As I begin my fall at Gannon University (my 20th year of teaching...YIKES!) and my time as Vicar of St. Mary's, Lawrence Park (my first appointment in a pastoral leadership position...ALSO YIKES!), I am surprisingly calm (in spite of the YIKES's!). Maybe it's my age. Next week I celebrate my 46th birthday - old enough to be taken seriously and not too old to be dismissed as passe - and the decades of experience in higher education, the five years in collegial ministry with a few churches in the Erie diocese, my personal experience in interpersonal relationship (is it possible that my wife and I have managed to maintain a healthy and productive marriage for a quarter of a century as of next June?!?). And perhaps it is all of these things combined that have allowed me a kind of gentle acceptance of how things have been, how they are, and how they may be in the future.
Granted, I've never been one to worry too much about things that are not under my control - though I haven't always been this way, and there are moments when I get a little panic. But as I get older, I find that life is much more about riding the waves, rather than dodging them (or creating them!). It's also the perspective that things are not obstacles to my projected path, but rather the path itself is not so unidirectional and linear. My wants and desires are should not be locked into my sights, and I should not be thrown when things shift in direction.
This freedom to respond to change is an embracing of the wonderful chaos which is God's creation - and try as we might, human beings are never going to fit God into neat patterns, behaviors, texts, or expectations. God will be God, and it is not for us to try to assess any kind of intentionality to the things that surprise, disappoint, jolt, or elude our own direction. Rather, it is the calm acceptance of things that brings about the greatest sense of satisfaction as well as the kindest response to perceived obstacles.
I know that it's cliche to say "let go and let God," but I still find great comfort in this phrase - a phrase that encourages personal growth and adaptablility, as well as a greater chance that the we will be embracing God's way, rather than imposing our own.
In some ways, the landmarks of this fall and the coming year are hardly landmarks at are. Sure they are a time for reflection on the paths that bring us to where we are; but they are also wonderful opportunities for us to wait in hopeful anticipation of what suprises God may have for us around the next bend in our path.
Peace!
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Monday, November 10, 2008
Post-Election Day Thoughts
As I watched the returns on the evening of November 4, I had one overwhelming feeling...pride. But I don't want anyone to think it was over the victory of one party over another (though anyone who knows me knows that I definitely lean in one direction). All parties and politicians make promises and appeal to motivational strategies in order to win elections. I am not naive enough to think that I or anyone else is above being manipulated.
What most impressed me was that our great nation was able to elect a person to the highest office in the land who just fifty years ago would not be able to eat at certain restaurant counters, or sit in certain seats on public transportation, or drink from certain water fountains, or use certain lavatories. Even if we had only elected Senator Obama with 50.000001% of the vote, it would be a testament to ourselves as a country that really does, by a majority, believe in equality, inclusiveness, opportunity.
It's a testament to ourselves to know that we are moving into a new era in the political experiment we call the United States. I cannot wait to see what else our great nation has in store for ourselves and the world.
What most impressed me was that our great nation was able to elect a person to the highest office in the land who just fifty years ago would not be able to eat at certain restaurant counters, or sit in certain seats on public transportation, or drink from certain water fountains, or use certain lavatories. Even if we had only elected Senator Obama with 50.000001% of the vote, it would be a testament to ourselves as a country that really does, by a majority, believe in equality, inclusiveness, opportunity.
It's a testament to ourselves to know that we are moving into a new era in the political experiment we call the United States. I cannot wait to see what else our great nation has in store for ourselves and the world.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Indaba Da Vida, Honey
This year, at the 2008 Lambeth Conference, Archbishop of Canterbury, +++Rowan Cantuar, employed a method of encouraging discussions that he identified as "indaba groups." Wikipedia gives us this definition:
An indaba is an important conference held by the izin Duna (principal men) of the Zulu and Xhosa peoples of South Africa. Such indabas may include only the izinDuna of a particular community or may be held with representatives of other communities. The term comes from a Zulu language word, meaning "business" or "matter"...
The term has found widespread use throughout Southern Africa and often simply means gathering or meeting. It is also used in the Scouting movement. The World Scouth Indaba was a gathering of Scout leaders. The Archbishop of Canterbury...announced, in in April 2008, a move away from plenary meetings voting on formal resolutions for bishops attending the 2008 Lambeth Conference. He introduced middle sized groups for discussion of larger issues, saying:
"We have given these the African name of indaba groups, groups where in traditional African culture, people get together to sort out the problems that affect them all, where everyone has a voice and where there is an attempt to find a common mind or a common story that everyone is able to tell when they go away from it. This is how we approached it. This is what we heard. This is where we arrived as we prayed and thought and talked together."
So, how did it work? Well, for some it was a careful way of avoiding hurtling accusations at one another and walking away without having to negotiate a response. For others, it prevented them from truly expressing themselves as they had been attacked for their positions in the past by those on the opposite side of the issue. For many, however, it was enabling, freeing, encouraging, acting as a kind of weir that allowed for emotion to pour over the embankment without causing hurt or damage either to themselves or others.
We can all learn from the experience - whether we employ +++Rowan's encouragement of voice and listening - or even just get to the same table with those who differ from us. The end is the same - contact, communication, and building of relationship, rather than dissolving those tendrils that connect us as human persons, co-sojourners on a difficult path.
Who do you need to indaba with today?
An indaba is an important conference held by the izin Duna (principal men) of the Zulu and Xhosa peoples of South Africa. Such indabas may include only the izinDuna of a particular community or may be held with representatives of other communities. The term comes from a Zulu language word, meaning "business" or "matter"...
The term has found widespread use throughout Southern Africa and often simply means gathering or meeting. It is also used in the Scouting movement. The World Scouth Indaba was a gathering of Scout leaders. The Archbishop of Canterbury...announced, in in April 2008, a move away from plenary meetings voting on formal resolutions for bishops attending the 2008 Lambeth Conference. He introduced middle sized groups for discussion of larger issues, saying:
"We have given these the African name of indaba groups, groups where in traditional African culture, people get together to sort out the problems that affect them all, where everyone has a voice and where there is an attempt to find a common mind or a common story that everyone is able to tell when they go away from it. This is how we approached it. This is what we heard. This is where we arrived as we prayed and thought and talked together."
So, how did it work? Well, for some it was a careful way of avoiding hurtling accusations at one another and walking away without having to negotiate a response. For others, it prevented them from truly expressing themselves as they had been attacked for their positions in the past by those on the opposite side of the issue. For many, however, it was enabling, freeing, encouraging, acting as a kind of weir that allowed for emotion to pour over the embankment without causing hurt or damage either to themselves or others.
We can all learn from the experience - whether we employ +++Rowan's encouragement of voice and listening - or even just get to the same table with those who differ from us. The end is the same - contact, communication, and building of relationship, rather than dissolving those tendrils that connect us as human persons, co-sojourners on a difficult path.
Who do you need to indaba with today?
Monday, August 18, 2008
Something Old, Something New...
With the advent of a new academic year, the ending of a long church year, the end of summer/beginning of fall, and the feeling of renewed energy and hope for the season to come, I've decided to revamp my old cathedral book club blog, and instead, create a place for reflection and comment on many different issues and experiences. I hope that it'll be a safe place for me to spell out my thoughts and feelings on many issues, as well as a safe place for others to confront, converse, and contradict some of my points of view. I look forward, not only to my own un-coveries, but also on how others may find ways to help me and them understand the world in which we find ourselves.
Here's to journeying into a new season of learning!
Here's to journeying into a new season of learning!
Saturday, August 11, 2007
ETHICS AFTER EASTER - Axioms 9 & 10
9. All people, whether they are Christian or not, can receive moral knowledge through the "general revelation" of the Book of Nature. This is not to say that all people will do so, or that they will choose to act on such knowledge. (Chapter 3)
10. Anglicans distinguish between moral knowledge, which is revealed to everyone through the Book of Nature, and saving knowledge, which is mediated through the "special revelation" of the Book of Scripture. Saving knowledge shapes life after baptism in such a way as to leave both continuity and discontinuity between the moral knowledge possessed by Christians and that of other people and traditions. (Chapter 4)
What separates us from other faith traditions? Holmgren points out that our initiation through the rite of baptism brings us into a specific understanding of living a life that stands in the light of God's creation and its distinction from living a life that is grounded in the pathway marked by Holy Scripture. He also acknowledges that the latter can be understood in a myriad of ways, depending on our understanding of how we interact with and live out holiness as modeled in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures.
At Bexley Hall Seminary in Rochester, NY, I had the opportunity to take a course in world religious traditions, and as part of our experience, we were invited to visit religious houses of worship as well as dialogue with other tradition leaders in our classroom. In ever case, from our visit to the Islamic Center to the Hindu Temple to our discussion with a Wiccan priestess, I was struck by the commonalities in tradition, shared beliefs that transcend our individual faiths. In all, there was sanctity of life, sensitivity to those who were oppressed, a desire to reach out to the poor and disenfranchised, and a keen appreciation of the works of the Creator. Perhaps these are the core of moral knowledge.
Beyond that, there is our own understanding of the New Covenant, as taught by Jesus Christ. Here we are called to a life of love, not just sympathy but empathy, not just of understanding the needs of others but also personally feeling what others are feeling. We are to love one another unconditionally, even to the point of self-sacrifice, emptying of ourselves of self-ness and adopting the example of Christ.
Holmgren outlines our ethical response in understanding first that all things are enabled in creation by God, our actions are mediated by the indwelling of Christ in our lives through our baptism, and the inspiration and motivation to live those ethical principles because of the breath of the Holy Spirit.
We are asked to consider what moral teachings from the Book of Nature and the Book of Scripture are most meaningful to us. We should also ask ourselves, "What aspects of moral teaching espoused by church and tradition have been the most damaging to our ability to interact with other faith traditions or even within our own faith of Christianity?"
10. Anglicans distinguish between moral knowledge, which is revealed to everyone through the Book of Nature, and saving knowledge, which is mediated through the "special revelation" of the Book of Scripture. Saving knowledge shapes life after baptism in such a way as to leave both continuity and discontinuity between the moral knowledge possessed by Christians and that of other people and traditions. (Chapter 4)
What separates us from other faith traditions? Holmgren points out that our initiation through the rite of baptism brings us into a specific understanding of living a life that stands in the light of God's creation and its distinction from living a life that is grounded in the pathway marked by Holy Scripture. He also acknowledges that the latter can be understood in a myriad of ways, depending on our understanding of how we interact with and live out holiness as modeled in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures.
At Bexley Hall Seminary in Rochester, NY, I had the opportunity to take a course in world religious traditions, and as part of our experience, we were invited to visit religious houses of worship as well as dialogue with other tradition leaders in our classroom. In ever case, from our visit to the Islamic Center to the Hindu Temple to our discussion with a Wiccan priestess, I was struck by the commonalities in tradition, shared beliefs that transcend our individual faiths. In all, there was sanctity of life, sensitivity to those who were oppressed, a desire to reach out to the poor and disenfranchised, and a keen appreciation of the works of the Creator. Perhaps these are the core of moral knowledge.
Beyond that, there is our own understanding of the New Covenant, as taught by Jesus Christ. Here we are called to a life of love, not just sympathy but empathy, not just of understanding the needs of others but also personally feeling what others are feeling. We are to love one another unconditionally, even to the point of self-sacrifice, emptying of ourselves of self-ness and adopting the example of Christ.
Holmgren outlines our ethical response in understanding first that all things are enabled in creation by God, our actions are mediated by the indwelling of Christ in our lives through our baptism, and the inspiration and motivation to live those ethical principles because of the breath of the Holy Spirit.
We are asked to consider what moral teachings from the Book of Nature and the Book of Scripture are most meaningful to us. We should also ask ourselves, "What aspects of moral teaching espoused by church and tradition have been the most damaging to our ability to interact with other faith traditions or even within our own faith of Christianity?"
Sunday, July 29, 2007
ETHICS AFTER EASTER - Axioms #5-8
5. Moral theology has two primary reference points: creation and scripture. Moral theology looks both to the world and our experience of life together within it, and to scripture and our tradition of reasoned reflection based upon it, as sources of moral principles. (Chapter 2)
6. Moral theology works in light of an understanding of the four principal phases of salvation history: creation, fall, redemption, and the end of all things in Christ. (Chapter 2)
7. In coming to agreement concerning the pattern of life that is worthy of the calling, Anglicans have looked for consensus. We have the greatest degree of assurance for what has been most widely received. (Chapter 2)
8. Anglicans have looked for consensus in several interrelated spheres: the praying community of the church throughout the world; the wider community of the Body of Christ through history; and the academic community, when its work is founded upon Christian principles. (Chapter 2)
Ay, there's the rub!
As Stephen Holmgren wisely points out, Anglicans do NOT have an "answer book," with all of the difficult questions of life neatly responded to in terms that transcend age and epoch, addressing all humanity in all of its infinite variety and wonderful creative design. In point of fact, the Anglican ethos has always been a kind of meditative reflection of the many ways that Christian ethics have expressed themselves from culture to culture.
Note: this is NOT moral relativism, which is commonly the accusation from the extreme right of society. There is not a desire to simply turn a blind eye, live and let live, "Anything Goes" mentality. We believe strongly in Hookers three-legged stool: we look to scripture, tradition, and reason.
Scripture captures the wonderful relation between humankind and its Creator God, and how that same Creator has reached out with the desire to save, to redeem, to reconcile humanity to God's own self. We read scripture, noting how the original authors were communicating to their original audience, yet also discerning what God is saying to the contemporary faithful. It isn't an easy thing, and is filled with discriminating points of view in translating and interpreting God's word.
And that word is seen through the light of tradition. Our tradition is not something to be swept away in an attempt to embrace modernity - or in our case, post-modernity. We recognize that those faithful who walked the path before us have much to share with us, in their extraordinary accomplishments, but also in their extraordinary failures where human frailty and brokenness caused them to miss the mark.
And we look at all of this through the intelligent and discerning minds that God has given us, using our powers of observation and discernment to look at scripture, to look at tradition, and to look at God's ongoing creation happening before our very eyes. To be Christian and moral is not to shun our God given abilities and intelligence to voluntarily remain ignorant of what God is showing us in science and technology. We are called to embrace ALL of it.
Still, we must always recognize the cultural barriers that remain obstacles to our ongoing church, community, and personal understandings of what God wants for us in a life lived to celebrate the wonders of creation and to offer thanksgiving for our being made a part of that creation. We must not label one another as archaic or radical in our use of God's gifts - for we are not all given the same gifts, as Paul reminds us, but are each given individual gifts and strengths to offer to the whole of the church.
We, as Anglicans and Episcopalians, are called ever to affirm this complexity in discernment of God's call to us to live a holy and blameless life. And we must always remember that we are not called to denigrate or shun anyone who doesn't live up to what we understand to be God's standards for living; rather, we are to reconcile each to one another and to Christ.
6. Moral theology works in light of an understanding of the four principal phases of salvation history: creation, fall, redemption, and the end of all things in Christ. (Chapter 2)
7. In coming to agreement concerning the pattern of life that is worthy of the calling, Anglicans have looked for consensus. We have the greatest degree of assurance for what has been most widely received. (Chapter 2)
8. Anglicans have looked for consensus in several interrelated spheres: the praying community of the church throughout the world; the wider community of the Body of Christ through history; and the academic community, when its work is founded upon Christian principles. (Chapter 2)
Ay, there's the rub!
As Stephen Holmgren wisely points out, Anglicans do NOT have an "answer book," with all of the difficult questions of life neatly responded to in terms that transcend age and epoch, addressing all humanity in all of its infinite variety and wonderful creative design. In point of fact, the Anglican ethos has always been a kind of meditative reflection of the many ways that Christian ethics have expressed themselves from culture to culture.
Note: this is NOT moral relativism, which is commonly the accusation from the extreme right of society. There is not a desire to simply turn a blind eye, live and let live, "Anything Goes" mentality. We believe strongly in Hookers three-legged stool: we look to scripture, tradition, and reason.
Scripture captures the wonderful relation between humankind and its Creator God, and how that same Creator has reached out with the desire to save, to redeem, to reconcile humanity to God's own self. We read scripture, noting how the original authors were communicating to their original audience, yet also discerning what God is saying to the contemporary faithful. It isn't an easy thing, and is filled with discriminating points of view in translating and interpreting God's word.
And that word is seen through the light of tradition. Our tradition is not something to be swept away in an attempt to embrace modernity - or in our case, post-modernity. We recognize that those faithful who walked the path before us have much to share with us, in their extraordinary accomplishments, but also in their extraordinary failures where human frailty and brokenness caused them to miss the mark.
And we look at all of this through the intelligent and discerning minds that God has given us, using our powers of observation and discernment to look at scripture, to look at tradition, and to look at God's ongoing creation happening before our very eyes. To be Christian and moral is not to shun our God given abilities and intelligence to voluntarily remain ignorant of what God is showing us in science and technology. We are called to embrace ALL of it.
Still, we must always recognize the cultural barriers that remain obstacles to our ongoing church, community, and personal understandings of what God wants for us in a life lived to celebrate the wonders of creation and to offer thanksgiving for our being made a part of that creation. We must not label one another as archaic or radical in our use of God's gifts - for we are not all given the same gifts, as Paul reminds us, but are each given individual gifts and strengths to offer to the whole of the church.
We, as Anglicans and Episcopalians, are called ever to affirm this complexity in discernment of God's call to us to live a holy and blameless life. And we must always remember that we are not called to denigrate or shun anyone who doesn't live up to what we understand to be God's standards for living; rather, we are to reconcile each to one another and to Christ.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
ETHICS AFTER EASTER - Axiom #3
Moral theology is not the same thing as, but is intimately related to, pastoral care. Moral theology begins with the consideration of generic principles; pastoral care begins with the consideration of a particular situation. (Chapter 1)
So why read a book on ethics and moral theology? As one parishioner notes, "This is just Episcopal propoganda!" And, given the fact that ETHICS AFTER EASTER is part of "The New Church's Teaching Series," it's not a completely invalid observation!
Still, we as a individual Christians and as members of a parish community recognize that we are called not only to thank God in our worship and liturgies, but also to do God's work in the world and reach out to others in need.
John 21.17 Jesus said to Peter the third time, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ And he said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep.'
"Feed my sheep," Christ commands Peter on the shore after the Resurrection, and we, in turn, respond to that call, for we are all called to pastors, "shepherds," of those both within and out of our beautiful churches. How we pastor those in need does require that we examine our call, look at those factors by which we reach out to our community, and assess our effectiveness and proper use of resources.
This is why pastoral response to the world is guided by our understanding of morality and ethics - it's not just an academic exercise, it is integral to our ongoing exploration of how we DO Christianity and not just BE Christians.
So why read a book on ethics and moral theology? As one parishioner notes, "This is just Episcopal propoganda!" And, given the fact that ETHICS AFTER EASTER is part of "The New Church's Teaching Series," it's not a completely invalid observation!
Still, we as a individual Christians and as members of a parish community recognize that we are called not only to thank God in our worship and liturgies, but also to do God's work in the world and reach out to others in need.
John 21.17 Jesus said to Peter the third time, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ And he said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep.'
"Feed my sheep," Christ commands Peter on the shore after the Resurrection, and we, in turn, respond to that call, for we are all called to pastors, "shepherds," of those both within and out of our beautiful churches. How we pastor those in need does require that we examine our call, look at those factors by which we reach out to our community, and assess our effectiveness and proper use of resources.
This is why pastoral response to the world is guided by our understanding of morality and ethics - it's not just an academic exercise, it is integral to our ongoing exploration of how we DO Christianity and not just BE Christians.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
ETHICS AFTER EASTER - Axiom #2
Moral theology is properly considered under the heading of sanctification, not justification. It is part of our walk from the font. Doing good will not save us; we do good because we have been saved. (Chapter 1)
We are always looking for justice, for recompense for wrongs done to us or rewards for our own right actions. Part of this comes from our own embedded-ness in a consumer economy and the entitlement mentality that is so pervasive in our culture. We want what is owed us, and we demand that others pay for their mistakes. But this entire point of view is not a part of the Christian response, which is based on selflessness, putting our focus on the needs and rewards of others, and being a servant of those who are less fortunate than us.
Paul's letter to the Romans is the holder of much of his core theology of justification. In it are many of the quotes from which this axiom derives:
"For ‘no human being will be justified in his sight’ by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin." Romans 3:20
"For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law." Romans 3:28
"...since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ..." Romans 5:1
"For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved." Romans 10:10
Our understanding of justification is not that of quid pro quo, but of God's grace. We are, therefore, sanctified, made holy, and express that sanctification in how we pronounce our belief in that salvation through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. We pronounce it in our baptismal covenant, we acclaim it in our worship and liturgy...AND we do live it in our lives and actions.
But our ACTIONS are a RESULT of our being saved, not PREREQUISITES for our salvation. This is one of the essential problems with many Christians who believe that they must DO in order to BE SAVED. On the other hand, it is also an axiom that has been appropriated by some who believe that they are saved and, therefore, their actions have NO IMPACT on their salvation.
We'll see more of these two sides addressed throughout Ethics After Easter. Which side do you tend to favor? How do you understand salvation?
We are always looking for justice, for recompense for wrongs done to us or rewards for our own right actions. Part of this comes from our own embedded-ness in a consumer economy and the entitlement mentality that is so pervasive in our culture. We want what is owed us, and we demand that others pay for their mistakes. But this entire point of view is not a part of the Christian response, which is based on selflessness, putting our focus on the needs and rewards of others, and being a servant of those who are less fortunate than us.
Paul's letter to the Romans is the holder of much of his core theology of justification. In it are many of the quotes from which this axiom derives:
"For ‘no human being will be justified in his sight’ by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin." Romans 3:20
"For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law." Romans 3:28
"...since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ..." Romans 5:1
"For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved." Romans 10:10
Our understanding of justification is not that of quid pro quo, but of God's grace. We are, therefore, sanctified, made holy, and express that sanctification in how we pronounce our belief in that salvation through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. We pronounce it in our baptismal covenant, we acclaim it in our worship and liturgy...AND we do live it in our lives and actions.
But our ACTIONS are a RESULT of our being saved, not PREREQUISITES for our salvation. This is one of the essential problems with many Christians who believe that they must DO in order to BE SAVED. On the other hand, it is also an axiom that has been appropriated by some who believe that they are saved and, therefore, their actions have NO IMPACT on their salvation.
We'll see more of these two sides addressed throughout Ethics After Easter. Which side do you tend to favor? How do you understand salvation?
Monday, July 09, 2007
ETHICS AFTER EASTER - Axiom #1
"Moral theology is about a life of holiness. After baptism we seek to walk "in holiness and righteousness all our days." In moral theology, we seek to describe and commend a life worthy of our calling." (Chapter 1)
Stephen Holmgren is flipping the customary viewpoint in this axiom. Rather than live a holy and righteous life in order that we might be saved, he suggests that we live a holy and righteous life because we have already been saved.
This stands in the cross current of many of our current debates on how we live our lives, even to the point that denominations like The Episcopal Church are finding it difficult to maintain common ground and structure. The root of the disagreement is in many ways what this axiom calls us to do individually and corporately.
I am saved by God's grace, freely given, in the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ. I am inspired by the Holy Spirit to receive that grace, and I cannot help but respond to that selfless love in offering the same to others. It seems so simple, and yet it is very natural for our human selves to be caught in the quid pro quo argument that seems to be as pervasive in our consumer driven economy as any other axiom. "Why would God simply SAVE me? Doesn't he demand something up front? What kind of business man is this God?!?"
Well, brothers and sisters, he is a business man who cashed in all of his savings and trust, laid it in the hands of his oppressors, and willingly went empty handed to the Cross, to prove to us first that he wasn't going to accept the quid pro quo arrangement any longer, and that he wanted us, too, to turn our backs on trying to negotiate with God for our salvation. It is given, it is offered, and it is free. And if we REALLY believe this, then we cannot help but respond with the same love toward others.
John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life." So simple that it's nigh impossible to live this first of Holmgren's axioms!
Stephen Holmgren is flipping the customary viewpoint in this axiom. Rather than live a holy and righteous life in order that we might be saved, he suggests that we live a holy and righteous life because we have already been saved.
This stands in the cross current of many of our current debates on how we live our lives, even to the point that denominations like The Episcopal Church are finding it difficult to maintain common ground and structure. The root of the disagreement is in many ways what this axiom calls us to do individually and corporately.
I am saved by God's grace, freely given, in the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ. I am inspired by the Holy Spirit to receive that grace, and I cannot help but respond to that selfless love in offering the same to others. It seems so simple, and yet it is very natural for our human selves to be caught in the quid pro quo argument that seems to be as pervasive in our consumer driven economy as any other axiom. "Why would God simply SAVE me? Doesn't he demand something up front? What kind of business man is this God?!?"
Well, brothers and sisters, he is a business man who cashed in all of his savings and trust, laid it in the hands of his oppressors, and willingly went empty handed to the Cross, to prove to us first that he wasn't going to accept the quid pro quo arrangement any longer, and that he wanted us, too, to turn our backs on trying to negotiate with God for our salvation. It is given, it is offered, and it is free. And if we REALLY believe this, then we cannot help but respond with the same love toward others.
John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life." So simple that it's nigh impossible to live this first of Holmgren's axioms!
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Leaving ++Katherine & A WING AND A PRAYER / Looking Forward to ETHICS AFTER EASTER
As we enter into the Easter season, we're moving on and leaving behind Presiding Bishop Katherine Schori's collection of sermons, A WING AND A PRAYER. We'll take a break for a few weeks while preparing ourselves for our Pentecost selection, which comes from The New Church's Teaching Series, Stephen Holmgren's ETHICS AFTER EASTER.
ETHICS AFTER EASTER, which has been used by the Diocese of Northwest Pennsylvania's School for Ministry, is a great way to examine how we are doing in living into our baptismal promises that we affirmed on Easter Sunday. Holmgren takes a very Anglican approach to ethics, not merely as a set of strict rules, but as a series of axioms that help guide us to make moral decisions, both as individuals and as bodies of Christ in the church.
For many of us who wrestle with issues of environment, equality, sexuality, capital punishment, abortion, and the like, Holmgren provides us with historical anecdotes and contemporary interpretations of how we might navigate the moral minefield in contemporary culture and continue to reconcile ourselves to Jesus Christ and one another, as our baptismal promise states.
Feel free to post any responses to these and other comments, as well as offer your own end-of-text reviews of A WING AND A PRAYER!
ETHICS AFTER EASTER, which has been used by the Diocese of Northwest Pennsylvania's School for Ministry, is a great way to examine how we are doing in living into our baptismal promises that we affirmed on Easter Sunday. Holmgren takes a very Anglican approach to ethics, not merely as a set of strict rules, but as a series of axioms that help guide us to make moral decisions, both as individuals and as bodies of Christ in the church.
For many of us who wrestle with issues of environment, equality, sexuality, capital punishment, abortion, and the like, Holmgren provides us with historical anecdotes and contemporary interpretations of how we might navigate the moral minefield in contemporary culture and continue to reconcile ourselves to Jesus Christ and one another, as our baptismal promise states.
Feel free to post any responses to these and other comments, as well as offer your own end-of-text reviews of A WING AND A PRAYER!
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
A WING AND A PRAYER "A New Thing"
Opportunities arise for all of us. How do we respond to people who disagree with us about war, or about the best course for our congregation? Do we hang on to a memory of how that person has bruised us, or do we love recklessly? How do we meet a stranger who asks for help? Do we see a person who might endanger us, or a person who needs something we can offer? - p. 109
Every day is a NEW day, and every relationship is a NEW relationship. While we are the sum total of our life experiences, and while identifying patterns and behaviors are valuable ways of navigating our way through the world, there is no reason not to allow that somehow God may be doing something new and unexpected at any given moment - even this present moment.
A few years back, I was walking home from work, twilight, warm early summer evening. In the distance was a guy staggering toward me, laughing, singing, and holding in his hand some kind of shiny, metal object. I thought to myself, "He's got a knife. How am I going to defend myself?" As he approached, he started calling out to me, "Hey! Lemme show you something!" My heart was pounding, and I tensed up and prepared for what I was sure was going to be a confrontation. As he got closer, I realized that he had in his hand a shiny new screwdriver. Out of an apartment building close by came a group of what must have been his buddies, singing, "Happy Birthday to You." He showed me his brand new screwdriver, his buddies laughed and said that they hoped I hadn't been accosted in any way. I wished him a happy birthday, and he said to me, "God bless you!"
I EXPECTED one thing, the worst, because I've seen one too many episodes of C.S.I. What I got, however, was a lesson from God that, while preparation for the worst might be necessary for survival, it's okay to expect the best, as well. What might look like danger may actually be blessing; it's just dependent upon the circumstances and the perspective. Katherine's sixth segment of her book, "Reckless Love: Living Faith with Abandon" is a great reminder that we can expect blessing in the midst of challenge, if we allow ourselves to do so.
Every day is a NEW day, and every relationship is a NEW relationship. While we are the sum total of our life experiences, and while identifying patterns and behaviors are valuable ways of navigating our way through the world, there is no reason not to allow that somehow God may be doing something new and unexpected at any given moment - even this present moment.
A few years back, I was walking home from work, twilight, warm early summer evening. In the distance was a guy staggering toward me, laughing, singing, and holding in his hand some kind of shiny, metal object. I thought to myself, "He's got a knife. How am I going to defend myself?" As he approached, he started calling out to me, "Hey! Lemme show you something!" My heart was pounding, and I tensed up and prepared for what I was sure was going to be a confrontation. As he got closer, I realized that he had in his hand a shiny new screwdriver. Out of an apartment building close by came a group of what must have been his buddies, singing, "Happy Birthday to You." He showed me his brand new screwdriver, his buddies laughed and said that they hoped I hadn't been accosted in any way. I wished him a happy birthday, and he said to me, "God bless you!"
I EXPECTED one thing, the worst, because I've seen one too many episodes of C.S.I. What I got, however, was a lesson from God that, while preparation for the worst might be necessary for survival, it's okay to expect the best, as well. What might look like danger may actually be blessing; it's just dependent upon the circumstances and the perspective. Katherine's sixth segment of her book, "Reckless Love: Living Faith with Abandon" is a great reminder that we can expect blessing in the midst of challenge, if we allow ourselves to do so.
Monday, April 02, 2007
A WING AND A PRAYER "The Secret Places of Your Heart"
Jesus' parables about the kingdom of God are about the great dream that God dreams for all creation. A piece of that dream is planted in each one of us. All those examples--the mustard seed that produces a tree shrub to house the birds, the bit of yeast that leavens enough dough for a hundered loaves of bread, the hidden treasure and the fine pearl that searchers are willing to give all to possess, and the fishnet that gathers in all kinds of fish--all those images are pointing to the ways in which God's dream gathers substance. - p. 103
I know that it's silly sometimes to dream of a perfect world, especially in light of the world that we face. We are constantly confronted with humanity's cruelty to one another and to nature. We are shocked at our own inability to maintain a loving and forgiving posture when confronted with the horrors of aggression. We feel that the forces of industry and commerce are so interwoven and complicated that even if we did come together to take steps to end warfare, to end poverty, to end pollution, that our measly attempts would be futile in light of the great powers that drive humanity to the brink of madness.
Yet as we begin Holy Week, we step into the series of remembrances that remind us of an incredible image worth emulating. A single person, a person with a dream, God incarnate who faces the powers of humanity's worst evils, and somehow takes that evil to the vortex of the Cross, and disipates that same evil, ending the cycle of vengeance and aggression, and providing us all with an opportunity to respond to that gift of love and forgiveness.
When you dream of the "perfect world," is it the same dream that Jesus Christ gave us in his teachings? Is it a world of love and forgiveness, where those who have little or nothing are suddenly given abundance, where anger and violence is met with peace and calm, where the powers that attempt to control our earthly existence are reminded that they are only temporary in the plan of God's creation? When you dream, is your dream one in which every person comes invited to the table of salvation, or is it one that only a select few of God's loved creatures are awarded access? Jesus' arms spread very wide on the Cross; why are our elbows clenched so closely together that there are many who are not invited into our embrace?
I know that it's silly sometimes to dream of a perfect world, especially in light of the world that we face. We are constantly confronted with humanity's cruelty to one another and to nature. We are shocked at our own inability to maintain a loving and forgiving posture when confronted with the horrors of aggression. We feel that the forces of industry and commerce are so interwoven and complicated that even if we did come together to take steps to end warfare, to end poverty, to end pollution, that our measly attempts would be futile in light of the great powers that drive humanity to the brink of madness.
Yet as we begin Holy Week, we step into the series of remembrances that remind us of an incredible image worth emulating. A single person, a person with a dream, God incarnate who faces the powers of humanity's worst evils, and somehow takes that evil to the vortex of the Cross, and disipates that same evil, ending the cycle of vengeance and aggression, and providing us all with an opportunity to respond to that gift of love and forgiveness.
When you dream of the "perfect world," is it the same dream that Jesus Christ gave us in his teachings? Is it a world of love and forgiveness, where those who have little or nothing are suddenly given abundance, where anger and violence is met with peace and calm, where the powers that attempt to control our earthly existence are reminded that they are only temporary in the plan of God's creation? When you dream, is your dream one in which every person comes invited to the table of salvation, or is it one that only a select few of God's loved creatures are awarded access? Jesus' arms spread very wide on the Cross; why are our elbows clenched so closely together that there are many who are not invited into our embrace?
Friday, March 30, 2007
A WING AND A PRAYER "Alternative Universe" & "Practicing Resurrection"
There is so much pain in this world, but what do we crazy Christians see? Promise. Alternative universes. Dreams and possibilities.... Saints are those crazy visionaries who say hello to death, and then greet what lies beyond it. Saints, however, are not so crazy that they fail to mourn the good part of God's creation that is gone in death. They do, and they shed tears abundant, and rail at God for making us mortal, but in the very scream they find God present with us, the God who suffers and dies with us, and points us to the new life that lies beyond. - p. 98
Practice resurrection. Live in open expectation of the new thing God is doing at all times and in all places. It means opening ourselves to that new thing, recognizing that the change it brings will cause some distress. But there is always more abundant life on the other side of the pain and grief that comes with change and growth. - p. 101
What is it about our egos that wants everything to be exactly as it was yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that? If there is are and certainties in this life, it's that each day is going to be different in some way than the day before, and that at, at some point, in spite of all of our efforts and protestations, our time on this sphere must come to an end. Inevitability of change and inevitability of the end of life are both part and parcel with our existence.
Christ shows us both of these in his life and in his teaching. He was constantly confronted with the temporary nature of daily life, with the ever changing circumstances that surrounded his life and ministry, with the vacillating devotion of his disciples and friends. He faced his impending and inevitable death, sometimes with fear and sometimes with force, but always with the recognition that it was inevitable.
If we can see beyond ourselves, and see that while we may not make a mark that will last beyond a generation or two, we are still active in participating in God's creation, helping to promote life and love on this wonderful planet, helping to teach acceptance and appreciation to our children and all others under our charge, helping one another to recognize that life is fragile and that every day brings us closer to that moment when we leave this plane of existence and enter into eternity with our creator.
Neither change nor death should be seen as less than wonderful moments in our existence, and we should embrace both as gifts of the life God gives us. If we did, we'd see each day and each moment as an opportunity to experience God at work in the world and in us.
Practice resurrection. Live in open expectation of the new thing God is doing at all times and in all places. It means opening ourselves to that new thing, recognizing that the change it brings will cause some distress. But there is always more abundant life on the other side of the pain and grief that comes with change and growth. - p. 101
What is it about our egos that wants everything to be exactly as it was yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that? If there is are and certainties in this life, it's that each day is going to be different in some way than the day before, and that at, at some point, in spite of all of our efforts and protestations, our time on this sphere must come to an end. Inevitability of change and inevitability of the end of life are both part and parcel with our existence.
Christ shows us both of these in his life and in his teaching. He was constantly confronted with the temporary nature of daily life, with the ever changing circumstances that surrounded his life and ministry, with the vacillating devotion of his disciples and friends. He faced his impending and inevitable death, sometimes with fear and sometimes with force, but always with the recognition that it was inevitable.
If we can see beyond ourselves, and see that while we may not make a mark that will last beyond a generation or two, we are still active in participating in God's creation, helping to promote life and love on this wonderful planet, helping to teach acceptance and appreciation to our children and all others under our charge, helping one another to recognize that life is fragile and that every day brings us closer to that moment when we leave this plane of existence and enter into eternity with our creator.
Neither change nor death should be seen as less than wonderful moments in our existence, and we should embrace both as gifts of the life God gives us. If we did, we'd see each day and each moment as an opportunity to experience God at work in the world and in us.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
A WING AND A PRAYER "Dream a Little Dream"
Be bold enough to dream of a world where all people speak a language of dignity and mutual respect. Bringing that dream to reality will not be easy, because you and I will have to help tear down those towers of power every day. We build them ourselves when we're not well-grounded in God. And the fearful around us build them higher every day. - p. 95
++Katherine begins the fifth section of her book, "Opening Up to the Vision of God," with this vision of the Peaceable Kingdom, or as they say in GHOSTBUSTERS, "Dogs and cats, living together, MASS HYSTERIA!!!" There are always boundaries, there are always walls, there are always suspicions. And the need to preserve is always greater than the desire to change. It's Friedman's family systems, that we would rather prepetuate the status quo than to try to change or shake the system.
But can you dream? Can you imagine a world in which we can see one another with love and acceptance, instead of doubt and suspicion? Can we allow ourselves to embrace change, not just in others, but in ourselves?
It's the argument of The Episcopal Church's desire to break down the walls of prejudice that have for two millennia kept gay/bi/lesbian persons outside the doors of the Church, outside the realm of God's salvation. The labels don't help us define who we are; they help us establish and maintain who are not JUST LIKE US! "Thank God I'm not one of those____!" Go ahead...fill in the blank! Who are you blessed by God NOT to be? How has God placed you in an ivory tower of Christian purity?
Guess what...those towers were TORN down on Golgotha almost two millennia ago. It's Biblical, it's Holy, and it's TRUE.
++Katherine begins the fifth section of her book, "Opening Up to the Vision of God," with this vision of the Peaceable Kingdom, or as they say in GHOSTBUSTERS, "Dogs and cats, living together, MASS HYSTERIA!!!" There are always boundaries, there are always walls, there are always suspicions. And the need to preserve is always greater than the desire to change. It's Friedman's family systems, that we would rather prepetuate the status quo than to try to change or shake the system.
But can you dream? Can you imagine a world in which we can see one another with love and acceptance, instead of doubt and suspicion? Can we allow ourselves to embrace change, not just in others, but in ourselves?
It's the argument of The Episcopal Church's desire to break down the walls of prejudice that have for two millennia kept gay/bi/lesbian persons outside the doors of the Church, outside the realm of God's salvation. The labels don't help us define who we are; they help us establish and maintain who are not JUST LIKE US! "Thank God I'm not one of those____!" Go ahead...fill in the blank! Who are you blessed by God NOT to be? How has God placed you in an ivory tower of Christian purity?
Guess what...those towers were TORN down on Golgotha almost two millennia ago. It's Biblical, it's Holy, and it's TRUE.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
A WING AND A PRAYER "Everybody in the Pool"
The good news is that God loves us no matter what we do or don't do. We can't earn God's love by keeping all the rules. And we can't lose God's love by not keeping them. That sounds like bad news to some people--especially folks who think they do a pretty good job of keeping the rules. - p. 89
And that's my gospel of inclusion! I don't mind those who are able to keep all the rules of the Torah. All the more power to you, if that's how you're going to keep holy. But there is a problem when the rules of one culture are somehow transferred to another culture. Why are we insistent on trying to recreate the holiness of first century Palestine, when we are so very different from then and there? For some of our Christian sisters and brothers around the globe, their culture may have much more in common with that culture.
But this is democracy, a relatively recent experiment in society, that no longer has homogenization as its main effort. Now, we celebrate the infinite diversity in our American culture. Our rules are less an effort to make us all uniform as they are an effort to allow us to express a unified love of diversity, celebrating that which makes each of us different.
Rules that force us to wear the same clothes, watch the same movies and television shows, or even worship in the same way, are rules that oppose God's wonderful creativity. Creation is diverse, human beings are diverse--why should we try to defy that creativity by enforcing rules that squelch God's wonderful love of individuality in human expression?
And that's my gospel of inclusion! I don't mind those who are able to keep all the rules of the Torah. All the more power to you, if that's how you're going to keep holy. But there is a problem when the rules of one culture are somehow transferred to another culture. Why are we insistent on trying to recreate the holiness of first century Palestine, when we are so very different from then and there? For some of our Christian sisters and brothers around the globe, their culture may have much more in common with that culture.
But this is democracy, a relatively recent experiment in society, that no longer has homogenization as its main effort. Now, we celebrate the infinite diversity in our American culture. Our rules are less an effort to make us all uniform as they are an effort to allow us to express a unified love of diversity, celebrating that which makes each of us different.
Rules that force us to wear the same clothes, watch the same movies and television shows, or even worship in the same way, are rules that oppose God's wonderful creativity. Creation is diverse, human beings are diverse--why should we try to defy that creativity by enforcing rules that squelch God's wonderful love of individuality in human expression?
Monday, March 19, 2007
A WING AND A PRAYER "Live Long and Prosper"
There will come times in our relationships when some will be convinced that some of the rest are aliens, foreigners, strangers, or even just plain weird. There will be times filled with common rejoicing. And there will be lots of other times when our work and our lives feel pretty ordinary, as we just keep on keeping on. The times of rejoicing may not seem like they need a good deal of courage or boldness, but the other times will. - p. 86
So I hoped that this would be a sermon about STAR TREK, and it started out that way. I was a BIG Trekkie growing up. While the rest of the world seemed so different from myself (being a rather un-talented youth when it came to sports), I found in the entertainment of the science fiction series, and in others, that there was a kind of solace. You see, being different wasn't a curse when it came to "other worlds and new civilizations" in outer space. It was the status quo.
Why do we imagine that we can somehow determine what is "normal" by looking at what is "average"? Isn't there a kind of diversity every time we gather together as a people of faith? You look around the congregation, and you will see multiple expressions of belief and worship...we are NOT all the same. We do not all hold the same beliefs, attitudes and values when it comes to our response to the world.
Not one of us holds all of the answers to where we are headed. We may very well each have some piece of the puzzle as we determine as households, as congregations, as national churches, and even as worldwide communions what God has in store for us. It takes energy, patience, and a great deal of empathy to sit at the table and respectfully disagree, with one another, with those in authority, with those who are marginalized, with those whom we distrust. But that is what God is calling us to do when we are called to "boldly go where no (wo/)man has gone before."
So I hoped that this would be a sermon about STAR TREK, and it started out that way. I was a BIG Trekkie growing up. While the rest of the world seemed so different from myself (being a rather un-talented youth when it came to sports), I found in the entertainment of the science fiction series, and in others, that there was a kind of solace. You see, being different wasn't a curse when it came to "other worlds and new civilizations" in outer space. It was the status quo.
Why do we imagine that we can somehow determine what is "normal" by looking at what is "average"? Isn't there a kind of diversity every time we gather together as a people of faith? You look around the congregation, and you will see multiple expressions of belief and worship...we are NOT all the same. We do not all hold the same beliefs, attitudes and values when it comes to our response to the world.
Not one of us holds all of the answers to where we are headed. We may very well each have some piece of the puzzle as we determine as households, as congregations, as national churches, and even as worldwide communions what God has in store for us. It takes energy, patience, and a great deal of empathy to sit at the table and respectfully disagree, with one another, with those in authority, with those who are marginalized, with those whom we distrust. But that is what God is calling us to do when we are called to "boldly go where no (wo/)man has gone before."
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
A WING AND A PRAYER "Sibling Rivalry" & "The Family Table"
Perhaps our work of reconciliation means we'll have to tell a hard truth, or be vulnerable enough to apologize, or risk getting to know someone really different. Or perhaps it will be the hard work of learning about the root causes of homelessness, and working in a soup kitchen. It may be the dangerous work of peacemaking in the Sudan or Palestine. It is all gospel work that leads to new life. - p. 81
Communion is about learning to live and thrive with those obnoxious people around us, whether they are in our homes, our churches, our nation, or around the globe. The communion of saints is our natural home, and it is the only place where true joy is to be found! We, too, need to learn how to fight fair and dignify our neighbors who stand with us before the throne of God. We will only learn to be fully present before that throne when we can see the fellow child of God in the odious person who stands next to us. - p. 84
Seeing the good in the odious person next to us. Seeing them as a child of God. I must need some serious glasses, because I'm having trouble with ++Katherine's vision chart here!
I just finished sharing JESUS CAMP, the Oscar nominated documentary, with my Contemporary Issues in Media and Theatre class, and I am having some serious difficulties reconciling myself to the extremists represented in that film. Part of my response might be that I and my family are GREAT fans of the HARRY POTTER series of films. We enjoy the mystery, the intrigue, the battle between the archvillain Valdemort and the reluctant hero Harry. In it we find a great story of standing up for the disenfranchised, for the acceptance of one another regardless of weakness or popularity, and the recognition of one's strenghts in adversity. This epic, like many before and since, is a work of fiction, pointing metaphorically to some very real and very human experiences. Many contemporary theologians would even see in Harry a figure that is trying to emulate the hero who stands up for the rights of the poor, the weak, the suffering, and the humiliated, and to destroy the evil that corrupts society.
Camp administrator, Pastor Becky Fisher's vehement abhorrance of the books and films as celebrating the Devil hit a little too close to home. It's not that I deny her the right to her opinion--in fact, I very much support her right to buy or not to buy the novels, to view or not to view the films. What challenges me is that she directly attacks all of those who claim to be Christian and yet support this "homage to Satan." I am somehow supposed to embrace her opposition to me and my Christian beliefs. She would not even call me a Christian. Many evangelicals are challenged by inclusivist Christianity, and their track racks are filled with attacks on sacramental theology, accusing the catholic traditions of canabalism in our celebration of Christ's presence in the Holy Eucharist.
All in all, I am just not Christian enough for Pastor Becky or for Christians like her, in the radically pentecostal tradition. I am judged to be merely a "wannabe." And still, in these sermons today, ++Katherine calls me to reconcile with this person who equates me with the non-believer. How do I feel about this identification? How am I supposed to bury my own disappointment in her brand of Christianity that labels non-believers (and marginal believers--including, I suppose, me and my family) as eternally damned? How do I carry that in my heart as I approach the altar in faith each week?
I carry it, because that is the example that Jesus gave me in his Passion and Death. We all carry the barbs of the accusers, and we turn back to them, not with vengeance and pay backs, but with love and forgiveness. We are Christians, in the Jesus sense, not Christians in the Pauline/Deuteronomist sense. Our example was one of love, not one of hate; one of acceptance, not one of exclusion; one of peace, not one of war. This is the gift of Jesus Christ--to be able to respond with kindness in the face of accusation and disdain.
Communion is about learning to live and thrive with those obnoxious people around us, whether they are in our homes, our churches, our nation, or around the globe. The communion of saints is our natural home, and it is the only place where true joy is to be found! We, too, need to learn how to fight fair and dignify our neighbors who stand with us before the throne of God. We will only learn to be fully present before that throne when we can see the fellow child of God in the odious person who stands next to us. - p. 84
Seeing the good in the odious person next to us. Seeing them as a child of God. I must need some serious glasses, because I'm having trouble with ++Katherine's vision chart here!
I just finished sharing JESUS CAMP, the Oscar nominated documentary, with my Contemporary Issues in Media and Theatre class, and I am having some serious difficulties reconciling myself to the extremists represented in that film. Part of my response might be that I and my family are GREAT fans of the HARRY POTTER series of films. We enjoy the mystery, the intrigue, the battle between the archvillain Valdemort and the reluctant hero Harry. In it we find a great story of standing up for the disenfranchised, for the acceptance of one another regardless of weakness or popularity, and the recognition of one's strenghts in adversity. This epic, like many before and since, is a work of fiction, pointing metaphorically to some very real and very human experiences. Many contemporary theologians would even see in Harry a figure that is trying to emulate the hero who stands up for the rights of the poor, the weak, the suffering, and the humiliated, and to destroy the evil that corrupts society.
Camp administrator, Pastor Becky Fisher's vehement abhorrance of the books and films as celebrating the Devil hit a little too close to home. It's not that I deny her the right to her opinion--in fact, I very much support her right to buy or not to buy the novels, to view or not to view the films. What challenges me is that she directly attacks all of those who claim to be Christian and yet support this "homage to Satan." I am somehow supposed to embrace her opposition to me and my Christian beliefs. She would not even call me a Christian. Many evangelicals are challenged by inclusivist Christianity, and their track racks are filled with attacks on sacramental theology, accusing the catholic traditions of canabalism in our celebration of Christ's presence in the Holy Eucharist.
All in all, I am just not Christian enough for Pastor Becky or for Christians like her, in the radically pentecostal tradition. I am judged to be merely a "wannabe." And still, in these sermons today, ++Katherine calls me to reconcile with this person who equates me with the non-believer. How do I feel about this identification? How am I supposed to bury my own disappointment in her brand of Christianity that labels non-believers (and marginal believers--including, I suppose, me and my family) as eternally damned? How do I carry that in my heart as I approach the altar in faith each week?
I carry it, because that is the example that Jesus gave me in his Passion and Death. We all carry the barbs of the accusers, and we turn back to them, not with vengeance and pay backs, but with love and forgiveness. We are Christians, in the Jesus sense, not Christians in the Pauline/Deuteronomist sense. Our example was one of love, not one of hate; one of acceptance, not one of exclusion; one of peace, not one of war. This is the gift of Jesus Christ--to be able to respond with kindness in the face of accusation and disdain.
Monday, March 12, 2007
A WING AND A PRAYER "Traveling Light" & "Lab Report"
Traveling light means going with open hands and open hearts, ready to embrace what the moment offers. It means traveling undefended, without rigid expectations or high walls or self-defense. Finding a welcome has something to do with being vulnerable, being open to the hospitality that another offers. If we're not ready to receive, if our hands aren't open, then who's going to be able to get in? - p. 73
At its best, Anglicanism has always held up comprehensiveness as one of its highest values. We don't all have to agree. There can be more than one right answer. This turf is God's, not ours, and it's broader and more expansive--even greener--than we are capable of imagining. We have said, from our Celtic Christian beginnings, and explicitly from at least the time of Elizabeth I, that the middle way, the middle road, is the most important, because there is something vital to be gained and learned from the people on both shoulders. Gamaliel, the perennial pragmatist in the book of Acts, says, "Well, what you're about may NOT be right, but we'll just have to wait and see what comes of it. If it is of God, then there won't be any stopping it." - p. 75
I wholeheartedly believe that both of ++Katherine's observations are true. Before we can do anything, we must open our hearts and our minds to recognize that there are so very many ways that God is working in the world. It is one of our own fundamentals, as progressive Christians, that God/Christ/Spirit is bigger than any book, any doctrine, any church, and is certainly capable of working in any way that God/Christ/Spirit chooses to work.
At the heart of the great struggle in Christianity at this time is that neither extremists, conservative/fundamentalists or liberal/progressivists, are willing to "travel light," and let go of their own biases or prejudices regarding God at work in the world. Every time we try to lock God within covers of the Bible, we are confronted with our own limitations of understanding that God is bigger than that. God is all in all. Who are we in our limited capacities to say that God is ONLY in the written text of Holy Scriptures, or ONLY in observeable Holy Creation? We say, in our catechism, that all things necessary to salvation are in Holy Scriptures. BUT we do not say 1) that they are ONLY found in Holy Scriptures, nor do we say 2) that ALL things in Holy Scriptures are necessary to salvation.
Our openness to seeing God in the wonders of diverse Creation AND in the complex and often contradictory Bible, and using the divine gift of human reason to discern how God is working in the both, calling us to reconciliation, is very frustrating to our more extreme friends who can't move beyond their own interpretation of Holy Scripture. Radical fundamentalists see it as the transcribed, word-for-word utterances of God dictating to humanity how it is to live into right relationship. Radical progressivists see it is flawed and even purely human invention that is corrupt, with authorship and motivation bringing most if not all of it into serious doubt.
We need to let go of our baggage, as we interact with one another, especially within the boundaries of the Episcopal Church. We are the "Via Media" (perhaps the only true Via Media remaing in the Anglican Communion), and the less ecclesiological doctrine we formally legislate, the better. The doors must be open to all, the pews must be comfortable to all, the table must be inviting to all, and the challenge and call to ministry in the world must be announced to all. It is the only way that we will effectively reconcile all to God and to one another. And it certainly was the example given to us by our Savior, Jesus Christ.
At its best, Anglicanism has always held up comprehensiveness as one of its highest values. We don't all have to agree. There can be more than one right answer. This turf is God's, not ours, and it's broader and more expansive--even greener--than we are capable of imagining. We have said, from our Celtic Christian beginnings, and explicitly from at least the time of Elizabeth I, that the middle way, the middle road, is the most important, because there is something vital to be gained and learned from the people on both shoulders. Gamaliel, the perennial pragmatist in the book of Acts, says, "Well, what you're about may NOT be right, but we'll just have to wait and see what comes of it. If it is of God, then there won't be any stopping it." - p. 75
I wholeheartedly believe that both of ++Katherine's observations are true. Before we can do anything, we must open our hearts and our minds to recognize that there are so very many ways that God is working in the world. It is one of our own fundamentals, as progressive Christians, that God/Christ/Spirit is bigger than any book, any doctrine, any church, and is certainly capable of working in any way that God/Christ/Spirit chooses to work.
At the heart of the great struggle in Christianity at this time is that neither extremists, conservative/fundamentalists or liberal/progressivists, are willing to "travel light," and let go of their own biases or prejudices regarding God at work in the world. Every time we try to lock God within covers of the Bible, we are confronted with our own limitations of understanding that God is bigger than that. God is all in all. Who are we in our limited capacities to say that God is ONLY in the written text of Holy Scriptures, or ONLY in observeable Holy Creation? We say, in our catechism, that all things necessary to salvation are in Holy Scriptures. BUT we do not say 1) that they are ONLY found in Holy Scriptures, nor do we say 2) that ALL things in Holy Scriptures are necessary to salvation.
Our openness to seeing God in the wonders of diverse Creation AND in the complex and often contradictory Bible, and using the divine gift of human reason to discern how God is working in the both, calling us to reconciliation, is very frustrating to our more extreme friends who can't move beyond their own interpretation of Holy Scripture. Radical fundamentalists see it as the transcribed, word-for-word utterances of God dictating to humanity how it is to live into right relationship. Radical progressivists see it is flawed and even purely human invention that is corrupt, with authorship and motivation bringing most if not all of it into serious doubt.
We need to let go of our baggage, as we interact with one another, especially within the boundaries of the Episcopal Church. We are the "Via Media" (perhaps the only true Via Media remaing in the Anglican Communion), and the less ecclesiological doctrine we formally legislate, the better. The doors must be open to all, the pews must be comfortable to all, the table must be inviting to all, and the challenge and call to ministry in the world must be announced to all. It is the only way that we will effectively reconcile all to God and to one another. And it certainly was the example given to us by our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
A WING AND A PRAYER "Walking on Water" & "Finding God In the Differences"
Jesus himself could walk into many churches and be ignored, and, indeed, is forgotten and missed when we fail to engage the stranger. Inviting people to the feast is not about making my table more attractive than yours, and it's not about eating only with your friends. It's about transforming this world so that the party goes on all the time, so that the banquet feeds everyone. It's about tikkun olam--"the repair of the world"--and all creation living in shalom. - p. 63
God is revealed in relationships. God's own self is about community. God is the one who created us with the freedom to choose to enter community. God is not about control. We don't have to be in community, but relationships are the only place we're going to learn what wholeness, holiness, or salvation is really about. God draws us into community, invites us, even lures us, but God does not pull strings to get us into relationship, and God does not compel us or shame us into it. - 69
Call me a radical, but I know that God's table should be an open table. I always feel a bit put off, when attending Mass at Gannon where I teach, because the Roman Catholic understanding of communion is that it is the Communion of the Roman Catholic Church that is being affirmed in participation in the Eucharistic liturgy. To receive is to make an absolute affirmation of full participation in all parts of that faith tradition. Therefore to be a participant, one must be able to say that they are in communion with the Bishop of Rome, a.k.a. Pope Benedick XVI. When they ask that those who are not Roman Catholic please not receive, they are doing so with an ecclesiological theology that has a particular understanding of the word "communion."
I can explain it...theologically. But I can't understand it in Jesus Christ. Nor can I agree with our own Episcopal Church view that one must be baptised using the Trinitarian form ("In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit"). While attending Holy Eucharist at the National Cathedral during Epiphany this past January, they invited everyone...meaning EVERYONE to the Lord's Table. Full participation, regardless of where anyone was on their faith journey.
We are a tradition with many gates, and many of them come from Holy Scripture. "No one comes to the Father except through me." "Unless you be baptized of the water and Spirit, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven." And somehow we become gatekeepers, in our sundry traditions, of how we allow those to enter into our liturgies and participate in our worship.
++Katherine begins her next unit, "FUNNY PURPLE SHIRTS: The Church in the New Millenium," with challenges to clergy about how we celebrate servanthood and respond to God's call to invite others to God, especially those who have been shunned or neglected by our two-thousand year old Christian tradition, and with challenges to all of us to enter into community with others who we may not normally relate.
It is exactly what we as the Episcopal Church have done for two centuries, opening our doors to the marginalized and making ministry a possiblity for all who are called to a holy life of leadership and service. It is why we're in trouble with many of the more medieval (not necessarily meaning less intelligent but certainly meaning pre-Enlightenment) theologies of the conservative Christians who want to drive us out of the mainstream. We are a place of the understanding not just of grace, but of the radical, unrestricted, ungated grace of God in Christ bestowed on all of God's creation. It calls us to a holy life, both clergy and laity, and building relationships with all of God's holy people.
God is revealed in relationships. God's own self is about community. God is the one who created us with the freedom to choose to enter community. God is not about control. We don't have to be in community, but relationships are the only place we're going to learn what wholeness, holiness, or salvation is really about. God draws us into community, invites us, even lures us, but God does not pull strings to get us into relationship, and God does not compel us or shame us into it. - 69
Call me a radical, but I know that God's table should be an open table. I always feel a bit put off, when attending Mass at Gannon where I teach, because the Roman Catholic understanding of communion is that it is the Communion of the Roman Catholic Church that is being affirmed in participation in the Eucharistic liturgy. To receive is to make an absolute affirmation of full participation in all parts of that faith tradition. Therefore to be a participant, one must be able to say that they are in communion with the Bishop of Rome, a.k.a. Pope Benedick XVI. When they ask that those who are not Roman Catholic please not receive, they are doing so with an ecclesiological theology that has a particular understanding of the word "communion."
I can explain it...theologically. But I can't understand it in Jesus Christ. Nor can I agree with our own Episcopal Church view that one must be baptised using the Trinitarian form ("In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit"). While attending Holy Eucharist at the National Cathedral during Epiphany this past January, they invited everyone...meaning EVERYONE to the Lord's Table. Full participation, regardless of where anyone was on their faith journey.
We are a tradition with many gates, and many of them come from Holy Scripture. "No one comes to the Father except through me." "Unless you be baptized of the water and Spirit, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven." And somehow we become gatekeepers, in our sundry traditions, of how we allow those to enter into our liturgies and participate in our worship.
++Katherine begins her next unit, "FUNNY PURPLE SHIRTS: The Church in the New Millenium," with challenges to clergy about how we celebrate servanthood and respond to God's call to invite others to God, especially those who have been shunned or neglected by our two-thousand year old Christian tradition, and with challenges to all of us to enter into community with others who we may not normally relate.
It is exactly what we as the Episcopal Church have done for two centuries, opening our doors to the marginalized and making ministry a possiblity for all who are called to a holy life of leadership and service. It is why we're in trouble with many of the more medieval (not necessarily meaning less intelligent but certainly meaning pre-Enlightenment) theologies of the conservative Christians who want to drive us out of the mainstream. We are a place of the understanding not just of grace, but of the radical, unrestricted, ungated grace of God in Christ bestowed on all of God's creation. It calls us to a holy life, both clergy and laity, and building relationships with all of God's holy people.
Friday, March 09, 2007
A WING AND A PRAYER "Sharing the Wealth" & "Ready for Grace"
(As the month of March fills with theatrical commitments, the opportunities to post on the blog are fewer and farther between, so I'll be doubling up to keep up with all you faithful readers. Thanks for your loyal postings and readings!)
The gifts and talents that have been so abundantly showered on us are not ours alone. They are given to us with the understanding that we will act as stewards, guardians, and investors. We're meant to invest them, to risk them, for the good of all. Joy and abundant life come when we're willing to risk all that we have, to lay down our lives. - p. 57
When we eat of this bread, it truly can relieve those fears that keep us turned inward. It truly can engender courage to reach beyond our comfort zones to feed others. But only if we believe, in the root sense of what that word "believe" means--to give our hearts to that truth. We can help to feed the world's hunger only if we invest our hearts, and minds, and souls, and strength in sharing that word-bread with the world. - p. 60
In these two sermons, we are called to share a wealth that we possess beyond the wealth of our bank accounts and credit surpluses. We are reminded of what is given to us each and every week: Holy Word and Holy Eucharist.
How often, as we sit in Sunday morning services, do we think about how the Word of God and it's explication by those who are preaching is a gift that we are not just to hold on to, to store in our minds and hearts, but as a gift that is meant to be shared with others after the service and coffee hour are over? Many people stop to say, "I enjoyed the sermon," or "I needed to hear that this morning." But not many say, "I know someone at work who needs the message I heard this morning--I can't wait to take it to them tomorrow." This Word of God is meant to challenge us and to support us in both powerful and subtle ways. If we hear the Word of God and it enlivens or quickens us, why wouldn't we want to share it with others? It's very much a part of our Christian call to share the love of God with others: "evangelical" is an adjective that ALL Christians share.
In a similar manner, the Bread of Life which we share weekly is also meant to empower us to go out into the world with conviction and courage. We celebrate Christ's presence in the here and now, and we are invited to His table to share in this heavenly and eternal meal. All food sustains us, but the food we share at the Eucharist feeds our spirits, empowering us to share the Word of God with others. The liturgy of Word and Sacrament in the catholic traditions has a vast appeal to many because we've discerned that this order of worship does indeed feed us in ways that we personally need fed AND empower us to reach out to others with our special and individual gifts.
We are not to leave the service on Sunday morning and go home happy content that God reached us and that we've done our duty as church-going Christians. We are emboldened to reach out to others, we are fed for ministry, and we are called to share the abundance of joy and love with others.
Listen closely to the Word this Sunday. Feel intimately Christ's presence in the Eucharist. And then ask yourself, "How will I share the abundance of this Good News with others?"
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