In another wonderful sermon this past Sunday, Matthew recounted for us that powerful image of Jesus on the Cross. As our Lord heard the thief denounce the doubting thief, and ask Jesus to remember him when He came into His Kingdom, the Lord assures him that this day, the thief would be with Jesus. Notice the timing of all of this. Jesus had not yet risen, that is Easter, this was what we call Good Friday. This was the blackest of days, the day it seemed like all that is evil and all that is wrong triumphed. Yet, on that day, the thief was promised Paradise - not in a few days or in the future, but the Greek clearly translates the response as being today. Is it possible the Kingdom has come? Yes. Recall when Jesus was being accused of casting out demons through the power of Satan? In Luke 11:20, Jesus tells His accusers that "but if it is by the finger of God that I cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you."
The response by Jesus points us to a new reality - one that has not existed on earth since the days of the cherubim with the flaming sword guarding the entrance to Eden. At that time, due to the Fall, we, all of humanity, became alienated from our Creator. That separation was not going to be healed without a death and a starting over - indeed the history of the Israelites showed that in our version of the salvation drama, there was no salvation merely drama. The thief displayed faith, and that faith was not simply an attitude or an intellectual acknowledging Jesus is the Christ, but the faith of the thief was his realizing that something remarkable was happening with the crucifixion of this man who was the Son of God - that is the death to self and yes to Jesus the Christ.
Yes to the tearing of the curtain and the restoration of the primal relationship. Yes to the realization that the Kingdom had begun, and God was opening wide to all those who say yes in faith to join Him in His mission of reconciling the world to Himself. Yes to the truth that we have no role in the salvation drama developing, that no amount of good works would ever be sufficient to gain entry, nor that any amount of good works after the emergence of this new Kingdom would be enough to maintain our place within this drama as salvation is a freely given gift and not the result of a mutual contract with any quid pro quo - the thief could do neither.
So, for us who remain in the meantime, what are we to do? Let us consider coming to an understanding that we have been called to join in His mission of reconciling the world to Himself, and part of that may very well be living out Micah 6:8, living missionally as led as He extends out His Kingdom until it is fully realized with the return of the Son.
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Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
GOING DEEPER WITH FORGIVENESS
As we approach Easter, Matthew's sermon last Sunday pointed us directly to that ultimate act of forgiveness, the Cross of Christ. In order to go a little bit deeper, maybe looking at the place of forgiveness for people who have come to faith in Christ will be helpful. Somehow it seems like we believers in this post modern culture have forgotten the necessity of forgiveness as a Christian practice.
Today when we talk about forgiveness it seems so much is focused on the therapeutic value of forgiveness – how forgiveness does great things like lower blood pressure, acts as an antidote to bitterness and resentment, or how forgiveness, along with prayer, helps us heal quicker. But all this really translates to nothing more than the drive to make us feel better about ourselves – we forgive because it benefits us – it is something we do for ourselves only.
Now I am not saying forgiveness isn’t all of those things, and that forgiveness should not be something we do because it is of personal benefit, but that seems to me to be missing the mark. This type of forgiveness can be done by the world very well thank you and if we limit ourselves to this type of forgiveness only, we really aren't being that salt and light. To go a little deeper means we have to see forgiveness through the eyes of Jesus. I have this sense that Jesus didn’t give out forgiveness because of the health benefits, whether physical, mental or spiritual, He would get. As Matthew noted in his sermon, the very first words Jesus uttered from the Cross were “forgive them Father.” Rather obvious no benefits were coming.
In my little rant (Frustration at the Intersection) I talk about what the Atonement really means. The Cross wasn’t simply about Jesus taking the wrath of the Father for the sins of humanity, though surely that was an essential part of the Cross. Rather, I see the Cross as being the only means of restoring fallen, and worsening, humanity to righteousness – or right relationship with the Trinity. So being in right relationship means we are now given the gift of participating in the divine life of the Trinity, and that includes being able to join in the mission of God in His redemption and reconciling the world to Himself, in His way and in His time. Being a people who forgive, and forgive freely as a gift to be given out, means we get to become that alternative society within society, and that we are able to empty ourselves of ourselves so that the Spirit may dwell more fully and we become receptive to the mission of God.
Pope Benedict invoked one of the most powerful images of forgiveness in the NT. In his rebuke of the Irish bishops and their terrible handling of the priest abuses, he recalled the image of Jesus writing in the sand before the woman caught in adultery. Let the one without sin cast that first stone. It struck me in that reading that the opposite of forgiveness is judgmentalism.
In the divorce support ministry, sometimes people will ask how I know I have forgiven. My sense of forgiveness is that it is real when we realize the person we are in the process of forgiving, may not only join with us in that mission of God in the here and now, but that person may very well be with us in the New Jerusalem for all eternity.
Today when we talk about forgiveness it seems so much is focused on the therapeutic value of forgiveness – how forgiveness does great things like lower blood pressure, acts as an antidote to bitterness and resentment, or how forgiveness, along with prayer, helps us heal quicker. But all this really translates to nothing more than the drive to make us feel better about ourselves – we forgive because it benefits us – it is something we do for ourselves only.
Now I am not saying forgiveness isn’t all of those things, and that forgiveness should not be something we do because it is of personal benefit, but that seems to me to be missing the mark. This type of forgiveness can be done by the world very well thank you and if we limit ourselves to this type of forgiveness only, we really aren't being that salt and light. To go a little deeper means we have to see forgiveness through the eyes of Jesus. I have this sense that Jesus didn’t give out forgiveness because of the health benefits, whether physical, mental or spiritual, He would get. As Matthew noted in his sermon, the very first words Jesus uttered from the Cross were “forgive them Father.” Rather obvious no benefits were coming.
In my little rant (Frustration at the Intersection) I talk about what the Atonement really means. The Cross wasn’t simply about Jesus taking the wrath of the Father for the sins of humanity, though surely that was an essential part of the Cross. Rather, I see the Cross as being the only means of restoring fallen, and worsening, humanity to righteousness – or right relationship with the Trinity. So being in right relationship means we are now given the gift of participating in the divine life of the Trinity, and that includes being able to join in the mission of God in His redemption and reconciling the world to Himself, in His way and in His time. Being a people who forgive, and forgive freely as a gift to be given out, means we get to become that alternative society within society, and that we are able to empty ourselves of ourselves so that the Spirit may dwell more fully and we become receptive to the mission of God.
Pope Benedict invoked one of the most powerful images of forgiveness in the NT. In his rebuke of the Irish bishops and their terrible handling of the priest abuses, he recalled the image of Jesus writing in the sand before the woman caught in adultery. Let the one without sin cast that first stone. It struck me in that reading that the opposite of forgiveness is judgmentalism.
In the divorce support ministry, sometimes people will ask how I know I have forgiven. My sense of forgiveness is that it is real when we realize the person we are in the process of forgiving, may not only join with us in that mission of God in the here and now, but that person may very well be with us in the New Jerusalem for all eternity.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
FRUSTRATION AT THE INTERSECTION OF THEOLOGY, ORTHODOXY AND MISSIONAL
At times the frustration level is high. An admission, I enjoy theology a great deal. Maybe that is something God had in mind when He called me over a decade ago in my middle years. I have this sense that if we are to be a people living for and by Jesus, on the ground, that is in the concreteness of living in this world every day, we must come to an understanding of what it means to be a community, not merely of people who do good things, but an enfleshed community of followers of Jesus.
My frustration is with, at times, the over-intellectualizing of the Gospel, and part and parcel of the Gospel is coming to an understanding of theology and orthodoxy, that is the study of God and the formation of right thinking about God. As for my frustration for instance, I was browsing a theological blog, the post was about the atonement, the meaning of the Cross, and a line I read in one of the responses suggested using an Augustinian realist anthropology when considering the question of Jesus' solidarity with humans. Respectfully but what?
But countering that frustration is a seemingly adamant refusal and lack of understanding of theology and resulting orthodoxy. On that same blog, the Augustinian reference was an effort to respond to another posting to the effect that if Jesus is now alive in Heaven, His death was just an illusion and there never was a real sacrifice. That response went on to urge a view that the atonement makes sense only if we think of Jesus more as a human and less as immortal God. Respectfully but what?
My sense is that if we understand our calling as living, and learning to live, out the Gospel message that was and is Jesus, and proclaimed by Jesus, not only on Sundays but every day in the world, we, both individually but more importantly as the church, must enflesh that Gospel. That generates both social and justice impulses in the culture we find ourselves in (Micah 6:8, CEV with my amplifications, "The Lord has told us what is right and what He demands: see that justice is done, that is do justice not demand justice for me, let mercy be your first concern, that is for others and not solely a cry out for mercy for me, and humbly obey your God"). The mission of God is an attribute of God - not just an activity of the church. In Jesus that mission became a living concrete reality that we have been invited in join in.
That does mean that while I may not quite grasp that Augustinian realist anthropology, I do get that the Jesus I worship is the Son of God who is both/and fully God as well as fully human, who died a real death and who was raised from the dead. I don't want to suggest we listen to lectures and read and study heavy duty texts but we must do theology sufficiently, and within a missional context, so His life, sacrificial death and resurrection become not merely historical events in a book we call the Bible, but are living realities we need to come to understand (that is, do theology), however dimly as we are able to on this side, but an understanding that is profoundly necessary to live embodied lives.
My frustration is with, at times, the over-intellectualizing of the Gospel, and part and parcel of the Gospel is coming to an understanding of theology and orthodoxy, that is the study of God and the formation of right thinking about God. As for my frustration for instance, I was browsing a theological blog, the post was about the atonement, the meaning of the Cross, and a line I read in one of the responses suggested using an Augustinian realist anthropology when considering the question of Jesus' solidarity with humans. Respectfully but what?
But countering that frustration is a seemingly adamant refusal and lack of understanding of theology and resulting orthodoxy. On that same blog, the Augustinian reference was an effort to respond to another posting to the effect that if Jesus is now alive in Heaven, His death was just an illusion and there never was a real sacrifice. That response went on to urge a view that the atonement makes sense only if we think of Jesus more as a human and less as immortal God. Respectfully but what?
My sense is that if we understand our calling as living, and learning to live, out the Gospel message that was and is Jesus, and proclaimed by Jesus, not only on Sundays but every day in the world, we, both individually but more importantly as the church, must enflesh that Gospel. That generates both social and justice impulses in the culture we find ourselves in (Micah 6:8, CEV with my amplifications, "The Lord has told us what is right and what He demands: see that justice is done, that is do justice not demand justice for me, let mercy be your first concern, that is for others and not solely a cry out for mercy for me, and humbly obey your God"). The mission of God is an attribute of God - not just an activity of the church. In Jesus that mission became a living concrete reality that we have been invited in join in.
That does mean that while I may not quite grasp that Augustinian realist anthropology, I do get that the Jesus I worship is the Son of God who is both/and fully God as well as fully human, who died a real death and who was raised from the dead. I don't want to suggest we listen to lectures and read and study heavy duty texts but we must do theology sufficiently, and within a missional context, so His life, sacrificial death and resurrection become not merely historical events in a book we call the Bible, but are living realities we need to come to understand (that is, do theology), however dimly as we are able to on this side, but an understanding that is profoundly necessary to live embodied lives.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Missional and Inclusivity
I was reading the comments to a blog post on Reclaiming the Mission about a missional understanding of inclusivity. The points made in the main post were pretty well thought out and the conclusion was powerful - regarding forming a posture of inclusion, as opposed to developing a concept of inclusion. Does away with my concern for the inherent tendency, in my view, of over-intellectualizing theology (we are all theologians, and therefore theology - the study of God and the Gospel - should not be performed on a stage by trained seminarians with the audience being "entertained" and/or "enlightened" but theology is concrete performance involving all the people in the theater).
One of the comments spoke of the Pharisees, arguably practitioners of harsh exclusivity (sort of the forerunner to the current day form of "conservative evangelicals" - btw, seriously dislike the combination of those terms as it seems to me more of a statement of one's political views than a general label for one's understanding of Jesus, but that is for another day). Back to the comment, if missional is about a posture of inclusion, and I take that to mean that all are welcome to the table, then entry to the table means joining a community of believers whose practices consist of engaging in the continual formation of not only a lived but a living theology, but also a continued formation in the practice of that very posture
As a missional believer, then should I understand the comment by Jesus as not simply woe to you Pharisee, rather, it may be understood as woe to you Pharisee if you continue to be blind. Come to the table, join the community of faith, and be formed all the while growing in and resting in the new relationship with your God. The inclusivity is not simply saying all are welcome and we don't care what you did or are doing now, rather the inclusivity is an invitation to join in the lived and living out of being with God and being shaped by, and being formed to respond to, His call in His work of reconciling the creation to Himself.
One of the comments spoke of the Pharisees, arguably practitioners of harsh exclusivity (sort of the forerunner to the current day form of "conservative evangelicals" - btw, seriously dislike the combination of those terms as it seems to me more of a statement of one's political views than a general label for one's understanding of Jesus, but that is for another day). Back to the comment, if missional is about a posture of inclusion, and I take that to mean that all are welcome to the table, then entry to the table means joining a community of believers whose practices consist of engaging in the continual formation of not only a lived but a living theology, but also a continued formation in the practice of that very posture
As a missional believer, then should I understand the comment by Jesus as not simply woe to you Pharisee, rather, it may be understood as woe to you Pharisee if you continue to be blind. Come to the table, join the community of faith, and be formed all the while growing in and resting in the new relationship with your God. The inclusivity is not simply saying all are welcome and we don't care what you did or are doing now, rather the inclusivity is an invitation to join in the lived and living out of being with God and being shaped by, and being formed to respond to, His call in His work of reconciling the creation to Himself.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Going Deeper - Great Risks
Thanks to Rev. Jordan for his sermon this past Sunday. He had me doing a continuous amen! As I sought to do for last week's sermon, I hope to go a step deeper and do some thinking about how to make the discipline part of everyday life and not just a Sunday worship thing, or for that matter, a practice that comes out only in times of crisis.
If I understood Rev. Jordan correctly, if our purpose is to please God, and surely that is a primary purpose, the how we please God is by walking in faith - and that means walking in faith even when it is of great risk to us. Now I suppose that idea of great risk does not necessarily or solely translate to life-threatening or dire circumstances (obviously for us here in NA, but acknowledging quite a different situation for many others outside of NA). For us, great risk may lie in the direction of being considered foolish by the world's standards or by other believers who see Christians as being bound by the standards of the world (though not all but some).
I am not certain walking by faith means keeping our eyes on doing what is "right" and performing good works and working hard to accomplish great, or even just good, things for the Kingdom - as righteous as that appears at first blush, or even by being better people (by that I mean sinning less). I am not convinced our great God is concerned about efficiency, effectiveness, and frankly, about us transforming the world (my thinking is that has been already accomplished at Calgary) and quite frankly I'm not sure I would want to live in a world that was transformed in the manner I thought best, however sincerely I prayed about it.
Maybe just maybe our awesome God is more concerned about a people who listen to His voice (John 10:4). Eugene Peterson in the Message says it rather bluntly in Matthew 7:23-23, "knowing the correct passwork- saying Master, Master, for instance - isn't going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience - doing what my Father wills."
And I have this sense that God will ask us to do things that make no sense to those who calculate the effectiveness of their actions or how absurd and ill-fitting the request may be - whether in terms of the economics, the outreach numbers and such things or will ask us to do things we think are impossible - like Rev Jordan being on the other end of middle age and being told to go back to school - but He is remaking His world (God is reconciling the world to Himself - again Peterson says it well in his The Message, God put the world square with himself through the Messiah.... God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them, in 2 Cor 5:17-22) and He is looking for people to join Him in that journey - regardless of how crazy or impossible the command.
So walking by faith - obeying the voice - means entering by faith into that world where it is His voice that we hear and obey, where we with fear and trepidation work out our salvation for it is God who is at work in us for His great pleasure (Phil 2:12-13 in the ESV). But a big note of caution, listening is not a solo enterprise either.
If I understood Rev. Jordan correctly, if our purpose is to please God, and surely that is a primary purpose, the how we please God is by walking in faith - and that means walking in faith even when it is of great risk to us. Now I suppose that idea of great risk does not necessarily or solely translate to life-threatening or dire circumstances (obviously for us here in NA, but acknowledging quite a different situation for many others outside of NA). For us, great risk may lie in the direction of being considered foolish by the world's standards or by other believers who see Christians as being bound by the standards of the world (though not all but some).
I am not certain walking by faith means keeping our eyes on doing what is "right" and performing good works and working hard to accomplish great, or even just good, things for the Kingdom - as righteous as that appears at first blush, or even by being better people (by that I mean sinning less). I am not convinced our great God is concerned about efficiency, effectiveness, and frankly, about us transforming the world (my thinking is that has been already accomplished at Calgary) and quite frankly I'm not sure I would want to live in a world that was transformed in the manner I thought best, however sincerely I prayed about it.
Maybe just maybe our awesome God is more concerned about a people who listen to His voice (John 10:4). Eugene Peterson in the Message says it rather bluntly in Matthew 7:23-23, "knowing the correct passwork- saying Master, Master, for instance - isn't going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience - doing what my Father wills."
And I have this sense that God will ask us to do things that make no sense to those who calculate the effectiveness of their actions or how absurd and ill-fitting the request may be - whether in terms of the economics, the outreach numbers and such things or will ask us to do things we think are impossible - like Rev Jordan being on the other end of middle age and being told to go back to school - but He is remaking His world (God is reconciling the world to Himself - again Peterson says it well in his The Message, God put the world square with himself through the Messiah.... God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them, in 2 Cor 5:17-22) and He is looking for people to join Him in that journey - regardless of how crazy or impossible the command.
So walking by faith - obeying the voice - means entering by faith into that world where it is His voice that we hear and obey, where we with fear and trepidation work out our salvation for it is God who is at work in us for His great pleasure (Phil 2:12-13 in the ESV). But a big note of caution, listening is not a solo enterprise either.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Going Deeper in Pray (2/28/2010)
Another great sermon from Matthew (2/28) on great prayer. The 4 points about prayer are awesome and clearly direct our focus when praying. What I hope to do is to maybe take a step deeper into the topics as they come, and reflect a little on how to make the discipline a part of everyday life. For isn’t that the real issue, making what we learn something that spreads out from Sunday morning worship to the rest of our lives. To do that I will raise up a question, think about that question and toss out a thought about a way of life. Hoping for some push back on all of that down the road.
That first question – why pray at all? I have heard it said that God knows what is going on right now, and God knows what is coming down the road – unless you are an open theist but that’s a topic for another day – so what use is prayer. For some of us the answer is pretty prompt and succinct. We need to pray because the Word commands us to pray and we don’t need more than that to engage in the practice. I surely am not in a position to deny that truth. I think, however, it may be something to consider both for evangelizing down the road but also just maybe thinking about that question will make us go a little deeper into prayer and what it does to us. As well a final caveat, no way are these thoughts exhaustive, but simply an idea that may need to be filled out, and again hoping for some push back and growing.
Here goes.
My thinking goes prayer isn’t about asking God to do us a favor – now that may sound a little harsh in one sense, but somehow approaching God in this way seems like we are acting as though God were some sort of magic talisman so if we get the combination right, our wishes come true. However, I do recognize that prayers for supplication have occurred and have been answered (a great story of a prayer for supplication is with Hezekiah and what seemed to be a final illness and Hannah’s prayer for release from her barrenness).
My thinking is that prayer isn’t about reciting a formula. Repeating a formula week after week really gets us nowhere, and somehow I have this feeling God finds it boring and maybe a little offensive to hear unfelt recitations of praise week after week (here we can think of praying the Lord’s Prayer, the 23rd Psalm or the Nicene Creed). However, I do think there is a certain power arising from a liturgical practice, or if you will, engaging in some spiritual disciplines.
My thinking is that prayer isn’t about looking pious or more Christian. Here, the first picture popping up is the Gospel narrative about the Pharisee praying and the tax collector beating his breast, and asking for forgiveness.
So why pray?
Maybe prayer is about being in conversation and being in relationship. There is something more about prayer than supplication, recitation and being pious, though prayer does, at times, involve all 3 of those things. But if I understand Paul correctly, and his admonition that we are to be in prayer constantly, then engaging in continual supplication, or performed a mindless recitation, just doesn’t seem to really fit or be something we would do unceasingly. Though we all know someone who does in fact do that (and as I make that statement I am intentionally avoiding any room with mirrors).
Maybe prayer is about becoming empty. Maybe prayer is about giving up the fears we have to God, so prayers of supplication are vital, but we are not necessarily praying to get the right answer or get God to do us that favor. Maybe prayer is about offering up praise, about acknowledging He is God and we are not but not stopping there (though I do think there is that powerful need to be trained and that has a lot to do with prayer but that is for another day). Going deeper, maybe by emptying ourselves of our fears, and acknowledging He is God, we become receptive. By pushing out beyond ourselves, there is now room for the Holy Spirit to speak to us – because being in conversation means being open to the other and engaging in a series of listening and speaking. Maybe God is seeking our conversations - wanting for us to be in constant relationship. Maybe that is why we need to be in prayer.
That first question – why pray at all? I have heard it said that God knows what is going on right now, and God knows what is coming down the road – unless you are an open theist but that’s a topic for another day – so what use is prayer. For some of us the answer is pretty prompt and succinct. We need to pray because the Word commands us to pray and we don’t need more than that to engage in the practice. I surely am not in a position to deny that truth. I think, however, it may be something to consider both for evangelizing down the road but also just maybe thinking about that question will make us go a little deeper into prayer and what it does to us. As well a final caveat, no way are these thoughts exhaustive, but simply an idea that may need to be filled out, and again hoping for some push back and growing.
Here goes.
My thinking goes prayer isn’t about asking God to do us a favor – now that may sound a little harsh in one sense, but somehow approaching God in this way seems like we are acting as though God were some sort of magic talisman so if we get the combination right, our wishes come true. However, I do recognize that prayers for supplication have occurred and have been answered (a great story of a prayer for supplication is with Hezekiah and what seemed to be a final illness and Hannah’s prayer for release from her barrenness).
My thinking is that prayer isn’t about reciting a formula. Repeating a formula week after week really gets us nowhere, and somehow I have this feeling God finds it boring and maybe a little offensive to hear unfelt recitations of praise week after week (here we can think of praying the Lord’s Prayer, the 23rd Psalm or the Nicene Creed). However, I do think there is a certain power arising from a liturgical practice, or if you will, engaging in some spiritual disciplines.
My thinking is that prayer isn’t about looking pious or more Christian. Here, the first picture popping up is the Gospel narrative about the Pharisee praying and the tax collector beating his breast, and asking for forgiveness.
So why pray?
Maybe prayer is about being in conversation and being in relationship. There is something more about prayer than supplication, recitation and being pious, though prayer does, at times, involve all 3 of those things. But if I understand Paul correctly, and his admonition that we are to be in prayer constantly, then engaging in continual supplication, or performed a mindless recitation, just doesn’t seem to really fit or be something we would do unceasingly. Though we all know someone who does in fact do that (and as I make that statement I am intentionally avoiding any room with mirrors).
Maybe prayer is about becoming empty. Maybe prayer is about giving up the fears we have to God, so prayers of supplication are vital, but we are not necessarily praying to get the right answer or get God to do us that favor. Maybe prayer is about offering up praise, about acknowledging He is God and we are not but not stopping there (though I do think there is that powerful need to be trained and that has a lot to do with prayer but that is for another day). Going deeper, maybe by emptying ourselves of our fears, and acknowledging He is God, we become receptive. By pushing out beyond ourselves, there is now room for the Holy Spirit to speak to us – because being in conversation means being open to the other and engaging in a series of listening and speaking. Maybe God is seeking our conversations - wanting for us to be in constant relationship. Maybe that is why we need to be in prayer.
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