Budget Cuts

Have you felt any yet? Budget cuts, that is. It seems like we are hearing about economic problems everywhere we turn. And even a casual glance at our own bank accounts probably shows a smaller margin for error.

Well, we are not alone. The PCUSA General Assembly Council just concluded a week of meetings designed, in large part, to weather the current financial situation. They've released a video outlining some of the changes that resulted from this meeting.

A couple of points before you watch the video. First, nice job of directing - I like how they make it look like we're walking up to the three main speakers and they stop, turn and include us in the ongoing conversation. Its pure Scorsese, I tell you.

Secondly, its too long, and I can almost guarantee that your mind will wander before its halfway through. Hang in there - there's a good, concise Walter Bruggeman quote near the end.

And finally, aren't your glad that Governor Sanford is not in charge of the PCUSA budget? Can you imagine? He would refuse money given by the membership and then slash programs those members desperately needed, right? Geeze.

The Fairness Doctrine

I'm continuing with Brian McLaren's book as he explores the problems and excesses of our prosperity system, equity system, and security system. Some of the most difficult parts for me to read are the statistics regarding the gap between the rich and the poor in this world: 6 million children under age 5 starve each year? the assets of the world's richest 3 individuals exceed the combined gross domestic product of the world's 48 poorest countries??

This is grim information that leaves me feeling ashamed. But, McLaren acknowledges that this feeling creates an obstacle to talking about these problems. He recognizes that many of us feel we are being blamed for the poverty of others, when all we have done is taken advantage of the opportunities presented to us, worked hard, and reaped good consequences. He says that we miss the point if we merely blame the rich for the poverty of the poor; our true focus should be on eliminating the "systematic injustice" that contributes to the gap between rich and poor.

McLaren points to the parable of the workers in the vineyard found in Matthew 20:1-16 and the dishonest manager in Luke 16:1-13. While these stories don't seem "fair" under our usual societal rules, McLaren calls them examples of God's fairness, "a fairness that includes grace that can heal society and undermine systematic justice, not just maintain its status quo."

What might be a modern day equivalent of these stories? Have you seen any recent examples of God's fairness?

In Class

Today's eMMAUS class meeting was full. That's a good thing, of course, but it was bad for me personally because my crutch was gone. See, the bulb in our projector went out last week (well, it exploded actually, but that's another story) so I wasn't able to use the blog as a basis for our class discussion.

I was forced to use . . . . notebook paper.

We had a good discussion despite our "old school" technology. Instead of focusing on our weekly lesson, we spent our time discussing our church and its hunt for a permanent minister. Its an interesting proposition. Do we want a minister that is just like us, or one who challenges us? If we want a challenging minister, in what way(s) do we need to be challenged?

Some in the class wanted a young minster. Some wanted one with children. Some wanted one who would look to grow the church in numbers and/or activities.

For those of you who are members at PPC, there are numerous ways for you to have input in this process. First, you can talk to a member of our Pastor Nominating Committee. Second, you could email the church office. Or you could join the "5 Words" discussion on the PPC facebook page.

For those of you who are blog readers, but not PPC members, keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we continue this important process in our community of faith.

Consumption vs. Gratitude Continued

Ok, so I am supposed to continue blogging about Brian McLaren's book today, but I have to admit that I haven't read any further in the book since my last post. For the last 4 days, I have been suffering some illness that I refuse to call the flu, but manifests itself through fever, chills, & body aches. Today I am feeling better, but my brain still isn't working well enough to read and reflect.

So, I'm going to take the easy way out and just post a video. Watch the trailer for What Would Jesus Buy - I think it fits perfectly into our discussions on consumption vs. gratitude.

Practice Makes Perfect

Many of you may not know this (its a carefully guarded secret) but I like to play the guitar. I have no sense of rhythm, I can't sing, and can't read music, so I tend to close myself up in the "man cave" and play and sing to the four walls. If anyone, even my youngest child, walks into the room, I instinctively stop playing.

I've been playing like this off and on for almost twenty years, and other than a six lessons at the YMCA when I was a teenager, I've had no formal training. Various people have tried to bring me out of my guitar case (. . ahem . .) to no avail. Once, my brother (now a Methodist minister) even tried hooking us both up to an amp, and turning his guitar all the way down low, but I caught on.

Now that I'm forty-freaking-years-old, I've decided that its time to grow out of my musical shyness. As such, I've tried to improve my playing a little (the singing is helpless, so brace yourself) by following some online lessons available on YouTube.

The video instructor keeps harping on the need to practice every day. He often says "just give me ten minutes a day, and soon all of this will be second nature."

Well [gears spinning], we've now been at the daily Lenten updates for a little over a month. And I can report that it is indeed becoming second nature. I catch myself thinking about things from a spiritual context more and more - I've even composed a blog update in my head while shaving a time or two.

Its all very 'Reformed Theology' you see - its e-sanctification, I guess. My daily updates are making me think about my spiritual life in a more purposeful way. God's grace is such that it takes advantage of this intentional time, and makes it more a part of my mental makeup.

Any of you have a similar experience?

The Perfect Relationship

Reading further in McLaren's book, I read a quote from authors David Lowes Watson and Douglas Meeks that made me think:

"Only a fraction of our sins are personal. By far the greater part are sins of neglect, sins of default, our social sin, our systemic sin, our economic sin. For these sins Christ died, and continues to die. For these sins Christ atoned, and continues to atone. . . . As long as evangelism presents a gospel centered on the need for personal salvation, individuals will acquire a faith that focuses on maximum benefits with minimal obligations, and we will change the costly work of Christ's atonement into the pragmatic transaction of a salvific contract."

I wonder if in our quest to reach a personal relationship with Jesus, we may stumble into these very pitfalls. How does one achieve this relationship without making it "all about me?"

A Relational Faith

Its a chilly, rainy morning here in upstate SC. And as I've been quick to admit in this space in the past, I'm struggling with a word to pass on this morning. Its the middle of the week, its the middle of Lent. Its spring, but it still feels alot like winter. Most of the good TV has already ended until the fall - unless you are a fan of Dancing with the Stars, etc. The nightly news isn't going to help things. Oh, and I didn't exercise this morning (or yesterday morning) so I'm feeling lazy.

So its a rainy, midweek, in-between time.

If you've read this far, then you probably recognize the feeling I'm describing. As a kid, its the way you feel between Christmas and summer vacation. Its not really the blues - its more benign than the blues - but it wears on you.

Its like Pre-spring fever.

Looking back over the last few days, I can think of one time when this fever was lifted for me. It was around a campfire on Saturday night.

See, a group of men from our church gather together to camp once every couple of months. We usually have 6-8 of us, all bringing part of the food, liberally sharing our drinks, and unwinding with the latest in politics, or gossip, or family news. This past Saturday, we decided to surprise one of our group (one who's health has kept him from attended lately) with a spontaneous cook-out/camp fire in his back yard. He was totally in the dark about it all until his son drove him into his driveway and he saw our fire.

We had a blast. We ate meat cooked over open flames, drank beer from coolers (and one of our group even had some home-made), played guitars and sang, and told stories until well after midnight.

Our buddy seemed to enjoy it all - in fact I know he did. But I think we all enjoyed doing it as much or more than he enjoyed having it done. It feels good to have relationships that are important enough to maintain, even when it isn't your regular schedule or it isn't convenient. And I think it feels good because this is the way things are supposed to be.

I think this is what much of the Kingdom would look like, if we could find it.

When Jesus gathered his followers, he proclaimed that the Kingdom had come near to them. Their gatherings were not unlike ours from last Saturday. They had a group of friends, they had food and drinks to share, and they spent their time in discussion over politics, religion, and family news.

I think we see God in these relationships, both in the one Jesus had with his followers, and we have with each other (at least when we allow it). I think God is a Relational God - we see the divine not in body or spirit form, we see the divine in how we relate to each other.

And this is in keeping with what Professor Borg said the other night at Furman - we see in Jesus what is possible with God in a human life. We see God relating to us as another human being.

What do you think stands in the way of us seeing more of this relational Kingdom?

Consumption vs. Gratitude

I've been blogging about our consumer-based economy, and how that fits (or does not fit) into the kingdom described by Jesus. Personally, in my own battle between consumerism and gratitude, I am afraid that more often than not, my desire to consume wins. Despite reading McLaren's book and reflecting on these issues, I just spent this past weekend making a giant list of all the new things I want for my house!

Brian McLaren describes gratitude as "an act of defiant contemplation, expressing rebellion against the thousands of advertisements a year that tell you to want what you don't have, and not appreciate what you already have." He uses the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 in Mark 6:30-44 as an example of gratitude and sharing. McLaren says that instead of focusing solely on the miraculous power demonstrated by Jesus, we should see Jesus's action as "a powerful prophetic drama, demonstrating through sign and wonder a radically different economy, one that doesn't depend on spending more and buying more, but on discovering what you already have and sharing."

I have a lot to work on, but I like this idea of gratitude as a form of defiance and rebellion . . . maybe there's hope for me yet.

What good is it for you to gain the whole world, yet forfeit your soul?
-Matthew 16:26

More on Borg and Jesus

It strikes me that the blog is a little bipolar now that Karen and I are alternating days. Not sure how to address that issue, cause we each gotta be ourselves, but know that we are aware of it. You could pick whichever one of us you enjoy more, and then skip the days the other is posting . . . wait.

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As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I was impressed by the lecture that Marcus Borg gave at Furman the other night. In this lecture, he described several different ways that we view Jesus in today's world. Specifically, he listed the 'Atoning Sacrifice Jesus', the 'Second Coming Jesus', the 'Superman Jesus', and the 'Great Teacher Jesus'. After describing each of these facets of our understanding of the man from Nazareth, he pointed out that he finds each of these definitions limiting. Interestingly, he saved his strongest critique for the 'Great Teacher' version, which he dismissed as a "cop out.".

Borg said he preferred to think of Jesus in two main ways. First, he said he viewed Jesus as the "ultimate expression of what is possible with God in a human life." (He also mentioned that he thought Jesus was one of two figures in history that particularly inspires him in this regard - but frustratingly didn't tell us who the other one was - maybe it was a veiled compliment to his wife, I don't know). .

In discovering what and who this ultimate expression was and is, Borg described his second avenue for understanding Jesus - the Historical/Metaphorical approach. This approach seeks to understand Jesus in his time and place in human history (i.e. a Jewish peasant during the Roman occupation of Palestine) as well as the recognize the life-changing impact that Jesus had on his followers.

The picture that this approach develops is of a Jewish mystic, humble in origin, healing the sick, exorcisizing demons, and proclaiming the advent of the Kingdom of God. This Kingdom, according to Borg was one where everyone had enough to eat and drink, everyone had equal claim to the Divine, everyone forgave debts, and violence was peacefully resisted..

It was a compelling description - one I want to discuss more this week.

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(btw, last night was the season finale of the HBO drama, Big Love, which I've previously confessed in this space as a guilty pleasure. It ended with a communion scene, as the dysfunctional family lead by Bill (Bill Paxton) and Barb (Jeanne Triplehorn) tried to cope with the brokenness of their misshapen family. Good scene, and good theology . . . for just a moment.)

A Penny Saved

So, what kind of alternative to theocapitalism does Jesus present? McLaren says it is an economy based on justice and duty to neighbor and community. He uses the parable of the rich fool in Luke 12:13-21 to illustrate this point. The rich man has an abundant harvest, which may have resulted from his own hard work and proper planning, or from the hard work of his servants or slaves, or from just good luck. He does what our society says is the right thing; he plans to store his crops for the future. This way, he can take care of himself and won't ever be a burden on others. He can now relax and enjoy his life. He deserves it, doesn't he?

But Jesus doesn't think the way that we do. In God's eyes, this man is a fool. God doesn't care that the man has worked hard and saved for his own security. This may impress the rich man's fellow citizens, but it doesn't impress God. He only cares that the man has neglected the needs of others by storing up treasures for himself.

So, what would Jesus say about our savings accounts, 401ks, and stock portfolios? In this country, we traditionally exalt the self-made man/woman, independence, not taking a dime from anyone, pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps, etc., etc. These may be honorable personal qualities, but I don't think it makes for the community that Jesus envisioned. Will our financial independence bring us security and happiness? Well, despite our accumulation, the level of anxiety about finances today has reached almost record levels. Maybe it's the perfect time to transition to a justice based economy.

What is Humanly Possible

Thursday night I attended a lecture at Furman University by biblical scholar Marcus Borg. I decided to go at the last minute; it was a hectic week and the prospect of another night away from home didn't excite me. However, Borg is one of my favorite writers, so I made the trip.

My first exposure to Marcus Borg was in a letter to the editor in the newspaper some years ago. My memory says it was the Greenville News, but the timing of where we were living makes me think it had to be the Post and Courier. Regardless, the writer of the letter was upset about a group called the Jesus Seminar, and worried that the image of Jesus this group was developing was dangerous and heretical.

Needless to say, I was intrigued.

I ended up purchasing the book The Five Gospels, the initial report of the work of the Jesus Seminar. Turns out, this group was a gathering of dozens of leading New Testament, historical, and linguistic scholars who were combing the gospel record in the tradition of Thomas Jefferson (he used scissors and paste, but that is another story) in the hopes of recovering the original, authentic, words of Jesus of Nazareth. It was (and is) controversial stuff, but it caught me at a time when I had discarded much of my christian faith as illogical and childish. The book rescued my faith in that respect, as it stimulated my adult mind to again engage the life and message of Jesus.

Fast forward ten years - I'm now attending church every week, leading a Sunday school class, and blogging about my Christian faith.

I think I'll save the substance of his talk for my next post, but what impressed me initially was the turnout. It was a rainy Thursday night in conservative Greenville, at a school with a baptist heritage. The speaker was a liberal re-thinker of the historical Jesus, who rejects much of what is considered accepted dogma in mainline christian circle.

And the place was packed.

I don't mean it was full, or that there was a good turnout. What I mean was people were turned away. If it had not been raining outside, I'm sure some would have stood on the steps to hear.

And at the end of his lecture (more on that to come) a lady stood who described herself as a member of the "Church Alumni Association," (i.e. she no longer attends) stood and asked Professor Borg some probing questions about why scholarship such as his is not more widely circulated in our churches and in society at large. His answer was fine (it actually was pretty interesting) but the crowd's response to her question is what truly surprised me:

Applause.

I think it was strong evidence of our collecting yearning for an understanding of Jesus and what he means to us today. I think it is both a good sign, and a challenge for the church.

I also think I'm going to suspend reflection on the Psalms for the time being, and spend some blog time on the content of his lecture.

More to come.

In Capitalism We Trust

In exploring the prosperity system, McLaren discusses theocapitalism, a term used by Catholic theologian Tom Beaudoin, to describe our almost worship-like attitude toward prosperity. According to McLaren, theocapitalism has four spiritual laws:

1. The Law of Progress Through Rapid Growth. We want everything bigger, faster, immediately, now.

2. The Law of Serenity Through Possession and Consumption. We seek happiness through owning more and using more. It's never enough.

3. The Law of Salvation Through Competition Alone. We are saved through competition. Success comes only through winning and defeating the loser.

4. The Law of Freedom to Prosper Through Unaccountable Corporations. Our communities are being bypassed by corporations, whose sole aim is to grow profits and act in its self interest.

I can't help but be reminded of our current financial mess in this country. Do you think these four laws played a part?

No Plan . . . but a Direction

Karen and I gave almost no thought or planning to how our Lenten Blog experiment would proceed. Our plan was very simple - to blog every day during lent. Karen knew she wanted to reflect on the McLaren book, and I knew I wanted to focus on scripture, but that was about it. We absolutely never sat down and conspired to lead the blog discussion into areas such as National Security, I can promise you.

Yet the last few days on the blog have lead to discussions between us (and in my own mind) about the proper role for a person of faith in the dangerous time in which we live. Last night's discussion at The Well (our weekly midweek gathering at PPC) also raised similar issues. Julie led the discussion, and reintroduced us to the Passion character, Caiaphas. Everyone seemed to be in agreement that Caiaphas, the high priest, was too absorbed in his own security and power to see Jesus for what he really was.

What no one was willing to say outright (but I suspect that many were thinking) is that we are more like Caiaphas than we want to admit. We are all too willing to turn our backs on the principles of Jesus (especially the "Hard Jesus" precepts) if something else makes us feel safe and secure. It might be money, it might be guns, or it might be a relationship, but if there is something out there - some type of "mammon" that is separating us from a true trusting walk with God, then we need to shed ourselves of that oppression.

If Jesus stood for anything it was that the bonds that shackle us to old ways of thinking should be thrown off. And even when we feel it impossible, or us inadequate to the task, we need to remember that God's grace can make such a change happen.

I know I feel daunted by such a proposition, so a selection from Psalm 69 seems on point:

Let the oppressed see it and be glad;

you who seek God, let your hearts revive.

For the Lord hears the needy,

and does not despise his own that are in bonds.

A Farewell to Arms

In his next few chapters, McLaren spends time talking about our disproportionately large security system. He enumerates the billions spent on war and weapons each year (I did not know that the US produces almost 54% of the world's weapons). McLaren states that this disproportionate investment in security not only costs money and lives, but it also costs us an opportunity - we use our money and our best scientists, engineers, and thinkers to create more and more weapons and sustain our security; therefore, we miss the opportunity to use their gifts to develop more productive assets (alternative energy, medical research, technology, etc).

I realize that we all hold differing views on how the US should spend its money, and there are certainly legitimate arguments on all sides. I'm not saying that any one view is right or wrong. But as Christians, how do we reconcile Jesus's message of peace with being the world's leading supplier of arms?

McLaren suggests that Christians should focus less on security and more on justice. He describes a possible new reality that was witnessed in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina: when our local, state, & federal agencies failed the people of New Orleans, Army commander Lt. Russel Honore landed his Blackhawk helicopter at the Superdome and took things under his command. Suddenly, people began to be evacuated and supplies arrived. McLaren says that this could be the expanding role of the military in a more peaceful world, "preparing for and responding to natural disasters, intervening in crises, and serving in times of great need as neighbors in the global neighborhood."

These are tough questions, but I guess Jesus never said it would be easy.

The Jesus We Want to See

We had a great discussion in our Sunday gathering this week. In reviewing the week on the blog, we focused on the video mash-up of numerous Jesus sightings as shown on local news programs. The gathering wonder about why we tend to see a stereotypical (and not historically accurate) Jesus figure in the world around us. The discussion was mixed; some felt that we were cheapening Jesus (a 'spoliation,' if you will) by making him commonplace and simple, others felt that an accessible Jesus was a necessary and helpful thing.

Later that night, Karen and I watched actor Will Farrell on HBO reprising his now-famous George W. Bush impression in You're Welcome, America. At one point in the show, Ferrell/Bush calls the auditorium to prayer, and proceeds to pray to a Jesus that he has created in his own mind. Its hilarious, and while it is riffing on a previous Ferrell bit (From Talladega Nights) he seems to be making a similar point - we often create a Jesus that does not challenge us, and in fact only serves to reiterate our ingrained beliefs.


Many of you have heard me talk about an image of Jesus that I find particularly challenging and thought-provoking. In fact, I have a copy of the image hanging in our eMMAUS classroom. I don't know much about the history of the image, but Leslie, one of our own church members, tells me she has seen the original in a monastery at the foot of Mt. Sinai. Take a look:

Now what's interesting here (to me, anyway) is that I see two different images of Jesus here. There's the Jesus on the left side of the image, and then a different looking guy altogether on the right. I'm not sure if this was intentional on the part of the artist (although I suspect it was, and even if not, I'm sure that others out there have commented on this apparent dichotomy).

As many of you already have seen, I decided to play around with the image with Windows Paint. First I copied the left hand side of the figure, and then pasted it in mirror image on the right side. The image that resulted was this:

Pretty interesting, eh? In the eMMAUS class, we call this "Easy Jesus" for obvious reasons. This is the long suffering Jesus, the Jesus that supports and loves us no matter what, and only asks to be loved in return.

But if we take the image on the right side of the picture and reflect it over the left, we come up with a very different figure:

Woah - now that's a guy I wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley. Some might say this is a Jesus of judgment, and I can see that as well, but I tend to think of this image (which we call "Hard Jesus") as a Jesus of expectation.

So, as a Lenten reflection - what does the Hard Jesus, the expectant Jesus want from us?

Inclusive Kingdom

McLaren discusses the story of Jesus and the Canaanite woman found in Matthew 15:21-28. I have always been fascinated and confused by this story and the way that Jesus is portrayed. He responds to the woman's request for healing her daughter by first ignoring her, then by saying, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel", and then by calling her a "dog."

McLaren wonders the same thing I have wondered - why Jesus would do this? Was he criticizing the woman's ethnicity? Or was he toying with the woman, knowing that he would end up healing her daughter? Or, was he just tired and irritable in his initial response?

Whatever the reasons, McLaren says that this story presents a dramatic change: instead of a Jew violently and mercilessly conquering a Canaanite just like the old stories of Exodus and Joshua, here the Canaanite wins and conquers the Jew so that he responds to her with mercy. McLaren says that the term "Canaanite" used by Matthew here was probably intentional, meant to evoke memories of Israel's conquest of Canaan, because the term Canaanite was no longer used during New Testament times (McLaren compares it to calling someone of Norwegian descent a Viking today). More importantly, this story marks a turning point for Jesus's mission. He now moves forward to care for not only the Gentile girl, but for thousands of Gentiles.

So, this story is further evidence of the inclusive kingdom envisioned by Jesus. Who are our Canaanites today that need inclusion in the kingdom?

Sundays aren't a part of Lent

They aren't - Sundays in Lent are supposed to be Mini-Easters and so don't count toward the forty day erstwhile celebration. Ive struggled with what to do on the blog for the lenten sundays - do I continue with the Psalms as I've done through the week, or do I revert to the Ordinary practice of using the lectionary's Gospel text.

Hey, I've got it!

Lets do both (quickly). Todays Psalm is the 42nd, and today's Gospel text is Mark 5:1-20.

The gospel story is about Jesus driving out a legion of demons.

The Psalm I'll quote a little (its a rainy day and it feels more like Lent than a Mini-Easter).

As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.When shall I come and behold the face of God? My tears have been my food day and night,while people say to me continually, ‘Where is your God?’
These things I remember, as I pour out my soul:how I went with the throng, and led them in procession to the house of God,with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.
Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God.

Mad Money

We've been talking about Brian McLaren's "societal machine" which includes the prosperity system, the security system, and the equity system. The machine works best when all 3 of these systems are in balance with the bigger system, which he calls God's sacred ecosystem. Problems occur when one of the systems override the other two, or when all 3 override the larger ecosystem. McLaren describes this phenomenon as the machine becoming suicidal.

Strangely enough, I was reminded of this dynamic when watching an episode of The Daily Show on Comedy Central. The host, Jon Stewart, interviewed Jim Cramer of CNBC's Mad Money. Stewart has been very critical of the financial news network, stating that they knew of the abuses on Wall Street that led to the current financial crisis, but that the network did no reporting to warn the American people of the danger. Stewart accuses CNBC of promoting the investment bankers' agenda to use money invested by average Americans (through their pensions, IRAs, etc) to fund the bankers' financial house of cards. The interview is very uncomfortable for Cramer, and you can watch it here. I'm not including it as part of the blog, since there is some "colorful" language used.

Regardless of whether Stewart is right or wrong on his accusations, the financial crisis that we are experiencing in America shows that our prosperity system is way out of whack. This affects our security system, by the fact that we have to rely even heavier on investments from foreign countries to prop up our own economy, as well as our equity system, in that everyday Americans are paying to bail out multi-millionaires who defrauded us.

What do you think?

Twitter of Faith

No, I'm not going to start doing two blog post every day - but I just came across something on the web that I thought was post-worthy.

Many of you are probable familiar with the social networking site Twitter. The site allows you to follow and be followed by a limitless group of known and unknown people. To participate, you type in a big blank box that says "What are your doing?" with updates on . . . well, what you are doing.
Our own blog resident, Calvin, uses Twitter to give his updates here.

The one limitation to Twitter is that you have to keep your "tweets" (as they are called) to under 140 characters.

Well, PCUSA Moderator Bruce Reyes Chow recently released his "Twitter Statement of Faith." Its what he believes condensed down to the 140 character limit. Here it is in all its succinct glory:

Embracing eternity with God thru the life, death and resurrection of Christ, I am compelled to live a life of gratitude, hope and joy.

I might give this a shot as well - stay tuned.

Jesus is Everywhere!

Friday thoughts - if we are seeing Jesus everywhere, why don't we see him in each other.

If we did, how would our priorities be different?

Give Peace A Chance

Yikes.

Brian McLaren discusses a "Second Coming Jesus" that he believes many people have created in direct opposition to the Jesus of love and grace that we are given in the Gospels. Many people interpret Revelation to describe a second coming of Christ that is characterized by violence, killing, domination, and eternal torture. McLaren questions why Jesus's life would be considered just a warm-up act for the real deal -- do we believe that Second Coming Jesus will achieve with violence what First Coming Jesus failed to do?

At the Well last night, Julie Schaaf led a discussion about with our tendencies toward violence, and Jesus's strong rebuke against it. We reviewed the story of Peter in the Garden of Gethsemane, when he cut off the ear of a slave to the Roman soldiers who were taking Jesus into custody. Not only did Jesus scold Peter, but he healed the slave. How do we reconcile a story like this with Second Coming Jesus?

I think that we find it very difficult to let go of our old retributionist ways and fully embrace Jesus's way of peace and reconciliation. Even though we have read of Jesus's triumph over his executioners, even though we have witnessed seemingly insurmountable situations in which non-violence led to great achievements (i.e., Ghandi, Martin Luther King), it is still easier to believe that only violence really works. After all, Jesus can't really expect nations beat their swords into plowshares, can he? If someone strikes me on the cheek and I don't defend myself by striking back, aren't I just weak?

Or, maybe Jesus does expect us to do just that. He certainly expected it of Peter. In Jesus's kingdom, love and grace defeats violence and domination. Do we have enough faith to try it?

Hitting the Wall

OK - I need to confess something to you all.

I've hit the wall.

Runners talk of 'hitting the wall' when suddenly, despite their training, motivation, and best intentions, they find themselves out of energy and feeling as if their bodies cannot continue the race. Well, this morning that's how I feel about our daily blog updates.

The idea of daily updates to the blog during Lent was intended as a personal spiritual discipline for me as much as anything - readership was also important, but mostly I wanted to add a spiritual practice to my daily routine during the Lenten season, and this seemed like the most logical way to do it. For the first few days, it seemed easy enough, and the blog was getting plenty of hits (record numbers in fact) so I felt pretty good about it all.

But then something happened:

I ran out of things to say.

This is the two-week mark in our forty-day blogging journey (well, its really more than forty days, since Sundays don't count in Lent, but that's another story), so we are about a third of the way through. Not promising, is it?

So this is it - a blog post about my inability to blog.

This feeling I have is exacerbated in a way by today's Psalm (Psalm 105) which is upbeat, filled with praise, and hopeful about the future. I'm. Not. There. Now.

But maybe, just maybe there is a lesson here (the sound you just heard was my brain uncoiling its springs a little - just enough to finish off the post). Maybe the whole point of Lent is doing things even when they aren't easy. Maybe our minister doesn't always feel like delivering a sermon on Sundays. Maybe Bonhoeffer didn't feel like being in a Nazi prison sometimes. Maybe Calvin didn't feel like returning to Geneva after being rebuffed.

Maybe Jesus didn't feel like journeying toward Jerusalem where he knew he would face death.

Maybe I found something to blog about today after all.

(Careful readers will notice that I just compared preparing a sermon to rejection, prison, and death. Such readers are asked to relax, and not be so critical!)

Sparrows & Lilies

McLaren spends the next couple of chapters discussing our role in God's sacred ecosystem. He describes this sacred ecosystem as a world where "procreation and death, production and recycling, thriving and struggle, and extinction and evolution together produce unimaginable beauty, novelty, and possibility."

However, societies throughout history have often worked to sell the idea that we (humans) are separate and apart from (or above) the rest of creation. McLaren theorizes that this belief makes it easier for us to give in to our urge to conquer, plunder, profit, and control. He states that even churches have sometimes reinforced this belief. McLaren quotes the author Wendell Berry:

"The organized church comes immediately under a compulsion to think of itself, and identify itself to the world, not as an institution synonymous with its truth and its membership, but as a hodgepodge of funds, properties, projects, and offices, all urgently requiring economic support

. . . If it comes to a choice between the extermination of the fowls of the air and the lilies of the field and the extermination of the building fund, the organized church will elect - indeed, has already elected - to save the building fund . . ."

Of course, the author is exaggerating, but I can see truth in his observation, especially in recent weeks as the session has been working on the 2009 budget. It is very tempting in this time of economic insecurity to think only of ourselves and place our self-interest above everything else right now - as individuals and as the church.

But Jesus reminds us that God provides through creation's natural systems, not through our own self-protecting actions (Matt. 6:19-34). Our value is rooted in our identity as God's creatures, alongside the sparrows and flowers, not in our net worth or in other people's definitions of success. McLaren emphasizes that we should acknowledge our limits within our sacred ecosystem, and live together as beloved creatures of God.

Heaven on Earth

What a weekend! A combination of Daylight Savings Time and some unseasonably warm weather brought a welcomed change to the Upstate. Our family spent most of Saturday and a good bit of Sunday outdoors - first I did some yard work, then I fished for awhile, then we all had a cook out and sat by the fire pit until well after dark.

Weather like this makes it easy to appreciate how even the word 'lent' actually meant 'spring' in early Germanic languages, but its harder to understand how the season came to be one of penance, self-sacrifice, and reflection. One theory I've read says that the Lenten Season is a time of the year when few crops are growing, and little is left over from the previous fall's harvest, so the fasting and praying of lent may have been for very practical reasons - there wasn't much food left!

Regardless, the respite from cold and dreariness made me very thankful, and fits well with our Psalm for today (Psalm 145), specifically this verse:

On the glorious splendor of your majesty,
and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.

I certainly meditated on God's wondrous works more than once in the past couple of days.

The problem here is, of course, that DST and warm weather notwithstanding, its still winter, and we all know we are in for more cold before spring arrives completely. Its almost like this weekend was just a taste of spring, to whet our appetites for what is to come.

Wait - its kind of like the church is supposed to be today, its supposed to show us a glimpse of what the Kingdom of God could be.

Ah, the Lenten thoughts reappear . . . .

A Magical Kingdom

McLaren emphasizes the importance of hearing Jesus' words with "first century ears." Basically, he says that religious institutions and systems that developed after Jesus have each put their own spin on his words so that today we need to "unlearn" some of the meanings that we take for granted.

For instance, McLaren points to the phrase "kingdom of God." The average American, McLaren says, would associate the word "kingdom" with various qualities: order, stability, government, policy, domination, and control; maybe even also with vengeance on rebels and threats of banishment for the uncooperative. Or, I think we might associate the word with a commercialized "magical kingdom" that sells happiness through princess stories, fairy godmothers, and animal topiaries.

But, if we instead hear these words with our "first century ears," McLaren says we would understand Jesus to be referring to a kingdom that is exactly the opposite of Caesar's kingdom: order becomes opportunity, stability gives way to movement and change, status-quo government bows down to a revolution of community and neighborliness, policy submits to love, domination descends to service and sacrifice, control morphs into influence and inspiration, and vengeance and threats are transformed into forgiveness and blessing.

It's hard to imagine the reaction of the hearers of Jesus's message in his day. It must have been truly shocking. It also makes the story of his government-sponsored execution seem that much more inevitable. But, do we believe that this new kingdom of God is something to be put on hold, something to be experienced only after we die? Or is it a new way of living in this world?

Convergence

It was bound to happen.

Today's Psalm (Psalm 22) could have been lifted straight out of the McLaren Book, or the Magnificat, or the Nazareth Sermon of Jesus. So my Lenten reflections and Karen's have now converged in a way that I didn't expect.

I've spent most of my time bemoaning our church's less than perfect relationships, and longing for a time when we could experience true brother/sisterhood. Karen spent most of her time on the system of oppression in our society and how the church is called to address this system.

But with today's Psalm we are both on the same (blog) page again. Here the Psalmist sings a song of praise to God, because God has heard him in his despair and rescued him. He goes on to say that all of the poor will be filled and comforted, and that generation after generation will "proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, saying that he has done it. "

So today's message is a hope and a reassurance - God is going to do it.

My question is, are we supposed to help?

Mama's Boy

Brian McLaren focuses on how Jesus defied the expectations of his time and brought a brand new message to the people. McLaren examines Mary's song to her unborn child (the Magnificat) found in Luke 1:46 - 55.
Verses 50-53 read:

His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.

Years later, Jesus is in Nazareth, and he stands up to read in the temple. He chose a passage from Isaiah and said to all:

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

Both Mary and Jesus seem to be celebrating the overturn of society's hierarchy. While it's comforting to think of a mother's influence on her son in this way, after re-reading these passages a few times, it strikes me how truly revolutionary the message is. Bring down our rulers? Cast the rich away with nothing, while the poor are filled with good things? Set prisoners free??

If these words were spoken today, what kind of labels do you think would be placed upon the speaker? Probably not Prince of Peace, or Blessed Virgin, or Son of God.

Back to the Well

Last night was the first night of the return of The Well, our midweek gathering at PPC. After a week now of blogging and reflecting on Lenten ideas, I needed some positive energy, so we decided to go.

I had low expectations. As many of you may know, our church is in a transitional phase right now, just beginning a search for a new pastor. The economic downturn is hitting us all in different ways, and this is reflected in our church's budget. Our committees are struggling to plan for the coming year, and we all seem to be coming to church acting burdened instead of rejoicing. At least I've felt that way.

But last night was different. Over 60 people turned out for our weekly meal, and at one point, our little church had one group of children doing an art project, another group practicing with recorders, our youth watching a movie in the youth lounge, and our adults (around 25 of them) participating in a Lenten bible study.

I was in the kitchen, washing dishes.

Now my wife can tell you that washing dishes is not something I do on a regular basis, and I'll readily confess I'm not very good at it. But last night it was cathartic. Washing the dishes made me feel useful and refreshed. Much like the mopping scene in the Jim Carey movie, "Bruce Almighty" I felt the joy of a little work supporting others. I even had a couple of members jump in and help me, amplifying the enjoyment of the task while greatly shortening its length.

Anyway, it seemed to me the perfect thing for my early Lenten blues. Makes me think Jesus's whole 'serve other' bit has some truth behind it, you know?

Oh, and today's Psalm is the 17th. Best part? For me it was the very end:

As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness;
when I awake I shall be satisfied, beholding your likeness.

New Rules

In Everything Must Change, McLaren discusses how Jesus presented an alternative to the societal machine of his day - the Roman empire. His alternative world was one where God would be king and people would live in relation to God and God's love, rather than Caesar and Caesar's power. McLaren describes Jesus as challenging everyone to rethink everything, and he summarizes Jesus' "rules" for a radical new empire as follows:

"Don't get revenge when wronged, but seek reconciliation.

Don't repay violence with violence, but seek creative and transforming nonviolent alternatives.

Don't focus on external conformity to moral codes, but on internal transformation in love.

Don't love insiders and hate or fear outsiders, but welcome outsiders into a new 'us,' a new 'we,' a new humanity that celebrates diversity in the context of love for all, justice for all, and mutual respect for all.

Don't have anxiety about money or security or pleasure at the center of your life, but trust yourself to the care of God.

Don't live for wealth, but for the living God who loves all people, including your enemies.

Don't hate your enemies or competitors, but love them and do to them not as they have done to you - and not before they do to you - but as you wish they would do for you."

These are rules that break all of the rules.

Snow Day

Yesterday was a blast. The kids were excited, the yard looked beautiful, and everyone everywhere seemed to be taking the day off. I drove into the office at about 10:30 in the morning, and slid and slipped all the way. Downtown Liberty was strangely peaceful, and ever more strangely quaint and attractive.

The phone refused to ring. No one else on Commerce Street ever opened as far as I could tell. 

It was great.

It gave me some time to reflect on our regular daily existence, and to ask the question: Why are snow days so fun? If you think about it, everything about a snow day is a hassle. The schools close, the power may be out, you can't travel like you want, and you are required by local code and common practice to go to the local Bi lo and buy bread and milk.

But we love snow days anyway.

I think we may love a snow day simply because it is different. It stops us in our well-worn daily tracks and causes us to reevaluate our schedule for the day. And something about this change excites us.

In that respect, the message of Jesus should also excite us and cause us to reevaluate. As Karen and I have alternated days with the blog, its clear that this Lenten journey is going to be about re-imagining our lives and our society as followers of Christ. 

It may seem like a daunting or even impossible task, but we know we have help from the God who sustains us.  In the words of today's Psalm (Psalm 25):

Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
   teach me your paths. 
Lead me in your truth, and teach me,
   for you are the God of my salvation;
   for you I wait all day long. 

We Need A Bigger Bowl

Our societal machine, as McLaren described, operates within our earth's ecosystem, taking 2 resources from the environment: matter (rubber, wheat, aluminum, cotton, etc., which the machine turns into products) and energy (which we require to turn matter into products, derived from oil, coal, hydroelectric dams, nuclear power plants, etc.). Taking in matter and energy also produces waste, in the form of pollution and garbage.

The machine turns suicidal when it grows to a size that demands more resources than the environment can provide and produces more waste than the environment can absorb. The problem is magnified when we tell ourselves an unrealistic story: that humans are godlike beings with godlike privileges; that the purpose of life is for individuals and nations to accumulate possessions and experience the maximum amount of pleasure.

But, if we view ourselves as responsible creatures existing in a creation made by a good, wise, and loving God, then McLaren says the machine will operate in a responsible manner. It sounds easy enough, until he describes several traps of dysfunction that we often fall into: first, rapid use of non-renewable resources is so profitable for some people that they can avoid negative consequences for a very long time, and their material success makes it unlikely that they will acknowledge the unsustainability of this way of life. Second, the growing gap between rich and poor results in resentment between the two groups - the poor resent the rich for not helping them, and may show resentment through crime and hatred, and the rich grow increasingly fearful of the poor, and protect themselves by shutting out the poor. Third, patriotic and religious stories often celebrate how redemptive violence has helped good people ("us") to defeat evil people ("them") throughout history, thereby convincing people to trust violence as a way to peace.

These stories and views can prevent society from acting together to keep the machine from growing to suicidal proportions. McLaren theorizes that the same type of stories and narratives existed in the society of Jesus' day, yet Jesus offered a radical alternative. Can Jesus' story save today's machine from suicide? McLaren says that it can, but it will take looking at Jesus in a new way.

Words of Hope

I'm torn.

Today's Psalm is the 43rd, and its a good word in these trying times. The Psalm speaks of hopefulness in a day of seeming doom, and of the confidence that the bad times will pass and the day of the Lord's blessing will come. Particularly powerful is the final verse:

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and
why are you disquieted within me?

Hope in God; for I shall again praise
him, my help and my God.

But, as I said, I'm torn between reflecting further on this Psalm, or blogging about what's been on my mind in my own personal Lenten journey.

Guess which side is gonna win.

_ _ _ _ _

Ever since Lent began on Wednesday, and even before, if I'm honest, I've been, uh . . .convicted, I guess is the word, about the nature of our relationships within the church. Alot of us within the church are close to each other. . . but not THAT close. And alot of us are not close at all. Some of us are downright adversarial. And given the brokenness of man, universality of sin, blah, blah, blah, I guess its not surprising that our relationships with each other are not what they should be.

But it doesn't have to be that way, does it? Don't we all (if we are willing to be honest with ourselves) long for a deeper and more open relationship with those around us? Don't we long to be truly brothers and sisters in Christ, and not just comfortable faces we see each Sunday in the pews?

I think we do, and I know that I do. We are called to be the Church, the physical manifestation of Christ here on earth. To be the Church requires us to open up to each other, and in my own experience, this openness can be bounteously rewarded. Over big glass bottles of beer, and small plastic cups of wine, over conversations about fishing, and during sermons about fishermen, I have sensed something special was possible.

In my closest friendship within the church, I think I've seen at least a glimpse of the Kingdom of God.