Monday, December 19, 2005

Breathe, Holy Spirit, Breathe! Because I can't.

Where have you been? Where have you been? You ask me this, like you care!
If you've ever seen Val Kilmer's portrayal of Doc Holliday in "Tombstone", you know how I feel today. An hour ago, my left lung collapsed and exited my body. My right lung feels like its full of jello. I feel so lousy I considered renting Tom Cruise in "War of the Worlds" just to put myself out of my misery. (I'd rather drink liquid exlax until my stomach burst). At least my eye isn't infected like the last time. Rememebr that? I was at this Greek Orthodox monastery, in prayer, when my eye began to water and pus. Soon enough, my left eye was swollen shut, like Rocky after round three with Ivan Drago (Rocky IV, FYI). There was this steady stream of mucous draining from my eye! Yes, I said my eye. Nothing is supposed to come out of ones eye, except the occasional tear from hearing a classic "Air Supply" ditty ("Makin' love, out of nothin' at all" gets me every time.)Anyway, I got better.

So, I know I will get better. At least I hope so. After all, Christmas eve is only five days away. This year, my son will actully get it. he's 20 months old. Old enough to get it. Finally, I'm more excited to watch someone else get gifts than to receive them myself...almost.

Christmas Day Worship

Why should we worship again on Christmas Day, when we celebrated on Christmas eve? I am saddened by the independent decisions made by some Churches. You may have heard or read that some mega churches around the country (and in Lancaster County) have opted to cancel Christmas Day worship services because Christmas falls on a Sunday. Since they will celebrate Christ’s birth on Saturday night, they feel that they’ve earned a break on Sunday morning. Actually, they expect their attendance to be rather low on Christmas weekend. One such leader of the New life church in Colorado Springs argues that their younger people will likely worship in the stain-glass churches with their grandmothers on that day. I don’t know about you, but I take offense. The one holy catholic and apostolic church, of which he has chosen not to be a part, is certainly more diverse and vital than he thinks. I am 31. I love who we are as the body of Christ. I rejoice that I can actually know my congregation and you can know me, because I am not a celebrity who spends time on the phone with the President counseling about Lord knows what. If he has so much “Christian” influence with the Commander-in chief, why are we still at war?
So, I take this Gospel moment to remind us why we worship on Sunday.
“Very early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome brought spices to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body. On their way they said to one another, “Who will roll the stone away for us, for it is very large?” When they looked up, they saw that the stone had already been rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe, sitting at the right side; and they were terrified. But he said to them, “Do not be afraid. You are looking or Jesus of Nazareth, who has been crucified. He was raised, he is not here. Look, there is the place where they laid him. But, go, and tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” EASTER! That is why we worship the Lord on Sunday. Every Sunday is Easter, the day of the Lord’s resurrection and of our new life. On that day, life begins again for us. We are a new creation with God as our Father and Jesus as our Savior and the Spirit as our friend and guide. So, even on Christmas Day (or should I say especially) we gather to celebrate His life, His death, His resurrection. Without Christmas there is no Easter, no Jesus to raise from the dead. Without Easter there is no Christmas---no good news of how God rescues us from sin and death and promises us new and everlasting life! Sunday is not our day to do with as we please! It is the Lord’s Day to please HIM!!! Merry Christmas. It is a real joy to celebrate our Lord Jesus with you.

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

The vigil

January 15 will mark a new chapter in worship at Zion. Once a month for six months we are going to live on the edge of Christian liturgy. With some new, old music, Word and Sacrament will transcend the culture wars. Candlelit, incense-burning, highly engaging through an interactive liturgy. Confession and kyrie will open worship, including a washing in the font for baptismal remembrance. Prayers of the people will be in 5 stations; for healing, for global peace, for families, in silence, with the Word. Communion will be loaf and common cup. Music will be led by a small band. I will be dressed in my black cassock robe. I will wear the stole and chasuble at eucharist.
Transcending the culture wars means that this liturgy is neither traditional nor contemporary. It is contemporary in its approach to ancient sacramental liturgy. Music transcends our culture and context, and also embraces it at the same time.
Why are we doing this? This is a quest to explore the post-modern sacred life. What does a gathering of 21st century Christians look like? How is it different than our immediate predecessors? Unlike previous generations, we are disenchanted by old categories. We want a more open communion. Table fellowship with baptized Christians is what its about, despite ethical and theological differences. God's grace frees us to engage in worship that is evangelical and catholic (Christ-centered, globally inclusive).
What will this mean for us as a congregation? I don't know. We're doing it once a month as an experiment. Tune in on January 16 for the rundown.

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Christmas in the news?

I read two reports on Christmas today. The first was about why some conservative evangelicals and Catholics are disgusted with President Bush's White House Christmas Card. The card is sent to some 1.2 million Bush supporters. How intimnate! Again this year, it lacked the Christmas message. For some, it is too generic and apologetic to send a "holiday card". They want the President to send a Christian message on Christmas. Others say that a Christmas card lacks senistivity to other faith traditions represented by some porton of the 1.2 million recipients of the White House greeting. A holiday card includes non-Christian peoples.
One congressman is reported to have said that he cares more about putting Christ back into our war policy than into Bush's Christmas card. I couldn't agree more, especially if said war policy was self-effacing, sacrificial, and peace-keeping. Why is it the President's job to send a holiday greeting at all? If he wants to be a Christian and a President, he ought to realize that Christmas is not supposed to be a secular holiday, bastardized by the free market to drive up consumer spending. He ought to say nothing about Christmas or Kwaanza or Hannakuh. We are not a nation built with religious propensity. We are a nation built on secular humanist virtue and enlightenment philosophy. Christianity was not the forte of Jefferson or many of the framers. Jefferson did not believe in the resurrection of Christ, nor in His divinity. I think the President should remain politically neutral when it comes to matters of faith. (That does not entail ethical uncertanity or moral depravity, as some would believe). Christ is in Christmas, not the President.


The second report I saw concerned the decision of many megachurches to cancel worship on Christmas Sunday! Justified by their belief that Sunday is no more significant for worship than any other day and the expectation that fewer people will attend on Sunday, December 25th or January 1st (Some are cancelling worship on New year's day too). This is in stark contrast to Roman Catholics and mainline protestants who will worship on the Lord's day because that is what the evangelical, catholic and apostolic church does. The megachurch continues to cater to the culture's designs for Christianity. They continue to throw the baby out with the bath water. Doesn't anyone see how dangerous it is to simply disregard Sunday because Americans are more faithful to themselves than to the God of Jesus
Christ? Let them cancel worship. The culture will devour them eventually. How long before they cancel Easter worship or worship on the fourth of July (the truly American holy day)? It all begins with cancellation of Christmas day. How convenient. How wrong!

new life

My wife and I are expecting a new baby. Number 2. What will this new baby be like? Will he have her eyes or my smile? Will she enjoy music? Will she like to dance? Will he play basketball or golf? How will this new one differ from our son? What will make them clearly siblings? How much time will we spend together? Will he marry? Will she have kids? Will we go to Disney World and the beach for family vacations? Will they be faithful to God?
In the beginning, sleep is the price you pay for the promise that your newborn's life will someday provide answers to those questions...

Advent Confession

Advent is not an easy time of year for people. Amidst the mad rush to decorate and shop, many people are grieving. As we prepare to hear the good news of Christ's birth, many people are lost in the pain of death. The season of hope is not without its moments of despair.
John the Baptist comes into the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. John calls us to wake up to a reality most of us avoid, except in this season and in the season of Lent. We are all in the wilderness, barely there, barely making it, surviving. We are all temporary, ephemeral. To repent is to change your mind about existential things. you are not in control, nor in charge. You are losing ground. The only one who isn't, is God. A splash of cold water might wake you up to that. Be alert to the nearness of God. We are never nearer to God than at the hour of our death. Isn't that part of this season's message? We never know the day or the hour. It will come like a thief in the night, we are told. Isn't death like that, isn't mortality like that? One minute you're fine, the next minute there's a lump in your breast. One minute you're wrapping gifts, the next minute you're burying someone you love. you may wake up in Advent and wonder if this is all there is to your life?
Te cold truth about December is that all things pass away. The hope of Advent is really quite astounding, because despite a wake up call to that truth, we expect more. We expect to see the light. Maybe more than anything else, the good news of Christmas is that birth is a miracle and a mystery that still brings joy, even when we know that birth is but the beginning of the end...

Thursday, December 01, 2005

on Advent

Frederick Buechner, one of my favorite writers, wrote, "Advent means "coming," of course, and the pomise of Advent is that what is coming is an unimaginable invasion. The mythology of our age has to do with flying saucers and invasions of outer space, and that is unimaginable enough. But what is upon us now is even more so---a close encounter not of the third kind but of a different kind altogether. An invasion of holiness. That is what Advent is about."

have you noticed an increase in television dramas dealing with strange encounters---with aliens, the dead, lost survivors...I think the verb that expresses our culture's spiritual hunger is, "to encounter". Making contact with the other through whatever new technology available seems to be the outward sign of the underlying need we all share---to encounter another as fully and transparently as possible, without feeling utterly vulnerable. This, however, is impossible. In the realm of divine encounter, Advent is all about the vulnerability of a direct encounter. Ironically, the encounter with God that people have with Jesus is wholy different than the encounter with God that is recorded in hebrew Scriptures. In Genesis and Exodus the vulnerable one is clearly not the LORD, but Moses or Abraham or Jacob.
But in the Gospel, the human encounter with God is one in which God is the vulnerable party. God is humbled by the flesh.
When we encounter Jesus through faith, we encounter the LORD whose holiness does not destroy us. His holiness, the holiness of the infant savior, is a holiness that embraces us and re-births us a new creation. Advent is the dawning of the new humanity, the enw day, the new way in Christ. No wonder many fear it, ignore it, or reject it. Its life-transforming.

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

new additions

As you can see, I am busy upgrading my blog. I have added several helpful links and will continue to do so. My two alma maters are added to the list, as well as some helpful Luthrean links. I have added a link to the Lutheran Blog master list site. This will help anyone interested in navigating to other Lutheran blogs to do so. I am enjoying reading some other Lutheran blogs. I hope to respond to some as time allows.

Today we began bible study on the Gospel of Mark. We began with chapter 16 and asked as many questions as the text inspired. We tried to bracket our pevious knowledge, our conflated gospel narrative that mixes the synoptics together, and our own faith convictions. Placing those things aside, we were free to inquire. Who is this Jesus? Why was he crucified? Why were the women so terrified? Who is this young male messenger dressed in white? What does the women's silence say about their terror? What mysteries lie beneath the surface? I repeat the stuidy tonight at 6:00. And we continue next Wednesday...

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

This week at Zion

On Wednesday I begin a weekly bible reflection on the Gospel of Mark. Meant to be a dialogue between God's Word and those who choose to listen to it, I hope to encourage others to struggle with Mark and encounter the God that is speaking through Him. We will begin at the end. ONe of my favorite parts of one of my favorite movies, "When Harry Met Sally", is when Harry tells Sally about his dark side, his reflective side. He says that he is dark because he always reads the last page of a novel firt, in case he dies in the middle. Not exactly my reasoning for reading the end of Mark's gospel first, but an intersting thought nonetheless.
We begin at the end, where a mysterious cliffhanger leaves us questioning what happens next and what does it all mean for us? The Gospel ends in terror and silence.
So, we will hear the story, from the end to the beginning to the end. We'll take our time, too.
We meet at 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. at Zion, Akron.

A new Kind of Worship

Are you traditional or contemporary? Do you prefer contemporary Christian music or old hymns? Should we have a band in church? Is the organ old-fashioned? Do 20- year-olds require guitars and drums for church to be relevant and attractive? What should we do to draw younger people, unchurched,or de-churched people?
These questions have been hovering around me for some time now. I have been exploring them with others, both in and outside of Zion. Some of the questions are unanswerable. Others are just bad questions. Here’s what I think—for what it’s worth.
Young people can lead, bring vitality and energy, and change to a faith community. But they are not always stable, committed, or grounded as their elders. Years provide experience and wisdom. So I caution any congregation interested in catering to the young. (PS, I am one of them, since I am 31- years-old.) All people want to be included, to belong in the great journey of the Spirit.
Worship is neither contemporary nor traditional. It is supposed to be personal, corporate, and authentic expression of the divine/human encounter as manifest in the gospel. Those former categories are dead today. They are part of an old fight for power. Congregations have foolishly split over it. Does God think the organ is superior or the praise band is necessary? I doubt it. We need to get over this need to know “the right way” to be Christian. It usually leaves some feeling dejected and lost and others righteous and superior. Jesus said, “Those who find their lives will lose them, and those who lose their lives for me will find them.”
People crave mystery and revelation, the absent presence of the holy. We want to sense that God is engaged with a faithful community of followers, who are willing to live what they believe. They want worship to inspire that life. That happens through Gregorian chant, Bach, African drums, Swahili, guitars, organ, flute, “Amazing Grace”, FFH, U2, Michael W. Smith, and silence! The more eclectic the music, the more engaging worship becomes for people. The need is to broaden and challenge our musical expression in worship. Praise music is not enough. There needs to be room for melancholy, grief, anger, worry, shame, hope, wonder, doubt, serenity, and joy. Much of today’s top 25 praise hits are devoid of this vast array of human emotion. Liturgy that is human needs to be authentically emotional, not just happy.
Providing the big picture, a meaningfully rich, cohesive narrative that makes sense out of the chaos, and a trustworthy way forward in life governed by God’s grace made known in the suffering love of Jesus is the message for today! We don’t want self-help or feel-good pop culture psycho-religiosity anymore. We want the truth of the gospel; in all of its odd tension and simple complexity. We want to dance with God in the midst of our tangled lives.
Starting in January, we will offer a monthly Sunday night worship. The core of it, like all Christian worship, is God’s Word and Sacrament. We will pray the Creed and Lord’s Prayer. Music will be rich and diverse. The Spirit will be invited to engage us and we will be invited to encounter God. Our senses will be filled. It will be ancient and modern, old and new, simple and technical. You will feel like you’re in a Benedictine Monastery, a concert, and your living room at the same time. Stay tuned for more conversation about what’s next. And join in the conversation. What do you hope worship can be?

Monday, November 28, 2005

This is my first blog posting. I welcome the global community to respond to the conversation I intend to begin. I am a Lutheran Pastor in a small ELCA congregation in central PA. I am a husband and a father. What you know now is enough about me to suffice in the beginning.

As a person of faith, I join others in an exploration for truth, wisdom, peace, and hope. Strong convictions do not presuppose narrow-mindedness. I think it's important to respect all people, in fact to love all people with a genuine mutual affection (to quote St. Paul). This is not easy. But it is necesary. We must seek to understand one another, from the perspective of one's religous convictions.
Now, I for one do not believe that Christianity is a religion. At least not in a gospel/Pauline Christological construct from which the ecclesia or church is derived. Most of the New testament, as well as the OT prophets, engaged in a discourse that rose above religion. Christianity, at its core, is a theological anthropology. It is a way of being and becoming human in light of God's creative activity. Christianity is about God's activity, called grace. It is not about human activity called religion. Faith itself is not a religious experience, but an encounter with the divine. Paul talks about becoming right with God, by virtue of grace through faith in Jesus. God freely frees people from the restrictions imposed by finitude.
For the most part, Christianity has become a religion. That is, people have devoted themselves to certain practices that encapsulate what it means to be a believer in the trinitarian God. I wonder if it is possible to extract the faith from the religion in order to encounter God apart from our human prescriptions?