Letters to my Senator:

Raisin deter/This country might be kind of f'ed...

2010-05-02T00:36:00.003-04:00

10 bucks to whomever can figure out my title.

So, I was thinking about blogging and how some people do it and how I should be doing it and how I need to write more. Especially because Twitter doesn't allow for many compound sentences let alone paragraphs.

Henceforth, I think I will try to actually write down what is on my mind and then eject it out into the ether...

Like this (perhaps a regular "column?"):

This country might be kind of f'ed: or how 2010 became a dystopian b-movie from the '80's or something.

1) Arizona is now an apparently 'Mericans only state. They say the Feds aren't doing enough. I have a suspicion that if the Feds did do something they'd have a s**t fit. At any rate I think that "Escape from Tucson" should be Snake Pliskin's next oeuvre.

2) Oil Slick 2010. Wasn't this the plot for Metal Gear Solid 2? That ended with a giant robot boat slamming into NYC. Real life will probably end similarly. Hey that's two Snakes!

3) Charlie Crist. Ok not really too much scifi here except that he is an android with a perfect tan that has escaped from his Republican designers/handlers. It's funny that a pretty center-right guy has to run as an independent because his party has decided to collectively go on the faux-libertarian acid trip espoused by our neighbors in the tea parties.

4) Health Care: Hey no one reads this right?
F*****************************K YES! Communist utopia here we come! I can't wait to rise up with the proletariat. Does Marx count as scifi? It probably should.

5) Barack is cool but is not Morgan Freeman. Like in Deep Impact, right? I think Barack would handle it better but Morgan Freeman would sound more important.

Well...that's all I have for now.

Hopefully more about how awesome I think Jesus is next time.

Be well; do good.
-D

Homily for Martin Luther's Feast Day

2009-02-24T16:44:00.004-05:00

As delivered on Thursday 19 February 2009 at the Episcopal Prayer Service at Asbury Theological Seminary...

I want to thank this gathering for the honor it is to address you with a homily. I don’t know a lot about the customs, traditions, orders, and page numbers, but you have graciously allowed me to share my thoughts tonight. In fact, my ignorance is multiplied by the fact that I could not ascertain our allocated scriptures in time to prepare something meaningful, thus we will remember Martin Luther on this, his feast day. At any rate, Thanks very much.

In the late nineteen eighties, rock music in the mainstream was ruled by massive bands that would only play to sold out stadiums. Their lyrics and artistry had devolved to the point where all evidence of the artisan was faded out in order to keep records off shelves and money in the calloused hands of the musicians themselves as well as in the callous pockets of those in the music industry. But simmering beneath the surface, primarily on the college campuses, but also in the small towns, in the poor areas of big cities something was afoot. This was not new: good modern music has always come from these places in some way shape or form. Out of this undercurrent came a few people that ultimately reshaped rock music in their image, regardless of the fact that it was not their intent. One of these figures, one Kurt Cobain, kicked and screamed the whole way towards changing the entire popular music culture. This process happened frightfully quickly, which is why you still hear people grumbling nonsense about how Poison could have gone on forever if it weren’t for that skinny twerp. He was a reluctant rock star indeed, deeply resenting the success that got him to where he was on the cultural stage. And yet, Cobain soldiered on for a time before his suicide, creating some of the most memorable music of the nineteen nineties. Cobain’s influence is till felt today among the many strains of popular rock music, a fact that he himself would regard as absurd. After all, he was just a punk rocker from Aberdeen, Washington.

Why would I talk about Kurt Cobain when this is Martin Luther’s feast day? I just could not let this day go by with noting the tangential similarities of early nineties rock and roll and the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation, that’s why. But do forgive me, as Cobain and Luther are, in fact, very different people; Luther’s formidable mind might explode if he heard the accented twos and fours of rock music’s back beat, and Cobain’s already addled soul would never have been able to withstand the pressure of the medieval church’s outlook on the justice of God.

But Luther was himself a recalcitrant reformer in many ways, was he not? He was not so excited about becoming a monk. He was not convinced that he should become a Doctor of theology. He was not necessarily intent on starting a “Western Protestantism.” Luther was a man of his time, a time of debate and reform within the Catholic Church. But Luther was also a man of conflict and talent. Indeed, there are a great many stories of Luther’s monastic and conflicted piety: confessing all day and night to the dismay of his confessor, living in the constant fear and even secret hatred of the God that damned sinners each just one example of the poles in which Luther existed. Luther is that sort of person that returns the gift of integrity to a dying system, a type of person that has existed since humans could tell each other about each other, a type of person that is certainly found in the person of Jesus, and certainly the type of person that all Christians are allowed to be. Indeed, Luther gives us yet another human model on how to stand in the face of the false and stubbornly yet lovingly defend that which is true, that truth we find in the Gospel, which is available to all of mankind.

Time does not permit to elucidate the contribution Herr Doctor Luther has given the Western Church. This is a prayer meeting and not doctrine class, nor Church History Class. I will not be giving a careful and nuanced explication of Luther’s notion of justification by faith alone, nor any of the other theological precepts we now cherish as part of our Protestant theological heritage and orientation. Rather, I wanted to note three of Luther’s theological concepts that we may take for our Christian journey on this night and perhaps throughout our hopefully many years in service to the master.

1) Corum Deo: “in the presence of God: Luther’s complaints with the scholastic theologians of the medieval period were many, but he certainly hated the idea of a God that existed solely as proposition, or as some unifying theory. No, God refuses to sit within the confines of human categorical analyses. To Luther, God is always with us, always in our business, always advocating for us, always working his justice and mercy. For us as seminarians, may we take this idea and run with it! Never may we allow our studies permit us to confine God to our minds and research papers and rob Him of His person. For it is that triune community of Godhead and personality that is worth worshipping tonight, not some lofty and disengaged ultimate ideal.
2) Christus pro Me, pro Nobis: “Christ for me, for us”: Luther never actually systematized a theory of atonement, which may be due to his never having written a formal systematic theology (much like one John Wesley, so when someone says Wesley didn’t do one, just say neither did Luther!) and was much more interested in writing in a more ad hoc, even pastoral manner. But one reality Luther was convinced was that the actions taken by Jesus on the cross were efficient for me and for us. Even though the work of salvation is that of the Godhead, we live in the reality that a savior has worked for us. That reality is present as the Kingdom, and we forget at our peril the personal as well as the communal components of the fact that Christ was on the tree for us.
3) Anfechtung: “dread, anxiety”: An interesting component to Luther’s theology is the struggle of the believer. It strikes me as a bit too German for my tastes, my sunny British blood is a little uncomfortable with this notion that the life of the Christian is lived in the dread anxiety of temptation and on watchful guard from the enemy’s snares. But it is a matter of perspective, which is to say that my Teutonic brother has a point. Christian life is a struggle: against the evil of this world, the injustice we face, and certainly the sins that we still commit whilst in the process of being made more like Christ. We must realize that our faith does make life difficult on some level, but those other two aspects we talked about steel us and encourage us for the difficult tasks given to us.

As a fan of Wesley, I am fan of Luther as we owe a lot to his efforts. Indeed, my work here at Asbury might look very different without the Reverend Doctor. So on his feast day, I suppose I would thank him for riling everyone up and nailing those theses. As a former punk rocker myself for my part, Luther remains a favorite for being so strangely, delightfully, and earnestly subversive. Thanks Martin. An thanks to all of you for Listening!

An "Outnaugural Adress"

2009-02-10T16:14:00.003-05:00

As delivered on February 4, 2009 as my last sermon on teaching staff at Melbourne Community Church

Our scripture tonight [James 4:3-5:20] reveals something about where we place our hope, whether it is temporal or eternal. The rich have their hope here and store it here, which leads them to work injustice. If this thought is a prelude, may it register as a reminder to we who live in this country that we are rich in comparison to the rest of the world. While we need not necessarily feel guilty, we should be mindful of where we place our trust and hope and especially how we treat those around us.

When I thought about teaching James, the first thing I realized was that obviously this was one of those thoughts rooted in the Spirit. It was so obvious because it was something I had often dreaded while reading the letter myself, many times vowing to avoid teaching it for as long as possible. It must be of God because I would never do it on my own. But here some of us are at any rate. We have gone over how Luther feels about James’ letter once a month since the summer of last year. We have learned to quit squirming about faith and works (just to review, read James 4:17 to get a gist) and become active in our faith We have spoken aloud the similarities between the teachings of James and the teachings of Christ himself and perhaps even investigated said similarities for ourselves in the text of the New Testament.

Now considering where the text leaves us this night, perhaps you think to yourselves that we will hear more woe-ing, that I mean to admonish some more injustice as per James’ harsh rhetoric. I assure you brothers and sisters, that this is not the case. Rather I wish to lift up one of those things that makes faith active in our lives though at times we may think it in short supply.

That is Hope.

As I was reading this text again and again to attempt to teach it, It always struck me that there are a lot of difficult instructions, especially when one notices that these instructions are meant to be taken together, in order that life may be lived together and that life together would be understood as how God would have us exist in His Kingdom before the consummation of all things-and after. A tall order for those among us who have trouble getting along with everyone all the time, which is to say, a tall order for everyone. Yet James knew when he wrote his letter that his instructions were certainly possible to follow, just as Jesus understood the possibility of living out the Sermon on the Mount. These thing are not impossible instructions meant only for the hereafter, nor are they meant necessarily to oppress. In fact the opposite is true on both counts. The Kingdom that Jesus inaugurated is to be lived here in the present, and its rule is that of justice; the Kingdom by its nature in Christ’s life, teaching, death, resurrection and return IS hope to all humanity. To add perspective, if even the vilest of sinners may be saved from hell by the blood of Christ, then there is certainly enough hope left over for us to be kind to one another.

Once again, we hope because the Kingdom is here; because of the life and work of Christ; because God did as promised and came to us in order to bring us to himself. In Christ, this is the reality that we live in, that God lived among us incarnate as man. This profound mystery of the kingdom, this Gospel, should always fill us with the hope of the first believers to hear the news. In their ears, they heard the call of the master to take away the oppression not just of their own sin, but the oppression of their present circumstance. They knew, as we should now that with the coming of Christ came the end of the old way and the dawn of the new. “Strength for the day and bright hope for tomorrow. These blessings all ours and ten thousand beside,” to borrow from a hymn. The master is still calling us to live in his rule just as those first followers heard all those years ago.

Perhaps in these hard times I am being unrealistic. Perhaps I am coming off as a cheer leader, perhaps this is a bit too much Pollyanna. My response is not Pollyanna: deal with it. For as Jesus always reminded those early followers: ours is not to worry, rather ours is to be waiting, working, ever hoping for his return. We indeed live in interesting times. We have new leadership in our country and for many, that is cause for concern. Abroad there are conflicts and rumors of conflict and for many that is cause for concern. There are new and strange ideas challenging old ones and for many that is cause for concern. It is true that the world is caught in its sin: violent, lustful, vain: false. It is true that the world is a place of inequity and oppression. Brothers and sisters, these are the things that are cause for concern. The injustice that stems from the sickness of sin are those things that put our hope into stark relief. And yet! We must always be aware to give an account of our hope, not only because we want to be good witnesses, but because we know deep down that he whom in which we put our hopes is he who is infinitely good and that is certainly worth sharing. Indeed the hope that we lean on surely does not end the suffering in the world (yet) but it gives us the willingness and ability to aid the suffering in our midst, even to the point where we follow in the example of our Savior by suffering in order that there are those that do not.

This outlandish hope should make no sense to the thoroughly rational man. While we have the benefit of 2 thousand years of Christian reflection to bolster our claims to rationality, let’s be honest with each other and admit that we, by all accounts probably seem pretty crazy. Mind, I speak not because of our peculiar beliefs but because what peculiar activities stem from those peculiar beliefs. It probably seemed pretty crazy for St. Francis to leave everything his father gave him behind to wander in poverty. It probably seemed pretty crazy to hear Brother Lawrence praising God whilst cleaning the dirtiest dishes. It probably seemed pretty crazy for Mother Theresa to live among the lepers and poor of India. It certainly seems crazy to think about telling people about the boundless love of God in a world that seems so easy to ignore in its sin. Or put another way, it seems crazy to be charitable in a time when it seems the most wise to conserve and save. I guess then, that we are crazy. For that hope which makes us alive in Christ, and that love of his for all of God’s children must necessarily activate us to live lives out of an ethic of hope. We simply do not have the luxury of worry or judgment. No, it is God who is concerned on our behalf and judges according to HIS perfect law. Instead we have the riches of charity and mercy to guide our hands, those things extolled by Jesus by his teachings, his life and the writing of his apostles.

That is not to say that our new/old ethic of hope is easy. As a friend of mine is fond of saying: where does it say that the Christian life is supposed to be easy? Certainly not the Bible! I will not even say that there is true consensus on what living life out of Christological hope looks like. One may only look at the phone book and see the number of churches in our city alone to see there are a number of opinions on the matter. One may look at the great volumeof wonderful (an not so wonderful) literature written on the subject. But, dear church, I have some advice if you’ll oblige me:

1) Don’t squash your optimists. They are not all as naïve as they seem.
2) Be not a bystander to works of good. Nor look upon good works as a duty but as a power granted to you out of grace. Exercise your power!
3) Do not fear your “radicals.” Listen to what they have to say and protect them with love and prayer.
4) Pray fervently that God would use you to be a bringer of the hope found in Christ to all that encounter you: individually and corporately.
5) Finally: be bound together in love and bear with each other. Work to build the kingdom together and be waiting together for Jesus’ next visit.

Brothers and sisters, I want to thank you for the years of care you have given me and my wife, and the opportunities this church body has afforded us. It has been an honor to teach and serve your young adults. It has been an honor to rouse your members into attempts at home construction and renovation. It has been an honor to welcome the young people of our community into your doors to enjoy affordable local concerts. It has truly been an honor warbling songs of praise with you as tonight. I thank you for letting me share with you these long months. I thank you for all of your many prayers. I hope our time together was as good and true to you as it was to me. In order hat we fully celebrate our time together I think it best that we break bread together as the church has done ever since it has been a church.

Benediction:
May the Lord Bless you and keep you
May He make his face o shine upon you
And give you peace.
Go in God’s grace,
In the Name of the Father, the Son, and The Holy Spirit.

Christmas Eve Sermon

2009-02-10T16:03:00.000-05:00

As given on December 24th 2008:

Prayer:
Lord God, Thank you for having us here together. Tonight we have gathered to sing, to read, to pray and to enjoy your presence. We hope you are well pleased.

While we always wish to remember the work you did on the tree, tonight we propose to celebrate your birth: in order that we may gather some lesson about the character of your ministry from the nature of your birth.

May the story of your birth teach us how to make our stories line up with yours, may the Gospel narrative enliven and be reflected by the life of the church. May we never cease to draw our sustenance from your generous gift of the Ghost, whom counsels us daily,

Father we thank you for the gift of your Son. In your name, in Jesus’ name and in the name of the Holy Ghost…

Amen.

Homily:

Hello friends! Thanks so much for joining us tonight, the night before the day which a heck of a lot of people have celebrated the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ. We have done this as the church, and indeed as world culture, for well over a millennia and a half. It’s nice to have precedent.

By the way, since I have editorial control: 3 seminary geek things I like about Christmas time:
1) Laughing when I hear that people steal baby Jesus from nativity scenes. Funny because people get so upset about their graven image and funnier still because it brings new meaning to “personal savior.” Someone at Bible Study said it would be smart to put a Lojack in Baby Jesus. Insert joke about Omniscience here.
2) Protestants talk just a little more about Mary than usual around this time. Not too much…but a little more.
3) People who are not typically generous, are around this time of year. More on that later.

Of course, Christmas Eve comes at the tail end of what many in that millennia and a half plus time span have called Advent. Advent, within the church being the liturgical time we set aside before we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. So. Here we are at the end of that time. Many see a service like this one as the church’s way of saying “Hey! I’m not done with you yet!” Many would probably be right and I must confess that sentiment will become all to clear as I continue this homily.

When I started writing this homily, I came to a stopping point ad looked back on my words. I must admit that I was ashamed upon further reflection of the words I had so carefully parsed and committed to screen. In order to give you a better idea of the timbre of my message, imagine a birthday party where some of your closest friends showed up. Now imagine this was an open invitation and there were some people there who you’d like to know, but had thus far been unable to garner much of their attention. Now imagine the guy putting on the birthday party taking the time to yell at the finds al the while making the invited strangers feel really awkward. Imagine how you would feel when you walked into the party and found Angela from the Office dressing down the whole room. I was being Angela from the office: my least favorite character.

There was a bit that I liked that did not completely miss the point and that is where we will start tonight: I want to reflect a little on some people in the nativity accounts besides Jesus, Mary, and Joe. In Matthew, we are introduced to the Magi. In Luke we journey with shepherds. By looking at these groups and how they interact with Herod, angels, and One Messiah, that we may get a interesting idea on how amazing Jesus’ birth was and what it meant to the whole world.

Without going into too much detail, time is limited after all; the Magi were gentiles from the east. As such, they were outsiders to the revealed work of God insofar that they might be aware of the Hebrews and their peculiar monotheism but they would not be, say, “in the tent,” having working knowledge of the books of Moses and so on. How fascinating is it then, that Matthew, probably writing to Jews, has these gentile astrologers taking the time out of their busy stargazing schedule to come and recognize the Messiah being born. The Shepherds of Luke, are pretty much the scum of the earth as far as Israel is concerned; smelly, dirty, haggard, ceremonially unclean, and basically the last guys you would want to be around as the incarnate Lord is born…

But they are treated to an ancient outdoor extradimensional arena rock concert by none other than the angelic hosts. Something must be up with this whole incarnation thing when dudes that smell like sheep are invited over to see this Messiah person.

But this is at the poetic heart of the Gospel isn’t it? Quality time with Christ is open to all; for Matthew, especially to these crazy gentile astrologers, for Luke, especially these dirty old ranch hands. The miracle of the incarnation was meant to be experienced and enjoyed by all people regardless of race, station, or smell. It still inspires awe in modern day Magi and Shepherds who come to hear the voice of the Master.

Now, we could go a certain rhetorical direction and try to see if our personal stories line up with these ones. This is called ‘spiritualizing.’ I have looked down this road and found it to be dangerous, mostly because this road bypasses the point. In fact, I think the real hero of the nativity story is Mary anyway. What would you say to God after he sends an angel to tell you something crazy like “virgin birth?”

Practicality aside, the point here, now, is not so much whether you are a Shepherd or an Astrologer, or the Blessed Virgin. The point is that the greatest miracle of all time, even more astounding in my opinion than even creation, even more spectacular than parting the red seas, and way more long lasting than turning water to wine, although maybe as awesome as his resurrection, happened that night so long ago in the most humble of places. This miracle, not just the birth by a virgin, but the coming of God in the form of a man, this mysterious incarnation, is somewhere close to the theological heart of the Gospel.

I don’t want to get to technical with the ins and outs of this profound reality, but I do want to explore what the generosity of God and his gift of Himself in His Son. It is by this gift humanity receives the invitation to be reconciled, to have its relationship fully restored, to its estranged Creator. It is by this gift that humanity may be reconciled to itself, with the fullness of what it means to live together in due time. This gift holds the promise that even the thrills of modern technology, democratic elections, and even Nintendo Wii cannot even touch: the restoration of what humanity was supposed to be all along. In Jesus, we have life as it was meant to be with the grace from the Father to make it a reality in a fallen world with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to keep our feet planted when the ground is prone to shift.

It is God’s generosity that we model on Christmas. Therefore, for all of our bluster, so long as people give on Christmas, the point is always at least symbolically referenced, and thus Christ will never be expunged from Christmas. So long as there is good will towards men and generous tidings, no whim of culture can exorcise the will of God as imprinted on this season. If you would oblige me a suggestion: Be generous materially this season, especially for those in need. For if God had to become man of flesh and bone in order to fulfill His plan, what good is generosity in words only. Furthermore, Jesus came to give good news to the poor. What news is it to the hungry to be saved only after death? What better news is it to have the opportunity to eat or be safe or to be comforted? Thus, we as people following after God’s gift in Jesus are again able to reflect God’s generosity by caring for those whom he guards and loves but the world so easily forgets.

And perhaps here we can connect our stories to Magi and Shepherds: as they were people who had no business entering into fellowship with the God of Israel. And perhaps we are thus. But the fact remains that Jesus was born. He left the comforts of eternity and stepped into linear human history to bring us back. Christmas 2000 years ago was the beginning of the work of redemption wrought by Christ in his earthly life, work that culminated in his death on the cross and his the work that continues in his church all these years later. If perchance you are here without knowing that Jesus has come to meet you too, I hope and pray that the Christ we have sung to and about, prayed to and reflected on, is someone that you would care to know and perhaps to love.

Thanks for listening, Christ’s peace be with you.

Benediction:
The Lord Bless you and Keep you and make His face shine upon you, And may he bring you peace:
Go in the name of the Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Prayer

2008-09-11T20:09:00.002-04:00

Lord I see your face as obscured by a glass
O to reach around and feel your warmth
But I resolve instead to worry and sit
The glass has no worries and simply sits...
And so do you patiently behind
Waiting for me to resolve to reach
Amen

LOLCat: Colossians 1:15-23

2008-08-20T17:06:00.002-04:00

This is very cool. But I don't want to explain it, I will not do it justice.
For the uninitiated to LOLCats...
And for the source from whence this came...
For those of us who wish they could have been a scribe.

'e is de imigz ov da invisibl Ceiling Cat, da furst cat ovr dem rest.16 4 he maded all stufz: stufz in da hoodz ov da Ceiling Cat 'n stufz on dis planit, visibl an' invisibl, if they iz seatz ov base or bossmen or bossmen ov bossmen, he maded dem 4 himselfz!17 He iz wat iz befor all stufz, and he maik all stufz b.18 He iz da 'ead ov da body, da churchz!: he is da begining and teh furst cat from da zombicatz, so whatevir iz he iz bossman!19 4 de Ceiling Cat was hapi to haf everithin in 'im,20 'n be also da settlimnt-maker ov all playces, even if iz in da hoodz ov da Ceiling Cat or on dis planit, so he go to da X and bleedz.

21 So, sumtimez befor knauw, u was aliented fron da Ceiling Cat, 'n was enemiez in ur mindz 'cos u waz evyl!22 Buh knauw, he meik settlimnt wif u by Christz bodi dieing to givez u howly in hez sight, no dirtz and bad wurdz -23 if u continus in ur belieffs, rly 'n rly, no thoughz awai fron da hopez in da gospil. Dis is da gospil u haz heardid 'bout 'n iz toldz ta all catz undir da hoodz ov da Ceiling Cat, and ov whicz I'z, Paul, me iz a servants ov.

[edit]

Prayer

2008-08-18T20:17:00.002-04:00

O Lord that created all things and seeks to bring all things to redemption
Bring thy saving will over my heart
which winces and weeps, wrestles and wraths over such small things

O lord forgive my anxiety and worry
for to worry is to ignore you
and place my attention on the things that I do
and not the things that you have done, are doing, and will do

For me, for your bride, through your Son most blessed
May I be counseled by your Spirit and not be ignorant to your whisper
Amen.

Awesome

2008-06-25T18:04:00.001-04:00

Ok, this is kind of sweet. I like Obama OK, but not always to thrilled about Dr. Dobson

Check it:

http://www.jamesdobsondoesntspeakforme.com/

NPR

2008-05-08T19:17:00.000-04:00

Profound and encouraging.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90133974

Tradition

2008-05-07T21:25:00.001-04:00

As presented as a sermon on 5/7/08

Tradition
The word tradition kind of has a similar reaction in American life as the word flan. A lot of people really like flan, will continue to like flan and cannot see any real immediate problem with flan. Others are the opposite: the hate flan, will never really acquiesce or accept flan and can cite several issues with the makeup and practice of flan. There seems to be little middle ground at times, perhaps because the middle ground could really care less about pro and con flan issues. The American Protestant experience is similar in terms of its reaction to tradition. Just for the record, I am a staunch non-flan.

I would like to take a little time to make it clear what we are not discussing here. When I say tradition, I do not mean those ways of reading the bible that we have invested in or theologies that we hold close to us. Those may be good for us right now, but that is not what I mean by tradition.
When I say tradition, I do not mean those ideologies and systems that have more to do with things more at home in discussion in home economics and American government classes. Those things have a role in our lives, but they are not what I mean by tradition.
When I say tradition, I do not wish to hearken back to some good old days, when Christianity was “pure” or “in its best form.” It is my belief that the church is instead the only thing that can truly come close to the philosophically oxymoronic term “necessary evil.” As thus, it is ever being perfected and sanctified by the true Author Savior, and Perfector, the Lord God Almighty.
I will make clear how I understand tradition in a minute, but now, if you will indulge a story of my personal experience.

When I came to begin my Christian journey, my first church experiences are what we might call low-church. As many of you know, these early encounters in ecclesiology happened inside the walls of a small but growing congregation of Pentecostals (a perennial growth status for Pentecostal churches, regardless of their numbers). It was there that I first learned of tradition and sacrament, that there is a slight difference and that tradition is mostly bad and that we should not really worry about it all that much. So, I did not worry about it all that much. Actually, it was not even until I went to a Christmas Eve service a few years ago with my mom that I realized that there was something to tradition other than it is something to slough off in favor of something “authentic.” It was in the very structured service that many people seemed to have a very real peace about them. I stored this for later reflection. As I started seminary school, I was immediately thrown into a salad of conviction and faith expression. When confronted with the idea of tradition, my guard came up and I half-scoffed. But as I saw that tradition need not be dead ritual and idolatry, as it had been portrayed to me thus far, I began to realize the utility and beauty of expression as seen in the traditions embraced by my fellow brothers and sisters. Needless to say, I was humbled and a little upset. I feel like I missed out on some really great stuff along the way.

All right, so maybe you are tired of hearing the word tradition without knowing exactly what I mean. Here it is: an expression of faith based on scriptural themes, that may be experienced by the body in humility, together, and in reflection of who God is and His work through the persons of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. We may regard tradition as an attempt by the church to transmit God’s self disclosure across the chasm of generation. Finally, tradition is democratic: it must have the consent first of the Holy Spirit so that it may be ratified by the body of Christ within a local framework of worship.

Easy enough, right? Sounds great right?

But tradition in the late-modern/postmodern American Protestant experience is a four letter word in some places. I think this has more to do with our sociologic makeup rather than orthodoxy (and among Americans especially, it is an interesting pattern as to how theology is used to sustain certain sociological patterns in the church rather than the other way around.) In fact, the protestant rallying cry, sola scriptura cited by many an anti-traditionalist seems to make their theological point for them. And yet, this term has been completely divorced from what Martin Luther had in mind when he was attempting to bring some much needed change to the Roman Catholic Church. Luther himself would rather not let go of much of the traditions of the church: just those that were an more an impediment to the edification of the church and a way to maintain ancient power edifices. Luther saw scripture as having more authority than the decisions and commands of the ecclesial power structure, and thus he saw scripture as the true source that funds right thinking and practice. We may understand how Luther regarded church tradition as a demotion rather than a negation. When Wesley reflected upon the role of tradition within the contexts of worship and revelation, he placed it within a quadrilateral, held in tension with scripture (which rightly funds all other aspects of the quadrilateral), reason (which is used to make coherent ideas about God as well as reflect on Him), and experience (which creates a unique personal encounter to add to the overall group within the conviction of faith). All four of these things have a part to play in linking our hearts and minds to the work of God in the nation of ancient Israel and through the person of Jesus Christ.

Americans today seem to have a major problem with memory. We are a distracted culture that has many tools that do the work of memory for us. However, many of us have very strange gifts of memory. Some can remember old box scores, some can remember entire Madonna records worth of lyrics and some can even remember other peoples’ names. I personally can remember a great many a plotline and obscure character of popular fiction. That is a nice way of saying that I am a dork. My point is, that memory is something we can work on. Scripture records another group of people with a memory problem: the Israelites. The work of God in Exodus was repeatedly remembered, only to be repeatedly forgotten as soon as times got good enough. God Himself made remembrance of this event of prime importance, only to have his chosen children continually forget what He had done for them. With the traditional feast of Passover, the Hebrew people honored the memory of God’s act of miraculous salvation. When Jesus came, he told his disciples during a Passover feast to remember Him in breaking bread. This is the driving force behind all beneficial tradition: to remember what God has done for us, and reflecting on who He is, having done so. It should center our attention on something of real importance.

Tradition does not have to be stuffy or lame. In fact, be encouraged to think up new and creative ways to remember God’s person and work. Having something tangible may go along way to keeping God on your mind during the toil of the week. Perhaps a discipline of meditation or silence can become a tradition within your household. Perhaps writing down a love letter to God can become part of your weekly worship. All these things may be passed along, just like holidays and heirlooms and perhaps they will deepen your reflection of the most Holy God.

I would be remiss if I did not make a warning. Tradition may become an idol. We must always be aware of why we celebrate or take part in an act of tradition. We should do these things out of true and sincere worship. If duty becomes reason over loving reflection, it may be time to reexamine that particular act. Tradition may become an advertising campaign. Jesus warns against doing things just to be seen rather than out of devotion. We would take care to recognize and examine our intent always. Tradition may be used for control. We have no business using the things of worship to lord power over the ones we know and serve. Pretending we are in control is the heart of blasphemy.

Now as for control, it is not my wish to change anything about how this expression of he body celebrates its worship. Rather, I do wish to broaden our horizons of worship.

It is my hope tonight that you may have a greater respect and understanding of those that have different religious practices than we do, that they have their own worth for those that wish to worship He is truly only worthy. I hope that you would seek to make a physical dimension of worship, something to express your thoughts and feelings to the One that allows us to think and feel.

I would invite you to take part in some of the Christian church’s oldest traditions, the recitation of the Apostles’ Creed as well as the Lord’s Supper.

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. AMEN.

When we take the bread into our mouths tonight, be reminded of the reality of Christ’s broken body for us. Not in the mystical substantial change our Catholic brothers celebrate, but still in a very real sense. May we remember the Body of our Lord.

When we drink of the cup, be reminded of the bitter taste of death that He conquered to make a new covenant with us. Do not be fearful of the trials we have set before us, but may we celebrate them together in His service. May we remember the blood of the Lamb.

Prayer

2008-05-01T22:51:00.002-04:00

as reflection runs to pen
as pen makes word
as word changes mind

may a tender heart
ever be so

even if memory inspires tradition
even if tradition turns to ritual
even if ritual becomes idolatry

may a tender heart
ever be so

...O forgive us

when thanks moves from prayer
when prayer comes from praise
when praise responds to grace

...and when we realize
the source is the same

may a tender heart
ever be so.

Amen.

Evil I

2008-04-22T14:35:00.000-04:00

Evil I
Lately, due in no small part to class study, I have been thinking a lot about evil, or pain, or badness: whatever we want to call it. It came up a couple times yesterday:
For some reason, I was talking to one of my friends at work about the Chinese opium problem. A brief summary: the British made lots of money off of a debilitating addiction, thus bringing a huge country to its knees, and cultivating/continuing a culture of distrust in Asia towards the west. I cannot remember exactly why I was talking about this (it is really boring after all) but it might have had something to do with certain comments by radio talk show hosts. At any rate, I was inadvertently setting a stage for a thought/faith/talk/Holy Ghost trainwreck that ended far better than just about every trainwreck. I realized something that I had been reading about for a few weeks. It had finally made sense among all the other things floating around up there. Suddenly I tied together the chain of evil events that encompassed that whole Chinese/British experience into a coherent thought on the Kingdom of God. Evil has a way of perpetuating itself when left unchecked, and a great many times, it has a very insidious way of disguising itself as good. But Jesus broke that chain all those years ago. He made it possible to lovingly throw a wrench in the machine of evil. Not repaying evil with evil ends the transaction with no party indebted to the other. Now, radical peace is something I have been convicted of for a long time, but it hadn’t really illustrated itself in this way. To that I am greatly thankful for the opportunity to read N.T. Wright’s Evil and the Justice of God. When I had finished describing the evil thing to my friend I commented, man that is cool. My friend, who I would probably put into the ‘seeker’ category, said, “yeah. That is cool.”
That’s one for Paraclete.
Later in the day, my mom whom I might put into the category of ‘hostile’ was asking about the Christian response to bad driving, perhaps feeling guilty for cursing and honking at another driver. She asked if cursing made her evil. I waffled, not really thinking that calling that act evil would get her anywhere. The thoughts against a simple dualistic look at reality bounced around my brain thankfully not reaching my vocal chords. She cut to the point: what would the Christian have done? I said they probably would have at least honked. But the point is that we are given the opportunity to act differently. So far, no one has fully mastered this since the ascension. She then grilled me on how wrong it is to tithe. Oh well.
Anyway, the point being that we are given a tremendous opportunity everyday to choose another way and it does not always have to be A and B. Sometimes it can be A, B, and J. The challenge comes when we seek to choose J when A and B are way easier. The best part is that the source of J is a person that loves us even when we do choose A or B.
Just ask Dietrich Boenhoeffer.
Also, be careful when you categorize people. They will surprise you!
God Bless!

Worship

2008-04-16T21:47:00.001-04:00

As read on Weds 16 April 2008...

This is an attempt to do something rather unProtestant: rather than rely on the scripture alone as my guide, this is a product of reflection on practice, tradition, and indeed reflection itself. That is not to say this is not informed by the Bible, I am just choosing a separate approach than say, a word, verse, chapter, or book study. Careful consideration has been made to the validity if these remarks based on the story of God and His work and contradictions with this story have been carefully avoided or edited. I promise. Rather than exposition on the Bible, this is a contemplation, a gathering of thoughts manifested into a piece resembling rambling prose, hopefully sounding more lyrical, as if poetry as written without attention to established meter and form…
This I submit as personal worship, a prayer in long form, to be shared with my brothers and sisters with the intent on bringing us together in worship of the Lord God Almighty- who, perfect in community, seeks to make us more like Himself.

Worship is something that we as a species share among the generous plurality of human culture. It is something that comes easy to us as humans. For those of us who participate in a faith based on the revealed work of The One Who Is, one should rightly say that it is the focus of our lives, as we understand what is meant and what has been done for us by Jesus. For those who believe in other religions, they too have important obligations to worship their appropriate deities, forces, or demigods, etc. Worship to some extent can be seen in most peoples’ lives, even if does not have the marks of what we would assume it to look like (division of sacred and profane, religious ethics, hallowed ground, on and on). Even outside of religious tradition, human beings are known to give strange amounts of attention to seemingly inconsequential items, persons, behaviors, or cuts of jeans. Worship, in fact, exists in some way shape or form even after religion is supposedly destroyed by overwhelming human intellectual and physical effort: for example you can see the veneration of the working class ideal in Soviet culture as a substitute for religious expression. Thus, like breathing, drinking, eating, parenting, playing, and fighting, worship comes rather naturally for us.

In ancient Israel, it was important to present various sacrifices to God in order to fully account for the transgressions of a people. Songs and poems were written to reflect on what God had done for His people. Temples were built in an attempt to give God a house that He did not really need in the first place. Israel was capable of worshipping its God, but over the years, it would also attempt to cover its bases by worshipping too well, outside of the guidelines given to them by a jealous God. This paragraph may seem out of place, except to preface the next section as a parable of the church…

A statement that is thrown around a lot in Asbury is profound in its simplicity: Worship is the central action of the people of God. As I was thinking about this statement, I started to wonder if that is true in my own life, if that is true in the life of the body, and even if that is true or not. I realize tat my own life should resemble a dance of sorts, a fine and elegant performance where I am expected to know the steps and conventions to a tune I know very well form weeks of rehearsal, with a partner I am intimately connected with on every level. In actuality, my life does resemble this to an extent, but the steps are broken, the tune fades in and out because of a faulty sound system and my partner knows way more about me than I do about Them. Expectations aside, the fact that I wish to learn these things is pleasing to my Partner: and that same Partner wishes for the dance to look more like a square dance than a tango, so that my broken steps are helped along by other dancers. As I drag this metaphor out, I see that there is much in my life I must give over in worship to the Lord including said metaphor.

Now if I may be permitted to be a little provocative. How does worship fit into the life of the body? It is strange that something hat should be so integral in the life of the believer is so compartmentalized and treated as if it does not really fit everywhere, which it does. What have we done?
We profit in vulgarity from expressions of loving God, making a venture/enterprise where it is difficult to identify authentic expression from crass commercialism.

We separate Praise from Worship in an attempt to assign labels where none are needed.

We pretend to have authority over what is “appropriate” for worshipping the God that created the people from whom culture, expression flows.

We hand over our money to get Him off our backs- as if that is what God truly wants from us, as opposed to ourselves as living sacrifices.

We expect worship to be a service given to us by individuals who have a “better relationship with God” than we do, generally content to allow them to do the work that Jesus entrusted all who believe in Him with, as if the sons of Levi, the priestly caste, were even necessary in the kingdom inaugurated by Christ.

Brothers and sisters, worship for us as a body is a service to God by His loving community and perhaps hopefully by extension a service to God’s good creation, who screams like a new mother needing an epidural for Him to return. To be blunt: leaving worship in the sanctuary is tantamount to denying the call of the church, as if your salvation and baptism is only truly active within the four walls of the church building. Fortunately, grace abounds and it is that same perfect grace that allows to worship and allows constant reconciliation between us and He Who maintains the air for our voices to vibrate.

Worship is available at all times in all places, to everyone. God really loves when we give Him things. He even likes it when we give sin over to Him, in confession. God is thankful and blessed when we allow our actions to be founded in moving through his will. It is possible to make worship an attitude, a mindset, a motivation, dare I say…a lifestyle. Truly I tell you, the kingdom of God is near and present in this life. And in this kingdom, we worship the only King worthy of any attention and His kingdom’s borders do not exist unless we decide to erect their walls in our own minds.

I do not wish to sound as if this is an ideal that I myself have achieved. In fact, I am only coming out of the first realizing step. But I wanted to encourage you, my brothers and sisters, to walk along together, in service to each other and to Him, in worship. God grants us the ability to fully love each other, and because of the work of Jesus, to have full communion with Him. Such a precious gift is worthy of the highest worship. Finally, as we sit together at the precipice of a new era of cultural understanding, new questions, few answers, and general unrest and injustice across the world, may we take part in that most ancient form of Christian worship: the Lord’s Supper. This tradition, inaugurated by Christ, is a reminder of whom we worship, why we worship Him, and especially a reminder that we are called to worship Him together. Some appropriate scripture:

Luke 22:14-30
When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God."

After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, "Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."

And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me."

In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed, but woe to that man who betrays him." They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this.

Also a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. Jesus said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. You are those who have stood by me in my trials. And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel

May we break bread together to remember and celebrate. May we give our lives in worship to the one who gave His. May His grace be known and magnified by our love for Him and for each other.

Remember

2008-04-08T19:19:00.003-04:00

As seen on a street in Chicago July 2006...
...Thanks for the reminder...

Absolute

2008-03-30T18:25:00.003-04:00

This is a work in progress, words put onto screen in order to map out my thoughts. It is not complete, and I do not think it will be for some time. I write this to my “Senator” in the hopes of making it personal rather than merely theoretical. I hope that it is a help in some way and if it is a stumbling block, I hope it makes a discussion possible. Ultimately, I hope it leads to more healing than division, but I can see where it may seem angry or inhospitable. May grace abound from you as well as My Father, I ask humbly for your patience…

“Absolute truth” are two words we hear a lot when we turn on Evangelical Radio, or listen to an impassioned sermon decrying the destruction of society. This current destruction of society is of course due to another philosophical vocab word (or words, depending on your spell-checker): post-modernism. Pulpits across the land decry the denial of absolute truth in society and incite panic in those who may have just wanted to worship God in His sanctuary.

Postmodernity is not the focus of this post as there are far more learned and gifted writers who can articulate the postmodern issue as far as Christianity is concerned. In fact the whole idea of Absolute truth has been treated by many of those same folks. Read at your own peril, I suppose! Rather, I wanted to say a few things about the mis- and over-use of the idea of Absolute truth.

Talking about truth in this way is a dicey prospect. Are we talking about God’s existence being absolute? This is a real problem because it almost negates the role of faith (see Hebrews 11 for those biblically inclined). If He is truly absolute, that is, completely defined with all parameters known, then faith is superfluous. This is almost a reaction against many so-called philosophical proofs of God. Now, I recommend contemplating and thinking intelligently about God, but as a believer, I find it almost grotesque to use a word like Absolute when speaking about God. Paraphrasing a theologian friend of mine, absolute in this case means that we are able to “plot” God on some sort of graph. Now mind you, I am no mathematician, but there is simply not enough space on any TI-83 to graph the Glory of God. If I type |6| or |-6| we are expressing the absolute value of a numeral. Can we carry this idea over? |God|? Seems absurd. Although the mathematical analogy breaks down quickly upon careful scrutiny (as do all analogies when speaking about the Lord), Absolute is a definition that seems a little suspect to me when we who worship God understand Him as infinite, eternal, unlimited, and transcendent. May I add that not only is God all these things, he is fully available and with us at all times. And yet, not contradictory in His nature. I get confused as I write these things, you know?

It seems as if those who wield the Absolute truth dictum do so due to their disdain for the morality of culture at large. This tried and true method of sequestering the church from the morality of the outside world has been in use, well, since the earliest days of the church! Holiness, imparted to us through the work of the Jesus on the Cross and worked in us by the Holy Ghost makes us separate from the rest of the world. And yet, as Jesus showed us His great love for us, we are to reflect God’s holiness in the same way: caring for his creation and serving our fellow humanity and remaining humble before God. Still the church has always been fooled into creating moral fortresses for itself rather than relying on the only Fortress that can truly defend us. Morality outside of the church has always been crap. It will be crap. It will get to be worse crap. Morality inside the church should not be crap. And a lot of times it looks like crap. And guess what! There are plenty of good people outside of the church, regardless of the existence of an Absolute moral system or not!

My point is we cannot pretend as if we are superior and have this absolute moral mandate if we are not ourselves completely obedient, which will never happen. The absolute is irrelevant if we ourselves refuse to acknowledge it.

Now, I believe with every part of me that God exists, loves me, loves you as you read this, and died for both of us, even if that is not a comfortable place for one’s belief. I can relate that as truth. I will even go so far to say that God existing, etc is a fundamental reality of this universe and any other. This sounds a lot like Absolute truth, and I know it. It is a difference of semantics in a way. I rather prefer the more nuanced term of God’s meta-narrative. I just refuse to use this as an argument to use as a weapon against those who don’t believe, or as a way of defending a pet,or worse, convenient theology or hermeneutic against new ideas or detractors. That is my main complaint. In fact I would only like to use the words Absolute truth in regards to the one thing that seems fully real to me all the time, everyday:
God loves us. God loves me.
What else is there? What else should drive us? The Lord Almighty, the Author of Salvation, el Shaddai, YHWH, elohim, kurios, Christ, Holy One, Holy Spirit…
He has so many names. And they are all for us to know Him by and to call. That we know them and that the Godhead behind these names truly loves us (you and I!) is the ultimate mind-blow. This truth changes people, so much more so than rational dogma and posited science! Brothers and sisters in faith, may we believe and live out of this rule and none other, regardless of scholarly definition.

It’s not that I don’t believe in an Absolute, I just think we are talking about it in a way that does not reflect fully what He has done for us nor is the term sufficient for who He is.

Nightmare

2008-03-27T23:38:00.000-04:00

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1725839,00.html
Man. As a member of a tribe that enjoys relative protection and influence in the US but also sees hate and violence in other parts of the world, I can sort of empathize. But then, I haven’t had my ass kicked lately, so take that for what it is worth.
Pray for these folks.
Hopefully their tribe in the US will be more aware and prone to action of their struggle than my tribe’s counterparts.

Story

2008-03-27T23:15:00.001-04:00

Tonight I heard a story of a highly motivated young woman; a very talented person whose goal in life was to serve humanity as a doctor. This person also happened to be born in a certain country south of ours a little while before she actually lived here. For some that makes her a scourge: the undocumented immigrant.
This post is not a discussion on the issue of immigration mind you. Please hit backspace as you ready your fireball level 80.
No, rather this post has to do with stories and how stories get lost in blind numbers and labels.
Ok, even more so, it has to do with the church (of which I am fast becoming a servant of, mind you) losing something very valuable: The personal touch of Jesus. It seems like I hear about groups a lot: conservatives, liberals, Mormons, Masons, Mennonites, Methodists, Mastodons, Multitaskers, etc. We can coolly make decisions based upon the cursory knowledge we have about these groups and let the cards fall as they may (very coolly.) But what if we actually knew something about the individuals in the group? Would our opinions change? Should our opinions change?
Would the way we see certain issues change based on the personal reality we find on the ground?
As I listened to the plight of this young woman who was working harder to put herself through school than I did to pay my bills week to week I could not help but wonder what Jesus thought of his child.
I think that He would know her one to one, not just as a member of a certain demographic.
Just a thought.
You’d think that in an age of hyper-individualism, this would not be a problem.

Aneurism

2008-03-26T00:06:00.002-04:00

Today a well known conservative radio commentator (who happens to be at least a nominal Mormon) said some dumb stuff.
As usual.
As of late, he has been attacking Barak Obama's preacher for his black liberation theology.
Now, I don't know much about Black Liberation theology, but it is quite possible that it has some fringe elements in its doctrine and adherents. That's cool. So does Mormonism.
But what made almost pass out was when our conservative commentator went on a preaching run and told his listening audience that when Jesus freed us of oppression, it was only in the spiritual sense: salvation from sin death and the devil.
Awesome.
It does not bother me that he says it, or that he has a sloppy idea of atonement and salvation.
It bothers me that
1) there are folks out there saying, "Yeah! I knew that all those things that Jesus told me to do were not supposed to be for the real world! Let's go destroy the planet and bleed the poor!"
2) there are folks out there in the listening public whose only connection to the Most Blessed Savior is this weird semi-state religious pasteurized white upper class Jesus who does not care for anyone but the rich and morally upright.
3) That I get this bent out of shape. Lord, forgive my wrath.
May we live in peace.
-Dave!

First Post

2008-03-23T19:11:00.001-04:00

SO I started a blog.
I figured there was some stuff worth writing down, you know?

There was a longer rant written on this page at first. I edited down to the first sentence (see above).

Explanations?
I believe in the Gospel of Jesus. There is a bunch of stuff that goes along with this, too. All of this will come out in future entries.

I can’t seem to get in line with the Religious Right. That’ll probably come out too.

I really like short sentences.

Love,
-Dave!