Sicko provokes questions

Michael Moore, controversial documentary film maker, has done it again. His newest film,"Sicko" is about health care and insurance. He raises some pretty serious questions about the nature of US health care versus socialized medicine found in countries like Canada, France, Great Britain, and Cuba. The question he asks is, "if these countries can provide universal government sponsored health care, then why can't we? Anyone can walk into a health care facility in those countries and be treated with no charge, no id cards, nothing. Americans have moved to these places for their health care and child care services. He talks about insured Americans who have struggled to pay their enormous medical bills. He doesn't even talk about the 50 million uninsured Americans. While insurance companies call the medical shots and raise the costs of medical care here, so that middle class americans are becoming impoverished by their medical debts, other countries provide for their citizens medical needs as if their governments have a moral obligation to provide for everyone. Sounds democratic to me. I frankly think I like democratic socialism better than the broken system we have here. And Moore makes the point that many systems of American life are socialized---i.e., public schools. Why not health care? If we believe that everyone over the age of 5 should be able to go to school, then why shouldn't everyone receive health care? Not just basic puiblic health,but total universal care? Hillary Clinton would have movede us toward that during President Clinton's tenure, but she was shut down by the conservative republicans using anti-socialist rhetoric to scare Americans away. Their argument being that government should not be able to choose your doctor. So why do we allow HMO's to choose for us? (He reminds us that the history of the HMO program comes from the Nixon administration). I would prefer that I have to go to a government-approved doctor, if I knew that my poor neighbor could receive the same health care as I do. There is a moral obligation that Americans do not realize, because the god of our culture is 'mammon'. Someone once said that the love of money is the root of all evil. Our idols have distracted us from our obligations to the poor and the needy in our midst. Won't someone heed the words of the prophets? Won't someone listen to Jesus,"When you did these things to the least of these, you did them unto me." When we serve the poor, we serve the living GOD. We serve Jesus by caring for the poor. Mother Theresa said, "Each one of them is Jesus in disguise."
Sicko provokes strong feelings--the main one being, what is and from where do we collectively receive our sense of moral obligation to provide for the neighbor's needs? Who is my neighbor? And how do we level the playing field so that all are offered a sufficient, sustainable livelihood? Watch "Sicko" and tell me what you think...Do we have an obligation to see to it that all people have access to quality health care ands that non one is turned away becaus they can't pay? Whose in charge? Insurance companies, HMO's, big businesses? or are we, the people in charge? What about big oil? And green energy? Why don't we demand that big oil use its record profits to develop greener energy now? And why don't we demand cleaner fuels now? If we know that the US has fallen below the Kyoto agreement and that we have a global climate crisis directly related to our consumption of carbons, why don't we demand another way? What if the Christian movement is meant to resist, reject these corrupt ways of living in order to promote global harmony and peace? How might Christians unite under certain moral criteria? hat we are all equally under sin. That God loves the world. That Jesus' death and resurrection reveals God's saving intentions for everyone? That participating with Jesus in the healing and redemption of the world is a faith-initiated task that leads to alternative ways of life? That Christians have the responsibility to steward counter- culturally. That the church's mission is for the poor to be made rich, the hungry to be filled, and the captive released? We are Jubilee workers, kingdom builders, mustard seed planters.God requires our participation in the global enterprise to renew the face of the earth, because love requires a lover and a beloved in a living union of purpose. We are in covenant with God. And it is with God's grace and power that we are free to love by our actions. We have a moral calling to love and heal the world, to provide for the least, and to share what God has given. And we must advocate. We must speak the truth to power. So, thanks Michael Moore for doing what Christians are called to do.

Patrick's poem from my daily prayer book

"I sing as I arise today!
I call on my creator's might;
the will of God to be my guide,
the eye of God to be my sight,
the Word of God to be my speech,
the hand of God to be my stay,
the shield of God to be my strength,
the path of God to be my way. Amen." ---St. Patrick

daily desert

I received a new devotional book in the mail. It's a compilation of wisdom from the desert fathers, monastics and ascetics from the early centuries of the church. I think the reading for today is appropriate given the last post from this morning:

Proverbs 25:6-7: "Do not put yourself forward in the king's preence or stand in th place of the great; for it is better to be told, "Come up here," than to be put lower in the presence of a noble."

"A brother asked Poemen, "How should I conduct myself in the place where I live?" Poemen answered, "Be as careful as a stranger, and wherever you are, do not expect the things you say to be taken seriously. Do this and you will discover peace."

I was a stranger and you welcomed me.

I am not comfortable entering an unfamiliar place and explaining myself. Yesterday, I stopped in to the pottery shop down the street to introduce myself. I felt like a fish out of water, like I wasn't wearing clothes. And all I wanted to do was meet them. Its hard to meet people, to face them with nothing to sell or buy. People want a good reason for you to come.
I did ask a couple of good questions. She and her family have lived in Akron for 40 years. She teaches ceramics, works with kids,and is open to working with small groups. I'd love to get more involved with throwing pottery. Actually, I'd love to commission a communion set---a chalice and small bread plate, maybe a pitcher too. Nice to use indigenous materials, local artists.
Apparently there is not much art happening locally. I wonder about plugging into her work as an event for young adults...
Often when we read that Jesus was a stranger that we welcomed, we are thinking about our hospitality toward others. But what if we, Jesus' sent ones, were meant to embody the way of the stranger. What I mean is, what if we are called to place ourselves in the position of the stranger in search of hospitality? What if we are supposed to be the one who feel uncomfortable in our own skin? Being incarnational means becoming a stranger. Only by becoming a stranger can you become a friend or a messenger or a servant. Missional life is initiated by our willingness to be a stranger in a strange land, a foreigner, a resident alien (as Stanley Hauerwas said). I hope to actively engage in this mission to be the stranger in the room. What might come of it? I believe there is great potential in doing so, in engaging people where they are. It is the stranger whose intent is love that reveals the resurrected Jesus. So, go and be a stranger somewhere. but be a stranger with compassion or with joy or with peace or with grace in your heart and speech and actions. See what that feels like and how God is present to you through it.

Derek Webb and "One Zero"

I bought a CD the other day at a Christian bookstore. I rarely go in there. And I hardly ever listen to "Christian" music. I prefer to listen to excellent music and, if the people making it happen to be influenced by their faith in Jesus, even better. Nonetheless, I bought "One Zero" an acoustic set by Derek Webb of the band "Caedmon's call". I love his blend of chords and thoughtful lyrics.
"Take to the World" strikes me as the perfect missional anthem. These are the lyrics:

"Go in peace to love and to serve
And let your ears ring long with what you have heard
And may the bread on your tongue leave a trail of crumbs
To lead the hungry back to the place that you are from

And take to the world this love, this hope and faith
Take to the world this rare relentless grace
And like the three in one
Know you must become what you want to save
'Cause that's still the way
He takes to the world

Go and go far take light deep in the dark
Believe what's true use it as all, even you
May the bread on your tongue leave a trail of crumbs
To lead the hungry back to the place you are from

missio dei

What is God up to? I believe its a bigger project than keeping small, self-serving congregations afloat. Call it the in-breaking of the Kingdom, or the righteousness of God received by faith, or the dream/vision of a new creation--God has begun a global project to reach humanity and invite us to participate with Jesus in the reclamation of all that belongs to God. Big project. Likely not through one denomination or expression of Christianity. Likely carried out in subtle, hidden, incarnational expressions of love. Like a man starting a neigbor's lawnmower because her husband is gone and she can't start it. Like an hour on the phone with a woman sobbing because of the nastiness of the custody hearing. Like an hour with 3rd graders doing math and a half-day moving a friend from the old house to the new one. Like a simple gift brought to the new young family, less than 24-hours after the baby is born.
The missio dei is a way of life. It is how we live together, how we respond to God's love and grace and how we show that same love and grace to our neighbors. It is forgiveness, praying for enemies, non-violent truth-telling, patient endurance in suffering, rejoicing and mourning, comforting and encouraging. It is to have a deep hope in the God who raised Jesus from the dead--that life is eternal, and God's love is stronger than death.
I hear and read alot about the mission of God. But I wonder how many of us are trying to practice living in it, being a part of it.
May God's ways consume you and become your ways. May you have the mind of Christ. May you live with Jesus and become like Him in his death and resurrection. May you declare in word and deed that the Kingdom of God is at hand!

ONE Campaign

On Sunday, Nov. 11 at 9:15 we will watch a presentation on the ONE campaign and the Millenium deveopment goals. We will write an offering of letters to send to our U.S. senators. We will sign the declaration and distribute wrist bands. For more information on the ONE campaign to make poverty history, click on the link to the right.

theology

"Theology is the study of God and his ways. For all we know, dung beetles may study man and his ways and call it humanology. If so, we would probably be more touched and amused than irritated. One hopes that God feels likewise." --Frederick Buechner

3 year-old questions

How can we hear Jesus? Where is God? How is Jesus God? Is David good or bad? Why does he hurt people? Why do wolves eat sheep? can I have a yogurt drink? Why not? But I didn't have one today. Can I have a yogurt drink? Why not? What time is it? Is this the last meal of the day? Why? Why is it getting dark so soon? Why is the moon only a sliver moon tonight? Can I stay up late and watch a movie? can I watch Diego? Can I play Geo Trax? Can I have a yogurt drink? Can I have a snack? is it a bath night? Is it a hair night? can I watch a show? Are we going somewhere today? Can we go to the park? is this breakfast or...? Can we snuggle in your bed? Can I just play with my friends in my room? can we go see Andrew? Why not? Can we go see if Katrina and Amy can play? Can I have a yogurt drink? Or a drink of water? Can I have PB & J? can I have a yogurt drink?

Apple gleaning and CROP walk

Saturday is Apple gleaning day. We leave Zion at 8:00 am for Sycamore Spring orchard in Lebanon. We pick apples for a few hours, which are donated to local food banks. Join us by showing up at Zion by 7:45 am.
Sunday at 1:15 pm we will enjoy the annual CROP walk. We leave from Ephrata Church of the brethren. It's a 3 mile walk around Ephrata neighborhoods. Join us by emailing me. Bring donations to add to the team envelope.

God's Word in Worship October 21, 2007

These are the four Scripture passages for Pentecost 21 2007:
Genesis 32:22-31; "You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel for you have strive with God and with humand and have prevailed." God's people struggle to be faithful.

Psalm 121: "My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth."

2 timothy 3:14-4:5 We bear God's message, even when that message is unpopular.

Gospel: Luke 18:1-8 Being faithful means to persist in our quest for justice on behalf of those without a voice. Prayer is our cry to God for justice and mercy. We are called to pray without ceasing, to pray constantly. What happens when we pray? Whose will is changed? How does God hear and respond? Does prayer change God?

Joel

Joel Osteen is the leader of Lakewood church, the largest megachurch in the country. he became "pastor" 8 years ago when his father died. He has no seminary training, no theological education outside of his own internal learning, mainly from his father. He writes and sells books. He spends four days a week preparing his message for the weekend. He does 20 or so large venue speaking engagements in a year. He is on television weekly reaching a huge audience. He makes people feel good about themselves. He teaches people that God is good and is on their side, desiring for them the best life has to offer--prosperity, joy, health. His wife is co-pastor and the rest of his family also benefit from the 70 million dollars in income the church receives annually, not to mention his book royalties. But since his book sales have gone so well, he has not taken his $170,000 annual salary from Lakewood. Wow. I wonder how his annual salary stacks up to that of an average parishioner? Is he a celebrity? Absolutely. He is a religious celebrity who confirms the great American sins of wealth,pride, and self-focus.

Joel: "If Jesus were here today, he wouldn't be riding around on a donkey. He'd be taking a plane, he'd be using the media."

My Response: One: Jesus is here today. Unless you don't accept the word of Jesus, "I am with you always, to the close of the age," from Matthew 28 as somehow true. Jesus is present in the Word and Sacraments. For 2,000 years Christians have believed and affirmed this spiritual reality. Why can megachurch leaders reject this claim and get away with it? Two: Wasn't Jesus poor? Wasn't His life that of a servant who suffers? How do poor, back country folk get to "use the media?" Jesus told stories to poor 1st century, oppressed Jews and gentiles.

Joel: "You may make some mistakes-but that doesn't make you a sinner. You've got the very nature of God on the inside of you."

My response: Didn't St. Paul deal with this self-righteous talk that denied sin? "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." (Romans 3) If we are unable to call a thing what it is, to be straight about the hunman condition, then we are not following Jesus. The full affect of Jesus' death on the cross cannot be received by self-righteous people who need no forgiveness. To deny sin is to deny the power of the cross. "At the right time Christ died for the ungodly." According to Joel, no one is ungodly enough to need Jesus. You have what you need to be the kind of eprson God made you to be is a denial of the basic tenets of biblical faith. We are not God. We think we are. Original sin is not 'making mistakes". It is a rejection of the one true GOD in favor of the god of the self or self-made gods--like wealth or personal happiness. To rejec the power of sin is to deny the power of the cross. To do so is not Christian. It is anti-Christian and heresy. But in our culture it isn't fair to judge the "good guys", is it?

Joel: "To me, we're marketing hope."
My response: Ah, yes. I agree that people need a true sense of hope in which to cling. "My hope comes from the Lord,the maker of heaven and earth," says the psalmist. Joel's hope comes from some shiny happy place in which you convince yourself everyday that today is better than yesterday. His hope is an internal mechanism that we need to access or turn on like a light switch. He sas that our words, our declarations have the power of move God. Again, making God in our own image with outr own thoughts. Is that hope or a private wish? Real Hope comes from outside ourselves. It comes from the Lord of the resurrection.
But he is marketing something. He is selling himself! Shouldn't he give it to people for free? Shouldn't his books be free? Shouldn't his speaking engagements be free? he's marketing himself in a free market that loves to buy crap
.
Joel:"I think Bible principles are principles for life."
My response: The Bible is not a how-to book for living a better life. How do evangelical fundamentalists get this wrong? The bible is not about me or you and how to behave. The bible is God's self revelation, in which we discover: 1. God is real. 2. we cannot live God's way. 3. Jesus lives God's way. 4. We join Jesus through Baptism into a community of faith. 5. We receive, by the power of the Holy Spirit, faith. 6. Faith invites us to live the way of Jesus. 7. This way is sacrificial, weak, and focused on the needs of the other. It is self-less. This way is the way of humility and poverty, not glory and riches. The Bible is about GOD, not about you. We depend on God for life, for rescue from ourselves, for faith, for strength, for the gifts to make the world better.
Joel: "God wants us to prosper financially, to have plenty of money, to fulfill the destiny He has laid out for us."
My response: "Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation." Blessed are you poor, for yours is the Kingdom of heaven."--Jesus Christ. Luke 4: 24 and 20. God's justice regards the poor and the hungry as worthy. Rather than obtaining more for myself, God wants all people to have enough. We ought not to rest in our comforts until all are fed, clothed, housed, properly medicated, educated, treated fairly, etc... Again, if its all about you, how can you serve in God's kingdom to bring justice to bear for all God's children?

Joel Osteen has a large cult following. His is, like many megachurch cultures, a personality cult. It is all about Joel. Joel's message, Joel's book, Joel's smily charisma. Joel's charm.
A professor at Westminster seminary said that his messages basically are: "God is nice. You are nice. Be nice." The media has been interviewing him again this week in anticipation of his next book, "Becoming a better you." A follow-up to his bestseller, "Your best life now," it will be filled with more of the same simple platitudes for being a good person with a good attitude in life.
He can't respond to pain, suffering, crisis because he doesn't know Jesus.
You know, I'm tired of these evangelical preachers and their cult followings offering up a message that is NOT Christocentric. The theology of the self fits perfect in our self-focused culture. It reinforces the "me drive" that guides our culture. His books are self-help books,in the vain of Dr. Phil or any other self-help guru. (I prefer Dr. Phil. At least he's not selling his life-coaching as the Christian gospel).
I know that the theology of the cross, in which Jesus is the center of our knowing God and the lense by which we see ourselves, is unpopular in our culture. "The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing." To perish is to be so self-focused on your own life today that you see little beyond yourself. To perish is to expect that God is working for you, that God is on your side. Shouldn't we be on God's side? What if you hear that God is on your side, God is for you (Joel's message), and then you commit evil? Is God for evil, then?
Joel Osteen is teaching "good" news because the news he teaches is the news people want to hear. It sounds good, because we want our lives to be confirmed, justified, blessed by God. We don't want to have to change. We want to be content as we are. I'm okay, you're okay. Right?
What about: God is God. I am not. What I am not, Jesus is. What Jesus is, I am by faith. It is a gift of God that I am what I am. In response to this gift, I am set free to love the neigbor. I can only do this in a community of others living by faith. Therefore, the "I" of faith must become the "we" of church in order to live the way of the cross. This way is love. Love is always for the other. Love is the fulfillment of law. Perfect love casts out fear. Jesus affirmed these commands: Love God, love your neighbor as yourself. Love one another as Christ has loved you. Love your enemies. This love is sacrificial and involves humbly serving, laying down your life. That is the way of the cross. The way of the cross demonstrates God's love for the world. Undeservedly, God loves us. Why? Because love is the best way.

I long to get this message out. But I don't have a book deal or a multimedia center or a tv show. I have this blog and a few dozen people on Sundays in a little community in Akron, PA. And that will likely be all for me. I need to become content with that. I will not be on 20/20 or Larry king or some other show. I will not wear a nice suit and smile in front of 30,000 adoring fans. I will follow Jesus. Which means that I will figure less. "He must increase, I must decrease," said the first witness in the Gospel of John, John the Baptist. That is also the way of the cross. To point to Jesus is to point away from yourself. To direct others to Jesus' way is to send, not accumulate. To give, not receive. To serve, not to be served.

the grass

This is an excerpt from a book I'm reading about Benedictine monks and hospitality. The book is by Homan and Pratt, called "Radical Hospitality: Benedict's way of love." This kind of hospitality is exemplified in the story I want to share.

"Father Noel and Father Dan were taking a walk on the monastery grounds one day. It was the kind of day made for a walk with a friend. A group of eleven- and twelve-year olds from an institution for troubled children were on a tour of the monastery. They had arrived by hay wagon, pulled by horses with a couple of young drivers, probably in their late teens. Acres of rolling grass invite you to stretch out on a sultry summer day and enjoy the soft grass and warm earth. The monastery grounds are well groomed, but the place doesn't feel like an institution...The two monks were enjoying one of those warm days of late summer. Guests were not as common in those days, but when they showed up they were welcome. Occupied in conversation, Father Dan did not notice the hay wagon drivers until they came within a few yards. "I was stopped in my tracks," he remembers. "Right there on the yard in front of us, the two wagon drivers were passing a joint back and forth, looking completely at home, as if this was the most natural thing to do at a monastery. In case you're wondering, it isn't." Father Noel, born in Italy and a monk all of his adult life, had never seen marijuana. he was not a naive or stupid man; such a thing simply was not part of his experience. Father Dan was a street-smart kid raised in Detroit. Before he could demand an explanation, Father Noel spoke up.
"Young men," he exclaimed with wide-armed relish, "we are so glad that you are with us today to enjoy the grass."
What if Christian communities were like that? Can it not be transformative to receive grace, when you know full well you are doing something wrong? What the world needs is more grace. More grace. A generous welcome. An outstretched hand. Radical hospitality that crosses barriers. Grass.

its a boy, again

Yesterday, Cherie and I went to the Dr. for an ultrasound to determine, among other things, the sex of baby #3. We were hoping for a girl this time.
On my way to pick Cherie up I thought about changing my shirt, makng my id as pastor less conspicuous. I was wearing a black clerical shirt. Sometimes wearing it to the hospital makes you the local chaplain on call.
We arrived on time for the appointment. On the way in I was stopped by a woman in tears who asked me if I was a minister and if I could come immediately and pray with her daughter and son-in-law, who received bad news. In an ultrasound at 16 weeks, they were told the fetus died. They were devastated. They were there to find out the sex of the baby.
I told her that I was there with my wife for the same reasonand would find them after we were done.
When we came out, they were gone. For us, the perspective quickly evolved from caring about the sex of the baby to the health and vitality of our baby.
I don't know why encounters happen when and how they do. It was not a foregone conclusion that I would be called upon just because I was in uniform, but I was.
I took their names. I can pray for them, maybe I can find them...Are they believers? And what consolation can be offered parents of such a loss? We lost a baby at 16 weeks once. It was hard. Should I have left Cherie to minister to them? What if that experience opened them for a Word from God that they hadn't been open to before? What if I had missed our ultrasound to minister to them? Will God reach them, comfort them, love them in some other way? I have good guilt about this. It will motivate me to seek them out. How many others are facing this kind of crisis without a community of hope, faith, and love surrounding them? I suspect many.
We're having another boy.

via vita/way of life

What is the via vita? For the Christian it consists in a devotion to the ways of Jesus and His disciples. Christians are called to live a new life, a way of life consistent with the life of Jesus and His Spirit-filled followers. What does that life look like?
The Acts community, as it emerged in the 1st century, was a community of Baptized believers. They were converted by the gospel message through the bold proclamation of the Apostles.
The emergent community devoted themselves to the apostles' teachign and fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayers.
Today, in postmodernity, in a post-Christian or non-Christian context, how do we get apostolic? And how do we encourage devotion to these four spiritual habits?
We eat together, sharing what we have. We pray and listen.
Taking a benedictine approach to these habits, we will begin lectio continua. We will also pray a psalm, the Lord's prayer, and intercessory prayer. But the center of the fellowship will be a meal. Potluck. Or eat out.
The life of Jesus, as embodied by the community, is an inclusive, compassionate, mission-driven life focused on meeting the complete needs of the other. Healing, forgiving, walking with, loving, laughing with, sharing, inviting, encouraging, and giving are consistent with the ministry of Jesus. So is rebuking and rejecting evil, speaking truth to power, advocating for the child and the widow.
A Christian community seeks to embody this via vita in the midst of a host community largely unfamiliar with this way. It is often counter cultural, even as it understands and speaks the language of the culture.
How does one engage a community in the via vita? Personal invitation.
On that note, I have to go.

Wine of Joy

I have come to believe that the expressions or emotions of a worshiping community should revolve around joy. Joy and Awe. Joy and Awe. Somethig like mythree-year-old at the zoo or at the ocean for the first time. When something happens and you can't help but smile or even laugh, maybe even get a tear in the eye from it? That kind of joy. Like going down hill too fast on a bike sort of thing. Or a great party. Jesus uses the analogy of the wedding more than once to describe the presence of the kingdom of God. And the gospel of John offers up the weding at Cana as the first sign of resurrection life, long before Jesus' death and resurrection happen in the narrative. Old ritual is replaced by new wine! And the best wine at that! Shouldn't the Christian life reflect that kind of joy and awe? I'm not saying that false joy in the face of suffering is a virtue. I'm saying that Jesus reveals to us that joy is the way of life of the suffering one. Eternal life is full of joy. And I mean eternal meaning the fullest life in abundance possible now for those who follow and believe Jesus.
So why does so little of the Christian life in community seem like joy these days? I'm waiting for joy to break out here, Lord. Give us joy, Lord. Give us joy. In worship let our songs be joyful. IN serving, let our attituide be one of joy. Why? Because a joyful Christian is a sign of God's grace and life.
maybe if I drink a little more wine...

PM devotions

Saturday nights 5:00 pm

Everyone has a Spirit.
God is accesible to us.
Life seeks peace.
Love requires community.
Join us. We welcome everyone.
Come and be quiet with us.
Join the prayers, listen for God.
Eat a simple meal in community.
The Spirit needs exercise too.
There are four spiritual habits for life;
Study,pray, share, and eat.
See a devoted community live a spiritual life.
Become part of it.
Saturday nights at 5:00 pm.
Zion Lutheran
435 Main St.
Akron

Four habits

It strikes me that people's lives are so harried, including my own, that we often neglect the cultivation of good habits. I rarely exercise or take my vitamin. Why?

"They devoted themselves to the apostle's teaching and fellowship, the breaking of bread and prayers." Acts 2:41.

Megachurches around us have figured out how to attract people. And they do it well, put all their energy behind it. With relative success. But I wonder. Are people learning how to pray, how to listen, how to serve humbly? how does one experience family in a megachurch setting? Where does relationshipand community happen and when?

I believe that the 1st century church emerged in a culture that was generally religious in nature and that some of the religious were exclusive in their attitude toward non-adherents. Some greco-Romans were following secular philosophies. And many people were skeptical or even negative toward monotheistic religion.
The early church emerged when followers of Jesus, the crucified Rabbi, were inspired to share the story of His death and resurrection as a sign of God's reign over all of life that transcended the power of death.
In a single scene, people were inspired by the initial speech from Peter and the spiritual fervor of the small community. 3,000 were baptized. People were converted from whatever beliefs they espoused to belief in the God who raised Jesus from the dead.
Then, this fledgling community attended to four spiritual habits. Always together. This was not a private faith, but a community way of life. They listened to the story of Jesus and those who were called to interpret it for them, they prayed (Psalms, the prayer of Jesus, intecessory prayer). They shared (meeting each other's needs); and they broke bread (eating together, feeding others).
The results of their practicing these habits in community? Inspired lives, joyful worship, generous giving, and organic growth. (See Acts 2:44-47).

Cultivating these four habits is the church's main task. We are called to Study, pray, share, and eat in commuity. What might this look like today?

We gather weekly. We serve a meal. We read a New testament writing, like Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. We let it speak to us like Lectio Divina. Lectio is an ancient prayer practice where one dwells on the Word, letting it teach you. As you read, you simply pause at words or phrases or texts that strike you or engage you or challenge you and you identify them.
After lectio, we pray like this: We read a psalm in unison. We offer intecessory prayer. We pray the Lord's prayer in unison.
As we eat, we talk about what God has entrusted to us for His use in mission. We discern a better stewardship of our lives in community.

The important part of this for me is to cultivate a radically inclusive hospitality. Everyone eats. A lot of people pray. Many people seek spiritual guidance or a word of counsel from above. These practices are, like Benedictine spirituality, open and accessible. One might come and experience them without intimidation or fear. The idea is to let people become accustomed to a spirit-led way of life. I am reading "The Cloister Walk" by Kathleen Norris, which is a spiritual journal of her time among benedictines. A good read.

To make a spiritual oasis in which people can come in contact with the richest parts of Christian tradition without the baggage attached to church. I hope to invite people to become devoted to Jesus through the practice of these four habits.

the middle face?

Last night at bed time we told our 3 year old to follow his sleep rules. We have a chart for him. he is supposed to stay in bed, close his eyes, be quiet, and go to sleep. If he doesn't follow the rules, we put a sad face on the chart. If he does, he gets a happy face. When he gets a sad face he is denied PBS kids shows in the morning. Nobig loss, but he likes to watch "Clifford the Big Red Dog." Admittedly so do I. Its a funny show with dogs. John Ritter is the voice of Clifford.
Anyway, he hasn't been following the sleep rules.We were giving him a three strike deal, until we realized he knew that he could get to two strikes and still get a happy face. So we went to the one-strike rule or the one time tuck-in. We reminded him that obedience earns a happy face and disobedience a sad face. To which he replied, "What happens if I get a middle face?" A third option? Never mentioned before? Creative. I laughed. I immediately thought, "a middle face reminds me of ambivalence. maybe he's talking about Lutherans!" :I

pm prayers

When life is hard, people often pray. Some people pray more than others. Some people pray beter than others. Some people don't pray. But if you do, and you would like to experience a praying community join us on Saturday night at 5:00 pm for prayer, conversation, friendship, and dinner. We meet at Zion Lutheran, 435 Main St. , Akron, PA.(near Ephrata). Prayer is one of the four spiritual practices of the emerging Acts community in the New testament. I think it is because most humans pray. There's something almost natural to it. Almost.
But there is nothinglike praying in a community. We're trying. We're learning. We're not experts. We're not monks or nuns. We're just people who believe that God listens and that if we listen we might hear GOD. (Explain that to your three-year-old, who asks,"How can we hear Jesus' voice, daddy?)
So come and pray with us on Saturday at 5:00 pm.

Dishonesty, wealth, and Jesus

I'm not ready to comment on Luke 16:1-13. I don't know what Jesus is saying, except that maybe GOD doesn't punish people for shrewdly dealing with worldly matters by being more gracious than one is supposed to be. The bad manager decides to cook the books by offering borrowers a reduction in debt payments. He is commended by the boss for being shrewd. By being gracious toward customers, he put himself in good relations with debtors as he will likely become one himself in unemployment. And he kep the boss happy by collecting some of what was owed. Perhaps partial repayment is better than none? So he was gracious to clients and able to secure some liquid funds for the lender. What does that mena for us?
Being gracious is not a practice accepted by our culture. We expect to have to pay full price. One houses, cars, etc...there's no real discount or deal, is there? But Christians are supposed to give omre than they receive. Generosity, howver, doesn't have to mean becoming overly vulnerable. In fact, being generous can lead to a greater communal security. Quite the opposite of what we might think would happen.
Of course, the lender could have been angry with him for having reduced the debts, having expected to be repaid in full. But he wasn't. Perhaps God is that way with us. We don't get the job done. We aren't good trustees of what God has given us. But at least we can be foolishly gracious with what isn't really ours to be gracious with. God seems to like that in an odd twist.
I still don't know how this works into a message for others. Maybe somethig will stir in the next couple of days or in pryer on Saturday.

Lost and found

You know how things sort of get misplaced? Not really lost, but just missing. Somewhere in this house or office or car or closet is that missing...you fill in the blank.
I have so many stories this week about lost things being found. Last weekend we heard the two parables from Luke chapter 15 that Jesus tells about lost things and the obsessive ones who stop at nothing to seek them. Jesus says the Kingdom is like the party that is thrown when lost things are found by obsessive searchers. God is like the shepherd who abandons the rest of the flock for the rest of the day in order to find one lost sheep. Why didnt he chalk it up to dead? 99% alive and present. 1 % missing. he goes for the 1%. Bad math. And the woman who turns the house upside-down looking for a lousy coin. A coin. I gave away a "lost" sacajewiya dollar this weekend. But it wasn;t worth celebrating. Its a dollar.
But here's the real thing: I lost my watch a while ago. My wife had given it to me and I knew it as somewhere in my stuff, but I didn;t know where. She didn;t know I'd lost it, because I was ashamed to tell her. Then, I opened my golf bag to golf in a church event with my father-in-law and found it! Alleluia.
Then, I had lost a few things at the church office. Namely, and importantly, some church checks from another church that I was resonsible for as treasurer of our confirmation camp program. I had a big bill to pay yet from the summer and needed those checks. Well, they appeared today. And not an hour after I told the story of my watch to my secretary and asked my sexton to help me find my missing bag and coffee mug from children's sermon. he found that too.
Here;s the thing: None of these things that were found were a huge deal either. Like a single lost sheep or a single lost coin. Replaceable. Not necessary. BUT, I actually prayed to the LORD last night that I would find what had been lost! I've rarely in my life had such immediate satisfaction from prayer. I connect my spiritual conversation with God and the finding of these objects. Not because they were so precious, but precisely because they weren't.
Isn't that what Jesus meant? people might not care about certain lost creatures. People might abandon each other. People might write others off. people might prefer certain of us remained in the dark, hidden, missing but not missed. But GOD is not like that. God leaps for joy and yells "hurray" when someone is found. When someone repents, recognizes, sees, becomes aware of GOD and of the self that is humbly and truly not GOD, the party begins. It begins in our own hearts. When you are found by GOD, you weep and laugh and dance and sing and play and jump around. I know I;'ve been lost and found more than once.
All I know is that no matter how insignificant you think you are or others claim you are, GOD seeks you because GOD is willing to stake it all on you're being returned to HIM. I'm not exactly sure why GOD is like this, but I'm fairly certain He is. Jesus says so. And, I'm wearing my watch.

Politics in the toilet

Ethics is tricky business. Postmodern Americans struggle with ethical questions. People with conservative ethics, moralists or uninversal ethicists, are denounced as narrow-minded or intolerant. Liberal ethicists, relativists, are viewed as immoral weaklings. In the end the old question of whose right and whose wrong seems to go unanswered. Is nobody right if everybody's wrong? Is anyone right? What is right or wrong? Is it wrong to harm a neighbor? What about war then? Is there such a thing as just war? Are we fighting in one? Is sexuality private or public? Who's sexuality is right? Can one's sexuality be wrong? Can one's gender be wrong? What is the basis for sexual identity and practice? Is it nature or nurture or both? Does anyone know? Is TV good, bad, indifferent? What about technology in general? Does technology that makes a phone a gps, a tv, a dvd player, and an email/internet device really necessary? What if the genius of Steve Jobs went to work to find better ways to fuel vehicles or get clean water to remote African villages or get malaria vaccines to dying children? What if the quality of everyone's life was more important than the next $600.00 gadget?
And then we have the case of the Senator from Idaho caught making odd gestures in a bathroom stall. He pleads guilty to some minor indecency charges, and later regrets the plea. He is being denounced as a sexual criminal and his career may be over. We've seen this story before, haven't we? Middle age white professional with sexual issues of some kind? Happily married with kids. And a salary. And responsibilities to others.
Why do we welcome the sexual exploits of our celebrity entertainers; but deplore the sexual lives of political leaders? Why are moral standards applied differently to different people?
Might it have something to do with a lack of wisdom about the human condition? Are we so unreflective as a human comunity that we cannot understand why we do what we do?
I think the best example of human reflection is in Paul's letter to the Romans in the 7th chapter. he writes, "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate I do." Paul has stumbled on the mystery of the human condition. And he is honest. he doesn't get himself. What is wrong with me? I know the difference and choose to ignore my own mind. I believe that smokers must suspend better, healthier judgment everytime they light up. We know cancer is caused by smoking. Nobody wants to get lung cancer or give it to a loved one. The risk is highly reduced if you quit. So why do people smoke? I don;t understand. All of us are tempted. The world is full of temptation. Why is health less tempting than the ting that cuold kill us, even though it might feel good. Humans.
We are good but not so good. We are lovers who crave the love of others, but can hate with passion. We demand much from life and give little of our own away to improve the lives of others. We are sexual but long to be spiritual. If secular modernity hadn't abandoned the concept of sin as a category, we might be okay. I appreciate the apologetic work of Paul Tillich whose second volume Systematics delves into human nature. Brokenness is the category he uses to describe the state we are in. Maybe if we all got humble enough to know that all of us are in the toilet, then we'd have a new starting ground for conversation. Does a Senator need loving community or God less than Britney Spears. And why do we care if she "rehabs" but hope he goes to hell? is Michael Vick news? ONly because he is a celebrity. Reprehensible behavior knows no bounds. Nor does God's reconciling grace.

dan

I had lunch with a young artist--a philosopher/scholar. He is no scientist. He is no mathematician. he is no businessman. he likes Bach and death metal. he is opinionated and open to other opinions. He is smart and needs to learn a lot more. he is 20. i like remembering 20. I met my wife when I was 20. i spent days reading and discussing religion or history. I spent my nights at Perkins or courting my future wife. A productive day consisted of study, writing, eating, praying, and enjoying friends. Work? Money? Bills? Not on the radar screen. That our western culture tolerates this behavior from young adults is quite bizarre. Maybe that is why colleg eis becoming elite again. a pendulum swing is occuring. It is unhealthy for a society to create a caste of young adults---or mature adolescents. Why? because the one's who might drive culture forward are marginalized by the adult world. a youth culture that is perpetuated a decade beyond what has been normatively accepted as child/adult transition creates a dangerous pattern of irresponsible and overly responsible people. 22 year olds are adults. They ought to be granted adult status. They ought to be taken seriously. dan is serious. and passionate. and ready to take on the world. who am i to prevent that? who are you? baby boomers have inherited responsibility from the last generation of adults who realized adult responsibility at 18. wwII and depression assured that. baby boomers are trying to keep hold of this place of control and power. how? By developing a cultural model that rejects the power of the elder and the passion of youth. why have nursing homes and retirement facilities become such a major industry? why hav child cares and colleges become accepted norms for families? is it not every genrations duty to learn from their elders with humility and respect and to graciously channel the passionate energies of youth in order to build a better world?

vacation and Jesus

There is no such thing as a vacation. At the Jersey Shore, Ocean City, rent one of those surreys with the fringe on top to ride around on the boardwalk. We rented a six seater. Four pedaling adults and two basket-riding children makes for a hilarious photo.
Beach rule # 487: A one-year-old will find ways to retain sand on his small body which cannot be removed, even after several baths. Its easier to picj fleas off a poodle. Trust me.
Beach rule #97: Americans will shamelessly don swimwear made for much smaller bodies. Obesity is an epidemic and so is indecency.
Beach rule #5511: Teenagers are spacially challenged. My wife was beaned with a small, hard plastic ball during a game of paddle ball she was not playing. try reading calmly on the beach while small projectiles are flying toward you. Did it even occur to them that the large, uninhabited area of sand 25 yards to our imemdiate south would have made for much safer paddle ball? Apparently, standing behind my wife and aiming for the area generally recognized as the back of her head seemed like a fine location.

I found it difficult to relax. There was no rest. I do not easily downshift. I think my brain craves stimulation.Or maybe I'm thinking that because I didn't have coffee today. I've been drinking too much coffee, especially in chicago. more about Chicago later...
I did, however, read a great book. Vacation Rule #7: Read a good book, even if yuo have to stay up late. "Rabbi Jesus" by Bruce chilton was the most readable 'historical Jesus' book I've ever read. I appreciated the way he described first century rabbinic life; halakah and khabbalah. The idea that Jesus was a Jewish Kabbalist, a spiritual mystic of sorts, was compelling. Although a stretch biblically. I accept the connection between John the Baptist and Jesus. I think Jesus was a student of John, somehow. I also believe that Jesus' Galilean roots and the nature of his conception/birth/illegitimacy would have contributed to his theology and radical inclusionary practice. Sort of like Moses---send a Hebrew who was raised by Egyptian royalty to talk of political liberation. Jesus would have had a place in both worlds---that of the outcast and that of the accepted community/family system.
Here's the thing: Vacation is a false reality created by workaholic americans to jusify unhealthy work habits.Its a way to avoid Sabbath by lumping it together in an annual contracted amount of leavetime. besides everyone knows that taking vacation means making more work. Better that we actually get sensible about work and productivity. A weekly Sabbath makes for a better balance. And does not force you to try to check out for two weeks in August.
Don't get me wrong. I think vacation is necessary. But is work more important?

singing bee

there is a new reality show on tv this sumemr called "singing bee", in which ocntestants are asked to karaoke with a variety of pop music over the past fifty years. Part of the song will be left blank and the inger must fill-in-the-blanks to move on to the next round. I hate this show.

there is another reality show on another network that is basically the same thing, but the contesatant is playing against herself, gets to choose music categories each round, and only has to fill in four missing words with each song. I could win this game. it is funny.

both of these shows reveal my love for pop tunes and my ability to remember lyrics, artists, albums and all manner of pop music trivia spanning four decades. thing is...the talent I have for this is fruitless and pointless. It serves no purpose. If I cuold rememebr othre things as well as I remember pop song lyrics...

why is the human brain wired this way? Why cuoldn't I have been given the brains to accomplish something? I think I'm a fairly intellingent guy, but my most natural thought process involves remembering all the lyrics to the 10cc hit "The Things we do for love". Why is that? Not a mathematic, scientific, economic, psychiatric, philosophic brain for me. Nope. Just pop songs.

Vatican diplomacy

The Vatican released a statement summarizing misunderstood eccelesiology that has developed as a result of both Vtican II and the ecumenical movement. That the church is defined by its sacramental character and apostolic succession. So, protestant churches cannot purely be defined as churches in that sense since they are not in succession, nor retain a true sense of the sacrament. Any church not under papal authority is not precisely a church.

I like this. Clarity. Since the Lutheran church is not really a church, we don't really have to act like one. Good. Because we don't most of the time anyway. So the only hypocrites left are the Romans, who claim to be the church and yet are not. In their very claim, they separate, divide, and exclude others who share faith in the God who raised jesus from the dead. By so doing, they build intellectual walls instead of relational bridges. When I read the Gospels, I see Jesus crossing cultural barriers and dismantling the religious walls of temple Judaism in order to broaden the scope of His mission. The Kingdom of God is bigger than Jerusalem or Vatican city or Geneva or Sweden or New York, NY.

So if the Roman Catholics and the Protestants are not the church, where is the church? The Orthodox? In their inability to contextualize beyond the early middle ages, they do not incarnate the gospel. So its not the orthodox. The evangelicals? In their basic rejection of the cruciform life, coupled with a personal salvation plan and a fundamentalist worldview that divides sacred and secular, they limit the power of God. So its not the evangelicals.
So where is the church? is it visible? Is it here? If there is no church on earth, where is Jesus incarnated today? If there is no church, what are Christians doing?
is church a human corruption?

Jesus never spoke about the church. He was never part of the church. His followers were church. When did church stop being church? When did it start being what it has become? Pentecost? Constantine? Council of Nicea? Great Schism? Reformation? When?
is it possible to receive the good news and articulate the Kingdom message of Jesus afresh? is it possible for the church to be reborn? Is it possible that the church will emerge or is emerging in this post-modern world?

I hope.

daily bible readings

Monday: Isaiah 66:10-14
Tuesday: Psalm 66:1-8
Wednesday: Galatians 6:1-16
Thursday: Luke 10:1-11,16-20
Friday: Pray for an opportunity to learn more about the way of Jesus

apostolic community

“After this the Lord appointed 70 others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go.”
After what? After Jesus healed and taught and called followers. After the twelve were with him and women supported him. After Pharisees confronted him and teachers of the law questioned his authority. After he traveled from town to town and house to house sharing the good news that God was in their midst overcoming evil with good, through the compassionate love of this man from Nazareth. After he set his face toward Jerusalem.
Before the church can be the church, Jesus teaches. Jesus’ life, his words and actions, are they not the raw materials for what it means to be the church? Nobody practiced apostolic ministry until Jesus showed them what it meant to enflesh the love of God in human relationship. 70 people. Sent ahead with a mission and a practice. Notice that the church’s mission is carried out by an entire community! What if every Sunday morning worshipper at Zion had a real sense that what they were about to become and do on Monday was apostolic ministry---the ministry of Jesus? Bring peace and healing to a house, a town, a village. Reside there. Live among “the wolves”, aka the spiritually hungry. Whenever you serve generously, say “the kingdom of God has come near to you.” Essentially, be the church where you are everyday! Because your actions on behalf of others point to God’s incarnate love for all people. People will experience God, as we live like Jesus. We live like Jesus when we embrace the missio dei, the mission of God as a kind of corporate sent-ness. We are apostles, sent out by Jesus, to teach what He taught. Followers of Jesus are not pew sitters. They are disciples and apostles and workers.

To whom are we sent?
How do we begin to embody Jesus’ message and mission?
Who needs healed? Who needs peace? Who needs our compassion? Who needs our presence? Who needs our help?
If you are not already part of a learning experience that will prepare you to be sent, then get into one. 7 am on Wednesdays and 9 am on Sundays are two such learning times. A church that is not apostolic, sending out workers to make Christ known, is not a disciple-making church. A church that is not making disciples is not following Jesus. A church that is not following Jesus is not the church.

ramble on

i'm exploring again. i just picked up 'emerging churches' by eddie gibbs and ryan bolger. i haven't yet finished 'shaping of things to come" by Alan Hirsch and michael frost. i am well aware that postmodernity is a massive cultural shift ans that modern churches are not responding to the shift in ways that actually cross cultures with the hope message of the gospel. i am well aware that the last generation to be satisfied with modern institutional church are the baby boomers. i am sensitive to the spiritual needs of people udner the age of forty who seek a connection to an authentic, Jesus-centered, kingdom-building, missional community of friends. i am one of them. maybe part of the struggle is that i am not exactly a part of a friendship circle that embraces the cross cultural missional stance of church in postmodernity. i have found some guys in lancaster. and we talk monthly. it seems to be yielding some fruit.

i'm wondering how to get connected with the non-church community. is there some project or place i should be connecting with here? i spent an hour at barnes and noble sort of watching people and browsing books. where is community-making happening here? what i need to offer is some kind of a book club or something. or find my own. what might the library have to offer?
why am i wondering these things? why can;t i be satisfied doing what i'm doing. what am i doing? i guess that's just it. i'm not sure what to do with myself. i should be meeting with people and asking them questions about thier spiritual lives, their journeys, their hopes and needs. i guess i could do that.
what if i identified a few people with whom i could do that...and just did it. in whatever venue they saw fit. i think i'll do that now.

Pastor as Physician

Say you go to a doctor, a specialist, for diagnosis and treatment for something you can't understand that won't go away on its own.The doctor offers a diagnosis that is hard for you to hear, because it means you will have a lifestyle change. The doctor prescribes a course of meds and lifestyle changes that will increase your health. What do you do? Do you embrace the diagnosis and the treatment in order to get healthy or do you forget what the doctor said?

I sometimes feel like that. Like the diagnosis and treatment I prescribe is being rejected. Am I not convincing enough? Or are people unwilling to get healthy? Sometimes getting healthy means giving up something you love, like alcohol or cigarettes or basketball. Sometimes it means taking up some new habit like walking or drinking water or yoga. One thing it never means is stay where you are...unless terminal, most doctors I suspect will treat an illness by attempting to affect some change in the unhealthy system. By introducing a drug, a new body part, or a lifestyle change, the unhealthy system can sometimes be treated. The same is true of church life---the body of Christ---change in the system is sometimes needed for health and vitality. Maintenance is not an option when you are sick. A treatment that guarantees you will remain unhealthy is not treatment.

Now I am aware that when it comes to spirituality and faith people do not like to be judged or criticized. They like to be left alone, especially church people. They like to believe, "It is well with my soul." They don't like to realize the brokenness within and its fruit. Without a healthy connection to the root, the branch will bear no fruit. Unceasing Prayer, inspiring worship, active serving---these are the things that promote health.

creation music fest

I'm going to experience a few hours at the Creation Music Fest in Mt. UNion, PA tomorrow. Its an annual event drawing thousands of contemporary gospel music fans. CCM is really gospel music within a postmodern music context. So the gospel is packaged in rap, rock, fringe sounds, metal, whatever. Maybe even reggae! I would dig that. I'm going with three teens who have never been either. We will join the group from Holy Trinity when we arrive. But we will also leave earlier in the afternoon too. I pray for no rain, thunderstorms.
I know a lot of people attend this gathering as a regular part of their annual Christian life, like a pilgrimage to a sacred worship site. I'm interested to see what it is like there. Woodstock for Christians...hmmmmm.

confirmation camp

When i was a kid, my parents and pastor made me go. It was torture. And yet, part of it was fun. I still rememember the dance on the last night. Hormones were thicker than the late June humidity. It was itself a rite of passage, having gone to confirmation camp. When I told my school friends what I did in June, they said "What's that?" I had the same question and I still do.
I love outdoor ministry. I love camping. My three-year old son loves it now too. He's been sold on it because of the bugs and the little cabin we get to sleep in.
But the content of the experience is not what it ought to be. We have a week with middle schoolers in the woods without cell phones, tvs, or parents to interfere.
Why teach them in a classroom? They need to experiment, to practice the best possible Christian practices...
I will get the 7th graders to make Lutheran rosaries. I had the 8th graders involved in a silent, experiential walk through the Passion of Jesus. Group Publishing puts out these dvds with slides and mood music that walk a group through a prayerful meditation. Tomorrow, we will reenact parables of Jesus and make rosaries. And we will pray.
When i was 14 the last thing I wanted to do at summer camp was take notes in a classroom about the gospels or Lutheranism. I wanted to have fun. And I wanted a girlfriend...Jesus had nothing on Tammy!

out on a LIMB

I don't want to be that church; the one I described in my last post. I don't want to be irrelevant, hypocritical, or dispassionate. I want to go out on a LIMB and invite us to be a living hope inspired to serve in a trying time. I want us to embrace the missional way of Jesus and be the church that responds to our changing and challenging context with passion and grace. (Maybe I should go to work for LDR or LWR or GM; three wonderfully responsive, yet publically unrecognized parts of the Lutheran church.)

Are you feeling any of this too? Like God expects more from us? I want us to go out on a LIMB together. LIMB is an acronym for Lutherans as Intentional Missional Bodies. LIMB. It's a gospel image from John 15, the vine and the branches. The church as Jesus' limbs--His hands, His feet. Bearing the marks of the cross and yet going out, reaching out, walking together with people. Going out on a LIMB means taking risks, being bold, bearing fruit!

Here's what I propose. if you are interested in discovering ways to go out on a LIMB as Jesus' called disciple, email me. We will get started. I envision a learning community, mission driven and committed to practicing a spiritual way of life for the sake of the world and the coming kingdom of God. We will gather for a meal and an initial discussion this summer.
This is open to lay people and clergy. Its ecumenical too. So invite a mission-focused friend.

synod assembly

The Lutheran Church is a corporate body of believers with multiple expressions of one faith. There is the congregational expression, the conference expression, the synodical expression, the regional and churchwide expressions. What I mean is that as a church with a mission and a message (Jesus' way, truth, and life) we visibly express ourselves in communities. My congregation is one way. Another way is when synod's assemble annually---usually in the spring. We gather the 260 plus congregation's together by sending clergy and lay voting members to Gettysbuirg,PA to be the church for a few days. About 800 people gather. Our tasks: Worship, edification, and business. Here's what actually happens.

Pick a topic of global import today, something you'd like to think maybe God is attending to or dealing with in a hopeful and good way, through the work of the spirit in the church. What did you choose? Hunger? Poverty? Homelessness? War and peace? Care for creation/global warming? Deforestation? AIDS? Malaria? Sexual exploitation of women and children? Education in developing nations? Technology/media/business ethics? (Think isolation, privatization, outsourcing/slavery). Medical/health insurance ethics? (Think major profits vs. uninsured and underinsured Americans). Not too difficult to think of a few major issues facing our world today. Wonder if God cares? Wonder if God is doing something about the mess we're in?

Now for the major disconnect! In assembly we addressed none of these things. Not one. We did take a couple of offerings to continue supporting a school in Tanzania. But we said nothing about global warming and our culpability as carbon emmitters, wasters, and contributors to greenhouse gases. We said nothing in protest to the war we are fighting; not to mention anything remotely interesting about interreligious relations/dialogue. We did not take a stand on health insurance, technology, or sexual exploitation of anyone.

Now, I am guilty too. I did nothing, said nothing, enacted nothing. I regret that very much and intend to respond. I intend to call the synod to account. And I intend to take action to say something about these things which matter to most people.

What did we do? We argued about homosexual clergy and whether or not they should be allowed to serve, be ordained, and be in a mutul and faithful relationship. We argued about gay marriage. We argued about whether the church should discipline gay people who are practicing ordained ministry and are not celibate.
The closest we came to dealing with God's justice rolling down was when we decided to make "Fair Trade" a missional priority. (Mennonites have been hip to it for years.) basically you pay a fair price for goods sold through a non-profit coop in oder to assure that farmers receive a fair wage. It increases local economies and unfetters farmers from corporate fat cats who squeeze them to death. But other than fair trade, a non brainer issue, we said and did nothing.

So why didn't we take action? Our vision is too narrow. Pharisaism is rampant among leaders. Our grace is not grace. It is conditioned by a puritanical legalism that is not Lutheran. I am no antinomian. I believe the law is good.But not when it injures the neighbor. Mostly, we don't really care about what most people care about---thus reinforcing the dual claims of irrelevancy and hypocrisy.

Yes, our opinions would be diverse about many issues. How might we come to consensus? Discernment--a spiritual practice that requires prayerful listening to God's Word and the word on the streets wuold have to be practiced. We would have to view ourselves as a missional body with a message pertaining to the world's concerns. We would have to want to engage the world, actual people. We would not be allowed to create straw men to distract us from the real issues.
We would have to listen to Jesus. Perish the thought!

monday monday

So I go to visit the sick mother of a community member today at the county home. I can;t find her. I run into, however, a young woman from my previous pastorate. She's working there in admissions. She's living in the city with her cat. We chat for a few minutes. Mostly small talk about life. I think she's an occasional attendant at the church I used to serve. Maybe more than occasional. We didn't talk about that. I wonder why I ran into her. Was she merely a distraction from some other tasks? There were more distractions today than actual work. What does it mean when I have time to spend chatting in a nursing home lobby for twenty minutes on a Monday afternoon? And I had already spent over an hour at the mall with my wife, kids, and mother-in-law. I went to get lunch with them and the women thought I might get some new slacks and shorts. After that,I stopped at Cokesbury for some more books. Four more books. All good reading, I'm sure. Somedays I don't know what I should be doing.
I have taken to handwriting simple, personal notes to people. I'm sending cards and messages to folks as a means of contact. I wonder if it might be effective? In this culture of email and cell phones, it is insteresting to write and send a badly handwritten little note to someone. My handwriting sucks. I wonder if people will care? I send little words of encouragement, prayers, God's Word. Years ago, correspondence like this might become a treasured possession. Will all of these notes and cards end up in the trash seconds after opening/reading?

emergent emergency

So I've read the books. Hell, I breathe missional ecclesiology. I recognize the need and the opportunity within our small mainline Lutheran congregation to be transformed by the Spirit of Jesus to love and serve the world. I'm into the whole global justice/ local missions thing. I seek to offer worship that is inspired and inspiring, collecting the deep spiritual gifts of the great evangelical, catholic, apostolic, and sacramental tradition into a kairos experience of liturgy. I desire koinonia, the mutual sharing of all the gifts of Christian faith and life, among a diverse body of believers, practicing the faith in the midst of a cracked (broken and fragmented) world. I long for peers relationships with fellow disciples.
So why isn;t it happening? This is a God question, I suppose. What am I not doing as a spiritual leader?
I would like to be part of a vibrant spiritual community. I would like to be a leader in such a community. I feel called into that. So what must I do? The books can paint a vision of such a community and the transformation needed to get from here to there. How do I move the system?

June

Luke's first birthday (May 30) came and went faster than the virus we're passing around the house. High fevers, body aches, and fatigue are the symptoms. Luke had a rash, too. How nice for him. Happy 1st Birthday. And I gift you with...an infection! Think of the accompanying rash as "icing on the cake". Welcome to the human body, susceptible to attack without warning.
Jonah watched "Wizard of Oz" for the first time this week. His response was not what I expected. No fear of witch or fying monkey. I still shudder when Elvira Gulch transforms into the wicked witch as she flies outside the Gale house during their journey inside the cyclone. Not Jonah.
And I still shed a tear when Dorothy says farewell to the Scarecrow, just before the ruby slippers carry her home to Kansas. JOnah could have cared less. Maybe he's not old enough to appreciate it. Maybe the context has changed too much. He's already seen "The Lion King" and "Finding nemo", two great Disney films about coming-of-age and finding one's way, one's identity, one's gifts in family and community. Maybe Oz pales in comparison to "Pride Rock" or "the great barrier reef". Or maybe they are OZ for Jonah. Every generation needs an OZ, a kind wizard, a colorful world where good triumphs over evil. Most obviously, Harry Potter and the wizarding world of Hogwarts symbolizes the multivalent story of good v. evil, coming-of-age, and the "magic" that accompanies such an experience.
Nevertheless, an annual trip down the yellow brick road is good for the mind, the heart, and the "inner Lion" seeking courage to serve bravely in a world where wicked ones roam.

School Shooting

Described as the worst school shooting in US history, on Monday April 16th a lone gunman killed 33 people at Virginia Tech. A population of 25,000 was rocked by this senseless violence, perpetrated by a VA tech student, a senior. Students and teachers were among the victims. Two dozen people were injured, a dozen remain hospitalized. The gunman ended his own life.
What motive, what evil, what struggle explains such an act?
People will seek answers. People will seek justice. People will seek comfort.
All I know is that Jesus was executed unjustly too. God is hidden in suffering. Tragedy, though part of the divine drama we call existence or life, is not the last word. It is a penultimate word. What greater good comes from senseless violence and tragic murders? God only knows. Maybe a community can identify ways in which they can embrace people who are struggling, depressed, lost, angry, fragile, desperate etc...Maybe we can build spiritual communities where no secrets are hid and people are encouraged to live in peace and hope. Maybe we can teach young people how to cope with the demons that surround us, who promise us false comforts, false justices, false power. My guess is that this person had lost some power somehow or some postive self-identity. After all, he killed himself too.
Maybe we learn that violence plagues humanity. It is only by believing in a God familiar with violence, as victim and perpetrator, that violence makes any sense. The God of the Hebrew bible does his share of wrathful smiting. But the God of the Gospels finds Himself weeping from a cross. This God suffers a violent death. Why? This God seeks to end violence, to root it out by replacing it with a way of life so non-violent that only grave,criminal injustice moves practicioners to abandon it in defense of self or neighbor. That way of life is called 'LOVE'. "Love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you." --Jesus.
God be with the families of those who died and comfort all who mourn. be with the students and faculty of Virginia Tech as they cope with the events that are shaping them. Show us all how to make sense of such violence, how to embrace your radical ethic of love, and how to be merciful to one another. God of new life, hear our prayers. Amen.

prodigal/beloved son

Lost. Forsaken. Damned. Separated. Segregated. Walled. Left out. Left behind. Missing. Missed. Stranger. Foreigner. Alien. Refugee. Homeless. Rejected. Dejected. Downtrodden. Torn apart. Isolated. Denied. Broken. Excised. x-ed out. Excommunicated. Ex-con. Aimless. Rootless. Wasteful. Wasted. Refuse. Trash. Undone. untied. Unyoked. Unemployed. Uninsured. Insecure. Unsafe. Unknown. Unhealthy. Misunderstood. Miscreant. Misguided. Disregarded. Disrespected. Disenfranchised. Dismantled. Disintegrated. Dehumanized. Degraded. Demeaned. devalued. Derided. Lonely. Suffering. Cursed. Cross. Dead. Jesus.

Jesus. Risen. Alive. New. Whole. Healthy. With. For. By. beside. Insider. Within. near. Intimate. Dear. Beloved. Embraced. Kissed. Accepted. Included. Invited. Personal. Known. Safe. Received. Welcomed. Precious. Treasured. Honored. Blessed. Revered. Worshipped. Adored. Family. Friend. Neighbor. Brother. Citizen. Community. Home. Beloved. Child. Daugther. Son.

fruitless trees, good gardener

As I prep to preach the Gospel for this Sunday, I am struck by Jesus' serious tone. "If you do not repent you will all perish as they did." To turn from the sinful life to the life of Jesus is not easy. We can't do it alone. We need others to help us, to tell us the truth about ourselves, and to help us seek Jesus' way in all things. I think the following article from "Pulpit Resource", a journal I read for sermon help, says something about us:
"We were watching a TV program on "New Paradigm Churches", those burgeoning churches, many of whom are found in Southern California. A young man was being interviewed, a pastor of one of those fast growing churches. His church gathers each week, led in music by a rock band, a church with a median age under thirty.
The reporter asked the pastor to what did he attribute the phenomenal growth of his congregation. The pastor replied,"I think you've got a generation of young adults that never had anybody look them into the eyes, and say directly to them, in love, 'You really, really suck.'"

Jesus knows that God desires to spiritually nourish us for an abundant life. But we choose the "food" that doesn't nourish. We make idols, we lust, we test Christ, we complain. What our the American idols? Money, cars, sports, home ownership, entertainers. how do we test Christ? We keep on sinning, knowing full well what we do. But trusting that God will forgive us forever. But what if judgment is real? What if God won't put up with our crap forever? "He will come again to judge the living and the dead and His kingdom will have no end." We profess it as truth.
Jesus tells a parable about an unfruitful fig tree. The vineyard owner wants it cut down, but the gardener pleads to give it another year. He promises to dig around it and fertilize it. If, after a year, it still does not produce, cut it down. How are we like the unfruitful fig? How has Jesus interceded for us, tended and nourished us? Bad news: We suck, we are fruitless. Good news: God doesn't suck. God loves sucky people. God won't tolerate people who know they suck and reuse to stop sucking. We are meant to bear fruit. We are meant to offer ourselves to the creative justice/mercy/love mission of God.

Coffee House Conversations begin in April

Postmodern Culture/Christian Spirituality
Coffee and Conversation every Wednesday at 6:00 pm
Javáteas Coffee Café; N. Reading Rd. Ephrata, PA
Topics: (likely to evolve, because stuff happens)
April 18---can I be spiritual and not religious?
April 25---Who is my neighbor?
May 2---Why is prayer hard?
May 9---How can I experience God??
May 16---why do we keep breathing?
May 23---what is peace?
Come for the conversation, the community, and the coffee…Open to everyone

Postmodern Experiential Worship

Postmodern Worship Gathering
Sunday Night, March 25, 6:04 pm
Javáteas Coffee Café; N. Reading Rd. Ephrata, PA
Encounter the mystery of GOD in
Candlelight, acoustic music, silence, incense, prayer, water, listening for GOD,
The Lord’s Supper, peace, art, truth, beauty, faith, hope, love.
For the Spiritually hungry person.

FLAME

Family
Life
As
Mission
Education

God has a mission. To reach every family on earth with the message of the Gospel and to invite them to participate in the new life that is offered in it.
The Gospel is about love for God and neighbor that is put into action through words and deeds that build up, benefit, and beautify community. JESUS shows us how to love unconditionally, sacrificially, and completely.
Christians are called by the Spiirt to love others, by following the way of JESUS, who empowers us and inspires us to follow. Everyday we can make the world better for someone else. When we do, we participate in the ongoing creative healing of creation. GOD's justice/love is the disciples' calling.

A Christian life is learned and shared by adults and children in daily activity. We are made disciples as we learn the way of Jesus and practice it at home, work, school, in in neighborhoods.

You are invited to a new community of families devoting themselves to his way of life together. Together we will explore worship, learning and equipping, family mission opportuniites, and spiritual practices for daily family life. Our goal is to find common ways to practice our faith together.

Join us for a family lunch on February 18th at Zion Lutheran, Akron. 12:30 pm. RSVP at 859-2100 or pastormattl@dejazzd.com

Disaster in Fla.

Central Florida was hit by several tornadoes this weekend, killing as many as 20 people, and destroying a lot of property. To assist in the recovery and restoration efforts go to www.ldr.org. Lutheran Disaster response is on the ground and will be for a long time. Anyone want to go help?

weddings?

Say you're 20 something and you haven't gone to your traditional family church in a couple of years---you've been a Christmas/Easter person. Your parents don't get you. You were raised as a "churchgoer" in a church going family. Your parents go religiously. You have never been given a relevant alternative in which to be faithful. Its always been 'church' or nothing. In or out. After so long, being out wasn't so bad. And you were busy enough living life. But something was missing.
But then, a crisis! You want to get married. In church. You believe in GOD. Maybe even in Jesus. You pray. You want to live a life that is meaningful, spiritual, and hopeful. You want to help people in your community. You have no church affiliation, but you want to be married before God and faithful Christian witnesses. You call around. You pick the Lutherans because they're sort of catholic protestants. Fewer rules, but still sacramental and generously biblical. Yet not pretentious or judgmental like some bible churches might be. But every Lutheran church, every Catholic, everyone you call gives you the old church rule: Non-members cannot be married here! Membership gives one access to a Christian practice you expected. What do you do? Do you dance and "join" in order to meet the requirements? Or do you go to the justice of the peace and get legal without the blessing of God's Word, community prayers, and the unity of the Sacrament? What do you do? Membership has its privileges. Non-membership can have painful, unexpected consequences.
Gen xers are facing this reality. Some are feeling it more seriously than others. They want to be in, but they're not connected. They are prodigal, lost. And it ain't all their fault. maybe if the church found a way to really welcome them. maybe if the church wasn;t so concerned about worship attendance and membership. Maybe if the church was concerned about daily spiritual Christian formation---how to follow Jesus on the ground, in your home and work place. maybe if an alternative community was born for these people.
What if gen xers just revolted and formed a community of believers outside of 'church', who can become church for each other. A new fellowship of believers with all of the gifts and dreams of GOD within.
I, for one, do not reject anyone who calls seeking to be married in the church. I know that it's code word, sometimes, for people of faith living outside of Christian community, seeking a way in. Sometimes its not. Sometimes its people who just want to get married with no strings. But often its people who want the strings, the community, the spirit-filled life, the hope and love of God, the Word, the sacrament, the meaningful missional life to care for the world. When it is, I want to help them be faithful!

Missional acts

Become a big brother or big sister.
Help a neighbor. Paint, cook, clean, etc...
Babysit.
Share your stuff.
Swing a hammer with habitat for humanity.
Make a meal for someone who is sick.
Listen to someone's sad story.
Visit elderly folks at a nursing home.
Give time at a homeless shelter or soup kitchen.
become a compeer friend (Lancster Co. organization dedicated to mentoring people with mental illness).
serve at a youth center.
pray for people.
buy fairly traded goods.
sponsor a World Vision child. (www.worldvision.org)
collect school supplies, health supplies for World relief. (www.lwr.org)
Make a quilt for LWR.
Give a blanket or a coat to someone who is cold.

Whatever you do, do it in the name of Jesus.

worship and mission

i made a kind of discovery reading the gospel this past week. i believe that the church (ecclesiology) is not the church apart from mission (missiology). Its not really a discovery so much as a reminder or a revision of thought. Here's what that means:
We've been taught that the way people come to know Jesus or to be made part of the church is through/in worship. Getting people to "come to church" and "go to church" is the entry way to Christian life. We talk about inviting people to worship. I've been guilty of this way of thinking too---that worship is the Christian life. There is no church without worship. Worship has been the central, and sometimes exclusive, practice of the church. Chruch is defined by us as what we do in worship. We exaggerate the place of worship/liturgy within the Christian believer's life. So we say, Where does one find church? In that building on sunday morning where people are sitting or standing in pews worshiping God.
But what if that assumption about worship being primary is false? What if Jesus and His followers were not primarily worshipers, but primarily missionaries? Jesus calls and sends His disciples before anything remotely like worship occurs in the gospels. And Pentecost? When the Holy Spirit comes, are they driven together to worship? No! Actually, they are scattered by various tongues and languages to share the gospel news. When the church is persecuted, do they huddle together for worship? No. They are scattered outside of the city as witnesses. When Jesus sends the 12 or the 72, does he equip them to be worshipers or worship leaders? No. He equips them to bring peace, hope, healing, justice, food---for people. The early church was primarily a church in mission---A church in action on behalf of the poor, the outcast, the least, the marginalized.

Worship was a result of mission! They gathered for worship to refuel, to rebuild,to revive, for the gifts of faith, hope, and love found in the koinonia--the shared fellowship of believers. Worship doesn't beget mission; Mission begets worship.

Here's the thing. The big machine of Christendom taught us that worship is the heart of what Christians do. Mission is a result of what happens in worship. We think worship comes first for people. Then we are sent out. but what if the Christian life were primarily missional and, out of necessity, worshipful? Its no wonder the early church pieced together worship practice from synagogue practices; Baptism and Eucharist deriving from Jesus' own missional life of cleansing rebirth and sarificial eating and drinking. The church didn;t have time to be overtly creative. They were too busy living out the gospel.
Implications: What if we were called to invite people to live differently first? To live counterculturally, generously, sacrificially, spiritually, marginally? And as a result of it, we are drawn together to worship the GOD who called us and sent us to live in these ways? What if worship is necesary for the Christian who is out there living it because mission-living is spiritually hard? We are drawn together for spiritual food, in order to endure. Word/Sacrament becomes food for missionaries.