Summer Footwear and the worship of the triune God

Lutherans of a certain generation remember a time when what one wore to worship mattered. There was a time when you wore your Sunday best and your best shoes to church. And now we live in such an informal, relaxed culture, that going to church and going to the ball game may not constitute different dress. is that okay? There are evangelical churches, especially megachurches, who have understood inclusion to mean that informal and relaxed apparel is normative and hospitably received---even expected! I think that some folks who go to Willow Creek might feel out of place by wearing a dress or suit and tie. So what ought we to think today about church clothes? There is a bigger question with respect to church culture and clothing or appearances. Who is welcome to hear God speak? Are there reasons why certain people should be excluded from the Christian community gathered on Sunday morning? Are there rules that play in our minds, part of being raised in a certain church culture, that determine whether or not someone is welcome? What about how someone dresses, what they wear? Are some people to be excluded because of their appearance? I wear sandals in the summer time. Others have worn shorts, jeans, flip-flops, etc… in worship, even when I preach and preside at the table. For some, this is a sign of disrespect. Am I disrespectful? If you know me, you know that I adore Christ, love GOD with my heart, have indeed devoted myself to Jesus and His way of love---as humbly as I can. I am not perfect. I am not trying to be right, either. I am trying to be authentically me. I dress the way I dress because I am who I am. I also pray that I am not offensive. I am, however, aware that I have an opportunity here to proclaim something. Jesus opposed the religious rules of His day that excluded people on grounds of uncleanliness. He welcomed, embraced, and included outcasts and sinners. This was not popular among the Pharisees. Jesus was rejected for authentically being God’s Son and announcing that the kingdom of God had come to the poor, the gentile the child, the outcast, the prodigal, the sinner, the thief. He did not seem to care about people’s clothing or religious habits. He loved people as they were because each is wonderfully made in the image of GOD. Jesus did, however, become angry about injustice and about excluding people from synagogue and temple on the basis of certain rules. So, I wear sandals because my footwear does not matter to God. Jesus loves me. That’s grace. And, Jesus calls us to welcome people NO Matter how they are dressed, how they smell, who they vote for, where they live, what color their skin happens to be, or what music they love. I don’t determine whether or not you are worthy to receive communion before I give it to you. It is a gift for everyone—no matter what you wear!
In my congregation, we recently had a clothing giveaway. Not a single person who came to that community event returned to thank God in worship here. (That's not to say that they didn't worship somewhere else). I have to wonder---do people without the "right" clothes feel excluded or judged by church people who dress up?
What will be the response when teens who come to worhsip here are told that their dress is inappropriate and disrespectful? Will they leave? Is a church that is out of step with the current cultural context viable? What do faithful people wear?
Jesus' only talk on dress has to do with worrying about what we will wear. "Consider the lillies of the field," says Jesus. Their beauty is unmatched even by Solomon in all of his splendor. Be who you are, wear what you've got.
So, I'll wear sandals to worship. Hey, someone said, "Who does he think he is, Jesus?" I say,if I'm going to be compared to anyone, I'm honored that it is my Lord. I pray that my heart, my love of others, my devotion to God is what reminds people of Jesus--not just my sandals.

Peace

I attended a conference last week titled, "Preaching peace in a Constantiinian world." It was sponsored by a group called "preachingpeace". I think a better title would have been practicing peace in a Constantinian church. The basic thought, espoused by most historic peace churches (Mennonites, Amish, Brethren...) is that before the Constantinian edict of Milan, the Christian movement was a peaceful movement, characterized by a non-violent polemics against the empire of Caesar. "Jesus is LORD" was a radical olitical statement of non-allegiance to the Roman emperor. Allegiance to Jesus the Messiah, Lord, and King, savior of the world, and prince of peace meant that one's life was bound to his death and resurrection. This meant that suffering at the hands of a persecuting empire was an act of faith. But under the rule of Constantine, the church goes from being a persecuted body to a politic that persecutes others in the name of Jesus. Constantine beleives that the cross gives him victory over his enemies, thereby uniting the sword and the cross as a weapon of conquest. Triumphalism becomes the theology of the church/state under Constantine. The result is 1,700 years of church collusion with the militant empires of this world. To our own day and the United States. The civil war proved that one cannot use the bible to justify warfare. When scripture authorizes violence against ones own brother then I think the rule of the house divided against itself cannot stand applies.
And yet, righteous imperialism thrived in the early 20th century. And with good cause, for there were atheistic enemies in the world--socialists and communists.
And now, are we fighting a Crusade, a holy war with Islamic extremism? Who will call Christian imperialism what it is---an extremist element within the Christian church?
I am a Lutheran. We have cited Augustine's just war as part of our self-understanding. God's peace is eschatological. In the interim, there is sometimes a righteous cause for violence--to protect the innocent. But, in today's world--who is innocent and who is guilty? Who is a civilian and who is an enemy combatant? Ever since Vietnam, warfare has become a gray, messy battlefield. And what doe Jesus command to "love your enemies" entail for us? To turn uor swords into plough shares is a sign of the kingdom of GOD according to the OT prophets. If Jesus is the prince of peace who came to bring not peace but a sword, how do we reconcile these things? I think Jesus came to bring spiritual division between one generation of Jews and the next. And what he means by generation, by parent vs. child, is that the family of GOD will be divided by His coming among us. And so it was. The children of Abraham were divided in their allegiance. Some followed Jesus as Christ and some did not. But I digress.
I have ben somehow converted by the teachings of this conference. I was always, I think a Christian pacifist, but now I am also aware of the impications of this theological position in this age.
Brian McLaren spoke about the stories or myths or paradigms that shape our worldview, understandings, realities. He named a number of them and placed them alongside the gospel. Christians are people who are telling an alternative story, a hopeful story, good news. if the Constantinian story has been one of triumph through military power, the gospel story is resurrection from the dead. The gospel story is about the "triumph" of evil and death; and the rising of true, divine power after evil's "triumph". I would like to read N.T. Wright's book Jesus and the Victory of GOD in response to what I have heard and seen.
I did leave the conference with questions? What is peace? is it possible before th eschaton? Is God peaceful? Is government good and, if so, what government? I think democracy has had a positive effect on the humanitarian rights of women, children, the outcasts. And yet it too is an interim reality. Ultimately, the church and the Kingdom of GOD is a strange kind of monarchy or a united trinitarian leadership that is not authoritarian or domineering in their use of power, but power exercised through self-giving love. How do we embody that when there is so much violence globally? Should the church have a greater role in quelling violence through nonviolent protest? How many Christian martyrs will there be before the end of the age? Will I be one? What if I'm not? MLK, Jr. said its not enough to hate war and violence, one has to love peace and pursue it.

weeping and rejoicing

On Sunday a dear woman, Gladys, age 78 and mother of three, had a massive stroke at home. She was worshipping with us at Zion only an hour or two before.
The family spent a couple of days with her in the hospital, though she never regained consciousness. She died around 7:00 am on Tuesday morning. I was privileged, as Pastors and spiritual leaders often are, to be with her and her family in the days and hours before her death. The breadth of human emotion is expressed in a time of imminent mortality. We laughed and cried. And there was GOD's grace and mercy.
Then, Tuesday night I went to Vacation Bible school at Zion in Leola. Cherie and I are offering gathering music to welcome kids every night. It is fun and light-hearted and happy-clappy.
So, on Tuesday I spent time mourning with a family in mourning and rejoicing with a crowd of rejoicing kids and adults! What other job in the world is like this---with people in the midst of the ups and downs. It can feel like a roller coaster, schizophrenic, and I love it!

trailer park incarnation

This famous picture Of Jesus is not Jesus. Sorry everybody who has this picture hanging in your house somewhere. It's not Jesus. I saw Him last week.
On Thursday afternoon I decided to take some flyers to a couple of local trailer parks, inviting residents to our 1st clothing giveaway and community cookout. I went to Hilltop first. Its a nicer trailer park, modular home park south of Akron. Most of the units in this community are newer, nicer dwellings. I saw a few people outside and invited them, all said thanks.
Thenk I decided to drive over Steinmetz toward the Clark's neighborhood on Hurst. On my way, however, I noticed a few mobile homes I'd not noticed before. It is a small park with maybe twenty dwellings on Steinmetz in Akron. I walked through and distributed flyers. Most of the dwellings were in disrepair, older, and poorly maintained--I wuold call them glorified shacks. There were a few vehicles in the park. I saw two women, one with an infant son, and an older woman in her fifties or sixties. I admit that being there felt like I was in the third world. Broken glass, old vehicle parts, papers, trash, cigarette butts. After I finished distributing I saw a man behind me. He was taller than me and thin. He wore torn shorts and a t-shirt. He had long, dark hair and a beard that had a braid in it. He wore sunglasses and held a long stick that he spun like a weapon. He was an amputee, missing his right hand. He was smoking. I approached and said hi. He said hello. I asked if he received a flyer. For what, he asked. I said, from my church...he immediately said, "No. I'm not into organized religion." To which I responded, "Its just a cookout." "Yeah, I know," he said. I left. I quit distributing after that. I thought about that park, that guy, the condiions of poverty I perceived there. I wondered how detached and isolated the residents may be from the places, people, and things that might improve their situation. I judged them with pity, felt some anger about not knowing they were there, and wondered how to reach out to them. After my encounter with the guy I decided that some people are beyond my capacity to reach. I don't know how to relate there. I felt like an intruder, an invader, and an unwelcomed presence. I was not dressed in the clothes of organized religion, clergy garb. But the very thought of a church presence there was rejected by that guy.
The clothing giveaway came and went. Around 200 people were welcomed here to receive gifts of clothes and food. I didn't give a lot of thought to that guy.
Then, last night in bed after beign awakened by baby Eli for the night time change and feeding, I had an overwhelming feeling. I had the feeling that that guy in the park, the dirty, bearded, scary-looking amputee, was Jesus. And I can't shake it. I think he was Jesus. It isn't his appearance exactly, but the enitre brief encounter that stirs me. His opposition to "organized religion" raised my anxiety and caused me to keep moving. I didnt know how to respond to him. he cleary dismissed my invitation without even seeing what it was for. What if he was Jesus? Did I miss an opportunity to hear something important or to offer something to Him? Or am I being called back there even now by Jesus. And if so, how and in what way? Might I go there with Rodney and set up a table with hot cocoa or coffee or food or something? I don't know. But I was stirred last night by the image of this guy--this Jesus in the flesh of a man in a forgotten old trailer park in Akron. I know that I saw Jesus there. I think the message may be hidden in that very encounter. Maybe I am supposed to realize something about this context and about local poverty and the church's role in it. Could it be that orgnized religion is seen as elitist, exclusive, and dipassionate? Are we viewed as condescending, know-it-alls, who think we can fix the "problems" with a little money and annual benevolence?
I saw Jesus last week. And last night he came to me again to reveal himself to me in that park so that I might be changed by Him for Him for others for GOD.
I saw Jesus. Funny, the other week Jesus was a woman who came to me for prayer, money, and my cell phone at javateas too. Her name was Betty, a poor soul with an oversized black t-shirt that read, "Yay, God" on the front. Ask Mark Rutter about it.
Is part of discipleship to see Jesus everywhere, incarnated in the faces of random people we bump into on the way? Do we see Jesus often and am I only now becoming more attuned to His presence? It seems that the more I allow myself to be sent, the more I sense Jesus is sent to me. he's everywhere, but mostly in the person next door. May you come to see Jesus in the people you encounter, who are sent to you in the stranger you would have chosen to avoid, overlook, or dismiss. May you see Jesus in the person you might fear. I want to see Him again.

Saturday at ZION

Clothing Giveaway and community cookout this Saturday from 9:00 to 1:00 pm. Over 20 Zion people have been engaged in the preparations for this grace event. A new group, the MOZ (Men of Zion) has formed. May GOD send neighbors to receive. May GOd contine to increase the spirit of generosity and openness to neighborhood currently working in some leaders at ZION.
There is a real spirit of renewal happening right now that I hope we can capitalize on it in the months ahead. There is energy, an amazing power. I pray that Saturday bears fruit that tastes so good that Zion people want more...When God's people taste the goodness of GOD experienced in mission, the spirit of service and generosity is contagious. May it spread like widlfire through the community of believers who gather at Zion this weekend. And I hope that I am offered an opportunity to proclaim, to share, and to welcome people. The one who began a good work in us will be faithful to complete it. maywe see the fruit of our ministry this weekend.

Bonnie and javateas

This morning Mark Rutter and I went to javateas for coffee and conversation, both of which were excellent. Mark is a great guy with great potential. Its interesting to hear someone reflect on themselves and their dreams and hopes for life improvement post-unemployment. Mark may join the national guard's army or air force band. That way he can get his college degree on the army's dollar. Good idea. He'll make a good high school band director in a few years.
So while I'm enjoying my warm double chocolate muffin and coffee, a woman enters. She is dressed in a long black tee shirt that said "Yay, God" in white. She had very long dark hair and bad teeth. She seemed anxious. She came in and out several times. As we're talking she overhears us. She approaches me and asks for prayer. She also asks to use my cell phone. So, I pray for her, let her use my cell phone, and give her $3.00 for lunch. Her name is bonnie. She is a poor soul in need of healing and help. i prayed that GOD would send people/angels to offer her God's grace and mercy. I pray that she seeks to walk in God's ways and to know God's constant presence and support.
Now, what evolved was a connection with Sara and Courtney, two christians working at javateas. They were concerned about what to do for bonnie. They were, I think, relieved that I was there to help, pray, etc...I told them to refer people to me, to use me as a pastor-in-residence. I think I need to be there every week or every other week as a third place, a mediating place, a front porch point-of-contact with the community. God has been sending me there for over a year now. Every time I ignore the call, something happens there to remind me that it is a place in which God is sending me in order to serve. I've led worship there on a Sunday night. We tried to initiate a Wednesday night conversation time. maybe its time to renew a relationship with them in order to meet people. No matter, its a great place to eat and drink and blog...

Leadership training Camp

I sent three senior high students to Christian leadership training camp. They came back and it changed them. They want more. More from their church ,more from themselves, more from GOD. We spent an hour making plans already. They want to lead worship on Sunday nights at 6:00 that is mission-focused, deeply relational, and highly participatory. They want intimacy in worship and in learning, with opportunities to serve in and outside the congregation. They want to hug and sing and make a difference. They want to feel like they are part of something bigger than themselves that also depends on them, even though it transcends them. They want to share what happened with the congregation in preaching next weekend. I am so excited about this! What will happen next? I intend to make the space they need to be the church now. I hope we have laid the foundation and that people around us are ready for something to happen. Because I believe it is happening now. And we can't stop it. We can try. but we will fail. This is a GOD thing. And God will be faithful to complete the good work begun in them,
They want to invite everyone. They want to listen, learn, share, worship, and live a new way. They are starting to get it. They need their spirit to become contagious enough to build a church here, a church which will emerge from their experience as a community of faith.
May the Spirit not be quenched by unbelief, fear, and a lot of other adult nonsense. May they find support, encouragement, and a wellspring of Spiritual power to do and be disciples of Jesus. "Let no one reject you becasue you are young, but set the beleivers an example in speech, action, and in the spiritual walk you are taking." May they hear receive this Word from GOD for them.

facebook

I'm new to this popular online community called facebook. Not sure what its worth yet. Wondering if it is a venue for interaction or not...I can see the potential of exponential growth as one gets connected to others through 'friends'. I can see how it can become a long-distance relationship tool, too. And a way to reconnect with people.
I'm not sure how it is being used by people in a relational way yet. I've not really had an opportunity, but I'm willing to see what happens.
Maybe this is a new way to build or be a church? An online community of faith? What might that be like? And what would be the downside? Is it even possible to belong to a community of faith that gathers only online? Or is there an intimate relational piece that requires physical proximity? Does the incarnational aspect of church assume bodily presence? And how is bodily presence mediated, as sacramental people? For Lutherans Christ is really present in, with, and under the bread and wine.This means that when we eat the rbead and drink the cup, Jesus shows us somehow, and this is a mystery. And this mystery is not to be solved but enjoyed for what it is. Could the web become a sacramental reality, mediating the body of Christ to a generation of people? Or is it a way to avoid the vulnerability and truth of actual closeness? How can you share peace and not touch? Does anyone have any opinions or experiences with this? I see how blogging has drawn people together in some regards, but I wonder about forming community online.

LCP in 3

I spent three hours inside lancaster Co. prison today. I talked with two guys, both heading upstate for armed robbery, auto theft, and who knows what else. Drug use started early, started at home with mom or dad or both. Both said that they have thought long and hard about why they did what they did when they did it.Both recongnize that their actions were irrational and unnecessary. one of them told me that he met his girlfriend in a porn shop, where he was dealing drugs. I also learned that he used to enjoy landscaping and that he loves kids--though he has no children. he was raising his girlfriends three kids when he was arrested. he has done time in four prisons and LCP is the worst.
we talked about God and Jesus. One of the guys s struggling with biblical "inconsistencies". he is learning that the bible is not one uniform text, but many texts over many centuries written ina context very different from ours. And yet, somehow the bible speaks to us,too. even with its inconsistencies.
The other guy has grown skepticalby seeing jailhouse religion. I mentioned that religion and God are not the same thing. Religion is what we do to seek God or bargain with God or assuage our guilt. But it is possible for God to actually transform people from the inside out.
I will see both of these guys again, i suspect. Even though the guards forgot about me and I was left inside for anhour past the designated time of visit.
I began to uncover some sense of brokenness, loneliness, maybe even some yearning for a better story than the one they've been told, or the one they're telling about the world and themselves in it. I'm not sure what to make of these visits yet. Why do I go? What good will come? is God using me or is the devil testing me in some way? I just keep hearing Jesus say, "I was in prison and you visited me." does that include serious felons? Is there a line? can grace become too foolish or dangerous? I actually thought, whatif this comes back to hurt me or my family in some way? might some paroled guy try to take advantage of me on the outside? interesting how fear can creep in. We'll see how it goes next week. Three hours in prison visitaton is longer than I spent in prison visitation in my first 7years of ministry. Why am I suddenly being sent there? for whom? For what? is God really sending me or am I being works righteous? It does seem that as I make more connections with people,bringing the message of the kingdom to them in some smalll way, the more I feel the weight of my own sin. Sometimes I feel like I'm more stuck than others, like a hypocrite for living this way. Everyday is a day for which I need forgiveness and healing from GOD. I pray that as I am forgiven and healed, somight I heal and forgive...

trees

i have a tree in my yard. it grew naturally under one of my pine trees. its a maple tree. i let it grow to about 3 feet high. it was flourishing. i decided to transplant it into my yard and see if i might get it to grow. i dug out the roots, and buried it in a hole in our side yard. i killed it. dead. i think. i may let it go for a few weeks and see if something grows. the leaves turned brown. maybe some root will take.
i was able to take something God made by nature of reproductive design and kill it so quickly. why is that? i feel like going out and buying a tree to plant there in its place. i want to partner with God i nthe healing and restoration of creation, but i killed a potential carbon eating tree that God was growing.
do you ever feel like you're a bigger part of the problem than you mean to be? Like when my three-year-old cries after he hit his brother and I say, "Jonah!" He says, with tears flowing, "I'm sorry daddy,I didn't mean it." I didn't mean to contribute to the decay, the pain, the groaning of creation. I meant to plant, water, and rejoice at the growth.

isoalted populations

the kingdom of God is like a man who is released from prison. Upon release he is offered a postion with a local company that distributes food to elderly people who live alone. he is offered a room in a large home at an affordable rental rate. In exchange, he is expected to clean up after meals and tend to the upkeep of the yard. he is given a low interest loan from a church to attend a local community college at night. ON Saturdays he helps the church distribute food at their food pantry. after completing his education, he receives a promotion, and buys a home through habitat for humanity. his wife and three children join him there, after spending four years in separate countries. they adopt a fourth child.

I wonder if this scenerio happens? isn't more likely that people released from prison struggle to gain respect and opportuities for personal advancement?
we isolate people. we do. i've been made more aware of this truth as I have been sent to them, following Jesus there. I started visiting people in prison. now I can't stop. I am interested in their stories. I hear the story of God and of Jesus in their stories. I hear the story of Joseph and John the baptist and Jesus and Paul in their stories. I hear the story of the crucified bandits; "Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom." These are forgotten people. we isolate them to preserve safety, to maintain order, to protect the self-interests of the average middle-class white american. in so doing, we create a system that oppresses people, keeping them locked up even after they are released. life is harder outside if you've been inside. Its not surprising to hear the alarming rate of return for offenders.
it is hard for people who live above the system of oppression to see it. but I have seen people stuck in prison for months, without any personal progress, rehabilitation, reconciliation, or renewal offered to them. one might say, they had their chance before they broke the law. true. maybe. what if they didn't? Now I'm not just a bleeding heart. what if people are to be held accountable and responsible for their actions and offered mercy, forgiveness, and efforts to reconnect them with the broader gifts of society? I believe there is a third way of dealing with people on the margins. One way is to make ghetto populations. another way is to defend them. a third way is to go and visit them, befriend them, invite them to the way of forgiveness. who else is isolated? The elderly. the sick. the dying. the disabled. the poor. think about housing for people in poverty and how it islolates them from a mixed population. I meet people living in the worst conditions, trailers unfit for animals; cramped, old, apartments in disrepair. and he retirement nursing care facility is a perfect population isolater. out of sight, out of mind. the creatino of certain institutions of isolation has led us to create a gentrified society of have's and have-nots. these institutions need to be reformed from top to bottom. jesus says, "when i was in prison ou visited me,sick and you took care of me, hungry and you fed me." I believe he was the master of reconciliation by reconnecting marginalized people with the center of community life. he deconstructed the solid lines of exclusion and constructed fluid lines of inclusion. tomorrow I will go back to the prison. I will join he isolated population there, if only for a couple of hours. but when i do, I meet Jesus.

Prison

I've been visiting a woman at Lancaster Co. prison. She has been in for almost a month now. She was charged with a probation violation with a failed drug test. She is not a user. The probation officer failed her. While she is there, she is mistreated. She is not allowed access to her prescription meds. When she is, she is prescribed a double dose, which she stops taking after two days. She is told nothing after her arrest. Two weeks pass before she knows anything about her own situation. Three weeks pass before she sees a lawyer that friends on the outside retain for her. Another week passes before she finds out a court date. People who are charged with more serious crimes are processed faster than she. She sits. She waits. Why?
We are praying for her release on May 29th, her birthday. She is ripe to know the God of liberation and release. She is ready to meet the rescuing God. Now would be the time for God to act on her behalf in a decisive way. She will remain patient until the day comes. but may it come on May 29th or sooner.
The goal of the system is not release but retention. To keep people in, rather than to reform and free. Shouldn't the goal be to improve people's lives before they are released? Shouldn't prison create opportunities? Shouldn't we care what happens to people on the inside?
Like all large institutions, however, membership is everything. Nonmembers don't tend to care what happens therein, unless they are connected or invested in some other way. Church people are like this too. We want to keep people in. The goal is to send people out better than when they came in. With God's blessing, instentions, forgiveness, and missional love. The goal is to send people out, not keep them in. But institutions are flawed. They are centripetal in nature. God is a centrifugal force---pushing out from the center to the margins. People are closed. God is open. People are limited. God is infinite. People are isolated. God is all-embracing.

Walking to School

I walked to school today--a short walk on a beautiful day. I hope to walk or ride bicycle to work in the spring and summer. Perhaps for an entire week! Walking is healthy, changes one's pace and capacity to be productive. It takes longer to get from place to place, so less can be accomplished. Less is sometimes more.

I spent two hours at Lancaster Co. Prison on Monday, visiting two 20-somethings who are in trouble. They need healing and hope and a way to live that is better than what they have been living. They need an Exodus from the life they are in. Jen from the legal system itself and from probation; Justin from relationships and from a negative self understanding. He also needs to be freed from addiction. I spent time talking about Baptism, God's grace, etc...I will visit them again next Monday. Prison is a deeper experience than the cell one is confined to. It is in ones mind. I will visit more regularly with news of God's Exodus plan for those in prison.

Tomorrow I need time to focus on God's Word. I will be with Rodney Martin in the morning to listen and pray. In the afternoon I will be at school and then at the Beck's before the council meeting. I am looking forward to council. I think the meeting could be fruitful, if people are willing to accept that the church's focus is on making disciples who follow Jesus and serve neighbors. It is that simple. I'm not here to keep members happy or content. If they aren't open to learn the way of Jesus, then they ought not to get in the way of those who are. I'm here to make members into disciples of Jesus. But I've already run into members who think that they call the shots, without experience or understanding behind it. Disciples are willing to experience God's gifts, even when they become uncomfortable, becasue they trust that God is the one in charge. Sheep prefer to wander off on their own with their heads down. Shepherds are called to lead the flock to the pastures and waters ahead, that they cannot see. No wonder the sheep metaphor works.

marketing and church

My friend, a colleague, wants our missional leaders group to talk about marketing techniques and church. I am eager to do so. Here's why:
Marketing the church is like selling doves in the temple. It betrays an ecclesiology sold out to consumer, market-driven ecomomics. The sacraments, prayer, mercy, serving, God's Word are not for sale. And we are not in competition with other gospels, other churches, other religions, other spiritualities, other ways of living. Attractional modes of church require marketing strategies today, in a market that is overloaded with religious and pshyco-spiritual self-help. Since Christianity isn't the most popular kid on the block, especially mainline Christendom, then we feel like survival is dependent on becoming more trendy and relevant---and to do so requires a rebranding of ourselves and a new marketing strategy. Savvy consumers will recognize that to market Christianity is to dumb it down, simplify it, and understate it. Can't market theology of the cross in a culture that avoids suffering and death at all costs. Can't market creation stewardship in a culture unwilling to reject so many idols, whose byproducts destroy clean air, water, ecosystems, etc...Whose ready to sell their possessions and give their money to the poor? Try marketing that!

It's a false ecclesiology, a failing one, that will go the same way Christendom went (though it took 11 centuries). when we start talking marketing, we start talking about advertising. How long will it take consumers to realize that we aren't selling cheap latte's, but cheap grace? Cheap grace is grace without the cost of discipleship.
I'm all for sharing the hope that is in us. But I don't think it's about a marketing strategy. I think its about love and love is about realtionships and relationships are harder than making a striking 'ad' or radio spot. Unfortunately we have a single model for building church: People live like Jesus. Some people are repelled by that, others gravitate toward it. We invite those people to come and follow, too. They learn to live like Jesus. Some are repelled by them and others are inspired by them. They are invited to join us, too. And some do.
It begins with how we live as public witnesses. Missional Christians love their neighbors and friends unconditionally. They also seek to go deeper into the mystery of divine presence through ancient spiritual practices. And they invite others to experience the same mystery.

Laps for Loose

How does separation of church and state pertain to a church's supportive involvement in a local elementary school? I have a parishioner, a beloved servant and disciple of the Lord,who is opposed to any overt involvement from the church. For example, we are going to provide an end-of-the-year thank you gift to the faculty---Fair trade coffee and chocolate with a note of gratitude for their "inspiring devotion to Akron's children." This parishioner is opposed to such a gesture. I don't believe this is a breach of the separatin clause. And the ELCA has an entire social statement devoted to our calling in education, including a fine section on public education and our supportive role therein as a church.
Now, every Wednesday and Thursday afternoon I am a classroom helper in our local elementary school. I was assigned to Mr. Bonagura's hird grade class in the late Fall. I'mnot as consistent as I would like to be, but most weeks I am able to be there. I help them with math and writing. There are students who need some extra encouragement to keep motivated. there are students who need someone working with them one-on-one in order to keep up. I gravitate toward them. I love being in the class. They're a great group of kids. And Adam is a good teacher.
So, I come as a Pastor. I sometimes dress in clerics and a cross. They all call me Pastor Lenahan. Its no secret that I amthe leader of a local congregation. but I am not there to pray with the kids, to invite them to church, to start a bible study, or to engage in church-focused activity. I am there to assist them in their academic achievements. But I am also a Pastor, called and sent to embody the message of the gospel. I remember Paul's words in romans 1, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel. It is the power of God for those who believe." I amnot ashamed to be who I am there. The kids know that I am safe, caring, kind, funny, helpful, and loyal. I come back.
There is a third grader who is dying from cancer. The students are walking laps on the track in compassionate response to Brandon. One of his dream destinations is Mt. Rushmore, so the kids are walking the equivalent miles in a virtual trip with Brandon to the tourist attraction. Last week, I walked with them. One girl, Tori, walked with me. we held hands and walked together, talking a lot about cancer. Brandon's chances are not good and some of the kids are talking about it. She said, "He might not make it." How do we talk about death with kids? How do we talk about the injustice of cancer and why their friend is suffering? All I could say is that cancer is dangerous and deadly, that fighting it is hard, and that we ought to be hopeful and encouraging despite knowing that truth. I did not share what my hope is in. If they asked me, I would tell them.
When their counselor came to the class to help them process their thoughts and feelings, Daniel said, "We have a Pastor."
This week I intend to contact brandon and his family as offer encouragement, prayer, even prayers for healing with anointing. I hope they might take me up on it. I'm not sure if they have spiritual care or not. in what do they have their hope? I'd like to share mine with them.
I suspect the faculty will receive these little token gifts well. I don't believe we are infringing on their religious liberty. We are not asserting any belief, save one: Christians are called to love and to serve with grace.That means we do so free of conditions, free of charge, free of ulterior motives. I have no motive beside that of a servant. I do not believe that my presence at the school is meant to be seen as a marketing technique, an opportnity to invite, or a way to promote Zion Lutheran. The church is sent on a mission. Working on attracting people is a distraction from our higher purpose and calling. If people come on account of the way we live and serve, good. if they don't, at least we lived faithfully in commmuity. As for Brandon, I am praying that God provides a healing miracle so that His glory and power might be revealed in Akron. And if not, then we'll keep on doing math together.

“The earliest reference to the resurrection is Saint Paul’s, and he makes no mention of an empty tomb at all. But the fact of the matter is that in a way it hardly mattes how the body of Jesus came to be missing because in the last analysis what convinced the people that he had risen from the dead was not the absence of his corpse but his living presence. And so it has been ever since.” Frederick Buechner, Listening to your Life, p. 102.

“This, then, is the more or less universal witness of the early Christians; that they are who they are, they do what they do, they tell the stories they tell not because of a new religious experience or insight but because of something that happened; something that happened to the crucified Jesus; something that they at once interpreted as meaning that he was after all the Messiah, that God’s new age had after all broken into the present time, and that they were charged with a new commission; something that made them reaffirm the Jewish belief in resurrection, not swap it for a Pagan alternative…” N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking heaven, the resurrection, and the mission of the church, p.57.

How do we embody this resurrection community? We are fearless, bold, humble, and generous. We are alive with hope, not hopelessly dying. I do beleive that nihilism is the last enemy of the gospel. When people lose hope, the will to live follows. Or at least the will to truly live the life that is life; abundant life, eternal life, kingdom of God life. People with little or no hope live exclusively for the now, wallowing in the past--past joys, past regrets, past experiences. Congregations can become nihilistic in their self-perception. There was a golden age. And rather than plan for tomorrow, 'we can't' becomes the paradigm for movement. And we get stuck in a time that has passed. Zion is trying to live like they did 30 years ago. It won't work.

To live in hope is to live free from the sins of the past. It is also to live with a sure vision of the hoped-for future--a reality that is better than now. It is to live now as if that future were already taking hold of us, as if we were already there. To live in hope is to dream with the God who raised His son from the dead. Death does not finish us. Jesus is the end and the beginning. I am alive with hope because something happened that makes no sense but changed the world on a Sunday in first century palestine. May believers come to embody this living hope for a world desperate for a new future, a new story, a better life.

church

I wonder what people see when they see "the church", and by that I mean our building and the few people who come here on Sunday mornings. Do they see a dead tree? A wintered tree? A tree without leaves? And how might we become leafy to our neighbors? How might we soak up the sun/son and emit the breath of life like tree leaves do? Is that not our task and calling as church? To abide with Jesus in such a way that we can't avoid the light,the water, the wind. To let those things cause in us the emergent growth of spring and to provide shade for the weary and breathable air for all. I suspect that the challenge is to get people connected with Jesus as the source of their life first. We need to create a space for hospitality to take hold and welcome people. And we need to create space for holy conversation, prayer, and listening to occur. We need to create space where people can encounter the holy, sacred, otherness of GOD present to us in the ways God promises to be. "I am the vine, you are the branches." This weekend I hope to call our attention to that John text as a source of our spiritual nourishment.May those Words of Christ bear muchfruit in our hearts, minds, and lives.

help

What do we do with a family of six who are not making enough money to pay their bills? They have a 910.00 electric bill and a 62.00 truancy fine for unexcused school absenses. We've already given them Christmas, a new stove, a way out of a bad storage contract, gas heat, food. I don't regret doing any of these things. but how far do we go? We don't want to create a relationship of dependence, but we don't want the children to suffer either. Electric shut off is in 15 days, by which time 600.00 is due or else. Thet can't pay that bill. Without us, they will have no electricity. have they been irresponsible? And what if they have been? When did it start? High School? When they bought this place? And how can we get at the root of the matter? I think its time to talk with them about Jesus, sin, death, and the way of life. I'm not sure how open they will be, but I think the turnaround only happens when they face the truth in light. I hope to speak the truth to them in love. And I hope my invitation to live is received.
And I hope this congregation continues to pour themselves out to people like them, undeserved and a little lost. It is in a generous out-pouring, an unexpected and surprising, unreasonable outpouring of himself that Jesus rescues us all. May we love as he loves us.

Signs of the holy

I'm working my way through Tony Jones' book "The Sacred Way" in preparation for this weekend. I find myself, as usual, attempting to intellectualize and package spiritual disciplines in order to give a presentation or an education to a group of people. This comes from my own sense of inadequacy abuot this. I am asked to offer contemplative prayer. They went to become immersed in a spiritual experience. What I hope to do is to create a space whereby people can gather and share an experience of God's presence through the contemplative arts.
I think we will cultivate silence, lectio divina, and some centering prayer. We may talk about Luther's way to pray the catechism and I'll show them the Lutheran Rosary we do.
One of the things I've noticed is that my preparations for this weekend have forced me to be alone in the office all week. prep for worship and workshops is time consuming. I feel largely cut off from others. I suspect that effective spiritual direction has always required that one balance the solitary with the communal. Bonhoeffer's book "life Together" attests to that very balance of life in community and life apart. They are complimentary and are needed in equal doses. It may be that my solitude this week is partly so that I can be very present to those in attendance at this retreat. Even though this is a continuing education event for youth workers, I'm treating it as a spiritual/vocational retreat whereby those present will be renewed for their journeys.
Tomorrow Rodney and I will begin a new step in the apostolic journey, as we begin a time of prayer coupled with a time of engagement with some new neighbors. "The Sacred Earth" is a new gift shop in our town. We wonder if it has neo-pagan roots. We are interested in the place and the people there. So we'll go there after we pray to see what we see and to introduce ourselves. May the LORD be with us.

new website

Zion Akron has a new website! It's under construction but will be in good shape by the end of next week. I'm excited about it. I think we are beginning to emerge. Now I pray that God sends others to us to continue the journey with us. Church emerges slowly from the ashes of the institutional malaise. But if we are faithful and spiritually rooted in the Vine of Christ, life will be ours.
Check out the site in the next week or so. And let me know what you think.