church.nu

2011-11-27T11:17:00.001-05:00

Oh, that you would rip open the heavens and descend, make the mountains shudder at your presence—
As when a forest catches fire,
as when fire makes a pot to boil—
To shock your enemies into facing you,
make the nations shake in their boots!

The prophet speaks for people of all times when he voices the desire for God to show up -- right now! -- to defend his holiness and his people. Preachers and politicians still call on God to stand up for the righteousness of their cause. The problem, as Isaiah goes on to say, is that none of us meet the standards of that God:

Is there any hope for us? Can we be saved?
We're all sin-infected, sin-contaminated.
Our best efforts are grease-stained rags.
We dry up like autumn leaves—
sin-dried, we're blown off by the wind.

Advent is a season when we want to hold these realities in tension. We want our desire for God's presence with us to boil over, not to highlight other's defects but to make friends with our own "grease-stained rags."

This is the good news: Our God, who could descend from the severed heavens and send chills down the spines of the powerful, instead chooses to come quietly as a vulnerable child in a filthy stable, revealed to animals and shepherds instead of priests and princes. The Christ is humble, to teach us to surrender our pride. He is vulnerable, to teach us that we can soften and risk for the sake of love. He "empties himself" (in St. Paul's phrase) to show us how to let go of our illusions of control. He is poor, to remind us where our true wealth lies.

Still, God, you are our Father.
We're the clay and you're our potter:
All of us are what you made us.

What's the goal?

2010-12-23T10:31:00.003-05:00

Photo: angietorres

A friend recently described for me her church's confirmation class' goal of "ending hunger in our town by the time we graduate."

How excellent it is to see the church's young people focused out on the world and hoping to bring a congregation along with them. Theirs is a goal that exudes youthful exuberance and confidence that "we can do anything we put our minds to." We need that kind of faithful response, trusting that with God all things are possible. Even if it sounds like "pie-in-the-sky" to someone who has lived long enough to see the truth in Jesus' statement that the poor will always be with us -- sometimes in spite of my (our) best efforts and sometimes because of my (our) indifference.

Even if hunger can't be ended in their town in a handful of years (and I pray that it can be, everywhere), their goal suggests some deeper objectives that can shape their lives for years to come:

being aware of what they are blessed with, and what others lack
creating a way of life that includes sharing with those in need
getting to know those who are hungry and in poverty
raising awareness among their complacent neighbors of the needs of the poor
learning about and advocating against the causes of as well as the results of hunger

I hope that these young people name these as goals, too, and not just as tasks and strategies to be ticked off along the way.

We're a culture that loves to set impossibly high goals and then give ourselves excuses for not meeting them. (Made your New Years' resolutions yet?) Would it surprise you to know that Google searches for the word "gym" peak sharply each December and then quickly trail off into January? And how often do people say "I don't have the resources to really make a difference about hunger," so they do...nothing.

And we in the church are not immune. Don't we set practical goals like increasing giving by 5 percent, or welcoming 20 new members, or adding seating for 200 at worship? Or we resolve to become spiritually deeper (which means..?) or to read the Bible in a year. Or (let's be honest here) just to stay open a while longer and try to keep things the same in a changing world?

With the exception of that last sentence, there's nothing wrong with such goals. But I fear we often get it backwards, using our relationship with God, our prayer, our faith as mileposts on the way to those goals, rather than the eternal journey and destination. Jesus doesn't call us to be faithful as a tactic in order to enact social change. He calls us to perceive and live a new reality...which will change the world.

Ending hunger. Filling the pews. Knowing the Bible. These are all good tactics to keep us motivated as we pursue the lifelong task of personal and social transformation. The goal of our faith remains threefold: to know Emmanuel, the God who is with us and loves us wildly; to perceive the radically upside-down kingdom that is God's dream for us; and then living as if that dream is already true (which is the only way the kingdom actually arrives).

When we do these things, the Holy Spirit can take it from there.

Love comes down

2010-12-18T10:38:00.000-05:00

All this took place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel’, which means, ‘God is with us.’ (See Matthew 1:18-25)

Jesus' birth is announced to Mary by the mystical appearance of an angel. Scholars seek him out because of the appearance of a celestial phenomenon previously unseen. Out in the fields, shepherds are roused by a host of angels singing the glad news.

But Jesus' birth is in raw circumstances. In a bed of uncovered straw. Out behind the inn. Just his mother and father, and the barnyard animals. Not only in our world, but in a place most of us would consider lowly, unworthy. Yet this is what God plans. I think that, if it were happening today, Jesus' birth would take place in the alley behind the bustling pub, between the dumpsters. Or on a grate. Or in a homeless encampment or refugee camp.

In Jesus, God is with us, in a way we cannot completely understand. God is birthed in the world vulnerable, dependent on imperfect humans, waiting on the unfolding of years to be seen. God could have come to us in a miraculous appearance, leaving no question that he was in charge. Yet he chose to come, in Christ, virtually unnoticed by the world, and to live with us in the joys and trials of everyday life, so that he could point us to the new kingdom and life God offers.

God is with us. No hoop jumping or ladder climbing required. We don't have to get ourselves righteous, or even notice what God is doing, for him to be with us here and now. He lives with us, so that we can be his presence for those who live around us.

How is God with you today? How do you want God to be with you?

What difference does it make to you that God is not "up there" waiting for you to climb to him, but right next to you reaching out his hands to you?

Who are you waiting for?

2010-12-16T09:40:00.000-05:00

Luke 7:24-30

Jesus challenged the crowds that flocked to him from John the Baptist to look deeply at their motives. Did they seek out John because they were following the crowd? Were they expecting a spectacle, or seeking someone to show them a prosperous, problem future? Or were they seeking a prophet?

His question resonates today. As we toss around slogans like "Let's keep Christ in Christmas" and "Jesus is the reason for the season," Jesus still calls me to look within. Am I just going along with the church crowd? Do I long for a meek, mild baby who doesn't cry or ask much of me? A savior who will bless and rescue my life as I know it? A source of certainty I can use to anchor my life or differentiate myself from others? A conquering king? Or a Messiah who will suffer nails and spears and model losing my life in order to really live it?

Are you waiting for the answers to your prayers? Or the answer to the world's prayers, who calls you to be part of the solution?

A deepening awareness

2010-12-08T14:53:00.000-05:00

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.’ But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.’ Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to get such a clear message from God? A direct visitation from an angel -- that would be more definitive than neon lights or skywriting or the other signs that I often long for when discerning God's message to me.

I used to think that Gabriel's appearance was the source of Mary's confident response to the unexpected, disruptive news that the angel brings. "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." An otherworldly spectacle would certainly grab anyone's attention, overcome their fear and galvanize them into action. Right?

But Mary's encounter with the angel doesn't suggest a change of mind or heart. She is perplexed by the visitation at first, but her simple question and then her acceptance of a new life sounds to me more like a deepening of an existing revelation, another chapter in a a story already in progress.

We human beings have a pretty bad record noticing when God is speaking to us. Adam and Eve ignored clear, direct orders. God's prophets to Israel were routinely ignored. The power structure of his day plotted to trap and execute Christ. Today, when some try to hear God speaking for the poor in the midst of economic upheaval, or for the environment in the face of disaster, other voices are quick to question. Rarely do we have clarity about God's message in real time; often our best understanding comes from looking back at unfolding revelation.

So how do we move forward? It seems to me that trusting response, like Mary's, to God's call doesn't come from an overwhelmingly convincing voice from above, but from a gradual deepening of our own ability to notice God's presence with us. Mary's willingness to submit to the claim God places on her life isn't so much a response as it is a sign that she recognizes God's love and companionship down to the very depths of her soul.

Food for thought from Seth Godin

2010-11-29T08:37:00.000-05:00

Our normal approach is useless here

Perhaps this can be our new rallying cry.

If it's a new problem, perhaps it demands a new approach. If it's an old problem, it certainly does.

Memo to the ELCA

2010-11-29T08:31:00.000-05:00

Good morning, ELCA. Today's question is simple: What "business" are we in?

The faith formation business? Or faith preservation?

Changing the world through living out justice and global connection and interfaith dialogue?

Certainly not, to paraphrase Brian McLaren, warehousing souls until they can be shipped to their final destination?

Preserving the "Lutheran" way of doing church?

Making disciples?

Hint: Look at where your people's energy, creativity and time are spent.

What business should we be in?

Turning outside-in

2010-11-29T08:30:00.000-05:00

Listen. Do you hear the inbreaking of God's kingdom in this story?

When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, appealing to him ⁶and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible distress.” ⁷And he said to him, “I will come and cure him.” ⁸The centurion answered, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed. ⁹For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.” ¹⁰When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, “Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. ¹¹I tell you, many will come from east and west and will eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, ¹²while the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” ¹³And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you according to your faith.” And the servant was healed in that hour. (Matt. 8:5-13)

Jesus has been traveling around Galilee, preaching the revolutionary good news of the Sermon on the Mount, healing, and drawing crowds from far beyond the territory. He's taught the people how to have dignity in the face of oppression, to suffer persecution for a greater good.

Returning to Capernaum, he is approached by a leader of the occupying Roman army. This centurion is not drawn by religion; he is under Caesar's law, not Moses'. Yet he is drawn to Jesus, because he has heard the buzz and sees that Jesus is to go-to guy if you seek healing and wholeness. I imagine the centurion as a non-nonsense kind of man, one who has seen the world and knows how power works. And the word has gotten back about Jesus' healing power. Convinced of that power, the centurion doesn't need to have Jesus come to his home to prove it. He knows that Jesus' word is good, if he says the servant is healed he is healed -- just as the centurion knows that his orders will be carried out by his men.

Jesus is amazed by this complete and unusual trust. What he tells his followers is equally stunning: My Father's kingdom is not about being born of the right race, espousing the right religion. It's not exclusive -- true faith exists even in people who have not heard of, scoff at and even oppress religion. And more to the point, don't think religion can trump true trust in what God can do, or you're in for an unpleasant surprise.

Imagine if the church today were seen by society the way that centurion saw Jesus -- as the go-to place for concern about the sick, the hungry, the marginalized. What would it take for people of no or other faiths to know that they could bring their hurts to the church, and trust that we are as good as Jesus' word?

Which way are you flowing?

2010-11-28T09:49:00.001-05:00

The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
²In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it.
³Many peoples shall come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
⁴He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
⁵O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord! (Isaiah 2:1-5)

Isaiah’s vision opens in an unsettled and anxious time, with scenes that would fit in today’s evening news. The “Israelite Dream” has not come true. Visions of success have turned to despair. Self-interest has trumped justice, leading God to turn a deaf ear to Israel’s valued traditions and rituals. Yet here Isaiah’s prophetic imagination kicks in. He reminds the people of God’s dreams for them – that their energies would flow toward God and not to their own individual concerns; that they would see their interconnectedness rather than seeing themselves as adversaries; that honest labor would prevail rather than seeking unfair advantage through might. God will make this happen! If only the people could look past their fear and uncertainty to grasp God’s mercy.

In perilous times such as ours, it is tempting to seize on the certainty of Isaiah 1: The obedient will thrive; rebels will fall to the sword. “The Word of the Lord” will conquer all. But in today’s passage Isaiah invites us into reflection. Which way is the stream of my life flowing? Am I journeying toward the mountain of the Lord, or have I exalted my own desires? When am I too quick to grab the swords of anger or indignation to support my own positions? How can I be the Lord’s messenger of peace and justice? Grappling with these questions can be a first step or a next step in walking in the light of the Lord.

O God, direct the rivers and trajectories of my life so that they flow always toward you. Help me to release the desires and concerns of my life so that I might perceive and experience the large, beautiful dreams that you have for your people. Amen.

(Originally published in The RevWriter Resource)

Leaven, ferment or froth?

2010-11-02T10:39:00.000-04:00

Sermonations on Mark 8:11-21

How does Jesus' message in the so-called "Yeast of the Pharisees" story speak to the church in emerging culture? I'm crowd-sourcing an upcoming sermon, and I would appreciate your thoughts about what this text means to us today. Please share -- the more voices the better!

11The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, asking him for a sign from heaven, to test him. 12And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.” 13And he left them, and getting into the boat again, he went across to the other side.
14Now the disciples had forgotten to bring any bread; and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. 15And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out—beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.” 16They said to one another, “It is because we have no bread.” 17And becoming aware of it, Jesus said to them, “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do you have ears, and fail to hear? And do you not remember? 19When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?” They said to him, “Twelve.” 20“And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?” And they said to him, “Seven.” 21Then he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?”

OK, friends...help me out. Use the headline link to go to my Facebook note, or add your thoughts in the comments below.

What was the leaven the religious establishment (Pharisees) and the culture-makers (Herod) brought to the batter of spiritual and political/economic life?

What form do those yeasts take today?

Why are the disciples so fixated on bread? What is Jesus trying to get across to them?

How does it feel to see Jesus be so exasperated?

What about our paths of discipleship would cause Jesus to "sigh deeply from his soul?"

Starting with Why

2010-07-03T17:46:00.001-04:00

In a fascinating TED talk, author Simon Sinek explains the ideas in his book, Start with Why. The premise is simple: "People don't buy what you do they buy why you do it," he says. This is a central premise of what I call "higher marketing," selling things that don't just keep us alive but purport to define or add meaning to life. Wal-Mart may sell razor blades based on rolled-back prices, but Apple has to convince you they challenge the status quo or appeal to your self-image of "thinking differently" before you pay a premium for their beautifully designed, easy-to-use computers. ( Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action)

Most causes and brands communicate to their hearers' logical, cerebral brains with a lot of facts and figures about what they do and how they do it ("four out of five doctors recommend..." "now with five times the power of the competition..."). Breakthroughs come when leaders speak to the intuitive, non-verbal parts of the brain that responds to "why?" -- as in Apple's cool, creative appeal.

Sinek extends the idea to technological innovation and social causes as well. The Wright Brothers prevailed with passion and determination, while rival Samuel Pierpont Langley aimed at the "what" -- he wanted to be rich and famous. Rather than build on the Wright's initial success, Langley dropped out of the business since he couldn't be first. More than 250,000 people showed up on Washington's Mall to hear Martin Luther King Jr. because he articulated their belief that America could be more just. Sinek notes that King gave the "I have a dream" speech, not "I have a plan."

Faith is not a product nor an innovation, and only partially a social cause. Yet I think Sinek's premise has a lot to offer the church as we look at how we communicate with the world; not just in intentional evangelism but in all the ways we engage our culture and community.

Many writers have explored the idea that people admire and respect Jesus, while they have negative impressions of the intolerance and irrelevance of Christians and the church. Often cited objections to the church include intolerance aimed at homosexuals and other faiths, exclusivity and "my way or the highway" talk, excessive patriotism and support of war. All these fall on the "what" level of doctrine or the "how" level of tactics to live out that dogma. If you carry that back to the motivational level one sees a worldview of fear of others, an insatiable need to be right, a need for conformity and uniformity. This is directly opposed to what many people outside the church see and admire in Christ.

When interviewed, these folks often refer to Jesus' humility, his care for the poor and sick, his inclusion and willingness to risk. Jesus' why -- "the kingdom of God is among you" -- is clear to them:

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

Jesus' "why" was clear, and his actions completely resonated with his purpose. No religious hierarchy, need to be safe, or social convention got in the way. He ate with sinners, healed outsiders, dueled with Pharisees and Saducees, stood his ground with Pilate, and carried his own cross. All to live out and bring about healing, wholeness and justice. There's a cause to get behind!

The "Why" question is also relevant to the way churches talk about themselves and "reach out." How many times do churches describe themselves as "contemporary" or "traditional," "liturgical" or "free." Some boast strong Sunday Schools or youth programs or Kids' Kingdoms. Others tout high technology, coffee shops or intellectual discussion groups. Some stress "biblical preaching" while others are "accepting." All good things, and there is room for all approaches, but notice that all of these descriptors are what's and how's.

Sometimes churches' "why" revolves around community, although this can be vague and misleading. Is community a place of warm acceptance, where everybody knows your name ("Cheers!"), a place of camaraderie and shared purpose (the soccer club or the Army), people who are there when you need them (a support group), or people who will tell you the truth even if you don't want to hear it (Luther's mutual conversation and consolation)?

Other times the "why" will focus on making and being disciples, though the how and what can be different, as "discipleship" might mean attending to long teaching sermons, joining a small group, reading the Bible daily or seeking a relationship with God in prayer and contemplation. Some will focus on thought, others on social action, others on personal righteousness.

The church's "why" can be summed up in Luke 4, which is often called Jesus' "manifesto" or "purpose statement." We are called to do nothing less than join God in bringing about the kingdom of heaven on earth, right here and now. We give voice to another, better world, where the poor hear good news, prisoners are freed and the blind are healed. A just, inclusive world that threatens our current notions of wealth, power and security.

What is the "why" of your congregation?

Do your "how's" and "what's" resonate with your "why"?

How do you tell the story of your "why" to your community?

What, if anything, might look different if you added Jesus's manifesto in Luke 4 into your "why" statement(s)?

Watch Sinek's TED talk:

Happy Interdependence Day!

2010-07-03T15:50:00.000-04:00

Interdependence is a key biblical value. Israel's society is based on the concept of community; the people are on their journey, and in relationship with God, together. Power and wisdom are marked by care for the vulnerable and infirm. Faith is not an idea but a way of living that cares for people and the natural world in relationship with the Creator.

Dependence is also an important value. Jesus tells us that our lives our not our own; they are only found by being given away. Reliance on God, not bread alone, keeps us alive. Our lives are reclaimed by stripping away what is on the outside to sit naked before our loving God.

The dictionary defines independence, which we celebrate this weekend, as "freedom from the control, influence, support, aid, or the like, of others." (Dictionary.com) While the United States' independence from the control of the crown opened a noble experiment in self-governance, "independence" is not a good way for individuals to live -- mainly because it is not real. We are each shaped by parents and family, influenced by teachers and friends, supported in time of need and able to respond to others in need. Our real lives are interdependent, lived in community with neighbors and children and governments as well as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

So while you are getting together with others for BBQs and fireworks, consider this great idea from the people at the Englewood Review of Books: Celebrate Interdependence Day!

Their blog post lists 40 different ways that you can celebrate the ways that you and your family depend on the gifts and talents of your neighbors (and people around the world) and on the local ecosystem (and the global environment). Here are a couple of my favorites:

Gather your neighbors and do a spontaneous parade that shows off people’s talents – music, acrobatics, costumes, etc.

Visit an elderly neighbor or family member. Have them tell you the story of their life.

Look for everything you have two of and give one away.

Hold a knowledge exchange where people gather and each get ten minutes to teach the group about something they’re passionate about.

Spend the 4th of July baking cookies or bread. Give your baked goods to the person who delivers your mail or picks up your trash the next time you see them.

Write a note of appreciation to a mother; thank her for raising a child.

Read the entire list here. What are your favorites? Got better ideas? Let us know in the comments.

We are truly blessed in the US. We are able to worship, work, love, live, vote and consume pretty much the way we want. Our system is not perfect; no system is. We are able to celebrate the times we are a light to others, and to question when we do not live up to our best. That kind of independence is healthy for a nation. As citizens and as Christians, we are blessed to be both interdependent with each other and with the world, and ultimately dependent on our gracious and merciful God.

Just in time

2010-04-30T01:26:00.005-04:00

Acts 13:13-25

Reading Paul's litany of God's faithfulness to God's people reminds me how good God is at giving us what we need, and when we need it. Not what we want, when we want it.

From patriarchs like Abraham and Moses, through judges and kings, to a Messiah...with some prophets thrown in along the way to spice things up...to apostles and missionaries and even persecutors and benefactors (such as the elector who protected my ancestor Martin Luther), and on through the parents, teachers, pastors and saints who transmit faith to us today, God has established a true apostolic succession, and unbroken chain of witnesses sent out from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. When Israel needed wisdom God sent judges, and when the people needed to be reminded of God's desire for them, prophets brought a word from the Lord. When I need to go deeper God sends a spiritual director; when I need company on the journey God provides a community. Providence, just in time.

I'm in DC for the TransFORM gathering of missional practitioners. I have been wrestling with the weight of the institutional church of late. Now I am about to be in prayer and conversation with kindred spirits, fellow travelers on the road outside the box. coincidence? I think not.

This is how we know God goes before us, even when we can't see a pillar of fire: We get exactly what we need. Just in time.

What is emerging in the church?

2010-04-19T22:24:00.000-04:00

The Sarcastic Lutheran posted a response this morning to a synchroblog on the question "What is emerging in the church?" Its a question we at Kairos have been exploring throughout our three-plus years together, and one that's been on my mind of late. So I'm going to jump in and crash the party!

What's emerging?

Life together. ... Community is about finding companions for the journey, not neighbors for the pew. We're looking for people who are there for us, living icons of the Christ who is always with us. We want to learn from each other, lean on each other, be there for each other, it's not about another place to put on a "got it all together mask." At Kairos we value community time along with worship, because relationships grow and serious faith questions are wrestled with as deeply (if not more so) around the dinner table as in worship.

Practice in imperfection ... Faith should be a way of life, not a set of rules or a catalog of beliefs. It's harder than don'ts... Faith gives us do's: the way of love, mercy, healing and justice modeled for us by Jesus. But not as a ladder to climb to God, rather as a bridge to reconcile with our neighbors.

Creativity ... More and more I run into people who, like me, yearn to express their questions and their love for God in our own words ... In questions, and our stories, and prayers and liturgies. Eventually we would like to worship mostly in our own words and images, but for now we blend our own ideas and resources from contemporaries in many traditions along with ancient litanies and creeds.

Collaboration ... Lets face it, there are serious fractures in the church. Yet there is an emerging willingness to put common commitments as followers of Jesus ahead - or at least on a par - with our differences. Yes, in some cases the differences are becoming more loud and militant. Then there are churches like the ELCA which are becoming ecumenical bridges between communions that don't connect directly, and the emerging conversation has opened up dialogues between mainline, evangelical and global churches. Denominations may well become less important as organizing structures, but have an important role to play guarding the treasures of their theological and spiritual traditions and forging new generations of ecumenical partnerships.

Engagement ... The disconnects that allow Christians to stay cloistered in a faithful bubble while ignoring the world outside their doors are being pieced back together. Serving -- particularly feeding people in our neighborhoods -- is a hallmark of our community. Many of us have spent time in churches where the busyness of administering the church, planning worship, paying the bills, etc. took priority over serving, so our church-without-walls has intentionally tried to balance enlightenment with engagement.

Formation ... In an age of instant consumerist gratification, we're learning that there are no quick solutions for spiritual formation. Our vision is to welcome anyone and offer opportunities for those who want to go deeper. And we include children in the main gathering rather than segregating them out for "education," because the lesson of being with their parents as they discuss, wrestle and worship is a lesson no other teacher can provide.

Fun ... One of our core values at Kairos is having fun with our faith. We don't take ourselves too seriously -- we can celebrate, lament, serve, pray and journey together with the joy that comes knowing that God is with us in everything.

Freedom's just another word for...

2010-03-24T11:19:00.001-04:00

John 8:31-38

"So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed." -- Jesus

We are blessed to live in a free land but, like those first Jewish believers, we are caught in unfreedom all the same.

Listening to John's description of Jesus's encounter with "the Jews who had believed in him," I hear a teacher's caring lesson, not an angry confrontation. The passage begins with a lesson that seeks their good: following in Jesus' word, living under his yoke of discipleship, leads to true freedom. Good news, indeed.

But here these believers get stuck. They're caught thinking in the world's terms, where they are indeed free men, not slaves, not imprisoned debtors (although they do live under occupation). They're thinking in the worldview of their religion, where they have followed the laws and rules and are "free."

Jesus, characteristically, looks deeper. He is thinking in the way of the Kingdom of God, where verdict's of the Roman laws and self-justification by keeping an external religious law both fall short. In the Kingdom, living in the way of love and truth taught by Christ is the measure. So he begins by saying that living in the humility and justice that he models leads to freedom that neither the governor nor the high priest can offer -- the freedom to be who God has created them to be.

Stuck in their surface definition of free, they toss this good news aside and focus on justifying themselves. "We've never been slaves to anyone," they protest. "What do you mean?"

Jesus replies in expansive Kingdom terms. Everyone who commits sin -- i.e., everyone of us (not just those that aren't ritually pure) -- is a slave to sin. In the household of God, on our own we are not sons and daughters but servants. But Jesus, who is without sin, is the Son, and he chooses to make all who follow his way his brothers and sisters in that household. "So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed."

Indeed. True freedom is not just having legal independence nor ritual purity. And its not the romanticized freedom of the young and poor, nor the resigned freedom that Kris Kristofferson calls "...just another word for nothin' left to lose." True freedom is nothing more -- and nothing less -- than living fully and well in harmony with God's reality, not the one that we see in front of us.

Can you imagine Jesus saying to you, "I have made you free indeed"?

What difference would that make in your life?

What unfreedom keeps you from accepting the freedom Christ wants to give you?

The pattern of hope

2010-03-10T08:59:00.001-05:00

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we^* have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ²through whom we have obtained access^* to this grace in which we stand; and we^* boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. ³And not only that, but we^* also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, ⁴and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. - Romans 5:1-5 NRSV

When faced with suffering, I am likely to focus on hope -- or my lack thereof. In rough moments I tend to fan the small embers of hope in my soul, or lament the lack of a spark. St. Paul wisely describes the lighting of hope's fire as a longer and less direct process.

Hope cannot be born out of a difficult circumstance, but out of character, our ingrained pattern of responding to trouble and suffering (and joy and success, as well). This is not an instant reaction, and in fact if we are reactive we will likely not experience hope, but fear and longing. Our character is shaped slowly, like clay being formed into a jar by the steady hands of a potter applying pressure gradually while the clay spins on the wheel. To continue the analogy, the pressure is applied externally, through the impact of unmerited graces or the weight of unwanted suffering. As Richard Rohr says, our natural, human resistance to change means that most transformation comes through external events.

Hope is not just the anticipation of a bloom in spring; it, itself, takes a long time to germinate.

So I can boast of this long period of waiting and hurting, not in the sense of "Hey, look at me, I'm suffering" but in the knowledge (and hope) that God is planting in this seemingly barren soil, which is really quite fertile.

Gotta tend the earth if you want a rose

2010-02-18T12:29:00.000-05:00

Penance as guilt is just what our monkey minds want. The part of our brain stem that focuses on survival and preservation of the status quo often gets its way by imposing anxiety and fear, and guilt just piles on to its agenda. But repentance — the ultimate aim of “doing penance” — is about taking action. The word literally means to “turn around,” to “head in a new (right) direction.” Guilt, though, feeds on our insecurities and need to blame and, left unchecked, leads us to despair. It is the root of thinking that we’re not good enough, that we can’t do anything to solve a larger problem that causes the guilt, and so leads to inaction — the exact opposite of repentance.

(This is a teaser for our Kairos Community gathering Sunday at 4 pm. We're talking about moving beyond guilt and inaction to recognizing injustice and doing something. Learn more at http://www.liveservegrow.info/?p=1435 You can join us online or in person. We'd love to see you.)

Putting down the net

2010-02-08T09:45:00.001-05:00

Luke 5:1-11

I know that just dropping our nets to follow Jesus seems awfully hard. We have families, jobs, responsibilities. But our fear of the all-or-nothing may be unfounded. In fact, it may be a mechanism to reduce our own responsibility..."I can't do it all, so why do anything."

I note two things about Jesus' approach to Peter and company. First, their calling here is evolutionary, not revolutionary. They are to use their aptitude and experience fishing to "catch" people. And while they "drop their nets" their needs are met and they are not too far from family -- at one point in their travels Jesus heals Peter's mother-in-law, so they are nearby or their families travel with them.

Second, they are not called to give up but to expand their lives into something much bigger. Yes, Peter stops "fishing," but he is called into a once-in-a-lifetime experience, a witness to history, and given the gift of seeing what God is up to first-hand. The Peter who sat in the boat couldn't have imagined public speaking; and by Acts he's preaching to and converting thousands.

This, I think, is what Jesus offers us: He wants to use our talents and gifts (God-given as they are) for a bigger purpose, and he wants to release the potential in us. That is scary because we are accustomed to the safety of the ways we have already defined to use our gifts and potential. But we can trust that God can accomplish more in us, if we stop holding on to what is safe and known and just follow.

Imitating Christ's humility

2010-02-06T17:38:00.003-05:00

Tommorrow night at Kairos Community our focus will be “Imitating Christ’s humility,” drawing on Paul’s beautiful description of Jesus’ emptying himself for us, taking the form of a slave, in Philippians 2. We’ll look at how our response to Jesus’ kenosis (emptying) plays out on the global stage (as in aid to Haiti and Africa) and how we might express similar solidarity with the poor and marginalized. I've posted the outline on our website. Let me know what you think.

Are you a hunter or a farmer?

2010-02-06T12:36:00.000-05:00

Marketing guru Seth Godin has a great post about the difference between hunters and farmers. Each has a specific way of looking at the world.

"Farmers spend time sweating the details, worrying about the weather, making smart choices about seeds and breeding and working hard to avoid a bad crop. Hunters, on the other hand, have long periods of distracted noticing interrupted by brief moments of frenzied panic," Seth says.

Seth's post works out some implications for marketers and educators. I think his analysis speaks to us in the faith community, as well.

In its institutional form, the church would lean toward the farming side. And not just metaphorically, even though Jesus used a lot of agricultural images talking to people who grew olives and figs, tended sheep, and netted fish.

The institution's role is to plant the seed of the Gospel and be concerned with ensuring a continued crop of new believers. It has to worry about the cultural weather and make smart choices about the strategies and tactics it will use to do so. That is a holy and valuable work for the kingdom, and I support it.

As Seth notes, it's not crazy to think that not everyone approaches their faith as a farmer. Institutions tend to forge hammers and then start looking at everyone and everything as a nail. Seth uses an example from education -- "medicating kids who might be better at hunting so that they can sit quietly in a school designed to teach farming doesn't make a lot of sense" -- but governments, non-profits and churches do the same.

There are many people who approach faith and their relationship with the Holy as hunters (a better term than seekers, I think, because most people I know in this category are driven in this regard). We scan our environment looking for the places and people and events in which the Spirit is active, not just for truths and ideas about God. When we find those spaces we can drop everything to "pounce" -- to explore what the Spirit is up to and join in. We may not be as good at tilling the fields of religious life, listening to sermons waiting for God to speak (which Brian McLaren points out is a spiritual discipline), serving on committees, perpetuating institutions.

The question is: Does the church look at "hunters" as a problem or an opportunity?

It occurs to me that this is what we are trying to do at Kairos Community. We're trying hard to be open to those who are watching and waiting and noticing and want to embrace the movements of the Spirit even if they don't buy the whole package. We serve side by side, people who "believe" and those who balk, and share our journeys and honor those that are not explicitly Christian as well as those that are. We're hunters and farmers. And we want to sharpen the hunter skills, to foster our awareness of how God is working in and around us every day, and learn to appreciate those moments of distracted noticing and movements of the Spirit amid daily life.

Many institutions are farmers. Think on these examples from Seth's post:

Farmers don't dislike technology. They dislike failure. Technology that works is a boon.
Farmers prefer productive meetings, hunters want to simply try stuff and see what happens.
Hunters want a high-stakes mission, farmers want to avoid epic failure.
A farmer often relies on other farmers in her peer group to be sure a purchase is riskless.
The last hundred years of our economy favored smart farmers. It seems as though the next hundred are going to belong to the persistent hunters able to stick with it for the long haul.

Which approach sounds like you? Is your faith journey a season in the fields or a quest? Does it combine both attributes? Does your faith community appreciate the strengths that you bring?

Amazing unbelief

2010-02-04T09:45:00.001-05:00

Mark 6:1-6

‘Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! ³Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary^* and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?’ And they took offense^* at him.

How powerful is our need to be right, to be superior!

Jesus has returned to his hometown preceded by rumors of his miraculous healings, authoritative teaching, his message of hope for the hopeless and sight for the blind. Hearing for themselves, his friends and neighbors dismiss him -- "Oh, it's just that Jesus, the one we know."

Hearing this story today I'm drawn to the power of my expectations to blind me to what is right in front of me. The Nazarenes saw only the regular guy from an ordinary family instead of the teacher who excited crowds and struck fear in the hearts of kings and priests. I, too, am often left looking for God in the extraordinary rather than sensing the Spirit at work in ordinary people in everyday life.

The miracle of Christ's incarnation points us to where God is at work -- with us, in history, among people, at the margins of society as well as the center. This is a dangerous place to look, because it takes away all of our excuses. "I don't know enough." "I'm not holy enough." "I can't (pray, teach, serve, love, etc...) very well." None of them cut it if God truly works here and now with people like us.

It's no wonder I sometimes expect God to be extraordinary -- it takes all the pressure and responsibility off of ordinary me! It's amazing to me that I have the power and lack of discernment to look right through all the love, mercy and power of God cloaked in flesh. Perhaps as amazing as his townspeople's unbelief was to Jesus himself.

God, though, is more patient with me than I am with myself. I don't need to have perfect vision or never look for God's mystery. Just that when I am standing looking up at the sky for God's revelation, I need to remind myself that God might as easily be walking down the street, or across the office, or even kneeling at my feet.

Blinded by the light

2010-01-25T11:37:00.003-05:00

Acts: 22:3-16

‘While I was on my way and approaching Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone about me. ⁷I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” ⁸I answered, “Who are you, Lord?” Then he said to me, “I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting.”

Last night at Kairos we were talking about how hard it is to pay attention to what the Spirit is doing in and around us. Some of us said that we know we're supposed to trust in what God will provide -- but we don't do it. Others noted that it's hard to be in the moment, to see that what and who is in front of us is what God is calling us to attend to. For some of us its hard to let go of what we think and what we want in order to let the Spirit be channeled through us.

It's comforting to realize that it took special effort for Christ to get the attention of a spiritual giant like Saul -- someone who was well versed in his faith before his encounter with Jesus, well educated at the feet of Gamaliel, and acting on what he believed to be right. Jesus had to blind him and literally stop him in his tracks.

For Saul/Paul, the conversion was swift an immediate. He was heading whole-heartedly in a direction, and after his experience of Jesus he moved just as energetically in a different direction.

For me, and for many people I've talked to, conversion is a process that happens over time, that moves forward then lurches backwards. Yet its no less real for its inconsistency. Jesus keeps coming to me, shining light on reality and grabbing my attention, urging me on when I am heading in the right direction and pointing out when a course correction is needed.

Richard Rohr offers some helpful thoughts on how individual and how challenging this process is:

Every person has to come to the God experience on their own. Conversion is a foundational change in life position, perspective, and finally, one’s very identity. After the transformation God is not out there any more. You don’t look at God as a separate identity; you look out from God who lives in you and through you and with you. That is a major shift, probably the most major shift possible for humans.

Like Paul, a converted person becomes convinced that they are participating in something bigger than themselves. After conversion you know you are being used, you know you are being led, and above all you realize your life is not all about you! You are about life! It is happening inside of you and all God needs is your “yes” and your participation. It is likely the hardest yes you will ever utter, because your years of habit will all shout “not possible,” “not me,” and “not worthy.”

Or, as we realized from our exploration of Matthew 5 and 6 last night, Jesus isn't calling us to do things differently. He is calling us to be different.

Dunbar's limit

2010-01-25T11:05:00.001-05:00

Dunbar's number says our brain maxes out at 150 relationships. This is also a size barrier for many faith communities. (And Mashable notes that it applies to Facebook as well!) Yet I wonder if we don't misapply this principle to communities. If our kingdom networks are more than "church," our 150 includes not just the size of the faith community but our families, our co-workers, our neighbors, people we serve and serve with in the larger world. Could it be that as communities approach the Dunbar number in some aspect -- the raw number nears 150 or the number of relationships that a ministry leader has to manage nears it -- attention and energy gets more focused internally, on the relationships we have to maintain in the church? Might a smaller community be a better target, so there is margin for the people and leaders to extend their networks out into the rest of the world and maintain real connections?

The great invitation (A Christmas Eve reflection)

2009-12-25T09:02:00.001-05:00

Christmas is a time of giving and receiving, and we are used to looking at the miraculous story of Christ’s birth as God’s greatest gift to us. Which it is – God has given us everything we need in Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away our sins.

I want to encourage you this night to think of the Christ-event, the birth of the babe who would be Messiah, as an invitation.

Jesus spent his early ministry inviting fishermen and tax collectors and other marginal types to “follow me!” Then he spent long months on the road with them, inviting them to glimpse and then embody a new kind of life – a life that was ultimately rooted not in their culture and economy, not in their ideas of themselves and the world, but in the Kingdom of God that is here, right now…if you have eyes to see it.

Christ didn’t just issue this invitation to historical figures once-upon-a-time. Christmas reminds us that we are each invited to follow Jesus into a changed life, and that God has blessed us with all we need to receive that gift.

It’s an invitation to be our true selves, our child-of-God selves. An invitation to step out of the rat-race of measuring ourselves by the world’s yardsticks, and looking at ourselves as God sees us – as beloved children. The world tells us that what matters is our job, the school we go to, our net worth, our GPA, our usefulness to our work and our family. God calls us to see ourselves and our neighbors – even our enemies – as equally worthy children of God. As flawed, stubborn sinners, true – but also as beloved, redeemed saints.

Jesus’ invitation is also to come as we are. Like the kings who traveled from the east, taking months to follow a star. And the shepherds, who left their flocks alone and hurried to Bethlehem. It’s tempting for us to think, “Well, that’s OK for them, but I can’t drop my nets and leave the boats. I have responsibilities.” But God doesn’t ask us to be Balthazar, or Peter, or Paul. God asks us to be us, and to use our strengths and weaknesses and the situations we are in to be ambassadors of God’s good news for all people. We don’t have to wait until we have enough time or money, until we’re out of school or retire. God can use who we are and what we have, right now!

Most importantly, Christmas reminds us that the invitation is to join God in healing, reconciling and blessing all people. Christ became human – the Word became flesh – so that God’s people could see what it looks like to live the Kingdom of God here and now. Jesus went about healing those who were sick in body, mind or spirit. He fed the hungry and made the unclean clean. He forgave sins rather than holding them against people. He also challenged hypocrisy and spoke truth to power. Through the Spirit he is still doing this today – and he invites us to be part of this work that is changing the world.

This Christmas, love has come to you just as it has came to that stable in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago.

This Christmas, give yourself the gift of drawing near to the God who is near to you and learn who you truly are, and who you belong to.

This Christmas, give yourself the gift of knowing that God has already given you everything you need to join God’s mission.

This Christmas, give the world the gift of sharing your love like Jesus did, pouring out blessing as the Bethlehem star once poured out light on all the known world.

Amen.

Christmas blessings, from our house to yours

2009-12-24T15:23:00.000-05:00

What are you waiting for?

2009-12-15T15:07:00.000-05:00

As we close the season of Advent, a time of waiting, the first few readings for this week ask, "What are you waiting for?"

Monday we saw the religious leaders demanding Jesus' credentials. When they are asked what they think about John's works, they reveal their true intention: They are looking for one with human authority and power. They do not pray to seek God's guidance, nor do they discern what might be happening. Instead they play politics; it's more important for them not to be seen as wrong, and not to risk the anger of the crowd, than to say what they think.

Today's story continues the encounter. In the parable one son shames the father by refusing him, the other shames him by not actually honoring his wishes. In the culture the father would have been angry at both, but more angry at the one who didn't outright defy him publicly (but didn't do the work)? Or at the one who made him look bad but then changed his priorities and served? Jesus allows that those who don't look so good but believe John (and Jesus) have an advantage over those who say the right things but then act differently. Yet they are waiting one who will confirm the status quo.

Wednesday's reading picks up on how Jesus defies expectations, even John's! Apparently John must have been looking for something more than Jesus' preaching and miracles. Jesus points out that his authority comes from fulfilling God's promises (made through the prophets) -- to heal, to bring good news to the poor.

There is a lot about Jesus' life and ministry that gave others offence -- even (especially) good, religious folks.

Does Jesus' style and message offend you?

If our lives of faith and service do not offend anyone, can we be doing all that we are asked?

Which Jesus are you waiting for? The babe sleeping in the manger? The healer and teacher? The revolutionary, overturning religious power like the moneychanger's tables? The reconciler who invites you into a renewed relationship with God?

Am I in the game?

2009-12-11T10:42:00.000-05:00

Mt. 11:16-19

Let's face it -- we like to pick and choose our obedience.

Sometimes we hear the call to live simply, or Jesus call to drop our nets and follow, or John's call to "Repent!", and we say -- that's too hard!

Other times we Jesus' counsel to receive God's love and care, like the birds and flowers, and we say -- that's too hard!

What is easy to miss here is that, by focusing on what we "can't" do, we are like the children in Christ's parable. By whining at each other that no one wants to play "our" game, we end up not playing at all!

These people of Jesus' time clung to the status quo because John's call was too much, his behavior out of the box. At the same time they used Jesus' breaking of the norms -- eating with the unacceptable, for example -- to brand him as out of the box. They neutralized both Jesus' and John's challenge in order to stay safely where they were already comfortable.

I can play this game, too. But heeding God's wisdom might by figuring out what God's call means in my life, and then going out to "play," just as I am, with what I have, rather than figuring out why I can't be one of the spiritual greats.

Are there ways that you dismiss the challenge in Jesus' words and miss the dance that he invites you into?

Photo: Virginia Woodard/Christian Children's Fund

What's on your shoulders?

2009-12-09T09:00:00.003-05:00

Matthew 11:28-30

This is one of my favorite promises from Jesus, especially the way Eugene Peterson renders it in The Message. "Get away with me and you'll recover your life. ... Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." This sounds like a relationship that I want to be in!

The traditional reading says that those of us who are "carrying heavy burdens" -- our challenges, our worries, our wants, our striving -- can exchange that for Jesus' "yoke." If we know that at all we know it as linking two farm animals to get more work out of them. I've generally thought of this as something Jesus puts on me.

Peterson's version suggests another reading: That Jesus asks me to join him in the same yoke. Christ invites us to join him in his "easy" task of preaching good news and bringing healing. Scholars say that "easy" here does not mean "less strenuous" but rather "well suited to the task" and "producing beneficial results." Jesus says his yoke is easy not because it allows us to goof off but engages us in holy work here and now.

In other words, he suggests his yoke is the one that best fits our human condition, with our failings, our desire to do good and make a difference, and all the "humanity" that we experience.

What yoke is on your shoulders? Christ's yoke? Or ones of individualism, taking it easy, consumerism? Another?

How does it fit?

What would a yoke that fit you well be like?

Do you believe?

2009-12-04T09:34:00.000-05:00

Matthew 9:27-31

Jesus gets to the heart of the matter with his question, ‘Do you believe that I am able to do this?’ The blind man is asked the central question of faith, the same one we are asked.

Do I believe that God is able to provide for me and my family, to create wholeness in my life? Or do I sometimes think the God might provide a baseline, but if I want more money, more food, a better job, I need to work that out on my own?

This text challenges me to think about where my trust really is, and about how to align my “wants” with what God provides.

Right in front of your eyes

2009-12-02T10:03:00.000-05:00

Matthew 15:29-37

Have you ever missed seeing what God was doing right in front of you?

Jesus has just healed people of serious afflictions -- he has made the blind see, the lame walk, the mute speak. The crowd is mesmerized, and they eagerly praise God for what they see God doing in their midst.

Could One who performed such miraculous healings have difficulty finding food for the crowd? Certainly as Jesus healed the paraplegic, the maimed, and the blind because they had enough faith to come to him, so could he turn his compassion for them into bread.

But the disciples don't see it. Totally practical (and seemingly blind to what Jesus can do), they look around at the size of the crowd and ask, Where are we going to get enough bread for all these people? So Jesus gives them a lesson in kingdom economics: With God there is always enough. What we bring is enough.

Are there areas of your life, like having enough food, or enough money, or something else, where you are blinded to God's desire to give you "enough"?

What weighs you down?

2009-11-28T11:18:00.000-05:00

Luke 21:34-36

Jesus knows that this world is a difficult and dangerous place. He knows that we can be attacked and afflicted by people and powers that seek to destroy us. He also knows that our hearts can be weighed down by the busyness of life and by our own pursuit of the good life.

Whatever situation we find ourselves in, in trouble or at ease, we are called to pay attention to Christ. The center of our life and energy is not to be our sufferings or our success, our lack or our riches, but Christ. If we are alert to him, in a relationship nurtured by constant conversation (prayer), we will be able to look past bad times and blessings and engage what really matters, which is joining Jesus in sharing God's love and healing and provision with the whole world.

What weighs your heart down today? Can you picture releasing this weight into God's loving hands, and imagine life without this weight?

Be the sign

2009-11-27T09:06:00.002-05:00

Luke 21:29-33

So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.

Just as we read the seasons, we can see signs that God's kingdom is bigger and better than "ours." And even better, when we follow Jesus' example, we are signs to our neighbors that God's kingdom is here, now. If we are freed from fear, greed and a quest for power, we can be signs that there is a better way.

Which direction do I point?

2009-11-26T08:23:00.000-05:00

Luke 21:20-28

Jesus told us (v8) not to be enamored of the "prophets" who predict the end. But we do see signs. We all know of Jerusalem surrounded by armies and divided. We see the earth groaning from exploitation, with species disappearing at an alarming rate and dangerous CO2 levels. We see endless conflict and an economic meltdown that threatens to get worse.

How do we react to these "signs?" Are we paralyzed by fear? Or driven by fear to hunker down and protect ourselves and our families? Do we raise up more and more weapons and soldiers, and look for hedge investments to protect us when others are wiped out?

Jesus suggests another way: "stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." One way to look at this is to hear Jesus say: "Don't be distracted by fear and self-protection. Be a sign of the new life in God's kingdom that I have been telling you about."

God's kingdom, Jesus has said, is a place where perfect love casts out fear, and where God provides sustanance for everyone (as the birds and the flowers). It is a place where the lion lays down with the lamb, swords are beaten into plowshares, the rich provide for the poor.

In the midst of the anxiety and uncertainty of our times (which, truthfully, is the anxiety of *every* time), what does it look like for us to be signs of God's kingdom?

Relational theology

2009-11-25T11:05:00.002-05:00

All theology is systemic. Theology is about how God relates with all of creation. It's not just about "me," focused on the situations I experience and might experience. It's about all the experiences, good and bad, that affect others but not me -- about the wealth and relationships I might not have, about the loss I might not experience. Theology is about how God views and works in systems -- economies, politics, religions, empires -- and not just in relation to "us."

But can theology be systematic? Theology is not an engineering problem, one in which all the inputs and outputs can be known and measured, and the processes clearly explained, allowing for predictive laws to address any set of circumstances. Or it might be. All that we know is that the experimental data is not all in yet.

Theology encompasses revelation and mystery. It is informed by what God has revealed of God's self and by the historic record, and is open to the ways God's Spirit chooses to move in the midst of our ever changing reality. If we are engaged in a relationship with God, what we learn about God and ourselves as well as the world and community we live in will be reflected in a relational theology.

What is yours to give?

2009-11-25T11:02:00.000-05:00

Luke 21:1-4

Quaker educator Parker Palmer writes that we can only give away what is truly ours. He writes this in the context of our "calling," that we can only serve in ways that we are gifted to serve, and that trying to give what we "should" and serve as we "ought" can damage ourselves and the recipients.

But perhaps his idea applies to possessions, as well. Stuff has a way of owning us instead of the other way around. I find that I can let my fear of not having what I am used to be more powerful that the joy I experience in "having" or in giving away. Maybe this widow could give all she had not because she didn't need it -- she certainly did -- but because she knew her coins did not define her, and that she controlled them and not vice versa.

Persistent faith

2009-11-22T09:04:00.003-05:00

Luke 18:1-8

"Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart."

Last week's Kairos explored this parable, in which Jesus calls the disciples to persistent prayer. In this story, Jesus tells of a widow denied justice by a judge. She keeps going back to him, petitioning for justice. Eventually this judge gives her what she asks for. Not because he respects God or wants to do justice, but essentially to get this woman off his back. Jesus caps the story by saying the God, who loves us more than the judge cares for the widow, will be even quicker to respond to our cries for justice.

As we discussed this, several of us admitted to being uncomfortable with badgering God for what we want. One of the group expressed it well: "If I'm resting in my faith that God is supporting me all the time, then continually asking for what I want seems to mock that trust." Someone else pointed out that the widow is seeking "justice," not her own advantage; perhaps that is an acceptable thing to ask for.

Another question came up: Does Jesus have a deeper meaning in telling us to "pray always and not lose heart"? What could he be pointing to? The parable's example of asking for justice, and our discussion about asking for our needs/wants, are focused on outward circumstances, looking for God's intervention in our external world. What would it look like if we focused Jesus' example on our internal reality?

We turned to an excerpt from Speaking of Faith's interview with "the happiest man in the world," Buddhist teacher Mattieu Ricard. We watched a portion of Krista Tippett's video interview with Ricard, a scientist who is involved in the Dalai Lama's investigation of the links between science and faith. We focused on this exchange:

Ms. Tippett: So I imagine that people ask you how do I become happy? What do you say? How do you respond to that?

Mr. Ricard: Well, clearly by first saying yes, outward circumstances are important, I should do whatever I can. But I should certainly see that at the root of all that, there are inner circumstances, inner conditions. What are they? Well, just look at you. So if I say, OK, come, we'll spend a weekend cultivating jealousy, now who is going to go for that?

We all know that even though that's part of human nature, but we are not interested in cultivating more jealousy, neither for hatred, neither for arrogance. So those will be much better off if they were not ... didn't have such a grip on our mind. So there are ways to counteract those, to dissolve those.

I mean, you cannot, in the same moment of thought, wish to do something good to someone or harm that person. So those are mutually incompatible like hot and cold water. So the more you will bring benevolence in your mind, at every of those moments there's no space for hatred. It's just very simple, but we don't do that. We do exercise every morning 20 minutes to be fit. We don't sit for 20 minutes to cultivate compassion. If we want to do so, our mind will change, our brain will change. What we are will change. So those are skills. They need to be, first, identified, then cultivated. What is good to learn chess, well, you have to practice and all that. In the same way, we all have thoughts of altruistic love. Who didn't have that? But the common goal, we don't cultivate that.

Ms. Tippett: Right.

Mr. Ricard: Do you learn to piano by playing 20 seconds every two weeks? It doesn't work. So why, by what kind of mystery some of the most important quality of human beings will be optimal just because you wish so, doesn't make any sense.

I have a friend who is 63 years old. He used to be a runner when he was young. He gave up running. Now, a few years ago, he started again. He said, "When I started again, I could not run more than five minutes without panting for breath." Now, last week, he ran the Montreal Marathon at 63. He had the potential, but it was useless until he actualize it. So same potential we have for mind training. But if we don't do anything, it's not going to happen because we wish so.

Ricard is pointing to two realities that I think are encompassed in Jesus' teaching.

First, there is more to life than the externals. More that what we experience, and how we appear to others. We can respond to what happens to us, what we experience, in ways that are healthy or unhealthy. If someone attacks us we can fight back, or we can turn the other cheek, as Jesus suggests in the sermon on the mount. The former makes us just like our attacker. Turning the other cheek was a radical response, because in Jesus' time this would have challenged the attacker to respond with an open-handed slap. Because it was common to slap a perceived inferior with the back of the hand (an insult), this was a statement of equality with the attacker, rather than pure submission. The first response diminishes the self, the latter elevates the self.

When Jesus speaks of pray often he does not just mean to ask for what we want, or even justice (although that is part of prayer). As he taught the disciples, prayer is also submission of our will to God's, acknowledgment of what we *have* received, and developing an ongoing relationship with our Father.

Second, Jesus spoke often of the need to cultivate good habits of life and spirit, so that we could reap what we sow. The way we live can cultivate anxiety or peace, generosity or selfishness, aggression or cooperation. Jesus calls us to persistence because we will not become peaceful, joyful, generous or self-sacrificing "because we wish so," in Ricard's phrase. Like playing the piano or running a marathon, we develop those spiritual muscles because we exercise them.

When was the last time you got off the treadmill of life and simply spent time in God's presence?

What would happen if, in your prayer, you did not ask God for what you want, but asked God to show you how to be more present with him?

Not of this world

2009-11-22T08:53:00.001-05:00

John 18:33-37

This is the last Sunday of the liturgical year, the celebration of Christ the King, the culmination of the Gospel story of birth, life, ministry, death and resurrection.

The image of Christ as a king sounds odd to us today. We Americans revolted against our last king for imposing duties that we did not consent to. Today we choose our leaders and feel free to reject them as soon as their policies don’t suit our liking.

But Jesus is clear that he isn’t the kind of king we know. His kingship, and his kingdom, is “not of this world.” It does not call us to follow a triumphant leader into battle. It calls us to follow Christ in a path of service and solidarity with our neighbors, to heal, feed, liberate and reconcile, to share our resources and our lives as he did, for the sake of the world.

Blinded by the light

2009-11-19T08:20:00.000-05:00

Luke 19:41-44

Looking at what leads up to this I'm struck by the fact that Jesus is on the way to Jerusalem...i.e, he is on the way to pay the ultimate price -- to die. Chapter 19 is about multiple kinds of blindness: Those who can't see any good in Zaccheus (while this supposedly unclean tax collector "gets" Jesus and impulsively offers restitution). The servant who is so afraid of the master that he wastes his talents rather than investing them. The Pharisees demanding that Jesus stop the natural outpouring at the arrival of the Messiah. He goes on to drive out those who are selling what is "necessary" for restoring relationship with God, completely blind to the fact that in Christ God is reaching out directly to those excluded by the religious system.

I think Jesus is weeping here for God's chosen, who seem completely blind to what God is about. Their pre-conceptions seem far too strong to allow even the evidence of God's action among them to change them.

Do we ever allow our pre-conceptions, our notions of what God "should" be doing (according to us), get in the way of seeing the Spirit working among us?

And justice for all?

2009-11-17T07:38:00.001-05:00

Two news headlines from yesterday:

The Bank of America ad on the hunger article (and the Wells Fargo ad I had to click through to get there) add to the irony.

As always, it's nothing new...

⁷ You who turn justice into bitterness
and cast righteousness to the ground
⁸ (he who made the Pleiades and Orion,
who turns blackness into dawn
and darkens day into night,
who calls for the waters of the sea
and pours them out over the face of the land—
the LORD is his name-
⁹ he flashes destruction on the stronghold
and brings the fortified city to ruin),
¹⁰ you hate the one who reproves in court
and despise him who tells the truth.
¹¹ You trample on the poor
and force him to give you grain.
Therefore, though you have built stone mansions,
you will not live in them;
though you have planted lush vineyards,
you will not drink their wine.
¹² For I know how many are your offenses
and how great your sins.
You oppress the righteous and take bribes
and you deprive the poor of justice in the courts.
¹³ Therefore the prudent man keeps quiet in such times,
for the times are evil.
¹⁴ Seek good, not evil,
that you may live.
Then the LORD God Almighty will be with you,
just as you say he is. (Amos 5)

The more things change...

2009-11-16T17:44:00.001-05:00

"To put it bluntly: the call to evangelism is often little else than a call to restore "Christendom," the Corpus Christianum, as a solid, well-integrated cultural complex, directed and dominated by the church. And the sense of urgency is often nothing but a nervous feeling of insecurity, with the established church endangered; a flurried activity to save the remnants of a time now irrevocably past... In fact, the word "evangelize" often means a Biblical camouflage of what should be rightly called the reconquest of ecclesiastical influence. Hence this undue respect for statistics and this insatiable ecclesiastical hunger for ever more areas of life." -- J.C. Hoekendijk, The Church Inside Out, Chapter 1 (1966)

What do you want?

2009-11-16T09:47:00.002-05:00

Luke 18:35-43

Last night @Ka1r0s we talked about how many of us are reluctant to ask God for things, as it seems selfish. At the beginning of this chapter Jesus told us to be persistent in prayer. To me that means a consistent prayer, being connected with God in high times, low times, and the much more frequent boring times.

What I love about this story is that the blind beggar knows what he needs, and isn't afraid to say it. Curing his blindness is not just a nice thing for him. Restoring his sight restores him to the whole community. It takes him off the side of the road begging and allows him to be productive and perhaps self-supporting. It allows him to reconnect with his family. It moves him from unclean in the view of the religious community (afflictions such as blindness were thought of as signs of sin) to clean, he is included again in the circle rather than excluded. Jesus isn't just healing him, he is fulfilling his mission, bringing healing and shalom. And by seeking healing and shalom, the beggar is also participating in God's mission, because healed he can also spread shalom rather than being just a recipient of it.

If Jesus asked you what you wanted, what would you say? Would it be about stuff or your own desires, or about God's shalom?

Looking for a sign

2009-11-12T07:28:00.000-05:00

Luke 17:20-25

Rather than looking for miraculous signs or portents of doom, Jesus directs his followers to be on the watch for signs of his presences *in and around them.* While it is tempting to look for blessings or signs of the end of the world, Jesus reminds us that "the kingdom of God is among (or within) us." When we are homesick for his presence we don't need to search the headlines or ancient prophesies. We need to be aware of the ordinary, everyday signs that God is present in daily life.

What do you see God doing in and around you these days? Ask God for eyes to see these ordinary signs more clearly.

Duty and devotion

2009-11-11T09:29:00.000-05:00

Luke 17:11-19

In healing these lepers Jesus doesn't absolve them of their religious duty, he commands them to fulfill it: Go, show yourselves to the priests.

What is interesting is that nine of the ten -- the implication is that they are not Samaritans/outsiders -- take their religious duty as enough, rather than also coming back to worship their healer. Why would those who are "inside" that faith take the miracle for granted, while the "outsider" gets it?

How do religious duty and giving glory to God -- ritual and your spiritual life -- interplay? Do you ever get caught up in going through the motions and forget to kneel at Jesus' feet? Do you sometimes give glory to God but without a sense of discipline and regularity that comes from ritual?

It's my job...

2009-11-10T09:15:00.002-05:00

Years ago, Jimmy Buffett recorded a Mac McAnally song called "It's my job." The lyric tells the story of a down-and-out man sitting on a curb watching a smiling, whistling city worker sweeping up the refuse along the curb. When asked why he's happy, the street sweeper replies: "It's my job to be cleaning up this mess, and that's enough reason to go for me."

This came to mind reflecting on Luke 17:1-10 this morning.

The apostles request for "more faith, sir!" comes in response to Jesus telling them that their imperfections are bound to cause them to stumble and misuse his message, and that they are to warn each other if they are missing the mark and forgive each other when they do.

The essence here is that Jesus is telling the disciples that they do have the faith that they need. They need to live it out.

Yet they are disciples, not the Lord. They know that they are not in control, so they ask for faith from its source: Jesus.

Jesus' story about the duty of slaves expands on this. It suggests that as we grow into our faith by being obedient to God, we will act out our faith and grow into the people we were created to be, on mission with our Lord. But it doesn’t change who is the master and who is the disciple.

One commentator notes that the idea of “thanking” the slave (v9) doesn’t mean verbalizing a social nicety but indicates that the master is now in the slave’s debt. We may want or receive thanks for the ministry that we do, but we need to be careful not to believe our own PR and think that now we have arrived, now people (and God) owe us something. We’re just doing our job…what we were created to do.

I keep coming back to the disciples' original plea: Give us more faith! I beg for this sometimes, often when I don't have the guts or the discipline to do what the faith that I have (a mustard seed?) is urging me to do. Do I really want more faith, if faith is what makes me a dutiful "slave" to God?

In his exegetical notes on this passage, Lutheran pastor Brian Stoffregen writes:

I'm not sure that a lot of people really want more faith. They may want more of the faith that will help them out – a faith that might heal themselves or a loved one, a faith that will help them pass a test, a faith that gives them assurance of eternal life; but do they really want a faith that will make them more Christ-like in sacrificial giving, in sacrificial loving, in sacrificial forgiving? I'm not sure if people want that.
It has been suggested that many people want only an inoculation of Christianity – just enough of it to protect them from catching the real thing. There is a danger in asking God to give you more faith. You might get it – then what?

Then what, indeed. Jesus spends a lot of time telling the disciples that his way is not a picnic or a free ride, but a way of surrender and submission. As Martin Luther put it, Jesus' followers are perfectly free...to be the slave of others.

If this is the job description, do I want smile and hum "It's my job to be cleaning up this mess"? Or am I drawn instead to that country classic, "Take this job and..."? How 'bout you?

Can the church come out and play?

2009-11-09T16:50:00.004-05:00

A friend was just telling me of a church experience that embodied the first half of this exchange. He was visiting a church that was making a pitch for members to get involved...and everything mentioned was inside the box: committees, programs, worship. Not even a nod of the head to getting out in the community, trying to connect with or serve people outside the box. It reminds me of a former colleague's description of the Lutheran approach to evangelism, hoping that somehow fish will jump into our boat so we never have to deploy a net.

I am concerned by the number of people I meet who seem to either be daring the church to come meet them on their terms, or can't cross the street because of some old hurt, or (most frightening) don't even notice that there is a church as they walk down the street. These gulfs can't be overcome by appeals to community or belonging (there are no shortage of places to belong at some level) or by invitations to join in work that the invitees don't really see as relevant.

Only listening and sharing in the concerns of the community -- coming out of the box to play on the same playing field -- can start the process of connecting.

(ASBOJesus via Jonny Baker)

Monday gratitude

2009-11-09T12:49:00.000-05:00

I took this morning off to finish the raking that Suzanne was kind enough to start. The back yard is green again, liberated from its blanket of gold and brown and yellow. I'm tired, a little sore -- and grateful.

I'm grateful that I have a yard to rake.
I'm grateful for a beautiful November day when I can rake in a t-shirt rather than a parka.
I'm grateful that I can take a personal day.
I'm grateful for a tree that provides shade from the south sun spring and summer yet only takes a couple of hours to clean up after in the fall.
I'm grateful that all the leaves are off the tree so I don't have to do this again.
I'm grateful that even though my back spasmed a bit I could continue thanks to stretching and Ben-Gay.
I'm grateful for some physical work to help my mind let go.
I'm grateful that Quakertown still sends around the Leaf-Vac to suck up our piles for mulch.

It's amazing how much there is to be grateful in such a simple project!

What are you grateful for today?

The choice is yours

2009-10-06T08:40:00.004-04:00

Luke 10:38-42

It is interesting that Jesus does not try to convince Martha to give up her kitchen work to join Mary at his feet. He only affirms Mary’s choice as the better way, and leaves Martha to go back to the dishes if she chooses. God lets me make choices — altruistic, selfish, good, foolish or just plain bad — while reminding me of what is healthy and life-giving.

God lets us make our own choices and live with them. If we worry about the menu and the dishes instead of sitting and listening with him, we will not be condemned — but we will have the satisfaction and stress of putting on the party and will not have the benefit of the time with God.

This reading is paired with a section of Jonah 3 in the lectionary. The parallel I see is that both Jonah and Martha have very rigid expectations of God, that the God-thing is doing the “respectable, responsible thing.” Martha thinks Mary should help serve (remember, in this time, men were disciples and women served), and Jonah things the Ninevites should pay for their wrongs. Reasonable enough, on the surface. Jonah even tells God, “I knew you were sheer grace and mercy” as if this is a bad thing! Well, if you are looking for God to be a defender of the status quo, then the radical grace and revised priorities in these texts (choosing Jesus over a pre-defined expectation, choosing to seek restoration rather than punish) is bad news! In both cases God responds with room for people to choose the better way.

Mary and the king of Nineveh know one important thing…there are times, whether because you recognize God’s presence with you or you are reminded of how far you have strayed, when you need to stop, sit down, fast from food or work or whatever is getting in your way, and be with God.

Authority, responsibility and freedom

2009-09-30T08:52:00.000-04:00

Luke 9:1-6

Jesus' approach to sending his followers out on mission is pure genius. His sending begins with the authority to cast out demons and cure diseases. It does not start with proclaiming the kingdom (that comes later). This is so critical because, first, it focuses on the issues that keep people from hearing or even perceiving the kingdom. "Demons" of all kinds, like possession by possessions, wealth and privilege, and like lack of hope, cynicism (my favorite) and damaged trust, as well as physical and social ills often keep us too self-absorbed to listen to the possibilities Jesus offers.

Leadership gurus have preached for years that people need to have authority to accomplish the responsibilities they are given in order to be productive and healthy. Without authority, the tasks one is responsible to accomplish become a burden, or worse. Rather than being creative problem solvers, people who work for leaders who don't give authority play it safe, don't take risks for the mission, seek permission for everything. Clearly Jesus is not launching this type of all-to-common organization!

Having given authority Jesus turns to the mission -- proclaim the kingdom and heal. There's no separation here. The disciples' responsibility for helping people become whole and well -- spiritually and mentally as well as physically -- is not just preparation for God's mission, it is God's mission.

Next Jesus equips the twelve with instructions that impart his wisdom about the task they will face. This is not a micro-manager's procedure manual. Rather, it is an approach that will leave the disciples open to the changing needs of the mission, unencumbered by stuff and its attendant worries. The Message offers a wonderful amplification: "Don't load yourselves up with equipment. Keep it simple; you are the equipment."

Finally, Jesus adds to the disciples freedom to be flexible and responsive to their context the freedom to discern when their message is not being heard, and to move on to more fertile fields. Note that Jesus doesn't condemn those who don't pay attention to the message, he just tells the disciples to make it clear they are moving on (which is really more release for the disciples than judgment on the unresponsive).

Luke tells us that the disciples had success "everywhere" following Jesus' wisdom.

Today, at least in my neck of the church, there is some anxiety about decline, a tendency to throw more authority and responsibility on leaders instead of disciples, and the complexity of structures (institutional and physical) that limit flexibility in working with God's mission. Asking good questions about the status quo can help us to re-balance authority, responsibility and freedom in ministry.

I am often frustrated by the barriers these objections present to connecting with people about my faith, and theirs. I wonder what it would look like to act as if we actually have this ultimate authority over these stumbling blocks? What would be effective ways to work with people who are not yet in a place to perceive the message?

Do the disciples we want to be responsible to share the Good News have the authority to do so? Have we equipped them to engage people where they are as well as tell their story of the kingdom? Do leaders create a climate where people can take risks, say the wrong thing, even fail? Or are disciples paralyzed by fear of "not getting it right"?

Are we keeping things simple, so that buildings and staff and programs serve a mission? Or are these things being served by more and more time, money and energy that is drained from God's mission? Do we have the freedom to release tools that no longer work and try something new?

For us, or against us?

2009-09-28T09:10:00.001-04:00

Mark 9:33-48

Luke 9:46-50

Sunday's and Monday's readings repeat the story of the unknown follower casting out demons in Jesus' name, and the disciples attempt to stop him.

Both renderings are very much the same. The disciples come across someone they don't know using the Master's name to heal. What would you do in this situation? For the disciples the answer is clear: This fellow isn't following Jesus with them (and to be fair, they seem to be pretty much alone in this journey, against a lot of powerful opposition), so they try to stop him. They might be thinking this man could be a spy attempting to draw them out and make them know to authorities who could stop them, or they may be afraid that he is using Jesus' name incorrectly, or maybe their identities as the closest followers of Christ are threatened. But the bottom line is that they make "being one of us" more important than "doing the work of Jesus."

Which makes is an historical and contemporary story. Sections of Christ's body have walled themselves off from others for reasons of orthodoxy, or power, or piety, or national/ethnic identity. Denominations require decades of conversation to recognize valid ministry in each other, and churches still threaten to split over different interpretations of scripture and theology (witness the discord in the Episcopal Church and the ELCA over homosexuality). "Are you one of us?" is still an important question for some Christians.

Jesus' answer challenges that impulse. As Mark tells it, Jesus says: "Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterwards to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us." (Mark 9:39-40)

This sounds very odd to a culture that uses "If you ain't for us, you're against us" as its rallying cry. But its a necessary corrective.

The reality of God, Jesus says, is much larger than "our group" (even if it is a group, like the disciples, that is physically, personally following Jesus). The mission of healing, blessing, restoring wholeness to creation transcends questions of whether a person is "one of us." If Jesus can look upon a stranger casting out demons as "for us," shouldn't Christians today take a similar view? This is a vital question today, as people of all faiths and no faith join in work to heal and unite and serve God's people (sometimes even across boundaries of religion). Yet too often the church is seen as pulling apart with folks like us rather than embracing all who are participating in God's mission.

But some will ask, isn't this a watering down of the requirements of faith? I think the key is in the part of the passage that Luke omits: for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterwards to speak evil of me. Jesus is open to the power of action to shape belief. Many in the church today are noticing that the old formula of believing before belonging and then serving is being turned on its head. For many, especially younger generations, action and service are the routes into faith, not just the fruit of it. Churches are starting to grasp "servant evangelism" as a way of igniting the imagination and sparks of faith through service projects and mission trips that include people who are not already "one of us." In modern terms, it is moving from our old assumption that if we get people's belief right they'll do the right thing, to accepting that people can, with God's help, act their way into a new way of thinking and believing.

Jesus is realistic about this. He notes that this suspension of skepticism only exists "soon afterwards" this engagement in God's mission. Occasional random acts of kindness and service do not make a life of faith -- for a Christian or a non-Christian. These openings, though, leave room for the Holy Spirit to work in a person's life, and that sounds very Lutheran to me. Brother Martin noted that I cannot choose to have faith, nor can you compel me to have faith. Only the Spirit can cause me to have faith. Yet that work of the Spirit is rarely an isolated, mystical, me-and-God experience. For most people, the Spirit's work is facilitated by faith mentors and communities that model both the tenets of belief and the actions that it produces.

Its good that the church is re-engaging this sense of participating in God's mission with renewed vigor. This space is now occupied by many governmental and secular organizations that picked up where the church left off as some Christians abandoned the social gospel and retreated into their minds and hearts, and others out-sourced justice to professional agencies and moved it farther from the center of the individual Christian life. In this environment will our witness be to say "you're not one of us" and try to compete to take back the work of the kingdom? Or will our witness be to recognize the inbreaking of the kingdom in many unlikely places and build bridges across which Jesus can continue to form faith and meaning through the performing of deeds of power?

Fool's errands

2009-08-28T13:22:00.000-04:00

‘Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids^* took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.^* ²Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. ³When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; ⁴but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. ⁵As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. ⁶But at midnight there was a shout, “Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.” ⁷Then all those bridesmaids^* got up and trimmed their lamps. ⁸The foolish said to the wise, “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.” ⁹But the wise replied, “No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.” ¹⁰And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. ¹¹Later the other bridesmaids^* came also, saying, “Lord, lord, open to us.” ¹²But he replied, “Truly I tell you, I do not know you.” ¹³Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.^* (Matthew 25, NRSV)

It's always interesting to parse out Jesus' stories, especially those that reference cultural customs that no longer make sense to us. People of Jesus' time would get the necessity to carry oil with one's lamp on an errand of indeterminate length. For us its harder to hear much beyond the implied threat in Jesus' response.

I was once part of a pretty conservative church that use the "Keep awake...you know neither the day nor the hour" to scare us into "good" behavior. The concern about being "ready" for the Lord's return (read: second coming to judge the heathen) is known in a lot of traditions, from old concerns about dying outside of a state of grace to current worries about being "left behind."

So its natural to read this as being about preparedness, much like we have concern, this fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, that we are "ready" for the next monster storm.

If the lamp represents our reflection of Christ's love in our lives, the reading says we need to keep that lamp lit until that day Jesus comes for us. The oil that keeps that lamp lit is prayer, the story of God's salvation, time spent connected to Jesus. So the message (as I originally wrote at our community bible discussion) is: Devote yourself to these things so that you are ready when the kingdom presents itself.

This begs some deeper questions. When am I foolish, or ill-prepared, or indifferent? (Almost all the time.) When am I not ready for the kingdom, unfaithful, or selfish? (Only when I am breathing.) What do I want to do to be more ready, wise, and expectant? (As little as possible, please.)

I wonder if wisdom and foolishness is quite as clear cut. Are the bridesmaids who head out sans oil foolish or expectant, more sure of the coming of the bridegroom than those who packed oil just in case? Jesus on more than one occasion told his disciples to travel light, with only what they need for the moment. Is the desire for security embodied in carrying extra oil faithful, or an example of trust in self?

Note that all of the bridesmaids become drowsy and doze off. When the bridegroom finally comes, all are awakened with a shout. All trim their lamps -- the "foolish" ones are running out of oil. And the "wise" ones send them off to the dealers to stock up -- not to the bridegroom they all await! They need oil while they wait in a dark world. But do they need a lamp when they are in the presence of the light of the world?

Back to the metaphors of light and oil -- isn't it possible to read light as the result of the goodness embodied in the oil? In that case, do the bridesmaids running off to buy more oil represent us in our moments of thinking that we are not good enough, smart enough, holy enough, faithful enough to be in God's presence? Isn't this idea of running off to "get right" before meeting Jesus counter to our theology of grace, that Jesus comes to us where we are, as we are, in the midst of our foolishness and unpreparedness? Of course, this is not license to stay ill-prepared fools, but at the end of the day it is Christ's light and love, not our own, that illumines the world and our lives.

Hearing "Truly, I do not know you" can and should frighten us -- that is the last thing we want to ear the Lord say to us. But does Jesus "not know" the "foolish" ones because they didn't carry enough oil? Or because they did not trust him enough to provide oil and light for them?

Easter Sunday prayers

2009-04-11T22:01:00.001-04:00

Beautify prayer and video from Christine Sine. Enjoy!

Jesus Christ you have risen and we see you,

In the faces of the poor,

In the hurting of the sick,

In the anguish of the oppressed

Jesus Christ you are risen and we see you,

In the weakness of the vulnerable,

In the questions of the doubting,

In the fears of the dying.

Jesus Christ you are risen and we see you,

In the celebration of the saints,

In the generosity of the faithful,

In the compassion of the caring.

Jesus Christ you are risen and we see you,

You transform our world with love and hope,

You ignite our hearts of stone with compassion and care,

You transfigure our world with the spirit of life.

Hallelujah, Jesus Christ you are risen and we see you.

Propelled into God's future

2009-04-11T21:22:00.000-04:00

Life-changing and world-changing events are hard to fathom, at first. Mary, reeling with grief for her executed Lord, goes to the tomb expecting to prepare his body. The open tomb has her thinking more of grave robbers than resurrection. Peter and "the other disciple" race to the scene of the crime, and looking at the evidence, the light begins to dawn. So...they go back home.

Would you or I respond differently? Without the perspective of 2000 years of tradition, the roller coaster of emotions from "Hail, King Jesus!" to the trial and execution of the "King of the Jews" to dark despair to an empty tomb would seem just as perplexing and disorienting. Would we run off to tell anyone what we had seen?

The meaning of these events, and the subsequent appearances of the risen Jesus, will become clear with time. But these disciples are starting to get the message: Nothing will be the same again, because Easter does not look back into our experience or history but propels us into God's future!

Broken connections

2009-04-07T10:26:00.001-04:00

This Lent's theme was "brokenness," and our kairos exploration followed Christine Sine's excellent guide. We summed up the season by looking at the broken connections that allow us to accept hunger, homelessness, and abuse of our environment.

We started with a discussion of how we fragment God's family:

Look at where we erect barriers – when have you been conscious of being “out”? When have you erected barriers to keep others out?
In what ways do you notice the fragmenting and breaking of the family of God in the world you live, work and play in?

Most of our time was a deep meditation on Matthew 25:
31-33"When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goats to his left.
34-36"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation. And here's why:
I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.'

We’re often tempted to look at the people Jesus mentions as categories of people that we need to do good to. It’s natural to think of them as “others,” as unfortunate, as different than us.

This passage comes late in Matthew’s gospel, and by this time we know that Jesus has met, fed, chastised, wept with, challenged, healed and marveled at the faith of thousands and thousands of people. Looked them right in the eye. Touched them and been touched by them. It’s very safe to say, in my view, that Jesus is not talking about abstract categories. He is talking about the woman who sought him out and stole healing power from a touch of his cloak. He is talking about the blind man who called out to the Son of David when he heard Jesus coming. He is talking about his friend Lazarus, dead and stinking in the tomb, and his friends Martha and Mary in their busyness and their grief. And I believe that he is also picturing you and I, and all the people his father has given him.

We did an exercise of looking deeply into the people in this story in order to really see what Jesus is talking about.

Think of people who need to be fed and clothed. Do you know of anyone who lacks for these basics of life? What is it the causes their lack? Who is at fault? In what ways might you be in need of these things? In what way are you blessed with these things? How do your blessings relate to the needs around you?
Think of people who need wholeness and inclusion. Who do you know who needs to be healed, or is excluded because of the color of their skin, or their sexual orientation? What causes them to be on the “outside” of what we think of as normal? In what ways have you ever felt excluded or left out? In what ways do you need healing? Does your experience make you want to open your circle or create healing…or does it make you protective and suspicious?
Think of people in prison. Do you know someone who is or has been imprisoned? In an actual jail, or in an inner torment, or dangerous relationship, or addiction, or trapped by their wealth and stuff? Are you imprisoned by anything? Visualize some of the reasons people are imprisoned. In what ways might your life help to facilitate such imprisonment, or work to free people from it?

It is important to note that Jesus was not speaking to middle class America. Israel was a poor land, occupied by great political powers. There were rich people storing up grain (that would spoil) and other precious goods (that would rust). But most of his hearers were ordinary folks scraping by, just like their ancestors, satisfied by the just-in-time provision of manna. Debt or an expression of anger at the occupying power could land any of them in jail, just like that! Basic shelter, and water, were precious. What would Jesus’ call have sounded like in this situation?

I think the call to feed the hungry would sound more like the widow who gave all the food she had for herself and her son to a traveling prophet, than my buying an extra bag of cans for the food pantry.
This Lent we have been looking at varying ways God’s beautiful, plentiful creation has been broken and scarred by humanity. We’ve looked at the inequalities of hunger, where enough food to feed everyone is grown but isn’t distributed fairly. We’ve looked at the tragedy of homelessness, where basic shelter is out of reach of many people who work. We’ve looked at the ways we abuse and take advantage of the earth that we are called to be stewards and co-creators/re-creators of, and now the ways that we build walls between them and us.

Jesus’ message is that there is no them, there is only us. The common thread, it seems to me, is that it’s in our interest to lose this connection to the whole of God’s family. Mother Teresa said it well: “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”

So how do we maintain and renew this connection? Here are some ideas from our community:

Look deeply. When you gather for supper, or come to the communion table, look at the food as given for you and representing all that God has put in place to care for his people – and hear the cries of those who don’t have food or water. When you adjust the thermostat, thank God for the blessing of energy, remember that in many places people have less than their share of energy because we have more than ours – and see those who, even if they have a room instead of a car or a sidewalk, don’t have a home. When you notice your health, pray for those who care for the sick, and think about how you would cope without your knowledge of keeping yourself healthy, and insurance.

Look where you are. We are not called to solve global crises, we are called to live faithfully and mindfully in our families and communities.

Missing the point?

2009-04-06T10:27:00.001-04:00

My notes from the teaching moment at Kairos' Palm Sunday gathering at Quakertown Memorial Park:

It’s time to celebrate! Israel has its king! God has heard our cries! God is acting to free us from the terrible power of Rome! All hail, King Jesus!

Right?

Wrong.

Jesus’ ministry has a lot of great examples of people completely missing his point. He announces his fulfillment of the prophecies and his hometown neighbors want to kill him – how can a local boy say these things? Don’t we know him? He declares himself the bread of heaven and even some of his followers are grossed out at the idea of eating his flesh. He offers freedom and the Jews squabble about never having been physically or financially slaves.

Here Jesus offers himself to the punishment, to the humiliation, to the execution that he knows is coming, entering the city humbly on an ass, and the people are overjoyed! Here is our king! All hail King Jesus!

We’re suckers for a success story, aren’t we? Theologically, this is known as the theology of glory. We love it when God rides in and saves the day, wins the war, hits a home run, provides prosperity and material rewards. We love it when the forces of right sweep evil right off the map.

But this isn’t the way our God works. Our God’s power is not revealed in his glory, but in weakness. In the way he attends to the poor and downtrodden. In the way he uses cracked pots like us to accomplish God’s mission. But most importantly in the way he overcame our most insidious enemies – sin and death – by taking on sin and submitting to death. Jesus points us to a theology of the cross, a way of understanding the world in which we don’t simply equate success with God’s favor but look for God’s action even in the weak and broken places and people – even in ourselves.

Jesus takes it so far as to say that, in order to see him, we have to see those who are poor, and sick, and imprisioned, and lame – in his words, “the least of these.” So its appropriate that we have brought offerings of food for the hungry as our tribute to Jesus today. But the story doesn’t end here. And it doesn’t jump right to the glory of Easter.

We get to Easter through the cross. So I invite you this week to spend time with Christ and his passion, in Scripture, in reflection, in prayer and in community.

You are salt...

2009-03-13T08:22:00.002-04:00

Clipped from The Onion's website today. While it's fun to laugh about "Lutheran hot dogs" (known a couple of them, have you?) this is a great commentary on the tendency of some Christians to want to "brand" everything, and also on the way people react to such proclamations -- "Great, now I can go to hell for eating the wrong salt." Funny, but are we listening? Are we speaking to what really matters to people? Jesus did.

The New Reformation

2009-03-13T08:04:00.001-04:00

No, I'm not fasting from technology for Lent, though it may look like it. Len at Next Reformation posted this great quote from Reggie McNeal's "The Present Future," which I read several years ago and helped me get a new picture of not just the church but of my faith journey. This is fascinating. wonder...how well does this resonate with what you/we are living? Which of these many polarities are the most relevant to you? How do you feel being part of a new Reformation? What does his description of the new Reformation say to you?

“The first Reformation was about freeing the church. The new Reformation is about freeing God’s people from the chruch (the institution). The original Reformation decentralized the church. The new Reformation decentralizes ministry. The former Reformation occurred when clergy were no longer willing to take marching orders from the Pope. The current Reformation finds church members no longer willing for clergy to script their personal spiritual ministry journey. The last Reformation moved the church closer to home. The new Reformation is moving the church closer to the world. The historic Reformation distinguished Christians one from the other. The current Reformation is distinguishing followers of Jesus from religious people. The European Reformation assumed the church to be a part of the cultural political order. The Reformation currently underway does not rely on the cultural political order to prop up the church. The initial Reformation was about church. The new Reformation is about mission.”
Reggie McNeal, The Present Future

Ash Wednesday tweets

2009-02-25T14:31:00.001-05:00

Lead us to repentance

2009-02-24T20:37:00.001-05:00

Christine Sine posted a beautiful video meditation to start off Lent. Enjoy!

Flying upside-down?

2009-02-24T20:24:00.005-05:00

Dallas Willard begins his classic treatise on the spiritual life, “The Divine Conspiracy,” with an anecdote about a pilot who, disoriented, pulls back on the stick to ascend and flies straight into the ground.

“This is a parable of human existence in our times … most of us as individuals, and world society as a whole, live at high speed, and often with no clue to whether we are flying upside-down or right side up. Indeed, we are haunted by a strong suspicion that there may be no difference…” (2)

Life today feels similarly out of control. Many of our old assumptions no longer hold water. Its hard to know if course corrections will launch us into the clear, trigger a “Mayday!” or auger directly into the ground.

But maybe it has always been this way. In today’s Gospel, Jesus warns the disciples who are busy dividing the spoils of His victory and vying for pride of place in the kingdom that what looks like the head of the line is really the end. ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’ (Mark 9:35)

The first must be last. Leaders must serve. Little children have the keys to the deepest insights. Jesus tells us here that seeing is not believing, that there is a deeper and truer reality that lies beyond what our senses tell us is real. This is the same reality that, the prophet Isaiah tells us, levels the mountains and raises up the low places, the reality that Mary sees filling the hungry and sending the rich away empty. And with our solid ideas about security, well-being, risk and reward cracking a bit, if we listen closely we can hear rumblings of this “great reversal” around us.

That’s why Lent is an important part of the life of faith. No matter how certain we are of our beliefs, how comfortable we are with our actions, we need times when we can check our bearings and reset our instruments to be sure we are on the right path.

Popularly, Lent has been for many people a time of self-denial through giving up little pleasures – chocolate, perhaps, or TV or blogging, or dropping our spare change in a charity box. But giving up only gets part of the blessing of Lent. Its fullest expression comes when we give to – give to others, and give to our relationship with God.

My hope and prayer is to use this Lenten season to clear away some of the unnecessary clutter in my life and to focus on who God is calling me to be. In these coming weeks I plan to:

Balance my reading and thinking about faith with more listening to God and receiving his love.
Engage more deeply in the brokenness in my neighborhood and pay more attention to the signs of hope that are blossoming there.
Focus on overcoming inertia and comfort to join in the work God is doin around me all the time.

Tomorrow I will receive a cross of ashes on my forehead with my community, remember that I am dust, and hear the important message of repentance. And as I am turning from the blurred focus, disorientation, and upside-down flying caused by this high-speed life, I will try to keep my focus on the goal I am called to pursue:

So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says,
‘At an acceptable time I have listened to you,
and on a day of salvation I have helped you.’
See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! (2 Cor 5:20-6:2)

The inner child

2009-02-24T08:37:00.002-05:00

Mark 9:30-37

The disciples come across as so “human” in this story. First they are so confused by what Jesus is saying about his fate that they don’t even raise a question for fear of looking stupid, an emotion all school children relate to (and many of us adults). Then they are arguing among themselves about which one is the greatest! — like a group of children choosing leaders for a game they aren’t sure how to play. When Jesus calls them on it — you’d think they would know by now that he knows the inner secrets of people’s hearts! — you can see them looking down and keeping their mouths shut, like children caught doing something they know they shouldn’t.

It’s fascinating, then, that Jesus brings a child into their midst and welcomes the child. Jesus is chiding them for their all-too-human need to be “first,” but he is also welcoming them as they are — as children. We try so hard to look smart (or just not look stupid), to be the greatest, and Jesus knows it. In fact it is just these tendencies — knowledge, power and control — that cause so much trouble in “religion,” as Jesus often points out to the religious authorities.

Can you hear yourself welcomed by Jesus despite what you don’t know and your desire to be “first”?

(From our Kairos online scripture discussion)

Question

2009-02-14T16:10:00.001-05:00

Why is the church more concerned about people who are 'spiritual but not religious' than those who are 'religious but not spiritual'?

Where was God?

2009-02-14T13:28:00.002-05:00

Just 10 days ago a friend sent me an email titled "What really happened on the Hudson" containing just this image:

The image of God's presence in the near-miraculous landing of the plane in the river, with no loss of life and no serious injuries, barely registered with me. It angered a good friend who also received the email, but didn't know how to respond. Then when Flight 3407 fell from the sky over Buffalo Thursday night, she said to me: "People were quick to see God's role in saving that plane in the Hudson. Where will they say God was in Buffalo?"

While people are quick to assign God credit for the good things that happen to us -- heroic and skillful pilots, the ability to score a touchdown, the ability to earn a good living -- most of us are not quick to look for God's wrath in tragedies. There are some, of course, who see God's direct action there -- who think that God aimed Katrina at "wicked" New Orleans, that the poor somehow deserve to be poor, etc. What's more common is the view that our health, wealth and comfort, our relative safety, and American power are signs of God's special favor.

This is an old theological problem. Martin Luther criticized the "theologians of glory" who discerned God's presence in victory and blessing yet diminished the the importance of Christ's suffering both for and with us. Luther knew that a theology of glory would justify those looking to their own power and victory, but a theology of the cross, a recognition that God's true strength is revealed in vulnerability and even death, is truly good news to all of us who are weak and struggling, as St. Paul put it, with being unable to do the good we want to, and doing the evil we hope not to do.

It's easier to assume that outward blessings are signs of God's favor, and that sickness, poverty and disaster indicate God's displeasure. Years ago I talked with a hospital chaplain who told the story of her work with a mother whose young daughter was gravely ill. The mother belonged to a church whose theology preached that such sickness was a sign of sin, and the people of the church - including the pastor - seemed uncomfortable visiting and comforting her. Jesus confronted this attitude when he met the man born blind in John 9.

His disciples asked, "Rabbi, who sinned: this man or his parents, causing him to be born blind?" (9:2, MSG)

This is not just a misperception by the religious establishment; the question is asked not by the Pharisees but by his followers. Christ turns the question on its head, challenging them to look beyond the outward manifestations of our well being that we attribute to God's glory into what God is able to do (which is headed, ultimately, to the cross).

Jesus said, "You're asking the wrong question. You're looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here. Look instead for what God can do. We need to be energetically at work for the One who sent me here, working while the sun shines. When night falls, the workday is over. For as long as I am in the world, there is plenty of light. I am the world's Light." (9:3-5, MSG)

Sadly the "cause-effect" Jesus negates is very much alive for us. Just Thursday night at our Kairos book group were were noting that sometimes the people with the most passionate faith are those whose lives are transformed from the depths of loss, addiction, poverty and rejection. The most passionate conversions may be among those who start out farthest from the church and faith. As Lynette said, "when things are going well, who has need of a savior?" We had some discussion around Suzanne's suggestion that Christians sometimes still look more at a person's works than their faith. We sometimes see God's presence more clearly in healing one person than in accompanying another through illness and death. We may find God less able to work through "unrepentant" homosexuals than through those who choose to gossip. Jesus' claim that he came for those who are sick not just those who are well sounds as strange to us as it did in his day.

When we rely too much on God's glory, we are looking for God to act as we do; to value and reward what is important to us. We desire to be rich, to be healthy, to avoid suffering, so of course that is how God would show favor. And those things are blessings. But if we want to get at who God loves, we have to look beyond glory to the cross, specifically to the foot of the cross, where we gather with all God's people -- the sick and the healthy, the poor and the rich, the afflicted and the comfortable -- who cry out to him for peace.

So where was God in Buffalo? I believe God was in and under Capt. Sullenberger's coolness and skill passing over optional landing zones for the receptive surface of the Hudson, and with the flight crew of Flight 3407 as they struggled to right their rolling craft without time to utter a "Mayday!" I believe God both weeps with that families of the 49 who died Thursday night and celebrates the gift of life for the 155 who walked off of Flight 1549.

Since this question is often asked in the face of tragedy, I raised the question to some friends on Facebook and Twitter. Here's some of what they said:

Stuart said that "Because obviously 'God loved those people more' wasn't really helpful...I think someone called that 'sloppy theology.'"
Maggie noted that some taunted Jesus with this belief as he was dying: "If you are God's Son, come down off that cross and save yourself"...
Christine acknowledged that "we are rather selective in where we see God - only when good things happen. We cannot imagine God in the midst of pain suffering and grieving with us. Only see God when we are rescued from our pain."
@Somecomic said that "god is with the families. not a preventer of tragedy but a bearer of pain and a giver of strength."
@ReverendAndo said that "God was where expected: with the people on the plane. Cross isn't about personal safety it's about God holding us in the worst."

Who says you can't proclaim the Gospel in 140 characters or less!

Oh, and how do we share the cross with people who are only looking for glory? @Somecomic to the rescue:

Somecomic @adiaphora i like to ask hem how thats going for them... :)

In denial

2009-02-01T18:29:00.011-05:00

Pete Rollins (Ikon, author of "How Not to Speak of God") offers a powerful confession on his blog:

Without equivocation or hesitation I fully and completely admit that I deny the resurrection of Christ. This is something that anyone who knows me could tell you, and I am not afraid to say it publicly, no matter what some people may think…

I deny the resurrection of Christ every time I do not serve at the feet of the oppressed, each day that I turn my back on the poor; I deny the resurrection of Christ when I close my ears to the cries of the downtrodden and lend my support to an unjust and corrupt system.

However there are moments when I affirm that resurrection, few and far between as they are. I affirm it when I stand up for those who are forced to live on their knees, when I speak for those who have had their tongues torn out, when I cry for those who have no more tears left to shed.

On call

2009-01-26T07:34:00.001-05:00

Our Kairos community has been focusing on the call of the disciples, and our own sense of calling. This has resonated with my personal journey of late. We've been conversing about what it meant for Peter, Andrew, James and John to drop their nets, for Abraham to leave his comfort zone, for Jeremiah to realize he had been called before he was born, for the 12 and then the 70 to get their marching orders.

This topic has generated some deep and really personal conversation. Do I have to leave my job? Is it different for those with families vs. those who are more flexible? Must I "go" at all? Do I just need to be open to what the Spirit might be saying to me? Can I follow right here in my own life?

As I continue to reflect on this, I think we have a tendency to over focus on the big, extreme things. It's too easy to feel that unless I change everything and give up my daily life it isn't enough, or to figure that I can't leave my nets so I can't do anything. We naturally want to focus on what we do, on who we are in the world.

The call of Peter and company, the story of dropping their nets and following, is getting at something much more central and basic to us:

Following Jesus starts with a recognition that our lives are not our own, but Christ's.

When Jesus walked down the shore and these young men turned their back on fishing, their purpose changed more than their occupation. They were no longer just fishermen, whose goal was to bring in a catch. They were now followers of a teacher, whose purpose was to help him change lives and all of history.

There are certainly glimpses in later scripture of these same men out in the boat, putting down and pulling up nets, and cooking fish for breakfast to suggest that they still plied their old trade at least occasionally. But they were not the same old fishermen (just like Jesus was no longer just Joe-the-carpenter's son).

Following meant they had signed on to a mission that was larger than them, and that affected where they went and what they did.

That mission allows us to live purposefully, to ask purposeful questions, and to make intentional changes to our lives to align with that purpose. But that wrestling and "going" only makes sense in light of the bigger recognition that our lives are not our own but God's.

But once we recognize that we are part of something so much bigger than just us, we can live "on call" in the midst of whatever we are doing. Once we believe Jesus when he says "the kingdom of God is within you," once we accept his invitation to help bring that kingdom into our daily reality, we can follow whether we sell it all and move to Africa or raise a family in Bucks County.

What weighs you down?

2009-01-23T13:15:00.002-05:00

Last week at Kairos we talked about how we live in tension between the burdens and imperfections of life and the wholeness and aliveness God intends for us. Using Romans 6, where Paul talks of how we are baptized into Christ's death and resurrection, and Mark 1, where Jesus calls Peter, Andrew, James and John to turn their back on fishing and follow him, we talked about how the reality of Christ calls us to drop our nets, too. We had a beautiful and fascinating discussion. Read about it here if you wish.

Ordinary saints

2009-01-23T13:11:00.001-05:00

Mark 3:13-19

Why does God -- the creator of the cosmos, the one who breathed life -- want to work through people like Peter and James and John, and Judas Iscariot, and us? I think God uses ordinary people to tell the story, proclaim good news, and heal not because God can't heal, but because God's intention is to create community among us. I think God wants us to live out his kingdom so it becomes real, rather than imposing it on us.

I am really struck by the opening phrase, that Jesus "called to him those whom he wanted." It is difficult for me to think about being called out by name. It's much easier to know that some are called, but to let myself off the hook by thinking that others are smarter, better trained, more faithful and worthy than I am. But Jesus calls the disciples by name and sends them out to expand the circle even further, one-to-one, through the ordinary acts of conversation, laying on hands and speaking truth.

I am called into the circle and called, by name, to help expand it even further. Why is this so hard to live into?

Hope

2009-01-20T23:07:00.004-05:00

Seth Godin (again!) marks the Inauguration with a nod to the famous Obama "HOPE" poster that became ubiquitous during and since the campaign. The story that all communicators tell, the product that all marketers sell, he says, is hope.

The reason is simple: people need more. We run out. We need it replenished. Hope is almost always in short supply.

The magical thing about selling hope is that it makes everything else work better, every day get better, every project work better, every relationship feel better. If you can actually deliver on the hope you sell, there will be a line out the door.

This resonates with me as a Christian "marketer" and believer. Hope was the core of Jesus' message. Hope that the blind could see and the lame could pick up their mats and dance. Hope that the despised and neglected could be known -- truly known -- and respected. Hope that the kingdom of God could peek into the here and now, in and through ordinary, imperfect folks like us. Hope that God's justice and mercy has a stronger voice than human hate and greed.

The world, not just our nation, desperately needs hope right now. So many of us need our tanks topped off with exactly the core of our faith message -- hope. Jesus delivered this message so well that he drew huge crowds, large enough to threaten the power elites' status quo. When this hope survived even his death, the line got long enough to shape the world, even through its evolution from a revolutonary movement to a political empire to a culture shaping force to whatever the church is emerging into.

Can we as the church speak hope into this historical moment? Or will we settle for more division, fear or, even worse, irrelevance?

Ordinary days of service

2009-01-20T19:37:00.003-05:00

Days of service, like Martin Luther King's birthday has become, are a growing trend. Our Synod has had a youth "Helping Hands Day" for years. Toys for Tots collections, holiday food drives, even social media efforts like the @wellwishes campaign to raise money for clean water started by Twitter guru Laura "Pistachio" Fitton are springing up all over the landscape.

At Kairos we have started relationships with two local food pantries. Though we have participated in the traditional Thanksgiving and Christmas food drives, we have focused on also trying to be there in the "off-season," since the needs continue long after people move on from their holiday generosity. We have ongoing collections of food and donate funds each month, and have set up Labor Day food drives along with working in the pantry each month.

The social service agency leaders I've spoken with share this concern: With demand on a sharp increase, how do we get (and keep) people's attention and move them from occasional acts of generosity toward a regular practice of concern for needs in the community -- what President Obama in his Inaugural Address called "the price and promise of citizenship." We seem to be poised to take this call seriously.

Seth Godin captures this shift in service from occasion to practice in his recent blog post on the King National Day of Service. What if, rather than devoting one day a year, all 300 million Americans devoted an hour a day to changing the world?

If every person in the US spent an hour doing something selfless, useful and leveraged, what would happen? What if you and your circle committed to doing it an hour a day for a year? 300 million hours is a lot of hours for just one day, a year of that would change everything.

Seth -- a marketer who really gets the potential of ideas and causes to create change -- also calls for creativity in determining how people can be of service. Many of us who spend hours in soup kitchens and food pantries feel rewarded by the effort, yet struggle with how small our drops of labor are in the sea of suffering we are trying to alleviate. Seth affirms this "standing in the breach" labor, and issues a challenge to think about how people might leverage their skills to help agencies get better at meeting direct needs.

Imagine if foodies developed recipes and taught classes to help the clients of food pantries and soup kitchens learn to prepare and like healthy, balanced diets. Imagine if financiers and bankers taught basic financial literacy to high school students, the poor, and the fiscally clueless (like me!). Imagine if families took on the responsibility of educating (paying tuition, book and transportation costs) for the same number of children in a third-world country. Imagine if writers and bloggers spent time helping children learn to read and write. Imagine if every food pantry volunteer wrote one letter a day to a national or local leader demanding that more be done to end hunger. Think about it. What difference could you or I make?

We sit at the dawn of a new age, and a better world is possible. As President Obama has noted, he and his wife are not going to paint every homeless shelter or clean up every vacant lot in your neighborhood. We, the people, are going to have to do that. It will take each of us, using our blessings and talents as a spiritual discipline, to nibble away at these pressing problems bit by bit, day by day. The good news is that in doing so we will make the kingdom of God a bit more visible, right here and right now.

Update: Here's a great example -- Earl Stafford's "People's Inaugural Party" brings the underserved to the party, and equips them with ways to get a leg up. (HT: JR)

The Power and the Glory

2009-01-20T16:42:00.001-05:00

It has been an inspiring day to be an American. The fact that power changes hands peacefully is astonishing in a world where there is so much violence and some elections are contested at length. As someone who grew up in the 60s and 70s, it's world changing to see an African American as President of the United States. And given the struggles of our long national nightmare just ended it is good to hear care for the environment, concern for those who struggle for daily bread around the world, and shared sacrifice for the common good back on the national agenda.

This song by Phil Ochs has long summed up patriotism for me -- a realistic love of this country's ideals and the hope that those ideals are lived out for everyone, not just the privileged and the lucky. "The Power and the Glory" shows us united in a common purpose and circumstance: "Her power shall rest on the strength of her freedom / Her glory shall rest on us all"

Come and take a walk with me thru this green and growing land
Walk thru the meadows and the mountains and the sand
Walk thru the valleys and the rivers and the plains
Walk thru the sun and walk thru the rain

Here is a land full of power and glory
Beauty that words cannot recall
Oh her power shall rest on the strength of her freedom
Her glory shall rest on us all

From Colorado, Kansas, and the Carolinas too
Virginia and Alaska, from the old to the new
Texas and Ohio and the California shore
Tell me, who could ask for more?

Yet she's only as rich as the poorest of her poor
Only as free as the padlocked prison door
Only as strong as our love for this land
Only as tall as we stand

Words for the history books

2009-01-20T14:09:00.001-05:00

The ties that bind

2009-01-20T08:19:00.004-05:00

http://www.liveservegrow.info/atlarge/wp-trackback.php?p=566On Mark 2:23-28

Religion comes from Latin roots that talk about the ties that bind, and the rituals and traditions of religion do indeed tie us together in faith...or they can. As this story shows, they can also cause us to worship the ties themselves, rather than the people they link together or the reality they point to. Sabbath is an important concept to holistic life in the kingdom of God. Sabbath is an important rhythm that helps us stay healthy, sane, and in touch with God. Yet the Pharisees here mistake the healing nature of Sabbath for a law to be kept -- suggesting that Jesus' disciples should have hungered rather than pluck grain on the Sabbath. Jesus's reply puts everything back in perspective. These traditions and rituals are to strengthen our faith, not to limit it. People, he says, are more important than rules -- and he says this again and again, in many ways.

As we navigate a new way of faith, this is one of our key challenges -- to hold on to the traditions and practices of our faith in a way that builds God's kingdom here and now, and doesn't become a new set of rules to follow blindly. We need to keep thought and feeling alive in our experience, and avoid creating new ruts to get stuck in.

(one of my contributions to the Kairos scripture discussion online)

Prayer for our new President

2009-01-20T07:26:00.002-05:00

O God, stir up your Spirit to inspire, encourage, and sustain President Barack Obama as he assumes leadership of our nation. Grant him the wisdom to address the many challenges facing your world, and the courage to propose bold and difficult solutions. Help him to lead in ways that reflect the responsibility conferred by our nation’s wealth, might and power to shape global culture. Guide him and all of our leaders to fashion a government that works for the well being of all our your people. Use the outpouring of involvement and goodwill among Americans to infuse hope into your people, particularly those who are poor, suffering and marginalized. Amen.

Depends which side you look from

2009-01-16T08:16:00.002-05:00

Mark 2:1-12

Funny the different reactions to Jesus. The man who is paralyzed and his friends immediately recognize hope and healing in Christ, so much so that they dismantle the building to get their friend in at his feet. The scribes, who are convinced that they don’t need any correction at all, who “keep” the law, only cry foul when Jesus brings this broken and unclean man into their circle, forgiving “his” sins. (That’s forgiveness they had to do a lot more than show up to claim!)

I wonder. How much trouble would I go to to be in Jesus’ healing power? In the midst of busy schedules, fiscal pressures, all the opportunities we have, what is it worth to us to center on Jesus?

(one of my contributions to the Kairos : Christians at Large online discussion. Please come join the conversation!)

The foundations cannot be shaken

2009-01-14T08:32:00.001-05:00

Listening to Psalm 104 on Pray-as-you-go this morning, I was struck by how far we have moved from a sense of awe in creation, respect for its limits, and the fact that it is all a gift of God — not just the sun and the rain and the plants we see but the way all of it, from the cosmos to the inner workings of cells, are knit together interdependently to form an environment that allows and sustains life.
It is wonderful to listen to the promise of God’s provision. Yet there’s some dissonance, too.

You set the earth on its foundations,
so that it shall never be shaken.

How do you hear this in light of our abuse of the earth that does threaten its very foundations?

You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
they flow between the hills,

Since we dig ourselves into valleys every once in a while, this is a wonderful promise, that even where it seems we can’t dig any deeper God can still bring forth streams.

These all look to you
to give them their food in due season;
when you give to them, they gather it up;
when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.

In the industrialized western world we have certainly lost this one-to-one connection between trust and daily bread. We build complex (and vulnerable) structures for security. Some can live a life on a few days labor or inherited wealth, while others toil every day and starve. Thousands die of lack of food and/or clean water every day.

How do we read texts like this in the midst of uncertain times? How do we maintain a healthy balance between the promise and the call to action?

(One of my contributions to the Kairos : Christians at Large online discussion)

2009-01-14T08:19:00.001-05:00

Mark 1:29-39

Isn’t it amazing how pervasive the need for healing and wholeness is? The sick and possessed form a crowd, far larger than the ranks of the “righteous.” No wonder Jesus says he came for those who need a physician.

I also admire — and envy a bit — how well Jesus manages his ministry. No matter how busy or exhausted he is he takes time for prayer and renewal. And no matter how easy it would be to enjoy his success and popularity, he knows that his real mission is to be on to spread the message in other towns, to other sick and hurting people. And he does it. It’s a great lesson to all of us in ministry.

(One of my contributions to Kairos : Christians at Large online Bible discussion.)

Sigh

2008-12-27T21:10:00.001-05:00

The Lutheran online communities I have been a part of have tended to be very quiet. Many members. A few active participants in discussions (and usually a couple who tend to dominate). A lot of lurkers. Many discussions are echo chambers, with one or two people energizing the thread until it dies.

Well, unless that we tread into one particular subject. This is from the wall of a Lutheran group I joined on Facebook:

*Sigh* C'mon, people, is this really what we want to show people is at the top of our minds and agendas?

In 30 seconds or less...

2008-12-25T09:06:00.001-05:00

We used this video to preface our community's retelling of the Christmas story. Enjoy!

Love has come. For you.

2008-12-24T22:25:00.002-05:00

Here's the Christmas message from Kairos tonight. Have a blessed Christmas!

Love has come!

Love has come to you!

The marvelous part of this story is not that it happened a long time ago in a place far, far away. The Word is waiting to become flesh tonight, right here in this room, right in you! The Word is waiting to take on your flesh, to be reborn in your heart.

This is such a human story. A couple faced with a difficult predicament. A poor family left out of the comfortable accommodations. The message comes to a simple teenager. To working men, the kind who would have had to shower after work if they had had showers then, right at their jobsite.

Yet it is the fulfillment of a centuries old promise, the working out of divine will. Isaiah promised that the zeal of the Lord of hosts – the love of God for all of God’s people – would bring this child into the world. He is not born to be tender and mild. Nor is he born to be meek and make no crying. The songwriters of the church have long told of the cosmic significance of Christ:

This verse from "What Child is This" often gets skipped at Christmas:

Nails, spears, shall pierce him through / the cross be borne for me, for you.

And listen to this verse from "O Holy Night":

Truly he taught us to love one another / his law is love and his gospel is peace
Chains shall he break for the slave is our brother / and in his name all oppression shall cease!

This is big! The story of Christmas is not just about a child in a manger. It is about the healing of the world. The mending of all of our broken parts. The release of prisoners and captives of every kind. It is about, as St. Paul writes, the very essence of the universe, of life – Jesus Christ is in it all and holds it all together, even – especially – when it seems that it is all about to come flying apart.

And that is why it is also our story. This Savior of the world is born in dirt and straw. This king is descended from rulers, and prostitutes and murderers. His significance is recognized by working people and outcasts, the sick and deformed and completely missed by the religious elites. He eats with sinners and tax collectors, and is executed as a political prisoner – a terrorist.

This is not a story of the world rising to God’s standards. It is the good news that God comes to us where we are, just as we are. God comes to you – right now – no matter what you’ve done wrong, what you are struggling with, no matter what darkness you dwell in. God invites you to join him, to join Jesus in fixing the broken parts of this world, and to learn from him how to live freely and lightly.

Yes, love comes down to us. And that love didn’t stay in the manger in Bethlehem, or in Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth, but walked across the land, to Jerusalem and eventually to Golgotha. So the love that comes to us isn’t a secret treasure for us to hoard, but is a gift that we are called and compelled to give to our neighbors and our world. Our forebear in the faith, Martin Luther, once said that the truest mark of whether an action was Christian was whether it cared for our neighbor. Love comes down, but it must move out through us to those around us.

This Christmas, after all of the presents have been unwrapped and the celebrations are over, beneath all of the joy of giving and the worries about the economy, know this: Emmanuel – God is with us! Right here and right now. Just as we are. And it is this reality, this love, that is the strong force that glues your life, your family, our community, the whole world together.

Love has come. Love has come for you!

(Followed by a visual interpretation of "Ten Thousand Angels," by Sandra McCracken)

A matter of perspective

2008-12-24T09:00:00.002-05:00

The Church Marketing Sucks blog poses a challenging question today:

How far off do we have to be if the celebration of a baby born in dirt and straw can be impacted by economic conditions?

We hear constantly that sales are down, spelling more gloom for the economy. NPR reported yesterday that Christmas tree sales are down 50% in some areas. Despite some hopeful signs, the Gallup Poll shows that people are not turning to faith -- or at least not coming to church -- to cope with their economic uncertainty and fear.

The most relevant thing we can say is to tell the world what the angel said to Mary, and to Elizabeth, and to the shepherds -- Do not be afraid! Just point to the miracle of God come to dirt and straw, moving into the neighborhood next to us, and worship.

The reason for the season

2008-12-23T17:04:00.001-05:00

It's become a reflex in many Christian circles to remind revelers that "Jesus is the reason for the season." Our judicatory a couple years ago helped to sponsor local radio ads urging people to "Keep the Christ in Christmas." The "reason for the season" rhetoric often gets tied into the "War on Christmas" promoted by conservatives who sense a slippery slope being descended when businesses wish us "Happy Holidays."

I'm comfortable with the marketplace taking the Christ out of "Christmas" the cultural celebration. There is so much consumerist pressure on the holiday that adding a veneer of religiosity to it actually hurts the cause of Jesus. Does our spending really need to be identified as "Christian"? Isn't it enough that, with all the media gloom and doom about lackluster Christmas sales, it seems patriotic and in our self interest? Hearing a clerk say "Merry Christmas" -- ever hear a denizen of commerce say "Blessed Christmas" to you? -- may keep the holiday spending within my comfort zone, but is that a really good place to be comfortable?

Fernando Gros has an interesting post today asking, provocatively to some Christians, "What if there is more than one reason for the season?" (HT: The Corner) No, he is not watering down the theological import of Emmanuel, God with us, but rather pointing out that the dialogue about Christmas that the culture starts each year might be one we want to engage rather than rush in to "correct" by identifying why our reason is right and theirs is wrong.

Christmas is the center of our faith -- Love comes down and moves into our neighborhood, next door to incomplete, wrong-headed and broken people like you and me. The incarnation is the only ground we have for hope, which is sorely needed in times such as these. Jesus is the reason for our hope, and the season. And I think he wants us to stop cringing when the Grinch and Rudolph enter the story and people want Santa to bow before the manger in church, and engage a culture that thinks that consumption is love. With our story of hope and acceptance, we can show the world what love really is. And that, as the Beatles said, money can't buy it.

Call to worship

2008-12-22T15:20:00.001-05:00

I love the passage from Isaiah that is traditional for Christmas Eve. Our community values participatory worship, so I wrote a call to worship that will allow the people to be part of the drama Isaiah describes. Enjoy!

People: Help us Lord! Darkness looms over us, the night is heavy, and it’s hard to see our way.

Leader: Don’t be afraid! The Light shines on you even now. Love has come for you.

People: Help us Lord! We are oppressed by fear and uncertainty. The weight of busyness, and distraction lies heavily on our shoulders.

Leader: Don’t be afraid! The bar you carry is already broken, and the boot soles that would crush you have already been burned. Love has come for you.

Leader: Hear what the Lord, your God, has promised – your Maker, and the one who makes you whole:

All: For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Evangelism lessons from Penn

2008-12-19T17:05:00.001-05:00

Being from a mainline, Lutheran tradition, evangelism is unfamiliar territory for me. Its one of those activities, like dieting, daily flossing and skipping Christmas cookies, that I know I ought to do, but somehow never get there.

The community I am part of is very good at testifying to our faith through actions. Collecting food and gifts for the needy, and serving in an essentially secular setting such as a food pantry, shows that someone cares enough to do something, but not necessarily why I care enough to do something for them. Interestingly, in the food pantry I volunteer at from time to time, which is run by the local ministerium, the waiting room has some religious posters but when I have been there there is never religious conversation.

Many of us mainliners are allergic to faith sharing and positively avoid anything that smacks of proselytizing. And with good reason. Approaches that focus on “are you saved?” and “you’re going to hell if you don’t believe what we do” have made many people resisting to even engaging God’s story.

I was fascinated though to come across a video by Penn Gillette (the talking half of Penn & Teller) on Tony Jones’ blog this morning.

In this episode of Penn’s vlog he offers an unusual reaction to the act of being “proselytized” after a recent show.

“I don’t respect people who don’t proselytize,” Penn says.

If people of faith – or, for that matter, atheists like Penn – believe that they know something that can help another person, they have a duty to share it, he says. If you saw a truck bearing down on an unawares pedestrian, he says, you’d push them out of the way; why not for something “more important” such as “eternal life.”

Penn’s view of the non-proselytizing position was a whack upside the head:

“How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?”

It often sounds patronizing and self-serving when Christians cloak their attempts to proselytize in terms of “love.” But how interesting to hear this condemnation of the sin of omission, of failing to tell the story, from a self-professed non-believer!

Now he is certainly not suggesting that it’s a sign of love to threaten or cajole. In that quote I think he is getting at a message that is more life-giving than soul-saving. And therein is a great lesson for “evangelism,” however we conceive it.

If you watch the video, its clear from the way Penn pauses in the midst of telling this story that he was touched by the simple offer of a Gideon Bible from a fan who genuinely engaged him. Not convinced, mind you. His atheism is intact. But he clearly appreciated the love shown by this fan.

There are a couple of good tips modeled in Penn’s encounter with this unknown believer:

Engage honestly. This fan didn’t stalk Penn and thrust his beliefs on him. He engaged him about his show and then simply shared what was important to him.
Be nice, and sane.
Make direct eye contact. This is a deeply personal contact, that makes one vulnerable, and it made an impression on Penn.

Rather than being offended, or labeling the man as a “religious nut,” Penn comes away from the encounter with a positive view --

“This guy was a really good guy… and he cared enough about me to proselytize and give me a Bible”

– with a note and several ways to contact the giver.

Penn says that “I know there is no God, and one polite person living his life right doesn’t change that.” But one polite person does make a difference, by simply sharing something that is important on his own journey. In the simple interaction Penn discerned the man’s goodness – and “with that kind of goodness it is ok to have that deep a disagreement.”

So what do you think? Is Penn’s reaction atypical, or is he on to something? Should we look at opportunities to share our story and our faith as something less scary, and more life-giving?

Tweet, tweet

2008-12-12T17:22:00.006-05:00

At my day job, we're looking at what the rapidly evolving communications technologies mean for building community with younger church members and their peers, many of whom believe church/religion to be unconnected with and irrelevant to their lives.

Mark, a pastor in NC, observes the disconnect with younger people and wonders, "could it be that in holding on so tightly to the past, we are letting the future slip away from us?" His great post, "Can the Church catch up?" notes that the church has spent much of the last 200 years, during which we have gone from Charles Babbage's concept of a computer to ubiquitous handhelds, resisting the change exploding in human history. (We've gone from being earthbound to space travel, horses to jets, carrier pigeon to Twitter, while our hymnals have a lot of songs more than 200 years old.)

It's time that we catch on to the revolutions in connecting people that are taking place every year or so. I just hope we realize that we have to change our message and our style of communicating, not just the channel.

It's not just that printed newsletters work for almost no one, and email doesn't work for anyone under 25 anymore. We're used to sending out messages, while people are becoming more and more used to engaging in conversations. This means that a lot has to change.

In his book Tribes, marketing guru Seth Godin notes that the ad model that I grew up with, which interrupted us while watching TV, listening to radio or reading newspapers (remember them?) with ads we didn't ask for, is quickly dying. No major consumer brand has launched with that as its main strategy in the last decade, he says. Instead brands, especially Internet brands, are earning the loyalty of key fans who participate in and expand the company's sphere of influence.

The danger is trying to move old style interruption communications into the twittersphere. Young people may get status updates, invitations, news and weather by text message, but its wrong to think that we can just send the same old announcements and insider messages by SMS to any but those who are already loyal fans. The digital native generations may be less protective of their contact info -- when I first got a cell I limited who knew the number to avoid dreaded overage charges, now teens ask for texts in their facebook status messages -- but it is far easier to text "OFF" or click "ignore" than it is to throw away junk mail.

Getting into these new communications channels requires restraint and wisdom. We need to be thinking about how to equip those who are already linked-in with us to include their friends, share relevant info, offer events, etc. And we need to think how we can communicate more transparently, to acknowledge questions and doubts, to point out useful info and events even when they are not ours, to really communicate and not hide behind institution-speak. Perhaps more importantly, we will have to discipline ourselves to listen in these new communities before we speak.

From my sampling of the growing body of work on non-profit use of social media, it's clear that the church needs to be in this space. As Ed Stetzer says, "it is better to be connected using social media, recognizing the limitations, than to be disconnected." There are ways to do good: We can ask questions (as long as we listen to the answers), connect people with kindreds and with Christ, and generate energy around causes and ministries that solve problems. We can share perspectives from inside and outside the church. The key is putting attention on building community. We already have experiments with "social networks," and we have found that they languish without a champion who facilitates and expands the conversation.

But it is also wise to know what not to do. Having a blog, a Facebook account or a Twitter ID doesn't give you automatic access to people. As NP tech advocate Beth Kanter writes, the top of the list of the signs you're not ready to engage people on Twitter is:

You think Twitter is a bull horn and is a great way to broadcast campaign messaging from a Twitter account that is branded with your logo.

I think its going to be fun building new networks. I just have to remember that everything I learn is obsolete as soon as I learn it. :)

unchanging

2008-12-12T07:29:00.003-05:00

Immutable -- adjective -- unchanging over time or unable to be changed.

Its comforting to think that there is something constant in our world of change and uncertainty. As we watch new political possibilities open up only to be swallowed whole by economic turmoil that seems to defy our predictions and strategies, it is comforting to cling to St. Theresas prayer: "Let nothing disturb you, nothing distress you. All things fade away. God is unchanging."

It's possible, though, to let this idea of constancy become a prison of its own -- for us or for God. Some use this concept to freeze God into a place that is safe for them, to insist that this interpretation or that doctrine is unable to be changed. For others, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" (Heb. 13:8) becomes a way to insist that Christ is locked in history at a safe distance from us, and would have nothing new or specific to say to us, here and now.

God's immutability is real. God is and always be who God has been: Creative. Gracious and merciful. Powerful. Slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. We can be confident that God is not like the weather, stock market, or the political winds, that seem to lurch to and fro in reaction to new conditions, nor is God like so many of the people we deal with daily -- like us! -- who move easily from support to self-absorption, from generosity to manipulation.

We can trust who God is, and know that God always deals with us where we are, as we are, right now. Things seem uncertain and fearful and new to us, but God knows them and walks with us through the apprehension and terror and novelty of it all. It's very comforting to know that *that* doesn't change.

Actions speak louder than words

2008-12-04T06:43:00.001-05:00

Matthew 7:21, 24-27

"Do, or do not. There is no try." (Yoda)

Faith has to be lived, not just thought about.

Feeding work

2008-12-03T13:29:00.000-05:00

Matthew 15:29-37

Isn’t it interesting who provides the bread, who gives the blessing, and who feeds the people?

Pondering Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T10:00:00.003-05:00

A confession: I am as likely to focus on what I lack or what I miss as on what I have. Living in a spirit of Thanksgiving is hard for me. So today I am grateful that we take out a day to at regularlize the idea of gratitude.

I am blessed in many ways. I have a very cool wife, good and creative kids, a job in the midst of this recession, my mortgage is not under water, a love for writing/reading/learning, enough technology to drive me crazy, a supportive church community, the opportunity to do interesting ministry with good friends and fellow travelers, enough time and money to help out agencies doing good work (in the neighborhood and around the world). Mostly I'm thankful for a God who showers grace upon my sorry disposition (see below). And that's not the half of it. So there, I've said it, for the record. Now feel free to remind me of this list when I am having a hard time being thankful!

Some interesting perspectives out there today that I need to share:

Seth Godin celebrates Thanksgiving, writing that, "For me, the holiday celebrates people who contribute with no expectation of anything in return." He urges his readers to live generously, to go out of their way for people who can't pay them back. Why?

I hope the answer is obvious. It is to me. The benefit is in the fact that they can't pay you back. The opportunity to instruct or assist when you can gain nothing in return is priceless. It creates meaning and momentum and structure.

Hmmm. I believe I've heard that thought before...

John O'Hara (HT: Emergent Village) riffs on grace -- the whole reason for Thanksgiving.

Grace is classically defined as unearned favor. I’m beginning to realize that this, or any attempt at definition is far from adequate. And that’s because grace isn’t really grace until the hot glow of her presence has fallen on your own sorry disposition.

Brian McLaren offers some commentary on the classic Thanksgiving hymn, "We Gather Together..."

Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining, ordaining, maintaining his kingdom divine; so from the beginning the fight we were winning: thou, Lord, wast at our side: all glory be thine!

What a beautiful thought, especially on the edge of the Advent season … God with us joining. Since God has joined with us, since God has inaugurated God’s peaceable kingdom, good can’t ultimately lose and evil can’t ultimately win. God has been with us, whatever we have experienced. Thanks be to God!

My favorite observation comes from my neighbor (relatively speaking), Todd Hiestand:

Stop reading my blog and hang out with your family.

2008-11-17T14:17:00.002-05:00

Luther is supposed to have said that the wallet was the third conversion, after mind and heart. (From Out of UR)

Enterprise zones for the church

2008-11-15T17:12:00.009-05:00

The states and federal government have used the concept of "enterprise zones" to encourage investment in blighted areas to create jobs and stimulate the economy. The concept works differently in different places, but the general idea is that there are tax incentives to locate businesses in these depressed areas. By giving on some of its normal expectations of businesses, the zones can achieve economic goals that couldn't be met under the normal rules. The special rules only apply to special areas designated as enterprise zones. The rules don't change for the rest of city or state, and businesses that aren't contributing to the specific goals of the zone don't expect a similar tax cut.

A similar concept of church enterprise zones might be a way forward for mainline denominational structures, which (as we discussed yesterday based on Kelly Fryer's thoughts) can cling to conformity when faced with the challenges of a rapidly changing frontier rather than digging deep for faithful innovation.

In his marvelous little book "Tribes," which is a must-read for church leaders who want to challenge the status quo, marketing guru Seth Godin has an apt description that can apply to oldline businesses, charitable and educational institutions, government and the church: "Stuck."

“Some tribes are stuck. They embrace the status quo and drown out any tribe member who dares to question authority and the established order.” (5)

Here Seth gives voice to many younger, emerging church leaders, as well as veterans who are tiring of the status quo and feel called to explore new answers for changing times.

I observe that the ELCA tends to want to birth “new things” within existing models. Communities that are struggling to raise up leadership have to deal with a system in which leaders must vetted, appointed and educated according to a standard pattern. Grassroots communities, or groups that may always be organically small, don’t have easy access to a planting system based on achieving self-sufficiency (we don’t even know what this means in new models yet!) as quickly as possible.

Of course, this makes sense from the institution's point of view. Redefining a part of a system -- such as "pastor" or "congregation" -- implies that the rules are changed for everyone, which could lead to freedom or to chaos. The problem is that if what can be imagined and birthed can only look like what we already know, the possibilities for true creativity and innovation are eliminated. As the old saw goes, "Our system is perfectly calibrated to achieve the results we are already getting."

The results we are already getting are in many cases disappointing. While the mainline church-as-we-know-it works well for many people in many places, the general long-running decline of the mainline churches and the relative absence of post-confirmation youth and young adults indicates that all is not well. In the case of these lost generations, and in the growing number of post-modern people of all ages (it's not a generation but a way of looking at the world), there's a good case to be made that some enterprise zones, spaces where new church could emerge connected with but not in conformity with the denomination and tradition, could help the churches tap into what the Spirit is doing among these populations.

This could be as simple as authorizing “sandboxes” where experiments can run firewalled off from the existing church, much as software developers often run new or potentially malicious programs in a virtual environment where they cannot crash the underlying operating system. These experiments could be set up so that there would be a path into the recognized church if they succeed, by moving toward changes in rules and procedures based on the signs of the Spirit recognized in these new communities. If they fail, we'll have at least learned something. Or if the denomination and community don’t agree on moving ahead, it could be agreed ahead of time that the group would simply cease to exist, or spin off as an independent church.

Such pilot projects provide a way forward for denominations that are “stuck” without creating the risk of massive destabilization or fracture. By being self-contained, the experiments are less threatening to the existing institution than different new “churches” that suggest a new model for others. Of course, experiments do suggest new models, but providing an enterprise zone allows them to take risk and grow without directly threatening the status quo. The new models can later be absorbed into the mainstream once they are proven, rather than stamped out before they are tried because they are risky or misunderstood.

These enterprise zones tap into the latent potential Godin sees in such mired systems:

“Every one of those (stuck) tribes, though, is a movement waiting to happen, a group of people just waiting to be energized and transformed.” (5)

By releasing the energy of leaders and communities who want to experiment, their energy can be harnessed to release even more innovation and renewal across the institution!

Creativity crisis?

2008-11-14T10:09:00.002-05:00

Wandering through Kelly Fryer's sites the other day I found an insightful article digging around under the drive for conformity in the ELCA and many mainline churches. You can see it in the endless conversations about sexuality (Is anyone listening to them any more?) which put off change -- or even a decision -- until everyone can agree (or at least a supermajority can impose its will). But you also see it in our discussions -- or lack of discussions -- about What is the church? How do we organize for mission? What does ministry look like post-Christendom?

Kelly notes that its natural for threatened people and organizations to look for confirmity in the name of unity. The US did it after 9/11. And the mainline is under attack. We're declining, our message isn't connecting, we've lost the ear of the culture (and even some of our own members) to evangelicals and what Brian McLaren calls "radio orthodoxy."

It's natural to want to get everyone on the same page, to build an illusion of strength amidst the chaos. But it's wrong. It's an example of what Seth Godin would call the fallacy of going after "most people." Most people in the US rarely if ever go to church. Most people who go to church are not Lutherans or even mainliners. Most people want to be accepted in their diversity, not forced into confirmity. And this leads to the problem. Trying for comformity in this atmosphere leads to a church that tries to play it safe, and most people can do that on their own. The few who want to believe something and take a stand don't want to, or can't, conform.

I don't know when Kelly wrote this article, but it was before the global financial system melted down. The tendency to turn in, protect and bureaucratize that she describes is only going to get worse as money gets tighter, giving goes down, bills go up. Which makes her even more right that this conformity impulse is the wrong response for these times:

It is, I think, a natural impulse to pull in the reigns or slam on the brakes when you feel threatened. And I can't even blame all the people at every level of the denominational institution & within our congregations who end up doing this. But it is exactly the WRONG thing to do. What we need more than ever in the mainline is the freedom to experiment, the permission to make gigantic messes trying new things, and the encouragement to respond to each new context with open minds and creative spirits. We need flexibility, not conformity. We need innovation, not institutionalized sameness. We need faith enough to risk going in directions we've never gone before - even multiple directions at the same time! - not a fear-based clamp down on anything and everyone new. (emphasis added)

We're running a corporation with no research and development department. There are no new products in the pipeline (don't blow a gasket, I don't mean we need new religions, but we aren't doing so well re-casting the Gospel in our changing contexts). When the product that you have isn't selling, the answer isn't to make more of it. Just ask the auto manufacturers. And there is no bailout rescue plan for us.

Imagine if we let go of the natural desire for conformity and ran some experiments. What if we released some people to try new ideas and models to see if they can thrive and even co-exist along side (not in or under) the predominant model? What if we could look at other ways of being church not as threats to our own beliefs and preferences but as just other ways of doing the same work together with different people? The conformity model says we're weakening and these emerging ideas would weaken us. I think it would make us all stronger, and better.

Sustainable mission?

2008-11-08T15:42:00.004-05:00

David Fitch has an insightful post on sustaining missional ministries in the midst of the fiscal meltdown we're seeing. These times are tough on all churches. Small, organic communities, those trying to do mission without walls and with different models of leadership, are pressured as well. Our community, for example, is making do without the overhead of a building or even a permanent space, and leadership is volunteer at this point. Even that can be precarious, as the pressures of the economy build on people's work and family lives and affect their commitment to the ministry.

It's especially a challenge for communities that are looking to make a difference in their host communities. One of our values is to give most of our money away, not to put most into mortgage/utilities/salaries as we did in previous churches. I feel good about giving much more to actual causes -- to feed the hungry, help the poor, etc. -- that I ever did in a brick-and-mortar church. But there is a tension between maintaining this capacity to be generous to those in need, which is a greater need than ever right now, and maintaining even minimal ministry expenses as the recession hits home and people's bills go up and pay goes down.

David thinks missional churches can be more easily sustained than the brick-and-mortar/corporate variety in these times for three reasons, which I mostly agree with.

1) Keep building expenses minimal -- We are doing this by borrowing/renting as needed, and using homes much of the time. He suggests that reusing closed church buildings is an option, though heating and utility costs can still be significant (assuming someone gives you access to the building and doesn't want to sell it to you). One solution would be to turn such a building into a community center, social service agency or even a commercial space that can be partially used by a missional community.

2) Have multiple bi-vocational leaders -- It is good to have multiple bi-vocational pastors if you can find them. In our case we have leaders with different gifts volunteering outside their full-time jobs. This can be difficult when one of us travels or is in a crunch time, but we are working at sharing leadership better. He's right on when he says that one leader can't do this alone!

3) Build economically viable communities and lower costs by free-cycling, sharing meals, child care, etc. -- This is a challenge in suburbia, where people are spread out and used to doing their own things. But that in itself is an opportunity.

One of the unexpected blessings of this period will be that many of us will have to readjust our expectations and plan a more sustainable lifestyle. Some will learn to do with less, others will have to do with much less while they pay off significant debts. Free-cycling and sharing some items/services will happen, but I don't see major moves toward living in community, ride sharing, etc. given our individualism, work schedules, etc.

However, perhaps this downturn will help us to focus on what is really important. If we can work hard to get a house and all of a sudden be upside-down, if we can strive for a 401(k) and it can nearly vanish in a couple of months, maybe we will learn to put less stock in these fleeting treasures and focus on the kingdom of God, where God's mercy and acceptance can't be consumed by irrational exuberance, greed or bad luck. Here's where missional communities can make a contribution by holding up the possibility of another, deeper way.

Shrewd dealings?

2008-11-08T15:17:00.002-05:00

We puzzled over the parable of the dishonest manager (Luke 16:1-8) on our community's blog this week. One analysis of the text that I looked at riffed on the master's commendation of the manager's shrewd and ethically challenged actions and wondered if the church could learn from the ways of the world.

I didn't think much of this question, until I saw this video below. It's so funny it's sad. One thing is clear...there is a lot the church should not teach the "real" world.

Enjoy!

Yes WE did!

2008-11-05T09:15:00.002-05:00

I was just 10 years old when America’s cities started to burn. In 1968, when downtown after downtown erupted in violence following the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., my family lived just across the city line from Philadelphia. There was concern and real fear that chaos would ensue and envelop our community. The anxiety was rooted in the same issue that caused the riots, that motivated Dr. King and that created the conditions he fought against – race.

So my eyes teared up last night when Barack Obama took the stage last night as President-Elect of the United States. The emotion did not spring from naïve hope that racism is defeated. If anything, this campaign has showed that racism and xenophobia continue to plague us – perhaps quieter and less socially acceptable, but still forces to be dealt with. No, the tears came from the fact that we could, as a nation, look those forces in the face and choose not to be driven by them. That is the hope that we need.

I cannot begin to imagine the emotion that John Lewis, Jesse Jackson and other veterans of the civil rights movement must feel, going in one lifetime from being subject to Jim Crow to seeing an African-American elected by a commanding margin to the highest office in the land. As a white male who observed some of these struggles, and who wrestles with the subtle racism still embedded in parts of our culture and in myself, I am moved by how far we have come, and hopeful that this election can help us go the distance we still need to go.

I have been impressed with Barack Obama since I saw him speak at a rally in Levittown during the April primary. I was drawn then to the quiet, steady courage that he displayed during the entire campaign, even through the financial meltdown that drove investors, politicians and citizens alike into reactive spasms of panic. I saw in him then, and see even more now, that he gets the changes in the world that require consensus building instead of unilateral bullying, that call for responsible sacrifice and sustainability over opportunism, that demand that we work for the common good rather than hope goods trickle down to the commoners.

This is a kairos moment in our planet’s history. Our problems – environmental, economic, and political – can only be solved by recognizing that we are all in this together, that the sides of the aisles and the ends of the earth are inextricably bound together. Our greatness as a nation depends on our ability to release and nourish the potential of all of our citizens, not just the privileged and powerful. Barack Obama seems poised to move us in that direction.

I was impressed by his common-sense appeal to shared responsibility, that if we all sacrifice and all work hard we can make a better nation and a better world. The last 30 years have been marked by policies that have discouraged Americans from engaging in making a better world. Let us run the country and the economy, the rich and powerful have said. You keep working hard (and harder, and harder) and we’ll make sure the benefits flow down to you. After 9/11, this philosophy reached its absurd conclusion – taking on adventurous wars while asking those given the most to sacrifice less. This led not to real prosperity but to a disastrous economic meltdown that threatens most families and our national security.

I saw in April, and continued to see last night, that despite his barrier-breaking achivement, Barack Obama was not a “black” candidate and will not be an “African-American” president. He has both made promises to and challenged all Americans – rich, middle class, and poor. His hope is of an America that is fairer, more just, and a better citizen of the world – core values that have been driven underground by our fear in the last few years. With roots in both Kenya and Kansas, he is not “one of them” but “one of us.”

Obamakin

2008-11-04T19:01:00.001-05:00

What's in the front of your mind?

2008-10-24T11:06:00.001-04:00

Luke 12:54-59

Today a lot of eyes are turned on tomorrow’s weather. Will the first World Series game in Philadelphia in 15 years be rained out? What will happen to schedules if the game is postponed? Can the forecast — near 100% chance of rain — be trusted?

Eyes are also turned to the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Will the “cratering” across Asia and Europe continue here? What does this mean for our mortgages, our credit, our retirements?

We are a people who are very skilled at reading the signs of the weather and the economy — well, at attempting to read these signs, just like the people of Jesus’ day were. Sadly, we really just distract ourselves with things that don’t matter? Who’ll remember a rain delay by next year (except for the commentators who will trot it out as another time-filling statistic)? Whether the Phillies win or lose, what will be different for us the day after the last game? Knowing stocks are likely to tank, what can we really do about it?

Jesus’ audience is good at reading the weather (though how they do this without a 24-hour weather channel is beyond me), but they’re missing what is really going on in their times. They are paying attention to the wrong things…or, more correctly, not enough attention to the right things. Jesus’ presence among them, teaching and healing, proves that he isn’t just another rabbi. Yet they don’t perceive that this is one of those moments when things don’t just change a little, they really *change!*

We may be in one of those times now…a time when we have to examine our fundamental assumptions about our economy, what the “good life” really is, what our dreams and aspirations can be. People are already looking at those assumptions, deciding which ones really apply any more. The question will be, are we looking at the economic and political weather, scratching the surface of our hopes and values, or will we look deeply at what God might be doing behind these events?

The good news is that we don’t need special knowledge or insight, or inside info or special tools, to discern what is happening around us. As the Message says, “You don’t have to be a genius to understand these things. Just use your common sense…”

More simply, “pay attention!” The real change in the season right now isn’t the election, the Dow, or even the Series. It’s what God is doing right now in and around you. Are you paying more attention to that than the events that are swirling around us?

Generosity in uncertain times

2008-10-15T22:56:00.006-04:00

An older gentleman shuffled his shopping cart to where our church was collecting food for the local food pantry. Very deliberately he placed two cans on the table. Then he paused, and took a full grocery bag out of the cart and left that on the table.

"I might as well be generous," he said to me as he guided the cart toward the parking lot. "I may need the food pantry myself before too long."

"The pantry is there for you if you need it," I told him.

He stopped to explain how he's struggling to manage food, heat, and medicine costs on $900 a month in Social Security. "I may need you before long," he said again.

With a plummeting stock market and governments' increasingly aggressive bailouts of bankers and financiers grabbing the headlines, its easy to forget that there are so many, like the food pantry's unlikely benefactor, for whom the struggle has been going on, and will continue no matter what the Dow does.

A couple of days later, an NPR story featured a couple who had bought a business, financing it on credit cards, not long before the real estate bubble burst. Now struggling to buy inventory, they were making do with an on-the-fritz washing machine and borrowing a car to replace one they couldn't afford to repair. Among the items on their "used-to-do" list: giving to charity.

It's interesting how many of us who never thought poverty was a possibility for us -- at least until now -- have to learn what people who live near that margin take for granted: That we need to make sure there is a safety net, because we might need it ourselves.

The food pantries and feeding programs in my area, a relatively wealthy suburb of Philadelphia, are all experiencing a spike in demand and, if our current tumble into recession continues, the need will only get worse. Already, pantry volunteers report a surge of newly homeless clients and many, including working moms and the elderly, who never thought they would need to rely on such a program.

At the same time, donations are drying up and managers worry about "donor fatigue." Rather than picking up extra items for the pantry, people seem to be cleaning out the old and unneeded from their cupboards. On a recent pantry shift, I was overjoyed to receive a huge box of donated pasta and rice. But as I went to stock the shelves, I found that nearly every package in the box was three to five years out of date.

As people of faith we are called to share our first fruits, not our leftovers, with God's work -- which includes feeding and clothing the poor, caring for the sick and prisoners, as well as the institutional church. Yet as the economy worsens many charities find that assistance to groups that serve the poor and marginalized are among the first places people tighten their belts. This trend will continue, because people of faith and those committed to social justice have not been immune from the debt-fueled overconsumption that has brought the economy to the tipping point. Indeed, middle class workers have been squeezed by policies that shift the risk for health care, retirement and other "benefits" to them.

How can people of faith maintain a capacity to be generous, to help those who are in desperate need, in the midst of our current belt-tightening, spending freezes, and the reimagination of "the good life" that is now beginning? In a great article called "Preparing the Middle Class For Life in Uncertain Times," Tom Sine and Penny Carouthers of Mustard Seed Associates suggest that managing our vulnerability to the vagaries of the economy by reducing debt and consuming wisely is a good start. But that can be difficult when it's getting harder and harder to buy milk for the kids and gas the car for the commute to the job you hope you still have.

It can help to stay in touch with the fact that, even if you are struggling, it feels good to help. One of our people at the food collection booth that day said, "You know it feels good to take the money I would have given to church to buy food to donate." Being part of a faith group putting belief into action made him feel like a better person, he said.

He raised a real challenge, though. Note he said he used money he once would have given to church. As leaders, we are challenged to figure out how churches can be leaner and require less fuel and energy, less of our people's money and time, so that they can retain their capacity to give.

It also helps to keep perspective. Those on the margins, I have learned, have a sense of generosity that ought to shame many of us with many more resources. We can learn a lot from the man I encountered at another of these food drives many months ago.

I approached him with a request for a donation, and he told me that he had just been to the pantry, and he was just stopping in for milk. I wished him a good day and he entered the store.

A few minutes he came out and quietly handed me a bag containing a single bottle of shampoo.

"I was just at the pantry," he said. "There was a lady there who asked for some shampoo, and they said they didn't have any. I want to make sure there is some if she comes back."

If you want to know how to stay generous while your 401(k) vanishes and your retirement moves farther away, listen to those who already experience that reality. You may need their wisdom...and the services they depend on... yourself someday (soon).

My God's bigger than your god?

2008-10-13T08:38:00.003-04:00

Wonder why so many people see Christians as intolerant and hateful? Exhibit A: Pastor Arnold Conrad before a McCain rally Saturday:

I also would also pray, Lord, that your reputation is involved in all that happens between now and November, because there are millions of people around this world praying to their god--whether it's Hindu, Buddha, Allah--that his opponent wins, for a variety of reasons. And Lord, I pray that you will guard your own reputation, because they're going to think that their God is bigger than you, if that happens. So I pray that you will step forward and honor your own name with all that happens between now and election day."

(I'm not making this up -- audio at the link.)

I am, sadly, not shocked that a "Christian" would use God to incite fear and anxiety about another Christian. This is a more obviously religious take on Gov. Palin's coded claim that their opponent "doesn't see America the way we do." Clearly this prayer suggests that Sen. Obama is in league with terrorists and infidels. It's also a not-so-veiled call for divine retribution upon unspecified others, who by virtue of not sharing the American religion obviously have nefarious interests at heart. (Somehow, I doubt that Osama bin Laden is praying for either of our candidates.)

There is so much wrong with such religious intolerance. Let's look at a couple points.

Jesus is clear that it's not religious labels and externals that make a person good. "But he said to them, ‘My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.’" (Luke 8:21) The requirements of God -- mercy, justice, humility (Michah 6:8) -- are met in many cultures and religious traditions. Consider Ghandi, the witness of the Dalai Lama, the Muslims and Jews who reach across the Wall to seek peace and understanding. At the very least we are to see the similarities among traditions instead of only fearing the differences.
God is really not as insecure as Pastor Conrad needs God to be. Were that true, God might have been a little more concerned about his reputation instead of eating with riff-raff and unclean outsiders, annoying the high priests and being executed as a terrorist. A God who takes on humanity, who empties himself of privilege and accepts death on a cross to reach out to those who killed him, surely has a very different kind of reputation in mind.
Jesus' strongest complaints were not aimed at "others" but at those in his own religious tradition who were so sure they were right that they refused to even consider the evidence of another way that walked and taught and healed right in front of them.

Sen. McCain needs to condemn this kind of prayer at one of his rallies much more strongly than the carefully worded, Bill Clintonesque "distancing" statement released by the campaign.

Global perspective on the bailout

2008-10-11T16:30:00.002-04:00

What would $700 billion do in the global fight against poverty? Thoughts from an Oxfam researcher:

· Would clear the accumulated debt of the 49 poorest countries in the world ($375bn) twice over
· Is almost 5 times the annual amount of extra aid needed to achieve all the Millennium Development Goals on poverty, health, education etc ($150bn a year)
· Is about 7 years of current global aid levels ($104bn in 2007)
· Is enough to eradicate all world poverty for over two years (UNDP calculates it would take $300bn to get the entire world population over the $1 a day poverty line).

On the other hand, he notes that the rescue package is 1/4 the to-date cost of the Iraq war and half of annual global military spending. (HT: Brother Maynard)

Digging further, a World Bank economist notes that while the African banking system is relatively immune from the domino effect of the banking crisis, if the recession reverses the increasing flows of capital into Africa, growth and poverty reduction programs could be hurt and millions of lives could be at risk.

How dare you?

2008-10-05T18:14:00.002-04:00

A great comment on the Bush-Cheney culture of indisputability, which looks to be more of the same with McCain-Palin.

A moral crisis

2008-10-04T14:10:00.004-04:00

In a post called "Blaming Wall Street Is Too Easy," Chris makes the excellent point that Wall Street and Main Street share blame for the fiscal mess we're in. "You see, we Americans like to spend money. We don't like to cut back," he writes. "The word sacrifice is something we want our war hero politicians to have, but nothing that we want to touch ourselves with a ten foot pole."

We don't even want to sacrifice for war these days. When my dad fought in the South Pacific in WWII, the whole nation was in on it -- sending sons and husbands to war, doing without gas, and cars, and some necessities, not just luxuries. Today we give the rich tax breaks during wartime, and far fewer families feel the effects of the conflict.

Chris goes on to talk about how we can cut back on expenses and luxuries and, working from the grass roots up, lead our "leaders" to make better economic decisions. I applaud this, but it seems a very middle class solution. I can exercise restraint. I can eat out less, and I could cancel cable (TV, but they'll have to pry my internet out of my cold, dead hands). I'm already driving old, paid-for cars, and I use shoes and clothes as long as I can.

But I wonder. What about the poor? What about those who are already just getting by? What about those whose lack of access to education and capital made their pre-meltdown future look pretty bleak?

As seen on TV at the Biden-Palin debate, both parties are falling all over themselves to identify with regular folks. While they rightly blast Wall Street greed, neither seem to recognize any limits that the rich or middle class might have to live under in order to have a just economy. Only the moderator mentioned the poor.

America has been seen for (and criticized for) how it takes care of those with the most when tough times hit. I think it says much more about who we really are, and how moral we are, to look at how we will care for those who are struggling the most.

Here's what I wrote on the comments section of Chris' blog. What do you think?

You make a good point, Chris, as far as it goes. Yes, there is a lot of blame to go around. Yes, I have probably benefited from what has been going on, even without a subprime mortgage or a credit card balance.

Cutting back cable, vacations and fancy chips may be a solution for the middle class (all praise be to us). But what about the people who already look at military service as their college savings plan, who have to sit at the kitchen table and figure out if they'll pay for food, medicine or heat, who can't get college loans (which are probably less of a good idea now, anyway)? In the midst of this plenty a lot of people have been hurting, and now they're really screwed.

It is a moral crisis, that goes beyond moderating the obvious greed of recent years (or, as you so charitably put it, expecting a lot for a little). If God has truly given us enough for all, if we really believe in sufficiency rather than scarcity, then we need make sure everyone gets enough. And that's another area where we're going to have to lead house by house, neighborhood by neighborhood.