Satellite Churches...

I really have always been uncomfortable with the idea of satellite churches. Some would say its is jealousy...if I were the famous pastor whose sermons were so mightily compelling that people in a different part of the city wanted to be part of my church and were content to stream me in on Sunday in worship...then I would be all for it. I am doubtful...though I recognize the tendency toward thinking we are that important and trust that if it happens you will gently, or not so gently, tell me I am full of #@*!.

One danger of living in a family of bookworms is whatever conversation you have inevitably leads to the discussion of a recently read volume. Authors, I'm sure, appreciate this. Blog readers may not. But I was reading a book recommended by my daughter, the aspiring professor of Worship and Liturgy. Thomas Schattauer gathers a group of colleagues in a discussion of church and the mission of God. He might be surprised to know he inspires me to encourage a bunch of satellite churches.

Schattauer's opening discussion is on the "traditional" separation of worship and mission--translation, what we have been doing for a hundred years or so. Worship (liturgy is his term) is what the people of God do inside the church to be empowered to take up "mission" outside the church, "in the world." He calls this the "inside and out" church. (Mission includes both the evangelistic proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of the world and service to others in the name of Christ.)

Worship serves the purpose of mission, not because it directly accomplishes the tasks of evangelical proclamation and diaconal service but because it offers access to the means of grace that propel the individual and the community as a whole into such activity. Worship and mission, however, remain distinct activities within clearly demarcated spheres of the church's life--inside and out.

Worship, with this mind-set, is really only for those inside the church; mission is what we are called to do outside the church. The second approach Schattauer describes is what many churches do as "contemporary churches," the "outside in" approach. To try and repair the separation of the Christian life into separate realms (church and world), the contemporary church has attempted to "bring the activities of mission directly into the context of worship."

... [Worship] becomes one of two things--either a stage from which to present the gospel and reach out to the unchurched and irreligious, or a platform from which to issue the call to serve the neighbor and rally commitment for social and political action...The tasks of mission become the principal purpose of the church's worship--outside in.

As we, the non-professor reader wonder what, really, is wrong with either scenario, Schattauer offers a third option which rings so true to me that the other two options are no longer possible "as is."

There is a third way, inside out. This approach locates the liturgical assembly 
[worship] , to whitself within the arena of the missio Dei [mission of God]. The focus is on God's mission toward the world, to which the church witnesses and into which it is drawn, rather than on specific activities of the church undertaken in response to the divine saving initiative...The visible act of assembly (in Christ by the power of the Spirit) and the forms of this assembly-what we call liturgy-enact and signify this mission...The [worshipping] assembly is the visible locus of God's reconciling mission toward the world.

I like this. The church gathered to worship is part of the mission of God...and becomes the visible focal point of that mission. (sometimes we can really screw that up!) I have heard the worshipping community, the worship ritual itself, described as a "statement of reality." Who are we really? Consumers? Parents? Stressed worker-bees in an economic machine? The poor? The rich? Cool? Old? Young? Which label are we really? Worship places us in the "real." We are identified, really really, as the people of God, ultimately not under the control of powers and principalities that never have our best interests at heart.

God's mission? The "salvation" of the world. Eugene Peterson puts it this way in Five Smooth Stones for Pastoral Work:

Salvation is the act of God in which we are rescued from the consequences of our sin (bondage, fragmentation) and put in a position to live in free, open, loving relationships with God and our neighbors...With God's act of salvation we are able to be addressed by a whole series of commands by which we are ordered into live, whole, healthy relationships with God and other persons...[God's] people were saved--they were defined, shaped, and centered not by military, political or environmental forces but by the act of God. (p. 27)

We could so add "economic forces" to that list. But the point is we are defined by God, not by anything  or anyone else. Our participation in worship teaches us that, reminds us of that, and reveals to the world this different, grace-centered reality.

Church can be strange. I give you that. We do all stand at certain times and sing together. We admit aloud to being sinful creatures who struggle mightily to live into whole healthy relationships with God and other persons. We address an Almighty God who spoke the good creation into being and gifted us with life. We celebrate the saving activity of our God who came to us, revealed God's intention for life together, and defeated the powers of sin and death to which we give so much credence. We use strange rituals, say strange words, and enact strange behaviors. But all those strange things become opportunities to understand a new reality...the ultimate reality shaping each of us.

And, if you will excuse one more quote...this is Schattauer's articulation of the reason for the worship celebration. BTW, His "flickering flame in the middle of the night" is the metaphorical position of the church in culture.

This arena [worship] is a highly symbolic one in which the gathering of a local company of the faithful around a flickering flame in the middle of the night is set in relation to choirs of angels, the earth, and the whole church encompassing the peoples, all joined in a joyful eruption of cosmic praise. The liturgical assembly is never just what it appears to be. It always points to the eschatological reality beyond itself, to the purpose of God in Christ for the world and its peoples, for the whole created order...

We are, by this definition, all satellite churches, as communities, but also as individuals in our personal orbits between Sundays. This is God's mission, God's definition, Gods' work, God's purpose for all of creation. God is the one who streams in through the hearing of the Word, the practice of prayer, praise, and the recognition that we are inherently part of God's mission in the world. We don't go do it for God. We exist and act as God's people in the world with God, by the power of God. Worship reshapes us, redefines us, and as this re-created people, we each are satellites of God's message and purpose.

Yeah, go chew on this one for awhile...bunches of little satellites circling around something...sometimes many somethings. But I am again inspired and committed to God's vision of the world, this reality that says we really can, through the power of the Spirit, live whole, healthy, relational lives. That is what I want as the center of my life. The rest seems more and more like space junk.

Presbyterian Evangelism (not an oxymoron!)...

“Invite a Friend to Church Sunday!”
       Uncommon words for Presbyterians.
       Uncomfortable words for Presbyterians.
       Un-doable words for Presbyterians? Maybe. Maybe not.

I suppose there’s bad news in the mix. If “you build it and they will come” worked anymore, we wouldn’t have to invite people to church. They would drive by, see the building, and eagerly speed up the drive to introduce themselves and get involved. We do have people speed up our drive, but they live in the back forty and are in a hurry to get home. The days of people flocking to us because everyone is doing it are gone.

More bad news involves the three most common terms/phrases people use to identify Christians: hypocritical, judgmental, and anti-homosexual. That’s the identity that gets spread through the media. That’s the “controversy” that sells. Grace and acceptance are not nearly as marketable. (Everyone knows the name of that church picketing funerals whose name I won't mention because I refuse to give them more free advertising. Only we know the names of our ordinary, local churches.)

There’s also interesting news in the mix. I’ve been reading about membership and the lack thereof. A multitude of organizations survey people inside and outside of the church. Much information in the first wave of survey results were not positive. The most shocking statistic for Americans who have always claimed to be a religious people, was the 20% of people who now are unafraid to claim “none” status when asked about religious preference. Believe me, that got church tongues a-waggin’. If people will actually admit publicly they don’t care about church, we might be in trouble. People have not cared about church forever, but “none” would dare admit it. Now “nones” embrace it. Yikes!

But once you find a shocking behavior, people study it further and results get refined. Claude Fischer, a professor of sociology at Berkeley helps understand the statistics.

FIrst the “nones” are neither atheist or agnostic, they are “nothing in particular." Fischer says, “A growing proportion of Americans, particularly young ones, who lean liberal politically (and were not much religious to start with) have responded to the growing connection between churches and conservative cultural politics by declaring their opposition to organized religion. If religion means the “religious right,” they seem to be saying, then count me out.” The economic issue seems to be the extended period between adolescence and adulthood where young adults are not in stable jobs, homes, or relationships, and until they are, they don’t tend to “return to church.”

What do people want? One more list from a researcher.

• A church that makes space for imaginative risk-taking and creative self-expression.
• A church that nurtures a deep, holistic faith that encompasses every area of life.
• A church that doesn’t separate or demonize science, but interacts with it positively and prophetically
• A church that understands and works toward a vision of “restored relationships” instead of sexual repressiveness.
• A church that pursues and includes outsiders as Jesus did.
• A church that allows doubts, helping integrate questions into a “robust life of faith.”

And now, the good news in the mix. First, the reformed tradition (definitively my church, Forest Hills Presbyterian, and others I know about) does not intentionally practice a repressive, exclusive, judgmental Christianity--we work hard not to. We slip up; we are fully human. But we value the inclusive, educated, relational discipleship that Jesus embodied, that Jesus taught us God embodied. Our word, “grace.”

Second, the church of Jesus Christ has been blessed with a great, diverse congregation, a people called together to spread the good news of the gospel--not that we are “in” and others are “out,” but that God has acted on behalf of all people and that we, recognizing that great gift of love and grace, have been called together, bringing our gifts to work to equip each other as disciples and answer God’s call to work to change the world, bringing justice and peace as defined by God. Micah puts it well... we attempt to “do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God.”

So, to consider an “Invite a Friend to Church” Sunday, perhaps we don’t mean “friend” in the traditional sense, someone we know, who probably goes to another church, but who will come with us one Sunday. Perhaps we should say “Invite a Child of God to Church.” Our call here is to be aware of the people in our lives who need community, who need purpose in life, who need God’s grace. We know God is at work out there ahead of us. We now know that most people we converse with are not atheists or agnostics, but people who probably think all church is something we are not and who are looking for the very things we experience in this faith community. We need to remember that we are not “saving” them, but inviting them to come, experience and know the “Triune God who creates, redeems, sustains, rules, and transforms all things and all people.” (From the Book of Order, PCUSA)

Maybe you don’t know who that person is that God asks you to invite, to include. You can still do something--three “P’s”. Pray that God will be active in their lives to turn them toward openness. You may not know who they are, but God does. Practice articulating the grace you have experienced (including the failures for which we all must make amends). Pledge to actually invite others who cross your path for that is God's work on their behalf.

“Invite a Friend to Church Sunday!”
       Un-doable words for Presbyterians? No. “We can do all things through Christ...”

See, there is such a thing as Presbyterian Evangelism!

(Disclaimer...a version of this was written for the church newsletter.  Apologies to those reading twice.  Kudos for actually reading your newsletter!!)

The Fair or the Just...

The conversation this week on the radio was all about a denial of merger between two large airlines. It's not fair, people complain. The last time two airlines wanted to merge, it was allowed. To be fair, you should allow the merger this time, too. Opponents made the point that times and economic conditions were different last time.

I find the "fair" argument fascinating.  My kids used it...a LOT.  "It's not fair!" was a fallback position anytime another person got something they wanted, or thought they wanted. But, of course, when they benefitted from special treatment, all was well.

We all do it.  It's human nature to want the "other" person's benefits cut while preserving our own. Makes perfect sense. "We" work hard, are deserving, and will make good use of the benefit. "They" on the other hand, are lazy, don't deserve special treatment, and will waste the opportunity.

One way I have been transformed by my faith journey is learning to use the right adjective. I no longer ask, "Is it fair?"  My question is, "Is it just?" I have four children, have worked with many others in my work as an educator in schools and church.  Each child needs something different from me.  Some need much time and energy. Some less. "Fair" would mean each child should get the exact same amount of time. "Just" means each child gets what they need.

God is not "fair" to us. We never get the same thing as the person next to us. We also do not get what we "deserve."  What we get is God's very self, an offer of relationship that leads ultimately to our shalom, our health and wholeness...and more importantly, the health and wholeness of our families, our communities, and the whole world. That's God's vision. But it is not "fair." It will never be "fair."

SNAP grants have been cut significantly by congress. One reason, "It's not fair." Not fair that some people get government assistance.  Not fair that a few abuse the system. Not fair that I can't go down and get help with my grocery bill.

Our God is a God who favors the poor, the widow, the orphan. For God, the issue is never fairness, it's always justice.

It's time to change the question.

The 23rd Psalm...

We are at a youth retreat, and while most of the time these retreats are thoughtful and interesting, occasionally the need to be "relevant" and "creative" becomes the tail wagging the dog. At times, the fail is of epic proportions. This year's example, the "enactment" of the Psalm 23 with sheep dressed in white shorts and t-shirts with men's black dress socks on their hands/arms and feet/legs. Think white sheep, black legs and you get the picture. (Though the poor "sheep" did have to walk around the stage a good while saying "baaaaa" before we figured it out.)

After we understood the strange guy who didn't know how to dress was, in fact, a sheep, his sheep friends joined him in a lovely little flock (boon of business for the sock industry--buy stock now). Their blue-jean clad shepherd held some kind of big stick. The re-telling of the psalm commenced.

Shaking fabric made "water" which the sheep walked beside, then lay down next to. The shepherd had a pool whistle used to summon the sheep when they wandered off. The water, when held over the sheep, became the "darkest shadows"--the "valley of the shadow of death" to most of us.  The "table of my enemies" was a communion table--picture Da Vinci's "The Last Supper" only with sheep, not disciples or Weinheimer dogs.  The one really cool thing was the overflowing cup--done with glitter that looked in that huge auditorium just like water...it splashed all over the table and we all gasped. You aren't supposed to spill stuff at God's feast.

So, that's about it. In the nicest of terms, I suppose we can retell most of the psalm with the images we got. But it just wasn't right. If that's what the Psalm is all about, we might as well shut the doors of our churches. I wouldn't even get up on Sunday for that...and they pay me!

Here's what I'd act out...

Dig up from the recesses of your memory what you know about the Greek and Roman Gods, or the Babylonian gods if you really were a nerd. They are strong, capricious, violent. They are concerned with power, control, and being catered to. They cared little for the humans running around the planet. They actually seemed to enjoy getting back at the humans for perceived offenses...a tidal wave here, an extreme winter there...extreme wind, hail, heat...well, you get the idea.

Dig up from the recesses of the Hebrew texts the understanding of the LORD as completely holy, completely other. The One God was so holy, the Jews used the letters YHWH instead of calling God's name. The One God was so holy, you literally took your life in your hands as the priest who entered the Holy of Holies once a year to make the sacrifices for the people's sin. If the priest had not cleansed his own sin completely, death was certain.

Juxtapose our "Holy, Other, Mighty God" with "The Lord is my shepherd." The God who could justifiably condemn us--or at the very least toy with us like Greek and Roman gods--instead, the Holy One of Israel serves us, cares for us, provides for our wholeness, our rest, even our food. The God who created the earth with a Word, gives himself to us without condition or reservation. We usually read it, The Lord is my SHEPHERD. I think we might should read it, The LORD is my shepherd. I am humbled.

Next God takes our greatest fear and "comforts us." The "valley of the shadow of death" is an inescapable reality, but one walked with the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel.

Then we get a table set before us "in the presence of our enemies." We certainly can name our enemies, but for the most part, our enemies tend toward the metaphorical or distant. Truth is, it has been since the Civil War that we fought a war on home soil. Often we define enemy as mean people at school or work. Sometimes we make enemies metaphorical--like hunger or poverty--and like those are uncontrollable entities and not creations of our own unjust practice. But "enemies" to me has never been particularly urgent, a result, I am sure, of the relatively secure life with which I am blessed.

Imagine Israel, a tiny nation encircled by hostile forces. Forces known for their lack of mercy. Forces that could not be beaten by most, much less by this tiny group of people known as the people of God. In the midst of these enemies, God sets a table. We sit down to eat, often in a reclining position at that time. We sit down, a posture of weakness, vulnerability. When we eat, we are not ready to fight. In fact, the surge of adrenaline needed for a fight takes away our appetite. Physically, we don't seem to be able to do these two things at once.  

God sets a table for us in the presence of our enemies. Eat...be nurtured. Know that the Holy One of Israel is your shepherd, your protector, and your provider. Our heads are anointed, our cup overflows. That ought to make us want to say grace at a meal!

Finally, goodness and mercy follow us all the days of our lives. Except, they don't. What the Hebrew text actually says is that goodness and mercy "pursue" us all the days of our lives. God is not content to follow. God wants goodness and mercy for us so badly that God will chase us down as we make poor choices or insist that living in the chaos of this American life is our only choice. Being pursued all the days of our lives. Perhaps we should slow down and let ourselves be caught.

That's the God that transformed my life. That's the God that continues the transformation. That's the God that I get up to worship on Sunday mornings.  Joy is good. Fun is great.  Spirit and energy reflect the "joy of our salvation."  But we don't worship a cartoon God. The richness of God's promise, care, and interaction with us too often far greater than a "skit" can convey.

Forgive us, O Lord, for the ways in which we fail.  Keep pursuing us so that we might, indeed, live in the house of the Lord our whole lives long.

The Beating Heart...

The BBC reported a study that showed that groups who sing together also synchronize their heartbeats.   It has to do with breathing together and being together...much like a house full of women who are all fussy one week a month. (I constantly reminded my husband of the calendar date when he lamented that his girls would never get along.  And, of course, I reminded him in a rather fussy way...enough said.)

It made me wonder about singing in worship. There is a rhythm to good worship, a sense of movement and continuity, and music plays an important part. Many of our responses are sung. Some are spoken in unison. The BBC says chanting most quickly impacts the heart...how close is that to a unison spoken prayer?

Unfortunately no one has studied worship to determine its impact on the physical responses of the congregant, and I'm not holding my breath 'til it happens. But those who worship regularly speak of a sense of transformation, a sense of becoming one with the community--connected through the work of the Spirit to God and to each other. "Our hearts beat as one" is a phrase I've often heard in connection with worship...there may be more there than metaphorical truth.

Research shows the connection is made through breath patterns, not being on pitch or the quality of the sound produced. Seems to me the psalmist might have been onto something when he/she encouraged "make a joyful noise to the Lord!"  I hung out in the coffee shop long enough this morning to hum with many of the customers and staff "let's get together and be all right." Our Presbyterian constitution says worship is a joy and a privilege. It is also a gift...one that may have implication and consequences that we can't even begin to imagine--but God knows.

You may not be able to sing in a choir. Choir people are usually folks who can at least carry a tune. But you can be a joyful singer in worship.  I've been in groups where I know people around me sing a hymn off key,or in a different key, or in several keys.  But standing in front of that same group of people when I lead worship, all you hear is one voice...and, I bet...one heartbeat. Thanks be to God!

Metronomes

Circulating on FB, which of course is how we get all our significant information, is a Japanese video about metronomes.  And that, of course, is about life and faith.

The premise is that, on a fixed surface, metronomes started at different times will never sync.  On a fluid surface, one that can be impacted by every movement, the metronomes will, in a matter of minutes, sync themselves with each other.

The question is, what is the foundation of our church lives together?  Do we insist that the foundation of our institutional life is fixed, immovable?  Or are we willing to sit on the fluid activity of the Holy Spirit, which I guarantee is never fixed.  Just about the time I get my feet under me, the ground shifts again!

So enjoy the event...and you can fast forward, watching periodically to get the idea...though stop at about 2:30 and watch the little guy on the right fall into line!...

How to Find a Church...

# 1...
Pick a circumstance.

• Perhaps you are now an "adult," having completed your education and managed to land a job, realized you have to pay your own bills and don't know anyone except the middle-aged woman in the cubicle next to you.  
• Perhaps you have moved to a new place for a new job, or a spouse's new job. (related somewhat to the above circumstance...)
• Perhaps you have decided that you need something in your life that might provide some meaning outside of Netflix and Hulu...even if it is Hulu +
• Perhaps you have this annoying, persistent, desire to be part of a church community...even though you've tried to resist it for years, after all, no one else is doing it.
• Perhaps not all is good in you life... What now? often drags us kicking and screaming back to our creator...
• Insert "other" circumstance here...

#2

Make an excuse.

• You are now an adult, and Sunday is a great day to rest up from all that working and bill paying.
• You have moved to a new place and don't know anyone to go to church with.
• Church will still be there when you finish all the episodes of The Office.
• You've resisted church thus far...why rush into anything?
• OK...this one is harder...but can church really help if things are bad?  And anyway, no one at church wants to hear about your problems.
• Insert "other" excuse here--come on, be creative...don't just use the excuses everyone else is using.

#3

Visit a church already! Now some real thoughts about maybe, perhaps, probably, actually finding that church you've been considering finding, or considering considering finding....

• Start with what you know...or what you want to explore.  Now's a great chance to explore all those churches that you "wondered" about when you were stuck going with your parents.  If you started in a small church, you might visit a large one.  If you are mainline, perhaps non-denominational, Pentecostal, or Catholic might be fun. Be prepared for "different," especially if you are traveling between denominational structures and not just sizes.  Approach it as you would a visit to another country.  Be curious about the culture, the practice, the experience.  Know you don't have to move there...but you can if you like it.  And remember, you really do actually have to walk through the door of the church to visit it.  It's tough, but no tougher than interviewing for that new job...didn't know them at the beginning either, did ya?!  One more thought about walking through that door.  It's a good time to visit church.  There may be a few rules, but frankly, church attendance is down, so most places are very forgiving and very accepting.  They will be thrilled that you walked through the door, even if you know nothing.  
• Take some time to think about what you loved about church, or what you hated about church, or what you think church might be (good or bad) if you never attended.  What questions do you have?  What might you look for or try to avoid?  For example, I grew up in a tradition that did not allow women to preach.  That, I would avoid.  I would also avoid a church that didn't let women serve in leadership positions...just a personal understanding of who God is...no prejudice between genders in the God I worship.  You can formulate these questions on your lunch hour, or during a boring sermon if your first few visits don't go well.  If you don't know enough about church to ask a question, go anyway.  You'll have questions as soon as you walk through the doors.  
• Do some homework.  Go to denominational websites.  Most have basic explanations of what they believe and why.  All churches, whether they admit it or not, structure their lives together based on their understanding of who God is (theology).  Checking out foundational beliefs and seeing where you resonate may be a place to start.  Checking out foundational beliefs may convince you where you don't want to start.  
• Pray.  I know.  Kinda hard.  Going to church to learn to pray...but need to pray as you are looking for a church...Much like opening a bank account in my current home town.  I had to have a driver's license to open an account.  Had to have a bank account to get a license.  Where do you start?  But pray anyway.  It's simple.  Just say the words aloud (or in your head) before you walk in the door... "God, guide me to the right place with the right purpose.  And bless all the people who are doing their best to worship you in this place today."  Pretty easy...no smiting involved.  And if you have prayed for all the people doing their best to worship, you've prayed for yourself and thus started off on the right foot.  

#4

How to Decide

• It will take some time.  Visit a couple of times, if you still feel out of place, visit somewhere else. When you feel relatively comfortable after a couple visits, go to the next step.
• Get involved in the life and ministry of the congregation.  Worship isn't enough.  It is essential, but not enough.  You also need to meet the people, learn the practices and values of the congregation.  
• Don't be afraid to admit that you don't know everything...or that you don't know anything.  You'd be surprised how many people never get involved in the life of a congregation because they "don't know enough."  The irony is, not being involved because you don't know enough means you will never learn anything.  
• As you learn, ask more questions.  Talk with the church leadership about what makes sense or what doesn't.  Ask why.  If a church doesn't want to answer questions or the answers go against everything that makes sense to you, move on.  Start the process over.  It will take some time.
• Don't assume all churches are the same.  They aren't.  Also don't assume only one church will meet your needs.  God will surprise you with new insights and practices that grow your faith, even when you have had to leave a church you love.  
• Don't ever, ever assume that churches are perfect.  They are composed of human beings, fallible, sinful, human beings.  They try their best; sometimes they do better than other times.  The question becomes not, "Are they perfect?" but "Are they deliberately depending on God, trying to respect each other, loving each other as God loves us, and being faithful followers to the very best of their ability?"  God doesn't call perfect people into God's church.  God is perfectly faithful to God's people.
• Listen to God.  You will have a feeling...a draw...to a congregation.  It may or may not make sense.  One of my daughters was drawn to a congregation with no young adults...when she was a young adult.  Seemed like the logical place would be a congregation with young adults.  But, she joined anyway.  It wasn't a bad experience in any way...just confusing to be drawn to a church that didn't have what you thought you needed.  At the end of her graduate school time, she decided to serve a year as a young adult volunteer in mission.  She had to raise her own funding for the year.  That church had enough money to fund her year.  I don't know another church that could have done that, but apparently God knew where to place her to give her the experience and the resources she need to serve God's purposes.  Be ready to be used by God.  It will happen, even if you've never been a church member before.  

So, there's a start if you want to find a church.  I've probably left out a bunch.  Any other suggestions would be welcome.  But do it...God has a place just for you...and there's a remarkable thought.  

Science and Faith...

Deep theological/philosophical question of the day...

A scientist, studying the causes, progressions, cures for disease (or anything other kind of scientist, frankly) deals with mystery.  Perhaps the cause is mystery.  Perhaps the cure.  Perhaps the function of cells or proteins are a mystery.  But you assume that what you don't know is real, has something to teach, something to explore.  You also, unless you are psycho, accept that you usually work on a small piece of the whole picture.  No one person, no one experiment enables an understanding of the whole picture.  Sometimes, breakthroughs happen science achieves a quantum leap in understanding (think mapping the human genome or the discovery of the polio vaccine), but typically, the work of science is slogging through daily details, working and studying for the promise of enlightenment at some level.

Why, then, assume that the journey of faith, the relationship with God is different.  Why the beginning assumption (by many) that God/isn't real because God can't immediately be seen, because humans understand this faith thing in small pieces.  Occasionally, we get a quantum leap.  I think Moses bringing the Hebrew people out of Egypt and into the identity of a "people of God" was one.  I think Jesus was one.  Spending a week learning that homeless people are people first was one for me. Mostly, though, the faith journey is daily details, working and studying for the promise of understanding, the way to make our world better for all people.  It is never about the individual.  God's work and understanding is always for the whole world.

I, for one, would like to stand up for a celebrated life of faith, living in a mystery greater and more powerful than any science.  We don't always get the practice right.  But attempting to understand and serve as God works to bring reconciliation and wholeness to all people is a choice worth making.

It's Not a Secret...

Occasionally, there occur these moments during the worship of God that are so amazing we really should just say Amen! and go home.  We don't usually, of course, but perhaps we should.

All the children came up for the Easter children's sermon, a wiggling mass of small humanity eager to see what wisdom their adult has on this particular day.  The adult, knowing he really doesn't possess the magical wisdom expected, begins to sweat as he faces the crowd.

So, the adult announces he has a story to tell...and though he tells lots of stories...this one is "really true."  He saw the women coming from the tomb. They said Jesus was not there..."He is risen!"  The women were right...Jesus was risen!  This was such big news, he says, that it changed the world...and changed all the people who know Jesus was risen.  So they begin to greet each other with the phrase...He is Risen!  It was kind of like a "secret handshake."  If the person they greeted was also a follower of Jesus, they would reply "He is Risen, Indeed!"  Let's try it out, says the adult...secret handshake...here we go...

Walks up to the first child, sticks out hand, says "The Lord is Risen!"  Coaches the child to respond, "He is Risen, Indeed!"  Great says the adult...let's try it again.  Done.  Third time he says "secret handshake"... third kid replies with great exasperation..."It's not a secret any more."

So what can you say?  Absolutely true...it's not a secret any more!  This kid was a theological genius, speaking what we so often forget.  It's not a secret any more!

We still often act like it is...we don't talk about our faith.  We don't give credit for resurrection/rebirth/ reconciliation where credit is due...preferring to recognize our own ability when things go well, and reserving the right to blame God when things go poorly.  I've often wondered what happened in the first century when the greeting was extended, but not returned by the other person.  Did they get "huh?"  or "crazy Christians" or some other even less enthusiastic response...like "I'm reporting you to the authorities!"

The bottom line is it really doesn't matter what the response is.  The phrase "The Lord is Risen" is way more than a secret handshake, way more than a greeting between two Christians.  It is a fundamental reshaping of the whole world...whether the world is ready or willing or not.  It shakes the very foundations of our existence, those that say money is power, power is ours, we are the most important, look out for number one, might makes right...and on and on. "The Lord is Risen" means God wins...that all other powers and principalities are put on notice that God's will will be accomplished, that their days of assumed control are numbered.

The Lord is Risen.  It is a dangerous phrase.  Use it carefully.  It changes the world, beginning with the person who voices it.

The Lord is Risen...He is Risen Indeed.

Easter...

Darkness
      descends
           into
                 solitude.

 A silver kiss.

Inescapable evil...
Thieving companions 

Crossing to death. 

Love
       ripping through law
       light behind stone
       emptiness fulfilling 

Promise of Easter!

O Love...

I long for Easter in the broadest possible sense of the word. I really want God to usher in God's Kingdom and end the endless discussions about what we can't do to make a more just world. We can't possibly solve all the world's problems; we can't even solve our own. We can't raise the minimum wage, provide health care, stop abortion, get out of wars, effectively teach our children.....the can'ts just go on and on and on. There's a reason, always, why we can't. Just heard this morning that we can't get worker's comp insurance (as a church) unless we also have terrorism insurance. (Believe me, many think there are terrorists in every church, but it usually involves the color of the hymnals or the placement of the candles!)

I long for Easter. I ache for a time when seminary classes on grief and struggle doesn't have to be offered. I yearn for a time that families aren't so busy and stressed that they feel they can't worship because one more thing will push them over the edge. I long for nations that work for the good of their people, all their people, instead of their leader's own political power. I want schools in which all children are well fed, well loved, and well supported. I long for Easter, for that time when "justice will roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream." (Amos 5:24)

The season of Lent just intensifies the longing. Holy Week, this year seems to remind me again and again that we can't...we. just. can't. The world, offered God's Kingdom in service, healing, and wholeness in Jesus, said, "We can't."  "You can't." The end. Giving up whatever little piece of power we held in the first century, whether it was religious power or political power, social power or even just our place in the family...it was too different, too radical. We can't.  Our unwillingness to "can" ended in the cross, then and now. We can't give up more of our hard-earned dollars to support other people. We can't give up our place in the world power structure, even if it bankrupts us economically or morally. We, the people of God, still crucify God's Kingdom on the crosses of our can'ts...every. single. day.

It's a quite a wonder that God didn't just decide "I can't." Can't save these people. Can't love them. Can't encourage them to turn away from their bad choices, or the not so bad choices that still separate them from living in my Kingdom. I still make the case every year that when Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane "Take this cup from me..." that God said OK...come on home, and we'll leave this mess to those who made it.  But that's not the story, and the one thing we can't do, no matter how hard we try, is change the story of God's deep and transforming love. That we can't escape, no matter what.

A visceral reminder of this "can't" surfaced yesterday as I listened to a choral rendition of an old hymn...one of those hymns that, some will tell you, holds no message or meaning for the modern church.   But in all the can'ts that slow the Kingdom from coming...this message is one we can't ignore.  Hear it sung if you want, but pay attention to the words comparing God's work to ours...they will get you through the mess of Holy Week and anchor your joy in the promise of Easter.

O love that wilt not let me go, I rest my weary soul in Thee; I give Thee back the life I owe, that in Thine ocean depths its flow may richer, fuller be. 

O light that followest all my way, I yield my flickering torch to Thee; My heart restores its borrowed ray, that in Thy sunshine's blaze its day may brighter, fairer be.

O joy that seekest me through pain, I cannot close my heart to Thee; I trace the rainbow through the rain, and feel the promise is not vain, that morn shall fearless be.

O cross that liftest up my head, I dare not ask to fly from Thee; I lay in dust, life's glory dead, and from the ground there blossoms red, life that shall endless be. 

 

Tell the Story...

Bruce Feiler told a story in the New York Times last week...from his latest book.  Seems that children who know the family "story" are more secure, better adjusted, and more successful.  Two months after this initial research, the Twin Towers were destroyed.  Following up on the research proved again that children who knew the family story were better able to cope.  The researchers "Do You Know Scale" measures 20 questions like: Do you know where your grandparents grew up?  Do you know where your mom and dad went to high school?  Do you know where your parents met?  Do you know of something terrible that happened in your family?  Do you know the story of your birth?

Kids who see themselves as part of a larger story, part of a longer tradition, have better abilities to deal with real life (the researchers say it far more eloquently, of course).  This ability to answer 20 questions about your family is "the best single predictor of children's emotional health and happiness."

There are different family narratives, some positive, some negative.  The strongest families have an "oscillating" narrative--one that acknowledges problems as well as positives.  And all this got me thinking...

We, the family of faith, also have a narrative.  And that narrative places us in an even larger, more remarkable, family context.  Just like family stories get interpreted in different ways, so do the stories of the family of God. Sometimes the story gets told in all negative terms...all the terrible things people did and how God had to punish the people, ultimately sending and killing his Son to pay some price for the sin of the world.  Yuck.

Or, there's the all positive narrative.  Just become part of the family of God...believe-in-the-Lord-Jesus-Christ-as-your-personal-Lord-and-Savior and everything will be wonderful.  Of course, things are seldom all "wonderful," so the narrative then goes "well, clearly you didn't believe right, or hard enough, or do the right things."  The family of God struggles to live in an impossible standard, hiding the difficulties of life because they don't fit in the narrative. Yuck.

And there's the narrative I read.  The family of God does some things well, and some things not so well.  David is chosen by God and anointed King of Israel...but there's this adultery thing with another man's wife.  Not so good.  The Exodus story...powerful narrative of God hearing the cries of God's people and bringing them out of slavery.  But as soon as God's people escape the cruelty of the Pharaoh and find themselves in a new place, they begin to grouse and complain that God has brought them out "to die."  Things were definitely better in Egypt...making those bricks wasn't so bad.  At least they had food to eat.

It's pretty easy for us to read those stories and lament the shortsightedness of the people--failing, of course to see our own shortsighted behaviors in the present.  But the biblical narrative addresses that, too.  This incredible story, this narrative, tells us that our earliest ancestors grew up in a state of perfect relationship with God...a very brief state.  We didn't respond well to the opportunity to live that way, preferring the attempt to be gods over the ability to be with God.  But, we see through the whole story, that God never abandons us to our ridiculous ambitions.  God continues to teach and protect, guide and work toward reconciliation and redemption of the whole creation.

Do you know of something terrible that happened in your family?  Sure.  Exile, wilderness, crucifixion.  And through it all, God continues to teach and protect guide and work toward reconciliation and redemption of the whole creation.

Do you know the story of your birth?  The baptism that happens before we are able to respond to God in any way, the baptism that marks our sorry, sinful selves as beloved children of God.  The baptism that assures us, in spite of the brokenness that is so deep we cannot escape, that God will continue to teach and protect, guide and work toward reconciliation and redemption of the whole creation.  The baptism that sets us apart, not as special and above creation, but as children of the family of creation charged to tell God's story so that others can answer the questions.  It is in this hessed, this steadfast, unfailing love that God brings to the table, that "we live and move and have our being."  It is this narrative that, even for human families broken beyond repair, is the narrative that offers a meaningful, purposeful life, an ability to deal with all the challenges of simply being human, a connection to the overwhelming grace of a loving God.

So, let's play 20 questions...

Called...

Occasionally I hear a media report that jerks me out of the toothpaste reverie and send me into a tirade in my head.  This morning, NPR receives the honor as the local station interviews a local boy about a Facebook Random Act of Kindness page.  Now I don't really have a problem with a random act of kindness, we could use more of that in the world.

What got my attention was the language used in the interview about "call."  The creators of this page hope that as others hear stories of people doing good, they will feel "called" to do the same.

That, my friends, is God language.  God calls.  It is, as far as I can tell, a concept unique to the Jewish and Christian faith.  (Though I admit, a PhD in World Religions is not part of my arsenal, so I would be interested if other religions have this language as part of their literature or practice.)  Moses was called by God.  Old Testament prophets have call stories.  Paul has a call story.  God identifies, and specifically charges humans with tasks to be accomplished in partnership with God's intentions, with God's plan for reconciliation.  We understand that each of us has a call, but more often today God works through community and text in communicating our call--I'm not aware of many nighttime visions and/or burning bushes.

So, while I would never stop people from doing random acts of kindness, I do want to be clear that God calls us to love our neighbors as ourselves.  And in pointing to our understanding that all good comes from God (in nice ways, of course--no beating people about the head with the Bible, you could hurt someone!), and in claiming that call language as part of what God's people have always done (imperfectly, granted, but FB's not going to be perfect either!), we publicly claim what God is doing as. God's. doing.

I am sure God can call someone to a random act of kindness who is not attending a church, or claiming to be a practicing Christian or Jew.  Positive.  But I won't let go of the reality that all good comes from God., or that God is constantly calling us to that good.  And, really, there's no "random" act.  If we are answering our call, our acts of kindness aren't random.  They have purpose and meaning because they are our response to God's invitation to participate with God in bringing about God's kingdom.

Finally, visiting the FB page you see a lot of "smiling and being kind through the day,"  giving someone a few dollars to pay for groceries they didn't have enough money for," "paying for the car behind you in a toll line," "being generous in traffic," and so on.  My favorite comment is the first one when I visited the site--"just show everyone how simple it can be."  And perhaps it is simple if you are dropping a few extra coins that you have or smiling at the stranger in the post office line. But God's call to "love God and neighbor" is really not simple at all.  God's call asks what part we play in creating a society in which some working parents don't have enough money to pay for groceries.  God's call asks us what part we play in the traffic jam and resulting pollution, frustration, and perhaps even family harm because we spend hours commuting.  God's call is a call to shalom, the peace and wholeness, health and welfare of the whole of creation.  And that, as you know, is not a simple task.

So, I'm really not grumpy that people are going to make a point to be nice. But I want a tight hold on the idea of call.  It belongs to God.  Facebook can borrow it, but it belongs to God.

January 2 seems to be a good day to finish the unfinished and move on.  Apologies to readers at the lack of posting last year.  Creative energies seemed to go in a different direction...mostly creating inches around my waistline apparently, but that is for another blog.  

The "test" that originated the answers enumerated grew out of a conversation at Montreat...thus the ensuing "we will check your answers when we get home" comment.  The five questions were:

1. How many sins does it take to make you a sinner?
2. How many good things should you do to make up for your sins?
3. Are you a good person?
4. What do you need to do to become a good person?
5. What can you do to live more like God would want?

The only one not previously answered in the blog is number 5...and the answer, again, waffles sufficiently to make us thoroughly reformed.  One the one side, we can really do nothing.  On the other, we can do much.

The nothing side takes us back to the sinful muck in which we are mired, and the fatal expectation that by following a set of rules or defining correct thoughts and actions for all time, we can somehow make ourselves good.  We can't.  The very act of trying to define what would make us good and then judging ourselves and others against that criteria is quintessentially playing God.  

But, that is not to say we do not have choices to make about our behaviors.  Take, for example, the Ten Commandments that our friend the rich young ruler (see previous post) took so seriously.  When God established the nation of Israel as God's "people" through whom God would provide blessing for the world, the idea was that living by the commandments would enable us to be the people of God--and that our behaviors would indicate we were different (in the most positive way).  Didn't actually turn out that way because we are so very bad at it.  But we already went down that street.

The Commandments, in a rather amazing way, reveal God's identity.  They are not just who we are to be, they reflect who God is.  In choosing to follow the commandments, we are invited to be where God is.  Honor your father and mother...that's where God is to be found.  Not killing...find God again.  No idols...hello, God.  

But, we find an even more clearly defined, knowable revelation of God in Jesus.  That is another path to follow...and Jesus starts with the commandments, though without the detailed twists we humans put on them--like not healing the broken on Sabbath.  The willingness to suffer for others, the working for justice and inclusion, that's again what we learn about where God is and what God does.  It's not easy, and it goes far beyond just "thinking" that Jesus is Lord.  Being "good" requires following.  

We are called to follow...not judge...ourselves or others.  The judgment is up to God.  So we follow and trust, learning and growing in community and we let God make us good as God will.  

Don't know if that is good news or not...but I think it is the message we have received.  So the test is over, the new year begins.  I promise to be more faithful whether anyone is reading or not.  I kind of missed being about to look back over a year's worth of posts to see what happened and where we were--though I supposed the lack of posts is revealing as well, if you want to get philosophical about it...which I don't.  

Questions #3 and 4...

These two are closely related and so get double billing.

Question 3:  Are you a good person?
Question 4: What do you need to do to become a good person?

Most of us like to think we are good people.  And most of us get offended if others consider us not good.  I remember a friend telling me that a church in her community put her on their prayer list because they were concerned about her "goodness."  Ouch.  None of us like that.

And, who are we to decide other people aren't good?  Are only Christians good?  Who decides?  On what basis?  What happens to "bad" people?  Do we want to go there?

Begin with the definition of terms.  If we are talking theological understandings of who God is and who we are--and we need to understand that if we are the people of God--then we are talking the theological definition of "good."  It has to do with sin and sinlessness,  not whether we are nice people.  Most of the people I know are nice.  Most of us try not to be offensive and to play well with others.  After all, we learned that in Kindergarten.  A friend of a friend posted her kindergartener's learnings in his first two weeks.  Week one:  Don't cut yourself with scissors.  Week two:  Don't cut other people with scissors.  That about says it all.  That's what it means to be nice...but even total restraint from scissor-cutting does not make us good.  

When Jesus is asked by the rich, young man what it takes to be good, Jesus says "only God is good."  (Matthew 19) This young man worked hard at doing the right things, at following the laws--which probably made him a pretty nice person.  In his own estimation, he was a pretty darn good Jew...not an easy accomplishment.  But he didn't even get a pat on the back from Jesus...only this worthy-of-a-politician-statement that "only God is good."

What makes us good?  Well, frankly, being nice to each other ought to go a long way!  The nice young man thought he had dedicated his life to eliminating sin by following the law.  Why would that not make him good?  Well, the young man challenges, which commands am I supposed to be keeping?  Jesus summarizes.  The young man insists, "I have kept all these."  (SCORE!)  And Jesus says, "If you wish to be perfect (also translated merciful or compassionate), sell your possessions and give the money to the poor...then come and follow me."  Oops.

The very nice, rich, young man is not, after all, good.  You could list his reasons for not selling his possessions.  He earned them.  He can do more good if he keeps them.  Those people will just waste the resources.  He doesn't want to be a burden on someone else.  It's not fair.  Whatever.  But the bottom line is Jesus knew that the money was his real focus.  Keeping the commandments was easy for him.  Being poor was hard.  He wanted to be a nice, rich person, not a good poor person.

And the bottom line for each of us is that there is always something that will keep us from being good because we are not God.  And there is the answer to question 4...what can we do to make ourselves good?  Nothing. If we as individuals could, maybe, possibly, be good by following law, being completely unselfish, living in full relationship with God as Jesus did...even if we might, possibly, could...we live in a world so deep in sin that we really can't escape it.  Does an oppressed worker anywhere make an article of clothing or morsel of food that we consume?  Do any of our actions result in oppression, whether we know it or not?  as a racial group?  a political group?  a nationality?  And lest we think that perhaps living alone as a hermit as many early Christians did to escape sin, is the avoidance of relationship not another sinful behavior?  Well, we will just hang out with other good people--which leads to judgment--and we're back to sin.

What's a nice person to do?  and where do we go from here...

Next.

Answer # 2

Question #2 is "How many good things should you do to make up for your sin?"

Answer:  None.  You can't make up for your sins by doing good things.  Not to say that doing good things is not a good idea.  But if you think about it, you really can't "make up for your sins."  For one thing, how do you decide what makes up for what sin?  Some churches have developed elaborate calculations to accomplish this.  But if we are in the business of determining what makes up for our sins, and then assigning or accomplishing it, haven't we made ourselves God?

Or, going down a different road...if you are "doing something" to make up for a sin, are you really doing it in the mind-set or with the heart you need to do it sincerely?  When we fought as kids, my mom made us "kiss and make up" instead of fight.  Believe me, I did what she said, but what I really wanted to do was continue fighting with my sister.  I had not yet straightened her out so she could enthusiastically adopt my position!  I still had work to do, for Pete's sake!!!!

When we said "I'm sorry," that made everything all better?  Whether our sin is a tiny infraction or a major, horrible act, how on earth can we "make up" for what we have done?

Addiction programs teach us to make amends for the wrongs we have committed.  That's a good thing. We need to make amends, probably more often than we would like to admit.  But making amends is not "making up for" our wrongdoing.

One more thought...if it is possible to make up for our sins, and if we are responsible for so doing, we spend (or should spend) a great deal of time and energy figuring out what we should do, trying to do it to the best of our ability, then constantly evaluating and second-guessing whether or not we achieved "making up." If the point of making up for our sins is to put us back into relationship with God and with each other, have we actually done that?  Or have we become incessantly and obsessively focused on the sin and the punishment instead of the relationships we were trying to mend?  Where has God gone in the equation?  And what if the person refuses to accept our "make up" efforts?  What then?

We simply can't make up for our sins by doing good things.  So what do we do?  We answer question #3.

Answer # 1...

I know why we don't have these conversations often...they are difficult and go deep into struggling with who God is and who we are.  It's much more convenient, and easier, to decide what "we" think based on our experience and who we think God should be.  Truth is, that's not always who God reveals Godself to be.  What is revealed about God very often calls us to a humility that is most uncomfortable and a life that is most challenging...which leads us right back to a humility that is most uncomfortable.

I have to say, though, that exploring this deeply and really struggling with the issues this semester, I find myself (for the first time, yes...) willing to fully accept my utter sinfulness and that has put me in a most interesting place of peace and confidence.  I invite your feedback and conversation with these questions.

One caveat.  I am still learning the language.  You know how when you learn a new skill or get a new insight that you feel it more completely than you can say it?  The saying is taking some practice, but I've decided that if we wait until I am completely practiced in saying it, it might be well past the point I am able to blog!

So question #1 is:
How many sins does it take to be a sinner?

Answer:  1

This is certainly the easiest question (all the more reason to start there!).  Every one of us who took the test got this one.  How many sins does it take to be a sinner?  One.  How many have you committed?  ummmmmm......

But my question, then, is the question of original sin.  Are we born sinful?  or good in God's image?  And I believe we are born good, however, we are born into a thick, inescapable mire of sinful society.  (Think politics on steroids...)  And we cannot escape it on our own, no matter how hard we try.

In fact, the very irony of trying becomes our undoing.  We decide we are not going to commit our pet sin...insert yours here.  We have to try hard not to commit that sin...after all, it is our favorite.  And we really do want to be good people...so we try even harder not to commit that sin.  And immediately, as we are focused on our sin, we have forgotten our God.  We are so focused on the law that we forget the lawgiver.  And that, is itself, a sin.  Darn...hear that sucking sound?  That's our "goodness" circling the drain...

I had this picture of a newborn, loving family, determined to do everything in their power to nurture this child...to preserve the "goodness" with which the child was born.  And bringing the child home from the hospital, dressed in a precious little outfit...the kind that makes intelligent people speak in high-pitched, sugary, cooing sounds...the shoes that come with that little outfit are made in a sweat shop in a third world country, or perhaps sold in a small business that can't hire full-time people because they can't afford benefits, or perhaps sold in a mega-big-box-store whose deliberate business practice builds profits on the backs of underpaid workers.  I don' t think wearing the shoes makes this newborn an immediate sinner, but the sucking sound never goes away...it's just a matter of time.

So, how many sins does it take to be a sinner?  One.  And how many have you committed?  And with that recognition, we immediately need answers to the next questions...coming soon...

Biblical Marriage Laws...

Deep in a drawer in the church office, my colleague finds what looks to be a newspaper clipping titled "Ask Mr. Bible."  It may have been part of a curriculum or a study...no idea really but the author, exploring the biblical texts to codify the definition of marriage for a proposed constitutional amendment says "here show marriage will look if the U.S. Constitution is amended to fully embrace the original "Biblical principles" based on readings of the Holy Bible:

1. Marriage in the United States shall consist of a union between one man and one or more women. (Gen. 29:17-28, II Samuel 3:2-5)
2. Marriage shall not impede a man's right to take concubines in addition to his wife or wives. (II Samuel 5:13, I Kings 11:3, II Chronicles 11:21)
3. A marriage shall be considered valid only if the wife is a virgin.  If the wife is not a virgin, she shall be executed. (Deuteronomy 22:13-21)
4. Marriage of a believer and a non-believer shall be forbidden. (Genesis 24:3, Numbers 25:1-9, Ezra 9:12, Nehemiah 10:30)
5. Since marriage is for life, no federal or state Constitution nor law, call be construed to permit divorce. (Deuteronomy 22:19, Mark 10:9)
6. If a married man dies without children, his brother shall marry the widow.  If he refuses to marry his brother's widow or deliberately does not give her children, he shall pay a fine of one shoe. (Genesis 38:6-190, Deuteronomy 25:5-10)

Anyone want to pass this along to their legislators?  

A test for you all...the youth will be checking on your answers when we get home.

1. How many sins does it take to make you a sinner?
2. How many good things should you do to make up for your sins?
3. Are you a good person?
4. What do you need to do to become a good person?
5. What can you do to live more like God would want?

In one of our communion liturgies we speak a phrase:

Lord God, as we come to share the richness of your table, we cannot forget the rawness of the earth.

Oh, but we can...and we do.  I fully intended to blog on the mission trip week, but they completely exhausted us with the heat and the schedule...but mostly the "rawness of the earth" with which we were expected to interact.  When we finally did get home, fix supper and clean up, "collapse" was the only verb we could remember or use.  Gratitude was the noun.  For our accommodations, which would have sent the Travelocity Gnome into hyper-drive, were kingly compared to our brothers and sisters on the streets with no respite from the hunger or the heat.

The layers of issues surrounding hunger and homelessness can certainly create hopelessness.  Addiction is a problem.  Poor choices abound.  But...or should I say BUT...we have forgotten to address the people in our rush to talk about/condemn the issues.  We met a man who became homeless at 51.  Having been addicted to crack cocaine for a very long time, our assumption might be that it was bound to happen...that he deserved what he got because of his choices...that those of us making good/right/smart choices shouldn't be expected to pick up his pieces.

Except.  Except we cannot forget the rawness of the earth.  This gentleman...this gentle man...grew up in a middle class home, in a middle class neighborhood.  His father left the family when he was a child.  His mother, assuming that the middle class lifestyle was the "right thing" for her three children, worked two full time jobs in order to keep their house and feed her children.  What our gentle friend missed was "parenting."  When he graduated from high school in 1972, he got a great job in construction, made good money, and was able to care for himself.

Except.  Except we cannot forget the rawness of the earth.  He had no life skills.  He had no idea how to save money, invest, or budget.  He had little moral center; like most young adults, the primary motivating factor in his life was "fun."  His greatest strength, what he describes as "softness," what I would describe as empathy, was judged by his peers a weakness and he learned to fight instead. The community he so craved as a child, having to wait until he was 13 and could cross the street to reach the group of teens that hung out there, was the community that introduced him to pot.  That community, another group of kids who had little supervision, the "fun" community of his young adulthood, brought the cocaine into his life.  "It's great.  Try it.  It'll be fun."

We cannot forget the rawness of the earth.  What makes this man different from the Kennedy kids that used drugs?  from the kids in my church and my neighborhood?  from my own child?  Because we, mostly, have connections, resources, guidance.  We had the financial means to have good insurance for rehab, for education, for lawyers, and for second chances.  We have communities that hang in there with us even when we are hanging ourselves.

We cannot forget the rawness of the earth...except when we are at the richness of the table.  Our tables are indeed rich.  Think yours is not?  Where are you looking?  If I look at Mitt Romney's life, then my Ikea table looks pretty plain indeed.  If I look at the life of the homeless, my table is exquisite.  Even our communion tables are rich for those of us at the table.  Are we set apart in our own minds or in our tradition as special, saved, redeemed?  God certainly loves us, of that we are certain.  God could love those homeless as well if they could get their act together and come into the church and share the table with us.  Maybe some day.  In the meantime, we congratulate ourselves on our hard work and achievement, on our luck and deserving rewards.  In the meantime, we can sit back and judge ourselves worthy and others scandalously "lazy" or "troubled" or any other adjective that describes their underserving selves.

Except.  Except...as the people of God, gifted with grace and redemption through none of our own doing or deserving...

Except...as the people of God, called to participate with God in the bringing of God's kingdom into the here and now...and God's kingdom doesn't include homeless or hungry for any reason...

Except...as the people of God seated at the richness of God's table, we cannot forget the rawness of the earth...having been fed, we must do something.

In an interesting NPR piece on "the American Dream" this morning, we heard the story of a young man who managed to escape the poverty and disadvantage into which he was born.  A professor brought up the idea of living "the American Dream" in a study of Death of a Salesman.  The dream was defined as "You can come from the bottom, and with hard work and dedication, you'll get a nice house, a nice car and enough money for your kids to go to school."

I won't even rant about living wage, or the devastating effects of unexpected chronic illness, or any number of other possible discussions.

My thought was pretty simple this morning.  Is "a nice house, a nice car, and enough money for your kids to go to school" really our best American dream--especially all those of us who celebrate living in a "Christian" nation?  

So Jesus sits on the Mount of Olives and teaches the crowds.  "The Kingdom of God is 'a nice house, a nice car, and enough money for your kids to go to school.'"

"Your old men will see visions and your young men will dream dreams" (the Pentecost story in Acts). Some dream we have here...a nice house, a nice car, and enough money for your kids to go to school.  
Yeah, that'll preach.

Apologies...

I fully intended, after I apologized for the unintentional sabbatical from blogging, to take an intentional sabbatical until August.  Despite the fact that it looks like when my friend Frank "followed" the blog, I stopped writing, I just have struggled with time and inspiration.  I would think of something to blog, and by the time I got to the computer, I couldn't remember what I thought about, or it didn't seem important any more.

I just preached a sermon on Jesus in the wilderness...there are all kinds of wilderness journeys we take as people of faith.  I suppose "failure to blog" might be one of them.

Now that I'm here, I am bit more inspired and a bit less overwhelmed.  Guess the journey out of wilderness starts one step at a time.  If I can't maintain something weekly, I promise I'll let you know and come back in August.

May grace and peace envelop us on our journey...

Happy Easter...

Be warned.  This is not you typical Easter blog.  (If you are easily offended, I apologize in advance and suggest you read something else today.)

I was looking for an image for our website page and just had a moment of understanding about why those who are not heavily active in the church think we are crazy.

So, there's the resurrected Jesus with a stick (to keep away flies?  disciples?  sinners?  or is it just the most fashionable accessory of the day?) who shows the divine ability to tie the most perfect sash...while, or course, keeping his manhood perfectly represented.

We may also have just the first hint of the greatness of disco, carried on by the white-suited,  finger-pointing, staying-alive interpretation of John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever.  The only thing they got wrong was the day of the week.

 Or, there's the blondish man (I can only assume blue eyes as well) who truly shows the resurrection power as a poor dark-skinned and eyed, first-century Jewish peasant becomes the white European savior everyone can respect.

(What he's expecting from the woman is up for discussion.)  I particularly like the southern style pink azaleas, the lovely framing of the door of the tomb, and the perfectly honed eternity circle of the stone.  Do I hear Architectural Digest anyone?

There's a whole series of Jesus the Friendly Ghost pictures.  Floating in and around graves, weirdly lighted, assisted by angels in some, transparent...our imaginations run wild.  Not very biblical, however, for not many show the "this isn't a ghost" aspect of the conversation.  

Resurrection as Hallmark slogan...

Resurrection as volcanic activity...

Resurrection as video game...

It's no wonder the phrase I hear most often from non-churched friends is Zombie Sunday.  We really need to 1) figure this out and 2) be able to articulate it and live it effectively...

Solutions to the puzzle of Easter will be accepted through the Easter season...or failing that, other really bad pictures that are fun may be posted...

SIn...

Happy title, huh.

I've been thinking a good bit about sin.  It is, after all, Lent.  It is also political season--and the two things go together in my head.  There seems no better way to illustrate the pervasiveness of sin than to follow political campaigns.  Either the politicians are pointing out the sins of the "other," or their own shortcomings just keep glaring through.  

I read a great column by Frank Bruni about a college friend, deeply Catholic, and his journey through his own real life and faith journey, ending ultimately in not believing in God (who allows misery and suffering), but who today lives a rather remarkable life of Christian discipleship (even while holding to his atheism).

In this man's experience as a person and eventually a doctor, abortions have historically been a step women take--with or without legal approval.  There are times in a woman's life that having a child is unthinkable.  So this former Catholic, with deep contemplation on the scripture and life, performs abortions at a clinic every week as a service to women.  To do so, he contends with all the "stuff" you would expect--protesters, violence, etc.  

He tells a story at the end of the article about a woman always at the protests.  She scaled a ladder so she could be seen above the rest.  She was passionate and unmoveable in her belief that abortion was wrong in every circumstance.  She judged all who entered as the same "loose, unprincipled" people--shouting "murderer" at the doctors and "whore" at the women.  

The doc continues the story of the day the woman wasn't on her ladder.  He noticed her absence.  What he didn't expect was to find her in his examination room, awaiting an abortion.  She "didn't have the money for a baby right now," and "her relationship wasn't where it should be."  She received what she requested without judgment and with compassion.  And I quote the article, "A week later, she was back on her ladder."

I am struck again and again in so many places and in so many ways at the human inability to recognize sinful behavior in ourselves.  It's a bit hard to understand why we can't see it in ourselves.  We are utterly expert in seeing it in others.  The biblical text reminds us that even when no sin is there (healing people on the Sabbath, for example) we create it.  When sin dwells in us, we deflect it.  When sin overwhelms, we ask God why it hasn't been taken care of.  

For a long time, pastors and theologians swung so far to the "sin" side that we forgot our "created good" side.  I think the pendulum is swinging back to the opposite side of the arc.  We have so remembered our "good" side that only God could be "bad" and only the "other" could be sinful.  We are created good, in the image of the God who loves us more than we can imagine and who chooses to partner with us to change the world.  But until we can see our own shortcomings realistically and see others's shortcomings compassionately, we're just going to crawl back up on our ladders and nothing will be accomplished.  

Tribal Peoples...

It's easy to let the head shake back and forth and the mind assume that we, who live is such a "civilized" place are so much better than those fighting tribal wars in Afganistan or Sudan.  Tongues click and lips purse as we watch their silly wars, wondering when or if just a few might "grow up" and choose to treat each other as real people with the same basic needs--regardless of tribal affiliation.

And then we are reminded, most recently (like, Sunday morning) by Jonathan Haidt, that we function out of the same tribal craziness...we just have resisted picking up guns and directly killing each other.  (We are doing it more slowly...coming at it from less angles that aren't as clear, but are every bit as destructive.)

The tribal craziness in Afganistan creates populations who act against their own self-interest, not to mention the interest of others (a tenet that this Christian nation has all but forgotten, and one that most other religions here also practice, including Islam and Judaism).  We can see it in others, but in ourselves, we have a blind spot that obliterates all but our preferred television newscaster.  We gravitate to positions that agree with our own.  We avoid all perspectives that disagree with us.  Or, we listen to them, but only through those who will tear them down, ridicule the positions and all those who hold them.

Where does faith play in this story?  Surely God's story is not one one side or the other.  If we insist on placing God on a side...it is probably the bottom side of all the issues.  God always sides with the poor and the outcast.  Is there a way to live into God's ideal and together grow up and treat each other as real people with real needs, regardless of our tribal affiliations?  I guess we have to admit affiliations first.  Then grow up.  Good thing we get to live into God's hope here.  Otherwise, it might feel pretty hopeless.

Goodbye Friends...

I loved the leaving from Mexico.  The departure was late, no surprise.  The weather was windy...inevitably bumpy for take-off.  The hour was early.  But...these three guys who were shepherding the plane into take-off position, they did their work with their orange light-sabres...and then they just stood there.  We are sitting on the tarmac waiting to "go" and they are standing there looking at the plane.  A couple of them are chatting; the third is just standing, looking at the plane.  

It was curious.  I wondered if they didn't have better things to do.  But there they stood.

And then when the engines revved and the plane began to move, they gave us a little salute and waved good-bye.  How cool is that?

Workable Compromise...

Quoting Annie Dillard:  "there seems to be only one business at hand--that of finding workable compromise between the sublimity of our ideas and the absurdity of the fact of us." (Teaching a Stone to Talk)

Outwardly, this visit to Mexico yields a culture focused more on relationships than things, a slower, more connected culture.  Inwardly...watch people in large groups with each other, or in meetings that revolve around money and/or power and we are all the same.  No matter the nationality, no matter the priorities, no matter the issue, I think Dillard hits the nail on the head.

..."there seems to be only one business at hand--that of finding workable compromise between the sublimity of our ideas and the absurdity of the fact of us."

Lord, have mercy...

Life and Death...

The entertainment at noon was the slaughter of three bulls.  Actually, two cows and a bull, but who's being picky.  The event tomorrow--the dedication of a clinic to serve the Tzeltal people of Ocosingo, Mexico--is a three bull event.  That means 2500 paper plates and napkins, a boatload of rice and beans, and women making tortillas literally all day today.

Two of the bovines were killed before we got to our perch on the upstairs porch of our "apartment" (another story).  The third was being dragged/coaxed/beaten out of the field and into the shade for slaughter.  Every time the cow moved, the men would whoop and whistle and she/he would stop and dig in his/her hooves or simply lay down.  Kept thinking "what would Temple Grandin say?"

Two bovines were artfully skinned and cut into pieces.  The meat was taken to the outdoor kitchen where women from local churches will prepare it for tomorrow's feast.  The third portion of tomorrow's feast was tied tightly, laid on his/her side, and prepared for a slit throat...a necessary way to kill when you don' t have something to hang the meat on for the blood to drain out.  Everyone working on carcasses paused when time came for the kill.  My son got the honors...probably more to be laughed at, but he was willing and excited.  FYI, cow hide is very tough.  It takes muscle to break skin.  (His Facebook comment, "I know I can't stab through a belt, but for some reason I thought when it was on the cow it would be like butter.")

After the initial laughter over Adam's surprise at cow skin, work stopped; people grew quiet and still.  It could only be described as a respectful wait while the life drained out of the animal.  The Bible school choir was practicing elsewhere on campus, so we have this still life: cloudless blue skies, gentle wind, human statues, strains of Hallelujah, Hallelujah drifting over the rooftops.  We watched.  A tired helium balloon floated about three feet off the ground, weaving in and out of the bystanders.  Bienvenidos it read.  Welcome.  It floated through and off into the trees.  No one reached for it, not even the children, who studied it, but didn't touch.

Vultures circled and sat on fence posts.  Dogs begged to be invited to the feast, but the birds drove them away.  They were the clean up crew, though not much was left.  Someone from the village arrived and took the hides.   In about sixty minutes, the smell of cooking beef and the promise of community feasting was all that was left.

Not exactly the memory I expected from the week.

Bond, Bombs, and Bumbling...

I think we watch too much TV.

This week, a plethora of reports on a series of bombings in Bangkok.  They were all botched in some way, the best--or, perhaps, the worst--being the guy who failed to eliminate his target but blew off both his legs.  I think we watch too much TV.

We think we are all James Bond.  We think that we can slip on a tuxedo, or other appropriate suspense-building attire, and become invincible.  We get to decide who lives and dies.  We know what is worthy of life and death.  And we are sure we will accomplish our goals.  And we throw our bomb and smile...waiting for the orchestral celebration that will signal our success.

And then the bomb we so deftly threw bounces off the car we didn't notice was approaching fast and lands at our feet and...we. are. headlines.

We just watch too much TV.  Our opinion is the only one.  Our agenda the best.  Our way of doing things is certainly God's way.  Our religion, our political stance, our preference for sugar or sweetener, our vegetarianism, our way is clearly the best, the only, the ultimate.  We. are. Bond.

Except, we blow our legs off.  We can't agree on health care, on budget balancing, on eliminating graft from congress, on worshipping.  And we just flop around wondering why we failed when we know we should succeed.

Really, we need to remember that James Bond isn't James Bond.  He's just wishful thinking in a tux.  And we really need to live real lives and stop trying to play God or be something we cannot possibly be.

I wonder if real life wouldn't be pretty fun...talking and listening to each other...letting God be God...knowing we value our legs over destroying someone else...turning off the TV and all the mistaken assumptions it brings into our world.

(But leave the computer on...everything you read here is true and real...)

Balloons...

We led worship at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond this week.  Part of the end of worship is a powerful enactment of God's love written by a college friend of mine, Steve Phillips.  After an entire service focused on living out God's love, the end of the service is interrupted by an obvious stranger.  The question is, is the stranger in God's house shown God's love.  The end of the dramatic piece is an influx of colorful balloons that represent the love of God, a different, demanding love that transforms ordinary of human life into the compelling, accepting, transforming, relational life that allows God to bring God's Kingdom to the here and now.

One of the Richmond students from Ghana read the scripture for the service.  After the service was over, we chatted at lunch.  He was holding his helium balloon and asked what kind of balloon was it that would float in the air.  It took us a minute to figure out what he was asking.  He thought it was the skin of the balloon that made the difference...that you could buy the special balloon, then blow it up and the rubber skin would make it float.

We explained that it was the gas inside that made it float, that any skin worked if it had the helium inside.  And I kept thinking...that'll preach.  Because it not our color or shape or gender preference that reveals God's love inside us...that makes us compelling and different.  It is the inside component that makes us behave differently from all the other balloons in the world.  And we can be shaped or colored like "religious" people, but if we are not filled with God's transforming love, we just lie on the floor with the rest of the balloons inflated with human breath.

Perhaps I am stretching the metaphor, but we seem to be so mired in the muck of lapel pins and labels, political and social stances, individual rights and collective propaganda that we just bounce around on the floor.  Perhaps we need to let God's spirit move us in a different direction...where it is not our outside, but our inside that unites us.  And it is the unity, I believe, that indicates whether or not we are filled with the right stuff.  If we are not coming together in spite of our humanness, we are not walking in the footsteps Jesus left for us.

For sure, I am looking at helium balloons in a different light.  I am going to try and look at life and love and Kingdom in that light as well.