Identity...

I've never found those "become a fan" things that the kids click on all the time (on Facebook)...a fan of "Mom, you're not mad because I talked back, you're mad because I'm right," or "no reception," or "sweats, hoodies, and a messy bun," or "you."  Won't go looking either...but it is an interesting way to claim an identity. 

Claiming identity in this culture typically revolves around what car you drive, house you buy, clothes you wear, groups you join.  Other cultures base identity in geography, skin color, or family/clan group.  The difference, it seems, is between who you are (other cultures) and what you do (us). 

Is that why it is so hard for us to live into an identity given to us by God without having to "do" something to earn it?  Is that why it is so hard to understand what God has done for us to claim us as God's own?  Is that why it is so easy to attempt to define and put boundaries/rules around the "appropriate" life with God when God keeps trying to get us to live in freedom and grace?

Antiques vs. Junk...

A long weekend at the beach yields interesting possibilities.  Yesterday afternoon...junkin'.  We went to four little stores right together...three belongs to one person...small houses that flowed into each other and were filled literally with all kinds of junk and art.  The downside is that what is classified as antique/junk now is what I grew up with as a child...(new experience and no comments needed from the young peanut gallery--it will happen to you, too...)  The upside is what it does to your imagination...looking at all kids of weird things and imagining what you might do with them to re-purpose them.  You would never want to mash the potatoes with the rusty potato masher, but it might make a cool little planter/window box stuck upside down in the dirt as "utensil flowers" with some interesting foliage.

The second "store" was one house with all really nice antiques/art/objects...OK, aside from making my nursing school daughter laugh, I don't know what you would really do with a porcelain bedpan...but everything was in good condition.  It was all interesting to look at, but did nothing to stimulate my imagination.  Really, all I wanted to do was go somewhere else.  I wasn't much interested in filling my life with old things that were too nice to stick upside down in a pile of dirt to make someone smile...

I was thinking about the church in the same way.  We are either a bunch of rusty, broken, shabby items that eagerly wait to be re-purposed in ways that bring about the Kingdom of God, or we are perfect, old items that no one has much use for except to furnish the formal parlor while the rest of life happens in the kitchen...or the yard...or the neighborhood...

Albert Einstein on Faith...

(I don't agree with every part of the theology in this little piece sent to me by a friend...but it is certainly fun reading...)

 

In a College classroom with a professor teaching a philosophy lesson.......

'Let me explain the problem science has with religion.'

The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand.

'You're a Christian, aren't you, son?'

'Yes sir,' the student says.

'So you believe in God?'

'Absolutely.. '

'Is God good?'

'Sure! God's good.'

'Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?'

'Yes'

'Are you good or evil?'

 

'The Bible says I'm evil.'

The professor grins knowingly. 'Aha! The Bible! He considers for a moment. 'Here's one for you. Let's say there's a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help him? Would you try?'

'Yes sir, I would.'

'So you're good...!'

'I wouldn't say that.'

'But why not say that? You'd help a sick and maimed person if you could. Most of us would if we could. But God doesn't.'

 

The student does not answer, so the professor continues.

'He doesn't, does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this Jesus good? Can you answer that one?'

The student remains silent.

 

'No, you can't, can you?' the professor says. He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax. 'Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?'

'Er..yes,' the student says.

'Is Satan good?'

The student doesn't hesitate on this one. 'No.'

'Then where does Satan come from?'

The student falters.. 'From God'

'That's right.. God made Satan, didn't he? Tell me, son. Is there evil in this world?'

'Yes, sir.'

'Evil's everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything, correct?'

'Yes'

'So who created evil?' The professor continued, 'If God created everything, then God created evil, since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then God is evil.'

Again, the student has no answer.

 

'Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things, do they exist in this world?'

The student squirms on his feet.

 

'Yes.'

'So who created them?'

The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his question. 'Who created them?' There is still no answer. Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is mesmerized. 'Tell me,' he continues onto another student. 'Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?'

The student's voice betrays him and cracks.

 

'Yes, professor, I do.'

The old man stops pacing. 'Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen Jesus?'

'No sir.. I've never seen Him.'

'Then tell us if you've ever heard your Jesus?'

'No, sir, I have not.'

'Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your Jesus? Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus Christ, or God for that matter?'

'No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't.'

'Yet you still believe in him?'

'Yes'

'According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?'

'Nothing,' the student replies. 'I only have my faith.'

'Yes, faith,' the professor repeats. 'And that is the problem science has with God. There is no evidence, only faith.'

The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of His own.

 

'Professor, is there such thing as heat?'

' Yes.

'And is there such a thing as cold?'

'Yes, son, there's cold too.'

'No sir, there isn't.'

The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested.  The room suddenly becomes very quiet.

 

The student begins to explain.

 

'You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don't have anything called 'cold'. We can hit down to 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder than the lowest -458 degrees. Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-458 F) is the total absence of heat.

 

You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat.  We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.'

Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom, sounding like a hammer.

'What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing as darkness?'

'Yes,' the professor replies without hesitation. 'What is night if it isn't darkness?'

'You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something.. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? That's the meaning we use to define the word. In reality, darkness isn't. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?'

The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This will be a good semester.

 

'So what point are you making, young man?'

'Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with, and so your conclusion must also be flawed.'

The professor's face cannot hide his surprise this time. 'Flawed?

 

Can you explain how?'

'You are working on the premise of duality,' the student explains.. 'You argue that there is life and then there's death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought.' 'It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence of it.' 'Now tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?'

'If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do.'

'Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?'

The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes where the argument is going. A very good semester, indeed.

'Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?'

The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the commotion has subsided.

 

'To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, let me give you an example of what I mean.' The student looks around the room. 'Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor's brain?' The class breaks out into laughter. 'Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor's brain, felt the professor's brain, touched or smelt the professor's brain? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, with all due respect, sir.' 'So if science says you have no brain, how can we trust your lectures, sir?'

 

Now the room is silent.. The professor just stares at the student, his face unreadable. Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers. 'I Guess you'll have to take them on faith.'

'Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists with life,' the student continues. 'Now, sir, is there such a thing as evil?'

 

Now uncertain, the professor responds, 'Of course, there is. We see it Everyday. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man... It is in The multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil.'

To this the student replied, 'Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light.'

The professor sat down.

Albert Einstein wrote a book titled God vs Science in 1921....

Resurrection Eyes

Spend any time on any news channel and you quickly learn that we live in desperate times and there is no hope.  For any topic you can name, you can find terrible news.  Even the church is disappearing...or so say the experts/pundits.

And in the midst of this, folks like us continue to attend church, continue to live in the messiness of community, continue to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, heal the sick...even when our efforts fall far short of our call.

Seeing life with resurrection eyes means focusing on the good that comes from the grace of God.  Sometimes resurrection is hard to see...but it is there for the seeing.  Living resurrection lives means learning to see God at work and not sin at work.  Sin never wins...even though it's sometimes hard to see that.  Our history has shown us that God is at work.  Our present is our opportunity to show the world that God is at work.

Raise a child in the church...

I overheard a conversation in the coffee shop between two "church people."  After discussing hymns and such, one said to the other, "I raised my kids in the church, but they don't have much use for it now."  Frankly, had I been raised "in the church", I would have much use for it either.  The church is a weird institution full of people who are fully human and boy can we play out our humanness...even in a place that is supposed to be God-focused.

What I wanted to say to that guy was, "There is a difference between raising children in the church and raising children in the faith."  Raising folks "in the church" is more of a club membership idea...we go to church to get something "out of it"...we go because its expected behavior...we go because we "ought to" as members.  But it's primarily about us so if we aren't "being fed"...we bail officially or unofficially...

If I make church participation a matter of membership, I don't have much use for it either.  Church membership is definitively one of the hardest things I do in life.  Sometimes I hate the humanness evident in the church community...all church communities, not just my particular community.  Sometimes I think why bother, most folks don't "have much need for the church," so why are we holding on...The "emerging church" movement claims the death of church as doctrine...who needs the institutional church?

Church as a matter of faith is a completely different focus.  Barth suggests that as we "believe in" the being and work of the Triune God, so we "believe in" the church as the body of Christ in the world.  The very first church communities were no more "together," no less "human" than we are (just read the epistles if you are not convinced there were problems).  But to be grafted into Christ as a Christian means by definition we are grafted into the body that is called the church.  It is not always easy or rewarding...but it is our identity and our way of being in the world.  We do not get to choose church membership.  It chooses us...church is chosen for us as our way of being the "provisional representation of God in the world" by God incarnate in Christ and it is sustained today through the work of the Holy Spirit.

Being raised in the church means attending until you no longer get something you think you want from the church.  Being raised in the faith (at whatever age) means you are called into the body of Christ to serve...and it will never be easy...but history shows that faith is nurtured by the sacrifices we are called to make in the community and in the world.  Being part of a church is seldom easy, but it will bring joy and reward and deep gratitude when we get ourselves out of the way and let the Spirit work.