General Conference 2008 Bloggers
God drops and loses things
Over the past few years I have come to know a monk named Kilian McDonnell. Kilian grew up on a farm in the upper Midwest. As a boy he became very active in his church, serving as an altar boy. Someone suggested that he might enter the priesthood. He sought entrance in a religious community in Chicago, but was not accepted. On the train back home he stopped in St. Cloud, Minnesota to spend the night at the Benedictine Monastery. They welcomed him; Benedictines are very hospitable people, and the Rule insists that all strangers are to be welcomed as if one is encountering Christ himself. Although he was very ill, they made a place for him.
Kilian has remained at St. John’s Abbey for almost seventy years now. “I think I am going to stay!”, he told me this summer.
Along the way the Benedictines noticed an inquisitive mind in Father Kilian, and so they sent him to Europe for graduate school. He earned a doctorate in theology at Tubingen with a special focus on John Calvin and the Holy Spirit. He became an advisor to the Pope on the global charismatic movement. He studied with Protestant students, and saw the value in moving beyond one’s own tradition. Upon his return, he connected with a donor from Minneapolis who also saw value in this. They established the Collegeville Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research (see link to the right under Institutions and Foundations), and commissioned the architect Marcel Breuer to design the first buildings. The Collegeville Institute is adjacent to St. John's, which is the largest Benedictine monastery in the world. I have stayed in these residences twice now, and have experienced the radical hospitality of the Benedictines. Both the place and the people are quite extraordinary.
At age 75 Kilian began writing poetry, with no formal background in the subject. One of his poems was selected by Garrison Keillor for his Good Poems volume. You can listen to it here. Another poem, inspired by Luke 15, is entitled “God Drops and Loses Things”. I have been reflecting on this poem in preparation for this Sunday’s sermon. It is also the title of his latest volume of poems.
I was able to meet with Kilian in August. This renowned scholar, leader and poet marveled that the monastery where he had spent 70 years of his life had accepted him when others would not. “I was no prize”, he confessed, and he seemed to mean it. He turns 87 years old on September 16. “Say a prayer for me on my birthday”, he asked as I was leaving.
I promised that I would, and I invite you to remember him on that day as well. You can send him a note at the following address: Father Kilian McDonnell, St. John’s Abbey, Collegeville, Minnesota 56321.
Kilian has remained at St. John’s Abbey for almost seventy years now. “I think I am going to stay!”, he told me this summer.
Along the way the Benedictines noticed an inquisitive mind in Father Kilian, and so they sent him to Europe for graduate school. He earned a doctorate in theology at Tubingen with a special focus on John Calvin and the Holy Spirit. He became an advisor to the Pope on the global charismatic movement. He studied with Protestant students, and saw the value in moving beyond one’s own tradition. Upon his return, he connected with a donor from Minneapolis who also saw value in this. They established the Collegeville Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research (see link to the right under Institutions and Foundations), and commissioned the architect Marcel Breuer to design the first buildings. The Collegeville Institute is adjacent to St. John's, which is the largest Benedictine monastery in the world. I have stayed in these residences twice now, and have experienced the radical hospitality of the Benedictines. Both the place and the people are quite extraordinary.
At age 75 Kilian began writing poetry, with no formal background in the subject. One of his poems was selected by Garrison Keillor for his Good Poems volume. You can listen to it here. Another poem, inspired by Luke 15, is entitled “God Drops and Loses Things”. I have been reflecting on this poem in preparation for this Sunday’s sermon. It is also the title of his latest volume of poems.
I was able to meet with Kilian in August. This renowned scholar, leader and poet marveled that the monastery where he had spent 70 years of his life had accepted him when others would not. “I was no prize”, he confessed, and he seemed to mean it. He turns 87 years old on September 16. “Say a prayer for me on my birthday”, he asked as I was leaving.
I promised that I would, and I invite you to remember him on that day as well. You can send him a note at the following address: Father Kilian McDonnell, St. John’s Abbey, Collegeville, Minnesota 56321.
Lectionary Notes for Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 19, Ordinary 24, Year C)
Readings for 16th Sunday after Pentecost, 9/12/10Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28, Psalm 14, 1 Timothy 1:12-17, Luke 15:1-10
Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28:
Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28:
- "A hot wind" - We don't usually mean it as a compliment when we say that someone is full of hot air - but when God uses it as a self-label, perhaps we'd do well to listen!
- Judgment - God is not going to cleanse or winnow this time, but judge. The word judgment has so many negative connotations attached. And I admit, I usually prefer to think of God asloving rather than God as judging - but the descriptions are not mutually exclusive! It is good that God judges us. These days, when I think of how much we fail to follow Jesus, how we fail in discipleship, the more convinced I am that we need to be judged. The good news is that God's judgment never comes without God's grace and mercy. Thanks be to God!
- Even in this passage, in which God has some harsh words spoken through the prophet Jeremiah, God already speaks mercy: "yet I will not make a full end." (emphasis added)
- "The earth shall mourn." We should mourn the destruction and desolation we have brought upon ourselves. I mourn the way we ignore God. Do you?
- "Fools say in their hearts, 'There is no God.' Chris Haslam, my first stop for quality exegesis, says that this verse doesn't indicate atheism for the fools, but those who doubt that God actually cares about human affairs and behaviors. A lot of fools today, eh?
- "There is not one who does good, no, not one." This statement is perhaps exaggerated, or, if not, at least extreme, unless only in the sense that we are all sinners. But it reminds me of the quote from Augustine: "If we have understood, than what we have understood is not God." Likewise, we are not good, not even one of us, because God is good. If God is good, we are only a shadow of that...
- I wonder about the context of this psalm - the psalmist seems to have something very specific in mind - specific folks upon whom the psalmist wants God's 'terror' poured.
- "But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief." Interesting wording - that unbelief is equated with ignorance. Just not getting it. And because we don't get it, God still shows mercy. However...I don't think all our unbelief is from ignorance - I think we are stubborn, unconvinced, believing other, etc. Even so, God still shows mercy!
- "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." Pretty straightforward, in a way, and yet so complicated theologically. What does "saving" entail? I agree that Jesus saves sinners, but I bet I would describe it a lot differently than some of my colleagues.
- I like how Jesus sets these stories up, saying, "who doesn't respond this way?", as if everyone reacts as in the parable - he sets the correct response as the expected norm even if he is actually advocating unusual behavior. What do I mean? Well, in this passage, Jesus acts like a whole crowd would really gather if a woman found a coin that she had lost. Maybe I'm just ignorant of the times, but I have a hard time believing that that would be the case. But Jesus acts as though it is normal, and urges us to behave likewise. Effective!
- "he lays [the sheep] on his shoulders and rejoices." Just love this image, as do others, evidenced by this imagery finding its way into so much artwork. It just seems like so much love pours through the shepherd carrying the sheep in this way.
- A friend of mine in seminary preached his senior sermon on this text, and it still is so clear to me. This friend is a gay man, who is so gifted, so called, so talented in ways that would make him a wonderful pastor. He preached about Jesus seeking after him - he is the one Jesus will go out of the way to find - this sheep, who is a part of God's fold.
Lectionary Notes for Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 18, Ordinary 23, Year C)
Oops - I forgot to post these last week. Better late than never?
Readings for 15th Sunday after Pentecost, 9/5/10:
Jeremiah 18:1-11, Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18, Philemon 1-21, Luke 14:25-33
Jeremiah 18:1-11:
Readings for 15th Sunday after Pentecost, 9/5/10:
Jeremiah 18:1-11, Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18, Philemon 1-21, Luke 14:25-33
Jeremiah 18:1-11:
- Potter imagery - God as the potter, remolding us, remaking our clay pots. This imagery of being remade, the flaws worked out of us can be so powerful and moving. The problem is that this passage actually speaks of God being quite upset with us humans! God wants to "pluck up and break down and destroy" because we've messed up so bad! Can we handle that? Are we willing to be remolded to that degree?
- What I do like about the image of potter and clay is that the same piece of clay is used - just remade. The clay is the same substance. We are not wiped out completely. Can we read this like we read being made new in Christ, casting of the old and putting on the new?
- I dislike that God seems so moody and temperamental here again, like a child throwing a tantrum - "one moment" wanting to destroy and "at another moment" building up.
- "I am a potter shaping evil against you and devising a plan against you." Eek! God shaping evil against us is not good. Jeremiah is warning with full force - get you act together, or you will have a lot to deal with!
- Compare this with Pentecost 13C's reading from Jeremiah 1:4-10 - the same themes and imagery are in both passages.
- I would read the whole selection of vs. 1-18 in worship. The middle stuff is too good to leave out.
- Not only did God knit us together in our mother's womb, but this whole passage reads like we are in God's womb - hemmed in by God behind and before. Our life is in God's womb - that is a very peaceful and comforting thought.
- How weighty to us are God's thoughts - great image - the heaviness of the deepness of God's creative mind.
- "I am fearfully and wonderfully made." This psalm affirms God and God's power, but also affirms our human worth and goodness - a rare scriptural combination. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. How well do you know that? How many in this society know that and are taught to know that?
- Poor little Philemon - such a short little book - better pay it some attention on the only Sunday in the cycle it makes it into the lectionary!
- Philemon has been an interesting book in the past in discussions about slavery - does the Bible justify it or not, and is that even a relevant/accurate way to ask the question? I think Philemon brings up the importance of looking at context of scripture and what the text says given the context. Here Paul is trying to argue for a runaway slave to stay freed - doing a little persuasive writing to the master of Onesimus. In a society with servants and masters, Jesus made use of these dynamics in his own teachings to turn our understanding of these roles and our status desires upside down. What other contexts do the scriptures work within to transform our understandings anyway? Gender? Sexuality? Economics?
- This text is another from Luke that talks about the divisions that come with discipleship even into the closest relationships of family. Jesus is going straight to the point here, hitting us at our weakest points, our closest and dearest relationships (usually, at least!) What is your discipleship worth to you? What price are you willing to pay for the hard life of following Jesus? Count the cost!
- "All your possessions" - The Greek word for possessions, huparcousin, is interesting in its variety of meanings. 'Possessions' is a very accurate translation, but for fun, it also means: to begin, to make a beginning, to be ready, to be in existence, to be taken for granted, etc.
- Also, the Greek word translated as disciples, mathe^te^s, literally means a 'learner' or a 'pupil' - that's what Jesus wants us to be - students of his, learning from him as much as possible. What will we give to be his students?
Labor Day
Image via Wikipedia
Today is Labor Day, of which I did not know the origin until consulting Wikipedia, which reports:
“Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September (September 6 in 2010).
The first Labor Day in the United States was celebrated on September 5, 1882 in New York City.[1] In the aftermath of the deaths of a number of workers at the hands ofthe U.S. military and U.S. Marshals during the 1894 Pullman Strike, President Grover Cleveland put reconciliation with Labor as a top political priority. Fearing further conflict, legislation making Labor Day a national holiday was rushed through Congress unanimously and signed into law a mere six days after the end of the strike.[2]Cleveland was also concerned that aligning an American labor holiday with existing international May Day celebrations would stir up negative emotions linked to theHaymarket Affair.[3] By the 20th century, all 50 U.S. states have made Labor Day a state holiday.”
Who knew? Not me, that’s for sure. In any case, I hope you have a wonderful day of labor, rest or a parade (See picture of the first Labor Day parade).
Calling in Your Life
The article, Does a Calling Have to Be Religious?, from the Huffington Post addresses something that has shaped my life – calling. For me it has primarily been God‘s call in my life and a call. Here is an excerpt from the article, that I just couldn’t break into pieces.
“In 1904, Rainer Maria Rilke, writing to a younger man who’d sought his advice, suggested that the authenticity of one’s calling can be found only inside oneself. “[A]sk yourself this: Must I write? Dig deep into yourself for a true answer. And … if you can confidently meet this serious question with a simple, ‘I must,’ then build your life upon it. It has become your necessity.” Substitute work with the poor, forestry, law enforcement, the stage, the military, religion, painting, banking, coaching, law, politics, teaching, or another pursuit, and the answer remains the same: If you can live a full, satisfying life without doing it, it’s not “your necessity,” it’s not your calling. Not even if you’re really good at it. Not even if your parents, their friends, your friends, teachers and religious leaders all want you to do it and think you ought to do it and would be nuts not to do it, would it be wrong not to do it — not even if you think you should want to do it but in fact don’t. Rilke might agree that the presence of any language of obligation would be all the evidence you would need to differentiate the true calling from the false. To say I must because I shouldimplies an obligation, not a calling. I must because, if I don’t, I’ll die inside is quite another matter.”
This is a powerful description of calling. I believe that each one of us may be called by God in multiple ways throughout our life. It may be a career, relationship, an ethnic group, rural life or any number of things that can significantly shape one’s life.
At this time in my life, I feel called to serve as an ordained elder in a local United Methodist church. I pray that I will be attentive to God’s continued call.
Sermon for Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, "Let There Be Peace on Earth"
Sermon 8/29/10Luke 14:1, 7-14, Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16
Let There Be Peace on Earth
"Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me; let there be peace on earth, the peace that was meant to be/ With God our creator, children all are we. Let us walk with each other in perfect harmony. Let peace begin with me; let this be the moment now. With every step I take, let this be my solemn vow: to take each moment and live each moment in peace eternally. Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me." This short and simple hymn takes seventh place in our congregation's top-ten hymn list. According to their company, Jan-Lee Music, “Sy Miller and Jill Jackson were a husband and wife songwriting team, who, in 1955, wrote a song about their dream of peace for the world and how they believed each one of us could help create it.” Jill was a former actress, having starred in many Westerns in the 1930s, and Sy was a composer for Warner Brothers. Jill wrote lyrics. Sy composed music. “They first introduced [Let There Be Peace on Earth] to a group of teenagers selected from their high schools to attend a weeklong retreat in California. The young people were purposefully from different religious, racial, cultural and economic backgrounds, brought together to experiment with creating understanding and friendship through education, discussion groups, and living and working together in a camp situation.” Sy Miller describes how it happened:He said, “One summer evening in 1955, a group of 180 teenagers of all races and religions, meeting at a workshop high in the California mountains locked arms, formed a circle and sang a song of peace. They felt that singing the song, with its simple basic sentiment – 'Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me,' helped to create a climate for world peace and understanding. When they came down from the mountain, these inspired young people brought the song with them and started sharing it. And, as though on wings, 'Let There Be Peace on Earth' began an amazing journey around the globe. It traveled first, of course, with the young campers back to their homes and schools, churches and clubs. Soon the circle started by the teenagers began to grow. Before long the song was being shared in all fifty states – at school graduations and at PTA meetings, at Christmas and Easter gatherings and as part of the celebration of Brotherhood Week. It was a theme for Veteran’s Day, Human Rights Day and United Nations Day. 4H Clubs and the United Auto Workers began singing it . . . It was taped, recorded, copied, printed in songbooks, and passed by word of mouth. The song spread overseas [and around the world.]” (2)For Jill Jackson, the song had a more personal meaning. According to peacehistory.org, Jackson spoke of her early life—how she became an orphan as a young girl, and her difficult journey through foster care, that led her into despair and attempted suicide. She describes that it was then that she realized the presence of a higher power in her life and how she eventually came to [develop] the song. She said, “When I attempted suicide and I didn't succeed, I knew for the first time unconditional love—which God is. God is unconditional love. You are totally loved, totally accepted, just the way you are. In that moment I was not allowed to die, and something happened to me which is very difficult to explain. I had an eternal moment of truth, in which I knew I was loved, and knew I was here for a purpose." (2) “Let There Be Peace on Earth was awarded the George Washington Honor Medal by the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge for “Outstanding achievement in helping to bring about a better understanding of the American Way of Life.” It also received a Brotherhood Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews.” In Sy Miller’s words again: ‘This simple thought, 'Let There Be Peace on Earth, and Let It Begin With Me' first born on a mountain top in the voices of youth, continues to travel heart to heart – gathering in people everywhere who wish to become a note in a song of understanding and peace—peace for all [human]kind." (1) So today we have this peace song, and we also have our gospel lesson from Luke. Jesus is giving something of an etiquette lesson, with, of course, his own unique spin. He’s at the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees, eating a Sabbath meal, and we read that he’s being closely observed by those who are there. No doubt, some of the religious leaders are just looking for Jesus to do or say something that they can criticize. But Jesus is also closely observing the guests. We frequently see Jesus at meals in the gospels, and he often uses mealtime as a teaching time. He watches how the social hierarchy plays out at meals. He sees people wanting the seats of highest honor. People sit according to status, and everyone seems eager to show off how important they are by where they’re sitting. But Jesus tells people to do just the opposite of what they would normally: When you're invited over to a wedding banquet - don't choose the best place - choose the worst. Why? Well, you don't want to be embarrassed and asked to move to a lower place so a more important guest can take a seat! Those who exalt themselves are humbled, but those who humble themselves are exalted. In the next example, Jesus advises that those who host a dinner should not invite relatives, friends, and rich neighbors, but should instead invited the poor, crippled, lame, and blind, those unable to return an invitation. Don't look for repayment from humans, Jesus urges, but from God, whose rewards much more valuable.Jesus' advice, as usual, goes against some traditional understandings his dinner guests would have had. His suggestions might sound to us just like savvy suggestions for maintaining a good public image. But actually, behaving as Jesus suggested - choosing the lowest seat at a meal, missing an opportunity for recognition by inviting less-than-classy people to a meal - these actions would have made a person seem quite odd if not altogether offensive. It's hard to find something to compare this to today - our culture and customs are so different. But actually, maybe we can relate. At today’s wedding receptions, guests are often seated at numbered tables in assigned groups. The wedding party sits at the front table. The other guests are seated usually based on relationship to the bridge and groom. Family and close friends are at tables close to the front table. Those who are acquaintances are likely to be farther away from the action of the reception. Perhaps we can connect to Jesus' words after all.But what does this parable have to do with peace? Well, what I like about Jesus’ teachings is that what he teaches is something you can do. Conversely, we should also note that Jesus never instructs you to tell someone else how to do it to do it right. Jesus tells you to go sit at the lowest place, you to humble yourself, you to invite the poor and the lame and the blind to your meals. He doesn’t tell you to tell others to do it. He tells you how to do it, live it. Now, I don’t mean that what he teaches isn’t challenging, that it doesn’t require us to change our lives. But what I mean is: what Jesus teaches is always within our grasp to do. It doesn’t require committee meetings or organizations or institutions. If we actually just did what Jesus said to do – well, the world would very quickly be a different place. But what Jesus says to do doesn’t require some special skill set. It doesn’t require a certain degree or level of education. You don’t need training to follow Jesus’ instructions. You don’t need to be a certain age – you won’t be too young or too old to follow Jesus’ instructions here. You just have to listen to what he says, and do it. And here’s the thing: if everybody did it – well, imagine what might happen, what might be possible. For me, the key to our hymn this week about peace on earth – well, it’s the second part of the first line that’s so important. “Let it begin with me.” When my brothers and I would get into arguments growing up, (which we never do anymore, of course) my mother would often say, “How can we expect there to be peace in the world, if we can’t have peace in our home?” Of course, this would induce some secret eye-rolling in us – at least we agreed on that – but I’ve always remembered it. How can we have peace in the world, if we can’t have peace in our home? In other words, why would we expect the whole world to do something that we’re not willing to do ourselves? When Sy Miller and Jill Jackson worked on this hymn, they did it with a group of teenagers who were ready let peace begin with them. And so they were able to transcend all the differences in their group – different religions, genders, races, classes – and together, because each person was committed to the task – they made a space of peace, and shared a song of peace that truly has spread around the globe. I’m generally not a fan of saying that something is “between me and God.” What’s between me and God, according to Jesus, is all of our neighbors. But here’s one way we can be self-centered: Let it begin with you. It is to you that Jesus is talking when he teaches. It is only you that you can change. It is only you who can make you follow Jesus’ teaches. Let there be peace on earth. Let there be disciples who follow Jesus. Let there be people who humble themselves so that others might finally be exalted. Let there be those who reach beyond all that boundaries and barriers we create between ourselves. And let it begin with you, with me. Amen. (1) http://www.jan-leemusic.com/Site/History.html(2) http://www.rotaryfirst100.org/library/music/peace.htm
Let There Be Peace on Earth
"Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me; let there be peace on earth, the peace that was meant to be/ With God our creator, children all are we. Let us walk with each other in perfect harmony. Let peace begin with me; let this be the moment now. With every step I take, let this be my solemn vow: to take each moment and live each moment in peace eternally. Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me." This short and simple hymn takes seventh place in our congregation's top-ten hymn list. According to their company, Jan-Lee Music, “Sy Miller and Jill Jackson were a husband and wife songwriting team, who, in 1955, wrote a song about their dream of peace for the world and how they believed each one of us could help create it.” Jill was a former actress, having starred in many Westerns in the 1930s, and Sy was a composer for Warner Brothers. Jill wrote lyrics. Sy composed music. “They first introduced [Let There Be Peace on Earth] to a group of teenagers selected from their high schools to attend a weeklong retreat in California. The young people were purposefully from different religious, racial, cultural and economic backgrounds, brought together to experiment with creating understanding and friendship through education, discussion groups, and living and working together in a camp situation.” Sy Miller describes how it happened:He said, “One summer evening in 1955, a group of 180 teenagers of all races and religions, meeting at a workshop high in the California mountains locked arms, formed a circle and sang a song of peace. They felt that singing the song, with its simple basic sentiment – 'Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me,' helped to create a climate for world peace and understanding. When they came down from the mountain, these inspired young people brought the song with them and started sharing it. And, as though on wings, 'Let There Be Peace on Earth' began an amazing journey around the globe. It traveled first, of course, with the young campers back to their homes and schools, churches and clubs. Soon the circle started by the teenagers began to grow. Before long the song was being shared in all fifty states – at school graduations and at PTA meetings, at Christmas and Easter gatherings and as part of the celebration of Brotherhood Week. It was a theme for Veteran’s Day, Human Rights Day and United Nations Day. 4H Clubs and the United Auto Workers began singing it . . . It was taped, recorded, copied, printed in songbooks, and passed by word of mouth. The song spread overseas [and around the world.]” (2)For Jill Jackson, the song had a more personal meaning. According to peacehistory.org, Jackson spoke of her early life—how she became an orphan as a young girl, and her difficult journey through foster care, that led her into despair and attempted suicide. She describes that it was then that she realized the presence of a higher power in her life and how she eventually came to [develop] the song. She said, “When I attempted suicide and I didn't succeed, I knew for the first time unconditional love—which God is. God is unconditional love. You are totally loved, totally accepted, just the way you are. In that moment I was not allowed to die, and something happened to me which is very difficult to explain. I had an eternal moment of truth, in which I knew I was loved, and knew I was here for a purpose." (2) “Let There Be Peace on Earth was awarded the George Washington Honor Medal by the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge for “Outstanding achievement in helping to bring about a better understanding of the American Way of Life.” It also received a Brotherhood Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews.” In Sy Miller’s words again: ‘This simple thought, 'Let There Be Peace on Earth, and Let It Begin With Me' first born on a mountain top in the voices of youth, continues to travel heart to heart – gathering in people everywhere who wish to become a note in a song of understanding and peace—peace for all [human]kind." (1) So today we have this peace song, and we also have our gospel lesson from Luke. Jesus is giving something of an etiquette lesson, with, of course, his own unique spin. He’s at the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees, eating a Sabbath meal, and we read that he’s being closely observed by those who are there. No doubt, some of the religious leaders are just looking for Jesus to do or say something that they can criticize. But Jesus is also closely observing the guests. We frequently see Jesus at meals in the gospels, and he often uses mealtime as a teaching time. He watches how the social hierarchy plays out at meals. He sees people wanting the seats of highest honor. People sit according to status, and everyone seems eager to show off how important they are by where they’re sitting. But Jesus tells people to do just the opposite of what they would normally: When you're invited over to a wedding banquet - don't choose the best place - choose the worst. Why? Well, you don't want to be embarrassed and asked to move to a lower place so a more important guest can take a seat! Those who exalt themselves are humbled, but those who humble themselves are exalted. In the next example, Jesus advises that those who host a dinner should not invite relatives, friends, and rich neighbors, but should instead invited the poor, crippled, lame, and blind, those unable to return an invitation. Don't look for repayment from humans, Jesus urges, but from God, whose rewards much more valuable.Jesus' advice, as usual, goes against some traditional understandings his dinner guests would have had. His suggestions might sound to us just like savvy suggestions for maintaining a good public image. But actually, behaving as Jesus suggested - choosing the lowest seat at a meal, missing an opportunity for recognition by inviting less-than-classy people to a meal - these actions would have made a person seem quite odd if not altogether offensive. It's hard to find something to compare this to today - our culture and customs are so different. But actually, maybe we can relate. At today’s wedding receptions, guests are often seated at numbered tables in assigned groups. The wedding party sits at the front table. The other guests are seated usually based on relationship to the bridge and groom. Family and close friends are at tables close to the front table. Those who are acquaintances are likely to be farther away from the action of the reception. Perhaps we can connect to Jesus' words after all.But what does this parable have to do with peace? Well, what I like about Jesus’ teachings is that what he teaches is something you can do. Conversely, we should also note that Jesus never instructs you to tell someone else how to do it to do it right. Jesus tells you to go sit at the lowest place, you to humble yourself, you to invite the poor and the lame and the blind to your meals. He doesn’t tell you to tell others to do it. He tells you how to do it, live it. Now, I don’t mean that what he teaches isn’t challenging, that it doesn’t require us to change our lives. But what I mean is: what Jesus teaches is always within our grasp to do. It doesn’t require committee meetings or organizations or institutions. If we actually just did what Jesus said to do – well, the world would very quickly be a different place. But what Jesus says to do doesn’t require some special skill set. It doesn’t require a certain degree or level of education. You don’t need training to follow Jesus’ instructions. You don’t need to be a certain age – you won’t be too young or too old to follow Jesus’ instructions here. You just have to listen to what he says, and do it. And here’s the thing: if everybody did it – well, imagine what might happen, what might be possible. For me, the key to our hymn this week about peace on earth – well, it’s the second part of the first line that’s so important. “Let it begin with me.” When my brothers and I would get into arguments growing up, (which we never do anymore, of course) my mother would often say, “How can we expect there to be peace in the world, if we can’t have peace in our home?” Of course, this would induce some secret eye-rolling in us – at least we agreed on that – but I’ve always remembered it. How can we have peace in the world, if we can’t have peace in our home? In other words, why would we expect the whole world to do something that we’re not willing to do ourselves? When Sy Miller and Jill Jackson worked on this hymn, they did it with a group of teenagers who were ready let peace begin with them. And so they were able to transcend all the differences in their group – different religions, genders, races, classes – and together, because each person was committed to the task – they made a space of peace, and shared a song of peace that truly has spread around the globe. I’m generally not a fan of saying that something is “between me and God.” What’s between me and God, according to Jesus, is all of our neighbors. But here’s one way we can be self-centered: Let it begin with you. It is to you that Jesus is talking when he teaches. It is only you that you can change. It is only you who can make you follow Jesus’ teaches. Let there be peace on earth. Let there be disciples who follow Jesus. Let there be people who humble themselves so that others might finally be exalted. Let there be those who reach beyond all that boundaries and barriers we create between ourselves. And let it begin with you, with me. Amen. (1) http://www.jan-leemusic.com/Site/History.html(2) http://www.rotaryfirst100.org/library/music/peace.htm
What I'm Pondering Today
From: kljames@umcsc.org, What I'm Pondering Today
Resurrection Online’s Five Year Plan
Image via Wikipedia
I was inspired by Craig Groeschel‘s post, The Death of the Five-Year Plan.
“Instead of planning for specific buildings, campuses, staff roles, and outreach, I’m planning to be prepared for opportunities that I can’t name today. We are creating margin and planning to respond quickly to ideas that we don’t yet have.
Speed, agility, flexibility, and financial margin are far better than a detailed road map.”
This is a great articulation of what I believe will be most helpful both at Resurrection Online and at any of the churches that I will serve in the future. It is not helpful to become captive to a vision of the future that includes tangible specifics more than five away. So are you ready for it?
Here is Resurrection’s Online five year plan:
- Build a Christian community where non religious and nominally religious people are becoming deeply committed Christians.
- Share the gospel of Jesus Christ using the latest technology and tools that are effective in connecting people.
how i spent my summer
As it is now September 1, it seems appropriate to reflect on the summer. I do remember those "how i spent my summer vacation" essays we wrote in the third grade, and in that spirit I offer this. For better or worse, there is precious little summer left.
1. For us, the summer began when our younger daughter left for Europe with four of her friends. There were in a number of countries for three and a half weeks, they had planned this excursion for over a year, and they executed it very well. My gift was a "Konig Ludwig Hell" glass mug, which holds a nice tall drink of ice water really well, especially in the hot summer. Abby returned safe, sound and a citizen of the world.
2. Bill (also a pastor at Providence) and I spent a week in intensive continuing education at Duke's Center for Reconciliation. It was a rich and challenging experience, learning from excellent speakers (especially John Perkins and Vergilio Elizondo), taking in excellent Bible Studies by Richard Hays and Ellen Davis, and meeting men and women from across the world who are engaged in the ministry of reconciliation.
3. Annual Conference at Lake Junaluska was shorter, hotter (yes, global warming is real) and marked by an unsuccessful business session that would be repeated, revised and redeemed later in the summer, on a cool morning in mid August. I made the modest suggestion at this latter meeting that we adopt the budget, after a two hour session, and ever since I have been receiving notes of gratitude. I thank our Bishop for helping me (us) through this. Apart from all of this, I was honored to participate in my friend Robb's ordination, which was a joy.
4. Three of us (Pam, Abby and I) spent a week at Holden Beach. I realize it had been almost six years since we had really been to the beach (except to lead a two day retreat or two, which really does not count). This is our own doing; we have a small mountain place and are inclined to head in that direction. I love Holden Beach (North Carolina) and also Sunset, just below, and Calabash, also adjacent, and home of fine seafood. Some good friends happened to be just down the street, and so we had a memorable meal with them.
5. I preached July 4 Sunday morning. I made a vow, when I was an associate pastor, that if I were ever in this role I would not delegate all of the holiday and post-celebration Sundays to the other pastors (I mean the Sundays after Christmas and Easter, Memorial Day, Labor Day, etc.). And so we divide them, and I took this one for the team. I reflected on faith and patriotism, and then drove up to Lake Junaluska to see the fireworks over the lake with friends.
6. At the end of the next week Pam and I flew to Boston, rented a car and drove to Bangor, Maine to see our friends Jim and Faye-Ellen. Jim serves All Souls Church in Bangor, and we have been friends through the Center of Theological Inquiry. They drove us around the Acadia National Park, we stopped for popovers at Jordan Pond, and took in the scenery of Cadillac Mountain and Mount Desert Island. Breathtaking. We also enjoyed an honest to goodness fishing cabin on a Maine lake, which is about a peaceful as it gets. And a part of me could get used to the New England tradition of having the whole summer away to be renewed.
7. After a couple of days, we drove down to Boston (in a torrential rain) in time for the Sunday service the next day. My friend Bob had invited me to preach two consecutive Sundays at Marsh Chapel, and this was truly a gift in many respects (thank you Bob!). It is a beautiful place of worship, the staff were all hospitable, and it was fun to preach there. We had meals both Sundays with our close friend Ann, who is a pediatric chaplain at Mass General (she had been a member of Mount Tabor in Winston-Salem during our years there and was especially close to our daughters). In between the Sundays we took in as much of Boston as we could: the Fenway Park Tour, the Freedom Trail, the Italian section in the north end, the Union Oyster House, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the Charles River. And I saw a Red Sox game, which I consider something of a miracle. We also caught up with one of my closest friends from high school, Scott, whom I had not seen in 34 years (18+34=52). He gave us a tour of Harvard, we ate hamburgers at Mr. Bartley's, and then we toured the Media Labs at MIT, which were quite amazing. The next day another friend, Ted, took us on walking tour of Harvard, including the Divinity School and the chapel where Emerson preached. And then, the following day we toured the areas surrounding Boston with Ann and her husband Richard. Then I preached the next day, again, and we flew home.
8. Through the summer we have focused on the Book of Acts. I won't go into much of that, except to say that I preached sermons on Acts 1, 2, 4, 7, 15, 17, 20, 27 and 28, and they are all posted on this blog. We also held Bible Studies on Mondays, which were well attended throughout the summer. And my friend David from Texas came to preach and teach. He is certifiably insane---I exaggerate only a little here--but also brilliant (he has a PhD. in rhetoric) and our congregation really enjoyed him. In fact they want him to come and be the permanent preacher. I exaggerate only a little here also. I tried to introduce him to North Carolina cuisine, which he enjoyed, and one evening he, Joe and I went to see the Charlotte Knights (aaa). As Joe and I cannot get our spouses to attend these games, we seek any opportunity we can to make it to the park. David was game for this. I really cannot recall who won the game, and in minor league ball it really does not matter. As an aside, David serves a 5000+ member United Methodist Church in Texas. In my bio, when it says I have preached in churches ranging in size from very small mountain churches to congregations of over 5000 members, I am referring to this one.
9. All summer our parsonage has been in a process of renovation. We are now in the sixth month. The end result will be quite nice.
10. At the end of six months (Jan-July), our church had received 48% of its annual need in financial income, no different statistically from the year before. For this I sing the doxology; our people are extravagantly generous and sacrificial, and I am blessed to be here.
11. I went with two friends (Jonathan and Rush) to spend 3 days at St. John's Abbey and the Collegeville Institute in Minnesota. I am being truthful when I say that I am addicted to Benedictine hospitality and the praying of the Psalms there. It is a beautifully creative setting, and we spent time there with Don Ottenhoff, Director of the Institute, Kilian McDonnell, award-winning poet whose work appears in Garrison Keillor collections (I recommend Swift, Lord, You Are Not), and Richard Bresnahan, who presides over the largest kiln in North America and is an amazing potter. Kilian, also an Old Testament scholar and an authority on the Holy Spirit, asked us to pray for him on his birthday, which is September 16...I invite you to join me in that. Richard kept pushing us to learn more about the pottery in our area, particularly Seagrove, and this is on my list. We also had a great seafood dinner with Don and his wife Kathleen Cahalan, a pastoral theologian at St. John's, and author of a very fine book on evaluation (Projects That Matter). There is more to St. John's than I have described, but, having been there twice, it is a place of pilgrimage for me. And being in Minnesota, and while I know winter has a special beauty there, I would suggest that you go in the summer.
12. My wife would want you to know that I have watched more Atlanta Braves games than usual, but they are in first place, and if there is any justice in the world they will end the season that way. And given that Brian McCann executed the game winning hit in the All Star Game, thus giving the National League home field advantage, there is a symmetry to it.
13. A real highlight was the visit from our daughter who lives and works, and now studies in China. It was simply wonderful to have her home, and now she begins the M.A. program at Peking University. And our younger daughter served in a volunteer internship with the Starfish Academy in Charlotte, which reaches out to first graders who read below grade level. She flourished in this environment. Apart from Europe she was home all summer, so this was also really nice. Oh, I also took Abby and her friend Ashley to the Carolina Panthers Training Camp one afternoon. We met the legendary ACC basketball player David Thompson. As for the Panthers, you can call me a person of little faith....it will be a long season. While we were there we had a great meal with our friends Ron and Heidi.
14. I should add that my wife continues to speak on a very regular basis about the mission in Haiti. She survived the earthquake in Port-au-Prince, but now talks more about the ongoing lives of the people there. Along with a large number of gifted volunteers---to be more precise, a number of very organized and motivated women, $33,000 was raised for the people of northern Haiti in an end of summer Attic Sale at the church. Yes, that is an accurate figure and there is no overhead. With God all things are possible.
15. I have been involved in a couple of small writing projects: a piece for Faith and Leadership on "Traditioned Innovation and Roots Music" (thanks Jason), particularly about Patty Griffin and Robert Randolph; and a piece on Greil Marcus' new work, When That Rough God Goes Riding: Listening To Van Morrrison, which will appear in the Englewood Review (thanks Chris). And some blogging for Day 1 and No Depression. I also read The New Rabbi by Stephen Fried, which I found fascinating, and Atul Gawande's The Checklist Manifesto, also great. And I made my way through three commentaries on Acts: Will Willimon, Jaroslav Pelikan and Anthony Robinson and Robert Wall. Each different, each helpful. Next in line: a biography of Henry Aaron and a memoir by Rosanne Cash.
So, the summer is almost over. For me it has been rich and full, and this mostly because of the intersection with friends and some time spent in a couple of beautiful places. And now the fall season approaches.
1. For us, the summer began when our younger daughter left for Europe with four of her friends. There were in a number of countries for three and a half weeks, they had planned this excursion for over a year, and they executed it very well. My gift was a "Konig Ludwig Hell" glass mug, which holds a nice tall drink of ice water really well, especially in the hot summer. Abby returned safe, sound and a citizen of the world.
2. Bill (also a pastor at Providence) and I spent a week in intensive continuing education at Duke's Center for Reconciliation. It was a rich and challenging experience, learning from excellent speakers (especially John Perkins and Vergilio Elizondo), taking in excellent Bible Studies by Richard Hays and Ellen Davis, and meeting men and women from across the world who are engaged in the ministry of reconciliation.
3. Annual Conference at Lake Junaluska was shorter, hotter (yes, global warming is real) and marked by an unsuccessful business session that would be repeated, revised and redeemed later in the summer, on a cool morning in mid August. I made the modest suggestion at this latter meeting that we adopt the budget, after a two hour session, and ever since I have been receiving notes of gratitude. I thank our Bishop for helping me (us) through this. Apart from all of this, I was honored to participate in my friend Robb's ordination, which was a joy.
4. Three of us (Pam, Abby and I) spent a week at Holden Beach. I realize it had been almost six years since we had really been to the beach (except to lead a two day retreat or two, which really does not count). This is our own doing; we have a small mountain place and are inclined to head in that direction. I love Holden Beach (North Carolina) and also Sunset, just below, and Calabash, also adjacent, and home of fine seafood. Some good friends happened to be just down the street, and so we had a memorable meal with them.
5. I preached July 4 Sunday morning. I made a vow, when I was an associate pastor, that if I were ever in this role I would not delegate all of the holiday and post-celebration Sundays to the other pastors (I mean the Sundays after Christmas and Easter, Memorial Day, Labor Day, etc.). And so we divide them, and I took this one for the team. I reflected on faith and patriotism, and then drove up to Lake Junaluska to see the fireworks over the lake with friends.
6. At the end of the next week Pam and I flew to Boston, rented a car and drove to Bangor, Maine to see our friends Jim and Faye-Ellen. Jim serves All Souls Church in Bangor, and we have been friends through the Center of Theological Inquiry. They drove us around the Acadia National Park, we stopped for popovers at Jordan Pond, and took in the scenery of Cadillac Mountain and Mount Desert Island. Breathtaking. We also enjoyed an honest to goodness fishing cabin on a Maine lake, which is about a peaceful as it gets. And a part of me could get used to the New England tradition of having the whole summer away to be renewed.
7. After a couple of days, we drove down to Boston (in a torrential rain) in time for the Sunday service the next day. My friend Bob had invited me to preach two consecutive Sundays at Marsh Chapel, and this was truly a gift in many respects (thank you Bob!). It is a beautiful place of worship, the staff were all hospitable, and it was fun to preach there. We had meals both Sundays with our close friend Ann, who is a pediatric chaplain at Mass General (she had been a member of Mount Tabor in Winston-Salem during our years there and was especially close to our daughters). In between the Sundays we took in as much of Boston as we could: the Fenway Park Tour, the Freedom Trail, the Italian section in the north end, the Union Oyster House, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the Charles River. And I saw a Red Sox game, which I consider something of a miracle. We also caught up with one of my closest friends from high school, Scott, whom I had not seen in 34 years (18+34=52). He gave us a tour of Harvard, we ate hamburgers at Mr. Bartley's, and then we toured the Media Labs at MIT, which were quite amazing. The next day another friend, Ted, took us on walking tour of Harvard, including the Divinity School and the chapel where Emerson preached. And then, the following day we toured the areas surrounding Boston with Ann and her husband Richard. Then I preached the next day, again, and we flew home.
8. Through the summer we have focused on the Book of Acts. I won't go into much of that, except to say that I preached sermons on Acts 1, 2, 4, 7, 15, 17, 20, 27 and 28, and they are all posted on this blog. We also held Bible Studies on Mondays, which were well attended throughout the summer. And my friend David from Texas came to preach and teach. He is certifiably insane---I exaggerate only a little here--but also brilliant (he has a PhD. in rhetoric) and our congregation really enjoyed him. In fact they want him to come and be the permanent preacher. I exaggerate only a little here also. I tried to introduce him to North Carolina cuisine, which he enjoyed, and one evening he, Joe and I went to see the Charlotte Knights (aaa). As Joe and I cannot get our spouses to attend these games, we seek any opportunity we can to make it to the park. David was game for this. I really cannot recall who won the game, and in minor league ball it really does not matter. As an aside, David serves a 5000+ member United Methodist Church in Texas. In my bio, when it says I have preached in churches ranging in size from very small mountain churches to congregations of over 5000 members, I am referring to this one.
9. All summer our parsonage has been in a process of renovation. We are now in the sixth month. The end result will be quite nice.
10. At the end of six months (Jan-July), our church had received 48% of its annual need in financial income, no different statistically from the year before. For this I sing the doxology; our people are extravagantly generous and sacrificial, and I am blessed to be here.
11. I went with two friends (Jonathan and Rush) to spend 3 days at St. John's Abbey and the Collegeville Institute in Minnesota. I am being truthful when I say that I am addicted to Benedictine hospitality and the praying of the Psalms there. It is a beautifully creative setting, and we spent time there with Don Ottenhoff, Director of the Institute, Kilian McDonnell, award-winning poet whose work appears in Garrison Keillor collections (I recommend Swift, Lord, You Are Not), and Richard Bresnahan, who presides over the largest kiln in North America and is an amazing potter. Kilian, also an Old Testament scholar and an authority on the Holy Spirit, asked us to pray for him on his birthday, which is September 16...I invite you to join me in that. Richard kept pushing us to learn more about the pottery in our area, particularly Seagrove, and this is on my list. We also had a great seafood dinner with Don and his wife Kathleen Cahalan, a pastoral theologian at St. John's, and author of a very fine book on evaluation (Projects That Matter). There is more to St. John's than I have described, but, having been there twice, it is a place of pilgrimage for me. And being in Minnesota, and while I know winter has a special beauty there, I would suggest that you go in the summer.
12. My wife would want you to know that I have watched more Atlanta Braves games than usual, but they are in first place, and if there is any justice in the world they will end the season that way. And given that Brian McCann executed the game winning hit in the All Star Game, thus giving the National League home field advantage, there is a symmetry to it.
13. A real highlight was the visit from our daughter who lives and works, and now studies in China. It was simply wonderful to have her home, and now she begins the M.A. program at Peking University. And our younger daughter served in a volunteer internship with the Starfish Academy in Charlotte, which reaches out to first graders who read below grade level. She flourished in this environment. Apart from Europe she was home all summer, so this was also really nice. Oh, I also took Abby and her friend Ashley to the Carolina Panthers Training Camp one afternoon. We met the legendary ACC basketball player David Thompson. As for the Panthers, you can call me a person of little faith....it will be a long season. While we were there we had a great meal with our friends Ron and Heidi.
14. I should add that my wife continues to speak on a very regular basis about the mission in Haiti. She survived the earthquake in Port-au-Prince, but now talks more about the ongoing lives of the people there. Along with a large number of gifted volunteers---to be more precise, a number of very organized and motivated women, $33,000 was raised for the people of northern Haiti in an end of summer Attic Sale at the church. Yes, that is an accurate figure and there is no overhead. With God all things are possible.
15. I have been involved in a couple of small writing projects: a piece for Faith and Leadership on "Traditioned Innovation and Roots Music" (thanks Jason), particularly about Patty Griffin and Robert Randolph; and a piece on Greil Marcus' new work, When That Rough God Goes Riding: Listening To Van Morrrison, which will appear in the Englewood Review (thanks Chris). And some blogging for Day 1 and No Depression. I also read The New Rabbi by Stephen Fried, which I found fascinating, and Atul Gawande's The Checklist Manifesto, also great. And I made my way through three commentaries on Acts: Will Willimon, Jaroslav Pelikan and Anthony Robinson and Robert Wall. Each different, each helpful. Next in line: a biography of Henry Aaron and a memoir by Rosanne Cash.
So, the summer is almost over. For me it has been rich and full, and this mostly because of the intersection with friends and some time spent in a couple of beautiful places. And now the fall season approaches.
Quote of the Day
Sometimes I think John the Revelator might have been a crazy old man whose creative writing assignment for the Patmos learning annex accidentally made it into the Bible.
from Rachel Held Evans' Evolving in Monkey Town: How A Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to Ask the Questions
Evans' book is one of the many excellent spiritual memoirs that have come out in the last few years. I didn't grow up a small town evangelical like she did, but I found a lot that I could relate to in this book. Check this book out.
from Rachel Held Evans' Evolving in Monkey Town: How A Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to Ask the Questions
Evans' book is one of the many excellent spiritual memoirs that have come out in the last few years. I didn't grow up a small town evangelical like she did, but I found a lot that I could relate to in this book. Check this book out.
My Ordination
This is a video of highlights from the 2010 Ordination and Commissioning Service at the Kansas West Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church. It has been edited to highlight my ordination. Thanks to the Kansas West Communications team for their work in producing the entire service.
Should a Local Church aspire to be “Real” and “Cool”?
I appreciated some of the concepts presented by The Perils of ‘Wannabe Cool’ Christianity in the Wall Street Journal a few weeks ago. Here is a sample from the article:
“As a twentysomething, I can say with confidence that when it comes to church, we don’t want cool as much as we want real. If we are interested in Christianity in any sort of serious way, it is not because it’s easy or trendy or popular. It’s because Jesus himself is appealing, and what he says rings true. It’s because the world we inhabit is utterly phony, ephemeral, narcissistic, image-obsessed and sex-drenched—and we want an alternative. It’s not because we want more of the same.”
I resonate with the desire to experience a faith community that is real and not cool. It doesn’t even have to be cool, if it is real. A local church should strive to be real and authentic. Represent who the community actually is in any communications, remind people of who you want to become in every gathering of the people and always seek to become like Jesus.
Podcast Episode 12- The Jesus Question
A new episode of The Truth As Best I Know It Podcast is now live.
We're continue our journey through Brian McLaren’s A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions that Are Transforming the Faith with “The Jesus Question”.
We talk about differing conceptions of Jesus, casting Jesus in our own image, the variety of things the New Testament says about Jesus, and how the way we answer the question “who is Jesus” tells us a lot about our theology and about who we are.
You can listen to the episode on Podbean (the gracious hosts of our podcast), or download it on iTunes. If you're an iTunes subscriber, please take a few minutes to rate our show and write a review!
For those that may not have seen it, here is the scene from Talladega Nights we reference in this episode:
We're continue our journey through Brian McLaren’s A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions that Are Transforming the Faith with “The Jesus Question”.
We talk about differing conceptions of Jesus, casting Jesus in our own image, the variety of things the New Testament says about Jesus, and how the way we answer the question “who is Jesus” tells us a lot about our theology and about who we are.
You can listen to the episode on Podbean (the gracious hosts of our podcast), or download it on iTunes. If you're an iTunes subscriber, please take a few minutes to rate our show and write a review!
For those that may not have seen it, here is the scene from Talladega Nights we reference in this episode:
Class Meetings at Resurrection Online
Image by Ben Ramsey via Flickr
I have been inspired by Kevin Watson’s series of posts about the Methodist Class Meeting. It was part of what made the Methodist movement powerful. I have hoped to use the following series of posts as a guide for leading class meetings when I am the lead pastor at a church one day.
- The Methodist Class Meeting for the 21st Century
- The Methodist Class Meeting for the 21st Century: The Foundation
- The Methodist Class Meeting for the 21st Century: Why Classes?
- The Methodist Class Meeting for the 21st Century: Who Is This For?
- Top Ten Ways to Guarantee that Your Class Meeting will Fail
- Is the Class Meeting Judgmental and Exclusive?
Then I thought, what about now? I am leading Resurrection Online and hoping to create opportunities for people to worship, grow, give and serve. Isn’t this one of the powerful ways that the Methodist movement grew in faith and size? Would a class meeting work online? What are your thoughts, feelings or opinions about this possibility
Guest Blogging- Sunday Sermon
This week I've been invited to guest blog on GoodPreacher.com's Homiletical Hot Tub.
If you're not a member of GoodPreacher.com (and if you're a pastor, you should be- it's full of great resources), you can read what I wrote below.
This is the sermon I preached on the final Sunday of our Capital Campaign, "Bethlehem on the Rise". The title is "Sun Rising", and it is based on Genesis 1:3-5 and Matthew 5:14-16.
We just read from the first of two creation stories in the Book of Genesis. The one we just read from was probably composed in the form we have it about five centuries before the time of Jesus, and it is this beautiful liturgical song of praise about how God took the primal chaos and shaped it into the amazing created order that we see in the world today. This story has been around for at least twenty five hundred years, and it still takes our breath away.
Unfortunately, in our time, some of the beauty of this story has been clouded over because, for a couple centuries, Christians of different stripes have kept trying to turn the creation stories of Genesis into something they’re not, and we’ve done some damage to ourselves in the process. The generations of folks who passed down this story verbally from generation to generation, and eventually wrote it down had what we now call a “pre-scientific” understanding of the universe. For all they knew, the earth was flat and everything in the sky revolved around the earth. They weren’t dumb by any stretch of the imagination. They talked about who God is and how God works using of their best understanding of the shape of the universe and our place in it.
But over time that understanding began to evolve. In the sixteenth century we see a Polish priest named Nicholas Copernicus who also happens to dabble in mathematics and astronomy realizes that it isn’t the sun that revolved around the earth, the earth actually revolves around the Sun! About a generation later, an Italian guy named Galileo Galilei, who is also a faithful Catholic, says the same stuff and a lot of people start to think that there’s something to this.
Sadly, these brilliant men and their ideas didn’t exactly get a positive reception. They were called heretics and Galileo was actually dragged to Rome and tried by the Inquisition as a heretic. The church (and I’m talking about all churches: Catholic, Methodist, everyone) is and always has been a human institution, and in many of these critical moments we have succumbed to that most basic of human flaws: fear. Fear of change. Fear of new knowledge that might threaten the established order and our power in it. Fear of the unknown. Too often we reject new ideas and understandings because we are afraid and we only see the negative possibilities, and we miss out on the potential they bring.
Today’s theme in our worship is the “Sun Rising”, and the evolution in our understanding of what the Sun is, and in turn, what our place in the universe is, serves to remind us who we are and who God is. The very phrase, “watching the Sun rise” implies that we are standing still and that everything revolves around us. But if you’ve ever been on a beach or on top of a mountain and watched the Sun rise, you’ve probably been struck by how big this world is, and how small we are in comparison. As scientific discovery has shown us that the Earth revolves around the Sun, and that even the Sun revolves around the center of our galaxy that is just one of billions in the universe, we’ve seen that truth again. We are not the center of the universe! We’re actually quite small in the grand scheme of things! We are not ultimate: God is. And the God who is ultimate, the God who is the center of the universe, cares deeply about each and every one of us. Little ‘ol you, and little ‘ol me are of sacred worth because we are created in the image of our great big God.
Perhaps this lesson about humanity’s place in the universe is also a word to our community today. We’re raising money right now to build a new church home. We’re in the midst of doing something really important, and any time we’re doing something important we can easily get stressed and blow things out of proportion and succumb to fear. So when that stress hits, when that fear is right in our face threatening to swallow us whole, let us remember our place in the created order. That amazingly beautiful, sacred piece of property on Gholson Road is but a speck on this Earth, this planet that revolves around the Sun, which is one of billions of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy, which is but one of billions, or more likely, trillions of galaxies in this universe.
We don’t have to worry, because the fate of the cosmos does not hang on what we do here! We are important, but we are not ultimate. God is the center of the universe. God is ultimate.
Jesus tells us we are the light of the world, and to let our light shine. Just as we are not at the center of the created order, neither are we the source of that light. We are not the light of the world because of some innate goodness on our part. We are the light of the world because we are created by God, the God who actually spoke light into existence! We are not the source, we merely reflect the source of this light. So all we have to do is be what we are. Jesus tells us to let our light shine before people so that they may see it and praise the God who is ultimate, the God who is the center of the universe, the God who is the source of the light we shine.
So let us build our new church home, and let us attract some attention as we do it. Not for the purpose of being satisfied with the works of our hands, but to direct attention to the source of that light that is within us, so that all may see and praise the God who said “let there be light”. Saints of Bethlehem, let it shine.
In the name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, Amen.
If you're not a member of GoodPreacher.com (and if you're a pastor, you should be- it's full of great resources), you can read what I wrote below.
This is the sermon I preached on the final Sunday of our Capital Campaign, "Bethlehem on the Rise". The title is "Sun Rising", and it is based on Genesis 1:3-5 and Matthew 5:14-16.
We just read from the first of two creation stories in the Book of Genesis. The one we just read from was probably composed in the form we have it about five centuries before the time of Jesus, and it is this beautiful liturgical song of praise about how God took the primal chaos and shaped it into the amazing created order that we see in the world today. This story has been around for at least twenty five hundred years, and it still takes our breath away.
Unfortunately, in our time, some of the beauty of this story has been clouded over because, for a couple centuries, Christians of different stripes have kept trying to turn the creation stories of Genesis into something they’re not, and we’ve done some damage to ourselves in the process. The generations of folks who passed down this story verbally from generation to generation, and eventually wrote it down had what we now call a “pre-scientific” understanding of the universe. For all they knew, the earth was flat and everything in the sky revolved around the earth. They weren’t dumb by any stretch of the imagination. They talked about who God is and how God works using of their best understanding of the shape of the universe and our place in it.
But over time that understanding began to evolve. In the sixteenth century we see a Polish priest named Nicholas Copernicus who also happens to dabble in mathematics and astronomy realizes that it isn’t the sun that revolved around the earth, the earth actually revolves around the Sun! About a generation later, an Italian guy named Galileo Galilei, who is also a faithful Catholic, says the same stuff and a lot of people start to think that there’s something to this.
Sadly, these brilliant men and their ideas didn’t exactly get a positive reception. They were called heretics and Galileo was actually dragged to Rome and tried by the Inquisition as a heretic. The church (and I’m talking about all churches: Catholic, Methodist, everyone) is and always has been a human institution, and in many of these critical moments we have succumbed to that most basic of human flaws: fear. Fear of change. Fear of new knowledge that might threaten the established order and our power in it. Fear of the unknown. Too often we reject new ideas and understandings because we are afraid and we only see the negative possibilities, and we miss out on the potential they bring.
Today’s theme in our worship is the “Sun Rising”, and the evolution in our understanding of what the Sun is, and in turn, what our place in the universe is, serves to remind us who we are and who God is. The very phrase, “watching the Sun rise” implies that we are standing still and that everything revolves around us. But if you’ve ever been on a beach or on top of a mountain and watched the Sun rise, you’ve probably been struck by how big this world is, and how small we are in comparison. As scientific discovery has shown us that the Earth revolves around the Sun, and that even the Sun revolves around the center of our galaxy that is just one of billions in the universe, we’ve seen that truth again. We are not the center of the universe! We’re actually quite small in the grand scheme of things! We are not ultimate: God is. And the God who is ultimate, the God who is the center of the universe, cares deeply about each and every one of us. Little ‘ol you, and little ‘ol me are of sacred worth because we are created in the image of our great big God.
Perhaps this lesson about humanity’s place in the universe is also a word to our community today. We’re raising money right now to build a new church home. We’re in the midst of doing something really important, and any time we’re doing something important we can easily get stressed and blow things out of proportion and succumb to fear. So when that stress hits, when that fear is right in our face threatening to swallow us whole, let us remember our place in the created order. That amazingly beautiful, sacred piece of property on Gholson Road is but a speck on this Earth, this planet that revolves around the Sun, which is one of billions of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy, which is but one of billions, or more likely, trillions of galaxies in this universe.
We don’t have to worry, because the fate of the cosmos does not hang on what we do here! We are important, but we are not ultimate. God is the center of the universe. God is ultimate.
Jesus tells us we are the light of the world, and to let our light shine. Just as we are not at the center of the created order, neither are we the source of that light. We are not the light of the world because of some innate goodness on our part. We are the light of the world because we are created by God, the God who actually spoke light into existence! We are not the source, we merely reflect the source of this light. So all we have to do is be what we are. Jesus tells us to let our light shine before people so that they may see it and praise the God who is ultimate, the God who is the center of the universe, the God who is the source of the light we shine.
So let us build our new church home, and let us attract some attention as we do it. Not for the purpose of being satisfied with the works of our hands, but to direct attention to the source of that light that is within us, so that all may see and praise the God who said “let there be light”. Saints of Bethlehem, let it shine.
In the name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Some Hope on a Sad Day
Forty seven years ago today, one of the greatest preachers of all time gave perhaps the greatest sermon in the English language. The best part is that the last, most famous section of "I Have a Dream" was unscripted. King had used the phrase before, but it took on a life of its own on this day.
Sadly, today on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Glen Beck, Sarah Palin and others are holding a blasphemous rally in an attempt to hijack the legacy of Dr. King. I'm not watching it, because as you can probably tell, I already have too much fuel for the judgmental spirit that too often takes over me.
Intstead, I'm feeding my soul with something more positive today. I hope you'll join me in turning off the cable news and spend a few minutes soaking in the words of a true prophet.
It doesn't matter if you've never seen this before or if you've seen it hundreds of times. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s words never fail to inspire.
Amen, Dr. King. Amen.
Sadly, today on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Glen Beck, Sarah Palin and others are holding a blasphemous rally in an attempt to hijack the legacy of Dr. King. I'm not watching it, because as you can probably tell, I already have too much fuel for the judgmental spirit that too often takes over me.
Intstead, I'm feeding my soul with something more positive today. I hope you'll join me in turning off the cable news and spend a few minutes soaking in the words of a true prophet.
It doesn't matter if you've never seen this before or if you've seen it hundreds of times. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s words never fail to inspire.
Amen, Dr. King. Amen.
Mayor Bloomberg on Islamaphobia and Hypocrisy in America
"This whole issue will go away after the next election. This is people trying to stir up things, to get publicity, and trying to polarize people so they can get some votes"
The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10cMichael Bloombergwww.thedailyshow.comDaily Show Full EpisodesPolitical HumorTea Party
Well said, sir.
The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10cMichael Bloombergwww.thedailyshow.comDaily Show Full EpisodesPolitical HumorTea Party
Well said, sir.
Speedlinking – August 27, 2010
Image by StefPress via Flickr
- “Falling with Style” Still a Goal – I hope to be able to fall with style as well.
- My District Superintendent is blogging a return trip to Vietnam after 40 years away at The Year of the Metal Dog.
- Why Innovation Thrives at the Mayo Clinic could be replicated in churches.
- Brilliant work at Internet Campus Volunteer Training Blog from Saddleback.
- 5 Ways to Integrate Stories Into Your Social Media Marketing speaks for itself
- I am not worried about using something NIH – More at The Peculiar Way We Reward Innovation.
- Pray 40 is an opportunity to “pray for the next generation of Christian leaders as they head to college and university campuses.”
A Midday Prayer
From: kljames@umcsc.org, A Midday Prayer
Are Jesus’ miracles true?
Image via Wikipedia
It seems that this question has most to do with how one interprets the Bible. Scripture is inspired by God and paints a picture of God’s character, God’s action and God’s people.
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that all God’s people may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” 2 Timothy 3:16-17, TNIV.
Scripture is the written Word of God that reveals the personal Word of God, Jesus Christ. The good news and truth of scripture can be a source of faith. As such, scripture becomes authoritative and normative for the Christian life.
So what does this mean when it comes to Jesus’ miracles? I believe that Jesus miracles are true and historical fact. They point to the reality that Jesus is God in the flesh and that He has control over all creation. However, my faith does not rest on the historicity of Jesus’ miracles.
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