EVERYTHING

Everything

The Blessed...

“With so much effort being poured into church growth, so much press being given to the benefits of faith, and so much flexing of religious muscle in the public square, the poor in spirit have no one but Jesus to call them blessed anymore.”

Barbara Brown Taylor’s Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith

Center of the Universe...NOT!!!

Tonight our family watched a special on the universe on the History channel. It's hard to believe that if our sun was the dot on the letter i on a piece of paper, then our galaxy would be comparable to the size of North America. Moreover, that galaxy is one of hundreds of billions of galaxies in the universe. Who can even fathom that? We are very small indeed. Yet, we act as though we are the center of the universe. We act as though our recognition and our affirmation are the prime concern of our lives. I can't help but contrast this to the position Jesus took as he came to us. "Though he was in his very essence, God, he did not consider equality with God as something to be held on to, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant he humbled himself." Why do I drive over the speed limit, and pull out in front of people, and get mad when people with 11 items enter the 10 items or less lane, and direct conversations toward what I have done, and down play the successes of others, and gossip? It's because I think that I am the center of the universe. Is life, not, trying to become less and less? As John says, "He must increase and I must decrease." It seems to me that growth in Christ finds a person, more and more, giving up privilege for the sake of others.

Resident Aliens

Resident Aliens

“To the chosen exiles of the Dispersion, destined by God...live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear...as aliens and strangers abstain from sinful desires. 1 Peter 1:1, 17, 2:11

Why has God acted in unprecedented ways to save his people? From the Exodus out of Egypt to the triumphant victory in the resurrection of Christ, God has acted on behalf of his people to redeem them and save them from the oppressive powers of this world. Why has God done this? Is God a mere super hero? The Incredibles taught us that it is hard to be a super hero and be a part of the community. Super heroes are supposed to sweep in and fix our problem, then get out until we need them again. God hasn’t just delivered his people as a super hero might sweep in and rescue the damsel in distress and then fly away never to be seen until he is needed again. No, God is creating a people, a community of his very own. He’s forming a community of faith that will follow him, obey him, declare his wonders and praises, a people who will point the world to God, to show the world what God is like, a people who will live out their reason for existing. He’s creating a community of people who he can point to and say, “now that’s what humanity should look like.”

God is creating the church to be his contrast community. Jesus didn’t come as a super hero… "He is God-man, able to walk on water, turn water into wine, make blind people see with mud he makes from his own spit, able to rescue us from our sins and transport us safely to the other side." Jesus is not some mere super-hero, he is our savior, he is the author of our faith, he is the reason we go to church and join together as a community. God, through Christ, is now creating a community of people who will announce what God has done and is doing by drawing all people to himself. Peter writes to such a community. Peter calls his community “aliens and strangers” in this world. Meaning, our lives should point to something different. The world is watching, and wondering what God is up to. This people that claim to be his people, what makes them so different? Is there a noticeable difference in how we treat each other, how we treat the weak, how we treat the earth, how we treat those outside our community?

God has always been creating a people for himself, setting them apart from the world given to them on a daily basis. These “resident aliens,” as Hauerwas and Willimon call us, are to live as exemplary aliens in a land that does not welcome them. Yet, they are to live in such a way that they are different, but not in conflict with the dominant culture. They are to return good for evil, blessing for slander, hope when there is no hope. This is the community Peter is writing to, a community that is finding itself more and more on the margins. There isn’t organized persecution at this point, but the marginalization has begun.

For the past 1600 years our world could be drawn like this: Christianity at the center. From the time of Constantine, Christianity has been at the center of our existence. However, this privilege Christianity has had in Western culture is dying. Christianity is being pushed to the margins. It doesn’t die easy, however. Even today we struggle with how much we should be involved with politics. Countless para-church organizations are lobbying the government to legislate the Christian ethic on all of us. Some of it is good and holy and right. Some of it is a Christian power-grab. My question, though, is this: Where is Christianity meant to exist? Is Christianity to exist in the center of society? Is it where we should be moving? If we are in the center, is it where we should dig in our heals and stay? I believe Christianity functions best on the margins.

This is where Peter finds his communities of faith, sitting on the margins. It is here that Christianity stands or falls. When Christianity is in power, it exists out of privilege. But, when it is marginalized, it exists out of its radical claims of Jesus Christ, and his call for the church to live as aliens and strangers in the land. It is when Christians embrace their marginal status, live faithful lives as disciples of Jesus, that the world sees them and “glorifies God in heaven.”

Human Capacities...

Is this not how we approach human nature and aspirational church teaching? We constantly tell people how horrible, rotten, depraved, and venomous humanity is and then say, "But, get out there and serve God and do some good." One rule of theological anthropology is: If you have a low view of humanity, then don't get upset when it lets you down. It's only doing what its nature demands. I'm convinced, however, that cynics are merely ticked off optimists. They have this view of the world and reality keeps drawing it down. That’s why they’re mad.

I, for one, am still under the impression that good is possible. Peter says that through the promises of God we might "participate in the divine nature (II Peter 1:4)." Paul says that God's eternal plan and purpose is that we become "conformed to the likeness of his son (Romans 8:29)." To live out our true humanity is to be drawn into the life of God. Jesus is human. He showed us what it is to live as a human. We live below our humanity. Yet, even though we are old broken down clay pots, God may actually make something beautiful out of our lives after all.

Some Thoughts on Church...

Here are some ideas that have been rolling around in my head lately:

Whatever we believe the Good News is, will be how we enact church. What this means is, the image of salvation that is at the core of our Christianity (forgiveness of sins, new creation, victory over sin, victory over oppressive powers) will directly influence our initiatives at church. We will interpret our role as a church in direct relation to how we believe God saves us in Jesus Christ. If we believe Jesus negotiates the legal transaction between God and us and the only requirement is to believe that, then we will spend our time trying to convince people to believe it. If we believe Jesus delivers us from the power of sin, then we will seek to deliver those bound by sin. If we believe Jesus offers us a new creation, then we will seek to initiate spiritual formation activities. If we believe Jesus overcomes the oppressive powers of this age, then we will seek those who are marginal and oppressed. Therefore, a healthy view of the church starts with a healthy view of salvation.

I believe the spirit of God lives among the people of God. Therefore, I also believe God’s preferred future for any particular church lives in the imagination of the people of God. Leadership, then, must create processes for that imagination to give birth to values and ministries. Moreover, the leadership must find ways of empowering and equipping the people of God to live into God’s future. There must be a balance between strategic planning on the leadership’s part and freedom for members to step out and engage in missional activities on their own. I also believe God is at work in the communities where we live, so leadership must also find ways of tapping into the imagination of the community.

Rather than trying to discover what kind of church our community would go to, we should try to discern what God is up to in our communities and join him in that. North American Christianity has turned consumeristic in many respects. The church will often see itself as mere vendors of religious goods and services. In an attempt at church growth the church will initiate programs they feel will attract outsiders. This views the guest as a mere consumer. I believe a more theologically sound approach is to engage our communities in missional activities and invite them to participate in the mission of God. Instead of asking our neighbors "What kind of church would you go to?" We could ask them "What would be evidence that God is working in this neighborhood?" This changes our orientation from “church builders for God” to “fellow travelers with God.” Rather than merely receiving what we have to offer, the community participates in what God is doing in this world. I am convinced this will go farther in forming disciples of Jesus, than trying to woo our community with the best programs. This doesn’t mean we don’t have programs, of course we do. But, we initiate programs because we believe it is what God is doing in our community, not because we believe it will attract the biggest crowds.

A Life Spent...

Below is part of a sermon I preached yesterday at a funeral for a dearly loved sister of our church. She was 83 years old and was part of five living generations.

When the family was sitting around trying to think of characteristics of Faye, the same theme kept coming up. Faye loved her family, especially all those grandkids. She worked hard and loved her church. That was her life, her vocation as a humble beautician, her church community and her role as a mother and grandmother. That’s what she did. That’s who she was. That is the difference she made in this world. And, that really touched me. Because, so often we want to point out the spectacular. We all want to do great things. We want to get to the end of our lives and have people stand here and be able to say what great things we've done. To get to the end and be able to point to spectacular ways we changed the world. And, we pursue after these things.

Image I like to use is our lives are like having a $1000 bill. We can hold that treasure as a thousand dollar bill. But, how often are we going to use a thousand dollar bill? We would like to spend that $1000 bill (which is our life) on something spectacular. But, for most of us, we don’t have many opportunities for that. We certainly don’t want to get to the end of our lives and look back and realize we didn’t spend our lives on anything because we were waiting for the big event, the grand accomplishment. No, days and weeks and years will go by before we have a chance to use it. People looking for our treasure will pass by and never know we have it. But if we go and cash that in for quarters. We can use quarters on a daily basis. 50 cents here, a kind word there. 75 cents here and prayer for a neighbor there. 43 cents here and a welcoming hand to a stranger there. $1.82 here and a meal to the family down the street there. $1.25 here and a swift kick in the pants to a grandson there, and without even realizing it we get to the end of our lives, and we find we’ve spent them for the sake of others and have accomplished something great after all.

That’s what I heard from the family. Faye, giving herself in small ways over a lifetime, (which turn out to be not so small ways)…until we come to today. And we look back, and see Faye spent her $1000, not in one lump sum, but in a thousand smaller sums as she served others, encouraged those she encountered, corrected those she was closest to. We don’t come today to remember some grand accomplishments, but a life of giving herself a little here a little there until a life is spent.

The Story Goes On...

OK. I’m a horrible blogger. There are so many times I have intended to blog. For those who check this site every once in a while, I’ll try to do better. At least I’ll post some snippets from my sermons. Here is a piece of my sermon from yesterday. It was the last sermon in my series “You will be my Witnesses,” a series in Acts.

For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 28:30-31

The clock flips to 6:30 AM. It is another day, and yet, it isn’t because Phil, a weather man sent to cover the story of whether Punxsutawney Phil would see his shadow, is stuck on Groundhog day. So every day he wakes up to a new day, that is really the same day playing out the same story. He finds himself weaving in and out of the same story, day after day, year after year. As the story goes on he finds himself more and more connected to the narrative that is playing out before him. Earlier, he is cold and disinterested, removed, then he begins to enter the story, making friends, saving the boy who falls out of the tree, helping people, becoming part of the community. He found himself growing into the story. I think this is the story of the church. We have been born of the Gospel of Christ and we are trying to live into that story, weaving in and out of the Gospel until we are completely consumed by it. Acts ends with a comma because the story goes on. God continues to tell the story of how his son Jesus Christ is the hope of the world. The church is the continuation of that story. We are Acts 29. With the Holy Spirit continuing to move among us we, like the church in Acts, are trying to discern how the Gospel story will play out in our time and place.

The church in Acts wondered "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" (1:6). They wondered when the story would end and all the promises be fulfilled. Luke gives no answer except, “the story continues.” No need to stand staring into the heavens (1:11) there is work to be done, the story goes on. The invitation in 1:8 “You will be my witnesses….” is still open for contemporary witnesses to proclaim the gospel "unhindered" (28:31).

We are not there yet. We are not yet who God wants us to be. We are on a journey into the future. But, there is anticipation, expectancy, a sense among us that we are going somewhere. And that somewhere is not a program, not an accomplishment, not an attendance number, not a building, not a goal, but is a more faithfully lived life in the story of the Gospel. That somewhere is the formation of a people for God’s own possession. God is using us, these vulnerable, fragile, clay jars, to show the world what he intends for it. We are called to be God’s people. That means something. It means that we, the church are the preview of what God hopes to do in and with the world through the story of Jesus Christ who lived for our sanctification, was crucified for our sins, raised for our justification, and ascended to give us hope of eternal life.

One in Christ

This past Sunday we had our third combined worship service with the N. 10th and Treadaway congregation. Treadaway is a predominately Black congregation and Minter Lane is a predominately White congregation. The service was, as were the previous two, led by members from each congregation. This time, however, Edward Robinson, the preacher for N. 10th and Treadaway, and I preached together from Philippians 2. I preached for 10 minutes, then he preached for 10 minutes, then I preached for 10 minutes, then he preached for 10 minutes. Afterward the service the two churches had a meal together. This continues to be a highlight for our church. A local news station did a brief story on it. Someone commented, "It will be great when something like this is not a news story."

At some point we have got to stop merely talking about racial reconciliation, and stop merely having conferences on it, and actually do it. I must say I am concerned that the church is not leading the way in this area. I hope future generations can show us what the Gospel does to create the new community of God. Below is two brief pieces from my part of the sermon:

The moment the cool air of the delivery room engulfs the newborn baby’s body for the first time the world, or at least those in the room, are informed that this arrangement is not going to work. With the blood-curdling cry that only a newborn can muster we are told, “This is not what I want. I did not choose this.” And, even though some warm milk and a heat lamp and a warm blanket calms matters somewhat, the shock of the first sponge bath and the first wet diaper and the first hunger pains generates yet again the complaint, “This is not what I want. I did not choose to come into this world cold, hungry, and naked before God and everybody. So, fix it.” And, so begins the human journey. It isn’t long before the toddlers begin to jockey for position and attention. Siblings demand privileges equal to or greater than the other. Adolescents clamor for the clothes they want, and to watch the movies they want and to do the things they want to do. Teenagers can do anything adults can do, they are self-sufficient—all they need is the parent’s money. Just give me the money and I can take care of myself. Adults seek the highest paying jobs, the most powerful positions, and the brightest futures and are willing to go to considerable trouble to achieve these ends. Often, Churches and Christian organizations make decisions based on what is best for the advancement or even the maintenance of the institution rather than the advancement of the kingdom of God. So, from birth, what begins as a survival instinct quickly turns to self-centeredness. And self interest. And self-advancement.

We conclude…It’s hard to be church. It’s hard to become “The New Community of God.” The Minter Lane Church of Christ and the N 10th and Treadaway Church of Christ are communities of people from various backgrounds, some related by blood and marriage, but mostly not, a potpourri of young, middle age, old, black, brown, white, various histories, a new community of God that he began. But, you know, it’s hard to be the new community God. Yes, we know this is our calling. We know this is what is required of us. But the powers at work in our hearts and minds and the powers at work in this world call for something else. Philippians calls us to be a different kind of community. “The New Community of God.” A community of friendship. A new community of friends trying to resocialize into the community of God sharing in the gospel, being of one mind and spirit, sharing in each other’s sufferings, looking not to our own interests, but the interests of others. Our call is to have the mind of Christ who gave up privilege for the sake of others.

If we will follow Christ’s example then this community, the new community of God, will shine like stars in the universe. The darkness of the humble cross and the life modeled by it will bring forth the light of the world. It is the emptying of self that shines like stars in the universe. When we can shine like this, when we can prove the sociologists wrong who say, “this meeting together of two different church cultures will never work,” when we can prove the church growth experts wrong who say we’ve got to be “homogeneous” churches who are “like in kind” to be “successful churches,” when we prove this wrong, then we will shine like stars in the universe. When we can live out in the flesh and blood what we say we value and believe, that is, there is neither Jew not Greek, Slave nor Free, Male nor Female, Black nor White nor Hispanic, when we start living what we talk about and have conferences about then we will shine like stars in the universe, then we are lights of the world, and a light of what God is doing in the world to bring reconciliation to all people.