Lot of studying in the prophets this semester. That means a lot of "put your money where your mouth is" talk. Prophets consistently and demandingly insist on doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with your God. So daughter number two comes in on Friday and says a friend of hers from school will be homeless as of Saturday and she invited him to stay with us.
Immediately my brain kicks into protective mother mode. Is the guy trustworthy? Is he one of those weird adults who always lives in crisis and will he stretch a weekend into weeks or years? Is it safe for my 80 year old mother? for us? for my daughter?
On the other hand, I'm thinking we should respond to the need. We have the space. Maybe God is calling.
Protective mother mode...
Responsive person of faith mode...
Protective mother...
Responsive person...
Then Dad gets in on the act. At least all my thoughts were in my head. What actually came out of my mouth was "do what you think is right." His thoughts were coming out his mouth...and they were all the same concerns I had. But they sounded even worse when I heard them. Such an ability we humans have to rationalize and justify. I couldn't see how we could refuse. So let him come...
Turns out he got his permanent housing from the school at the last minute and didn't need to come. But in worship Sunday morning the call to worship has us saying that we're willing to give up our fear if Jesus calls.
I'm reminded especially this weekend, that a life of obedient faith requires risk and trust. Perhaps not stupidity, but openness to what the world might consider foolishness.
And then there was a tornado...go figure.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Sermon for Presbyterian People in Exile...
What I might preach someday if I was really, really brave.........or if God really, really insisted...
(this one is loooooong...)
Isaiah 58: 1-14 (from The Message)
1-3 "Shout! A full-throated shout! Hold nothing back—a trumpet-blast shout!
Tell my people what's wrong with their lives,
face my family Jacob with their sins!
They're busy, busy, busy at worship,
and love studying all about me.
To all appearances they're a nation of right-living people—
law-abiding, God-honoring.
They ask me, 'What's the right thing to do?'
and love having me on their side.
But they also complain,
'Why do we fast and you don't look our way?
Why do we humble ourselves and you don't even notice?'
3-5"Well, here's why:
"The bottom line on your 'fast days' is profit.
You drive your employees much too hard.
You fast, but at the same time you bicker and fight.
You fast, but you swing a mean fist.
The kind of fasting you do
won't get your prayers off the ground.
Do you think this is the kind of fast day I'm after:
a day to show off humility?
To put on a pious long face
and parade around solemnly in black?
Do you call that fasting,
a fast day that I, God, would like?
6-9"This is the kind of fast day I'm after:
to break the chains of injustice,
get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
free the oppressed,
cancel debts.
What I'm interested in seeing you do is:
sharing your food with the hungry,
inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
being available to your own families.
Do this and the lights will turn on,
and your lives will turn around at once.
Your righteousness will pave your way.
The God of glory will secure your passage.
Then when you pray, God will answer.
You'll call out for help and I'll say, 'Here I am.'
A Full Life in the Emptiest of Places
9-12"If you get rid of unfair practices,
quit blaming victims,
quit gossiping about other people's sins,
If you are generous with the hungry
and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,
Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,
your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.
I will always show you where to go.
I'll give you a full life in the emptiest of places—
firm muscles, strong bones.
You'll be like a well-watered garden,
a gurgling spring that never runs dry.
You'll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew,
rebuild the foundations from out of your past.
You'll be known as those who can fix anything,
restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,
make the community livable again. 13-14"If you watch your step on the Sabbath
and don't use my holy day for personal advantage,
If you treat the Sabbath as a day of joy,
God's holy day as a celebration,
If you honor it by refusing 'business as usual,'
making money, running here and there—
Then you'll be free to enjoy God!
Oh, I'll make you ride high and soar above it all.
I'll make you feast on the inheritance of your ancestor Jacob."
Yes! God says so
Things are not good in the mainline protestant church...haven't been good for awhile. We've lost almost 50% of our membership since 1965. In the ten years from 1997 to 2007, the Presbyterian Church added 307 new church developments, but we dissolved 609 congregations. In the 1940's and 50's we were king of the hill, religiously, socially, and politically. (from Andrew McLachlan, "This is the Church, This is the Steeple, Look Inside and...?" Board of Pensions, PC(USA) Today, things are not good in the mainline church.
But, we've tried. God knows, we've tried. We've added 'contemporary services.' We've remodeled our sanctuaries to include the latest electronic gadgets and comfort. We serve Starbucks coffee with our Krispy Kreme donuts. We've built entirely new facilities that don't even look like churches. There's a bill board between High Point and Charlotte that reads "Church for people who don't like Church." We've dropped the word "Presbyterian from our signs. We've watered down our theology and polity so it looks just like every other mainline church. We've even constructed services with no prayers and no scripture readings because that stuff is sometimes confusing and we want to welcome the unchurched because we really need more members!...but today...today things are not good in the mainline Presbyterian church.
We've worried about our curb appeal. We've bought vans to pick people up. We've sent mailings to the community. We've built websites that attempt to portray our corporate life as fun and friendly and fresh. We've commissioned studies and polls. We've examined other denominations to adopt best practices. We've arrived at church every Sunday hoping this will be the week that a visitor will show up---and stay. And every Sunday we've gone home knowing that things are not good in the mainline protestant church.
How do we get more members? How do we preserve our church? We are doing everything we can think to do--and we are doing some things without thinking! Why don't people respond? We didn't used to have this problem. Whose fault is it that we have no young people between 25 and 45? We came to church when we were that age! Why are things not good in the mainline church?! Why isn't God at work to maintain the mainline protestant church? Doesn't God see how hard we are working? Doesn't God care? We come. We give our 2 percent. We work. .We pray. And it just doesn't seem to matter. Things are still not good in the mainline church.
The people of Israel would sit in these pews with us and shake their heads in agreement. they have been there. They understand exactly how we feel. When the exiles returned from Babylon in the 6th century BCE they thought they had seen the worst. Their temple had been destroyed. Their land had been lost. their political, religious, social power had disappeared. but them, they would tell you, a word of hope came from the prophet Isaiah. A word of comfort came from the prophet Isaiah. A word of restoration came from the prophet Isaiah.
And the people worshiped. They fasted. They prayed. They expected a glorious Zion. They expected to regain the power they had enjoyed as the chosen people of God. And they got the same thing we get...nothing. They could not get God's attention. All their fasting and praying...all their Sabbath keeping...all those promises that told them they would be, like before, the people of God...nope...not working...things were not good in the church of the people of Israel.
The people of Israel were lucky, though. God was talking to them...OK...through a prophet...but God was talking. And you heard it. God pretty much slammed them. Do you really think, God said, that fasting and Sabbath-keeping and prayer will get and keep my attention when you fight with each other, serve your own interests and oppress your workers? God laid it out for them...laying in sackcloth and ashes to show humility doesn't work when you only are humble to serve yourselves...to make yourselves look good in my eyes.
But God wasn't only talking to the people of Israel in the 6th century BCE. Listen carefully, for God is also talking to us--announcing to us our own rebellion.
"Is this what I want?" says God? "Do I want your contemporary services. your remodeled sanctuaries, your Starbucks and donuts on the altar? is this what I want?" says God. Your embarrassment over my ways, your need to put the gods of culture and entertainment before me? Is this what I want?" says God. "Shrubbery that hides your pride and websites that gloss over your selfishness? Is this what I want?" says God. "Your assumption that 'members' will bring you once again into power and position? your pathetic attempts to 'figure me out,' 'condense me into a program,' and 'sell me as a solution?'"
"Here is what I choose," says God. "I choose a people who recognize their sin and who humble and sincerely seek forgiveness even when they know I have already saved them. Here is what I choose," says God. "I choose a people who act to feed hungry people whether they deserve it or not. to bring housing to the homeless even if it rewards irresponsibility. I choose a people who make laws that protect all people from oppression, even when it means their own taxes will go up. I choose a people who will respect the poorest of the poor like they are the richest of the rich, who will set aside their fear and their pride and depend on me for their security and not on their salary or their job or their position in the community.
"Here is what I choose," says God. "I choose a people who do not engage in or condone violence in word or deed, even if someone else is violent first (or always). I choose a people who do not fight to get their own way, pointing their finger at those who disagree and talking trash behind their backs. I choose a people who always put others' best interest before their own best wishes. I choose a people who do not care if they are the biggest or the best or the most powerful. I choose a people who choose to serve me, and when that happens, then their light will shine and people will seek them out because they see not empty ritual, but life abundant and everlasting.
We, like the people of Israel, are in exile...and things are not good in exile. but we, like the people of Israel, have hope. When we serve as God wishes, we, too, can claim the promise that our light will be broken open like the dawn, and our healing will spring up quickly, and our vindication, accomplished in the life and death of Jesus Christ, will go before us, and the glory of YHWH will protect us from the rear. And our ruins will be rebuilt, and we will raise up foundations of many generations, and ride upon the heights of the earth...and things will be good...not because we are good, but because God is good.
Amen and Amen!
(this one is loooooong...)
Isaiah 58: 1-14 (from The Message)
1-3 "Shout! A full-throated shout! Hold nothing back—a trumpet-blast shout!
Tell my people what's wrong with their lives,
face my family Jacob with their sins!
They're busy, busy, busy at worship,
and love studying all about me.
To all appearances they're a nation of right-living people—
law-abiding, God-honoring.
They ask me, 'What's the right thing to do?'
and love having me on their side.
But they also complain,
'Why do we fast and you don't look our way?
Why do we humble ourselves and you don't even notice?'
3-5"Well, here's why:
"The bottom line on your 'fast days' is profit.
You drive your employees much too hard.
You fast, but at the same time you bicker and fight.
You fast, but you swing a mean fist.
The kind of fasting you do
won't get your prayers off the ground.
Do you think this is the kind of fast day I'm after:
a day to show off humility?
To put on a pious long face
and parade around solemnly in black?
Do you call that fasting,
a fast day that I, God, would like?
6-9"This is the kind of fast day I'm after:
to break the chains of injustice,
get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
free the oppressed,
cancel debts.
What I'm interested in seeing you do is:
sharing your food with the hungry,
inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
being available to your own families.
Do this and the lights will turn on,
and your lives will turn around at once.
Your righteousness will pave your way.
The God of glory will secure your passage.
Then when you pray, God will answer.
You'll call out for help and I'll say, 'Here I am.'
A Full Life in the Emptiest of Places
9-12"If you get rid of unfair practices,
quit blaming victims,
quit gossiping about other people's sins,
If you are generous with the hungry
and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,
Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,
your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.
I will always show you where to go.
I'll give you a full life in the emptiest of places—
firm muscles, strong bones.
You'll be like a well-watered garden,
a gurgling spring that never runs dry.
You'll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew,
rebuild the foundations from out of your past.
You'll be known as those who can fix anything,
restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,
make the community livable again. 13-14"If you watch your step on the Sabbath
and don't use my holy day for personal advantage,
If you treat the Sabbath as a day of joy,
God's holy day as a celebration,
If you honor it by refusing 'business as usual,'
making money, running here and there—
Then you'll be free to enjoy God!
Oh, I'll make you ride high and soar above it all.
I'll make you feast on the inheritance of your ancestor Jacob."
Yes! God says so
Things are not good in the mainline protestant church...haven't been good for awhile. We've lost almost 50% of our membership since 1965. In the ten years from 1997 to 2007, the Presbyterian Church added 307 new church developments, but we dissolved 609 congregations. In the 1940's and 50's we were king of the hill, religiously, socially, and politically. (from Andrew McLachlan, "This is the Church, This is the Steeple, Look Inside and...?" Board of Pensions, PC(USA) Today, things are not good in the mainline church.
But, we've tried. God knows, we've tried. We've added 'contemporary services.' We've remodeled our sanctuaries to include the latest electronic gadgets and comfort. We serve Starbucks coffee with our Krispy Kreme donuts. We've built entirely new facilities that don't even look like churches. There's a bill board between High Point and Charlotte that reads "Church for people who don't like Church." We've dropped the word "Presbyterian from our signs. We've watered down our theology and polity so it looks just like every other mainline church. We've even constructed services with no prayers and no scripture readings because that stuff is sometimes confusing and we want to welcome the unchurched because we really need more members!...but today...today things are not good in the mainline Presbyterian church.
We've worried about our curb appeal. We've bought vans to pick people up. We've sent mailings to the community. We've built websites that attempt to portray our corporate life as fun and friendly and fresh. We've commissioned studies and polls. We've examined other denominations to adopt best practices. We've arrived at church every Sunday hoping this will be the week that a visitor will show up---and stay. And every Sunday we've gone home knowing that things are not good in the mainline protestant church.
How do we get more members? How do we preserve our church? We are doing everything we can think to do--and we are doing some things without thinking! Why don't people respond? We didn't used to have this problem. Whose fault is it that we have no young people between 25 and 45? We came to church when we were that age! Why are things not good in the mainline church?! Why isn't God at work to maintain the mainline protestant church? Doesn't God see how hard we are working? Doesn't God care? We come. We give our 2 percent. We work. .We pray. And it just doesn't seem to matter. Things are still not good in the mainline church.
The people of Israel would sit in these pews with us and shake their heads in agreement. they have been there. They understand exactly how we feel. When the exiles returned from Babylon in the 6th century BCE they thought they had seen the worst. Their temple had been destroyed. Their land had been lost. their political, religious, social power had disappeared. but them, they would tell you, a word of hope came from the prophet Isaiah. A word of comfort came from the prophet Isaiah. A word of restoration came from the prophet Isaiah.
And the people worshiped. They fasted. They prayed. They expected a glorious Zion. They expected to regain the power they had enjoyed as the chosen people of God. And they got the same thing we get...nothing. They could not get God's attention. All their fasting and praying...all their Sabbath keeping...all those promises that told them they would be, like before, the people of God...nope...not working...things were not good in the church of the people of Israel.
The people of Israel were lucky, though. God was talking to them...OK...through a prophet...but God was talking. And you heard it. God pretty much slammed them. Do you really think, God said, that fasting and Sabbath-keeping and prayer will get and keep my attention when you fight with each other, serve your own interests and oppress your workers? God laid it out for them...laying in sackcloth and ashes to show humility doesn't work when you only are humble to serve yourselves...to make yourselves look good in my eyes.
But God wasn't only talking to the people of Israel in the 6th century BCE. Listen carefully, for God is also talking to us--announcing to us our own rebellion.
"Is this what I want?" says God? "Do I want your contemporary services. your remodeled sanctuaries, your Starbucks and donuts on the altar? is this what I want?" says God. Your embarrassment over my ways, your need to put the gods of culture and entertainment before me? Is this what I want?" says God. "Shrubbery that hides your pride and websites that gloss over your selfishness? Is this what I want?" says God. "Your assumption that 'members' will bring you once again into power and position? your pathetic attempts to 'figure me out,' 'condense me into a program,' and 'sell me as a solution?'"
"Here is what I choose," says God. "I choose a people who recognize their sin and who humble and sincerely seek forgiveness even when they know I have already saved them. Here is what I choose," says God. "I choose a people who act to feed hungry people whether they deserve it or not. to bring housing to the homeless even if it rewards irresponsibility. I choose a people who make laws that protect all people from oppression, even when it means their own taxes will go up. I choose a people who will respect the poorest of the poor like they are the richest of the rich, who will set aside their fear and their pride and depend on me for their security and not on their salary or their job or their position in the community.
"Here is what I choose," says God. "I choose a people who do not engage in or condone violence in word or deed, even if someone else is violent first (or always). I choose a people who do not fight to get their own way, pointing their finger at those who disagree and talking trash behind their backs. I choose a people who always put others' best interest before their own best wishes. I choose a people who do not care if they are the biggest or the best or the most powerful. I choose a people who choose to serve me, and when that happens, then their light will shine and people will seek them out because they see not empty ritual, but life abundant and everlasting.
We, like the people of Israel, are in exile...and things are not good in exile. but we, like the people of Israel, have hope. When we serve as God wishes, we, too, can claim the promise that our light will be broken open like the dawn, and our healing will spring up quickly, and our vindication, accomplished in the life and death of Jesus Christ, will go before us, and the glory of YHWH will protect us from the rear. And our ruins will be rebuilt, and we will raise up foundations of many generations, and ride upon the heights of the earth...and things will be good...not because we are good, but because God is good.
Amen and Amen!
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Grace...
Question for the day...Is there grace in your life?
Thought for the day....how do you define grace?
I was thinking about this yesterday while I was sitting in class, (still pouting 'cause I couldn't be outside--pouting is such an attractive pose...). What is grace? When people talk about not being able to experience the grace of God within the institutional church, I understand...but strongly disagree. Grace is not a life with no conflict, smooth sailing, wonderful relationships, sound financial standing. But I think that's how we define grace in our gut. (We might not define it that way in public speech, because it sounds pretty shallow...but I think we function that way if we are honest.)
Grace is God's work. Grace is God's unconditional love of all people. Grace took Christ to the cross because we couldn't live with God's grace in the world. Grace constantly works for reconciliation. Grace comes from self-denial (which is possible, but only possible through the work of the Spirit). But here's my point. Grace is not smooth sailing, wonderful relationships, money, house, beautiful landscaping, etc. Grace is light in the darkness. Grace is forgiveness in the darkness of sin. Grace is reconciliation in conflict. Grace is strength from weakness.
Several years ago a fifth grader named Erin was diagnosed with a recurrence of cancer. Those were dark days for Erin's family and friends. They were even dark days for friends of Erin's friends, people who didn't know Erin but saw the pain of her diagnosis in the people who knew her. But let me tell you, grace was powerful in that experience. Erin opted out of a second round of treatment. Erin shared her confidence in the love of God in her life with all those who would listen. Erin loved and smiled and celebrated the days she had left. Not all days were perfect. Not all moments were smiling. We hate to leave those we love; we hate to see them leave. But in the suffering and the pain and the wrenching good-byes, everyone will speak of the grace they experienced through Erin's life and death.
When life is easy, we get way too caught up with the arrangement of the chairs, the color of the carpet, the success of our hair-do, the price of tea in China. Part of the reason the church embodies grace is that it is hard to get along all the time. We are human. And in the humanness together, we have opportunities to see grace at work.
I guess the challenge to seeing God's grace is being sure we are looking for it, and not for convenience or agreement or prosperity. The farther we are willing to go into difficulty, the closer God's grace will be...
Thought for the day....how do you define grace?
I was thinking about this yesterday while I was sitting in class, (still pouting 'cause I couldn't be outside--pouting is such an attractive pose...). What is grace? When people talk about not being able to experience the grace of God within the institutional church, I understand...but strongly disagree. Grace is not a life with no conflict, smooth sailing, wonderful relationships, sound financial standing. But I think that's how we define grace in our gut. (We might not define it that way in public speech, because it sounds pretty shallow...but I think we function that way if we are honest.)
Grace is God's work. Grace is God's unconditional love of all people. Grace took Christ to the cross because we couldn't live with God's grace in the world. Grace constantly works for reconciliation. Grace comes from self-denial (which is possible, but only possible through the work of the Spirit). But here's my point. Grace is not smooth sailing, wonderful relationships, money, house, beautiful landscaping, etc. Grace is light in the darkness. Grace is forgiveness in the darkness of sin. Grace is reconciliation in conflict. Grace is strength from weakness.
Several years ago a fifth grader named Erin was diagnosed with a recurrence of cancer. Those were dark days for Erin's family and friends. They were even dark days for friends of Erin's friends, people who didn't know Erin but saw the pain of her diagnosis in the people who knew her. But let me tell you, grace was powerful in that experience. Erin opted out of a second round of treatment. Erin shared her confidence in the love of God in her life with all those who would listen. Erin loved and smiled and celebrated the days she had left. Not all days were perfect. Not all moments were smiling. We hate to leave those we love; we hate to see them leave. But in the suffering and the pain and the wrenching good-byes, everyone will speak of the grace they experienced through Erin's life and death.
When life is easy, we get way too caught up with the arrangement of the chairs, the color of the carpet, the success of our hair-do, the price of tea in China. Part of the reason the church embodies grace is that it is hard to get along all the time. We are human. And in the humanness together, we have opportunities to see grace at work.
I guess the challenge to seeing God's grace is being sure we are looking for it, and not for convenience or agreement or prosperity. The farther we are willing to go into difficulty, the closer God's grace will be...
Friday, March 19, 2010
Dirt...
Most of the time I have great passion for my job. But when the weather warms and the sun shines in the spring, I hate my job. I hate school. I hate housework. I hate everything except playing in the dirt and sharing in the miracle of watching things grow. So now, the house is half vacuumed, the bed is half made, the homework is way less than half done...and I am going to bed to pout because I can't play in the dirt tomorrow either...or Sunday.
Is it right to wish for the apocalypse so society could fall apart and we could go back to living on the land...growing and sharing with each other and hanging out in the lovely vitamin-D-making sun?
Is it right to wish for the apocalypse so society could fall apart and we could go back to living on the land...growing and sharing with each other and hanging out in the lovely vitamin-D-making sun?
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Proudly Presbyterian...
I just read yet another report on the decline of mainline protestantism and yet another comment about the decline of denominational loyalty and yet another account of growing churches who drop their denominational byline or make it very hard to find. Does it really matter? Aren't really all churches alike? To me...it matters.
First, let me be clear that all Christian churches are alike...or should be...in our focus and following of Jesus Christ as head of the church. There will be a time in which God's kingdom will arrive fully on this earth, and we will all see clearly how to let Jesus be head of the Church...and then we will not need denominations. In the very-messy-human-meantime, here is why I am proudly, persistently, Presbyterian.
We are called to the church. Being Christian is, by definition, being grafted into the body of Christ...and that is the church. We are called together to be Christ's body in the world for the specific purpose of sharing God's love with the world. We cannot do that by ourselves on the golf course. We might feel the presence of God as we putt that first green, and I'll concede that alone on the golf course is easier (even on a bad putting day) than together in the messiness of community, but alone is not body of Christ and never will be...and together is not for our own personal benefit, it is so the world can see God.
Since church is not an option, and since we do not yet live in the completed Kingdom, I choose Presbyterian. Denominations are ways of organizing our lives together...and even non-denominational churches do the same thing (whether they admit it or not)...and the way we organize ourselves speaks to how we perceive who God is and how God works in the world. These are some of the things I value.
Women and men, and all races are equal in the sight of God and invited to serve in the church. We have woefully fallen short in extending the gracious acceptance of God's love to our brothers and sisters who are gay and lesbian in committed relationships, but we continue to move in the right direction. I claim we are moving in the right direction because (at least so far) we do not excommunicate or kick people out of our denomination/church because they disagree with the majority. We agree to majority rule, but we can disagree with each other and continue to work to come together through the work of the Holy Spirit to seek truth...by staying in conversation with God and each other.
Governing the church is done by the people, laity and clergy with equal voices, who commit to a process of discerning the wisdom of the Spirit in guiding a church. In theory, this reminds us that Jesus is the head of the church, and together we work to accomplish his agenda, and not our own.
We are a connectional church. Even the computer doesn't recognize the term as grammatically correct. Presbyterian churches are accountable to and connected with each other. Joining together gives us more resources, more strength, and more opportunity to serve God in our larger communities and in the world.
And here is the most important reason why I am Presbyterian Church (USA). We are part of the Reformed tradition. We believe that God has come incarnate in Jesus to bring us to God completely and unconditionally with his life, death, and resurrection. Further, we believe that God continues to turn us toward Godself making us holy as we reflect God's love and grace. We DO nothing to earn this amazing grace. We do not have to go to church, or serve others, or follow a set of laws, or even acknowledge that God has provided us this salvation. It is ours...already...whether we know it or not.
If it were up to me to do something to insure my own salvation, or to decide about others, we would be in trouble on both counts. I can let God be God, and in gratitude for all God has done for each of his precious children, I can do my best to listen to God's call to me. And I can do so knowing that even when I fall short in my own opinion or in God's opinion...or even in someone else's opinion...even when I fall short I am loved and forgiven by my God who is working out his saving purposes for the world and who will continue to do so until all the world knows God's love and mercy.
No denomination is perfect or will be until God draws us all together. But for the now, and for many other reasons that aren't listed here, I choose to be Presbyterian and to commit to working with other Presbyterians, and other denominations, and other religions, to do God's work in the world. I will continue to learn what my denominational foundations are, work to change those that I believe do not reflect God's love, and commit myself to serve others through the specific church body to which God calls me.
Perhaps someday I will discover a denomination which, in its limited human way, better lives into the understanding of God I read in the life of Christ. Until then....proudly Presbyterian Church (USA).
First, let me be clear that all Christian churches are alike...or should be...in our focus and following of Jesus Christ as head of the church. There will be a time in which God's kingdom will arrive fully on this earth, and we will all see clearly how to let Jesus be head of the Church...and then we will not need denominations. In the very-messy-human-meantime, here is why I am proudly, persistently, Presbyterian.
We are called to the church. Being Christian is, by definition, being grafted into the body of Christ...and that is the church. We are called together to be Christ's body in the world for the specific purpose of sharing God's love with the world. We cannot do that by ourselves on the golf course. We might feel the presence of God as we putt that first green, and I'll concede that alone on the golf course is easier (even on a bad putting day) than together in the messiness of community, but alone is not body of Christ and never will be...and together is not for our own personal benefit, it is so the world can see God.
Since church is not an option, and since we do not yet live in the completed Kingdom, I choose Presbyterian. Denominations are ways of organizing our lives together...and even non-denominational churches do the same thing (whether they admit it or not)...and the way we organize ourselves speaks to how we perceive who God is and how God works in the world. These are some of the things I value.
Women and men, and all races are equal in the sight of God and invited to serve in the church. We have woefully fallen short in extending the gracious acceptance of God's love to our brothers and sisters who are gay and lesbian in committed relationships, but we continue to move in the right direction. I claim we are moving in the right direction because (at least so far) we do not excommunicate or kick people out of our denomination/church because they disagree with the majority. We agree to majority rule, but we can disagree with each other and continue to work to come together through the work of the Holy Spirit to seek truth...by staying in conversation with God and each other.
Governing the church is done by the people, laity and clergy with equal voices, who commit to a process of discerning the wisdom of the Spirit in guiding a church. In theory, this reminds us that Jesus is the head of the church, and together we work to accomplish his agenda, and not our own.
We are a connectional church. Even the computer doesn't recognize the term as grammatically correct. Presbyterian churches are accountable to and connected with each other. Joining together gives us more resources, more strength, and more opportunity to serve God in our larger communities and in the world.
And here is the most important reason why I am Presbyterian Church (USA). We are part of the Reformed tradition. We believe that God has come incarnate in Jesus to bring us to God completely and unconditionally with his life, death, and resurrection. Further, we believe that God continues to turn us toward Godself making us holy as we reflect God's love and grace. We DO nothing to earn this amazing grace. We do not have to go to church, or serve others, or follow a set of laws, or even acknowledge that God has provided us this salvation. It is ours...already...whether we know it or not.
If it were up to me to do something to insure my own salvation, or to decide about others, we would be in trouble on both counts. I can let God be God, and in gratitude for all God has done for each of his precious children, I can do my best to listen to God's call to me. And I can do so knowing that even when I fall short in my own opinion or in God's opinion...or even in someone else's opinion...even when I fall short I am loved and forgiven by my God who is working out his saving purposes for the world and who will continue to do so until all the world knows God's love and mercy.
No denomination is perfect or will be until God draws us all together. But for the now, and for many other reasons that aren't listed here, I choose to be Presbyterian and to commit to working with other Presbyterians, and other denominations, and other religions, to do God's work in the world. I will continue to learn what my denominational foundations are, work to change those that I believe do not reflect God's love, and commit myself to serve others through the specific church body to which God calls me.
Perhaps someday I will discover a denomination which, in its limited human way, better lives into the understanding of God I read in the life of Christ. Until then....proudly Presbyterian Church (USA).
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Failure and Faith
I am a failure. Now you argue...but you are wrong. I created a brochure of Lenten practices and adopted one for my own Lenten discipline. I lasted three days and despite best intentions, didn't get it done. I haven't given up yet...Lent is not over...but I'm pretty sure it's a lost cause.
This week, I got new insight about justification and sanctification...big religious words that most people don't use. Justification I understood as God's work on my behalf. God comes "en-flesh-ment"...incarnate...to embrace the full sinfulness of humanity, and reconcile that sinful humanity to Godself. That is miracle in and of itself. And I think I get that one correctly...all God's work...all our grace...
Then, there is sanctification. I understood that one as our response to God...our "work," if you will, to be more "like God"...to "respond to God's grace" in ways that make us more "holy." We never get it exactly right, but we work toward it and God blesses us...That part, I had wrong.
The better understanding (from my new best friend, Barth) is the idea that God turns toward us in justification, and that GOD turns us toward him in sanctification. We cannot make ourselves holy any more than I can manage to get my Lenten discipline done. We just can't. And if we think we can, we become little mini-gods, saving ourselves and judging others who aren't working as hard as we are.
God turns me toward God, and that is the process of sanctification. I, today, am so very grateful for this God who worked through Christ for the salvation of all, and who patiently continues every minute of every day to turn us back toward God. My Lenten failure becomes the very means of sanctification in the only way it is really possible...through God's work.
This week, I got new insight about justification and sanctification...big religious words that most people don't use. Justification I understood as God's work on my behalf. God comes "en-flesh-ment"...incarnate...to embrace the full sinfulness of humanity, and reconcile that sinful humanity to Godself. That is miracle in and of itself. And I think I get that one correctly...all God's work...all our grace...
Then, there is sanctification. I understood that one as our response to God...our "work," if you will, to be more "like God"...to "respond to God's grace" in ways that make us more "holy." We never get it exactly right, but we work toward it and God blesses us...That part, I had wrong.
The better understanding (from my new best friend, Barth) is the idea that God turns toward us in justification, and that GOD turns us toward him in sanctification. We cannot make ourselves holy any more than I can manage to get my Lenten discipline done. We just can't. And if we think we can, we become little mini-gods, saving ourselves and judging others who aren't working as hard as we are.
God turns me toward God, and that is the process of sanctification. I, today, am so very grateful for this God who worked through Christ for the salvation of all, and who patiently continues every minute of every day to turn us back toward God. My Lenten failure becomes the very means of sanctification in the only way it is really possible...through God's work.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Ridiculous...
Life gets ridiculous sometimes...last week was sometimes. So is this week, but I suppose that's beside the point since I am writing. While writing stopped, advertising didn't and I noted a particularly ridiculous ad for some home object...clearly not memorable...but something like a vase or a knick-knack...nick-nack...pnick-pnack...whatever. The ad read "Made thoughtfully. Beautifully. To last and to love." First, they need a grammar lesson and then, perhaps a "get real" lesson. The ad ran next to earthquake images--homes and lives in a shattered mess. But, what we needed was a gadget that was made thoughtfully...beautifully...to last and to love. What we really need is the eyes to see and the hearts to know that each human is made thoughtfully, beautifully--perhaps not to last...but certainly to love and be loved. My goal for this week is to remember that the "we" of life is always more important than the "stuff."
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