Here is an inspiring video created by Jacob Smith, husband of my friend and LTSG grad, Pastor Erin Boyer Smith. It is an entry in the video contest of the ELCA. If you are inspired too, please consider voting for it by going here:
http://bit.ly/Hfj4S.
I give thanks for all of the hands of all of God's servants- together we can do some pretty awesome things as the graced and empowered.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Daring to Cross Boundaries
This Sunday I preach in my home parish as my last Sunday before beginning internship:
Have you have ever said “yes” to a job, or a project, only to discover it turned out to be a whole lot more than you bargained for? I once had a friend who excitedly signed on for a job in a Big 10 accounting firm that gave her a great salary and power, but included “opportunity for travel in a fast paced environment.” In other words she was asked to do too many things in too little time, and she saw her house about once every two weeks for a day and half. Long enough to do her laundry, go to bed, get up and do it again. She just didn’t really believe it would be THAT fast-paced. Often in the excitement of new work, we convince ourselves that part of the job may not actually be expected or if the time comes, maybe “someone else” will do it. Truth is- we don’t like to have our expectations, our boundaries challenged.
We live in a world of boundaries, boundaries used to keep order; to keep things in and to keep others out. Some boundaries are imposed upon us by others, but just as many are created by each of us- Ways we stretch that bright yellow “DO NOT CROSS” tape across our world to create control and influence and power. Much of the Gospel of Mark is about the crossing of these human-created boundaries and how God’s vision of the order of the world is often vastly different than our own. Almost immediately in Mark we hear about John. He crossed lots of boundaries, of where he lived, how he dressed, what he ate and in having the audacity to challenge the powers that be. He was sent to prepare the way- for another who had been sent. This one, Jesus, would cross all boundaries, gathering and then sending others, who would send others, right on through to today, all part of a divine mission. But as I said, God’s vision is vastly different than we or those in power may think. We the audience of the story get a second warning about the gospel challenge to power and what people do out of the desire for power, and how changing our view of power and living involves more than we might wish.
In an early example of truth in advertizing, the disciples were warned. They were called and sent out and do miraculous things, but Jesus warns that not everyone will be receptive. There will be challenge. But as they go about they sense a great buzz of excitement in the preaching, teaching, baptizing and healing, and it feels… powerful, not challenging. This “Jesus movement” is growing! This is when Herod gets wind of the movement, a movement that if it flourishes will challenge the power structure, economics and status, will promote equality not hierarchy. . Herod flashes back to the last time he heard about preaching, teaching, and baptizing in the wilderness, and remembers John. Who is this Jesus, these new followers, threatening boundaries, challenging the way things are? Our story shows what happens when those at the top feel threatened, and what will happen when the faithful call out hypocrisy, and remind people of what is lawful or right, and shine the bright light of day on the dark recesses of culture.
It’s like a TV drama- and Herod is a pretty tragic figure. He didn’t actually have much real power- only a title. He didn’t have charisma, only a structure to demand attention and to keep things the way “they should be.” To top it off, he had the title of king, but he was really working for Rome- having only the power that others gave him. As one of four sons of Herod the Great, none of whom inherited the whole kingdom, he was “Herod the Not So Great.” In his world of buying and selling influence, truth was optional. John had the nerve to enter this world? Cross these boundaries? Herod was fascinated, mesmerized that John cared nothing for power, or influence and fearlessly spoke the truth. Though Herod feared the truth, he was both drawn in and perplexed by John’s message.
Herodias was perplexed too, but in a different way. She didn’t have the power either, but she wanted it desperately. She and Herod left other marriages to be together- he probably was motivated by desire, but she may have traded up for a better kingdom. She held a grudge against John – how dare he mess with her world and called her path to marriage what it really was! It was obvious to her that John would just keep coming back unless he was silenced for good, but how? How to get to Herod? She devised a new power source- a new temptation- She sent her daughter to dance before Herod. Pictures often depict the daughter as an adult, but historians tell that this real person was probably about 12 years old. Herod was enthralled- lost himself for a moment- had to have this new toy. Used to offering money and connections to get what he wanted, he forgot that she was 12, and offered the girl “whatever she desired.” Caught in an adult game, she was too young to comprehend power and the desire for it. She had no idea how to respond, but Herodias did and we know how that turned out for John.
In the midst of this world, John didn’t fit the mold of the powerful. He was using a different power source, and an entirely different view – a God’s eye view that shaped his living, leading him to confront Herod. This was not a one time conversation, but in the original Greek, is depicted as a much more intense experience. John told Herod repeatedly, over and over again, like a haunting whistleblower. Not once , not twice, but repeatedly stepping into this world ,where to all others it would seem he should be smart enough to keep his mouth shut, and go back where he came from. And Herod is repeatedly confronted by John with his own guilt, even after death.
Herod, seemingly a man of great power, lacked the power to stop the lunacy that ended with John’s death. Because he couldn’t change his power source or his view- he chose silence and complacency, because it was too awkward to stand in the face of desires, his own and those in his midst. In the world of power it makes no sense what John did. He risked it all by using this different view of the world, and by continually sending himself across boundaries. In our modern times, there have been new faithful voices against corruption, oppression and wrongdoing- like Oscar Romero in Latin America, Dietrich Bonhoffer in Nazi Germany, and many others. Some like John have paid with their lives for standing up to power and influence, and for some Christians around the world today, discipleship is a life and death struggle- but for most of us the struggle is more internal. Yet we are asked what boundaries will we risk as the “sent out”? Will we risk our own sense of comfort or power?
Thinking again about today’s lesson, where do we see ourselves? Are we John, willing to risk, continually speaking and acting? Or are we the disciples who comfortably think they have the mission under control only to discover there is more to it? Are we at times the Herods and Herodiases of our context? Caught in our own desires for power and holding grudges when others mess with our world?
Probably “all of the above.” At varying times we are each of these. Sometimes we want to act, but we allow the world’s view to cause us to be silent. Sometimes we are angered by those who want to change our worldview- who challenge us. Sometimes we lack the energy to keep up the effort, or we are surprised when we face resistance and we lose our nerve.
What does this say to us about the walk of discipleship? That discipleship is a life in tension, both within us and in our culture. Our culture today and some popular religions tell us that with the “right life,” we will receive abundance and prosperity, and material success, that God will bless US. That he who dies with the most toys wins. That we can claim that “God is on our side” in the world’s game of power and influence. Yet today’s gospel says that discipleship is not an end to troubles, nor the key to financial success, nor the roadmap to great power and influence. In fact, we are reminded that the message of the gospel is decidedly opposite. Those who have power, as measured by the world’s standards, don’t want to hear the gospel challenge- and there will be consequences. Today’s lesson is not a good ad for seminary. But it is not an easy lesson for any of us who make up the priesthood of all believers- because we are called to cross boundaries- to engage in a life that challenges us and others to let go of our boundaries and our desires that sometimes lead us to distort facts; to hoard more than we need; to oppress;, to insist upon having what we want when we want it, regardless of the way we get it. We are challenged to let go of the boundary of our own need to control – that leads us to choose silence, or complacency, or choosing to only care for those we find it easy to care for. We are called to challenge those who suggest that things that are wrong can be overlooked for expediency. This challenge is not limited to “great heroes of the faith,” but for all of us, disciples sent out with a message.
Our discipleship is a life of joy and challenge. Being a disciple involves times of being sent out in great enthusiasm and joy and the rush of seeing it all come together. But being a disciple will also involve disagreement, struggle and rejection of the message we bring. In our life as disiciples, will we choose to stand with others in the face of social injustice? Or will we choose complacency? Will we speak against wrongs in our world, in our community, in our very midst? Or will we be silent, deciding that unless we are individually, personally affected, that there is nothing we can do? Are we willing to question how the power to make choices in our daily lives can affect the very lives of others, in the things we buy and consume and the policies we embrace? Are we willing to speak truth to power, or will we just keep our heads down?
And today we are asked to consider not only whether we will speak and act, but whether we will keep speaking and acting, like John, or will we say, “ I did that once, let someone else take a turn”? Do we want to gather and be sent, or just to stay put? It is challenging to speak and act with truth and integrity, standing in the face of all of the world’s desires. How will we respond if some in our midst mock us for our stance, when we answer a calling that does not mesh with the ways of the world as we know it? When we think about this are we still willing to be sent out? Still want to be a disciple? Hard questions.
Our youth are responding to this challenge and will confront these very questions as they are sent out to NOLA. Some may think that the Youth gathering is a great social event, and it is, but it is also first and foremost a chance to serve the least. This gathering is intentionally identified as a servant event that confronts and addresses illiteracy, lack of housing, lack of resources for clean water, the inability for some to have really fundamental things we take for granted here. To face racism, class-ism and social prejudices head on. To stand toe- to- toe with people of whom one could say- “they are so far away, they’re not like me”, or about whom we could say “it’s the government’s job to take care of them, isn’t it?” I suggest that these statements are all expressions that some use to try to justify not speaking, not acting, not sharing and not standing with our brothers and sisters in Christ. It would be easier to stay home, but our youth are disciples being sent out as messengers, to teach, to heal lives, and yes, to preach. Living out the words of St. Francis of Assisi who once said- “Preach the gospel. If necessary, use words.” They will be risking their understanding of the world; they will be risking the raised eyebrows of some who think that it is not worth risking comfort and safety, much less the cost. They will be at times challenging others and they themselves will be challenged.
Just as John kept telling, discipleship is not a story told once and then not heard again, but a mission and message across time- to continue to cross boundaries for the sake of God’s kingdom. So, when the youth return I urge you to hear their stories not as a single moment in time that is now ended, but as a story that keeps being told-as guidance for your journey into the future of this congregation together- to be open to new ideas, new challenges; to be open to being activated by the Spirit- commissioned and sent, even if this challenges your world, your desires and your boundaries. Called not only to gather, but to be sent out again and again and again, living out your baptismal identity.
This living challenges our boundaries. When our boundaries get the best of us, may we give thanks to God for the grace shown to us. But may we not be lulled into believing that grace is the only word we hear. We are saved by grace, but God desires that we are not only to gather and be still, but to live out our baptismal calling daily. It is a challenge to follow God’s calling wherever it may take us for the sake of the kingdom, but may we also remember that power source that will sustain us in the many journeys in discipleship.
So as we leave this day, our journeys continue -For many of our youth this journey will soon involve being sent out to NOLA; for myself, it involves being sent out to Trinity Lutheran in Lancaster City. For each of you, it will be wherever God will send you. Wherever the journey takes each of us, may we be willing to risk, trusting in God, graced and empowered to go beyond our own boundaries for the sake of the kingdom.
Amen
Have you have ever said “yes” to a job, or a project, only to discover it turned out to be a whole lot more than you bargained for? I once had a friend who excitedly signed on for a job in a Big 10 accounting firm that gave her a great salary and power, but included “opportunity for travel in a fast paced environment.” In other words she was asked to do too many things in too little time, and she saw her house about once every two weeks for a day and half. Long enough to do her laundry, go to bed, get up and do it again. She just didn’t really believe it would be THAT fast-paced. Often in the excitement of new work, we convince ourselves that part of the job may not actually be expected or if the time comes, maybe “someone else” will do it. Truth is- we don’t like to have our expectations, our boundaries challenged.
We live in a world of boundaries, boundaries used to keep order; to keep things in and to keep others out. Some boundaries are imposed upon us by others, but just as many are created by each of us- Ways we stretch that bright yellow “DO NOT CROSS” tape across our world to create control and influence and power. Much of the Gospel of Mark is about the crossing of these human-created boundaries and how God’s vision of the order of the world is often vastly different than our own. Almost immediately in Mark we hear about John. He crossed lots of boundaries, of where he lived, how he dressed, what he ate and in having the audacity to challenge the powers that be. He was sent to prepare the way- for another who had been sent. This one, Jesus, would cross all boundaries, gathering and then sending others, who would send others, right on through to today, all part of a divine mission. But as I said, God’s vision is vastly different than we or those in power may think. We the audience of the story get a second warning about the gospel challenge to power and what people do out of the desire for power, and how changing our view of power and living involves more than we might wish.
In an early example of truth in advertizing, the disciples were warned. They were called and sent out and do miraculous things, but Jesus warns that not everyone will be receptive. There will be challenge. But as they go about they sense a great buzz of excitement in the preaching, teaching, baptizing and healing, and it feels… powerful, not challenging. This “Jesus movement” is growing! This is when Herod gets wind of the movement, a movement that if it flourishes will challenge the power structure, economics and status, will promote equality not hierarchy. . Herod flashes back to the last time he heard about preaching, teaching, and baptizing in the wilderness, and remembers John. Who is this Jesus, these new followers, threatening boundaries, challenging the way things are? Our story shows what happens when those at the top feel threatened, and what will happen when the faithful call out hypocrisy, and remind people of what is lawful or right, and shine the bright light of day on the dark recesses of culture.
It’s like a TV drama- and Herod is a pretty tragic figure. He didn’t actually have much real power- only a title. He didn’t have charisma, only a structure to demand attention and to keep things the way “they should be.” To top it off, he had the title of king, but he was really working for Rome- having only the power that others gave him. As one of four sons of Herod the Great, none of whom inherited the whole kingdom, he was “Herod the Not So Great.” In his world of buying and selling influence, truth was optional. John had the nerve to enter this world? Cross these boundaries? Herod was fascinated, mesmerized that John cared nothing for power, or influence and fearlessly spoke the truth. Though Herod feared the truth, he was both drawn in and perplexed by John’s message.
Herodias was perplexed too, but in a different way. She didn’t have the power either, but she wanted it desperately. She and Herod left other marriages to be together- he probably was motivated by desire, but she may have traded up for a better kingdom. She held a grudge against John – how dare he mess with her world and called her path to marriage what it really was! It was obvious to her that John would just keep coming back unless he was silenced for good, but how? How to get to Herod? She devised a new power source- a new temptation- She sent her daughter to dance before Herod. Pictures often depict the daughter as an adult, but historians tell that this real person was probably about 12 years old. Herod was enthralled- lost himself for a moment- had to have this new toy. Used to offering money and connections to get what he wanted, he forgot that she was 12, and offered the girl “whatever she desired.” Caught in an adult game, she was too young to comprehend power and the desire for it. She had no idea how to respond, but Herodias did and we know how that turned out for John.
In the midst of this world, John didn’t fit the mold of the powerful. He was using a different power source, and an entirely different view – a God’s eye view that shaped his living, leading him to confront Herod. This was not a one time conversation, but in the original Greek, is depicted as a much more intense experience. John told Herod repeatedly, over and over again, like a haunting whistleblower. Not once , not twice, but repeatedly stepping into this world ,where to all others it would seem he should be smart enough to keep his mouth shut, and go back where he came from. And Herod is repeatedly confronted by John with his own guilt, even after death.
Herod, seemingly a man of great power, lacked the power to stop the lunacy that ended with John’s death. Because he couldn’t change his power source or his view- he chose silence and complacency, because it was too awkward to stand in the face of desires, his own and those in his midst. In the world of power it makes no sense what John did. He risked it all by using this different view of the world, and by continually sending himself across boundaries. In our modern times, there have been new faithful voices against corruption, oppression and wrongdoing- like Oscar Romero in Latin America, Dietrich Bonhoffer in Nazi Germany, and many others. Some like John have paid with their lives for standing up to power and influence, and for some Christians around the world today, discipleship is a life and death struggle- but for most of us the struggle is more internal. Yet we are asked what boundaries will we risk as the “sent out”? Will we risk our own sense of comfort or power?
Thinking again about today’s lesson, where do we see ourselves? Are we John, willing to risk, continually speaking and acting? Or are we the disciples who comfortably think they have the mission under control only to discover there is more to it? Are we at times the Herods and Herodiases of our context? Caught in our own desires for power and holding grudges when others mess with our world?
Probably “all of the above.” At varying times we are each of these. Sometimes we want to act, but we allow the world’s view to cause us to be silent. Sometimes we are angered by those who want to change our worldview- who challenge us. Sometimes we lack the energy to keep up the effort, or we are surprised when we face resistance and we lose our nerve.
What does this say to us about the walk of discipleship? That discipleship is a life in tension, both within us and in our culture. Our culture today and some popular religions tell us that with the “right life,” we will receive abundance and prosperity, and material success, that God will bless US. That he who dies with the most toys wins. That we can claim that “God is on our side” in the world’s game of power and influence. Yet today’s gospel says that discipleship is not an end to troubles, nor the key to financial success, nor the roadmap to great power and influence. In fact, we are reminded that the message of the gospel is decidedly opposite. Those who have power, as measured by the world’s standards, don’t want to hear the gospel challenge- and there will be consequences. Today’s lesson is not a good ad for seminary. But it is not an easy lesson for any of us who make up the priesthood of all believers- because we are called to cross boundaries- to engage in a life that challenges us and others to let go of our boundaries and our desires that sometimes lead us to distort facts; to hoard more than we need; to oppress;, to insist upon having what we want when we want it, regardless of the way we get it. We are challenged to let go of the boundary of our own need to control – that leads us to choose silence, or complacency, or choosing to only care for those we find it easy to care for. We are called to challenge those who suggest that things that are wrong can be overlooked for expediency. This challenge is not limited to “great heroes of the faith,” but for all of us, disciples sent out with a message.
Our discipleship is a life of joy and challenge. Being a disciple involves times of being sent out in great enthusiasm and joy and the rush of seeing it all come together. But being a disciple will also involve disagreement, struggle and rejection of the message we bring. In our life as disiciples, will we choose to stand with others in the face of social injustice? Or will we choose complacency? Will we speak against wrongs in our world, in our community, in our very midst? Or will we be silent, deciding that unless we are individually, personally affected, that there is nothing we can do? Are we willing to question how the power to make choices in our daily lives can affect the very lives of others, in the things we buy and consume and the policies we embrace? Are we willing to speak truth to power, or will we just keep our heads down?
And today we are asked to consider not only whether we will speak and act, but whether we will keep speaking and acting, like John, or will we say, “ I did that once, let someone else take a turn”? Do we want to gather and be sent, or just to stay put? It is challenging to speak and act with truth and integrity, standing in the face of all of the world’s desires. How will we respond if some in our midst mock us for our stance, when we answer a calling that does not mesh with the ways of the world as we know it? When we think about this are we still willing to be sent out? Still want to be a disciple? Hard questions.
Our youth are responding to this challenge and will confront these very questions as they are sent out to NOLA. Some may think that the Youth gathering is a great social event, and it is, but it is also first and foremost a chance to serve the least. This gathering is intentionally identified as a servant event that confronts and addresses illiteracy, lack of housing, lack of resources for clean water, the inability for some to have really fundamental things we take for granted here. To face racism, class-ism and social prejudices head on. To stand toe- to- toe with people of whom one could say- “they are so far away, they’re not like me”, or about whom we could say “it’s the government’s job to take care of them, isn’t it?” I suggest that these statements are all expressions that some use to try to justify not speaking, not acting, not sharing and not standing with our brothers and sisters in Christ. It would be easier to stay home, but our youth are disciples being sent out as messengers, to teach, to heal lives, and yes, to preach. Living out the words of St. Francis of Assisi who once said- “Preach the gospel. If necessary, use words.” They will be risking their understanding of the world; they will be risking the raised eyebrows of some who think that it is not worth risking comfort and safety, much less the cost. They will be at times challenging others and they themselves will be challenged.
Just as John kept telling, discipleship is not a story told once and then not heard again, but a mission and message across time- to continue to cross boundaries for the sake of God’s kingdom. So, when the youth return I urge you to hear their stories not as a single moment in time that is now ended, but as a story that keeps being told-as guidance for your journey into the future of this congregation together- to be open to new ideas, new challenges; to be open to being activated by the Spirit- commissioned and sent, even if this challenges your world, your desires and your boundaries. Called not only to gather, but to be sent out again and again and again, living out your baptismal identity.
This living challenges our boundaries. When our boundaries get the best of us, may we give thanks to God for the grace shown to us. But may we not be lulled into believing that grace is the only word we hear. We are saved by grace, but God desires that we are not only to gather and be still, but to live out our baptismal calling daily. It is a challenge to follow God’s calling wherever it may take us for the sake of the kingdom, but may we also remember that power source that will sustain us in the many journeys in discipleship.
So as we leave this day, our journeys continue -For many of our youth this journey will soon involve being sent out to NOLA; for myself, it involves being sent out to Trinity Lutheran in Lancaster City. For each of you, it will be wherever God will send you. Wherever the journey takes each of us, may we be willing to risk, trusting in God, graced and empowered to go beyond our own boundaries for the sake of the kingdom.
Amen
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Ref-lectionary thoughts-Messengers
God's messengers are a quirky bunch. In this week's lectionary readings, we see Amos, who is as stunned as we are that he is to be God's messenger. "I prune trees, and play in the dirt.I am not anyone of consequence or obvious skill, no matter what scale you use to evaluate me." Yet he was called by God to be a messenger, and to tell others in power, to how to prune away what was not life-giving and how to nurture and grow that straighter, stronger tree. The tree which could sustain all living things perhaps. The most effective pruning is what allows a tree to survive, to avoid blight and disease, or collapse. Pruning takes a good eye, and a strong hand to make a clean cut. A sloppy cut can actually do even more harm instead of the good intended. Pruning seems counterintuitive- why would cutting back something thriving lead to better growth? Pruning takes being deliberate, slow thinking before acting, to discern what should grow. Amos told things that the people needed to hear, but hard to imagine we would listen if God sent a landscaper to tell us today.
Then there is Paul in our epistle. How could someone who revelled and excelled in prosecutorial incisiveness be a messenger for the Jesus message? And to top it off, some historians talk about Paul as being slight of build, and not all that great as a public speaker. How could a guy with "short man syndrome" be the point person for a message? Yet what better person to have dogged persistence is "prosecuting" the case for Jesus? He was a person who was figuratively pruned and re-oriented who could tell others of the miraculous experience of it all. What greater example than the total role reversal of Paul? And in the end, we do not revere him for his public speaking anyway, but for the marvelous weaving of ideas and arguments in his writings. And we don't know what his thorn is, but what if it was something that would make us not want to look at him or be in his company? What if he had Tourette's syndrome, for example? How likely is it that in our media saturated world today, a short guy with a whiny voice and some off-putting feature, who is better in print, would be a person we would be drawn to as God's messenger?
And we can't overlook John the Baptizer. Everything we are told leads us to believe that John may well be the subject of a mental health commitment hearing today. He seemed to lack a good sense of self-care. He lived beyond civilization, eating bugs, and gleaning, eschewing all conventions when it came to clothing. Engaging in what may have seemed like rants in the wilderness rather than speeches. Thinking outside the box in every way- telling people to come to the river, not the temple for purification. Encourgaing people to engage in an exodus back into the wilderness and away from their conventions. Challenging people to radically re-orient- and living out this radical re-orientation in every way. Yet not content to be radical in the wilderness alone, but challenging others to make clear the path and to strip away the things that were in the way of right being. Would we listen to a John today or would we try to make him the subject of reality TV, or a viral video?
As I look at each of these messengers, they are not carefully packaged, media savvy folks. Each of them in their time are not obvious PR men for a message. Yet each of them embodies their message. And there is a thread in their message- we as humans so often continue to add new practices, new requirements, and trappings to a simple message. Though we all profess to yearn for the simple life, we are incapable of being sustained in it. When the commandments were given, the people were told that they should neither add to nor take away from God's commands.
Yet we do. And time and again, we need a reminder to prune, to reorient, even to reverse. As I think about Amos, Paul and John, I wonder what it would have been like to be in their midst. I wonder how much easier it is to look back with that 20/20 hindsight and sit in judgment of others then who heard them, and their lack of response to the messenger. And then I wonder whether there is a messenger in our midst that I am ignoring because he or she doesn't meet the criteria of someone I should listen to, someone equally foolish to be chosen, whom God has selected for all of the right reasons. But while I ponder this I continue to be amazed that we are all given unique qualities that in a given time and context God can and will use. And maybe while there are the occasional figures larger than life who are messengers, it would be better to remember that each of us is necessary and integral in ways we only sometimes realize. In between the big moments of the message are all of the little echoes that can be spoken through each of our lives if we stop jamming The Messenger who created us all for just such work.
Then there is Paul in our epistle. How could someone who revelled and excelled in prosecutorial incisiveness be a messenger for the Jesus message? And to top it off, some historians talk about Paul as being slight of build, and not all that great as a public speaker. How could a guy with "short man syndrome" be the point person for a message? Yet what better person to have dogged persistence is "prosecuting" the case for Jesus? He was a person who was figuratively pruned and re-oriented who could tell others of the miraculous experience of it all. What greater example than the total role reversal of Paul? And in the end, we do not revere him for his public speaking anyway, but for the marvelous weaving of ideas and arguments in his writings. And we don't know what his thorn is, but what if it was something that would make us not want to look at him or be in his company? What if he had Tourette's syndrome, for example? How likely is it that in our media saturated world today, a short guy with a whiny voice and some off-putting feature, who is better in print, would be a person we would be drawn to as God's messenger?
And we can't overlook John the Baptizer. Everything we are told leads us to believe that John may well be the subject of a mental health commitment hearing today. He seemed to lack a good sense of self-care. He lived beyond civilization, eating bugs, and gleaning, eschewing all conventions when it came to clothing. Engaging in what may have seemed like rants in the wilderness rather than speeches. Thinking outside the box in every way- telling people to come to the river, not the temple for purification. Encourgaing people to engage in an exodus back into the wilderness and away from their conventions. Challenging people to radically re-orient- and living out this radical re-orientation in every way. Yet not content to be radical in the wilderness alone, but challenging others to make clear the path and to strip away the things that were in the way of right being. Would we listen to a John today or would we try to make him the subject of reality TV, or a viral video?
As I look at each of these messengers, they are not carefully packaged, media savvy folks. Each of them in their time are not obvious PR men for a message. Yet each of them embodies their message. And there is a thread in their message- we as humans so often continue to add new practices, new requirements, and trappings to a simple message. Though we all profess to yearn for the simple life, we are incapable of being sustained in it. When the commandments were given, the people were told that they should neither add to nor take away from God's commands.
Yet we do. And time and again, we need a reminder to prune, to reorient, even to reverse. As I think about Amos, Paul and John, I wonder what it would have been like to be in their midst. I wonder how much easier it is to look back with that 20/20 hindsight and sit in judgment of others then who heard them, and their lack of response to the messenger. And then I wonder whether there is a messenger in our midst that I am ignoring because he or she doesn't meet the criteria of someone I should listen to, someone equally foolish to be chosen, whom God has selected for all of the right reasons. But while I ponder this I continue to be amazed that we are all given unique qualities that in a given time and context God can and will use. And maybe while there are the occasional figures larger than life who are messengers, it would be better to remember that each of us is necessary and integral in ways we only sometimes realize. In between the big moments of the message are all of the little echoes that can be spoken through each of our lives if we stop jamming The Messenger who created us all for just such work.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Suspending Belief
We've known him all of his life- isn't he Joseph's son? In the gospel reading for this Sunday this is the loud slamming of the door of minds and hearts, in people who have decided that someone who looks like Jesus, or comes from "that family" or already has been destined to be a laboring tradesman, couldn't possibly be- learned, articulate, authoritative, insightful. In today's world, would we recognize this Jesus? As the plumber, the factory worker, the guy who runs the bodega on the corner?
For 30 years here in this town, where we all know each other, we've known him and his family- that gaggle of kids, how many are there- at least five. Poor and unremarkable, immigrants perhaps. It is a challenge to suspend our beliefs.
We know who the leaders are, which are the "right" families.
Long ago we pegged him and settled his future, and we have never expected much.
You mean he's bright? Talented?
How ironic that this reading falls on the weekend when we in this country celebrate Independence Day in a country that was settled and founded on the notion that a man or woman can be defined by what he or she becomes, not by who his or her family, or town of origin is. We wax eloquently about the story of Horatio Alger. I wonder if we really believe it, either in secular society or sometimes in the church.
This reading isn't just about people in a Galilee far, far away. They are us.
How hard it is sometimes to mindful of the notion that God acts in and through many and varied people. How easy to bestow that "lack of honor."
And Jesus was amazed at their unbelief, or perhaps a better translation, is "their lack of faith." Lack of faith in whom God can dwell in, act through and use.
On a surface level I can take heart that like myself, the historic Jesus was a second career guy- leaving a perfectly good trade for some new calling. IN my small town, it was hard for people who had already defined me by what I did, to see God act in a new way. And of course the disciples were second career guys too.
Yet, on a deeper level, in this season of Pentecost in which we contemplate discipleship and what it means to be church, I am pondering how each of us can lapse into the pattern of believing we know and decide who God's children are, and how they will be used. Do we lapse at times into patterns that function as self-prescribed limits on who can teach, proclaim, heal lives and transform hearts? God in Christ was in our midst and yet it took sending the disciples out to perform the miracles on this occasion because of a lack of faith in how things ought to be.
Yet, even the disciples deserve a closer look- reading again what they were NOT to take with them, they were sent out as hungry, dirty, unemployed, penniless homeless men, who had been wearing that same stinky tunic for days.
Seen in this perhaps more earthy yet realistic light, it makes their ability to teach, proclaim, heal lives and transform hearts an even more amazing demonstration of God's power and ability. In some ways it takes suspending belief both in this story and in the ultimate story of Christ's demonstration of power- at the foot of the cross- hungry, dirty, abandoned, stripped even of that dirty tunic.
As we look around our congregations and our communities, perhaps we need a reminder that God works through many more varieties of people than just the ones we might destine or determine to be great teachers,preachers and disciples. Of what will God be amazed- our recognition or our unbelief?
For 30 years here in this town, where we all know each other, we've known him and his family- that gaggle of kids, how many are there- at least five. Poor and unremarkable, immigrants perhaps. It is a challenge to suspend our beliefs.
We know who the leaders are, which are the "right" families.
Long ago we pegged him and settled his future, and we have never expected much.
You mean he's bright? Talented?
How ironic that this reading falls on the weekend when we in this country celebrate Independence Day in a country that was settled and founded on the notion that a man or woman can be defined by what he or she becomes, not by who his or her family, or town of origin is. We wax eloquently about the story of Horatio Alger. I wonder if we really believe it, either in secular society or sometimes in the church.
This reading isn't just about people in a Galilee far, far away. They are us.
How hard it is sometimes to mindful of the notion that God acts in and through many and varied people. How easy to bestow that "lack of honor."
And Jesus was amazed at their unbelief, or perhaps a better translation, is "their lack of faith." Lack of faith in whom God can dwell in, act through and use.
On a surface level I can take heart that like myself, the historic Jesus was a second career guy- leaving a perfectly good trade for some new calling. IN my small town, it was hard for people who had already defined me by what I did, to see God act in a new way. And of course the disciples were second career guys too.
Yet, on a deeper level, in this season of Pentecost in which we contemplate discipleship and what it means to be church, I am pondering how each of us can lapse into the pattern of believing we know and decide who God's children are, and how they will be used. Do we lapse at times into patterns that function as self-prescribed limits on who can teach, proclaim, heal lives and transform hearts? God in Christ was in our midst and yet it took sending the disciples out to perform the miracles on this occasion because of a lack of faith in how things ought to be.
Yet, even the disciples deserve a closer look- reading again what they were NOT to take with them, they were sent out as hungry, dirty, unemployed, penniless homeless men, who had been wearing that same stinky tunic for days.
Seen in this perhaps more earthy yet realistic light, it makes their ability to teach, proclaim, heal lives and transform hearts an even more amazing demonstration of God's power and ability. In some ways it takes suspending belief both in this story and in the ultimate story of Christ's demonstration of power- at the foot of the cross- hungry, dirty, abandoned, stripped even of that dirty tunic.
As we look around our congregations and our communities, perhaps we need a reminder that God works through many more varieties of people than just the ones we might destine or determine to be great teachers,preachers and disciples. Of what will God be amazed- our recognition or our unbelief?
Friday, May 15, 2009
Toby is in Residence
This winter I experienced the demise of Buddy the beloved beagle in a very unfortunate stroke in my presence. The Lutheran Chicks were lobbying soon thereafter for a new dog. Honestly, I had neither the physical nor mental energy after Buddy's death. But I swore we would revisit this after the end of the semester.
We are a dog-rescuing family- both of our previous very special pets have been rescued. First there was Stirling who was found freezing on the city streets on Christmas Eve and rescued. She was on her last day at the shelter when I showed up "just to look." Stirling was a pointer mix who chewed her way through many things because my Beloved and I were uneducated dog owners. The recliner, the remote, and the first crate all met her wrath, and our deck was almost unearthed by enthusiastic digging. But She was devotedly with us for 13 years.
Buddy the beagle had owners who gave him no indoor shelter for his first four years- he came to us through the grapevine and spent almost seven years of his life with a loving family even with his special needs.
So we were waiting. And the kids were determined, but so was I- it would be wrong to adopt a dog who would then spend all day in a crate. The waiting paid off and a three young beagle pointer dogs were rescued from a high kill shelter by a local rescue group. Thus led us to Castaway Critters who scoops up pets from such shelters and fosters them until they can find their forever home. Ironically, Toby was less than a mile from us and being fostered by a professional acquaintance of mine.
Ironically, if our first and second dogs had mated, the offspring might look like Toby.
So we are back to world of barking because another dog is barking, face licking at 5 AM because it is "Walk time" and remembering that when you give a dog a sock toy, all socks become fair game.
Life is good.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Traveling at the Speed of Light
Where have the last two years gone? Two years ago I was stressing about whether I could learn Greek and whether I could master the "going back to school" thing. Two years ago I was preparing for my entrance interview. And I had discovered a fellow blogger Prepare Ye who was also headed to LTSG.
Two years ago I was finishing up most of a law practice and contemplating how I would coordinate everything so the commuter seminarian/wife/mother/lawyer thing would be managed with precision.
Two years ago seems like yesterday.
It does not seem possible that I would have now completed teaching parish, CPE, the speed-dating of internship matching, and now team building with my supervisor the last couple of days, having the most affirming and enriching time, wondering why my start date is two months away (knowing I should enjoy this time of waiting).
Two years ago I had no idea I would learn to drive so frequently on auto-pilot, or that I would set up and tear down a room for one night, 27 times, or drive about 11 hours each week.
Two years ago, if you told me I would learn to skim enormous books and then write a 15 page paper in short order, discuss the difference between orthodoxy and orthopraxy, and have about 200 books more than I did before, I would not have believed you.
Two years ago, if you told me that at the end of team building I would be eating lunch with a potential commuter student and discussing the value of taking Greek first because of the rich nuances it would open up for preaching, professing that I still do the translation first,I would have laughed loud and long. Though for the benefit of any Greek instructors lurking on this blog (VH), I extol the virtues of Bibleworks with BDAG- also not on my horizon two years ago.
Two years ago, I weighed a little less, and my hair was a little less gray. But two years ago, I had not met some of the most amazing and amusing people, with whom we have all laughed, cried, gritted our teeth and ranted. And now we are the latest Lutheran diaspora- cast to the winds to inflict our burgeoning pastoral identities on unsuspecting congregations.
And as I looked around these last couple days, I think each vicar-to-be was transformed a little more before my eyes and I have a sense of promise for the future of the church. And I know that time will continue to fly and I will continue to be amazed about the things I thought I would never do.
And the truth is I could never do them.
There is no way that this journey could have happened in all its scary-ness and amazingness but for the work of the Spirit who early on showed me that every time I think I am managing this process, God laughs a belly-whopping laugh. We leave for journeys to learn if the gifts we think we have been given are affirmed, to receive new gifts needed- given in time and context- some will be easy and some will be hard gifts.
And we will return transformed.
So while we continue to travel at the speed of light, may the Light of Christ ever be with us.
Two years ago I was finishing up most of a law practice and contemplating how I would coordinate everything so the commuter seminarian/wife/mother/lawyer thing would be managed with precision.
Two years ago seems like yesterday.
It does not seem possible that I would have now completed teaching parish, CPE, the speed-dating of internship matching, and now team building with my supervisor the last couple of days, having the most affirming and enriching time, wondering why my start date is two months away (knowing I should enjoy this time of waiting).
Two years ago I had no idea I would learn to drive so frequently on auto-pilot, or that I would set up and tear down a room for one night, 27 times, or drive about 11 hours each week.
Two years ago, if you told me I would learn to skim enormous books and then write a 15 page paper in short order, discuss the difference between orthodoxy and orthopraxy, and have about 200 books more than I did before, I would not have believed you.
Two years ago, if you told me that at the end of team building I would be eating lunch with a potential commuter student and discussing the value of taking Greek first because of the rich nuances it would open up for preaching, professing that I still do the translation first,I would have laughed loud and long. Though for the benefit of any Greek instructors lurking on this blog (VH), I extol the virtues of Bibleworks with BDAG- also not on my horizon two years ago.
Two years ago, I weighed a little less, and my hair was a little less gray. But two years ago, I had not met some of the most amazing and amusing people, with whom we have all laughed, cried, gritted our teeth and ranted. And now we are the latest Lutheran diaspora- cast to the winds to inflict our burgeoning pastoral identities on unsuspecting congregations.
And as I looked around these last couple days, I think each vicar-to-be was transformed a little more before my eyes and I have a sense of promise for the future of the church. And I know that time will continue to fly and I will continue to be amazed about the things I thought I would never do.
And the truth is I could never do them.
There is no way that this journey could have happened in all its scary-ness and amazingness but for the work of the Spirit who early on showed me that every time I think I am managing this process, God laughs a belly-whopping laugh. We leave for journeys to learn if the gifts we think we have been given are affirmed, to receive new gifts needed- given in time and context- some will be easy and some will be hard gifts.
And we will return transformed.
So while we continue to travel at the speed of light, may the Light of Christ ever be with us.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Journey Back from the Wilderness
It has been almost two months since I last posted anything. Not because I had nothing to say, but because there was too much. And I confess that as I had started to learn who was reading my blog, I started to think about transparency (yes,I know that has become a new buzzword in politics, sorry). How much self-disclosure does one engage in? And I was slogging my way through a record number of credits in seminary with Psalter, Theology of Stewardship, Religion in America, Pastoral Theology of Cancer, Preaching the Gospel of Mark and an independent study on chaplaincy as ministry of healing. And driving back and forth to LTSG five days of the week, staying overnight one of them, I learned how quickly to set up and tear down a room, and at times it seemed that all that was missing was the manna.
And in the midst of all of that, two other things happened. I rejoiced as we discovered that our older daughter had developed enough coping strategies to stop taking her Concerta which improved her overall mood- the Concerta was triggering her depression. But then...
Our younger daughter developed panic attacks, that quickly escalated to include some obsessive tendencies and phobias. Thus began the vortex of doctor visits, cognitive behavioral therapy visits, and medication management. And every day waiting for the other shoe to drop. I became the person who could not turn off the cell phone during the day, ever. Realizing first hand what it means to remember self-care when the world is a maelstrom. And knowing that one of the triggers seems to be difficulty adjusting to the fact this "call" thing is becoming more real as I prepare for internship. Yet I am the person to whom she turns. And becoming keenly aware of the woefully inadequate coverage for mental health issues. I experienced my own Lenten journey living through good days, or hours, and those heart-wrenching troughs where my daughter is crying and shaking, and telling me she can't take it,yet through her tears telling me she longs to be better.
My own need to constantly "return to the Lord your God" even while I felt like the Israelites wandering in circles. My own need to confront the hidden-ness of God and to conclude that Luther is right- "asking why" will drive you mad. Look for Christ in the suffering of the cross. And to look for God in the miniscule. To take comfort in the things often overlooked in the rush of the busy-ness of life.
To learn to visualize handing over my daughter to God.
To seek out my friends and learn to be a better recipient of kindness.
But out of this feeling of wandering in the wilderness, has not only come this more poignant sense of daily living, but also in the midst of this the serenity that my calling is secure.
I have never felt that the answer to all of this would be to stop going to seminary, or delay internship, or to think that maybe this is a sign that I should not continue this journey even as my daughter told me that she thinks that there is a God, but God is not loving. That a loving God would not be able to allow the planet to be degraded, and people to suffer. That I therefore must be "crazy" to give up a perfectly good career as a lawyer for this.
And how dare I?
And I have done a lot of listening, to a 14 year old who is probably a better theologian than I. And by listening and not chastising, but discussing not "fixing" we continue this journey with her knowing that I am not changing the journey, but do not need her to embrace it. That I am here to help her deal with her stress, but am not captive to it.
But I give thanks that this is not just "my" issue. As a family we all have been engaged in the ways that we as a family share in helping each other, and share in responsibility for our home together. While the direction of the path is uncertain, whether this is short-term or the "rest of our lives," I give thanks that God is in our midst and active, especially in my husband and older daughter.
I give thanks that God has gifted our younger daughter with the ability to write and draw and create music, all of which are helping her. I give thanks that she trusts us enough to be honest, to talk and to still want that goodnight kiss.
And in the midst of all of this, where I truly had to decide what is important and what is not, God gave me the grace and strength to get through the "too busy" semester while learning a lesson about not doing that again. When you have as many as three appointments a week, and should carve out some self care as well, I can see how overfunctioning is the road to ruin. A learning which will come in handy as I head to internship.
And with the preaching/text discussion every other week, I got to feel what it is like to preach when exhausted (too many nights of 3-4 hours of sleep) and to preach the good news when it doesn't feel like there is much. And to preach about the person afflicted with demons, and picture one's own and to pray that it is God's will to release someone from something. I must admit I was not looking for any more character building experiences, but can see that everything I have been experiencing allows me to more fully appreciate the journey of others I will encounter.
And I know that the only way I have come this far is by the hand of God active in the lives of those who surround me.
Yesterday I watched another class at LTSG graduate and head out into the world, and realized that as all who would be leaving the Ridge should stand and be a part of the Farewell and Godspeed, that included me and my fellow interns, it is hard to believe that the journey has come this far. And no matter what...
"Surely it is God who saves me, I will trust in Him and not be afraid, for the Lord is my stronghold and my sure defense and He will be my Savior."
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