the journey

Catch the wave!

watergirl
Originally uploaded by foreversouls.

This weekend:

Title: Catch the wave
Metaphor: Water
Scripture: Matthew 3:13-17

13Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14But John tried to deter him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?"

15Jesus replied, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." Then John consented.

16As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. 17And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."

The main gist:

1) "Going under the baptismal waters symbolizes the end of everything about your life that is less than human. Coming up again symbolizes the beginning in you of something strange and new and hopeful. You can breathe again." [Frederick Buechner]

2) For Jesus, baptism was both a matter of identification and inauguration—identification with God as his eternal Father & the inauguration of a life a sacrifice and service. It can be the same for us as well.

God acting within the world

When you think of God acting within the world, what images first come to mind?  Have you ever thought of it this way?

But what if th God who made the world has remained active within the world? What if the word ‘God’ itself might refer, not to this distant, remote, occasionally-intervening Being, but to a God who breathed with the breath of the world? What if this God, as the Old Testament says, feeds the young ravens when they call out, not (presumably) by dropping food ‘miraculously’ from the sky, but by being active within his creation, within instinct and hidden motivations? When the Bible says that God commanded Adam and Eve to ‘be fruitful and multiply,’ and mean that he barked a command at them from a distance, or put up notices in Eden telling them what to do? Of course not. He put into their inmost beings, as creatures made to reflect his image into his world, a deep desire for one another, and a deep longing to create and nurture order and beautty within creation. This is a very different picture from the eighteenth-century one: it is much more Biblical, and at the same time (I think) much more believable. It puts the question of ‘God’ acting within the world into quite a different dimension (my ephasis).

Source: Who was Jesus? by N.T. Wright, p. 81.

A stupendous claim about God

From N.T. Wright:

"The Christian doctrine of the incarnation was never intended to be about the elevation of a human being to divine status. That’s what, according to some Romans, happened to the emperors after they died, or even before. The Christian doctrine is all about a different sort of God–a God who was so different to normal expectations that he could, completely appropriately, became human in, and as, the man Jesus of Nazareth. To say that Jesus is in some sense god is of course to make a startling statement about Jesus. It is also to make a stupendous claim about God."

Source: Who was Jesus? by N.T. Wright, p. 52.

We can't be scared into belief

Bridge Over Ravine
Originally uploaded by Aprevit.

Something enriching I ran across today:

Matthew 13:36-43

Then, leaving the crowds, he went to the house; and his disciples came to him and said, ‘Explain to us the parable about the darnel in the field.’ He said in reply, ‘The sower of the good seed is the Son of man. The field is the world; the good seed is the subjects of the kingdom; the darnel, the subjects of the Evil One; the enemy who sowed it, the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; the reapers are the angels. Well then, just as the darnel is gathered up and burnt in the fire, so it will be at the end of time. The Son of man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of falling and all who do evil, and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth. Then the upright will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Anyone who has ears should listen! – The New Jerusalem Bible

The Field Is The World

How much more clearly could our Redeemer have described His mission as one for for the whole world, and not Israel alone?

A Reflection

The eschatological parts — the blazing furnace and the grinding teeth — leave me cold and thinking that the compassionate Jesus I’ve come to know had nothing to do with them; but the Jesus who came for all humankind rings true in the explanation, overall.

The theology that we Christians have created in the last three to four thousand years is based on a good creation and salvation through faith. Fear, exclusion, and threats of Hell work as well for us as the fear and threats we lay before our errant children; that is, not at all. We can neither be persuaded into belief, nor scared into it. But we can be, and are, loved into it.

We know that our Lord loves us so much that He willingly died for us, for all of us. There wasn’t any, “Not you, Willy,” at Golgotha (my emphasis).

And the “upright” to whom Jesus refers: this is not the uprightness of the Pharisees, whom Jesus so thoroughly excoriates in the Gospel for yesterday. Rather, it is the relationship among men and God to which Jesus refers; it’s our relationship with each other and our relationship with God. Jesus listed loving God first, but said that loving one another was at least a second part of the Greatest of the Law.

Even the people we don’t like very much. We are all part of God, and of each other.

Source: Today's Gospel Insight

Advice to care-givers

About 6-7 years ago I had an article published giving advice to care-givers--especially those ministering to the bereaved, the critically ill, the traumatized, the suffering, the dying.

It appears time again to say something about this subject:

Advice to care-givers

1) The power of presence
God has no difficulty in speaking through your silence

Your presence can bring healing and hope. A well-timed, well-meaning visit can deliver unspeakable comfort.  Be there for them.

2) Listen
They have a story to tell. Listen!

Don’t worry about knowing the right things to say or all of the right answers. Because you'll never know the right things to say & there's no such thing as the right answers. Just be there & listen.  A listening ear is often what they need the most.

3) Avoid platitudes
Avoid saying "It was God's will" or "I know how you're feeling"

Besides, you don’t know whether it’s God’s will & you'll never know precisely how they’re feeling. Remember this: Bad things happen to everyone–-good people and bad people alike–-period.

4) Help with household chores (if needed)
Step in and offer specific help; don't wait to be asked.

Look for specific, tangible ways to demonstrate compassion. Don’t say, "Let me know if you need anything," because they'll rarely ask for help. Instead, ask if you can mow their lawn, feed their cat/dog or bring a platter of sandwiches.  And step in & and take action.

5) Don't be afraid of (or discourage) tears
Tears are God's healing balm for pain

If you need to cry, cry. If they need to cry, don’t discourage it. Tears have powerful healing properties. They’re a normal part of being a broken, fragile human.

6) Don't forget about members of their family
Others are probably hurting too!

Don’t become short-sighted with your compassion–-there’s probably more than one person needing a hug, a smile and the comfort in their family.

7) Help them discover & experience support
Key: God, family, friends, church members, support group

Help connect them with sources of support. There’s no need for them to suffer alone. Caring friends, family, neighbors and church members are more than willing to help.

8) Take care of yourself!
Care-givers need to eat well, sleep often & take breaks

Don’t forget to tend to your own needs--family, food, rest, exercise, recreation, etc.. You are no value to others if you let yourself run down.

9) Recovery takes time
Provide support for the long-haul

Your friendship and support will probably be needed much longer than you may predict. 

10) Prayer is indispensable
Prayer does a world of good

Prayer will not only transform them, it can transform you too. A loving God wants to bring hope and help to everyone involved.

Like an endless falling

From Walter Brueggemann:

Things fall apart,
the center cannot hold.

We are no strangers to the falling apart;

We perpetuate against the center of our lives,
and on some days it feels
like an endless falling,
like a deep threat,
like rising water,
like ruthless wind.

But you. . .you in the midst
you back in play,
you rebuking and silencing and ordering,
you creating restfulness in the very eye of the storm.

You . . .be our center:
cause us not to lie about the danger,
cause us not to resist your good order.

Be our God. Be the God you promised,
and we will be among those surely peaceable in your order.

We pray in the name of the one through whom all things hold together. Amen.

Source: Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth by Walter Brueggemann, p. 26.

Women in first-century Christianity

Flying
Originally uploaded by RichardBH.

I ran across a great article dealing with the role of women in ancient Christianity. Here's an excerpt:

"Certainly, the New Testament Gospels, written toward the last quarter of the first century CE, acknowledge that women were among Jesus' earliest followers. From the beginning, Jewish women disciples, including Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna, had accompanied Jesus during his ministry and supported him out of their private means (Luke 8:1-3). He spoke to women both in public and private, and indeed he learned from them. According to one story, an unnamed Gentile woman taught Jesus that the ministry of God is not limited to particular groups and persons, but belongs to all who have faith (Mark 7:24-30; Matthew 15:21-28). A Jewish woman honored him with the extraordinary hospitality of washing his feet with perfume. Jesus was a frequent visitor at the home of Mary and Martha, and was in the habit of teaching and eating meals with women as well as men. When Jesus was arrested, women remained firm, even when his male disciples are said to have fled, and they accompanied him to the foot of the cross. It was women who were reported as the first witnesses to the resurrection, chief among them again Mary Magdalene. Although the details of these gospel stories may be questioned, in general they reflect the prominent historical roles women played in Jesus' ministry as disciples.

After the death of Jesus, women continued to play prominent roles in the early movement. Some scholars have even suggested that the majority of Christians in the first century may have been women.

The letters of Paul - dated to the middle of the first century CE - and his casual greetings to acquaintances offer fascinating and solid information about many Jewish and Gentile women who were prominent in the movement. His letters provide vivid clues about the kind of activities in which women engaged more generally. He greets Prisca, Junia, Julia, and Nereus' sister, who worked and traveled as missionaries in pairs with their husbands or brothers (Romans 16:3, 7, 15). He tells us that Prisca and her husband risked their lives to save his. He praises Junia as a prominent apostle, who had been imprisoned for her labor. Mary and Persis are commended for their hard work (Romans 16:6, 12). Euodia and Syntyche are called his fellow-workers in the gospel (Philippians 4:2-3). Here is clear evidence of women apostles active in the earliest work of spreading the Christian message.

Paul's letters also offer some important glimpses into the inner workings of ancient Christian churches. These groups did not own church buildings but met in homes, no doubt due in part to the fact that Christianity was not legal in the Roman world of its day and in part because of the enormous expense to such fledgling societies. Such homes were a domain in which women played key roles. It is not surprising then to see women taking leadership roles in house churches. Paul tells of women who were the leaders of such house churches (Apphia in Philemon 2; Prisca in I Corinthians 16:19). This practice is confirmed by other texts that also mention women who headed churches in their homes, such as Lydia of Thyatira (Acts 16:15) and Nympha of Laodicea (Colossians 4:15). Women held offices and played significant roles in group worship. Paul, for example, greets a deacon named Phoebe (Romans 16:1) and assumes that women are praying and prophesying during worship (I Corinthians 11). As prophets, women's roles would have included not only ecstatic public speech, but preaching, teaching, leading prayer, and perhaps even performing the eucharist meal. (A later first century work, called the Didache, assumes that this duty fell regularly to Christian prophets..."

Source: PBS

Blogging haitus

Chapter Six
Originally uploaded by f00b.

I'll be taking a haitus from blogging for a few days.

+ Sermon to prepare.
+ Funeral to prepare for.
+ Fresh-ground coffee to savor.
+ World Series to watch.
+ Meetings to get ready for.
+ Daughter to spend time with.
+ Christmas planning to work on.
+ Book to read (I'm reading Hunt for Red October for the first time).
+ Life to enjoy.

I'll be back in a few days.

Believing "in" or "into"

I believe in Jesus Christ.

What am I saying by that statement?

Am I saying:

• I believe Jesus was the Son of God?
• I believe Jesus is the Savior of the world?
• I believe that Jesus can/will save me from hell?
• I believe I am going to heaven?

Or am I saying:

• I am a follower of Jesus?
• I am an apprentice of Jesus & he's teaching me how to live?
• I am entrusting my life into his care each day?
• I am being transformed by an ongoing relationship with God?
• I am already enjoying heaven today?

I really believe there’s a difference between believing "in" and believing "into" Jesus (as the Koine Greek text often implies).

Here’s what Buechner says about this matter:

"Prepositions can be very eloquent. A man is "in" architecture or a women is "in" teaching, we say, meaning that is what they do weekdays and how they make enough money to enjoy themselves the rest of the time. But if we say they are "into" these things, that is another story. "Into" means something more like total immersion They live and breathe what they do. They take it home with them nights. They can’t get enough of it. To be "into" books means that just the sight of a signed first edition of Alice in Wonderland sets your heart pounding. To be "in" books means selling them at B Daltons.

Along similar lines, New Testament Greek speaks of believing "into" rather than believing "in." In English we can perhaps convey the distinction very best by using either "in" or no preposition at all.

Believing in God is an intellectual position. It need have no more effect on your life than believing in Freud’s method of interpreting dreams or the theory that Sir Francis Bacon wrote Romeo and Juliet.

Believing God is something else again. It is less a position than a journey, less a realization than a relationship. It doesn’t leave you cold like believing the world is round. It stirs your blood like believing the world is a miracle. It affects who you are and what you do with your life like believing your house is on fire or somebody loves you.

We believe in God when for one reason or another we choose to do so. We believe God when somehow we run into God in a way that by and large leaves us no choice to do otherwise.

When Jesus says that whoever believes "into" him shall never die, he does not mean that to be willing to sign your name to the Nicene Creed guarantees eternal life. Eternal life is not the result of believing in. It is the experience of believing."

Source: Whistling in the Dark by Frederick Buechner, p. 20-21.

Metamorphosis

Monarch in the asters 3.
Originally uploaded by catmadogma.

[Click on photo for larger view.]

A glimpse of this weekend:

Title: Metamorphosis
Metaphor: Butterfly
Scripture: Luke 9:57-61; Romans 12:2

Central truth: Just as the butterfly must endure the chrysalis, so too must we go through the pain of metamorphosis if we are to become mature, fully devoted followers of Christ. The disciples of Jesus, like us, often learned through hardship and struggle.

The passage from Luke:

57As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."

58Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

59He said to another man, "Follow me."
But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."

60Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."

61Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good bye to my family."

The verse from Romans:

2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed (metamorphosis) by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.