called them into use. They come unbidden and by their own desire. Surely there is a Jungian out there who will help me sort this kind of thing out. My mornings are becoming haunted places. The ghosts are kindly, but they haunt me nonetheless. Perhaps it has to do with the darkness. The sun has yet to rise as I type this. Thus, I spend the first hour or so of my day in darkness. "Terrifically unfair."
Flannery O'Connor wrote that "most people come to the Church by means that the Church does not allow, else there would be no need their getting to her at all....The operation of the church is entirely set up for the sinner, which creates much misunderstanding among the smug." This too is now running through my head. Kathleen Norris quotes Flannery O'Connor in her latest book. One could do much worse.
A friend of mine suggests that the liberal mainline church sometimes succumbs to "therapeutic deism" in the attempt to be faithfully Christian. We can make a God out of our brokenness...and the ensuing therapy. If Christ's yoke is easy and that burden is light, then Church (without doctrine and mythos) and God should make everything better. Therapeutic deism. O'Connor's notion and my friend's are related. The Wesley brothers who brought us Methodism understood the same thing to be true. Christ comes to the contrite heart, the broken and the weary. This may be uncharitable, but the Wesleys spent a lot of time and energy "helping" people to understand that they were broken and sinful and called it evangelism. Again, O'Connor is in this as well.
I like how O'Connor puts it. Somehow it stands without the moralistic weight of a movement like Methodism or the relativism of my own tradition, the liberal mainline. Church is a real thing. And she calls to sinners. They are seeking her, too. They will find her. She is Wisdom, Sofia.
Lady Wisdom has built and furnished her home; it's supported by seven hewn timbers.Something in all of this is "terrifically unfair." That's where I am today. That's where my own heart struggles this morning. Something is afoot and it is terrifically unfair. Perhaps it is simply this: The Church is not about my brokenness, but Christ's. This is God suffering with and for me lest my own suffering become an idol, vain and lifeless, unable to save.
The banquet meal is ready to be served: lamb roasted,
wine poured out, table set with silver and flowers.
Having dismissed her serving maids,
Lady Wisdom goes to town, stands in a prominent place,
and invites everyone within sound of her voice:
"Are you confused about life, don't know what's going on?
Come with me, oh come, have dinner with me!
I've prepared a wonderful spread—fresh-baked bread,
roast lamb, carefully selected wines.
Leave your impoverished confusion and live!
Walk up the street to a life with meaning." - Proverbs 9, The Message
October 20, 2008
k. norris
On repetition...a quotation:
[Like] many children of the middle class, I was schooled in a particular kind of impatience that devalues such chores as cooking, cleaning, and taking out the garbage. An unspoken premise of my education was that it would enable me to employ someone else to perform these tasks. If the heady world of ideas tempted me to despise repetition, it also taught me to value the future over the present moment....I had learned that the present is but a prelude to something more important.In her new book, Acedia & Me, Kathleen Norris explores the spiritual jungle of acedia, more popularly known as sloth, torpor, or ennui. She suggests that there is no exact translation of acedia in English. This quotation is from page 12 of her book. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of it. This one has me spinning already.
The irony is that a contemporary sense of entitlement that leads one, at least theoretically, away from boredom, actually leads one into the maw of the demon/sin of acedia itself. Repetition does not lead to acedia. Acedia is the sin/demon that accompanies discipline. It is the small voice that says "You can always come back to this." It is to be overcome, she says, not with a proud "work ethic" but instead with prayer, patience and grace.
The difficult thing about days is that they must be repeated. It may be, as we read in the Second Letter to Peter, that with the Lord, one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. What we perceive as the Lord's slowness is merely the Lord's patience.So, there you go. I'm going to keep reading. I think I like where she's headed.
October 19, 2008
ordinations...
Almighty Father, we thank you for feeding us with the holy food of the Body and Blood of your Son, and for uniting us through him in the fellowship of your Holy Spirit. We thank you for raising up among us faithful servants for the ministry of your Word and Sacraments. We pray that Elizabeth may be to us an effective example in word and action, in love and patience, and in holiness of life. Grant that we, with her, may serve you now, and always rejoice in your glory; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
- Book of Common Prayer
There were a lot of things I appreciated about the service. The music, obviously, was one. But that's more a veneer on what the tradition is trying to express. The preacher reminded us that even with all of the good thinking and stereotypical comments one might make about ordination ("She was sooo involved in youth group. I knew she would be a priest one day!") that what we are doing is gathering to bear witness to something we don't quite grasp, cannot quite explain, but recognize when we see it. We call someone a priest. I would paraphrase the sermon as saying that someone called to ordained ministry is called around to stand in the middle of a field of grace and play...play so that all the world may know of God's grace. Beautiful.
I am not preaching this morning at Community Church. It's Laity Sunday. Now, we usually run this right on top of Reformation Sunday, but this year there are other things going on. So, we moved Laity Sunday up a week or two. Two of the members of the church will preach. Jan and Heather should do a fine job. I do find myself a little anxious for them this morning, but more anxious because I have NOTHING to do. It's a great kind of anxiety. Well, I do have one thing to do...I am singing in a quartet this morning. That's all. It's a good day.
Baptists attempt to hold to the theology of "the priesthood of all believers." Authority in terms of doctrine and theology belong to each individual equally and to the collective congregation as a whole. It is interesting to note that the other aspects of priesthood are often excluded from the description of the traditional Baptist line. The originators of this Baptist distinctive were clearly fighting one kind of battle. Now, I find myself wanting to remind us all of the generosity of the call. Beth's ordination reminded me of how much is included in the call to the priesthood, how all-encompassing playing in a field of grace can be and how necessary it is to point out that grace to all the world...for all of us...
Denominations still differ in what it means to be ordained and who can facilitate that process. Is it The Church who ordains? A bishop? A congregation? The Holy Spirit? Who can say. Everyone navigates this differently. And as expected lines are necessarily drawn. My ordination, for example is invalid (a gross oversimplification) according to Episcopal cannon and tradition. The division is real and needs to be respected. I have no qualms with that. We're not the same. Why pretend that we are?
So, when Beth was surrounded by priests and bishops and we all prayed for the Holy Spirit to come, I stood by the side and sang veni sancte spiritus...then stayed with the musicians for the prayer. It was such a beautiful moment. The tradition is incredible. And I assume like many others there, I found myself recalling my own ordination and the laying on of hands by all the clergy there (Baptists, Mennonites, Episcopal priests, a Tanzanian nun, a Presbyterian Pastor or two...a good mix), and then how the congregation itself stood and each person extended their hands in blessing. If we could have all gathered around I would have done it. The church architecture would not allow it.
The blessing of the community, the call of the Holy Spirit, no matter what the traditional form is, is a moving moment. I was thrilled to be a part of it. I was proud to see Beth ordained. And I was glad for the reality check.
God's blessings be upon Beth and her ministry. May she serve the whole of the Church, God's broken vessel, as she plays in a field of grace.
October 18, 2008
astounded...
This endorsement makes some history for the Chicago Tribune. This is the first time the newspaper has endorsed the Democratic Party's nominee for president.
October 17, 2008
transitions and payscale
A good friend of mine will be ordained to the Episcopal priesthood this weekend. I am going to leave the office early to drive to participate in the service tomorrow morning. It's a "fer piece" away, so I'll spend the night with other very good friends. Singing for Jesus is a good time. Singing for Jesus at a friend's ordination service with other good friends is a very good time. Wondrous.
So, all of this has me thinking about transitions. Someone is transitioning into priestly ministry. Some I know are transitioning out (for multiple reasons). Some are thinking about how to pay for all this transitioning.
The RevGal folks are pondering the issue of paid staff at churches. I'm not certain if this means anything at all, but I figure the more ideas shared, the better. When I first moved out here to Chicago-land I was astonished at the amount people are paid to work in churches. Yes, there is an enormous standard of living difference between Doswell, VA and Chicago, IL. You betcha! Still, my experience suggested that musicians and others of that "strata" are seldom paid, that choirs are volunteer opportunities in congregations and that occasionally the organist/choir director is given a small honorarium, but like they too are volunteers.
Certainly, the Richmond churches I served paid some singers...but that was usually limited to the most wealthy neighborhoods. I sang in a church for two years for free...a good choir with no paid singers.
Church administrators were paid, but the church office hours were very part time. Even some larger churches had part time office hours. No one expected a full-time office staff.
The only person paid for full-time work was clergy, and that is more common in Anglo-American congregations than African-American congregations where "tent makers" are somewhat more common. Now don't misunderstand me, I like being paid. It's nice to focus on the ministry and not have to worry about a 9-5 gig. Truly. It's a gift.
Nevertheless, it's still an interesting conversation. As congregations transition in size and wealth, these are the conversations we need to have. So many of the assumptions are cultural and economic. It's confusing.
October 16, 2008
no sermon mumblings
If you are not allowed to laugh in heaven, I don't want to go there.
- attr. Martin Luther
Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?"What a fun text given our conversations about taxes and how the government decides to use that income! Oy...Ah well. I'll let others think about it this year.But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, "Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax." And they brought him a denarius. Then he said to them, "Whose head is this, and whose title?"
They answered, "The emperor's." Then he said to them, "Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's."
When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.
Here's some more for you to chew on, a link or two for your reading pleasure.
Larry said:
Can anyone explain to me why Christians in this country seem to think government and the State especially that of the United States of America somehow has escaped the fate of all other principalities powers and authorities and is not subject to the fall but somehow is already fully subjected to Christ and therefore I should be a good American and trust one or both of the two versions of how this principality and power should act in the world. I have this vision of this very appealing but kind of creepy guy offering this other kind of nondescript guy all the nations of the world flashing through my head.... why might that be?Noz said:
well, one of the reasons. the other reason it's stupid is that the kerfufflers are apparently unable to distinguish between voter registration and voting. so when there are problems with voter registration forms, not only do they attribute bad motives to the voter registration organization, but they also accuse those organizations of voter fraud, even though the problem is with registration and not voting.Travis said:
Different ones have employed the adjective of blind as a prefix for Abraham’s faith, his was a blind faith, as if to say no one with open eyes would have done the kind of things he had done! (Interesting that the rabbis from old tell the story that at the moment Abraham is about to slay his son the tears from his eyes fall into Isaac’s eyes and permanently alter Isaac’s vision). Abraham did not have blind faith, he had a full panoramic faith.Amy said:
I wonder if we could ever learn the lesson the Hebrews learned when they woke up one morning and the manna was falling from the sky? God will always provide what we need, even when we don’t know what it is we need. And our daily bread, the sustenance that fills our lives day after day after day . . . it’s enough . . . . Enough and more than enough.Finally, Rich said:
Republican strategists, please learn the Lesson of Palin: we're going to get called racists, sexists, bigots, hicks, hatemongers, idiots and worse by our opponents, no matter what we say. How many points has Bush or McCain won for politeness? To make matters worse, we've taught Democrats in the past that profligate namecalling works, and shuts us Republicans up. The delightful temerity of Palin, to actually hit back! That's the reason she's been speaking to venue-overflowing crowds.
October 15, 2008
loving others and being homesick
Country boy, you got your feet in L.A. but your mind's on Tennessee.
- Glen Campbell
One of the things that has been most incredible about pastoral ministry is coming to love the church. Pastors talk about it. You read books about it, but experiencing it is a whole other deal. It's not that I have come to love everyone in the congregation in the same way. Of course not. Every relationship is different. But I do love the congregation as a whole. I love the church. It's hard to explain. I am a jealous and protective pastor at that. I've found some of my own more private thoughts almost laughable. As a member of the church pointed out, I have become "fiercely protective." Who knew.
So, this morning I type this entry feeling the usual frustration of finding love in one place and feeling homesick for another. The holidays are coming up and I'll get to go home for turkey and golf. That's a good thing. My wife and I will look at real estate with no intention to do anything about it. It's fun. Torturous but fun (You and $150k can have a four bedroom antebellum townhome in Lynchburg, VA.). We'll talk to family about the difficulty of distance and then make the return drive of 800 miles from home to home.
The leaves are falling in earnest and the trees are changing color. I will spend most of the day away from the office today. I'm giving myself a little down time this week. The leadership retreat from the weekend took it's toll. I also need to practice the music I am responsible for. A friend is getting ordained this weekend and I will be singing in the service. Then I have the great pleasure of singing the bass part of a quartet from Elijah at CCW. We'll premier it this Sunday in worship, and then sing the full concert on October 24. Come on by!
So, a day with music as I "pine for the fjords." Perfect.
October 14, 2008
an aside
I just thought it was interesting...
Religion no longer is seen as something necessary for survival, but rather another component of good citizenship and self-fulfillment. And if the former gets in the way of the latter, it is obvious what needs to be ignored. In both its right and left wing manifestations, it is a profoundly personal choice. Before, people picked what saints would go on their personal altar to invoke in life and death situations. Now, they pick dogmas and liturgical ceremonies of their own choosing.- thus sayeth ArturoPop Catholicism is all about choice. Folk Catholicism is all about necessity.
October 13, 2008
sermon: what not to wear
The parable is...unpopular. It's a b-side parable meant for only the most serious fans. Or it's a 300 level class and not a 100 level class. The alegory is ambiguous and where it is not ambiguous it is off-putting. So, what is one to do? All we are left with is our conscience and our imaginations.
But isn't that supposed to be enough? Isn't that how were supposed to read all scripture? Sometimes it isn't easy (that's clear at least) but our vocation as Christians is in part to explore, explain, and express The Story.
So, let's use our imaginations here. Let's stretch ourselves if necessary. Everyone stand up! Stretch if you like to. Now (bear with me) put on your thinking caps. Put on your imagination clothes. Okay, you can sit down...So, what do we know about this parable?
- in a long line of parables Matthew has Jesus directing at the priests, scribes and phariseesMatthew is a Jewish Gospel for a Jewish people. So, as underqualified as I am, I feel I need to try to look through a Jewish lens...to put on my thinking cap and my imagination clothes...This week our Jewish brothers and sisters celebrated Yom Kippur. It is the Day of Atonement. It's part of the New Year's celebration.
- most of these parables are about how Jesus (or perhaps Matthew) is unimpressed with the brand of faith of the religious leadership
- these are parables of judgment. Some of the judgment is immediate and some of it is reserved for the Last Judgment. Jesus did believe in a Final Judgment. So, we at least have to take it seriously.
- scholars have some reminders for us that may be interesting as well...even if they aren't immediately helpful.based off of Luke 14:15-21- and in some ways we just don't know what it is about...so, we have a little liberty...and that's what I did, I guess.
or they are both based off a preceding source
or perhaps its the mashing up of two parables.
- wipe the slate cleanThis parable is clearly about judgment of some kind. The criteria is unclear when it stands on its own. Still...we have judgment...Maybe this poor sap who came in under-dressed is someone who came in without atoning. Maybe the robes we wear to God's banquet are atonement robes...and this guy is there without atoning. He thinks its a free ticket on the cheap grace express.
- atone for known and unknown sins
- because there is a time of judgment
- the Church remembers this theology
- we place (some of) it in Good Friday
- we place it in weekly corporate confession
- The Christian Orthodox have a fast this time of year that some say is a memory of Yom Kippur.
- We have not forgotten Yom Kippur. We atone, we receive judgment, we get right with God and all of creation.
I don't know. It still falls flat. It still feel arbitrary. I mean, who cares who atones? So what? Aren't we supposed to love anyway? The parable feels cruel to me and I am not sure what to do with the emotion.
Atonement.
What is it about atonement? Why do we need to atone? What for? I want to end the sermon here. I want to stop here and take a nap, but I just can't let the poor guy go.
Atonement.
Did this guy simply show up without atoning? Did he simply not change?
This is what I know...and a friend puts it this way..."It's gonna cost you ten bucks..." It's her way of speaking about commitment. Commitment costs something. To come to the banquet costs something. You have to dress up. It's not about simply showing up...simply responding to the invitation. You have to change your clothes. I get that.
Atonement.
Did you know that during Yom Kippur litanies people atone for sins they did not commit? For sins others may have committed? On behalf of others? They beg forgiveness for other people. They take up someone else's burden. Can we do that?
Of course! Moses...and the Exodus.
Moses advocates for the Israelites. He takes up their sins and atones for them. We are called to no less. And I think that's part of my feelings of injustice that crop up when I read this parable. I want to stand up and advocate for the guy.
"But wait! Come on! I know it's sin...but be gracious, LORD."
Moses is so in love with the people that he'll go toe-to-toe with God and defend them, advocate for them, atone for them. But the work doesn't end there. Don't you see?
Then he'll come down from the mountain. His face will be radiant from his time with God...from being in God's presence...and oh, you don't want to be an Israelite on those days. Moses was not a nice man. He always calls the people to task. He brings a Word from God. He calls them to atone as well. He has stuck his neck out for them. He'll now stand toe-to-toe with the people and ask cor faithfulness, for justice.
God is asking for advocates. He's begging for them...for people willing to atone for the whole world...for people willing to go toe-to-toe with God, and with one another for God's cause. In the news this week, I think we had a good example of what that might look like.
Did you hear about the Cook County sherrif who has put a moratorium on evictions? He's standing toe-to-toe with the powers that be and saying "not on my watch." He's asking for more time. He's asking for justice. He's asking for mercy.
Hold on! That's what these people are dressed for. They are dressed as advocates...ready to stand before God and advocate for all of us. They are ready to stand toe-to-toe with God and say "Don't cast him out! Give us more time. We are not convinced you are done with him yet." Atonement is an act of justice for all.
The guy says nothing when he is questioned by God. That's his sin. He does not advocate for himself. He does not confess his sins. He's mute before the Most High...He says nothing for himself or others. Thus he is cast out.
God needs advocates. This is a world in need of advocates, people willing to stand toe-to-toe with God in the power of atonement and confession and then come down from that high place ready to change the world.
Let us pray: Gracious God, in these anxious times, pour your love into our hearts, even when we are unable to fully open them to you. Reach into our desires and help direct them toward you, that we may ground our fears in your love, focus our anxiety through your compassion, rest our fears in your mercy. In so doing may we become your hands and heart in the world even when we have no idea how to do this. Guide us with your peace, your love, your grace, that we may do the same in the broken places of this world. Amen.
October 11, 2008
shifting gears
Your life and my life flow into each other as wave flows into wave, and unless there is peace and joy and freedom for you, there can be no real peace or joy or freedom for me. To see reality--not as we expect it to be but as it is--is to see that unless we live for each other and in and through each other, we do not really live very satisfactorily; that there can really be life only where there really is, in just this sense, love.
- Frederick Buechner
Buechner has been the latest visitor to my semi-consciousness. Cathleen Falsani quotes him in her recent book, Sin Boldly: A Field Guide for Grace. So, I thought I would poke around to see what others were writing about him or quoting. This quote I pulled is what I think is the essence of our retreat...This is church.
So, now, what do Moses and Matthew have to say about any of this.
A lot. The readings are about grace...who knew?
October 10, 2008
brownies and advocacy
Perhaps it's part of a journey towards [Jesus'] truth, not just ours.
- Archbishop of Canterbury, from the sermon for the International Mass at Lourdes
Fortunately the coffee is brewing (ala French press) as I type this. Coffee may serve to shake this absurdity loose.
It seems that Judaism is not yet done with me. This morning I awoke with Moses running amok in my mind. Yes, that Moses. He's standing toe-to-toe with God advocating for the Israelites. He's loud and spitting as he desperately keeps the Israelites safe from their own God. Moses is advocating for all of us...all the time. He's advocating for me now.
"Yes, I know it's sin, Lord. But cut the guy a little slack. Do you see what he eats for breakfast? What do you expect from a diet like that?" And the LORD changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people. (Ex. 32:14)
I received some interesting feedback from yesterday's post. One friend said in response "Repent, jackass!" Not bad advice at all, really. But to be honest, I was really surprised by the response. I mean, I was thinking about my sermon and that's all. I was struggling with what to make of that strange parable. So, when "Atonement!" echoed in my mind it felt like more of an "aha!" moment than The Most High calling me to task.
But when this friend says "Repent, jackass!" I have to pause and at least ask myself if there ain't something out there that I am ignoring. O, and there are many things. I have a list. I'm not much for lists, really, but the lists come on their own sometimes. And these are present items, not sins of the past that cast long shadows. There are those, but they aren't on my radar right now.
I'm missing the mark somewhere. I can feel it. I can taste and smell it but I cannot for the life of me see it and figure out what it is. This is why I was glad to find Moses and all his glorious bluster in my mind this morning. It is moments like these when I desperately need an advocate. I don't even know what my sin is...so someone has to step in and say something. Please, someone, say something!
So, I have Moses. He's courageous and compassionate. He's God's friend, you know? That the great thing about having Moses on your team. He's got a friend named...well, no one knows God's name, but you get the point. In a pick-up game of basketball, this is the guy you want playing every position. Even the bench. And Moses knows him. Moses knows him well enough to spit in his face as he lobbies on your behalf. That's a great friendship.
Someone out there may be thinking "What about Jesus? Don't we have a friend in Jesus?" Yes. Of course. Jesus just wasn't in my head this morning. Moses was. Jesus is on my mind, as always, gently leading me on in the dark. Moses is standing before God asking for more time. And God, well God has a wry smile on his lips as I try to flounder through this life. There's no love lost in the relationship between us. None at all. We just get mad at one another sometimes. Very, very mad. It's the kind of anger you reserve only for those you love more than life itself. It's that kind of mad. And I'm there. So, I assume God is as well. It feels that way, at least.
Thanks, Moses. Keep it up. I'm working it out. There's a brownie waiting for you at the end of the day. It's kosher. So, you'll be fine.
non sequitor? "Perhaps when we feel lost and disillusioned, he is gently drawing us away from a joy or a hope that is only human, limited to what we can cope with or what we think on the surface of our minds that we want. Perhaps it's part of a journey towards his truth, not just ours. We too need to look and listen for the moments of recognition and the leap of joy deep within." from The Scandalous One
October 09, 2008
sermon mumblings: atonement and being cast out
Rabbi Simha Bunam of Pzysha once asked his disciples, "how can we tell when a sin we have committed has been pardoned?" His disciples gave various answers but none of them pleased the rabbi. "We can tell," he said, "by the fact that we no longer commit that sin."
- Martin Buber, Tales of the Hasidim: Later Masters
This morning, however, I am thinking about atonement. Last night I was driving home from church (ah, meetings) and passed the local synagogue. The streets were lined with cars. "Atonement is cool" I said to myself. Then I called a Jewish friend of mine to wish her well. There is something incredibly powerful to me in the idea of atonement. We have to stand before God, in the fullness of who we are and say "That was me. I did that...and I was wrong." It's exciting. I don't know why I feel that way. But there it is. I get excited when I think about it. There's no other word. Excited to atone.
It's the honesty of the moment. I think that there is something liberating in the honesty of atonement. If we are honest, spiritually honest, I imagine many of us have a list of things that we carry around that we would like to set down. I still have things that I carry around, burdens, mistake, poor decisions, injury that I have caused. I have not asked for forgiveness....repented, atoned for these things. Not yet. I have not yet stood before God and said, "I did this."
There is a parable about a wedding feast. It makes me uncomfortable because, as Scott pointed out (read the comments), there is no "moral to the story." There's no tidy ending. Some poor chump shows up under dressed and gets cast out into the outer darkness for it. I read this parable and am confused. Then the potential honesty of Yom Kippur calls out to me.
"Atonement."
The man needs to atone. He didn't atone. The king is not cruel. The king is honest and he wants the man to be honest as well. "Why aren't you dressed?" The man did not come to the banquet clothed in honesty. He came in a dishonest state. I know what that feels like. I know what the outer darkness feels like. I have wept at night. I have gnashed my teeth in fear and anxiety and in the simple knowledge that I have hurt someone. I know this state. And I know that the only way to get back into the wedding banquet is to atone...to stand before the king (perhaps for others like like Moses does) and say "Yes. I did this. It's my fault and I own it entirely." It's a form of advocacy.
"I did this. And I wish to be different. May I come to the banquet?"
October 08, 2008
how clever: whining for jesus
It takes a genius to whine appealingly.
- F. Scott Fitzgerald
Jane Ellen and Tim have been talking about scripture and the economic situation most of the globe is wrestling with. Jane Ellen wants to know if we have made a golden calf of our market or the bailout or something. Tim is wondering if Philippians can be a guide for navigating such difficult time. I am taking a different tack. I figure if I whine more frequently and more publicly then even if the situations do not change, I will at least feel better. You see, I am tired.
Jeremiah says:
Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard,
they have trampled down my portion,
they have made my pleasant portion
a desolate wilderness.
11They have made it a desolation;
desolate, it mourns to me.
The whole land is made desolate,
but no one lays it to heart.
12Upon all the bare heights in the desert
spoilers have come;
for the sword of the Lord devours
from one end of the land to the other;
no one shall be safe.
13They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns,
they have tired themselves out but profit nothing.
They shall be ashamed of their harvests
because of the fierce anger of the Lord.
Tell me about it, Jerry! Shepherds. Yeah. I hear you. Perhaps that's the thing. I'm not sure if I have a vineyard or if I am a shepherd. If last week's scripture is any guide, then I am simply a tenant in the vineyard, a guy harvesting someone else's crops. That's fine. I'm still whining about it being hard work. You can't stop me. I think Jerry has something going n in this passage that helps me express that. I toil and work and to no avail. I set myself up in safety (whatever that means...likely nothing) and yet...somehow...others come in and topple my little house of cards. Egads, but it makes me whine.
I want to whine publicly. I want to stand on my soapbox (or blog) and shout "Hey! This sucks!" Somehow, this is not available to me. Somehow I am compelled to find creative ways, clever ways, to express myself. I am being compelled to enter into a conversation for which I am ill prepared. Ah well, life is like that. Maybe I'll fit in in spite of all that. Who can say?
But then again, maybe I will be under dressed in comparison to others in the conversation and find myself cast out.
"But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him, `Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?' And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, `Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' For many are called, but few are chosen."Matthew shared that little story from Jesus. Go to a wedding under dressed and there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Maybe that's what whining is. Weeping. Gnashing. Whining.
Are we...am I in the outer darkness?
Perhaps.
Let the whining continue anon!
October 06, 2008
October 05, 2008
le sermon romp
Praise God...There's a sermon. Wow. I really wasn't sure this time. You know, some weeks the sermon comes...it just shows up and says "Here I am. And I'm double spaced for your convenience." Other weeks the sermon is a slippery pig or something. It's running. It makes its presence known. And every time I try to grab it I fall down or slip off.
Likely, of course, it is I who am running. Still, I am pleased that one of us sat still long enough. Whew.
Oy.
October 04, 2008
October 03, 2008
process or procrastination
Jesus is elusive today. Or I won't sit still. It's difficult to tell sometimes. Do you have this problem? Sometimes the feet are moving because something else really needs to. That's often the case. Energy is built up around something as of yet unnamed. So, I am pacing hoping the dam will give way and I can get through whatever this is and get to the sermon.
Jesus stands before me...nodding...
the check list:
candle lit - check
icons before me - check
commentaries read - check
Professor Dally running in my head - check
Calling upon the Holy Spirit - oh...right...that.
Later. I need to get back to it...right...pacing...Sit, Ubu. Sit.
more sermon mumblings
Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom.
- Matthew 21:43
I am still musing in a similar vein as Wednesday. Produce (noun) and Produce (verb). One is potentially about nurturing and growth. The other is potentially about effort and accumulation. Greed. It's all about greed, really.
I am trying hard not to read too much about "The American Dream" and a $700 billion bailout into this scenario. So, to mind my manners, I am focusing on the scripture passage from Matthew that is pulled out for you all. I am thinking about God's judgment. Once again, Jesus is offering us something specific about judgment. Now, this is directed to the Pharisees, but the concept is no less true today as it was 2,000 years ago. It's an indictment against Religion...false Religion. And it's a statement of Jesus' own identity. Brent Driggers says:
His main concern is the simple fact that [the religious leaders] are responsible for pointing Israel to God, yet they have instead pointed her to themselves. The indictment, then, is not against Israel per se, or even against the temple "institution," but rather against God's appointed leaders.It's a slippery slope. Idolatry. Greed. And, once again, I am thinking about church growth. Oy, but I wish that would leave me alone. Jesus is here saying "It isn't about you. It's about God. Bring people to God." Driggers concludes:
The issue is not fundamentally one of "leadership," although the conflict takes that particular form in this week's story. The issue is one of rendering to God what belongs to God (Matthew 22:21). For anyone called by God to a particular ministry—namely everyone—there is the temptation to claim ownership of that ministry, to confuse service with entitlement. These are Jesus' own temptations in a nutshell (Matthew 4:1-11). For us, the moment a sense of entitlement creeps into "our" ministry is the moment we have closed ourselves off to what Jesus is doing in the world. In that scenario we no longer serve Jesus; we protect ourselves from him. In our blindness we proclaim, "This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance" (21: 38).
October 01, 2008
sermon mumblings
This Sunday is World Communion Sunday. Now, for the more liturgical (read: weekly communion) churches I realize that every Sunday is World Communion Sunday. I get it. I promise. Still, I love this Sunday and think it's important for everyone to take a breath and remind ourselves that we are still broken and still trying to come back together and still challenging one another on various points of faith and doctrine. We can't sweep such division under the "at least we have it all together" carpet. Ain't no such thing. None of us have it all.
So, I've been looking at the lectionary to see if there is anything that might be helpful in navigating this week's sermon. And I have to confess that there is little that speaks directly to ecumenical work unless one wants to read it all into the parable. I'm not so willing to do that. There are a couple things of interest, however, I would like to highlight.
Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom.Jesus in Matthew is taking the Pharisees out again...telling them what's what. They are not thrilled. It's a good warning to all of us as we try to prioritize what is important in the Church. This article from the NY Times is a great example of what I am talking about.
In France, which has only four Muslim schools, some of the country’s 8,847 Roman Catholic schools have become refuges for Muslims seeking what an overburdened, secularist public sector often lacks: spirituality, an environment in which good manners count alongside mathematics, and higher academic standards.Nice. I am thinking about produce...$700 billion bailout and schools for Muslim immigrants...What is it that we produce? What are we asked to produce?
Produce n. agricultural yield
Produce v. to bring about, to work, to cause to accrue
So close, but not the same.
sometimes you just have to know
"This really tells us that the level of constituent engagement on this issue is extremely high," he added.
- CNN.com
It is interesting news, however, to hear that the technology cannot meet the demand for information. Sometimes people just want to know. Sometimes they need to know. And that is a good thing.
in other news: I have a ton on my plate today. World Communion Sunday is this Sunday. So, I try to do a little something special with communion. The bulletin will be large. Then it's also the week we publish the church newsletter. Actually, we're one week behind. So, that has to be completed by the end of the day. Also, I need to put together some fliers for a concert the church is giving on October 24: Mendelsshons' Elijah. It should be good. That's the same weekend, however, that we have the Turkey Trot. It's a 5K run to raise money for local service agencies to buy turkeys for needy families at Thanksgiving.
There's not enough happening. Nope. Not at all. So, here's a prayer to start the day. A member of the congregation shared this at our retreat a couple of weeks ago.
As the rain hides the starsAmen and amen. Have a good day.
as the autumn mist
hides the hills,
as the clouds veil
the blue of the sky, so
the dark happenings of my lot
hide the shining of thy face from me.
Yet if I hold thy hand in the
darkness,
it is enough, since I know,
that though I may stumble in my going,
Thou dost not fall.