Carefully Taught

After the November election or maybe before it, someone in the black community said, “Rosa sat so Martin could walk. Martin walked so Barack could run. Barack ran so our children could fly.” Tracing the election of the first biracial President to the civil rights movement. I don’t care what any of you think about the election results, the President-elect, or democratic politics. We must acknowledge as a people that the ability of a nation to elect a leader whose racial profile situates him within a community whose history includes slavery and oppressive poverty, segregation, and disenfranchisement is a revolutionary act. And an act that could not have been accomplished had it not been for the sacrifice of many leaders who demonstrated for Barack Obama and the black community that they are human, divinely made, and worthy of equality, respect, and the best of what this nation, this world, and our GOD have to offer. Demonstrated by Rosa Parks, by those in Alabama who participated in the bus boycott, by Dr. King and those who marched on Washington, by Jesse Owens and Jackie Robinson and Hiram Revels the first African American US senator. How can we name all of those people, historical public figures and personal relationships who demonstrated for the world how to exercise compassionate justice toward all people. Being human is demonstrated to us, behaviors are learned and acquired through relationships with other humans. We are socially and relationally taught to behave in ways consistent with those around us. In the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific, a musical about race relations, my favorite song is You’ve got to be carefully taught the lyrics are poignant for us today.
You've got to be taught
To hate and fear,
You've got to be taught
From year to year,
It's got to be drummed
In your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade,
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught!

As for race, so with faith. Faith is demonstrated to us through the lives of faithful others. We come to know, see, hear, recognize GOD in the ordinariness of daily life only in so much as others have demonstrated their own belief and trust in that GOD’s presence. The story of the call of Samuel the prophet is a fine example of many call stores in the bible. Samuel did not know the LORD, did not hear God’s voice or see God’s glory before. He was an unconverted child of religion. He was being trained by a priest, Eli. And then the LORD spoke to Him. His ability to understand, recognize, and respond to GOD was contingent on Eli’s realization that God was speaking. Eli’s faith directed Samuel to listen. It makes one think, does God speak to us in ways that we are unable to hear because we have not paid attention to other faithful listeners who demonstrate for us how to hear GOD?
And then in the gospel, we hear the call of Philip to Nathaniel to come and see. IN John’s gospel Jesus’ divinity is demonstrated through signs or miracles and ultimately in His willingness to suffer and die for his disciples, for the world. Nathaniel is invited to come and see, but his ability to recognize in Jesus of Nazareth the very image of God is contingent on Jesus’ demonstration of his identity and on Philip’s capacity to share what He believes. Without Philip’s testimony, Nathaniel does not come, does not see, does not believe. Without Philip Nazareth remains the town out of which come uneducated bandits, prostitutes---salt of the earth, not light of the world. Our faith is contingent on the demonstration of others who in word and deed show us the way. Christ is indeed revealed to the world in the behaviors of the church, in our corporate witness, in our actions and speech. People learn about Jesus through our demonstration of the His way of life. We have to stop thinking about Christian education as something that you attend in Sunday school, a program of the church. Christian education is what we do that demonstrates to others that we are in relationship with the God who raised Jesus from the dead. We have to be careful about what we are teaching others in our silence toward injustice, in our own prejudices unresolved, in our unforgiving attitudes. Do our homes, our checkbooks, our relationships, our work and leisure lives reflect the gospel? Are we teaching others how to love God and the world, and our neigbors as ourselves? Are we grateful for having received it ourselves?
Who first demonstrated for you what it means to follow Jesus, to be a disciple, to live in the presence of God. Who carefully taught you how to love others, including people who are not like you? Who taught you how to give generously, how to care for creation, how to pray? Who taught you how to worship? Who taught you how to serve others? And who are you teaching? Who is your Samuel? Who is your Nathaniel? All of us have been Samuel and Nathaniel—coming to know and grow in faith toward this GOD who speaks and calls us and commands us and forgives us and leads us and suffers with us. All of us have been carefully taught. Some us are still learning. Some of us are also teaching. May you learn and teach the way of Jesus as if the world depended on it, because maybe it does. Amen.

Kingdom of GOD

It was inspiring, moving, and unprecedented in the course of human events. It would mean something, a promise fulfilled, a hope realized, a dream come true. To some, it was just another speech, another spiel, another stump. To others it was life-affirming, and life-changing. It was so compelling that people came. A few at first, then a lot. Millions over time. The first ones who caught the spirit of change and the winds of revolution were not the educated or intelligent, not the wealthy or the politically savvy, not the strategist or the leaders, not the innovators or the worldly. The first were everyday folk, hard workers, struggling to survive, a little angry at the way things were, a little helpless and hopeless in the face of systemic oppression. People ready for change.
The implications of the bold words he spoke would have resonated with the lowest of the low and the highest and mightiest. His words were politically charged, not just rhetoric to gain approval or attention or support. Real words with real weight. Words that could be and would be refuted and rejected by many, even as so many others believed in them, devoted themselves to them, saw them lived out and embodied in the man’s actions.
And it was the actions, as much as the words that truly inspired. He crossed boundaries, broke rules, rejected old divisions, animosities, and grudges. He refused to play by the cultural, social, ethnic rules. He invited local politicians and local law-breakers to one table. No party politics. He was neither conservative, nor liberal. He was not an elitist, but he could rival any educated teacher with an authoritative voice. He reached out to communities that had been written off, rejected, isolated, and devalued. He offered an alternative way, another system, a different take on the notion of progress and the project of civility. He was willing to sacrifice his own life so that others might be embraced by someone lovely and good. He came among his own and they rejected him.
When Jesus announced that the Kingdom of God was at hand, he announced that an eternal reality was being revealed and opened to the world. He announced that the rules and rulers of this world would no longer control and oppress the truth about life. He announced that the deceptions and false assumptions people had made about God, about the earth, about themselves, and others were being fully disclosed and uncovered. He announced that the world’s story was about to be retold from a new perspective. He announced an end to captivity, a deliverance, a renewal, a healing, an emergence of new life, a light in darkness, a way through suffering and death to a forever life and a more perfect home. He announced that the cosmic forces for evil were being crushed, bound, gagged, cut off at the knees, imprisoned, overcome. And they were being overcome by goodness and peace and mercy and compassion and grace and love and beauty and freedom. All powers we will possess as he does, when we are possessed by GOD’s Spirit and will.
The implications of this announcement often go unrecognized and undetected. Largely because we are dust, weak, children. And we are living in deceit, denial, and dehumanizing systems impoverished by the depths of human history. For 2,000 years people have been arguing and killing over the meaning of this phrase, kingdom of GOD. But he came with no military force, no economic stimulus package, no bailout monies, no debt free future solutions, no 50% off sales, no simple solution to lose weight in 30 days. He didn’t immediately put an end to all strife. He didn’t reduce carbon emissions or nuclear warheads. He didn’t slow the aging process or promise your best life now. He didn’t teach us how to make millions or how to win the praises of friend and enemy alike.
He taught us how to live and how to die. He gave us a way to follow and the necessary forgiveness and healing to keep on following in spite of the danger one will face when one tries. He taught us to turn the other cheek and to reject retribution and revenge as an option. He taught us to be content with what we are given and to give away what we have. He showed us that suffering and sorrow that come from entering the life of another human being and offering to serve is beautiful and worthy of praise. He gives us hope that dying, surrendering, freely offering yourself is to live a life that is redeemable and will be resurrected.
If you are impressed with the life you have made for yourself or you are content with the world as it is, if you believe that humanity is a flawed project at best and at worst just a cosmic accident with no better future. If you believe that the only end to come is death or annihilation of the species or the planet as a whole, then the message announced by and lived fully by Jesus is going to be a hard message to swallow.
But if you are ready for change, renewal, hope, a reevaluation of life’s meaning, and a way forward that will change everything on this planet from the way you shop to the way you relate to your neighbors then it is time to begin. Following this way has never been easy. It is demanding and requiring of you. Its symbol is a cross, after all. The hangman's noose. So let me announce this to you as plainly as I can: Repent, turn around, change your mind, reorient your life, for the Kingdom of GOD, God’s life and power and rule and hope and dream and will and way in this world is at hand, in front of your face, within you, around you, over you, and visibly here. If you are wondering wghere or how or when or why...why you, why now, why us, why, then...See Jesus for details. Amen.

Inauguration

It is a new beginning of sorts, a "new era of responsibility" is what he called it. As we turn another page in the annals of human history, this time a new volume begins. It signals the end of an age and the beginning of another. Indifference to or paralysis in the face of unjust and dehumanizing systems that subtly or overtly oppress and devalue others on the basis of human distinctions can no longer exist as the default position of Americans in the world.

On Tuesday, January 20, 2009 we witnessed an historic and revolutionary act of redemption and transition in the global social-political arena. Barach Hussein Obama was inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States. He is the first African American President, raised in Hawaii and Indonesia. He is the son of a Kenyan immigrant and a midwesterner. He was raised with his maternal grandparents and mother, in the absence of his father. he is extremely well-educated and a product of postmodernity. He is struggling to give up his blackberry. He is married to Michelle, also a successful lawyer. They lived in Chicago, where he sought to revitalize struggling communities. He was a state Senator and spent four years in the U.S. Senate. His intellect and capacity to understand complex issues of history, politics, economics, and human relationships makes him a highly capable leader. He is charismatic and bold. He inspires confidence and hope for a generation of people increasingly frustrated with modern institutions, special interest politics, and a consumption-driven economy that privileges the few. He will be paid $400,000 a year to lead our nation out of war, out of economic recession, out of a cultural poverty that lacks beauty and innovation, industry and compassion. We pay entertainers and athletes 100 times what he makes in a year. He was sworn in on Lincoln's inaugural bible.
148 years ago Lincoln, the proclaimer of emancipation, was sworn into the Presidency by the chief justice (Robert Taney) who wrote the decision in the Dred Scott case that stated: "States do not have the right to claim an individual’s property that was fairly theirs in another state. Property cannot cease to exist as a result of changing jurisdiction. The majority decision held that Africans residing in America, whether free or slave, could not become United States citizens and the plaintiff therefore lacked the capacity to file a lawsuit. Furthermore, the parts of the Missouri Compromise creating free territories were unconstitutional because Congress had no authority to abolish slavery in federal territories." ----ruling of the court in Dred Scott vs. Sanford, March 6, 1857. In 1865 and '68 the thirteenth and fourteenth amendmants would guarantee full rights and citizenship for people of African descent. 140 years after the fourteenth amendment is passed, Barack Obama swears to preserve and protect the very constitution that guarantees the equality and freedom essential to our national identity and to rehumanizing the other in our midst. We have lived in deep deception, blindness, and fear. The people who walked in darkness...After Tuesday, isolationism and terrorism--the two actions produced by absolute fear---cannot remain the default mechanism by which humans operate in the world. "We have nothing to fear, but fear itself," said F.D. Roosevelt. And what he meant holds true today more than ever before. Fear is a root cause of suffering. "Perfect love drives out fear," wrote John. To love the other is to engage them, to see them, to welcome them, to feed them, to offer gifts, to embrace as one embraces a friend. We are being called to corporately embrace people. Jesus called this neighbor love. To let love drive one's actions toward the other, rather than fear. Someone said that Obama's presidency means that people will be less afraid of a young black man walking down the street. After all, he could likely be a doctor or a lawyer or a president; as well as a criminal or a gang member. Our default assumptions about people are being reconstructed and this is God's doing in and through history. It shows us that God's work of redemption through history is characterized not by immediate, swift seismic displacement. But by the gently moving wind that moves through the ages. Redemption itself is timeless and eternal, transcending our own agendas and dreams. Dr. King had a dream. He expected it to be realized one day. And that dream is being realized in our lifetime; but there is more work to be done. The twin sister of racial inequality is economic injustice. So with race, now with poverty.

"Time moves on and redemption happens in history. Dry bones are re-assembled, held together by sinews and flesh. Dry bones in the psyche of young African-American males who lack a sense that there is a legitimate place for them at the table. A place where they can express their own voice with pride and dignity. Because Obama embodies this, a healing shift has happened in the African-American story–in the American story.

Time moves on and redemption happens in history. The redemption of past wrongs is a good thing. An African-American president is part of the healing of history. It is part of the healing no matter what your individual political perspective. It is part of the healing because it is flesh being put to dry bones. It is the inclusion of the other. It is the peaceful revolution of hope in which those who have been trampled on by history now come to the table of privilege."---Excerpted from Just an Apprentice; a blog by my friend and co-conspirator Brian Miller.

embracing grace

Scot McKnight is one of my favorite teacher/authors. We are going to explore his book "The Jesus Creed", paraclete press, 2001, for Lent in 2009. That book is about the Jewish Shema and Jesus' summation of the torah that includes the addition of "Love your neighbor as yourself" from Leviticus. McKnight fleshes out the way of Jesus as it pertains to this creed, which is how he understands the use of the Shema in Judaism and in Jesus' spirituality and teachings.
I am now reading McKnight's book "Embracing Grace:A Gospel for all of us" for the Sunday disciple group who asked to spend some time and energy talking about grace. he writes this by way of introduction, "This generation wants an authentic gospel, one that is both proclamation and performance, a gospel that deals with the world they live in: a world that is full of images of people dying and starving and being put to death by goons, a world where there is a profusion of tensions, a world where the Christian faith isn't the only faith in town, a world where one particular deonomination doesn't own the market on everything, a world where neighborhoods don't look like the one in the waltons .
A good question to ask is what sort of gospel story do we need, what sort of news is good news? What story is honest enough about who we are and brave enough about who we are not that it shocks our hearts and at the same time invites us into the truth about life, God, the world, everything? Is the story of Jesus that kind of a story? Does it shock and confront us, does it also welcome us? I think Scot McKnight is right that this generation is not satisfied with sentiments about life after death or with a gospel told from the perspective of the rich, the fortunate, the powerful, the secure. Joel Osteen's gospel just doesn't resonate with a world that is akin to suffering, injustice, abuse, and all manner of sin.
Grace is shocking too. Because it is given freely but comes with a great cost to the giver. Relationally, God's grace includes the betrayal, suffering, and death of Jesus-the anointed son. So, God is exceedingly generous. We are recipients. Hopefully grateful, willing, obedient, and honest recipients who may become an offering in response to such grace.

Kindergarten

So my oldest son will be five in March. He has been attending preschool at a local Lutheran church for two school years. That has been good for him, for my wife, and for our second son. He goes three mornings each week.
Last night my wife and I went to our school district's Kindergarten Expo! We learned everything there is to know about kindergarten. We are not unawares. My wife is an elementary school teacher on extended parenting leave. She does not have a permanent position with a district, but will eventually return to full-time teaching. We get it. We know the drill.
And yet, I was a little freaked out. Its hard to adapt to the idea that our firstborn is old enough already for school buses and math and recess and tests and homework and friends and desks and school supplies and peer pressure and science and reading and writing and teacher conferences and gym class...I may be ahead of myself a little, but h's going to be five. I remember five. not four so much,but five. I remember my bus driver for God's sake! And Paul and Amanda and Amy and sidewalk recess on wet spring days and chalk boards and erasers and standing agains the wall at lunch after being accused unjustly. And the Principal's office and the nurse's office and Mrs.Boyer-Yardley the art lady and Mrs. Franklin--my teacher. And If I can remember these things, then he will too someday. More than anything else, the idea that we are now making memories for him is significant. That's not to say that you get a free pass on bad behavior as a parent of kids below the age of 3 or 4. But now the stakes are higher.What will he remember about his childhood? About his school? His teachers? his friends? his first bus ride? Bullies? Math? Books? The reality that he is increasingly aware of his own past is an integral part of the human experience. isn't it? And we take it for granted. Our deep memory potential. And science tells us we only tap the surface of our mental recall capacity.
There have been stories on the news about people whose brains are wired to remember everyhing that ever happened in their lives. Dates, times, days, faces, names, hurts, etc...all available all the time.
I think forgetting is also a gift sometimes. Even as memory holds great power, for within it lies the possibility of real change. To remember may mean to repeat or to reject what was before. Just as to forget is to allow for the possibility of the same.
WhenJeremiah says that God promises to blot out our transgressions and remember our sins no more, this is no small thing. For God to promise to forget how we act is necessary, isn't it? Were it not so, God would be full of regret. Instead, God chooses not to look at the past but to see us in the present and to move us toward His future; a future I believe that holds more promise for us than does our human past of destruction, chaos, cruelty and the rest of the forgettable stuff of humanity's ugliness. God forgets and God forgives. A free gift for both God and us. Without these things we might all be stuck.
I know this: I will not forget the day Jonah gets on that bus. It will be a sad day and a happy one. And it will be an end and a beginning as so many changes are in life. Inherent in it is the gift of public education, the gift of friendships and community so often found there, and the gift of memories to be collected as part of the journey of life. I will remember and so will he.
Do you remember kindergarten?

Winterfest, Lutheranhands and church

The annual event! Whether its a cool mission trip to Biloxi or a revivalistic, high octane weekend youth event, the annual event has been the hallmark of youth ministry. Now there are regular experiences with youth groups in congregations and maybe even conferences. But they are usually stop gaps between the big events. The events are powerful, transformative experiences. Kids are shaped by the faith of their peers and generational elders. I know, because I grew up in a congregation where the annual event was the thing that kept me engaged in the mundane experiences of the rest of the year. The rest of the year was, well, unspectacular. And if your congregation is one that is not too enaged in youth culture and youth ministry, then you might feel like you've gone from the mountaintop to the cemetery. The natural high of the experience itself gives people an event hangover which can last awhile. Often a few weeks. But the enthusiasm often wanes and the ordinary, mundane reality of life settles us. There is a spiritual deflation that occurs post-event in our church's culture. ELCA national gatherings can have this feel too. They happen only once every three years, so a lot of preparation goes into that one experience. Then it happens. Its awesome. And then we go home. Not so awesome. Sometimes lame. Church for my parents or grandparents, but not me. God was encountered at the event. Not in the weekly gathering or the monthly youth group meeting.
Some youth workers will take offense. I know there is a lot of good youth ministry happening in weekly and monthly experiences too. But what if there are aspects of the annual event that we ought to replicate in more regular ways? What if some aspects of "Winterfest" or the national gathering became part of our dna as church; in worship, learning, and mission? These events are so well done. Like so many continuing ed. events I have attended over the years. Then we leave these best practices behind to return to an untransformed, unspectacular church. What if we began to interpret these annual practices as a way of life? What if we lived like everything post-Easter is an event? What if we lived like this is the new age of the kingdom? What if we lived like the eucharist was the big event? Like the neighborhood meal, the clothing distribution, the after school club, the prisoner-release ministry, and the bowling fellowship was an event? What if we were a non-event, non-prgram church---whom simply lived like everything matters, like evrything counts, like everything is new?
I'd like to gather a team of people who might be ready to be the church offering the best of itself to our world evrey time we gather. I think daily life is the event! Every moment is an event. Every hour is an opportunity to experience the wonder of God, creation, and the gifts found in our relatioships. Let's become a non-event fovcused, non-program driven church. Lets be the church that is driven by the story of Jesus. Lets be the church that is oriented to a way of life, situated in a 21st century context that is ahaped by a first century, biblical worldview. Lts do it now.