Sit, Walk, Stand - observations and questions from Watchman Nee’s reflections on the Christian life as described in Ephesians

The following is a series of observations and questions that I shared with our staff team at Schweitzer Church on this book.

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Sit, Walk, Stand - by Watchman Nee

Chapter 1 - Sit . . . It’s about our identity in Christ and His life and work

1. “Christianity begins not with a big DO, but with a big DONE. . . . We are invited at the very outset to sit down and enjoy what God has done for us; not to set out and attain it for ourselves.” p.2
1. Nee leans into the work of God in bringing about salvation and our first response to God. How does this challenge your description, depiction of what following Jesus looks like?
2. Nee views ‘despair’ in the Christian life as a good thing (11) - it helps us get to the point of coming to the end of our trying, and finally, letting God do what we can’t. Has this been a part of your experience? How does this inform our thoughts when someone describes themselves as “deconstructing”?
3. "God is so wealthy that his chief delight is to give. His treasure-stores are so full that it is a pain to him when we refuse him an opportunity of lavishing those treasures upon us." (12)
1. How can this change our perspective on giving? How does this inform our understanding on budgets and buildings, etc?

Chapter 2 - Walk . . . it’s about our conduct

1. The natural man has worked out his own standards of right and wrong… Have we realized that for us the starting point is a different one? Christ is for us the Tree of Life? We do not begin from the matter of ethical right and wrong. We do not start from that other tree. We begin from him; and the whole question for us is one of life. . . . Nothing has done greater damage to our Christian testimony that our trying to be right and demanding right of others.” (19-20)
1. What does this do to conversations about “Worldviews”? 
2. How would this speak to the rifts in the culture and what we bring to those rifts?
2. “Often we try to be meek and gentle without knowing what it means to let God work in us the meekness and gentleness of Christ. We try to show love, and finding we have none, we ask the Lord for love. Then we are surprised that he does not give it to us. . . . We have been accustomed to look upon holiness as a virtue, upon humility as a grace, upon love as a gift to be sought from God. But Christ of God is himself everything we shall ever need.” (P24-25)
1. How does Nee connect with practicing the Spiritual Disciplines that JMComer or R.Foster talk about? Is there a contradiction here? If so, are both true?

Chapter 3 - Stand - It’s about the mission of the Church

1. “For no Christian can hope to enter the warfare of the ages without learning to rest in Christ and in what he has done, and then, through the strength of the Holy Spirit within, to follow him in a practical, holy life here on earth. If he is deficient in either of these he will find that all the talk about spiritual warfare remains only talk; he will never know its reality. Satan can afford to ignore him for he does not count for anything.” (40)
1. When a person of some notoriety claims to have come to Christ, in the last 50 years, they have been quickly platformed, given a microphone, and put out as an exhibit for coming to Christ. Time and again, the story begins to unravel. Before long the shining star is far from the stage and far from the faith. What motivates churches and ministries to platform celebrities so quickly and bypass resting in Christ, and learning the way of Jesus? How can we avoid this pitfall?
2. “The Church is called to displace Satan from his present realm and to make Christ Head over all. What are we doing about it.” (41)
1. Previously Née  writes that ‘we see only ‘flesh and blood’ ranged against us . . . A world system of hostile kings and rulers, sinners and evil men. No, says Paul, our wrestling is not against these…” (41) How can this mission of displacing Satan and exalting Christ come about in such a way that we do not find ourselves in a primary conflict with flesh and blood? The culture war is a flesh and blood kind of conflict. How can we engage in the spiritual battle?
3. Née suggests we take up the spiritual battle, in a General sense, by Standing. By ‘holding ground’, not by marching, but by standing. Not by struggling to gain a foothold, but by standing on the ground that Christ has already won. He was offensive, our work is defensive. “We do not fight for victory, we fight from victory.”(42-43)
1. If we fight from victory, then what kind of attitude should we carry? Our disposition? How might we engage our fellow travelers? With anxiety? Fear? Trepidation? Revenge? Or with Humor? Joy? Pleasantness? Encouragement, mercy, and grace? 
4. God’s great self-committal. Née writes about how God has committed himself to his servants to act through them, as they take action in his name. This committal goes beyond just working through, this committal involves having a union with the Lord, that he will commit himself to what we are doing? Née then describes four essential features to which God can fully commit to: 1) a true revelation of the eternal purposes of God, 2) all work must be conceived by God, 3) the work must depend on the power of God, and 4) the end and object of the work must be for God’s glory. (50-58)
1. The great challenge for a church worker, as was the challenge for Elijah (59ff), is to sit with Christ so that we don’t try to ‘drag God into a thing against his will’ (62), but that we walk and stand in the love, power, and presence of Jesus. How do our own expectations and practices encourage or detract from receiving God’s self-committal? How do the expectations and practices of the church community encourage or detract from receiving God’s self-committal? How does our leadership of the church community contribute to or detract from others receiving God’s self-committal? 

In Grand Rapids, MI - a standing stone

Standing Stones

4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had chosen—one from each of the tribes of Israel. 5 He told them, “Go into the middle of the Jordan, in front of the Ark of the Lordyour God. Each of you must pick up one stone and carry it out on your shoulder—twelve stones in all, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. 6 We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 7 Then you can tell them, ‘They remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant went across.’ These stones will stand as a memorial among the people of Israel forever.”

Joshua 4.4-8

The second week of September I made my way to Grand Rapids, MI. I went to attend an intellectual retreat hosted by The Acton Institute. The retreat was held at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel. This was the second time that I stayed at the Amway Grand. While I was there, thoughts of my first stay kept coming to my mind. 

My first stay at the Amway Grand took place in December of 1988. The Wesleyan Church held several regional youth conferences in the final days of the year. I joined the youth group from Pittsford Wesleyan in heading to a conference that I hoped would hold some fun, but honestly I did not know what to expect. Eventually, there would be two major takeaways from the conference in 1988. First, I heard a real call to get to know the story of Jesus. Second, I started to see the integration of faith and daily life in the book, "In His Steps," by Charles Sheldon. 

In the fall of 1988 I began reading the Bible in earnest. I began my reading in Leviticus. I do not know why I started there, but I did. After a while I found it a hard slog. At Grand Rapids I listened to the challenge of Pastor John Ott with rapt attention. I do not recall what he said, but I left with a distinct impression that I attribute to his preaching, to become immersed in the story of Jesus and the gospels. I returned home, left off my reading in Leviticus and took up Mark, then John, then the rest of the New Testament. Before I finished High School I would read most of the old and new testaments. Moving from Leviticus to the gospels was a blast of new life, of fresh air. My spirit awakened and in Jesus even the writing of Leviticus made sense. 

Along with beginning to read the Scriptures in earnest, I began to read other writings. Everyone who attended Grand Rapids 88 was given a copy of Charles Sheldon's classic, "In the Name of Jesus." 

Up to that point in my life I was a non-reader. My normal reading included cartoons in the daily paper, captions under pictures, a sports article, and most likely something from a farm magazine. Reading from the Bible every night before bed opened me up to other reading. 

Charles Sheldon's work was compose in the late 1800's and it is a classic. It is the source of the phrase, "What Would Jesus Do?" In the work, Sheldon painted a picture of a city facing significant turmoil and the followers of Christ struggling with putting faith into action. When they began to ask the question, what would Jesus do, they gained clarity about the challenges they faced. In particular, faith propelled them to care for the poor in ways that made pretty and put-together religion uncomfortable. That story resonated with me, not so much about making religion uncomfortable, but that there should be fruit coming forth from a life that is being shaped by Jesus. 

Sheldon's work would become the second book I would read from cover to cover. It would introduce me to a different kind of literature, that which was interested in the intersection of God and humanity. This literature would speak to the deeper longings of my heart and mind.

Looking back on the days that have passed between Grand Rapids in 1988 and today, I can see the powerful imprint of those few days, as they have shaped so much of my life and work. 

The Amway Grand Plaza is a beautiful hotel, but more beautiful is the work God did in that place, in setting my heart on a course that I could not have charted. I went for an intellectual retreat, and found a standing stone, a marvelous reminder of God's intervention and provision in my life many years ago. For that, I am grateful. 

  

What do you like about your job?

On Saturday I ran into a young man on the street who knew me from my work at Schweitzer. He introduced me to his friends. They were waiting to enter a popular eatery in Springfield.

One of they young men, being a bit intoxicated, engaged in conversation. He asked what I did as a profession. I replied, I'm a pastor. Then he asked, "what do you like about your job?"

I think it's the first time I have ever been asked about what I like about my work. I knew I did not have much time, so I said to the young inquisitor:

I like that I get to talk about Jesus, who lived, was crucified, and resurrected. I like that I can share the hope of Jesus with a world that does not have an abundance of hope. I like that Jesus gives peace to an anxious world. I like seeing people become all they are meant to be when they become followers of Jesus.

After a couple of other exchanges the young man excused himself. He returned with a cigarette in hand and indicated that he needed something to calm his anxiety.

Evidently my brief reply was anxiety inducing, or there was something going on there between the young man and the Spirit that I was left out on. The language of classical orthodoxy would say a spirit of conviction was visiting the young man. Conviction is a call to a different kind of life. Blessed are those who receive its grace.

Grown Up Christmas List - No More Lives Torn Apart

Asa after looking out at the battle field at Little Big Horn.

During Advent Schweitzer UMC is using the song Grown Up Christmas List as a thematic element in worship planning. Accompanying our bulletins is a devotional guide. I was asked to reflect on the text from Isaiah for the first week. That writing is what follows.
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No More Lives Torn Apart & Wars Would Never Start
Isaiah 61.1-4,7

Taking a tour of the northern mid-west one of the sights we stopped at in eastern Montana was The Battle of Little BigHorn. The battle location is a
National Park with a museum and monuments on the hills. After a historical presentation we walked among the monuments, we saw the markers that displayed where those who fought fell in battle. On the beautiful, windy, wide open prairie our souls ached for the story that was historical and yet so vividly close. Our eyes could see the lasting effects of lives torn apart. We gave expression as we drove away; we hope this does not happen again.

Isaiah the prophet wrote in the midst of a horrific battle. He wrote when history was being made and Israel was being torn apart. He carried a prayer for the people, that the tragedy would end. Along the way The Lord filled Isaiah with a message and a promise, of a deliverer who would bring healing, freedom, joy, and a beautiful land. The promise begins to be unwrapped in Jesus. In some spaces we experience the fruit of Jesus' work. Sitting atop Little Big Horn we found ourselves waiting and praying for the fullness of the promise. The Kingdom has broken in, yet we wait and pray for it to come in totality. 

Blackberry Patch . . . A Metaphor

Last weekend Pastor Bob Casady and I presented a sermon at Schweitzer UMC on the act of Jesus cleansing the Temple in Jerusalem. This is part of a sermon series through the Gospel of Mark.
To open the sermon we made a video of cleaning out a balckberry patch. Here is the link: http://vimeo.com/53041002

God does great work in grave yards

When it comes to the benediction of a worship service most Pastors want to send worshipers out with a final good word for the week; 'The Lord be with you,' 'Peace of Christ be with you,' etc. This past Sunday my fellow Beeson pastors and I visited Ginghamsburg Church near Dayton, Ohio. At the benediction Pastor Mike Slaughter capped off the sermon for the day with these final words, "and remember, You're going to Die."

The sermon unpacked Luke 9:51-52 where Jesus sets his face toward Jerusalem knowing that the cross is before him. He knows, the disciples know, that Jerusalem is not safe, and yet he goes because he has been sent for this purpose. Pastor Mike connected this text to Ash Wednesday where we receive the imposition of ashes and hear the words, 'remember you are dust' or 'from dust you came, to dust you shall return.' The point was to evoke a wondering; 'What then, am I doing while I'm alive? What am I doing that matters? What is the purpose of my life?' Jesus had a purpose and he set his face toward it, what is our (my) purpose?

Following the service our cohort had the joy of lunching with Pastor Mike and some great staff at Ginghamsburg. In that space he added a follow up his benediction; God does great work in grave yards.  

That follow up foreshadows the coming theme of Resurrection Sunday. It also led into a conversation about the ministry of Ginghamsburg Church and what we had experienced on our trip.

Our first visit of the day was to Fort McKinley, a suburb of Dayton. A couple of years ago a UM church that had not kept pace with the changing environment around them came under the leadership of Ginghamsburg. We arrived at the church around 8 AM to find people gathering for a bountiful breakfast. At the Fort breakfast is served from 8-10 AM. About 300 people gather for this meal each week. At 9 worship begins with two services following. What we saw was a church that was dead, but it found new life. God does great work in grave yards.

Pastor Mike shared about the economic situation in Dayton, how it is city that is dying, and about their work within it. He talked about the church's work in Darfur and South Sudan and said, we go and we give because God does great work in grave yards.

We came away with plenty of good impressions. The first two are profound. You're (we're) going to die. God does great work in grave yards! 

This Week's news - July 30, 2011

It's been a hot week in Wilmore.  The temps are high as well as the humidity.  I returned from a run today and decided that I only needed a bar of soap to go with all the sweat.  No need for a shower, just a bar of soap.

On the 25th Aravis turned 6.  She's been enjoying a week of celebrations which have included two birthday cakes, with another one on the way tonight, a tea set, a barbie radio, some cash, and a movie.  Here's a couple of pics from her birthday fun.

Aravis & her tea cup.

Aravis has acquired the skill of crossing her eyes.  She has fun asking people if they can cross their eyes.

Aravis, Kyrie & Elizabeth Brown had a blast dressing up.  Good laughs.

I was blessed to catch up with a couple of old colleagues, Daryl Diddle & Dwight Winter.  They are both serving at the Wilmore Free Methodist Church and facing the many challenges of ministry with much joy.

The reading for classes continues.  I really enjoyed Richard Foster's, Streams of Living Water:  Essential Practices from the Six Great Traditions of Christian Faith.  Foster is an ecumenist and in that endeavor he writes about Christian Tradition in an unconventional way.  Instead of speaking in terms of Christian Denominations and their contributions to the world he has noticed that Christ followers from every branch, East-West/Protestant-Catholic/Mennonite-Lutheran etc., tend to bring deeper emphases than their denominational labels might suggest.  Foster suggests six strong traditions within the community that follows after Jesus; Contemplative, Holiness, Charismatic, Social Justice, Evangelical, and Incarnational.  He tells stories of biblical, historical and recent figures in each tradition and then speaks to the traditions general framework.  His goal is to help the Church celebrate these varied traditions like the varied gifts of the Spirit.  His work is fruitful to the soul.  A character I discovered an appreciation for was William Joseph Seymour.  He was the instrument God used to begin what we call the Charismatic movement in the 20th Century.  Along with being good for the soul, Foster covers a wide swath of Church History with grand passion.  This would be a great work for a Small Group or Sunday School class to study.

This last Tuesday the 2011 Beeson Pastor cohort  visited a missiological community in Lexington called Communality.  I plan to write about that visit soon.  I can say about that visit, that God is blowing across my mind and heart in ways that I think of as "a good disturbance."

Cheer UP

John 16.31-33

³¹Jesus replied:

   Do you really believe me? ³²The time will come and is already here when all of you will be scattered. Each of you will go back home and leave me by myself. But the Father will be with me, and I won't be alone. ³³I have told you this, so that you might have peace in your hearts because of me. While you are in the world, you will have to suffer. But cheer up! I have defeated the world.

This passage was looked at in a men’s Bible Study a couple of nights ago.  Jesus’ words pierced through the ages from the setting in the upper room into the reality that we face when we wake up and turn on the news.  Since the time of his walking the earth, the earth has known trouble, followers of His have known what it is to suffer, they have taken up the calling to take on the suffering of the world, so that His victory, His healing can not only be talked about in past tense, but known now and into the future.  Though there is suffering, Jesus reminds us that the Father is with us, we are never alone, and He has defeated the world (John is talking of the world as the principles that are aligned against life, against Jesus – these principalities in other places we call death, Satan; the world as a created being is something God is at work redeeming.).
Today, as you follow Jesus and willingly take on some of the suffering of the world, do it in good cheer, for this suffering has met its match in the cross of Christ and all who will follow Him carrying a cross.  The suffering is met by a Father who is ever present, who calls things to life that are dead, who creates out of nothing, who transforms sorrow into gladness.  Be of Good Cheer as you take on some of the world’s suffering, for working in you is the Hope of Glory and the power of Christ Jesus, radiating His relationship and creation healing work through your kind words, your strong arms, your gentle response, your listening ear, your heart of love, your cheer in the midst of a troubled world.  Be of Good Cheer as you live and move in the Gospel, as it flows through you to troubled souls.  Be of Good Cheer.

Christ The Lord

I'm reading Anne Rice's book, Christ The Lord; the road to Cana (a novel). 
In chapter 11 Rice has Jesus visiting an old scribe named Hananel.  The conversation is complicated, yet within the conversation are some wonderful quotes that are worthy of reflection on a number of levels. 

When Hananel fires a number of questions at Jesus there is this quote:
"You press me like a grape, my lord, between your thumb and forefinger."  And I knew that when pressed in this manner, I may say strange things, things I don't even think in the course of my day-to-day work, things I don't even think when I'm alone . . . or dreaming. (the italics indicate things Jesus was thinking, but didn't say) (p.94)

"Men scorn what they can't grasp.  They suffer in their longing for it." (p.97)

Hananel asks Jesus "what have you become?  A carpenter - one of a gang of carpenters.  Men who make floors, walls, benches and tables." (this is an indictment against Jesus) (p.98)

Jesus responds:  "Why does the world swallow the Word of God? . . . Are we not a holy people, are we not to be a bright and shining light to the nations? Are we not to bring salvation to the whole world?" . . .
It's where I live, my lord. Not in the Temple, but in the world.  And in the world, I learn what the world is and what the world will teach, and I am of the world.  The world's made of wood and stone and iron, and I work in it.  No, not in the Temple.  In the world.  And I study Torah; and I pray with the assembly; and on the feasts I go to Jerusalem to stand before the Lord - in the Temple - but this is in the world, all this.  And when it is time for me to do what the Lord has sent me to do in this world, this world which belongs to Him, this world of wood and stone and iron and grass and air, He will reveal it to em.  And what this carpenter shall yet build  in this world on that day, the Lord knows and the Lord shall reveal it." (p.99)

Rice's work on Jesus is fascinating, provoking and seeks to be faithful to what we see in the Gospels, in the setting of Palestine prior to Jesus' appearing to John.  I suggest you take up and read, and read the Gospels again, giving thanks for a fresh set of eyes.

Livestock Auction, a cultural event on MLK day

This morning on NPR (national public radio) there was a lot of talk about how people were going to be observing or not observing Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
Serge attends Mt. Pleasant High School and they had the day off.  One of the places I told him early on in his stay that he would need to visit is the livestock auction in St. Louis, Michigan.  I prepared him and Moses and Asa that we'd head down to the auction for a little culture today.
The first part of this culture on a day like today is knowing how to dress to survive in the cold.  They dressed in snow gear, I dressed in the requisite insulated carhart gear.  The first stage for the auction is the outside portion where the items for sale include hay and straw bales and firewood.  After about 15 minutes the tugs started on my arms - the boys wanted some shelter from the cold.
We acquired a tip that the hog and lamb barn might be a warmer venue.  We were off.  Opening several doors we found our way to an alley way where we could look at the hogs that had been brought to market.  Serge was surprised to see the flock of barn swallows that inhabited and ruled the air without any real regard to humans or hogs within the shelter.
After looking at hogs we made our way to a familiar scene in any good auction barn - the catwalk.  Like a catwalk in a theater that allows one to walk over the stage, a catwalk in an auction house is usually accessible from the auction ring and it extends out over the holding pens to allow all interested parties an opportunity to inspect the animals that have been brought in for sale.  We saw baby calves, young feeder calves, cows and fat steers.  I pointed to the cows and said to the boys, "Next time you'll see them is at McDonalds."  OK, maybe not at McDonald's, but they are the largest retailer of beef in America and a cow brought to the auction on Monday is headed for the hamburger line.
Looking at the cows Serge said, "You know what I want, I want a big steak."
"Hungry, eh," I said.  "Let's go to grab some lunch."
Just about every auction barn I've visited has a restaurant somewhere on the grounds.  We stopped into "The Cattleman's Cafe."  There were a few tables available.  We picked a 6 seater because we anticipated Roger Brookens, a guy from our church, and a friend of his were going to join us.  Before long the manager who was the only wait person came by.  She brought us water and welcomed us.  She was especially nice to the boys.  Before long the order was in.  The four of us had some kind of burger.  Serge has discovered a real appreciation for McDonald's Angus burgers.  After he finished his burger there I asked, "how does it compare?"  He indicated that they were both very good.
Serge had a slide of coleslaw, a first for him, and Asa had a side of onion rings, a first for him.  Both of them downed them.  Serge said after eating  the coleslaw that it reminded him of fare he would have had in Kazakhstan (the land of his birth).  He's observed that more of the food in America seems to have similarities with food in Kazakhstan than it does in his present home in Germany.  
Roger asked if we liked the sign that read "Welcome to the Roadkill Cafe. You kill it, we'll grill it."?   Of course we liked it.  That's part of the culture we were taking in and engaging in, a salt of the earth humor that deals with  reality. 
Before we left the cafe I encouraged the boys to have a piece of pie.  I noted that this might be the only time we'd be by this way while Serge is staying in America.  He responded by saying I could get him out of school anytime to bring him to St. Louis for lunch and a visit to the stockyards.
It was time to watch the beginning of the auction.
As we climbed our way to the top of the auction arena and looked for seats we discovered that other people had a similar idea.  The chairs that an hour earlier were empty were now all taken.  We found a wide ledge to take a seat upon.
After a few minutes the auctioneer welcomed us with a less than inspiring speech on MLK day.  He noted that those who were present didn't seem to be observing the day.  "Here at Producers, you'll find us open today and just about every other made up holiday like Memorial Day, Labor Day.  About the only day you'll find us closed is Christmas, and then it's hard." 
Every culture has its positive contribution and its less than commendable attributes.  The sentiment expressed, in my perspective, a continuing animosity in race relations that is saddening. On this day, when we're asked to remember a man who had a dream of all of God's children choosing to make judgments on character instead of skin color, it remains evident that there are plenty of pockets where the color of ones skin is the preferred course of commentary, assessment, and determining if we can live in community.
What is needed here and in every culture is the witness, call and life of Jesus and His church. Only He can save us from our prejudice and scapegoating of others so that we might be at and be at rest with ourselves and others.

With the introduction completed, the cattle began rolling into the sale ring.  We saw calves sell at $1.00 a pound down to 40 cents a pound.  Every time I'm in a setting like this I see cattle that my dad would do well with and I've always got a little temptation to raise my hand.  Thank the Lord for saner thoughts and the assurance of Anna that I had better not. 


After several head had come and gone it was time to address other events of the day.  As we were walking to the van I asked Serge what he thought.  He gave the sign of two thumbs up.  Another slice of life in America had been encountered.  It was beautiful, it was ugly, it is in need of redemption, it is being redeemed.        
  

Mirror To The Church

Yesterday I received a package of books from my cousin Joel.  One of the books caught my immediate attention - Mirror To the Church; Resurrecting Faith after Genocide in Rwanda.  The book is by Emmanuel Katongole, a Catholic priest of the Kampala Archdiocese, Uganda, and an associate professor of theology at Duke Divinity School.  Katongole is helped in the writing by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, however it is chiefly Katongole's voice that comes through in the story.

While the subtitle speaks of reconstructing faith after an event, the reader finds much of the work is focused on describing the stories that led Rwanda to the place where 800,000 people were murdered by their neighbors, friends, relatives, fellow church members in the country of Rwanda.  In the last chapter Katongole will write, "Any resurrection of the church as the body of Christ must begin with lament, which is an honest look at the brokenness of the church.  Without lament we move on too quickly to reconstruction. (p.164)" 

Katongole says for resurrection we must have forgiveness and a truthful memory, "including the honest admission of failure."  This honest confession isn't meant to "hang onto their mummified skeletons because we are afraid of the unknown future. (p.165)"  "But lament brings us to the breaking point . . . [so that] even in the midst of what appears to be dead, God can issue a miracle of resurrection. (p.165-168)"

Katongole asks for the people of God to be given to Memory, Mirror and Mission.  (p.169)

• "Memory - as we take seriously the history of Rwanda and the tragic failure of the church to offer a baptism that ran deeper than tribalism." Much of the book describes places and people who did not stand up to the genocide, many contributed to killing.   
• "Mirror - as we see in this story how resurrection happens in fresh interruptions of the so-called natural identities and patterns of life that we have assumed to be normal."  Katongole describes four biblical stories, three of which he asserts fall short of interrupting the flow of the kingdoms of this world and which tend to be the ways in which most of the church does its work.  The fourth story is the story of Mary who anoints Jesus for his burial before he stands before Pilate.  Mary interrupts the pattern of life and Katongole asks a perceptive question with regard to her story.  He notes that Jesus said wherever his gospel would be preached what she did would be part of the story.  Katongole says, "I can't remember a single evangelist summarizing the gospel message in a way that included Mary's story."(p.114) Katongole includes stories of people who have interrupted the flow of church and society to declare that they belong to the Kingdom of Christ. 
• "Mission - as we realize a new and urgent call to create and become the mixed-up people whose allegiance to our national, tribal, ethnic or racial identities is suspect."  Early in the work Katongole recounts a question and answer that took place among assembled church leaders:  "Are you saying that the blood of tribalism is deeper than the waters of baptism?  One leader answered, Yes it is." (p.22) 

Katongole's hope is for the church to recapture her mission, in Rwanda and around the world.  He describes the mission of the church as:  not so much rooted in some future that we've yet to achieve as it is remembering God's new creation, which Jesus embodied when he rose from the dead.  Our mission is to be a new community that bears witness to the fact that in Christ there is a new identity.  It is only by being such a unique people from 'every tribe and language and people and nation (Rev. 5.9)' that we can both name and resist the spell that would have us live as tribalized people." (p.25)  Katongole points to the church in Antioch, the Uganda martyrs, Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, Paul Collins of Hotel Rwanda, Rwanda Sister Felicitee, Father Andre Sibomana, Carl Wilkens a US Missionary to Rwanda and others examples of people who live and lived out this mission.

Katongole's work has a prophetic voice to the church, the world and myself.  I am thankful for the prophet.

In the midst of death, we are in Life!

In the committal service at a grave one of the lines reads, "in the midst of life we are in death."  That line reflects on all that is happening in that moment, where the living gather around a body which has died and is now about to be buried in the ground.  

There are times when the reversal of that comment sounds more true - in the midst of death, we are in Life!  The man I wrote about last week, died to this world on Tuesday.  But yesterday was the remembrance of Christ's Ascension.  What we know is that even though death take us, in Christ we have life, now and eternally.

On Monday I had a call of another man who died and I will be doing his funeral.  At present we're staying with a friend who works with people facing the last of their days in this world.  Her stories are touching and heart wrenching - she works actively in the midst of death, and her task, to bring life.

Tomorrow Aravis and I will be a part of a wedding of a wonderful young couple.  Their marriage represents a death, to their Independence, to their individual destiny, but it leads to life.  This death and life will take place "in the house of God."

And this is the mystery of the Gospel, the mystery of God's house - in the midst of multitudinous deaths, in Christ we are in Life!

Handed Over

One of the devotional books I've been reading this lenten season is produced by the Little Books of the Diocese of Saginaw.  The title for their lenten book is "The Little Black Book."  (click on the title and it will take you to their web site.)  The little book follows Mark's account of the Passion of Jesus for its scripture text and meditation.  Here is a portion of today's devotional:

Mark 15.15 - So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas to them and, after he had Jesus scourged, handed him over to the crucified. 

Mark says that Jesus is "handed over to be crucified." This is part of a chain of "handing-overs", one after another, into unfriendly hands. It began when Judas handed him over to the chief priests . . . who handed him over to Pilate . . . who handed him over to the executioners. In the end, Jesus will hand himself over to the Father in death. At last, he will be received into friendly hands.


Those same friendly hands await me, not only at death, but at every Mass (Eucharist).  I can place myself on the altar and join with Christ as he gives himself into the Father's hands.

The Cross

Re-reading Walter Wangerin's work, Reliving the Passion.
Came across this quote today on the significance of the cross.
We are altogether meaningless, except God touch us.  God touched us here.  We fly into an infinity of hell, separated from life and from each other and from divinity forever, except God hold us.  God holds us here.

A surprising summary

After the murder of Stephen, the persecution of the church by Saul of Tarsus, the conversion of the Ethopian eunuch, the conversion of Saul, and his beginning to preach Jesus as the Christ, Luke gives us a surprising summary:  "So the church, throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase."  Acts 9.31

The Sacred Meal

Yesterday I finished Nora Gallagher's reflections on communion that she offers under the title, "The Sacred Meal". It's published by Thomas Nelson and in a series called, The Ancient Practices Series. Not surprising, the series editor is Phyllis Tickle. It was Tickle's stamp that drew me to this series that has had a great deal of focused writing. The a priori of the writer and publisher must be that a fresh work on these practices are needed for a generation of people who have now encountered Christ, are exploring the practices of Christianity, especially ancient, and are essentially devoid of theological reflection.

Gallagher's writing style is extremely accessible. Her stories and reflections keep the text moving. She doesn't however do a great deal of plumbing the ancients. It certainly could have been stronger on that front.

She advances some present understandings of the meal that would not have been shared by the ancients. She claims this ability because not every early account is to be seen as being a universal practice. For instance, she writes of Justin Martyr's depiction of the Sunday practices of the Christian in Rome in the early 2nd century. Gallagher then determines to quote Paul Bradshaw and offers this for a reading of the ancients: "there is no justification that what these authors describe as practices familiar in their region were necessarily the universal customs of the time." (p.102).

She surprised me with a (paraphrased) quote that I rather agree with, delivered by Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong. Before this quote I wasn't sure I could agree with on much of anything with Bishop Song.
"Did Jesus come to give us a religion, to give us the right way to worship? No.
Well then, did Jesus come to teach us how to follow the law, be righteous, be ethical? No.
Did Jesus come to teach us the truth, the one truth against which all other claims can be measured, all heresies decried? To give us orthodoxy?
No. Jesus came to give us life, and life abundant."

Out of this quote she adds: "The early followers of Jesus didn't have a creed or a codified set of prayers. They did not all worship in the same way. They had some form of baptism and some forms of prayers over bread and wine, and that was about it. They didn't have many of the religious traditions that today we call "Christianity." I suspect they were living by the seat of their pants."

A serious question for her writing will be to see if she directs her readers toward embracing ancient practices, or if in her interpretation, they are jettisoned from the practices of the church? I fear that subjecting this work to strict philosophical consistency would reveal a work of Swiss cheese, but in the new emergence, that is acceptable, even laudable.

While not thrilled with her rationale, her Myth and Tradition reflects a Wesleyan(theological) perspective on the table. She writes: "Jesus practiced a radical faith: everyone was welcome at his table. You are welcome at this table. The altar is the big table. This is the table that wants everyone there: poor and rich, women and men, children and older people, mentally disabled and depressed . . . The gospel reading that makes the most sense to me about the Eucharist is the feeding of the five thousand. Jesus didn't ask those thousands of people camped on that hillside whether they had confessed their sins or how clean they were. He fed them." (92)

And possibly her best quote: "Taking Communion every Sunday is a creative act, and it makes no more "sense" than writing a poem, or, for that matter, reading one. It isn't going to get you anywhere in the world; it's not networking; it has no practical worth. Every creative act, Simone Weil said, is a 'folly of love'." (95)

The Atonement

Recently I re-read the book, "The Shack." I did it in part for a project in our church. I was glad to re-visit the book and take many notes this trip through.

My reflections about the book that I've posted here before and have also shared with some friends in e-mails are relatively unmoved, except in my estimation of Young's depiction of the atonement.

Reading the work the first time I suspected Young of trying to give form to the atonement, that is the meaning of Jesus' death on the cross, or how exactly his death upon the cross and his resurrection causes/opens/affects a release from guilt, sin and what the apostle Paul calls "condemnation," that was divergent.

Initially, I thought Young was working with a premise that denied what is called in technical theology circles, substitutionary or satisfactory atonement. I was wrong, mostly. In chapter 11, titled - Here Comes Da Judge, Mack finds himself face to face with Sophia and instructed to take the seat that he's often taken in life - the seat of the judge. In the conversation he is told that because of his judgments, he will have to use the judgments he's made of God to judge this time around. Mack has judged God as only saving some and damning the remainder of his creation, this means that Mack is asked to make a call when it comes to his children; who to send to eternal joy and who to death? Mack finally comes to the place where he says, I can't make this call - how about giving them all life and I'll go in their place. Sophia responds, "Now you sound like Jesus."

Here and in the opening parable about an Indian girl who gives her life for her tribe, Young does affirm that Jesus provides a substitution. He inserts his life for ours. But what does Jesus insert it for?

This gets to a deeper conundrum within theology. To whom, or for what does Jesus offer his life for ours? Why does Jesus offer to die in our place? Several proposals have been produced by theologians reading Paul's letter to the Romans; a highly accepted one among evangelicals was that Jesus somehow "paid the debt." This payment can be seen in two ways, one view is that Jesus paid a debt somehow owed to the devil, and that all who are in his train are released from the clutches of the devil. Another perspective holds to the understanding that Jesus satisfies the wrath of God against our sin, so that the mercy of God can be expressed. In either direction, Jesus is inserted instead of us, he's our substitute, and he pays a piper.

These various perspectives have their critiques. One, the scriptural narrative just doesn't support a view of Satan having that kind of power or responsibility, or of Jesus having to pay him off. Two, the depiction of God as one awaiting a satisfaction of His "wrath" for the sins of humanity, doesn't jive either. Consider that it's God who comes and makes covenant with Abraham, without this wrath and without satisfaction. It's God who more often than not acts in mercy, when we the readers of His story might prefer wrath.

Young seems to offer another perspective - that the work of Jesus is to satisfy a sense of justice, not only God's, but also our sense of justice. Young's tale is one of a tragic and brutal murder of a young girl. The main character wants at least justice against the perp. The perp should pay for what he's done, for the evil he's unleashed, for the death of a life and many other deaths. The need for justice is known by the the victim, the family of the victim, and an expanding amount of people.

However, in the story of the perp, we find that he too has his own sense of injustice in life. He was abused when a child. Not only is he a breaker of peace, he was also a recipient of injustice. This is a story we all participate in - we break justice(peace) with others, even as others break justice(peace) with us. It happens in greater and lesser amounts, yet it still happens and we're all part of the tragedy.

What to do in this circle? Here's where Young may offer a new perspective (actually the perspective of Lewis in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe)- that Jesus, the one who is perfectly just, who loves perfectly, offers himself to our sense of justice. How does Mack have the capacity to forgive the perp? By accepting the cross of Christ as satisfying his sense of justice. Instead of the perp taking the rap, Jesus essentially said, will I do Mack? I'll take it for him, just as I'll take it for you when there are others who want your hide. I'll say, apply it to me.

This is what Paul does in the letter to Philemon, when he says that if Onesimus owes Philemon anything, Philemon should apply it to Paul's account. This also lights the emptying of Jesus (also known as kenosis from Philippians 2) differently, he came emptying his divinity, even his divine sense of justice, so that he could be treated as a slave, he came to serve our term - against any who justly have a claim. The way of the cross is "where mercy triumphs over justice because of love."

This is transformational and it sheds new light on Jesus' connectivity of our forgiving others with our ability to be forgiven. Unless we are willing to accept others claim that Jesus has provided the means to bring peace to our relationships, we can't rightly point to him and say - hey, Jesus provides the way of peace for me. When I'm feeling wronged and I want to lash out and acquire justice, I need to recall Jesus on the cross saying, will this do? Forgive your neighbor as I've forgiven you. "Judgment is not about destruction, but about setting things right (p.171)."

There's more to be written on this and much needs to be refined. I appreciate the ability of this work to propose something I'm sure to have missed before in other writings, and I'm glad to once again wrestle with the question of the atonement, how is it that Jesus' sacrifice changes everything?

Sin, Ancestoral or Original?

Here's a phenomenal article on a very basic question, what's the nature of sin?
http://silouanthompson.net/2008/12/22/ancestral-versus-original-sin/

One could spend many days discussing the assertions and implications of this article.

Home

We arrived home last night from Family Camp. It was a great week. Here are a few reasons for our appreciation:
1) Simple. Things were reduced. Our accommodations were limited to a 12' by 16' cabin with an outdoor dining area. Our breakfasts and lunches were spartan yet sufficient. We didn't take along a lot of techno gear - only cell phones. This stripped down life was lighter, freeing. Less interested in stuff, carrying it, keeping it, protecting it, putting it, running it. It freed us to see and interact with . . .
2) People. One key component of family camp is the encouragement to spend time with your family and other families. Outside our door and right beside our picnic table was a line of three picnic tables where our neighbors gathered to enjoy their meals and host a band from Spring Arbor University. Conversations were in the air and if you had to leave a subject for a minute or a day, the conversation hung around so you could pick it up again. We were able to interact with people that we hadn't seen in a while and people we may not see until next year. Good, sharing, kind people. We were also able to interact with people from our church family, share ice cream, a cup of coffee, a meal and in these interactions we laughed, told stories, and heard one another.
3) Worship. The kids were blessed to be a part of a Vacation Bible School help in the morning with another program in the night that was rockin'. Anna, Kyrie and I took in the evening worship services. We were blessed to worship among our fellow sisters and brothers in Christ. Out of worship flowed a sweet spirit of peace and blessing. A culmination of the worship was Thursday night when a lady who has been around the camp for years was Baptized and we all shared in the Table of Jesus with communion. Rebbecca found the welcome of Jesus and we all shared in His gifts to us and the world. Rebbecca is not alone in finding new life or fresh life in Christ, as our evangelist quoted CS Lewis, many at camp drew closer Jesus from the places where they come from.
4) Playing. Integral to camp is hilarity, as Marva Dawn calls it in her book on Romans 12, of playing games. Softball, basketball, painting in the craft room, pushing kids on the swings, riding bikes and 4 wheeler's. Bursting forth from study & worship is a profound trust and rest in the goodness of God for our care, this freedom in Christ enables and emboldens our play. The community that worships across the age ranges makes space for 7 year olds to play basketball with aging pastors and high schoolers who are at the top of their game. I blogged earlier that Moses, Asa and I played in the three on three tournament. We learned the next day that because of how the brackets fell, we came in 4th, out of 8 or 9 teams. That was due to grace.
5) Hope, Love and Grace. Surrounding, upholding, permeating camp is the very real presence of hope, love and grace. These words which can at times be thrown about do have real essence, a real body. At camp there is a tactile Hope where the community is hoping, for the best, praying for the best, living Hope. Love is necessary as an ingredient, for the solitary existence isn't achievable and how does on keep harmony in such tight quarters - one must give up claims of self interest and ease - from the presence of sand in places where we'd rather not have sand, to moving in and around cabins with no thought of staying off the grass of your neighbor's lawn - there's no lawn. Grace - there's room to be you, from sharing your reading interests, to displaying your latest tattoo, to an open invitation to the table for ice cream, to helping a neighbor, grace takes form in the interactions.
6) Nature. Northern Michigan has an immense beauty that is difficult not to hymn. Its land contours are varied, its soil composotion pleasant beneath the feet, while the temperatures were cool, the sun and wind combined to brighten the smiles on peoples faces. Of profound joy was watching baby red tail hawks try to discern what was food and what wasn't.
7) Missional. At the close of the service on Thursday Rev. Cromwell, the Evangelist, asked a question I've often asked at the end of Communion: "Has everyone been served?" (see Luke 14.15-25) I've often asked the question looking out across those assembled to see if anyone still wants to come and receive. He asked the question and he saw beyond the people in that space, he answered his own question this way: "No, everyone has not been served. The world out there, beyond this camp, is waiting to receive the life of Christ." So we go, we leave camp, we return to our homes. Our home last night felt like a 5 star hotel compared to the spartan cabin with its daily bologna sandwiches. While space has expanded it is my prayer that the other attributes of family camp also expand - faith, hope, grace, love - may the life of Jesus expand in this place, and the community of Jesus which is hearty like a good loaf of bread become a living reality at the place we call "home." May the world around us be welcome at the table of Jesus, on piece of sand, in a carpeted room, or in the places we call sanctuaries.

Athanasius on the Psalms

Recently I revisited a beloved little book, On the Incarnation, written by St. Athanasius (296 – 373 A.D.). Athanasius is a profoundly influential pastor and Bishop within the church. In 325 at the Council of Nicea, he took a significant role in helping the church to understand and proclaim that Jesus was human and divine. The heresy that he countered was known as Arianism, which understood Jesus to be a great example, but not God in the flesh. Athanasius helped the church form the Nicean Creed which we find as #717 in our hymnal and serves as a concise confession of what we believe about God. (You can read more about St. Athanasius by going to: www.ccel.org/a/athanasius/

In the copy of On the Incarnation that I have there is an appendix which is a letter that Athansisus wrote on the interpretation of the Psalms. Like many other interpreters of his time he viewed all of Scripture as pointing to the person of Jesus, as its first task. Each book of the Bible he held pointed to Jesus in some particular way, just as it told a particular message of its own. The Psalms he noted were a little different, “Each of the books is like a garden which grows one special kind of fruit; by contrast the Psalter (Psalms) is a garden for which, besides its special fruit grown also some of those of all the rest.” The Psalms span pre-creation to the celestial city and everything in between.

But there’s more to the Psalms than revealing the fullness of the story of God and the human story. One purpose of the Psalms is to be sung or prayed in private and in public. The scripture tells us to “give thanks always” (I Thess. 5) and the Psalms provide the fitting words to say. “In fact,” writes Athanasius, “under all the circumstances of life, we shall find that these divine songs suit ourselves and meet our own souls’ need at every turn.” Further he writes, “the marvel of the Psalter is that, barring those prophesies about the Saviour and some about the Gentiles, the reader takes all its words upon his lips as though they were his own, and each one sings the Psalms as though they had been written for his special benefit, and takes them and recites them, not as though someone else were speaking or another persons feelings were being described, but as himself speaking of himself, offering the words to God as his own heart’s utterance, just as though he himself had made them up.”

Since reading Athanasius’ work I’ve been re-visiting the Psalms. I’ve been reading the Psalm numbered for that day of the month, and then using that number to skip through the remainder of the Psalms. At times I’ve found them speaking to different matters, of creation, of repentance for sin, of seeking God in tough times, of seeing God’s righteous arm descend upon the wicked, of pleading for mercy for the wicked, of joy at God’s great and grand mercy. At other times they speak with a solitary voice – in God is our trust, and He is indeed trustworthy to walk with us through the valleys of life and set before us a good table.

Let me encourage you to join me in re-visiting the Psalms, especially during the season of lent. Hear and sing the good news delivered to us through these many writers and let these words shape your heart. Jesus knew the Psalms, and on the cross he quoted from Psalm 22 – “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Many believe that in saying the first line Jesus had the whole Psalm in mind, which concludes with trust and praise and a look to future generations. Let us listen to and sing the Psalms and may our hearts and bodies be shaped by the truth of God’s word. “For a soul rightly ordered by chanting the sacred words forgets its own afflictions and contemplates with joy the things of Christ alone.” (Athanasius)