Glimpse of the Relief for the World

Early this morning I boarded the treadmill. The on board computer offers a variety of ways to measure progress. One readout I watch is “distance.” My goal is at least 2 miles of cardio. The other display I watch is “time.” I like to get my two miles, walking and jogging, in about 30 minutes. Since my workouts have been irregular Monday mornings present something of a “shock.” My body pays careful attention to the time knowing relief is in sight.

The promise of Messiah offered hopeful encouragement for people given to watch for his coming. Relief would soon come. Jesus’ sojourn brought relief to a variety of human suffering. Some found release from the pain of illness, disease and broken bodies. Others were set free from oppression be it demonic or cultural. People came from all around to find relief. The King had come and gave a sign and foretaste of life in the Kingdom of God.

Sin is insidious. Its effects are felt, as Scot McKnight notes, in all of our relationships - self, others, God, and the world. Sins personal and systemic keep us all in need of relief from the its presence.

Kester Brewin offered a poem to signal indicators of the kind of relief brought in the Resurrection of Jesus. The reference may be to the giving up of Jesus by the earth which could not hold him, but the implications reach far and wide. Thanks Kester for the thoughts.

It wasn’t so much that
the stones couldn’t hold him.
More that they refused to.

All had been silent, struck dumb by deathly silence, but
“All down here is petrified but him” they cried out,
as he said they would.
“He could no more be made fossil relic by us than
the sun that melts and sublimates”

Don’t think it was some angel.
That morning,
the earth opened itself,
and gave him back.

Happy Easter.

Intersections - Epiphany and Sanctity of Life on Martin’s Day

Yesterday we celebrated the third Sunday after Epiphany and Sanctity of Life Sunday on the eve of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. These intersections created some personal reflections that surely showed up in the morning “sermon.” Today I find an illustration in the blog post of Emily Hunter McGowin.

Perhaps is it appropriate that I am posting this story on the day in the US that we celebrate the life and achievements of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. On April 4, 1967, when speaking against the Vietnam War, Dr. King said, “I could not be silent in the face of such cruel manipulation of the poor.” I hope that we can say the same.

And, for the executive fat-cats who watch while gross injustice plagues poor women and children in the developing world, I hear the words of Amos echoing in my head:

“You trample on the poor
and force him to give you grain.
Therefore, though you have built stone mansions,
you will not live in them;
though you have planted lush vineyards, you will not drink their wine.

For I know how many are your offenses
and how great your sins.
You oppress the righteous and take bribes
and you deprive the poor of justice in the courts.”
- Amos 5:11-12

The revealing of Jesus marks a different understanding of life, what it means to be human and how we relate with the God who made us.

Non-violent Resistance … Loving “Others”

Last month I listened in to a conference call with Anthony Smith, who blogs at Musings of a Postmodern Negro. Anthony spared us some of his time to reflect on leadership in reference to power. The course tended to wrestle with gender issues. But, the matter of race is not too dissimilar. Some may argue, and with merit, African-Americans suffered a greater wound than women. Then again, if one has not walked in the shoes of a woman ….

We who shared in the call marveled at a perspective few could really grasp. Some may have wanted Anthony to feel better about life in American as an African-American and assert, “Some of my best friends are black.” Fortunately any such thoughts were kept from the conversation.

Anthony closed the conference call with suggestions for reading and listening from African-American culture. I could not help but think of the kind of value Newbigin suggests when he refers to someone who shares a different perspective as an “intruder.” (See, Proper Confidence) Those with differing view points intrude on our constructions of the way the world is and force something of an altering to include how others see life. To exclude the intruder is to risk not only potential valuable correctives but reduces the intruder to a nuisance, and so their experience less than human.

One writer Anthony suggested we read was James Baldwin. He, Anthony, mentioned the essay, “The Fire Next Time.” I picked up a copy of, Baldwin: Collected Essays. I began reading, “The Fire Next Time” and noticed it was written in 1963, the year I was born. Sitting in the doctor’s office I made it about half way through. A couple of quotes caught my attention.

The really terrible thing, old buddy, is that you must accept them. And I mean that very seriously. You must accept them and accept them with love. For these innocent people have not other hope. The are, in effect, still trapped in a history which they do not understand; and until they understand it, they cannot be released from it. (Baldwin,p.294)

And if the word integration means anything, this is what it means: that we, with love, shall force our brothers to see themselves as they are, to cease fleeing from reality and begin to change it. (Baldwin, p.294)

I at once thought of Will Willimon’s recent Christmas Eve message. We like to think we are the best characters in a story. We so want to identify with those whose experience seems akin to our own. The problem comes when we do not see our story clearly. For example, Willimon notes,

When I read the Christmas story, it is unfair for me to read myself into the places of Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, or even the wise men. This was their home. They are under the heel of the Empire, their lives jerked around by imperial decrees.

I live in Rome with Caesar Augustus, or maybe in Jerusalem up at the palace with that King Herod, lackey for the Roman overlords. I’d rather see myself as one of the relatives of Mary and Joseph. I wouldn’t mind being one of the shepherds, out working the night shift, surprised when the heavens filled with angels.

Identifying with Mary or Joseph is akin to suggesting, “Some of my best friends are black.” It is to assert some false connection. It outright denies our own place in our own story. The best we can do when entering another’s story is as Baldwin suggests, and I might add finds place in the way of Jesus, love. Jesus reiterated the long standing command to love our neighbor. The Apostle Paul concluded loving our neighbor sums up the whole Law.

Resisting the shaping of a culture, an economy, a politic, or a social construct may best be done by loving others. Entering another’s story in love creates a deconstructive opportunity giving birth and life to a re-constituted way of life calling for repentance and faith and relationship with and in Christ.

Felled Forest and a Sprouting Stump

Some years ago Patty and I walked through Stanley Park and marveled at the “Forest” growth. Occasionally we would walk upon large felled trees. Some lie on the ground as a result of age, others had been struck by lightning and still others may have succumbed to disease. Growing up in Oklahoma we seldom saw trees so large. Some of these trees had been cut to clear an easier path to walk. Stumps could be seen randomly throughout the park.

Out of some of these stumps grew new growth. What appeared to be dead possessed life enough to produce s small shoot.

Each summer when I use the grass trimmer (weedeater) to clean next to our loafing shed I inevitably must hack down foliage growing from small shrubs and trees that had been cut leaving stumps.

The chances of a formidable tree growing up from a stump are slim. Yet, the prophet Isaiah ends chapter ten with the picture of the felling of a forest. Images of tall cedars would evoke thoughts of power and might. The notion of their demise would signal defeat and weakness.

Chapter 11 opens with the remarkable vision of a peace bringing shoot growing up from a stump. Unlikely yet hope-filled. Images of lions and lambs co-habiting in peace would certainly speak to a new day.

Peter Rollins writes of life in the aftermath of God in his book, <u>How [Not] to Speak of God</u>. I could not help but recall this description when thinking of Jesus coming in the aftermath of the justice of God. Expectations would never turn to an unlikely girl, a young man embarrassed at the pregnancy of his betrothed and a small town considered least among other places to call home. Yet, in the aftermath of silence God speaks.

Angels declare, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among people.” This announcement alerted the world to God in the aftermath of silence. Peace marks a distinct way relationships would now be marked. The coming of Jesus would bring peace without and within.

Now we find ourselves living in the way of Jesus. Unlikely. Improbable. And at the same time invigorated at the possibilities of joining God in the work of bringing peace to the world - peace among people, peace among neighbors, peace among ethnic enemies, peace among conflicted nations, peace with God.

All of this coming out of a sprouting stump.

Peace - An Advent Reflection

Oh for the day when peace will come to young girls like the one who wrote to “Dear Abby” published in today’s Daily Oklahoman. Seems as though some “jocks” do not get enough gratification out of their favorite sports, they must make sport of picking on a young 13 year-old girl.Being the father of two girls, this infuriates me.

Jeanne Phillips response noted the sneakiness of those who will act in this way out of “ear shot” of adults. But, when these boys press the bullying to physical contact, someone must step in.

I have mulled this over for a bit today as I think about the Advent candle we will light tomorrow. The candle of peace must mark more than just the longing for the day when all will be at peace. Jesus followers must work for the peace of all so the presence of Jesus becomes a real experience now. The notion of an eternity of peace may have some approximation in our present actions driving people to look for relationship with Jesus, who brings peace.

Too many in our world are at the breaking point and cannot find peace. We were horrified this week as a young adolescent took the lives of nine people. Reports indicate he too missed a great deal of peace in his life. What could we bring to the world in keeping with, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among people?” The coming of Jesus marks the purposeful reality and hopefulness in peace within and without.

Childhood Games, The Church and the Kingdom of God

My new friend Jim Palmer has a chapter in his new book, Wide Open Spaces, titled, “Here is the Church, Here is the Steeple …” Wow what memories that title drew forward. Maybe you recall hands clasped saying that little diddy while moving your hands correspondingly,

Here is the church, here is the steeple, open the doors, see all the people.

Many of us recall our parents readying us “for church.” When asked, “Where are we going?,” it was far easier to say, “To church” than, “We are going to a building where the church meets.” It is more accurate to say the latter.

Jim works through the troublesome framework of equating a building with church rather than church as people. He rightly notes many of the common misperceptions created when we talk about “going to church” and ending up at a building rather than saying something like, “We are going to meet with the church.”

The point should be noted Jim has not dismissed church, he has simply relocated it. What sometimes gets confusing is the near elimination of “church” in relationship to Kingdom of God. One could make this dissolution work, maybe, if we operated from an eschatological perspective reminiscent of post-millennialism. Certain that Jim’s intended audience would be less interested in the-ism’s associated with a”millennial” view, it may be better to suggest how one handles the notion of hope and fulfillment.

If the Kingdom of God has any future implications connected to the return of Jesus then hope has both temporal and “eternal” expressions. Temporal expressions would be glimpses of what it would like like for the world to be completely set right. Not just an operation of the soul, but a redemption and restoration of all things. Here the people of God, in many hopeful cases local communities described as churches, live into the clothes of Jesus so that Advent is both anticipated and ongoing. (see Romans 13:11-14)

In the words of a song we recently learned in our community of faith wherein we must be the expression of the humble King who,

is God of the broken the friend of the weak,  you wash the feet of the weary embrace the ones in need

Communities of faith who live out this expression of the humble King give temporal glimpses of the Kingdom of God creating a wellspring of hope that one day these mere glimpses will be fully realized. The eternal expression would be just that, the fulfillment of New Creation.

When we think of those who come looking to be filled with a hot meal and given food for the week, we trust these temporal expressions of investing in the hungry will stir hope for the day when all will be filled.

Advent Writing

Rather than write two different posts for Advent each day, if I manage to post each day of Advent, you may want to read those I post over at our church website.

[UPDATE: I will offer links to the individual posts.]

Hope: Tools of Peace Rather than War 

Hope for the World in the Present 

Lost in the Now or Present to the Day

The Turn of a Preposition - Hope for Relationships

I enjoy teaching. One of the best times of my week comes in sharing some time with a group of adults thinking about follow Jesus as we engage the Scriptures in a small group. Generally these settings call for an “expert” to “dispense” truth. Long ago I considered that model passe. The reason? Learning comes best when everyone engages. My role then is to facilitate a conversation around the subject of following Jesus. Nearly every week those who gather end up putting together one really deep, challenging “lesson.”

Recently we have been loosely following some devotional thoughts derived from Dallas Willard & Jan Johnson’s, Renovation of the Heart in Daily Practice. This devotional book grew out of Willard’s book, Renovation of the Heart. Our learning journey has taken us to consider how a community would look that practiced the expressions of genuine love the Apostle Paul describes in Romans 12. Working through this list resulted in a statement made by one from our group.

A personal story conveyed a matter with which we all wrestle. Generally we talk “to” people. We do things “toward” people. We leave those relational opportunities unchanged by the encounter because it has a “detached” feel to it. What really makes the difference is when we alter our “to” to “with.” Talking with people means we not only talk but we listen. Ministering with means connection beyond a “crop dusting” approach often prevalent in quick hitting “evangelistic” tactics. I realize this agrarian metaphor may not readily connect, but we in Oklahoma understand “affecting crops” from a distance.

Another chimed in suggesting a change in prepositions makes experiences less certain and can be quite messy. Beautiful observations that had us all considering how we may press to make the kind of community Paul described a reality not only in our “class,” but also in our church and community at large.

All of this with the turn of a preposition.

As we look toward Advent it is a healthy reminder that Jesus would be called Immanuel, “God with us.”

Christ the King Sunday

Today we celebrate Christ the King Sunday.

Whose feet not to wash? …

Some may be sensitive about their feet. As far back as I can remember my feet often create(d) a degree of ogling. You could quickly associate the thoughts, "Those feet are ugly!" My family will on occasion make a comment. I do not find them so off-putting but then again they are mine. I confess to not paying much attention to feet. No foot fetishes here. The older I get the kind of attention my feet look for come in the form of massages and freedom from "dress shoes." Thanks to Crocs, my feet are generally "happy feet."

A couple of weeks ago the text from we wrestled in our church came after Jesus’ washing the disciples feet. An incredible charge to those laying claim to following Jesus, "A new commandment I give you, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, you are to love one another. By this all people will know you are my disciples if you have love for one another." (John 13:34-35, ESV) What illustrates the love Jesus had for his disciples? Let’s see, he called on them to leave everything behind and follow him. Sounds pretty demanding!

How could the disciples live out the life of God in the world when some would do the unthinkable - betray another? We candidly rattle off the ditty, "Fool me once shame on thee, fool me twice shame on me." In other words we are too smart. We learn our lessons quickly. When someone wants to treat me poorly I do not have to go back for more. I will even be justified in my feelings toward that person. "After all do you know what they did to me?" (Oddly I do recall this phrase used by no insignificant person when referring to Christian people whom he felt had harmed him and others.) Soon Judas would betray Jesus. When this sunk in did Jesus want the others to take up his offense and harbor hatred and ill-will. No. It appears the action of washing the disciples feet set the stage for what would surely follow. "Love one another as I have loved you."

We often read a text with certain predispositions. When we read a familiar passage over and again it seems our observation skills become numb. Guilty. For you it may have been readily apparent Jesus washed Judas’ feet. For some reason it simply did not register. Quick to get to the action of foot washing and the significance of the "teacher" washing the "students" feet evidenced by Peter’s response obscured my taking account of the people around the room. Many an illustration of servant leadership is tied to the act of washing the feet. We relate this event to those we look to facilitate into leadership and do not consider looking around the room to discover one who will betray another. Intent to convey what it means to be a servant leader we often fail to point out that leadership often includes a discussion around the issue of what will you do when you are betrayed. How we respond to betrayal may mean more than how we are perceived as a servant.

Pastors’ betrayed? We read all too often of pastors who betray. Makes for better headlines. What however is the pastor, leader, Christ-follower to do in the face of betrayal? Jesus set the bar at "love one another." Jesus washed both Judas’ and Peter’s feet. John conveys he did so with the full knowledge both would betray him. The guilt overwhelmed Judas to the point of death. The shame hung around Peter’s shoulders until invited to "feed my sheep."

Would those in need of Jesus see our love for one another. Maybe then we could sense participation with God to set the world to rights - seeing our way to redemptive relationships. Until then all that may be seen is common vindictiveness. One suggestion. Rather than ask whose feet should I wash, why not ask whose feet should I not wash?

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