Another dimension to the biblical theme of joy is suffering.
This may come as a bit of a surprised to you. In Scripture, joy is linked to suffering. Joy is experienced not only in life’s happy moments; joy is also birthed out of suffering and out of our longing for restoration. Christian joy is realized in the midst of suffering.
In the Story of Jesus, joy, patient waiting, and suffering are linked. The Christ Event, which leads to the world’s greatest joy, is wrought with suffering and ends in the death of the Savior. And even amidst the joy of Jesus’ birth and infancy, there’s great pain and suffering as the tyrant Herod orders the slaughter of all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under.
Joy is also realized in the midst of the suffering of God’s people. Hear the words of the apostle Peter: “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you, to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share in Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when Christ’s glory is revealed” (1 Pt 4.12-13).
Remember that when Peter penned those words he was being persecuted for his faith and he was writing to Christians who were being persecuted for their faith. Peter encourages believers to rejoice in their sufferings, just as he does. And this is because the source of Christian joy is the risen Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit. In spite of life’s circumstances the Holy Spirit enables us to rejoice in the Lord and to glory in God’s promises. Our hope of resurrection life with Christ is enough to keep us full of hope and joy in the worst of times.
Christian joy doesn’t come and go with our circumstances. When things are going badly our joy doesn’t just vanish. Joy is a constant in the highs and lows of our life experience. God calls us to rejoice in our time of trial, for this is when we truly “share Christ’s sufferings” and experience the hope of the gospel. Our joy takes shape in the time of trial precisely because our joy is rooted in our relationship with the crucified Jesus and in our hope of resurrection life with him.
Joy is a distinctive mark and an abiding quality of our new life in Jesus Christ. Joy transcends our circumstances and endures beyond the grave. Regardless of what’s going on in, or around us, we “serve by the Spirit of God” (Phil. 3.3) by “rejoicing in the Lord always” (Phil. 4.4).
Consider the words of the poet Wendell Berry in his Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front:
Listen to carrion – put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts…
Practice resurrection.
December 23, 2009
December 19, 2009
Advent and Joy-filled Waiting
Philippians 4.4-5: “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say, rejoice. Let your moderation be known to all people. The Lord is near.”
I have vivid memories of the births of our two children, Micah and Georgia. These were truly amazing moments in my life. And the only word Julie and I can find to describe the experience and feeling we had after the birth of our children is “joy.” In those moments, intense feelings of joy welled up from deep within our souls and overflowed in tears and laughter and embracing. The miraculous birth of a newborn and the amazing joy that brings, what a wonderful gift from God!
Joy and rejoicing is a hugely important theme in Scripture. In the New Testament alone, the words for joy occur some 326 times.
It’s no wonder that joyous celebration characterizes the birth and infancy narratives in the Gospels. The angel of the Yahweh tells Zechariah that he “will have joy and gladness and many will rejoice” at the birth of John the Baptist (Luke 1.14). The angel Gabriel tells Mary that her response to Jesus’ birth will be one of joy, thanksgiving, and worship (Luke 1.46-49). The angel of Yahweh comes to the shepherds bringing “good tidings of great joy for all people,” for born that day in the city of David is the Savior, Christ the Lord (Luke 2.10-11). And when the magi find the house where Mary and Jesus are staying they “rejoice exceedingly with great joy” and “fall to the ground and worship Jesus” (Matthew 2.9-11).
For Christ’s church, the season of Advent is a time of joyful anticipation. Advent is a time of rejoicing and celebration at the coming of Jesus the Messiah. “Cry aloud and shout for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 12.12).
Joy-filled waiting. In Advent we wait. We wait in joy and in hope, not only for the celebration of the birth of the baby Jesus in Bethlehem, but also for the coming again of the Prince of Peace and the Liberator of the Oppressed. We wait in joy and in hope for God to relieve the pain and suffering of our bodies, of our communities, and of all creation.
The time of Advent is God’s gift to us, wherein we’re encouraged to slow down; meditate on the life and death of Jesus; discern the voice of the Holy Spirit; focus on walking the path of discipleship; and consider our call to pick up our cross, to suffer for the gospel’s sake.
But we do all of this in an attitude of patient, joyful expectation of the coming of God’s good future, the renewal of all creation!
In Advent and beyond, we wait for, we long for, we anticipate the time of full redemption. As the apostle Paul says in 1 Cor. 15.24, we wait for the time when Jesus “delivers the kingdom to God the Father and when he abolishes all rule and all authority and power.”
Until that time what characterizes our joy-filled waiting is nothing less than our “labor in the Lord.” It may sound like a contradiction but Christian waiting is active. We wait for Christ to come as we move out into the world and serve God.
In 1 Cor. 15.58, Paul says, “Stand firm! Let nothing move you! Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” As we wait for the time of resurrection and new creation, we are to joyfully practice resurrection and new creation. Active, joy-filled waiting is a distinctive mark of the Christian life. God’s Spirit equips us to joyfully engage the world and to work in hope toward that time of complete renewal. In this we create foretastes of what the world to come looks like.
It’s kind of like when you go to the movies and watch the “trailers” before the main feature. The point of the trailer is what? It has some of the funniest lines, the best scenes, and the biggest explosions...Sometimes the only funny lines and good scenes, but whatever! The whole point of a good trailer is to make you elbow the person next to you and say, “Hey, we gotta see that movie when it comes out! It looks awesome!”
We ought to see our lives as a trailer for God’s kingdom still to come. Begin to imagine that the world to come is the biggest and most spectacular blockbuster movie you could possibly imagine and your life is a trailer to it. So that when people see the justice we do, the help we give, the joy and love we express, their meant to say, “Hey, I want to see the real thing!”
It’s out of that foretaste of the kingdom that people come to know Christ, they are set free, and they go out to serve God in the world. So let us wait in hope for Christ to come as we move out into the world and serve God.
I have vivid memories of the births of our two children, Micah and Georgia. These were truly amazing moments in my life. And the only word Julie and I can find to describe the experience and feeling we had after the birth of our children is “joy.” In those moments, intense feelings of joy welled up from deep within our souls and overflowed in tears and laughter and embracing. The miraculous birth of a newborn and the amazing joy that brings, what a wonderful gift from God!
Joy and rejoicing is a hugely important theme in Scripture. In the New Testament alone, the words for joy occur some 326 times.
It’s no wonder that joyous celebration characterizes the birth and infancy narratives in the Gospels. The angel of the Yahweh tells Zechariah that he “will have joy and gladness and many will rejoice” at the birth of John the Baptist (Luke 1.14). The angel Gabriel tells Mary that her response to Jesus’ birth will be one of joy, thanksgiving, and worship (Luke 1.46-49). The angel of Yahweh comes to the shepherds bringing “good tidings of great joy for all people,” for born that day in the city of David is the Savior, Christ the Lord (Luke 2.10-11). And when the magi find the house where Mary and Jesus are staying they “rejoice exceedingly with great joy” and “fall to the ground and worship Jesus” (Matthew 2.9-11).
For Christ’s church, the season of Advent is a time of joyful anticipation. Advent is a time of rejoicing and celebration at the coming of Jesus the Messiah. “Cry aloud and shout for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 12.12).
Joy-filled waiting. In Advent we wait. We wait in joy and in hope, not only for the celebration of the birth of the baby Jesus in Bethlehem, but also for the coming again of the Prince of Peace and the Liberator of the Oppressed. We wait in joy and in hope for God to relieve the pain and suffering of our bodies, of our communities, and of all creation.
The time of Advent is God’s gift to us, wherein we’re encouraged to slow down; meditate on the life and death of Jesus; discern the voice of the Holy Spirit; focus on walking the path of discipleship; and consider our call to pick up our cross, to suffer for the gospel’s sake.
But we do all of this in an attitude of patient, joyful expectation of the coming of God’s good future, the renewal of all creation!
In Advent and beyond, we wait for, we long for, we anticipate the time of full redemption. As the apostle Paul says in 1 Cor. 15.24, we wait for the time when Jesus “delivers the kingdom to God the Father and when he abolishes all rule and all authority and power.”
Until that time what characterizes our joy-filled waiting is nothing less than our “labor in the Lord.” It may sound like a contradiction but Christian waiting is active. We wait for Christ to come as we move out into the world and serve God.
In 1 Cor. 15.58, Paul says, “Stand firm! Let nothing move you! Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” As we wait for the time of resurrection and new creation, we are to joyfully practice resurrection and new creation. Active, joy-filled waiting is a distinctive mark of the Christian life. God’s Spirit equips us to joyfully engage the world and to work in hope toward that time of complete renewal. In this we create foretastes of what the world to come looks like.
It’s kind of like when you go to the movies and watch the “trailers” before the main feature. The point of the trailer is what? It has some of the funniest lines, the best scenes, and the biggest explosions...Sometimes the only funny lines and good scenes, but whatever! The whole point of a good trailer is to make you elbow the person next to you and say, “Hey, we gotta see that movie when it comes out! It looks awesome!”
We ought to see our lives as a trailer for God’s kingdom still to come. Begin to imagine that the world to come is the biggest and most spectacular blockbuster movie you could possibly imagine and your life is a trailer to it. So that when people see the justice we do, the help we give, the joy and love we express, their meant to say, “Hey, I want to see the real thing!”
It’s out of that foretaste of the kingdom that people come to know Christ, they are set free, and they go out to serve God in the world. So let us wait in hope for Christ to come as we move out into the world and serve God.
December 5, 2009
Just Cities
The following is a review of chapter 23 of the newly released book The Justice Project, edited by Brian McLaren, Elisa Padilla, and Ashley Bunting Seeber. Chapter 23 is written by Chad R. Abbott (a pastor) and the focus of the chapter is "What does the call to justice mean for life in our cities?"
Abbott argues that in urban contexts, the church must always strive toward just ways of living - that is, we must always seek to discern "the right use of power in our relationships with others." One of the important implications of this is that our Christian communities should enfold a diverse group of people - politicians, nurses, public health experts, ex-cons, the homeless, ect.
In the city where he lives, Abbott "began to realize that to do justice in this context requires a great deal of courage, faith, friendship, and perhaps above all the ability to laugh out loud at ourselves and the sheer madness of life in our cities."
We are challenged to admit that we need others. We are not fundamentally separate. The church is the body of Christ. We are interconnected, interdependent. We were created by God to suffer with those who are suffering and laugh with those who are laughing.
And so, a major question that arises for us is: "If the relationships we share in the urban context are ones of interdependency, then how can we demonstrate the right use of power and get to the root causes of injustice?" For Abbott, the "path toward justice must first travel through two doors: (1) friendship and (2) humility."
Abbot finds biblical justification for his approach to living justly in the city through two passages in the New Testament: John 15.15 and Mark 11.1-11. In the first passage Jesus tells his disciples that he no longer calls them "servants/slaves" but now he calls them "friends." Thus, living justly means following Jesus in establishing friendships that operate out of mutual giving.
Mark 1.1-11 narrates the a-triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem while riding on the back of a colt. For Abbot, Jesus' humble, lowly entry into the city of Jerusalem "suggests that in the kingdom of God, we overcome injustice not through a top-down approach of control, domination, and violence [perhaps like the approach of Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea in the time of Jesus] but rather through a grassroots movement of friendship, solidarity, and hope that grows from the ground up."
Thus, it is proposed that justice "begins to take root in our cities when we allow friendship and humility to guide our path toward solutions at the root of our systems."
I agree that friendship and humility must guide the church's path toward just solutions in our cities. But there are other important things that we must also focus on, namely "faith, hope, and love" (1 Corinthians 13.13).
Our vocation and calling as the body of Christ must always include the welcome of friendship and the posture of humility but the path toward just solutions involves so much more.
Our relationships with others must always have a view towards an all-important faith-based relationship with the one true God, revealed in Jesus Christ. For it is that relationship which allows all people to realize their true humanity and to more fully love their neighbor as God loves their neighbor. It is that relationship which enables us to live justly and to live peaceably in our cities.
But a living relationship with the true God is also and always our source of lasting hope. What is a discussion about the call to justice in our cities without hope? Not a whole heck of a lot. A sense of hope for a good future is what's lacking in so many people's lives. Is it not our hope for God's good future that compels us to live justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God and neighbor? It is in friendship, in solidarity with "the other" that we seek, struggle, suffer, and persevere toward that new world God will bring to birth out of this world, which still groans in travail. And so, at the core of any relationship we foster with others there must be a deep longing toward the hope of the gospel, which brings life and peace to all of us and to all of creation.
Abbott argues that in urban contexts, the church must always strive toward just ways of living - that is, we must always seek to discern "the right use of power in our relationships with others." One of the important implications of this is that our Christian communities should enfold a diverse group of people - politicians, nurses, public health experts, ex-cons, the homeless, ect.
In the city where he lives, Abbott "began to realize that to do justice in this context requires a great deal of courage, faith, friendship, and perhaps above all the ability to laugh out loud at ourselves and the sheer madness of life in our cities."
We are challenged to admit that we need others. We are not fundamentally separate. The church is the body of Christ. We are interconnected, interdependent. We were created by God to suffer with those who are suffering and laugh with those who are laughing.
And so, a major question that arises for us is: "If the relationships we share in the urban context are ones of interdependency, then how can we demonstrate the right use of power and get to the root causes of injustice?" For Abbott, the "path toward justice must first travel through two doors: (1) friendship and (2) humility."
Abbot finds biblical justification for his approach to living justly in the city through two passages in the New Testament: John 15.15 and Mark 11.1-11. In the first passage Jesus tells his disciples that he no longer calls them "servants/slaves" but now he calls them "friends." Thus, living justly means following Jesus in establishing friendships that operate out of mutual giving.
Mark 1.1-11 narrates the a-triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem while riding on the back of a colt. For Abbot, Jesus' humble, lowly entry into the city of Jerusalem "suggests that in the kingdom of God, we overcome injustice not through a top-down approach of control, domination, and violence [perhaps like the approach of Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea in the time of Jesus] but rather through a grassroots movement of friendship, solidarity, and hope that grows from the ground up."
Thus, it is proposed that justice "begins to take root in our cities when we allow friendship and humility to guide our path toward solutions at the root of our systems."
I agree that friendship and humility must guide the church's path toward just solutions in our cities. But there are other important things that we must also focus on, namely "faith, hope, and love" (1 Corinthians 13.13).
Our vocation and calling as the body of Christ must always include the welcome of friendship and the posture of humility but the path toward just solutions involves so much more.
Our relationships with others must always have a view towards an all-important faith-based relationship with the one true God, revealed in Jesus Christ. For it is that relationship which allows all people to realize their true humanity and to more fully love their neighbor as God loves their neighbor. It is that relationship which enables us to live justly and to live peaceably in our cities.
But a living relationship with the true God is also and always our source of lasting hope. What is a discussion about the call to justice in our cities without hope? Not a whole heck of a lot. A sense of hope for a good future is what's lacking in so many people's lives. Is it not our hope for God's good future that compels us to live justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God and neighbor? It is in friendship, in solidarity with "the other" that we seek, struggle, suffer, and persevere toward that new world God will bring to birth out of this world, which still groans in travail. And so, at the core of any relationship we foster with others there must be a deep longing toward the hope of the gospel, which brings life and peace to all of us and to all of creation.
December 2, 2009
Advent is Upon Us!
We are currently in the first week of Advent (last Sunday was the first Sunday of this new church year).
For those who are unaware, the season of Advent marks the beginning of the Western (Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Protestant churches) Christian year. Advent begins four Sundays before Christmas and ends on Christmas Eve.
From the Latin adventus, Advent means “coming” or “arrival.
Throughout church history this season has been observed as a fast, with its purpose focused on preparation for the coming Christ. During Advent Christians all over the world prepare themselves to receive the newborn Savior in a lowly manger at Bethlehem, to celebrate the birth of Jesus the Messiah.
In this time, Christians also look forward to Jesus’ coming again and the establishment of God’s new creation.
Throughout Advent, Christians humbly confess their sins, seek God’s forgiveness, and joyfully look to Christ’s indwelling presence through the Holy Spirit. We wait and hope for Christ’s light to break through the darkness of our world. We wait and hope for the revelation of Christ with us, Christ among us.
But we who are members of Christ's body are called to do much more than simply wait and hope. God calls us to action! In Advent, God calls his church to be Christ's light for salvation to the nations. This happens through the redemptive work of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives.
During this season we are empowered by God to enact his peace and justice in the world. We are to cry out on behalf of those who are poor and afflicted, and thus, provide further fulfillment to Jesus' words in Luke 4.18-19:
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord!"
Consider also these words of Jesse Jackson:
"Let us gather and embrace our families. Let us join together to protect the babies in the dawn of life, care for the elderly in the dusk of life. Let us nurture the sick, shelter the homeless. Stop for the stranger on the Jericho Road. Work for the promise of peace. Surely that is the point of the story [of Advent and Christmas]."
For those who are unaware, the season of Advent marks the beginning of the Western (Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Protestant churches) Christian year. Advent begins four Sundays before Christmas and ends on Christmas Eve.
From the Latin adventus, Advent means “coming” or “arrival.
Throughout church history this season has been observed as a fast, with its purpose focused on preparation for the coming Christ. During Advent Christians all over the world prepare themselves to receive the newborn Savior in a lowly manger at Bethlehem, to celebrate the birth of Jesus the Messiah.
In this time, Christians also look forward to Jesus’ coming again and the establishment of God’s new creation.
Throughout Advent, Christians humbly confess their sins, seek God’s forgiveness, and joyfully look to Christ’s indwelling presence through the Holy Spirit. We wait and hope for Christ’s light to break through the darkness of our world. We wait and hope for the revelation of Christ with us, Christ among us.
But we who are members of Christ's body are called to do much more than simply wait and hope. God calls us to action! In Advent, God calls his church to be Christ's light for salvation to the nations. This happens through the redemptive work of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives.
During this season we are empowered by God to enact his peace and justice in the world. We are to cry out on behalf of those who are poor and afflicted, and thus, provide further fulfillment to Jesus' words in Luke 4.18-19:
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord!"
Consider also these words of Jesse Jackson:
"Let us gather and embrace our families. Let us join together to protect the babies in the dawn of life, care for the elderly in the dusk of life. Let us nurture the sick, shelter the homeless. Stop for the stranger on the Jericho Road. Work for the promise of peace. Surely that is the point of the story [of Advent and Christmas]."
November 22, 2009
Communities as a Sign of Peace
"Today, as never before, we need communities of welcome; communities that are a sign of peace in a world of war. There is no point in praying for peace in the Middle East, for example, if we are not peace-makers in our own community; if we are not forgiving those in our community who have hurt us or with whom we find it difficult to live. Young people, as well those who are older, are sensitive to this vision of peace. It must continually be announced so that hearts and minds are nourished."
- Jean Vanier, Community and Growth, 177.
- Jean Vanier, Community and Growth, 177.
November 19, 2009
Some more thoughts on peace and new creation
A tank, a grenade, machine guns, bullets...these are a few of my favorite things...NOT!!! Seriously...I mean, come on people...this kind of stuff will never ultimately feed the world's poorest children, bring lasting peace and security in the world's most war-torn places, or restore ecosystems that we have already destroyed. What the war machine will do is bring further devestation to humanity and the world, even unto our demise. In the long run violence begets violence in a downward sprial of hate and vengence. What we so desperately need is non-violent, Christ-like ways to help solve the massive problems of humanity in the 21st century. Better yet, non-violent Christ-like ways of living are the most powerful signposts of God's fully restored kingdom on earth. What we do not need is more 20th century militarism that proved such an abysmal failure (need I remind the reader that the 20th century was the bloodiest in human history!).
The good news...the kingdom of God is at hand and it's time to live out the new creation reality! It's time for Christ's church, Christ's body to show the world the way of love, peace, hope, new creation. If we are the new people of God, let's live out the way of God's new humantiy. This is our mission, this is our call, this is our destiny. Our holy vocation: pray, work, study, advocate, befriend, love those who hate you, suffer with those who suffer, pick up your cross and be willing to lay down your life for the Good, for the promise of the God of resurrection is that he will raise us up on the last day.
Mark 8.34-38:
Then Jesus called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."
Matthew 5.1-10
"Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them saying: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
Colossians 1.13-23:
"God has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation — if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven."
The good news...the kingdom of God is at hand and it's time to live out the new creation reality! It's time for Christ's church, Christ's body to show the world the way of love, peace, hope, new creation. If we are the new people of God, let's live out the way of God's new humantiy. This is our mission, this is our call, this is our destiny. Our holy vocation: pray, work, study, advocate, befriend, love those who hate you, suffer with those who suffer, pick up your cross and be willing to lay down your life for the Good, for the promise of the God of resurrection is that he will raise us up on the last day.
Mark 8.34-38:
Then Jesus called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."
Matthew 5.1-10
"Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them saying: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
Colossians 1.13-23:
"God has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation — if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven."
November 9, 2009
Students for the Streets Outing...
Students Scavenge to Solve Social Divide
Written by:
Hilary Beaumont (Journalism student at King's University College, Halifax)
Nov 6, 2009
"Six students raided green bins in Halifax's south end Tuesday night in search of their next meal. While most students enjoy cafeteria food, delivery or fresh groceries each evening, dinner from a dumpster is normal for many people living in poverty. Each week, volunteers from Students for the Streets aim to bridge that gap by placing themselves in the position of 'the other'...
"Desiree MacNeil says, 'free food is accessible in Halifax, but it's not good food. That's partly what the dumpster dive is about: To lower your standards; to be able to eat dirty food.'"
"Doing something ‘good enough' is never enough. Often when you give food to the poor, they get the shitty meat. The shitty hotdogs ... No one wants your Wonder bread and nasty-ass hotdogs...This is because members of the upper class are not willing to lower their standards...
For the full article and lots of great pictures, go to:
Slideshow
Story
Written by:
Hilary Beaumont (Journalism student at King's University College, Halifax)
Nov 6, 2009
"Six students raided green bins in Halifax's south end Tuesday night in search of their next meal. While most students enjoy cafeteria food, delivery or fresh groceries each evening, dinner from a dumpster is normal for many people living in poverty. Each week, volunteers from Students for the Streets aim to bridge that gap by placing themselves in the position of 'the other'...
"Desiree MacNeil says, 'free food is accessible in Halifax, but it's not good food. That's partly what the dumpster dive is about: To lower your standards; to be able to eat dirty food.'"
"Doing something ‘good enough' is never enough. Often when you give food to the poor, they get the shitty meat. The shitty hotdogs ... No one wants your Wonder bread and nasty-ass hotdogs...This is because members of the upper class are not willing to lower their standards...
For the full article and lots of great pictures, go to:
Slideshow
Story
October 19, 2009
A Trip to Toronto and a Rock Show to Remember
It’s taken me a few weeks to process it all but now it’s time to write and share…
In mid-September I had the privilege of taking a journey with my friend Andrew from Halifax to Toronto to see U2 play at the Roger's Centre. The road trip (traveled in my 1985 Mercedes veggie-mobile that runs on both waste vegetable oil and diesel) was quite the adventure and the night of the concert was an evening I will never forget.
The age-old desire to be taken to that “Other Place” was our reason for going and we were not disappointed! The breaking open of paradigms and the slaying of dragons was the order of the day for our conversation along the way. While good company, deep reflection, serious soul searching, and a lot of laughs describe my experience. In the words of Bono:
Here's where we gotta be
Love and community
Laughter is eternity
If joy is real
The night of the concert was an evening filled with worship, joy, the call to live justly, and great Rock & Roll. It was awesome!
It's the incredibly inspiring blend and integration of music, worship, prophetic message, and mission that makes U2 not only so attractive to me, but also such an important voice in our contemporary world.
As it is at any U2 concert, politics, faith, and activism for human rights and democracy were addressed loud and clear. The clarion call for faith, hope, and love rang out in the Toronto skyline.
For me, the opening of the show was the best part of the concert. Standing about one hundred feet from the center of the stage, I was blown away by the 1st and 4th songs – Breathe and Magnificent – two of the best on the new album. If you don’t know them, get to know them!
After the 164-foot high “claw” started smoking to David Bowie’s Space Oddity we were rocked with the haunting, tempestuous start to Breath.
As I looked up into the cool clear Toronto night, the Dome wide-open, I joined Bono, belting out words of worship and freedom:
Every day I die again, and again I'm reborn
Every day I have to find the courage
To walk out into the street
With arms out
Got a love you can’t defeat
Neither down or out
There's nothing you have that I need
I can breathe
Breathe now…
Walk out, into the sunburst street
Sing your heart out, sing my heart out
I've found grace inside a sound
I found grace, it's all that I found
And I can breathe
Breathe now
An truly unforgettable moment in my life!
Then Magnificent. What a great tune. All I can say is I've been singing the following words for the past three weeks:
Justified till we die, you and I will magnify
The Magnificent
Magnificent
Only love, only love can leave such a mark
But only love, only love unites our hearts
God’s Magnificent Spirit drew me into The Presence in a remarkable way on this night in Toronto.
One of U2's best songs, Walk On, was the final song of the main set. It was dedicated to Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has been under house arrest in Burma/Myanmar for the better part of 20 years. A powerful symbolic act was carried out when dozens of people from the concert where brought up to walk the catwalk that separated the inner floor section from the main floor section and then stand with a photo of Aung San Suu Kyi in front of their face for the entirety of the song.
“Wake Up! Stand Up!” for the way of justice and freedom was the unmistakable message.
Walk On is U2's word of hope and encouragement for us: hope for those who seek God’s full restoration; and encouragement along the way for those who’ve packed a bag “for a place none of us has been, a place that has to be believed to be seen.” A heart of love is the only thing that we can take (or that can take us!) to the place of liberation and freedom.
Before the song One, which opened the first encore, we heard a short homily from a beaming Desmond Tutu, another Nobel Peace Prize winner, who talked about “the kind of people” who make a difference in the world. What a treat! Right in the middle of a Rock show, Archbishop Tutu invited everyone to join the One Campaign and to work toward seeing an end to extreme poverty in the world. One life. One hope. One love.
After One, Bono played a solo rendition of Amazing Grace that moved right into Where the Streets Have No Name. The tension and spiritual conflict this brought on was palpable. In a moment of worship and surrender, a person yelled out “What the hell is this?” Ironic. All I could do was smile and thank God for a public, prophetic proclamation of God’s amazing grace at this time and in this place.
In classic U2 fashion, the show ended with doxology. Moment of Surrender was the song of choice. A clarion call for us to “fold to our knees” – to take pause, to slow down, to notice the passer by. This was a moment for me to get back…
To my heart
To the rhythm of my soul
To the rhythm of my unconsciousness
To the rhythm that yearns
To be released from control
This powerful moment of surrender was one more opportunity for those “with eyes to see and ears to hear” to enter into solidarity with each other and with their Maker.
As I walk away from this mid-September adventure I feel compelled to think much more deeply of the words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13.13: “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
This was a truly memorable trip and a truly remarkable night of worship and first rate Rock music. It was an experience for which I thank and praise our Magnificent Lord and an experience that will help blaze the future direction of my journey in this world.
Here's some pictures from the Toronto show:
Various
The Claw
In mid-September I had the privilege of taking a journey with my friend Andrew from Halifax to Toronto to see U2 play at the Roger's Centre. The road trip (traveled in my 1985 Mercedes veggie-mobile that runs on both waste vegetable oil and diesel) was quite the adventure and the night of the concert was an evening I will never forget.
The age-old desire to be taken to that “Other Place” was our reason for going and we were not disappointed! The breaking open of paradigms and the slaying of dragons was the order of the day for our conversation along the way. While good company, deep reflection, serious soul searching, and a lot of laughs describe my experience. In the words of Bono:
Here's where we gotta be
Love and community
Laughter is eternity
If joy is real
The night of the concert was an evening filled with worship, joy, the call to live justly, and great Rock & Roll. It was awesome!
It's the incredibly inspiring blend and integration of music, worship, prophetic message, and mission that makes U2 not only so attractive to me, but also such an important voice in our contemporary world.
As it is at any U2 concert, politics, faith, and activism for human rights and democracy were addressed loud and clear. The clarion call for faith, hope, and love rang out in the Toronto skyline.
For me, the opening of the show was the best part of the concert. Standing about one hundred feet from the center of the stage, I was blown away by the 1st and 4th songs – Breathe and Magnificent – two of the best on the new album. If you don’t know them, get to know them!
After the 164-foot high “claw” started smoking to David Bowie’s Space Oddity we were rocked with the haunting, tempestuous start to Breath.
As I looked up into the cool clear Toronto night, the Dome wide-open, I joined Bono, belting out words of worship and freedom:
Every day I die again, and again I'm reborn
Every day I have to find the courage
To walk out into the street
With arms out
Got a love you can’t defeat
Neither down or out
There's nothing you have that I need
I can breathe
Breathe now…
Walk out, into the sunburst street
Sing your heart out, sing my heart out
I've found grace inside a sound
I found grace, it's all that I found
And I can breathe
Breathe now
An truly unforgettable moment in my life!
Then Magnificent. What a great tune. All I can say is I've been singing the following words for the past three weeks:
Justified till we die, you and I will magnify
The Magnificent
Magnificent
Only love, only love can leave such a mark
But only love, only love unites our hearts
God’s Magnificent Spirit drew me into The Presence in a remarkable way on this night in Toronto.
One of U2's best songs, Walk On, was the final song of the main set. It was dedicated to Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has been under house arrest in Burma/Myanmar for the better part of 20 years. A powerful symbolic act was carried out when dozens of people from the concert where brought up to walk the catwalk that separated the inner floor section from the main floor section and then stand with a photo of Aung San Suu Kyi in front of their face for the entirety of the song.
“Wake Up! Stand Up!” for the way of justice and freedom was the unmistakable message.
Walk On is U2's word of hope and encouragement for us: hope for those who seek God’s full restoration; and encouragement along the way for those who’ve packed a bag “for a place none of us has been, a place that has to be believed to be seen.” A heart of love is the only thing that we can take (or that can take us!) to the place of liberation and freedom.
Before the song One, which opened the first encore, we heard a short homily from a beaming Desmond Tutu, another Nobel Peace Prize winner, who talked about “the kind of people” who make a difference in the world. What a treat! Right in the middle of a Rock show, Archbishop Tutu invited everyone to join the One Campaign and to work toward seeing an end to extreme poverty in the world. One life. One hope. One love.
After One, Bono played a solo rendition of Amazing Grace that moved right into Where the Streets Have No Name. The tension and spiritual conflict this brought on was palpable. In a moment of worship and surrender, a person yelled out “What the hell is this?” Ironic. All I could do was smile and thank God for a public, prophetic proclamation of God’s amazing grace at this time and in this place.
In classic U2 fashion, the show ended with doxology. Moment of Surrender was the song of choice. A clarion call for us to “fold to our knees” – to take pause, to slow down, to notice the passer by. This was a moment for me to get back…
To my heart
To the rhythm of my soul
To the rhythm of my unconsciousness
To the rhythm that yearns
To be released from control
This powerful moment of surrender was one more opportunity for those “with eyes to see and ears to hear” to enter into solidarity with each other and with their Maker.
As I walk away from this mid-September adventure I feel compelled to think much more deeply of the words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13.13: “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
This was a truly memorable trip and a truly remarkable night of worship and first rate Rock music. It was an experience for which I thank and praise our Magnificent Lord and an experience that will help blaze the future direction of my journey in this world.
Here's some pictures from the Toronto show:
Various
The Claw
October 2, 2009
SIKSAY INTRODUCES DEPARTMENT OF PEACE BILL
The following GREAT NEWS is on the website of Bill Siksay, NDP MP. See: Department of Peace Bill
SIKSAY INTRODUCES DEPARTMENT OF PEACE BILL
30 Sep 09
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 30, 2009
SIKSAY INTRODUCES DEPARTMENT OF PEACE BILL
OTTAWA – Today, in the House of Commons, Bill Siksay, MP (Burnaby Douglas), tabled a private member’s bill which would establish a federal Department of Peace. A broadly mandated Department of Peace would create a governmental infrastructure with a mandate to promote a culture of peace and nonviolent resolution of conflict in Canada and abroad. It would also establish a Canadian Civilian Peace Service to further professionalize peace work by Canadians. The bill is based on a model developed by the Canadian Department of Peace Initiative.
“The promotion of peace should not be a secondary pursuit of our government or of our Minister of Foreign Affairs. It deserves its own minister, its own department, and its own resources dedicated to that task. The bill would put peace front and centre,” said Siksay.
The bill was seconded by the Hon. Jim Karygiannis, P.C., M.P. (Scarborough-Agincourt), who said, “Canadians believe that this country has a particular calling to promote peace and non-violence around the world. This bill will enshrine those values in the structure of our government. We’re proudest of our leaders who put peace in the forefront of their work.”
“Canadian Department of Peace Initiative (CDPI) and our partner organizations across Canada consider this to be a momentous occasion. Bill Siksay's private members bill should make the government realize the deep longing among the electorate for a culture of peace at home and abroad and nonviolent resolution of conflicts – the need to bring peace through peaceful means. We hope that this bill will be a significant step towards building institutions for long-term research and policy action for sustainable peace,” noted Bill Bhaneja and Saul Arbess CDPI Co-Chairs.
"The creation of a Department of Peace for Canada is a significant step in restoring Canada's reputation as a peacebuilder and peacemaker. In recent years Canada has lost its way in international affairs; it is no longer regarded as a trusted, independent Middle Power. Canada's credibility and influence in this regard must be restored the creation of a Department of Peace is a major first step in this direction," said Gord Breedyk, Co Chair Civilian Peace Service Canada (CPSC)
“The launch of a comprehensive Department of Peace would advance the cause of peace in Canada and throughout the world,” concluded Siksay.
-30-
SIKSAY INTRODUCES DEPARTMENT OF PEACE BILL
30 Sep 09
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 30, 2009
SIKSAY INTRODUCES DEPARTMENT OF PEACE BILL
OTTAWA – Today, in the House of Commons, Bill Siksay, MP (Burnaby Douglas), tabled a private member’s bill which would establish a federal Department of Peace. A broadly mandated Department of Peace would create a governmental infrastructure with a mandate to promote a culture of peace and nonviolent resolution of conflict in Canada and abroad. It would also establish a Canadian Civilian Peace Service to further professionalize peace work by Canadians. The bill is based on a model developed by the Canadian Department of Peace Initiative.
“The promotion of peace should not be a secondary pursuit of our government or of our Minister of Foreign Affairs. It deserves its own minister, its own department, and its own resources dedicated to that task. The bill would put peace front and centre,” said Siksay.
The bill was seconded by the Hon. Jim Karygiannis, P.C., M.P. (Scarborough-Agincourt), who said, “Canadians believe that this country has a particular calling to promote peace and non-violence around the world. This bill will enshrine those values in the structure of our government. We’re proudest of our leaders who put peace in the forefront of their work.”
“Canadian Department of Peace Initiative (CDPI) and our partner organizations across Canada consider this to be a momentous occasion. Bill Siksay's private members bill should make the government realize the deep longing among the electorate for a culture of peace at home and abroad and nonviolent resolution of conflicts – the need to bring peace through peaceful means. We hope that this bill will be a significant step towards building institutions for long-term research and policy action for sustainable peace,” noted Bill Bhaneja and Saul Arbess CDPI Co-Chairs.
"The creation of a Department of Peace for Canada is a significant step in restoring Canada's reputation as a peacebuilder and peacemaker. In recent years Canada has lost its way in international affairs; it is no longer regarded as a trusted, independent Middle Power. Canada's credibility and influence in this regard must be restored the creation of a Department of Peace is a major first step in this direction," said Gord Breedyk, Co Chair Civilian Peace Service Canada (CPSC)
“The launch of a comprehensive Department of Peace would advance the cause of peace in Canada and throughout the world,” concluded Siksay.
-30-
September 21, 2009
Sweet notes falling on deaf ears
Today is the international day of peace. This day provides an opportunity for individuals, organizations and nations to create practical acts of peace on a shared date. It was established by a United Nations resolution in 1981 to coincide with the opening of the General Assembly. The first Peace Day was celebrated in September 1982. In 2002 the General Assembly officially declared September 21 as the permanent date for the International Day of Peace.
In light of this, I'm posting the following article written by Janice Kennedy, The Ottawa Citizen September 20, 2009. For the full article go to:
Sweet notes falling on deaf ears
Sweet notes falling on deaf ears
Call them idealists, call them impossible dreamers. For me, they resemble gifted musicians playing sweet and exalting music -- to an audience that has plugged up its ears. Yet they keep playing.
Starting tomorrow -- United Nations International Day of Peace -- Ottawa is home to a Peace Festival, featuring wide-ranging discussions and forums, art exhibitions, film, food and musical events. It wraps up Oct. 3, the day after Mahatma Gandhi's 140th birthday.
(You can get information about events if you follow the "Peace Festival" links on the website for the Canadian Institute for Conflict Resolution, www.cicr-icrc.ca.)
The festival's chief sponsor is the Canadian Department of Peace Initiative, which some folks consider wacky. Part of an international movement, the group, after all, seeks to establish official national peace departments and ministries to create "a new architecture of peace" and promote "a culture of peace and assertive non-violence."
Wacky, right?
South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu called the idea both extraordinary and crazy -- as crazy as whatever drove Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela to set out on their impossible journeys. And the late Walter Cronkite, who also enjoyed thinking outside the box, was an enthusiastic supporter...
In light of this, I'm posting the following article written by Janice Kennedy, The Ottawa Citizen September 20, 2009. For the full article go to:
Sweet notes falling on deaf ears
Sweet notes falling on deaf ears
Call them idealists, call them impossible dreamers. For me, they resemble gifted musicians playing sweet and exalting music -- to an audience that has plugged up its ears. Yet they keep playing.
Starting tomorrow -- United Nations International Day of Peace -- Ottawa is home to a Peace Festival, featuring wide-ranging discussions and forums, art exhibitions, film, food and musical events. It wraps up Oct. 3, the day after Mahatma Gandhi's 140th birthday.
(You can get information about events if you follow the "Peace Festival" links on the website for the Canadian Institute for Conflict Resolution, www.cicr-icrc.ca.)
The festival's chief sponsor is the Canadian Department of Peace Initiative, which some folks consider wacky. Part of an international movement, the group, after all, seeks to establish official national peace departments and ministries to create "a new architecture of peace" and promote "a culture of peace and assertive non-violence."
Wacky, right?
South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu called the idea both extraordinary and crazy -- as crazy as whatever drove Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela to set out on their impossible journeys. And the late Walter Cronkite, who also enjoyed thinking outside the box, was an enthusiastic supporter...
July 8, 2009
A New Vision for Mission
The church's mission is all about becoming God's agents of re-creation and renewal in the world. This happens as God fills us with his Spirit and sends us into the world to be culture formers.
As we think this way and become more intent on forming missional communities, we require a new vision and new way of measuring "success."
JR Woodward, at the blog Dream Awakener presents a perspective on "success" that helps form our understanding of what it means for the church to be God's missional people.
Take some time to think these points through. Let's keep the conversation going and seek to live out the vision...
Success is:
* Not simply how many people come to our church services, but how many people our church serves.
* Not simply how many people attend our ministry, but how many people have we equipped for ministry.
* Not simply how many people minister inside the church, but how many minister outside the church.
* Not simply helping people become more whole themselves, but helping people bring more wholeness to their world. (i.e. justice, healing, relief)
* Not simply how many ministries we start, but how many ministries we help.
* Not simply how many unbelievers we bring into the community of faith, but how many "believers" we help experience healthy community.
* Not simply working through our past hurts, but working alongside the Spirit toward wholeness.
* Not simply counting the resources that God gives us to steward, but counting how many good stewards are we developing for the sake of the world.
* Not simply how we are connecting with our culture but how we are engaging our culture.
* Not simply how much peace we bring to individuals, but how much peace we bring to our world.
* Not simply how effective we are with our mission, but how faithful we are to our God.
* Not simply how unified our local church is, but how unified is "the church" in our neighborhood, city and world?
* Not simply how much we immerse ourselves in the text, but how faithfully we live in the Story of God.
* Not simply being concerned about how our country is doing, but being concern for the welfare of other countries.
* Not simply how many people we bring into the kingdom, but how much of the kingdom we bring to the earth.
As we think this way and become more intent on forming missional communities, we require a new vision and new way of measuring "success."
JR Woodward, at the blog Dream Awakener presents a perspective on "success" that helps form our understanding of what it means for the church to be God's missional people.
Take some time to think these points through. Let's keep the conversation going and seek to live out the vision...
Success is:
* Not simply how many people come to our church services, but how many people our church serves.
* Not simply how many people attend our ministry, but how many people have we equipped for ministry.
* Not simply how many people minister inside the church, but how many minister outside the church.
* Not simply helping people become more whole themselves, but helping people bring more wholeness to their world. (i.e. justice, healing, relief)
* Not simply how many ministries we start, but how many ministries we help.
* Not simply how many unbelievers we bring into the community of faith, but how many "believers" we help experience healthy community.
* Not simply working through our past hurts, but working alongside the Spirit toward wholeness.
* Not simply counting the resources that God gives us to steward, but counting how many good stewards are we developing for the sake of the world.
* Not simply how we are connecting with our culture but how we are engaging our culture.
* Not simply how much peace we bring to individuals, but how much peace we bring to our world.
* Not simply how effective we are with our mission, but how faithful we are to our God.
* Not simply how unified our local church is, but how unified is "the church" in our neighborhood, city and world?
* Not simply how much we immerse ourselves in the text, but how faithfully we live in the Story of God.
* Not simply being concerned about how our country is doing, but being concern for the welfare of other countries.
* Not simply how many people we bring into the kingdom, but how much of the kingdom we bring to the earth.
June 18, 2009
Peace and Mission
Long enough have I been dwelling with those who hate shalom. I am for shalom, but when I speak, they are for fighting.
- Psalm 120.6-7
Becoming missional is all about becoming agents of new creation - that is - becoming instruments of God's shalom.
Every day media outlets reveal humanity’s willingness to fight. The mechanisms of war and human violence are often put forward as a means to an end. We’re told that we must go to war if we want to see peace. It’s said that armed conflict is inevitable if we want to see true development work happen around the world. Really? Is it true that we must have military solutions to the problems we face in the world?
The difficulty with this view is that war and violence often play a false role in history. They parade as the true way to liberate people from oppression and to bring a sense of security. But the hard truth to which the history of civilization attests is that violence begets the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, violence multiplies evil. In the words of Martin Luther King Jr., “hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction.”
In contrast, God’s vision for shalom is centered on humility, compassion, and mercy. It involves the human acts of making amends, peacemaking, restoration, and living in harmony. Shalom is a movement toward fullness and completeness and encapsulates a vision of wholeness for the individual, within societal relations, and for the whole of creation.
Without question, the one true God wants all people to live in harmony, to be at peace, to love one another, and to live whole and fulfilled lives. This is the mission of God for the people of God.
All disciples of Jesus agree that we both worship the Prince of Peace and are called to be a people of peace. God implores us: "Depart from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it" (Psalm 34.14; 1 Peter 3.11). Peace is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5.22). And Jesus says, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God" (Matthew 5.9).
God is the source of lasting peace. A relationship with Jesus is the only path to perfect peace. And in the strength of the Holy Spirit we are called to pray and work for peace.
In light of Scripture's teaching, we must conclude that peacemaking, like war, is waged. It is an act that involves the formation of an alternative consciousness, an alternative imagination. Peacemaking is deliberate and is rooted in grace. It takes the initiative in settling disputes. It involves the demand to love, feed, and forgive enemies.
"Peace demands the most heroic labor and the most difficult sacrifice. It demands greater heroism than war. It demands greater fidelity to the truth and a much more perfect purity of conscience" (Thomas Merton on Peace).
And yet, we Christians so often neglect our vocation to be peacemakers. We avoid or suppress the violence in our own hearts. We become numb and calloused to the world’s pain. We fall prey to the twin evils of cynicism and apathy.
In light of this tension we ought to join the lament of Henri Nouwen: "Out of the depths of our being, we cry to God for peace. Out of that fearful place where we have to confess that we too are part of the destruction against which we are protesting…Out of that empty spot of silence where we feel helpless, embarrassed, and powerless, where we suffer from our own impotence to stop the reign of death in our world…we cry to the Lord and say: 'Lord have mercy'" (The Road to Peace).
The same grace that brings us salvation impels us to face our fears and insecurity’s and to work for God’s shalom. The shape this takes will vary from person to person. But what remains the same is our common vocation to be peacemakers in God’s world.
This will always be a major part of the mission of God's people!
- Psalm 120.6-7
Becoming missional is all about becoming agents of new creation - that is - becoming instruments of God's shalom.
Every day media outlets reveal humanity’s willingness to fight. The mechanisms of war and human violence are often put forward as a means to an end. We’re told that we must go to war if we want to see peace. It’s said that armed conflict is inevitable if we want to see true development work happen around the world. Really? Is it true that we must have military solutions to the problems we face in the world?
The difficulty with this view is that war and violence often play a false role in history. They parade as the true way to liberate people from oppression and to bring a sense of security. But the hard truth to which the history of civilization attests is that violence begets the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, violence multiplies evil. In the words of Martin Luther King Jr., “hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction.”
In contrast, God’s vision for shalom is centered on humility, compassion, and mercy. It involves the human acts of making amends, peacemaking, restoration, and living in harmony. Shalom is a movement toward fullness and completeness and encapsulates a vision of wholeness for the individual, within societal relations, and for the whole of creation.
Without question, the one true God wants all people to live in harmony, to be at peace, to love one another, and to live whole and fulfilled lives. This is the mission of God for the people of God.
All disciples of Jesus agree that we both worship the Prince of Peace and are called to be a people of peace. God implores us: "Depart from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it" (Psalm 34.14; 1 Peter 3.11). Peace is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5.22). And Jesus says, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God" (Matthew 5.9).
God is the source of lasting peace. A relationship with Jesus is the only path to perfect peace. And in the strength of the Holy Spirit we are called to pray and work for peace.
In light of Scripture's teaching, we must conclude that peacemaking, like war, is waged. It is an act that involves the formation of an alternative consciousness, an alternative imagination. Peacemaking is deliberate and is rooted in grace. It takes the initiative in settling disputes. It involves the demand to love, feed, and forgive enemies.
"Peace demands the most heroic labor and the most difficult sacrifice. It demands greater heroism than war. It demands greater fidelity to the truth and a much more perfect purity of conscience" (Thomas Merton on Peace).
And yet, we Christians so often neglect our vocation to be peacemakers. We avoid or suppress the violence in our own hearts. We become numb and calloused to the world’s pain. We fall prey to the twin evils of cynicism and apathy.
In light of this tension we ought to join the lament of Henri Nouwen: "Out of the depths of our being, we cry to God for peace. Out of that fearful place where we have to confess that we too are part of the destruction against which we are protesting…Out of that empty spot of silence where we feel helpless, embarrassed, and powerless, where we suffer from our own impotence to stop the reign of death in our world…we cry to the Lord and say: 'Lord have mercy'" (The Road to Peace).
The same grace that brings us salvation impels us to face our fears and insecurity’s and to work for God’s shalom. The shape this takes will vary from person to person. But what remains the same is our common vocation to be peacemakers in God’s world.
This will always be a major part of the mission of God's people!
May 28, 2009
The Missional Church
During the spring/summer I want to spend some time reflecting on how God is calling his church to raise its prophetic voice, get on the streets, and become a truly "missional" reality in the world.
This is especially important for those of us who live in the Western world, for much of Christianity in the West is enculturated. We are numbed out, suffering from a severe form of apathy. Our imagination is stunted. Indeed, we are sleeping.
What do I mean when I say that the church is enculturated? Consider the words of Brian Walsh:
"As a community of believers and as individuals we have, mostly against our best intentions, been thoroughly sucked in to our secular culture...Our consciousness, our imagination, our vision has been captured by idolatrous perceptions and ways of life. The dominant worldview, the all-pervasive secular consciousness, has captured our lives. And what is so intriguing about this phenomenon is that we were not taken after a long drawn-out fight. No, it happened in our sleep...We simply bought into the materialistic, prestige oriented, secular values of our age without ever noticing that that is what was going on. At present, the church is virtually in a coma, asleep to her own cultural entrapment...We are numb. To be numb is to be without passion; it is the absence of pathos; it is a-pathy. We are so numb that we don't even realize what has happened to us. Our numbness denies us of a spiritually renewed imagination. We are numb, we don't notice the perverse abnormality of affluence. We are numb to the precariousness of our times, numb to the danger of the earth, to the pain of the poor, to the impossibility of our present affluent lifestyles" (Subversive Christianity, 29 and 37).
For the church to wake up from its slumber and embody the mission of God, we must center ourselves on the reality that God sent Jesus to save the world and sent the Spirit of Christ to sustain and recreate the world. Only as we move out from this center in faith and love, and choose to follow the way of the Suffering Servant will we become the people God wants us to be.
As we move out from that center we become participants in God's mission to bring renewal and restoration to his broken creation.
Mission is about what God is doing in the world - renewing, recreating, enlivening imagination, renewing minds and hearts, restoring the cosmos.
So, our primary calling is to get on board with what the Holy Spirit is already doing in our communities and in the world.
We must WAKE UP to God's reality, to God's justice and righteousness. We must turn from our idols of economism, consumerism, sexism, racism, technicism, and scientism. And we must turn in faith and hope to the living God. We must allow the Holy Spirit to reorient us to God's ways, and thus to become integral parts of transformational communities of faith.
It's time for us to get on our boots and start moving our feet - to become culture formers, to focus on people and relationships, to get impassioned to serve others, and to embody the radical love of Christ in every aspect of our living!
This is especially important for those of us who live in the Western world, for much of Christianity in the West is enculturated. We are numbed out, suffering from a severe form of apathy. Our imagination is stunted. Indeed, we are sleeping.
What do I mean when I say that the church is enculturated? Consider the words of Brian Walsh:
"As a community of believers and as individuals we have, mostly against our best intentions, been thoroughly sucked in to our secular culture...Our consciousness, our imagination, our vision has been captured by idolatrous perceptions and ways of life. The dominant worldview, the all-pervasive secular consciousness, has captured our lives. And what is so intriguing about this phenomenon is that we were not taken after a long drawn-out fight. No, it happened in our sleep...We simply bought into the materialistic, prestige oriented, secular values of our age without ever noticing that that is what was going on. At present, the church is virtually in a coma, asleep to her own cultural entrapment...We are numb. To be numb is to be without passion; it is the absence of pathos; it is a-pathy. We are so numb that we don't even realize what has happened to us. Our numbness denies us of a spiritually renewed imagination. We are numb, we don't notice the perverse abnormality of affluence. We are numb to the precariousness of our times, numb to the danger of the earth, to the pain of the poor, to the impossibility of our present affluent lifestyles" (Subversive Christianity, 29 and 37).
For the church to wake up from its slumber and embody the mission of God, we must center ourselves on the reality that God sent Jesus to save the world and sent the Spirit of Christ to sustain and recreate the world. Only as we move out from this center in faith and love, and choose to follow the way of the Suffering Servant will we become the people God wants us to be.
As we move out from that center we become participants in God's mission to bring renewal and restoration to his broken creation.
Mission is about what God is doing in the world - renewing, recreating, enlivening imagination, renewing minds and hearts, restoring the cosmos.
So, our primary calling is to get on board with what the Holy Spirit is already doing in our communities and in the world.
We must WAKE UP to God's reality, to God's justice and righteousness. We must turn from our idols of economism, consumerism, sexism, racism, technicism, and scientism. And we must turn in faith and hope to the living God. We must allow the Holy Spirit to reorient us to God's ways, and thus to become integral parts of transformational communities of faith.
It's time for us to get on our boots and start moving our feet - to become culture formers, to focus on people and relationships, to get impassioned to serve others, and to embody the radical love of Christ in every aspect of our living!
May 4, 2009
The Truth of the Gospel
In recent conversations, I've been talking with friends about the meaning of "the gospel." Those conversations have reminded me that it's important for us to give a full-bodied explanation of what we mean by "the gospel."
We must resist the temptation to simply reduce the gospel to "the facts concerning Jesus," or "the ethical teaching of Jesus," or "the Bible's program for how to get saved?" In reality, the message of the gospel is something quite different than these things.
Lost in our day is the belief and conviction that the truth of the gospel is a life- changing, subversive, and revolutionary reality.
The following is my understanding of what the New Testament means by “the gospel (good news) of Jesus.” Refer to: Mark 1.14-15; Romans 1.16-17; 3.21-26; 15.15-20; 1 Corinthians 15.1-8; Ephesians 1.13-17; 3.1-7; Philippians 1.12-18; Colossians 1.3-15.
The gospel is, first and foremost, a declaration about God. It’s all about God’s saving work in and through Jesus. The gospel is the good news that the rule/kingdom of God has come through the person and work of the Messiah Jesus.
The gospel is the central truth of God’s revelation to humankind, which is bound up in a central proclamation about Jesus. This truth and proclamation is all about the mystery of God’s saving activity, once hidden, but now fully revealed through the Messiah Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
The mystery of the gospel of God’s kingdom come is that Jesus is Israel’s Messiah; that Jesus is God’s Light of revelation to the Gentiles; that Jesus is the Savior of the world and the Lord of creation; and that Jesus is the coming King who will renew all things.
The “guts” of this gospel announcement to the world is that the Lord Jesus was before all things and that in him all things hold together; that the man Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary; that he lived a sinless and faithful existence; that he died for our sins in accordance with Scripture; that he was buried; that he rose from the dead on the third day in accordance with Scripture; that he appeared to many as one risen from the dead; that he ascended to the right hand of God the Father; that he is now ruling as the Lord of creation; that he is exercising headship and authority over the church; and that he will come again to renew all things.
In all of this, the central point of the gospel is Jesus’ death and resurrection. Jesus’ death is the means through which God, according to his own righteousness or covenant love, has accomplished his covenantal purposes for Israel and the world. This includes God’s decisive victory over the powers of sin, evil, and death.
When we publicly announce in word and deed “the Messiah Jesus is Lord!” we unveil the good news that God has remained faithful to his covenant promises and that God is presently restoring peace, love, justice, and truth in his world. God is doing this through his Holy Spirit who is at work throughout all creation.
Further, the proclamation that the Messiah Jesus is Lord announces to the world’s gods and idols that they are parodies. Modern examples of good things that can very easily turn into false gods or idols are: ourselves, other people, knowledge, money, sex, entertainment, technology, ect.
In light of the above, we can see that the gospel is not a system or technique we use to “get souls saved” so they can “go to heaven when they die.” The gospel’s imperative is the present, and in light of that, it looks ahead to the future. The announcement of Jesus Christ as the crucified and risen Lord results in the salvation of individuals, it implies entering into the community of God’s people, and it looks ahead to resurrection life on God’s new creation.
When the gospel is preached, the Holy Spirit draws people to respond to God in faith and in love. The demand of the gospel on us personally is that we trust in the faithfulness of Jesus. When we “confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead, we will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” (Romans 10.8-10). All of this is, of course, the result of the Holy Spirit’s work, for “no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12.3).
From here we can see that the fruit of God’s saving work in our lives is that God incorporates us into the community of faith, and gives us gifts of the Spirit so that we can carry out God’s will in the world.
Although the gospel can and must be preached to individuals, it is not individualistic in nature; it is communal in nature. The goal is for the faithful to dwell in Christian community, to go into the world as Spirit-filled agents of re-creation, and ultimately, to live in solidarity with Christ and one another in God's new creation.
The result of hearing and responding in faith to the truth of the gospel is that sinful humans are brought by God under Christ’s headship and are made part of “the body of Christ” through the work of the Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our future inheritance in glory. The gospel is the way that, through salvation in Jesus Christ, sinful humans are made truly human so that we will be God’s agents in bringing his healing love to bear in the world.
Finally, what the gospel of God’s kingdom offers to the world is true love, true forgiveness, and the ability to trust. The gospel draws us into community and summons us out into the world, in order to bring God’s wise reshaping to the world by offering Jesus’ love, forgiveness, and trust to it. In Jesus, God has dealt with evil and sin, and has provided the world with the final offer of forgiveness for sins. Therefore, God is calling us to trust and abide in his unfailing love, as we become Christ’s image bearers to the world by overcoming evil with godliness.
We must resist the temptation to simply reduce the gospel to "the facts concerning Jesus," or "the ethical teaching of Jesus," or "the Bible's program for how to get saved?" In reality, the message of the gospel is something quite different than these things.
Lost in our day is the belief and conviction that the truth of the gospel is a life- changing, subversive, and revolutionary reality.
The following is my understanding of what the New Testament means by “the gospel (good news) of Jesus.” Refer to: Mark 1.14-15; Romans 1.16-17; 3.21-26; 15.15-20; 1 Corinthians 15.1-8; Ephesians 1.13-17; 3.1-7; Philippians 1.12-18; Colossians 1.3-15.
The gospel is, first and foremost, a declaration about God. It’s all about God’s saving work in and through Jesus. The gospel is the good news that the rule/kingdom of God has come through the person and work of the Messiah Jesus.
The gospel is the central truth of God’s revelation to humankind, which is bound up in a central proclamation about Jesus. This truth and proclamation is all about the mystery of God’s saving activity, once hidden, but now fully revealed through the Messiah Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
The mystery of the gospel of God’s kingdom come is that Jesus is Israel’s Messiah; that Jesus is God’s Light of revelation to the Gentiles; that Jesus is the Savior of the world and the Lord of creation; and that Jesus is the coming King who will renew all things.
The “guts” of this gospel announcement to the world is that the Lord Jesus was before all things and that in him all things hold together; that the man Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary; that he lived a sinless and faithful existence; that he died for our sins in accordance with Scripture; that he was buried; that he rose from the dead on the third day in accordance with Scripture; that he appeared to many as one risen from the dead; that he ascended to the right hand of God the Father; that he is now ruling as the Lord of creation; that he is exercising headship and authority over the church; and that he will come again to renew all things.
In all of this, the central point of the gospel is Jesus’ death and resurrection. Jesus’ death is the means through which God, according to his own righteousness or covenant love, has accomplished his covenantal purposes for Israel and the world. This includes God’s decisive victory over the powers of sin, evil, and death.
When we publicly announce in word and deed “the Messiah Jesus is Lord!” we unveil the good news that God has remained faithful to his covenant promises and that God is presently restoring peace, love, justice, and truth in his world. God is doing this through his Holy Spirit who is at work throughout all creation.
Further, the proclamation that the Messiah Jesus is Lord announces to the world’s gods and idols that they are parodies. Modern examples of good things that can very easily turn into false gods or idols are: ourselves, other people, knowledge, money, sex, entertainment, technology, ect.
In light of the above, we can see that the gospel is not a system or technique we use to “get souls saved” so they can “go to heaven when they die.” The gospel’s imperative is the present, and in light of that, it looks ahead to the future. The announcement of Jesus Christ as the crucified and risen Lord results in the salvation of individuals, it implies entering into the community of God’s people, and it looks ahead to resurrection life on God’s new creation.
When the gospel is preached, the Holy Spirit draws people to respond to God in faith and in love. The demand of the gospel on us personally is that we trust in the faithfulness of Jesus. When we “confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead, we will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” (Romans 10.8-10). All of this is, of course, the result of the Holy Spirit’s work, for “no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12.3).
From here we can see that the fruit of God’s saving work in our lives is that God incorporates us into the community of faith, and gives us gifts of the Spirit so that we can carry out God’s will in the world.
Although the gospel can and must be preached to individuals, it is not individualistic in nature; it is communal in nature. The goal is for the faithful to dwell in Christian community, to go into the world as Spirit-filled agents of re-creation, and ultimately, to live in solidarity with Christ and one another in God's new creation.
The result of hearing and responding in faith to the truth of the gospel is that sinful humans are brought by God under Christ’s headship and are made part of “the body of Christ” through the work of the Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our future inheritance in glory. The gospel is the way that, through salvation in Jesus Christ, sinful humans are made truly human so that we will be God’s agents in bringing his healing love to bear in the world.
Finally, what the gospel of God’s kingdom offers to the world is true love, true forgiveness, and the ability to trust. The gospel draws us into community and summons us out into the world, in order to bring God’s wise reshaping to the world by offering Jesus’ love, forgiveness, and trust to it. In Jesus, God has dealt with evil and sin, and has provided the world with the final offer of forgiveness for sins. Therefore, God is calling us to trust and abide in his unfailing love, as we become Christ’s image bearers to the world by overcoming evil with godliness.
April 27, 2009
Claiborne Reflection...
Why I Got Arrested on Good Friday
by Shane Claiborne 04-21-2009
Friday was real good this year. We remembered Jesus, and we remembered Jesus disguised in the "least of these" — those who continue to be tortured, spit on, slapped, insulted, misunderstood...those who ache, bleed, cry, love, forgive, and ask God "have you forsaken me?"
The morning started with a slow meditative reading of the passion narrative from the gospel. We sat still, praying that we would have the courage to follow the way of the cross in a world of the sword.
Then, as many Christians do throughout the world, we spent Good Friday remembering the "stations of the cross," the various stages of Christ's execution.
But we didn’t keep things inside the walls of cathedrals — we took to the streets. At one gathering, hundreds of us gathered outside Colosimo's Gun Shop, one of the most notorious gun stores in the country for selling weapons later traced to violent crimes. On the makeshift stage outside the gun shop, alongside a Pentecostal dance team and a host of collared clergy from all sorts of denominations, there was a giant gun about the size of a small car, and a cross, and a coffin....
To read the rest of the article, go to:
http://blog.sojo.net/2009/04/21/why-i-got-arrested-on-good-friday/
by Shane Claiborne 04-21-2009
Friday was real good this year. We remembered Jesus, and we remembered Jesus disguised in the "least of these" — those who continue to be tortured, spit on, slapped, insulted, misunderstood...those who ache, bleed, cry, love, forgive, and ask God "have you forsaken me?"
The morning started with a slow meditative reading of the passion narrative from the gospel. We sat still, praying that we would have the courage to follow the way of the cross in a world of the sword.
Then, as many Christians do throughout the world, we spent Good Friday remembering the "stations of the cross," the various stages of Christ's execution.
But we didn’t keep things inside the walls of cathedrals — we took to the streets. At one gathering, hundreds of us gathered outside Colosimo's Gun Shop, one of the most notorious gun stores in the country for selling weapons later traced to violent crimes. On the makeshift stage outside the gun shop, alongside a Pentecostal dance team and a host of collared clergy from all sorts of denominations, there was a giant gun about the size of a small car, and a cross, and a coffin....
To read the rest of the article, go to:
http://blog.sojo.net/2009/04/21/why-i-got-arrested-on-good-friday/
April 10, 2009
Following the Way of the Suffering Servant
Surely he has borne our grief and carried our sorrows. Yet we thought of him as stricken, as one smitten by God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our sins. Upon him was the chastisement that brings us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.
- Isaiah 53.4-5
It’s a gracious thing in God’s sight, if you endure while you suffer for the sake of the good. For to this you have been called because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you follow in his footsteps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was insulted, he returned no insult. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to the One who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
- 1 Peter 2.20-24
One of the most peculiar aspects of Jesus' kingdom proclamation was his claim that God was fulfilling his ancient promises through Jesus’ own person and work. God was rescuing Israel, judging evil, and establishing his reign of justice and peace through Jesus.
More specifically, the New Testament portrays Jesus' obedience unto death on the cross as the ultimate revelation of the reign of God.
In the words of John Howard Yoder, "The cross is not a detour or a hurdle on the way to the kingdom, nor is it even the way to the kingdom; it is the kingdom come" (The Politics of Jesus, 51).
The cross of Jesus is the crux – the central, focal, decisive – point of history.
Thus, history is "from first to last, and at every point in between, cruciform, the form of the cross. Not any cross, but this cross; yet this cross is every cross. At a particular point in time, on a certain Friday afternoon on a dung heap outside the gates of Jerusalem, it is said of all time, 'It is finished.' Yet it is not over. Now time, reformed because cross-formed, begins anew. The past and the future and this little in-between point we call the present are all in order. What happened at the cross point is what the first Adam was supposed to have done in the beginning. This is the Omega point, the end and the destiny of the love that was to give birth to love. It took the one who is both Alpha and Omega to restore life to love aborted" (John Richard Neuhaus, Death on a Friday Afternoon, 190-91).
Jesus didn't simply come to set a good example for humanity, or to save us from our individual sins so that we can go to heaven when we die. Jesus came as Israel’s Messianic King and as the world's Great Savior, in order to set into motion a new creation. Through Jesus' person and work, God has created a new humanity – a community of renewed, forgiven children of God, commissioned with the task of new creation. As Jesus' followers, we are called to lead a radically new kind of life.
Only in this sense can we understand Jesus' death as exemplary. It functions as our consistent, universal example of the truly human way. This is why Jesus implores us to "Pick up our crosses and follow him!"
But what is this "cross" that we are called to carry?
Again, the words of Yoder are instructive: "The believer’s cross must be, like his Lord’s, the price of social nonconformity. It is not, like sickness or catastrophe, an inexplicable, unpredictable suffering; it is the end of a path freely chosen after counting the cost. It is not…an inward wrestling of the sensitive soul with self and sin; it is the social reality of representing in an unwilling world the Order to Come" (The Politics of Jesus, 96).
The implications of this for Christ's church are astounding!
As we bear our crosses we are found to be "in Christ" and are called to the task of Christ-image-formation. Reckoning ourselves as being "dead to sin and alive in Jesus Christ," we participate with God's community of faith in God's work to bring about transformation in the world.
In this work of transformation we refuse the way of violence as an instrument of God's will; we offer welcome to strangers; we offer God's love and forgiveness to those who do evil; we announce the good news to the poor; we proclaim release to those who are captive; we set at liberty those who are oppressed; and we embody the Lord's Jubilee.
To bear the cross of Jesus is to become part of an alternative, God-ordained social and political reality in the world – one that threatens the existing order of things, as we point to the victory of God in Jesus Christ.
To bear the cross of Jesus is to become the flesh and blood embodiment of God's peaceable kingdom, even as we groan inwardly for the fullness of God's kingdom come and for our future share in the glory of Christ's resurrection.
- Isaiah 53.4-5
It’s a gracious thing in God’s sight, if you endure while you suffer for the sake of the good. For to this you have been called because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you follow in his footsteps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was insulted, he returned no insult. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to the One who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
- 1 Peter 2.20-24
One of the most peculiar aspects of Jesus' kingdom proclamation was his claim that God was fulfilling his ancient promises through Jesus’ own person and work. God was rescuing Israel, judging evil, and establishing his reign of justice and peace through Jesus.
More specifically, the New Testament portrays Jesus' obedience unto death on the cross as the ultimate revelation of the reign of God.
In the words of John Howard Yoder, "The cross is not a detour or a hurdle on the way to the kingdom, nor is it even the way to the kingdom; it is the kingdom come" (The Politics of Jesus, 51).
The cross of Jesus is the crux – the central, focal, decisive – point of history.
Thus, history is "from first to last, and at every point in between, cruciform, the form of the cross. Not any cross, but this cross; yet this cross is every cross. At a particular point in time, on a certain Friday afternoon on a dung heap outside the gates of Jerusalem, it is said of all time, 'It is finished.' Yet it is not over. Now time, reformed because cross-formed, begins anew. The past and the future and this little in-between point we call the present are all in order. What happened at the cross point is what the first Adam was supposed to have done in the beginning. This is the Omega point, the end and the destiny of the love that was to give birth to love. It took the one who is both Alpha and Omega to restore life to love aborted" (John Richard Neuhaus, Death on a Friday Afternoon, 190-91).
Jesus didn't simply come to set a good example for humanity, or to save us from our individual sins so that we can go to heaven when we die. Jesus came as Israel’s Messianic King and as the world's Great Savior, in order to set into motion a new creation. Through Jesus' person and work, God has created a new humanity – a community of renewed, forgiven children of God, commissioned with the task of new creation. As Jesus' followers, we are called to lead a radically new kind of life.
Only in this sense can we understand Jesus' death as exemplary. It functions as our consistent, universal example of the truly human way. This is why Jesus implores us to "Pick up our crosses and follow him!"
But what is this "cross" that we are called to carry?
Again, the words of Yoder are instructive: "The believer’s cross must be, like his Lord’s, the price of social nonconformity. It is not, like sickness or catastrophe, an inexplicable, unpredictable suffering; it is the end of a path freely chosen after counting the cost. It is not…an inward wrestling of the sensitive soul with self and sin; it is the social reality of representing in an unwilling world the Order to Come" (The Politics of Jesus, 96).
The implications of this for Christ's church are astounding!
As we bear our crosses we are found to be "in Christ" and are called to the task of Christ-image-formation. Reckoning ourselves as being "dead to sin and alive in Jesus Christ," we participate with God's community of faith in God's work to bring about transformation in the world.
In this work of transformation we refuse the way of violence as an instrument of God's will; we offer welcome to strangers; we offer God's love and forgiveness to those who do evil; we announce the good news to the poor; we proclaim release to those who are captive; we set at liberty those who are oppressed; and we embody the Lord's Jubilee.
To bear the cross of Jesus is to become part of an alternative, God-ordained social and political reality in the world – one that threatens the existing order of things, as we point to the victory of God in Jesus Christ.
To bear the cross of Jesus is to become the flesh and blood embodiment of God's peaceable kingdom, even as we groan inwardly for the fullness of God's kingdom come and for our future share in the glory of Christ's resurrection.
March 26, 2009
A Lenten Refection: Discipleship
Discipleship is one of the most important themes in the New Testament.
The New Testament is comprised of books about disciples, written by disciples, for other disciples of Jesus.
The word "disciple" occurs 269 times in the New Testament, while the word "Christian" is used only 3 times. In fact, the word "Christian" was first introduced to describe Jesus' disciples. "And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch" (Acts 11.26).
Why the language of "Christian" has come to dominate our understanding of what it means to be a follower of Jesus, I cannot answer (perhaps it has to do with the institutionalization of the Christian religion?). Whatever the reason, I am most concerned with the reality to which our language points. In the words of Dallas Willard, the truth is:
"For at least several decades the churches of the Western world have not made discipleship a condition of being a Christian. One is not required to be, or to intend to be, a disciple in order to become a Christian, and one may remain a Christian without any signs of progress toward or in discipleship. Contemporary American [and Canadian] churches in particular do not require following Christ in his example, spirit, and teachings as a condition of membership - either of entering into or continuing in fellowship of a denomination or local church...So far as the visible Christian institutions of our day are concerned, discipleship clearly is optional" (The Great Omission, 4).
The view that discipleship is optional is foreign to the New Testament. The model of life that Jesus demanded of his followers is the way of discipleship - the way of sacrifice, the way of suffering love, the way of the cross and resurrection.
My reflections that follow are a small effort to challenge today's church to return to both the New Testament's language and way of discipleship.
The making of disciples, with a view to enroll people as Christ's students, was at the core of the early churches missionary vision. The goal that Jesus set for his earliest disciples was that they use his power and authority (manifest through the living presence of the Holy Spirit) to make disciples from all nations. This would include baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all that Jesus commanded (Matthew 28.19-20).
So, a follower of Jesus is a special type of person. A disciple is someone who has encountered the Spirit of God and, thus, has been transformed at the core of their being. A disciple has looked, in faith, to the Faithful One - Jesus of Nazareth, who is both the Messiah of Israel and the Savior of the world. And a disciple is someone who is committed to a life of faithfulness and fidelity to Jesus, which includes an ongoing humble devotion to live out Jesus' teachings about discipleship.
What does this look like you ask? Nothing less than a pattern of dying and raising again.
"If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a person, to gain the whole world, and to lose or forfeit his life" (Luke 9.23-25).
And in Romans 6, the apostle Paul says, "For if we have become united with Christ in the likeness of his death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin. For he who has died is freed from sin...Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive unto God in the Messiah Jesus...present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God."
This is the New Testament's picture of a disciple of Jesus (ie. a Christian). A disciple is someone who follows the way of the cross and experiences the power of Jesus' resurrection, all the while looking to the future resurrection of the body. Sacrifice, obedience, suffering, and hope apply to Jesus' disciples no less than to himself.
"For Christ's sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him...that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and may share in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead" (Philippians 3.8-11).
Consider now, these words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, "Just as Christ is Christ only in virtue of his suffering and rejection, so the disciple is a disciple only in so far as he shares his Lord's suffering and rejection and crucifixion. Discipleship means adherence to the person of Jesus, and therefore submission to the law of Christ which is the law of the cross" (The Cost of Discipleship, 87).
What I have described here (in the words of Scripture and the testimony of the later church), is not the deluxe, first rate model of the Christian. This IS the Christian. Surely much more, but no less!
The New Testament is comprised of books about disciples, written by disciples, for other disciples of Jesus.
The word "disciple" occurs 269 times in the New Testament, while the word "Christian" is used only 3 times. In fact, the word "Christian" was first introduced to describe Jesus' disciples. "And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch" (Acts 11.26).
Why the language of "Christian" has come to dominate our understanding of what it means to be a follower of Jesus, I cannot answer (perhaps it has to do with the institutionalization of the Christian religion?). Whatever the reason, I am most concerned with the reality to which our language points. In the words of Dallas Willard, the truth is:
"For at least several decades the churches of the Western world have not made discipleship a condition of being a Christian. One is not required to be, or to intend to be, a disciple in order to become a Christian, and one may remain a Christian without any signs of progress toward or in discipleship. Contemporary American [and Canadian] churches in particular do not require following Christ in his example, spirit, and teachings as a condition of membership - either of entering into or continuing in fellowship of a denomination or local church...So far as the visible Christian institutions of our day are concerned, discipleship clearly is optional" (The Great Omission, 4).
The view that discipleship is optional is foreign to the New Testament. The model of life that Jesus demanded of his followers is the way of discipleship - the way of sacrifice, the way of suffering love, the way of the cross and resurrection.
My reflections that follow are a small effort to challenge today's church to return to both the New Testament's language and way of discipleship.
The making of disciples, with a view to enroll people as Christ's students, was at the core of the early churches missionary vision. The goal that Jesus set for his earliest disciples was that they use his power and authority (manifest through the living presence of the Holy Spirit) to make disciples from all nations. This would include baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all that Jesus commanded (Matthew 28.19-20).
So, a follower of Jesus is a special type of person. A disciple is someone who has encountered the Spirit of God and, thus, has been transformed at the core of their being. A disciple has looked, in faith, to the Faithful One - Jesus of Nazareth, who is both the Messiah of Israel and the Savior of the world. And a disciple is someone who is committed to a life of faithfulness and fidelity to Jesus, which includes an ongoing humble devotion to live out Jesus' teachings about discipleship.
What does this look like you ask? Nothing less than a pattern of dying and raising again.
"If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a person, to gain the whole world, and to lose or forfeit his life" (Luke 9.23-25).
And in Romans 6, the apostle Paul says, "For if we have become united with Christ in the likeness of his death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin. For he who has died is freed from sin...Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive unto God in the Messiah Jesus...present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God."
This is the New Testament's picture of a disciple of Jesus (ie. a Christian). A disciple is someone who follows the way of the cross and experiences the power of Jesus' resurrection, all the while looking to the future resurrection of the body. Sacrifice, obedience, suffering, and hope apply to Jesus' disciples no less than to himself.
"For Christ's sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him...that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and may share in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead" (Philippians 3.8-11).
Consider now, these words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, "Just as Christ is Christ only in virtue of his suffering and rejection, so the disciple is a disciple only in so far as he shares his Lord's suffering and rejection and crucifixion. Discipleship means adherence to the person of Jesus, and therefore submission to the law of Christ which is the law of the cross" (The Cost of Discipleship, 87).
What I have described here (in the words of Scripture and the testimony of the later church), is not the deluxe, first rate model of the Christian. This IS the Christian. Surely much more, but no less!
February 25, 2009
Ash Wednesday
For those who are not too familiar with the Christian calendar, today is Ash Wednesday. This is the first day of the season of Lent and occurs forty-six days (forty days not counting Sundays) before Easter. It falls on a different date each year because it corresponds to the date of Easter. This year Easter is on April 12.
Ash Wednesday gets its name from the practice of placing ashes on the foreheads of Christians as a sign of repentance. The ashes used on Ash Wednesday are gathered after the Palm branches from the previous year's Palm Sunday are burned.
In the Ash Wednesday worship service, people come forward and receive the sign of the cross on their foreheads. As the minister or priest does this, he recites the words: "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return." This is taken from Genesis 18.27, where Abraham came before God and referred to himself as "dust and ashes."
In the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches, Ash Wednesday is also observed by fasting. Other Christian denominations (ie. the Christian Reformed Church) do not mandate a fast on Ash Wednesday. The main focus is on confession of sin and repentance.
Ash Wednesday is a day of repentance and contemplation. The Old Testament teaches us that ashes were used in ancient times to express grief, mourning, and lament. Jeremiah told the nation of Israel to mourn over its coming destruction by rolling in ashes (Jeremiah 6.26).
In the context of Temple worship, the ashes that were produced by burning a red heifer were used to bring about purification among God's people (Numbers 19.9-10; Hebrews 9.13).
Dusting oneself with ashes was also the penitent's way of expressing sorrow for sins and faults. An ancient example of this is found in Job 42.3-6. When speaking to God, Job said, "My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."
In this light, let us come humbly before the Lord our God on this holy day, and acknowledge his unfailing love and compassion, and receive his saving grace into our lives once again.
Ash Wednesday Prayer:
God of all joy,
Create in us a new and contrite heart.
Fill us with your Spirit and give us grace.
In this season of Lent,
Remind us of your triumph over the tragedy of the cross,
And your victory for us over the powers of sin and death,
So that we may reflect your glory as disciples of Christ.
Amen.
Ash Wednesday gets its name from the practice of placing ashes on the foreheads of Christians as a sign of repentance. The ashes used on Ash Wednesday are gathered after the Palm branches from the previous year's Palm Sunday are burned.
In the Ash Wednesday worship service, people come forward and receive the sign of the cross on their foreheads. As the minister or priest does this, he recites the words: "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return." This is taken from Genesis 18.27, where Abraham came before God and referred to himself as "dust and ashes."
In the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches, Ash Wednesday is also observed by fasting. Other Christian denominations (ie. the Christian Reformed Church) do not mandate a fast on Ash Wednesday. The main focus is on confession of sin and repentance.
Ash Wednesday is a day of repentance and contemplation. The Old Testament teaches us that ashes were used in ancient times to express grief, mourning, and lament. Jeremiah told the nation of Israel to mourn over its coming destruction by rolling in ashes (Jeremiah 6.26).
In the context of Temple worship, the ashes that were produced by burning a red heifer were used to bring about purification among God's people (Numbers 19.9-10; Hebrews 9.13).
Dusting oneself with ashes was also the penitent's way of expressing sorrow for sins and faults. An ancient example of this is found in Job 42.3-6. When speaking to God, Job said, "My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."
In this light, let us come humbly before the Lord our God on this holy day, and acknowledge his unfailing love and compassion, and receive his saving grace into our lives once again.
Ash Wednesday Prayer:
God of all joy,
Create in us a new and contrite heart.
Fill us with your Spirit and give us grace.
In this season of Lent,
Remind us of your triumph over the tragedy of the cross,
And your victory for us over the powers of sin and death,
So that we may reflect your glory as disciples of Christ.
Amen.
February 14, 2009
From Anxiety and Greed to Milk and Honey
In a recent article in Sojourners magazine, theologian Walter Brueggemann discusses the issue of what the Bible has to say about bailouts.
He says, "Biblical faith invites us out of self-destruction toward God's generosity and abundance."
Brueggemann continues, "So far as I know, the Bible says nothing explicit about subprime loans and the financial implications of such risky economic practice. There is a great deal, nonetheless, that the Bible has to say about such a crisis as we now face. I will comment in turn on a biblical perspective of an analysis of the crisis and a biblical perspective for an alternative economic practice.
While the specifics of the current market collapse are peculiarly modern, biblical perspectives are pertinent because the fundamental issues of economics are constant from ancient to contemporary time, constants such as credit and debt, loans and interest, and the endless tension between haves and have-nots."
With whit and imagination, Brueggemann then identifies three dimensions of the theological-moral foundations of the current economic crisis: autonomy, anxiety, and greed. His conclusion is that we must move to an alternative way in economics: "from autonomy to covenantal existence, from anxiety to divine abundance, and from acquisitive greed to neighborly generosity."
Although this article is, at times, overly simplistic in how it deals with very complex issues, it should function to stimulate positive dialogue both inside and outside of the church!
To read the whole article, go to:
http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=magazine.article&issue=soj0902&article=from-anxiety-and-greed-to-milk-and-honey
He says, "Biblical faith invites us out of self-destruction toward God's generosity and abundance."
Brueggemann continues, "So far as I know, the Bible says nothing explicit about subprime loans and the financial implications of such risky economic practice. There is a great deal, nonetheless, that the Bible has to say about such a crisis as we now face. I will comment in turn on a biblical perspective of an analysis of the crisis and a biblical perspective for an alternative economic practice.
While the specifics of the current market collapse are peculiarly modern, biblical perspectives are pertinent because the fundamental issues of economics are constant from ancient to contemporary time, constants such as credit and debt, loans and interest, and the endless tension between haves and have-nots."
With whit and imagination, Brueggemann then identifies three dimensions of the theological-moral foundations of the current economic crisis: autonomy, anxiety, and greed. His conclusion is that we must move to an alternative way in economics: "from autonomy to covenantal existence, from anxiety to divine abundance, and from acquisitive greed to neighborly generosity."
Although this article is, at times, overly simplistic in how it deals with very complex issues, it should function to stimulate positive dialogue both inside and outside of the church!
To read the whole article, go to:
http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=magazine.article&issue=soj0902&article=from-anxiety-and-greed-to-milk-and-honey
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