I haven't blogged in awhile. There are two reasons for this: my life suddenly got busy and I have been marinating. For the past couple of weeks I have found that readings from my other classes (theology, polity, exegesis) have been colliding with my readings and experiences in the Cross and State class. I have also found that my forays into the world: watching the news on CNN, checking out other blogs, and conversations with my fellow human beings are also colliding with my experiences in Cross and State. Lately I have been thinking a lot about the church in the world (probably because our topic for theology this week is "the nature of the church")
As we approach Easter, I am convicted that the the gospel is about reconciliation. Plain and simple reconciliation by the power of God revealed to us in the person of Jesus Christ and continually made possible in our lives through the work of the Holy Spirit. None of us deserve the reconciliation and redemption made possible by Jesus' death and resurrection...it is a free gift of God to all. As Christians who are part of ONE CHURCH, we are called to proclaim this good news and extend it to others on behalf of our Lord Jesus Christ. Reconciliation is not our work, but work that we are called to do when we claim Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.
In thinking about the church's call to Christ's work of redemption and reconciliation I am also thinking about what is going on in our country and the world right now...
The healthcare debate is hot and heavy right now in our country, particularly since it was passed in the House and the Senate. As my father-in-law put it this weekend: 50% of our country is rejoicing and 50% is complaining and Christians are on both sides of the debate. I just read a blog post by a pastor in Anderson, SC entitled "My thoughts on Healthcare Reform...". The first sentence reads, "Short version-it doesn't matter." This pastor goes on to claim that, "Paul never staged a political protest (even though Christians were being set on fire!) Jesus never organized a political rally (even though the Roman army had invaded Israel and were forcing their rule over them.) Jesus was not a Republican...or a Democrat!" This blogger goes onto to encourage Christians to trust in the Sovereign God to take care of things and he includes some thoughts on the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you want to read his whole blog, check it out at http://www.perrynoble.com/.
Now, I don't want to bash this church leader or his thoughts on the gospel, but I do disagree with his thoughts on politics and the church. Jesus was not a Republican or a Democrat because he was not an American. He was a Palestinian Jew and part of the 1st century Roman Empire. What Jesus did on earth shook up the POLITICS of Judaism and the Roman Empire. Think about it: Jesus was crucified at the hands of the government and the religious authorities of his day!
I think the policies of our federal government do matter, particularly for the doctrine of reconciliation. Think about the Theological Declaration of Barmen that is in the PC(U.S.A.)'s Book of Confessions. What if the German Christians had not made this statement against the Nazi Government in the 1930's? Also...check out these thoughts by Amy Plantinga Pauw from my theology reading this week: "Some nineteenth-century American Presbyterians promulgated the doctrine of the "spirituality of the church." They argued that the chuch was not to become involved in social and political matters because its mandate was spiritual: to proclaim the gospel. But by claiming that slavery was a political issue that the church should leave alone, the promulgators of the "spirituality of the church" were not being apolitical: they were defending the institution of slavery."
I don't want this blog to turn into a debate about healthcare or any other particular political debates, but I do want to put out there that I think that God calls us, individually and corporately (as the church), to the work of reconciliation and sometimes that work is in the realm of politics. It was for Jesus when he died on the cross at the hands of Roman authorities, it was for Christians who opposed slavery in the 19th century, it was for the German Confessional Church in 1934, it is for those who feel called to stand up for or against current healthcare reform policy, and it is for me as I advocate against state and federal policies that prohibit reconciliation and redemption for people who are incarcerated in our prison system. As Susan Casey put it last week when she visited with our cross and the state class-redemption is no longer possible for those we execute. Personally, I would like to think that reconciliation and redemption is possible for God even when we humans kill one another, but why do we want to kill and take judgement into our own hands?
If we don't stand up for those things we feel the Spirit is convicting us about then we fail to be followers of Christ. If we don't take a stand against injustice in the world (even if it is in the realm of politics) then we fail to be the church who proclaims the good news of the gospel!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Preaching and The Cross & the State
I find that all of my studies this semester have been further illumined by my readings, experiences, and reflections from my Cross and the State Class. This past Sunday I preached at Fair Play Presbyterian Church in South Carolina. Somehow our class' conversation with Randy Loney from last week made it's way into my sermon (must have been the Spirit!). Here is my sermon from Sunday. I would like to work on some more sermons that further incorporate what I am learning and experiencing through our class this semester. I would also like to note that this sermon received a positive response from the FPPC congregation. Check it out and let me know what you think!
“What God Has Promised”
Joshua 5: 9-12; 2 Corinthians 5: 16-21
I don’t know about y’all, but I feel like this has been a LONG winter and I am so ready for spring! Granted, we have not had as much snow in the southeast as our northern and Midwestern brothers and sisters, but we have certainly had more than we are used to. Over this past week, I have seen and felt several signs of spring, and I have to admit…I am struggling to wait patiently for it to fully arrive. In fact, my aunt, who lives right down the road in Townville, said this last week: “Chickens hatching, goats born and puppy tails, spring has to be close!” I especially crave the arrival of spring when I am here in the upstate of South Carolina. I love living in Atlanta, but the minute I cross into South Carolina on I-85, I feel at home and I feel a deep connection to the land. The Israelites in our passage from Joshua were also exploring their connection to land-the promised land of their new home Canaan. While we are all anticipating the arrival of spring and the planting season, they were anticipating the fruits of the first harvest in Canaan! I imagine that the joy we feel over the arrival of spring is nothing in comparison to the joy experienced over the first harvest of the Israelites in Canaan.
We must remember: we’ve been waiting for the arrival of spring for only a few months, the Israelites waited to inhabit the land of God’s promise for forty years, an entire generation! For years before their journey in the wilderness they had been waiting on the promise of a land flowing with milk and honey to come to fruition. Through famine, oppression in the form of slavery, and desert wanderings they lost hope and confidence in God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 12: “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” As we see in Joshua 5, God was true to the promise made to Abraham: “the Israelites no longer had manna; they ate the crops of the land of Canaan that year”; however, God’s timing was probably not up to the Israelite standards.
Impatience with God’s promises also seems to be alive and well in the life of the Corinthian church that we read about in our New Testament passage today. Just as we ponder at the words, “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new”, I am sure the Corinthians did, too. We’re looking for signs of newness present in the arrival of spring and in the state of our world. How can everything be “new” if our world continues to show signs of brokenness? Children are still growing up in abusive homes, slavery is alive and well in parts of our world, and greed is rampant as the poverty rate is growing…where is this new creation? The Corinthians were longing for the return of Christ in light of Roman domination and discord within their community. Paul urges the Corinthians, Paul tells them in the surrounding chapters, “do not lose heart” and “now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation”. Just because Christ was not physically in their midst and just because Christ has not physically returned to be among us, the saying is true: reconciliation and a new start is possible here and now, by the power of Christ!
Reconciliation is tough stuff: it is tough within our families, within our churches, and within society. As tough as reconciliation can be, we must never forget that God goes with us, aiding our reconciliation attempts. Whenever the power of our strength and our love is not enough, God is there working through us. I would like to share a story of reconciliation that I find incredibly powerful: Earlier this week, I met with my new friend Randy who serves as a pastor for men on death row in Georgia. Over our two hour conversation, Randy shared stories of the men he visits with weekly. All of the men that Randy ministers to are murders, waiting to be killed themselves. If anyone is waiting for promises of new life and reconciliation, it is some of these men, their families, and the families of their victims. One of the stories Randy shared with us speaks deeply to our passages today. One young man he visited on death row had killed his mother, father, and sister. Every year his grandparents and aunt, the family members of his victims, came to visit him in prison. They would always meet Randy at the local truck stop restaurant after visiting their grandson and nephew. They shared with Randy that they had forgiven their grandson for his murderous actions because that is what their Christian faith led them to do. They were frustrated; however, because he did not respond to their forgiveness and love when they visited. They would sit quietly with him, occasionally talking of the weather, but the family shared no conversations of substance. Finally, after they had been visiting him annually for a decade, he broke down with remorse and accepted their forgiveness. In 2 Corinthians, God promises new creation and reconciliation, but the family of the young man on death row had to wait over a decade for these promises to come to fruition.
Reconciliation is a vital part of God’s promise of new life found in Christ. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians: “in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us”. I can’t help but wonder: maybe we can’t always see the new creation promised in Christ because we don’t take our charge as ambassadors of reconciliation seriously. As the Interpretation Commentary on 2 Corinthians puts it:
“We can’t claim peace with God unless we are at peace with our neighbors…The theme of restoration of an original ‘Golden Age’ is found in many cultures; it appeals to something in all of us which longs for a fresh beginning. With Paul, however, this longing is no longer a wish about a faraway future, but a present reality. Through his cross and resurrection, Jesus Christ has already created his followers anew.”
We must trust that we have already been reconciled to God: in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We must also remember that the time is here and now for reconciliation with God and neighbor. If reconciliation and the promise of new life is possible in the bowels of a prison, then it is possible for us, here and now. There may be times when we, like the Israelites, think that God’s timing is not up to our standards, but believe me, it is. God gave the Israelites a land and a work to do and in our passage from 2 Corinthians God gives us a land and a work to do as well. Our work is the ministry of reconciliation and our land is the whole earth, each person we encounter in life. Our task is to be ambassadors for Christ, to help usher in God’s new creation.
While we are waiting for spring, in our Christian life, we are also in the midst of waiting for Easter, when yet again, we will be reminded that we are made new by the transforming power of Christ. Today, we will gather around this table to break the bread and share the cup. May this be a joyful feast, as it was for the Israelites in Gigal as they feasted on the produce of the land. Let this be a glimpse of God’s new creation, let this be a taste of reconciliation as the Spirit lifts our hearts to God to gather around the table with all believers in every time and place. Brother and sisters, children of God-Hear the good news: Just as there was a day that the Israelites no longer ate manna in the wilderness, there will be a day when we will no longer feast around this human table, but we will feast at the table of the Lord at the heavenly banquet of the cosmos! Because what God has promised, God has done and continues to do.
“What God Has Promised”
Joshua 5: 9-12; 2 Corinthians 5: 16-21
I don’t know about y’all, but I feel like this has been a LONG winter and I am so ready for spring! Granted, we have not had as much snow in the southeast as our northern and Midwestern brothers and sisters, but we have certainly had more than we are used to. Over this past week, I have seen and felt several signs of spring, and I have to admit…I am struggling to wait patiently for it to fully arrive. In fact, my aunt, who lives right down the road in Townville, said this last week: “Chickens hatching, goats born and puppy tails, spring has to be close!” I especially crave the arrival of spring when I am here in the upstate of South Carolina. I love living in Atlanta, but the minute I cross into South Carolina on I-85, I feel at home and I feel a deep connection to the land. The Israelites in our passage from Joshua were also exploring their connection to land-the promised land of their new home Canaan. While we are all anticipating the arrival of spring and the planting season, they were anticipating the fruits of the first harvest in Canaan! I imagine that the joy we feel over the arrival of spring is nothing in comparison to the joy experienced over the first harvest of the Israelites in Canaan.
We must remember: we’ve been waiting for the arrival of spring for only a few months, the Israelites waited to inhabit the land of God’s promise for forty years, an entire generation! For years before their journey in the wilderness they had been waiting on the promise of a land flowing with milk and honey to come to fruition. Through famine, oppression in the form of slavery, and desert wanderings they lost hope and confidence in God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 12: “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” As we see in Joshua 5, God was true to the promise made to Abraham: “the Israelites no longer had manna; they ate the crops of the land of Canaan that year”; however, God’s timing was probably not up to the Israelite standards.
Impatience with God’s promises also seems to be alive and well in the life of the Corinthian church that we read about in our New Testament passage today. Just as we ponder at the words, “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new”, I am sure the Corinthians did, too. We’re looking for signs of newness present in the arrival of spring and in the state of our world. How can everything be “new” if our world continues to show signs of brokenness? Children are still growing up in abusive homes, slavery is alive and well in parts of our world, and greed is rampant as the poverty rate is growing…where is this new creation? The Corinthians were longing for the return of Christ in light of Roman domination and discord within their community. Paul urges the Corinthians, Paul tells them in the surrounding chapters, “do not lose heart” and “now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation”. Just because Christ was not physically in their midst and just because Christ has not physically returned to be among us, the saying is true: reconciliation and a new start is possible here and now, by the power of Christ!
Reconciliation is tough stuff: it is tough within our families, within our churches, and within society. As tough as reconciliation can be, we must never forget that God goes with us, aiding our reconciliation attempts. Whenever the power of our strength and our love is not enough, God is there working through us. I would like to share a story of reconciliation that I find incredibly powerful: Earlier this week, I met with my new friend Randy who serves as a pastor for men on death row in Georgia. Over our two hour conversation, Randy shared stories of the men he visits with weekly. All of the men that Randy ministers to are murders, waiting to be killed themselves. If anyone is waiting for promises of new life and reconciliation, it is some of these men, their families, and the families of their victims. One of the stories Randy shared with us speaks deeply to our passages today. One young man he visited on death row had killed his mother, father, and sister. Every year his grandparents and aunt, the family members of his victims, came to visit him in prison. They would always meet Randy at the local truck stop restaurant after visiting their grandson and nephew. They shared with Randy that they had forgiven their grandson for his murderous actions because that is what their Christian faith led them to do. They were frustrated; however, because he did not respond to their forgiveness and love when they visited. They would sit quietly with him, occasionally talking of the weather, but the family shared no conversations of substance. Finally, after they had been visiting him annually for a decade, he broke down with remorse and accepted their forgiveness. In 2 Corinthians, God promises new creation and reconciliation, but the family of the young man on death row had to wait over a decade for these promises to come to fruition.
Reconciliation is a vital part of God’s promise of new life found in Christ. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians: “in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us”. I can’t help but wonder: maybe we can’t always see the new creation promised in Christ because we don’t take our charge as ambassadors of reconciliation seriously. As the Interpretation Commentary on 2 Corinthians puts it:
“We can’t claim peace with God unless we are at peace with our neighbors…The theme of restoration of an original ‘Golden Age’ is found in many cultures; it appeals to something in all of us which longs for a fresh beginning. With Paul, however, this longing is no longer a wish about a faraway future, but a present reality. Through his cross and resurrection, Jesus Christ has already created his followers anew.”
We must trust that we have already been reconciled to God: in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We must also remember that the time is here and now for reconciliation with God and neighbor. If reconciliation and the promise of new life is possible in the bowels of a prison, then it is possible for us, here and now. There may be times when we, like the Israelites, think that God’s timing is not up to our standards, but believe me, it is. God gave the Israelites a land and a work to do and in our passage from 2 Corinthians God gives us a land and a work to do as well. Our work is the ministry of reconciliation and our land is the whole earth, each person we encounter in life. Our task is to be ambassadors for Christ, to help usher in God’s new creation.
While we are waiting for spring, in our Christian life, we are also in the midst of waiting for Easter, when yet again, we will be reminded that we are made new by the transforming power of Christ. Today, we will gather around this table to break the bread and share the cup. May this be a joyful feast, as it was for the Israelites in Gigal as they feasted on the produce of the land. Let this be a glimpse of God’s new creation, let this be a taste of reconciliation as the Spirit lifts our hearts to God to gather around the table with all believers in every time and place. Brother and sisters, children of God-Hear the good news: Just as there was a day that the Israelites no longer ate manna in the wilderness, there will be a day when we will no longer feast around this human table, but we will feast at the table of the Lord at the heavenly banquet of the cosmos! Because what God has promised, God has done and continues to do.
Monday, March 8, 2010
"The Round House"
It sure is interesting how my classes in seminary always seem to speak to one another and the current situation of my life...
I am currently working on paper for my Hebrew exegesis class on Genesis 40: 1-8. This passage is part of the Joseph narrative. In chapter 39, Joseph was put into prison by pharoah for alledgedly trying to rape Potiphar's wife. In chapter 40, two of pharoah's officers are put into the same prison because they sinned against pharoah and made him angry. The prison is referred to as "the round house". Now, the NRSV does not translate it as "the round house", but I do. The phrase is in construct: בבית הסהר. The first word (in Hebrew word order) is "in a house" and the second is "the roundness". I choose to translate this as "the round house" and BDB (Hebrew and English lexicon) seems to agree :) I find this incredibly interesting, particularly because of what Abramsky tells us about prison architecture in his book, American Furies. In 1787, English philosopher Jeremy Bentham developed a circular prison model where "every nook and cranny was accessible to the warden from his central command post" (page 18). This architectural design/prison model for behavioral modification did not take off the ground in the 18th century; however, this model is alive and well in the new 'Supermax' prisons of the 21st century. For all of you Decatur peeps, check out the DeKalb County Jail off of Memorial Drive. I find this connection very interesting and intriguing and I am continuing to think about it.
On another note,
In regard to the visit of the Metro State choir, Voices of Hope, visit to CTS last Wednesday-all I can say is THANKS BE TO GOD. Thank you, Lord, for this amazing experience and thank you for your presence in the lives of all of your children, no matter where they are. These women were truly inspiring and voices of hope in a broken world...a world where we are ALL held captive to sin and broken beyond measure.
I am currently working on paper for my Hebrew exegesis class on Genesis 40: 1-8. This passage is part of the Joseph narrative. In chapter 39, Joseph was put into prison by pharoah for alledgedly trying to rape Potiphar's wife. In chapter 40, two of pharoah's officers are put into the same prison because they sinned against pharoah and made him angry. The prison is referred to as "the round house". Now, the NRSV does not translate it as "the round house", but I do. The phrase is in construct: בבית הסהר. The first word (in Hebrew word order) is "in a house" and the second is "the roundness". I choose to translate this as "the round house" and BDB (Hebrew and English lexicon) seems to agree :) I find this incredibly interesting, particularly because of what Abramsky tells us about prison architecture in his book, American Furies. In 1787, English philosopher Jeremy Bentham developed a circular prison model where "every nook and cranny was accessible to the warden from his central command post" (page 18). This architectural design/prison model for behavioral modification did not take off the ground in the 18th century; however, this model is alive and well in the new 'Supermax' prisons of the 21st century. For all of you Decatur peeps, check out the DeKalb County Jail off of Memorial Drive. I find this connection very interesting and intriguing and I am continuing to think about it.
On another note,
In regard to the visit of the Metro State choir, Voices of Hope, visit to CTS last Wednesday-all I can say is THANKS BE TO GOD. Thank you, Lord, for this amazing experience and thank you for your presence in the lives of all of your children, no matter where they are. These women were truly inspiring and voices of hope in a broken world...a world where we are ALL held captive to sin and broken beyond measure.
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