For as much as I love writing, you might think I’d be doing more of it while in seminary. I have plenty of moments of losing myself in thought, to be sure. But, somehow there’s always something of a logjam between me and the writing. I don’t mean papers or assignments – I mean this blog, where I theoretically work out *stuff*. Ah well. It does more good to just be thankful for a moment that drives me back here. And, I just had a couple thoughts…..
You Are Released!
Sermon for Luke 13:10-17
So, do any of you like Chik-Fil-A? It’s fast food, but I think they serve really good chicken sandwiches (they’re not paying me for that by the way). Probably, if I had a nickel for every time I’ve gotten out of church on Sunday and wanted Chik-Fil-A, I’d be rich. But unfortunately, they’re closed on Sundays. And it’s fairly unusual these days for a store or restaurant to actually be closed on Sunday. I know some of you are old enough to remember when this was common, and for me, I think I grew up on the tail end of that. But these days it’s unusual, unless you’re shopping for a car, or beer or wine. And when we do encounter it, it seems pretty inconvenient. Or at least, maybe we resent them just a little bit for not being open when we need them to be.
Continue readingI Am a Disciple of Jesus Christ
I just got back from Emergence Christianity, a conference that was just held in Memphis. More about that later. But the main thing I want to say here is that I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. It feels really odd for me to say that, maybe because I’ve spent time as the outsider rejected by the church. Or maybe it’s because I’ve heard churches harp on it, so obviously we’re failing, right? Or maybe it’s something about that old Adam vs. new Adam thing, that actually leaves us feeling like we could never be disciples of Jesus.
Well, in the end, it feels strangely empowering to me to be able to make this statement to myself. A declaration of who I am under God, and within the church – the body of Christ. I have much reflection to do on this. But in any case, I just want to declare this for myself, because I sense it’s important, and something is changing in my thinking that I don’t yet perceive.
Where Shepherds Lately Knelt
Where shepherds lately knelt and kept the angel’s word,
I come in half belief, a pilgrim strangely stirred;
But there is room and welcome there for me,
But there is room and welcome there for me.In that unlikely place I find Him as they said:
Sweet new-born Babe, how frail!
And in a manger bed: a still small Voice to cry one day for me,
a still small Voice to cry one day for me.How should I not have known Isaiah would be there, His prophecies fulfilled?
With pounding heart I stare: a Child, a Son, the Prince of Peace for me;
a Child, a Son, the Prince of Peace for me.Can I, will I forget how Love was born and burned its way into my heart:
Unasked, unforced, unearned, to die, to live, and not alone for me?
to die, to live, and not alone for me?– Jaroslav Vajda
What Is Mission?
It has taken me since May to finally realize just this single thought. Mission is realizing that we are the in-breaking of the kingdom of God, and not just observers being convinced that it’s happening and feeling joy because of it.
I understand “post-Christian” in these times to mean that Christianity is not the only game in town. It doesn’t make good citizens, necessarily. I work with atheists, Hindus, and I’m sure plenty of other faiths each day. Yes, atheism is a faith. The old assumptions no longer apply, that everyone automatically knows what I’m talking about. When I realize I just asked my Hindu colleagues what they’re doing for Christmas – that’s me forgetting that we’re post-Christian, and falling into old, dead patterns.
In Sunday worship, we’re reminded that we are witnessing the in-breaking of the kingdom of God. It defies conventional wisdom, and stretches into a justice, equality, and peace that we otherwise cannot perceive. When we allow our imaginations to blossom, we can believe that we see it, and it becomes our reality. The kingdom of God has become real in our hearts.
But then, the big leap is to connect ourselves to that very in-breaking. To self-identify as being a part of it. Missional thinking is that self-identification, and letting it inform our actions.
It’s me reflecting on what I see and hear in my own congregation, and naming where I see us embodying self-centeredness. I may be right or wrong, but the resulting tension I feel and that drives me to question is me acting in a missional way. It’s that impelling pressure perceived by others that embodies me living out my missional calling within the body of Christ. And allowing my faith to imagine that it takes seed where it might (thinking the Parable of the Sower). As more of us become missional, we collectively push on the institution of the Church as it is, keeping in mind that we sometimes misinterpret or apply our own biases inappropriately, but still pushing nonetheless.
Much as we depend on retelling each other the Gospel, we depend on each other being missional.
To be concrete – it’s me reflecting on where I see self-centeredness. It’s me serving my congregation to offer intercessions or Sunday School classes that engage the idea of how we are the in-breaking of the kingdom of God. It’s not something “over there” just to give us hope. Beyond that, it’s us here and now. We are the in-breaking of the kingdom, and the acting required for that is our action.
Reflection on Luke 3:7 – Third Sunday of Advent
As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people. – Luke 3:15-18
Wow, so what the heck kind of Advent reading is this? With a friend like you, who needs a…. fill in the blank.
Recent Intercessions
Blogging my latest intercessions, while I’m thinking of them.
So I Taught Sunday School Today….
…. and it was scary and exciting. It’s scary because I worry whether people will be interested, or whether I’ve got enough stuff planned for the time, or whether anyone will even show up.
But I figured out that it’s bad scene to try and ask people if they’ll come back. So I didn’t.
And I decided to get one of those Post-It easels this week. It will be helpful to stick the sheets on the wall as we fill them out, so that we can all see just how much we’re extracting from the Scripture reading.
And it shows me that I make so many assumptions. I figure that everyone grew up with all these stories, and that I’m in perpetual catch-up mode. I’d hate to retell something obvious. But maybe I don’t have to worry….
Crossing Analysis for Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
This is a reworking of my earlier Crossing analysis, done with very helpful feedback from my Pastor….
Practicing Awareness, with Richard Rohr
I’ve recently been reading Richard Rohr’s The Naked Now, another of his many books and resources for contemplative spirituality. These days I acknowledge my bent toward contemplation (but please don’t mistake me for a devotee of Schleiermacher), just as I grow stronger in my confessional identity (thanks to Luther and Melancthon). And so, I admit to entertaining Rohr somewhat skeptically. I don’t love his overt weaving of non-Christian theology into his take on Christian spirituality. I suppose that’s borne from my feelings that so many people kidnap Scripture and weave embedded theologies that seem so self-destructive. I hate to bring in non-Christian sources when we can’t even seem to get Scripture right.
Yet, I do recognize the importance of keeping somewhat open-minded, in order to discover elements from Rohr that can have rich meaning for my own experience of faith. With that, I was reading Rohr’s Appendix 4 – “Practicing Awareness.” He offers a 4-step method for a form of centering prayer, and I felt so moved to reflect on it here.
gracewerks 