Beyond a tribal religion…

In the Gospel reading from yesterday (Luke 24) we encounter the risen Christ on the road to Emmaus.  Dwelling in the passage last week as I prepared to preach, I continually came back to the perspective of the two followers Jesus meets on the road.  I was struck by the fact that they had given themselves to the belief that Jesus was the promised Messiah.  They had followed this miracle-working, authoritative teacher believing he was the One who would bring the Kingdom and liberate Israel. 

As they are walking the seven mile journey from Jerusalem to Emmaus, Jesus finds them deep in discussion…sadness written across their faces.  Their world has been turned upside down.  The events of the preceding days culminating with the crucifixion did not fit into their expectations for Messiah.  They are struggling to reconcile the Cross with the Messianic Kingdom narrative. 

We too must wrestle with the same question they were asking–What kind of Messiah?  What kind of Kingdom?  How does the ultimate victory of God come with a king who rules not with a sword, but a towel?  How does the Kingdom come through the way of suffering love–the Cross? 

Within the broad spectrum of Christianity we see the meaning of the Cross interpreted in a number of ways.  For some it is primarily about personal atonement.  For others it is primarily about making visible a better way–the ethic of redemptive non-violent love. 

You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away.  Then God made you alive with Christ.  He forgave all your sins.  He cancelled the record that contained the charges against us.  He took it and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ’s cross.  In this way, God disarmed the evil rulers and authorities.  He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross of Christ.  Colossians 2:13-15

The Apostle Paul helps uncover for us the meaning of the cross both for personal redemption (substitutionary theory of atonement) and the cosmic dimensions of God’s victory (christus victor).  The Gospel is the good news that individuals can be reconciled with God (can you hear the revival preacher fervantly calling for sinners to “get right with Gawwddd”).  While this is an integral dimension of the Gospel of the Kingdom, I suspect that it was not on this point that Cleopas and his friend were disillusioned.  

On MLK, politics, and the prophetic…

Martin Luther King, Jr. on War

Today is the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.  I am amazed at how much he accomplished in his short life.  He was the leader of a movement.  A prophetic voice for civil rights…against the wars of empire.  He was a courageous voice speaking out of the framing story of the Gospel to important issues.  Issues on which the country was heading in the wrong direction.

The New York Times reported today that a recent poll indicates that 81% say America is headed in the wrong direction.  The poll clearly points to the need for a visionary leader to change the course of American politics.  Yesterday at district pastors meeting, Brian shared about an interesting story regarding the Myers-Briggs profile of the presidential candidates.  I went looking for it.  Very interesting. 

Hillary Clinton is a Guardian (ESTJ)…”The Supervisor”:  steadfast, cautious, methodical 

Barack Obama is an Idealist (ENFP)…”The Champion”:  filled with conviction they can easily motivate those around them.  Very few ENFPs are leaders of organizations, however this is the typical profile of leaders of movements. 

John McCain is an Artisan (ESTP)…”The Promoter”:  practical, optimistic, cynical, focused on the here and now

I see a correlation between the NY Times poll and the historic turnout in the Democratic primaries.  I sense a growing consensus that perceives the “fierce urgency of the now.”  There are certain pivotal moments in history when the immensity of the problems call for a different approach, a voice that is willing to act and speak prophetically to the dysfunctions of system–to the misguided visions. 

MLK was such a voice.  He looked directly into the face of the principalities and powers of hatred and greed expressed in a segregated and racist nation.  He did so in the spirit of Jesus–non-violent, sacraficial love.  His courageous words and actions cost him his life.  The powers never can tolerate the prophetic voices of liberation–the call for justice for all. 

I believe this country is at a similar crossroads as in the 1960s.  The framing narrative that has guided the response of this country to the tragedy of 9/11 has been tried and found wanting.  The whole system seems to be on a suicidal course of self-destruction.  The times call for a visionary leader can harness the dissatisfaction of the people and reframe the narrative guiding the ideals and actions of this country.  The stakes are such that we cannot continue to implement a same ol, same ol approach.  I sense that Senator Obama is connecting with a groundswell of sentiment.  A mood and outlook that recognizes that something is broke and doing the same thing we’ve been doing won’t fix it. 

I pray that the vision of this nation may be reframed around the values and ideals of peace and justice.  A responsible vision that takes into account the limits of natural resources.  The limits of tolerance for arrogance in the community of nations.

Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us.

Dwelling in the Word: Luke 24

I will be preaching from Luke 24 on Sunday–the Walk to Emmaus.  This passage took on new meaning for me about a year and a half ago when I was reading Exiles:  Living Missionally in  Post-Christian Culture.  Michael Frost writes a comparative analysis of the 1601 and the 1606 versions of Supper at Emmaus by Caravaggio.  I was moved by the missional implications of reflecting on the two paintings in conjunction with Luke 24 (see blog post). 

I know Solomon’s Porch has a group that meets weekly to interact with the Scriptures indicated for the following Sunday.  The sermon arises out of this communal interaction with text.  Sometimes particular questions emerge that shape the direction of the message.  Other times it is stories that become illustrations woven into the sermon.  A hermeneutical community that helps to shape a word.  A Gospel message grounded in the lives of the members of the community. 

I have sometimes wished there could be a more communal process in the practice of preaching–more conversational, more constructivist.  Dwelling in the Word is one way we (in LMC and SMC) have sought to attend to Scripture communally.  

I would welcome anyone who would like to engage in this practice with the Luke 24 passage this week to respond with ways you sense God speaking to you or your community through this text.  I would especially welcome contributions from the SMC community!  Questions that emerge from dwelling in the word.  What you notice in the text.  What you hear and see Jesus doing in the text.  How Jesus is speaking to you…to us through this passage. 

Sustainable Faith: Retreats…

Sustainable Faith: Retreats

I have been refreshed and revitalized by a number of visits to the retreat center at Vineyard Central.  Dave and Jodi Nixon are wonderfully gracious hosts and spiritual directors.  Dave also gave input at the SMC annual church retreat in 2005. 

Dave says it takes courage to intentionally make time for retreat, for contemplation.  We are so programmed for going, going, going, doing, doing, doing.

I have been sporadic with the discipline of personal retreat.  My last personal retreat was about two years ago (Herrbrook Farm Retreat).  I see the importance of it for sustainability in ministry and for having a more grounded perspective on live now and future direction.  I hope to take some time for personal retreat in 2008. 

Learning to see the world the way God does…

I have been reading a book that Jon passed along to me–Get Up Off Your Knees:  Preaching the U2 Catalog.  Today I read “To See What You See:  On Liturgy & Learning & Life,” Steven Garber, Calvin College.  The Biblical reference is Psalm 123.  The U2 song reference is “When I Look At The World.” 

As I read this essay, I thought of the impulse behind my post yesterday.  It is so easy to look the other way (from the problems of the world) and make Christianity primarily about individual purity.  The integrating schema that brings coherence to the Biblical narrative becomes personal salvation, personal relationship with God, going to heaven when I die.  The redemption of all things is understood almost exclusively through the prism of converting individual souls. 

If we don’t look the other way, or domesticate a truly biblical view of justice and Kingdom come, we are still at risk of being overwhelmed by the massive complexity and scale of the worlds problems.     

But what does it mean to see the world the way God does? 

Garber says that in biblical imagery, it takes people with ears to hear, and eyes to see.  It takes people who know that to know–in a deeply biblical sense–means to be responsible, and that to be responsible means to care.  People who “get it” understand that deeply Christian discipleship is marked by learning to see the world the way that God does, to know the world the way that God does, to love the world the way that God does.

This is not easy.  Garber offers a helpful analogy.  He says it is like the cartoon where college professor who fills up two whiteboards with mathematical calculations–a maze of letters and numbers.  After the complex relationships between addition and subtraction, multiplication and division are set forth, and most of us find ourselves overwhelmed, not sure what to do with all that we have seen, there is a seemingly simple “equals” sign on the far side of the second board.  And there is one word:  Whatever. 

Whatever.  Whatever.  Whatever.  For many, that word captures our feelings as we look at the world, full of complex sadness and sorrow, multifaceted injustice and evil.  Simply put, we don’t know what to say or do, because we don’t know what to make of what we see.  I meet students all over the world who feel this way.  They do care, they want to engage God’s world, but when they touch it, when they see it and smell it, too often it crushes them, it overwhelms them in the complexity of its griefs.

To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!  As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, until he has mercy upon us.  Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt.  Our soul has had more than its fill of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud.

Psalm 123

How the World sees America…

I sat down to eat my lunch today and turned the TV on to C-SPAN2.  Amar Bakshi was in the middle of a press conference speaking about his project- How the World sees America.  This fascinating project took him on a 5-month trip to 11 countries around the world.  Bakshi is a reporter for the Washington post.  This project was an attempt to provide a different vantage point from the standard headline journalism.

Bakshi states that he wanted “to humanize the actors in world politics.”  It is also fascinating because it combines the technology of the postmodern age–digital video, internet/You tube and puts us in touch with the people involved in these overarching political issues.  We see the Other as they are, not as we imagine them to be in our culturally conditioned views and predispositions.  We hear the Other in their own voice.  The Palestinian, the UK Communist, the Indian, the Israeli Jew, the Turkish Muslim….  We see a human face, human emotions, expressions–living a daily existense much like our own in many ways. 

I went to Amar Bakshi’s website and watched the following short video pieces:

Mother Teresa…

 

In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.   –Mother Teresa

Each one of them is Jesus in disguise.   –Mother Teresa
 

Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.   –Mother Teresa

I do not pray for success, I ask for faithfulness.   –Mother Teresa

Jesus & The Kingdom

Your Kingdom come, your will be done on Earth…

The Other:  Postmodern shorthand for anyone differing in any way from “us,” born of the reality that in an era of radical pluralism and globalization, we are constantly confronted with people who are indeed different from us.

Tony Jones, The New Christians:  Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier

Jesus and the Kingdom, Brian McLaren

Can you imagine a community that is willing to live in the way of Jesus–to live in such a way that radically invites relationship with the Other? 

Who is the Other (whom we are called to love)? 

Is it the jobless, shiftless young male who is fathering children, but takes no responsibility for helping support them?  Is it the unwed teenage mother who is not prepared to sacrifice–the cravings of cigarettes…the late-night vagabond carelessness of youth–to care for a totally dependent baby. 

Is the Other the gay or lesbian co-worker?  Am I able to see this person as one whom God loves?  How do we make visible the love of God as we relate to the Other in this person? 

Are we willing to make visible the love of God to the Other?  Can we make room for relationship with the Other in our communities?

Can we make room for the single person who challenges the value system and priorities of a communal narrative slanted towards marriage and family?

Can we make room for the person from the Other political party?  Can we engage in conversation with them and together seek answers that arise out of a careful reading of the Gospel in the covenanted Community of Jesus?

Discussion between Tall Skinny Kiwi and McLaren…

I found this short exchange between Andrew Jones and Brian McLaren to be quite helpful.  If there is one weakness I see in the Emergent movement it is an underdeveloped ecclesiology.  I hear TSK pushing Brian out on this point in this brief conversation. 

Amidst the disillusionment with the establishment church, in the prophetic challenge to the institutional church, in the ferment of deconstruction–how do we organically connect to the community of Christ throughout time and space?  This is the question I believe that the Emerging/Emergent movement must engage if we are to see the conversation embodied in Christ-like communities over the long haul.  In ways that uncover the Biblical Jesus and are in continuity with the witness of the Apostolic community. 

I am registered for DeepShift NYC.  A prime opportunity for continuing to engage in this fruitful conversation at the grassroots level about what it means to be a follower of Jesus and his Kingdom in the world today.  Planning to take Shawn along in the trunk along with some other missional sojourners.