It is December 23rd and I am getting ready to go to a Tae Kwon Do Christmas Party. NO that is not an oxymoron! The school I am a part of is a traditional TKD school, but it is run by followers of the way. Don't get me wrong, we are not the fundamentalists type of people who think we have to change everything into a "Christian" thing, but we are all learners of the Master, so we are having a Christmas Party. I am looking forward to it.
But on this day before the day before Christmas, I am working on my sermon for Christmas Eve and Day. I don't expect too many on Christmas Day, but tomorrow I have two services at two different churches and they should be packed. I have been thinking about my homily for a week or so now and still don't know where I am going, or more appropriately, where the Holy Spirit is leading me.
I want to start out with the words for you. That is what all the stores tell us. You need a new car and now is the time to buy. YOU could get those year end tax rebates and YOU could be driving home in a new Chevy. YOU could have this one of a kind Ginsu knife set for only 5 payments of $39.99. It cuts, it chops, it even does the dishes! What a bargain. YOU could be the next contestant on the Price is Right! I know that the Gospel lesson for Christmas Eve says that TO YOU is born this day in the City of David, a Savior, but somehow that sounds too Fundy for me. The Fundamentalists always turn the good news into a personal salvation event and I DO NOT want to sound like one of them. There are already too many of them out there and they have almost cornered the market on what people think about Christians. Furthermore, the good news is for the world. For God so loved the WORLD . . and the like.
But sometimes we forget just who God became flesh for. YES it is for the world. YES it is for the cosmos. YES it is for every living thing that God's love came down, but it is also personal. God's love is big enough for the entire world, and yet God still loves me. God became flesh for me. Little old me? That is truly amazing, and I stand in awe of it.
Even more than that, the for me savior continues to live through me. God's love came down and took on flesh so many years ago so that I could take on flesh for others who need to see God today. The old country song is true, I might be the only Bible someone else gets to read. So through me, the world can either see God or see evil. Today, I choose to let God work through me so the word can become flesh again. Merry Christmas!!
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Friday, December 3, 2010
I love Christmas
Well, it is Advent, and with this season, the liturgical Nazis come out. They tell me "you can't sing Christmas hymns during Advent!! It is not proper." HOGWASH! I would sing Joy to the World every Sunday if my parish would let me.
It is not that I am a rebel, well maybe it is, but I love this time of year. I love the sights of snow slowly falling on the ground, or for that matter a major snow storm blanketing the landscape. I love the sounds of bells ringing, of laughing children, of contentment being had, and good guitar music being played on my Ipod. I love the joy of expectation--the expectation of seeing grandma at her house on Christmas Eve, of celebrating the Holy Day with loved ones, and of coarse of opening presents. This time of year is awesome for me.
But, people tell me not to sing Christmas hymns during the worship service because it is Advent and we should sing Advent hymns. Now I understand the reason--We don't want to over do Christmas now do we? We don't want to people to start thinking it is Christmas in October like the stores do do we? We want to put the emphasis on the right thing in the church don't we? We need to sing Advent hymns, but have you ever tried to sing those Advent hymns? Some of them are the reason no one wants to come to church anymore! I love "O Come, O Come, Immanuel." That is one awesome Advent hymn, but some of the others . . .well let's just say NO!
But what would happen if we did celebrate Christmas every day of the year? What would the world be like if we lived out in our daily lives the Word incarnate in us every day? Would that be such a terrible thing? What if we sang Joy to the World every morning when we woke up? Would that change our out look on the day? What if we lived out "What Child Is This" as we drove to work every morning? I think the world needs a good dose of Christmas every day. I think the politicians need Christmas every day. I think the war mongers need a good dose of seeing the Word made Flesh in their enemies.
Christmas every day would be a world changing, heart breaking, love making event. I am all for it. Merry Christmas today, tomorrow, the next day, and the day after that, and . . .
It is not that I am a rebel, well maybe it is, but I love this time of year. I love the sights of snow slowly falling on the ground, or for that matter a major snow storm blanketing the landscape. I love the sounds of bells ringing, of laughing children, of contentment being had, and good guitar music being played on my Ipod. I love the joy of expectation--the expectation of seeing grandma at her house on Christmas Eve, of celebrating the Holy Day with loved ones, and of coarse of opening presents. This time of year is awesome for me.
But, people tell me not to sing Christmas hymns during the worship service because it is Advent and we should sing Advent hymns. Now I understand the reason--We don't want to over do Christmas now do we? We don't want to people to start thinking it is Christmas in October like the stores do do we? We want to put the emphasis on the right thing in the church don't we? We need to sing Advent hymns, but have you ever tried to sing those Advent hymns? Some of them are the reason no one wants to come to church anymore! I love "O Come, O Come, Immanuel." That is one awesome Advent hymn, but some of the others . . .well let's just say NO!
But what would happen if we did celebrate Christmas every day of the year? What would the world be like if we lived out in our daily lives the Word incarnate in us every day? Would that be such a terrible thing? What if we sang Joy to the World every morning when we woke up? Would that change our out look on the day? What if we lived out "What Child Is This" as we drove to work every morning? I think the world needs a good dose of Christmas every day. I think the politicians need Christmas every day. I think the war mongers need a good dose of seeing the Word made Flesh in their enemies.
Christmas every day would be a world changing, heart breaking, love making event. I am all for it. Merry Christmas today, tomorrow, the next day, and the day after that, and . . .
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Doing Things Differently
As a recovering alcoholic, one of the phrases I love best is "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result." That is what I tried to do to "tame" my addiction. I kept trying the same old things that people who are addicted try thinking I would be different. I got the same result as everyone else did. I needed to completely change my thinking, completely change my route, do something different or I would never be sober. Hence, the 12 steps.
The church is in the same position. The church has been doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. Over the entire existence of the ELCA, some 26 years, leaders have been doing the same thing hoping against hope that a different result will happen. What is even worse, if we look at the churches that make up the ELCA, for 20 years before the ELCA was formed, they were doing the same thing.
Statistics show that for the last 46 years, attendance and giving has declined in the Lutheran church. We have been losing people and money for almost a half of a century. What does the church do? Does it look at what it is doing? Does it think critically about how it works and what it says and the behavior of the people? NO! We simply try the same old thing hoping for a different result. Another stewardship drive with a new tag line. Another confirmation curriculum with fancy slides and a power point ready slick design. Another committee with a new leader. None of these things have solved the problem in the past, why do we think it will all of the sudden solve the problem now?
Now some will say that this is what we get for not following the Bible. They say "the ELCA has thrown the Bible out the window, so they get what they deserve!" or "that is what you get for letting those homosexuals into the church!" What these people don't realize is that is has been going on longer than just a few years and that we in the ELCA have not thrown the Bible out. We take the Bible and the call of God very seriously.
What is the solution? Well, we have to be radical, just like those in 12 step programs do. We have to realize that our church has become too set in its ways, it has become tame when Jesus calls us to step outside out comfort zones in new directions every day. We have to realize that God stills speaks today and sometimes that voice of God leads us down a new path, a new interpretation, a new direction. God's radical, alien grace tries to get us outside of ourselves, outside of the norm, outside of our human-ness into God-ness.
I hope and pray that the church of God active in the world today will stop doing the same old thing and listen because God is calling! Listen, God is calling. Through the WORD inviting. Offering forgiveness, comfort, and Joy.
The church is in the same position. The church has been doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. Over the entire existence of the ELCA, some 26 years, leaders have been doing the same thing hoping against hope that a different result will happen. What is even worse, if we look at the churches that make up the ELCA, for 20 years before the ELCA was formed, they were doing the same thing.
Statistics show that for the last 46 years, attendance and giving has declined in the Lutheran church. We have been losing people and money for almost a half of a century. What does the church do? Does it look at what it is doing? Does it think critically about how it works and what it says and the behavior of the people? NO! We simply try the same old thing hoping for a different result. Another stewardship drive with a new tag line. Another confirmation curriculum with fancy slides and a power point ready slick design. Another committee with a new leader. None of these things have solved the problem in the past, why do we think it will all of the sudden solve the problem now?
Now some will say that this is what we get for not following the Bible. They say "the ELCA has thrown the Bible out the window, so they get what they deserve!" or "that is what you get for letting those homosexuals into the church!" What these people don't realize is that is has been going on longer than just a few years and that we in the ELCA have not thrown the Bible out. We take the Bible and the call of God very seriously.
What is the solution? Well, we have to be radical, just like those in 12 step programs do. We have to realize that our church has become too set in its ways, it has become tame when Jesus calls us to step outside out comfort zones in new directions every day. We have to realize that God stills speaks today and sometimes that voice of God leads us down a new path, a new interpretation, a new direction. God's radical, alien grace tries to get us outside of ourselves, outside of the norm, outside of our human-ness into God-ness.
I hope and pray that the church of God active in the world today will stop doing the same old thing and listen because God is calling! Listen, God is calling. Through the WORD inviting. Offering forgiveness, comfort, and Joy.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
I Won't Do It Anymore!`
Well, I am going to make a commitment today. I am not going to do it anymore! Nope, I am going to stop. I am going to quit. I will no longer partake of the argument anymore. Well, I am going to try.
That is my pledge to myself. Bishop Spong has decided the same thing, only his is a commitment not to partake of those who are homophobic. He pledges not to argue with them anymore because the argument leads to no where. Those who try to argue that homosexuality is an abomination, is a SIN, is something that is a choice, Bishop Spong will no longer talk with. I totally agree, but I am going to take it one step further.
I will not argue with those who want to polarize politics or religion. I will not get into a verbal spar with those people who want to turn everything into an us versus them, who want to say they are right and everyone else is wrong, who say God is on their side and not on the other's side. It is a useless endeavor. Anyone who is so certain about their opinion and God's position are the new Pharisees and will only cause hate and discontent.
All the argument does is bring me to their level, and that is a level I don't want to go to anymore. Their negativity is killing me. Their hostility raises my blood pressure. Their belligerence darkens this world, and I used to help them bring the in the darkness. I don't want to anymore. The light of Christ gives me hope, gives me strength, gives me power, power to live, power to love, power to not partake in the garbage anymore. I believe if more people would stop the negativity, the world might become the place where God wants it to be. Wouldn't that be an amazing transformation? If more people would allow the Holy Spirit of God to transform them into the people God desires, then the victory of God might be complete! That would be, well, there is no adjective that would describe it. I might be nieve, a dreamer, but I think that is what God is calling us all to be, a dreamer of God's love.
This is my pledge to myself and to others. I might be hard, in fact, it will be a challenge, but by God's grace, I will be victorious.
That is my pledge to myself. Bishop Spong has decided the same thing, only his is a commitment not to partake of those who are homophobic. He pledges not to argue with them anymore because the argument leads to no where. Those who try to argue that homosexuality is an abomination, is a SIN, is something that is a choice, Bishop Spong will no longer talk with. I totally agree, but I am going to take it one step further.
I will not argue with those who want to polarize politics or religion. I will not get into a verbal spar with those people who want to turn everything into an us versus them, who want to say they are right and everyone else is wrong, who say God is on their side and not on the other's side. It is a useless endeavor. Anyone who is so certain about their opinion and God's position are the new Pharisees and will only cause hate and discontent.
All the argument does is bring me to their level, and that is a level I don't want to go to anymore. Their negativity is killing me. Their hostility raises my blood pressure. Their belligerence darkens this world, and I used to help them bring the in the darkness. I don't want to anymore. The light of Christ gives me hope, gives me strength, gives me power, power to live, power to love, power to not partake in the garbage anymore. I believe if more people would stop the negativity, the world might become the place where God wants it to be. Wouldn't that be an amazing transformation? If more people would allow the Holy Spirit of God to transform them into the people God desires, then the victory of God might be complete! That would be, well, there is no adjective that would describe it. I might be nieve, a dreamer, but I think that is what God is calling us all to be, a dreamer of God's love.
This is my pledge to myself and to others. I might be hard, in fact, it will be a challenge, but by God's grace, I will be victorious.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
A Pipe Dream
I go to a lot of meetings. A week does not go by without at least one meeting! The meetings include pizza and discussion, a weekly gathering at the school with the senior high talking about faith and life, Cooperstown Community Activity Authority board meeting, a group of people trying to make sure there is a fitness center in our small rural town, and synod functions including synod council, bishop's convocation, or synod assembly. It never seems to fail that at all of these meetings, we end up talking about money!
Money is a false god. Humans think that money will bring them peace. Humans think if they have a large enough IRA for their golden years, everything will be OK in life. Humans tend to think that if their bank account is full, then problems will cease and life will be grand. Humans tend to think that with enough money, everything will be OK, but someone, somewhere today will die from a hunger related illness or from a disease that they had no money to get the proper treatment for or from a war because of someone else's desire to have more money or more oil or more land. While we try to fill our IRA or bank accounts, the money monster will continue to rape and pillage people unless we do something soon!
People often think that taking an offering for the less fortunate will suffice, but that is an outright lie! That is feel good liberalism. That is trying to ease our guilt without asking for forgiveness or even repenting of our corporate sin. What needs to happen is a complete change in the human heart and way of life.
What would happen if we all, including all the leftist progressives and the militant neo-orthodox right, decided to change the system? What would the world be like if we all decided to stop using money as our trade system? What would happen if we used love instead of money as the system of compensation for goods? What would happen if everyone, everywhere had what they needed, nothing more, nothing less? What would happened if God's alien righteousness, infused into the heart of everyone, was enough? Wouldn't that be a neat trick?
Money is a false god. Humans think that money will bring them peace. Humans think if they have a large enough IRA for their golden years, everything will be OK in life. Humans tend to think that if their bank account is full, then problems will cease and life will be grand. Humans tend to think that with enough money, everything will be OK, but someone, somewhere today will die from a hunger related illness or from a disease that they had no money to get the proper treatment for or from a war because of someone else's desire to have more money or more oil or more land. While we try to fill our IRA or bank accounts, the money monster will continue to rape and pillage people unless we do something soon!
People often think that taking an offering for the less fortunate will suffice, but that is an outright lie! That is feel good liberalism. That is trying to ease our guilt without asking for forgiveness or even repenting of our corporate sin. What needs to happen is a complete change in the human heart and way of life.
What would happen if we all, including all the leftist progressives and the militant neo-orthodox right, decided to change the system? What would the world be like if we all decided to stop using money as our trade system? What would happen if we used love instead of money as the system of compensation for goods? What would happen if everyone, everywhere had what they needed, nothing more, nothing less? What would happened if God's alien righteousness, infused into the heart of everyone, was enough? Wouldn't that be a neat trick?
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
A New Day
Good Evening all!
It has been a while since I have written anything on this blog. Sometimes I get lazy, sometimes I get busy, and sometimes I just don't remember to do it. I am not too good at writing, but I enjoy reading blogs so I am going to try to write something every week. Don't hold me to that, but I will try.
I just returned from the Eastern North Dakota Synod fall leadership conference. A friend told me at the conference that we here on the plains are embarrassed to admit that we have bishops so we refuse to call the conference a Bishop's Convocation, as other areas of the ELCA do, and I tend to agree.
At the conference, the bishop always gets a chance to tell us about the shape of the synod and the ELCA in general. This time Bishop Rindy spoke of a new day. The Churchwide organization is restructuring and basically cutting programs. They are doing this because people are in chaos. The chaos caused by a recession, more wars than we really understand, a right wing political and theological take over of the airwaves, and a walk out of wallets from some congregations. With all of this, we in the EaND have a choice.
Will we let the programs that were once sponsored and paid for by the Churchwide organization end, or will we do anything about it? Will we let the nay sayers who are angry about everything in the world win, or will we show them the door and do something new, something unheard of, something amazing? We in the EaND will not let the right winger have the last say. We will not let the ministries that are important to us die. We will support them. We will dig down in our own pockets and give what needs to be given so that the ministry of Jesus can go on. We will go the extra mile for ministry.
I hope that as we in the EaND start something new, the entire church will take it as a way to help the ministries that are important to them. Show the right wingers the door and God will pick up the slack through the hearts and hands of those who know the love of God. Amen.
It has been a while since I have written anything on this blog. Sometimes I get lazy, sometimes I get busy, and sometimes I just don't remember to do it. I am not too good at writing, but I enjoy reading blogs so I am going to try to write something every week. Don't hold me to that, but I will try.
I just returned from the Eastern North Dakota Synod fall leadership conference. A friend told me at the conference that we here on the plains are embarrassed to admit that we have bishops so we refuse to call the conference a Bishop's Convocation, as other areas of the ELCA do, and I tend to agree.
At the conference, the bishop always gets a chance to tell us about the shape of the synod and the ELCA in general. This time Bishop Rindy spoke of a new day. The Churchwide organization is restructuring and basically cutting programs. They are doing this because people are in chaos. The chaos caused by a recession, more wars than we really understand, a right wing political and theological take over of the airwaves, and a walk out of wallets from some congregations. With all of this, we in the EaND have a choice.
Will we let the programs that were once sponsored and paid for by the Churchwide organization end, or will we do anything about it? Will we let the nay sayers who are angry about everything in the world win, or will we show them the door and do something new, something unheard of, something amazing? We in the EaND will not let the right winger have the last say. We will not let the ministries that are important to us die. We will support them. We will dig down in our own pockets and give what needs to be given so that the ministry of Jesus can go on. We will go the extra mile for ministry.
I hope that as we in the EaND start something new, the entire church will take it as a way to help the ministries that are important to them. Show the right wingers the door and God will pick up the slack through the hearts and hands of those who know the love of God. Amen.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Revisionist? Not Hardly!
Well, Word Alone is at it again! Bless their hearts!
On its blog, Faithful Transition, Tom Walker has the audacity to think of all those who agree with him and his interpretation of scripture as "orthodox" and everyone else as "revisionist." Walker, in his insane rambling, thinks that Word Alone does not do any of that new fangled, new aged, evil sent from the Devil theology, but he is mistaken once again.
Everyone comes to scripture with preconceived notions. Everyone has baggage that hampers or helps them understand scripture. Everyone, including those so called "orthodox" Lutherans, or even those Bible believing evangelical fundamentalist have ideologies that cloud their interpretations of scripture. NO ONE comes to the scripture as a blank slate. What has happened to us as people, where we have been as a believer in the one true God, our family, our work, and our political ideologies all taint how we look at scripture. There is no way around it.
That is the way it is supposed to be. The Bible is a living entity. The Bible is living and growing in the world today, and we as God's people are a part of that growing. What is happening in the world right now help us understand how God's Word is actively changing the world we know, and changing us too! The Bible is not static. The Bible is not dead. The words written on the page are not God. Those words show us how God has interacted with God's people through out the ages and how God continues to interact with us.
The baggage we bring to the table of God can be transformed by God through our interacting with God's word given us in scripture. This is a good thing! It is not something to be feared as so many fundamentalist do. God is somehow, someway, working through all that baggage showing us a loving and graceful God, showing us how to live a life centered in God, and even showing us how to love those who differ from us.
Live! Laugh! Love! I love Word Alone!
On its blog, Faithful Transition, Tom Walker has the audacity to think of all those who agree with him and his interpretation of scripture as "orthodox" and everyone else as "revisionist." Walker, in his insane rambling, thinks that Word Alone does not do any of that new fangled, new aged, evil sent from the Devil theology, but he is mistaken once again.
Everyone comes to scripture with preconceived notions. Everyone has baggage that hampers or helps them understand scripture. Everyone, including those so called "orthodox" Lutherans, or even those Bible believing evangelical fundamentalist have ideologies that cloud their interpretations of scripture. NO ONE comes to the scripture as a blank slate. What has happened to us as people, where we have been as a believer in the one true God, our family, our work, and our political ideologies all taint how we look at scripture. There is no way around it.
That is the way it is supposed to be. The Bible is a living entity. The Bible is living and growing in the world today, and we as God's people are a part of that growing. What is happening in the world right now help us understand how God's Word is actively changing the world we know, and changing us too! The Bible is not static. The Bible is not dead. The words written on the page are not God. Those words show us how God has interacted with God's people through out the ages and how God continues to interact with us.
The baggage we bring to the table of God can be transformed by God through our interacting with God's word given us in scripture. This is a good thing! It is not something to be feared as so many fundamentalist do. God is somehow, someway, working through all that baggage showing us a loving and graceful God, showing us how to live a life centered in God, and even showing us how to love those who differ from us.
Live! Laugh! Love! I love Word Alone!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Why So Angry?
I try to live my day to day life without getting too angry. I have a history of heart disease in my family and I do not want to die early because of a tirade at something that I basically have no control over. There are some things that I will come unglued over--someone in my house using my socks (both my sons do), my cats trying to sharpen their claws on my wife's new furniture, and someone taking the last piece of dessert pizza at the pizza ranch buffet! Other than that, I try not to get angry.
The Word Alone president, Jaynan Clark, needs to take a chill pill. In her latest diatribe of garbage, she loses her composure over Presiding Bishop Hanson's response to the Nation of Israel's response to the aid shipment. I mean she completely comes off her rocker, as if she was ever on her rocker. I think she has some pent up anger at the world, but that is really not what she is angry about, that is just her jumping off point. She is really angry that the ELCA has taken a different direction than she wanted it to go. Along with all her Word Alone, LCMC, and NALC compadres, she truly doesn't understand the polity of the ELCA. The leadership in Chicago did not force anything down the throats of the people. The people voted. The people sent representatives to the Churchwide assembly. The people have the power, not Higgins Road in Chicago. That is the truth. I just don't understand why she and her minions cannot understand that! But then again, evangelical fundamentalists need help in more ways than I can begin to fathom!
Get a grip! It is sort of like two pastors I used to work with! They both needed therapy and still do, but that is another story. I hope she learns a little anger management. Bless her heart.
The Word Alone president, Jaynan Clark, needs to take a chill pill. In her latest diatribe of garbage, she loses her composure over Presiding Bishop Hanson's response to the Nation of Israel's response to the aid shipment. I mean she completely comes off her rocker, as if she was ever on her rocker. I think she has some pent up anger at the world, but that is really not what she is angry about, that is just her jumping off point. She is really angry that the ELCA has taken a different direction than she wanted it to go. Along with all her Word Alone, LCMC, and NALC compadres, she truly doesn't understand the polity of the ELCA. The leadership in Chicago did not force anything down the throats of the people. The people voted. The people sent representatives to the Churchwide assembly. The people have the power, not Higgins Road in Chicago. That is the truth. I just don't understand why she and her minions cannot understand that! But then again, evangelical fundamentalists need help in more ways than I can begin to fathom!
Get a grip! It is sort of like two pastors I used to work with! They both needed therapy and still do, but that is another story. I hope she learns a little anger management. Bless her heart.
Friday, June 11, 2010
The Creation
I just watched a bird dying on the gulf coast. I am ashamed of the Human Race. We have let our addiction to the easy life ruin our world, the world God created, and the world we are charged to care for. I cannot believe that with all the advances in technology in the world, we cannot cap a well 1 mile deep in the ocean! Is it that we cannot or that we will not? I think it is the latter.
All of creation is our relation! Even the dirty scoundrel the mosquito! I dislike those blood sucking little buggers, but if we did not have them, something would be wrong with the world. How many things are dying in the oil soaked coast line of the Gulf, and how many species are dying that we did not even know existed?
I am guilty. I am guilty of driving when I could have walked. I am guilty of taking the easy way instead of doing things the right way. I am guilty, but that won't change the plight of the Gulf. Will we have the will to change? Will we take this as an educational moment and do the necessary hard work and change our habits? Will we finally see that free market capitalism WILL destroy us and everything we hold dear? I hope so.
All of creation is our relation! Even the dirty scoundrel the mosquito! I dislike those blood sucking little buggers, but if we did not have them, something would be wrong with the world. How many things are dying in the oil soaked coast line of the Gulf, and how many species are dying that we did not even know existed?
I am guilty. I am guilty of driving when I could have walked. I am guilty of taking the easy way instead of doing things the right way. I am guilty, but that won't change the plight of the Gulf. Will we have the will to change? Will we take this as an educational moment and do the necessary hard work and change our habits? Will we finally see that free market capitalism WILL destroy us and everything we hold dear? I hope so.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
The Way of Peace
I have been reading a lot of martial arts stuff lately. I find it fascinating that many of the wisdom sayings of different traditions are the same. It is sort of like the creation stories of different ancient peoples--they all basically have the same stories in them! What does that mean? I think it means that God had a hand in all of those stories just as God has a hand in all the wisdom of different religions and traditions!
I am interested in learning the Way of Peace--The Way of The Peaceful Master. Some would say that taking things from different philosophies and different religions is heresy, but I say hogwash. If one has the eyes to see and the ears to hear, God speaks in many different ways. I love this aspect of God. I am not afraid to let the Peaceful Master teach me in the way that the Master wants.
I wish that more people could see this aspect of God. So many are afraid of a different path to the Peaceful Master. So many are afraid that maybe God speaks in different ways to different people. So many people say that there is only ONE way, but even Jesus said that he had others not of this sheepfold that are coming in. Doesn't that mean that there is more than one way? Some would say no. I would say who cares!
The Peaceful Way is a path that is open to difference. The Way of Peace is a road that can be traveled by many different people. Thanks be to God.
I am interested in learning the Way of Peace--The Way of The Peaceful Master. Some would say that taking things from different philosophies and different religions is heresy, but I say hogwash. If one has the eyes to see and the ears to hear, God speaks in many different ways. I love this aspect of God. I am not afraid to let the Peaceful Master teach me in the way that the Master wants.
I wish that more people could see this aspect of God. So many are afraid of a different path to the Peaceful Master. So many are afraid that maybe God speaks in different ways to different people. So many people say that there is only ONE way, but even Jesus said that he had others not of this sheepfold that are coming in. Doesn't that mean that there is more than one way? Some would say no. I would say who cares!
The Peaceful Way is a path that is open to difference. The Way of Peace is a road that can be traveled by many different people. Thanks be to God.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Reading a different way
In my home town, there are two streets that go from one end to the other. They are both one way streets, but when I was in high school, these streets were two way streets for 1/2 of the length of the streets. It was a difficult thing to change my direction of travel and change my thinking when the city changed the streets into one way the entire distance of the streets. Many times I found myself driving the wrong way on the one way street, and I was not the only one!
I believe this is the situation with the church. We have been reading the scriptures one way for so long that to change that way of thinking is almost impossible. We like it. We are comfortable with it. Why should be change? Well, I think maybe we have been reading the wrong way and that is the reason to change. As I continue to rethink the Christian faith, along with Brian Mclaren and others, I find it exciting to think of new possibilities.
As Mclaren indicates, from the time of the Roman take over of the church, we have been reading and making our theology by looking back to Jesus through other people and how they understand Jesus. Think about it, we read theologian's understandings of Jesus and think that is the way we are supposed to understand him. Our grasp of Jesus is one mediated by Luther through Augustine through Paul, but what if that is the wrong way? What if we are driving the wrong way on a one way street?
What if the plan of God was to understand Jesus by reading the scriptures from Genesis through Exodus through the prophets to Jesus? What if Jesus did not fulfill the prophets words but lived the prophets words? Doesn't that make more sense? To understand Jesus in the context of his own religion and his own background and his own life? Instead of trying to make Jesus fit with a theological system that has been tainted with other philosophical and theological garbage and allow Jesus to speak to us on his own terms, in his own way, and through his own love of God? It just seems so natural to me!
I think I have been driving the wrong way on the streets of life. Maybe we all have!
Monday, March 1, 2010
Tearing Down and Building Up
I am reading a book by Brain Mclaren. It is called "A New Kind of Christianity." This book is over due. I have read Mclaren's books before, but this book particularly speaks to my soul. I finished the book this afternoon and started re-reading it this evening because I what to digest exactly what he is trying to propose.
It seems to me that Mclaren is speaking for many in the church who see how the soul of the Body of Jesus has been stolen. It happened a long time ago when the movement that took upon it the name of Jesus of Nazareth also took upon it the organizational structure of the Roman Empire. Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan have spoken of this in some of their books, and the more I read about this, the more I see it is true.
What started as a movement to help people see how the Roman rulers were missing the point, i.e. sinning, how people were following the wrong path and needed to turn around, i.e. repenting, turned into something alien to its founder. Rome was violent and Jesus was non violent. Rome was turned in on itself and Jesus was turned out to others. Rome worshipped power and financial gain and sex, and Jesus worshipped the LORD.
The church even took into itself the Greco-Roman theology--Neoplatonism mixed with a little of Aristotle. The immortality of the soul, the fall, heaven or hell are products of Greek philosophy and theology and not Hebraic. I have always wondered about this being since my undergraduate studies in Greek reasoning and Philosophy. What we need is a revolution in Christian thought, and it is on the way. I am excited to see what happens next!
It seems to me that Mclaren is speaking for many in the church who see how the soul of the Body of Jesus has been stolen. It happened a long time ago when the movement that took upon it the name of Jesus of Nazareth also took upon it the organizational structure of the Roman Empire. Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan have spoken of this in some of their books, and the more I read about this, the more I see it is true.
What started as a movement to help people see how the Roman rulers were missing the point, i.e. sinning, how people were following the wrong path and needed to turn around, i.e. repenting, turned into something alien to its founder. Rome was violent and Jesus was non violent. Rome was turned in on itself and Jesus was turned out to others. Rome worshipped power and financial gain and sex, and Jesus worshipped the LORD.
The church even took into itself the Greco-Roman theology--Neoplatonism mixed with a little of Aristotle. The immortality of the soul, the fall, heaven or hell are products of Greek philosophy and theology and not Hebraic. I have always wondered about this being since my undergraduate studies in Greek reasoning and Philosophy. What we need is a revolution in Christian thought, and it is on the way. I am excited to see what happens next!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Learning to Dance in the Rain
It seems like every time I turn around, there is another fire to put out. I am on a volunteer board of directors for a local non-profit organization, and every day, someone at the center has a crisis! We need a new day care worker. We need money. We need money! WE NEED MONEY! I wonder why so many people say no when asked to be on a board of directors?
It seems to be raining metaphorically every where. Someone needs a new car to get to work-light rain. Someone is having problems as a single parent-thunder storm. An infant in the NICU needs, well you can only imagine--hurricane! I find many people like to hole up in their houses when it rains. Many people do not like the problems that attend a rain storm. People like to stay dry. People like to watch the rain as it pounces on the ground. People like to let others take care of the weather and only worry about their problems and their concerns and their immediate family. People like to wait for the storm to pass before coming back outside into the bright sun shine.
I don't mind rain. In fact, rain is good for the earth. We need rain to have the growth of the fields that I so enjoy in the Northern Great Plains. Without rain and storms, we would not have the bounty of the Earth. Don't get me wrong, I am terrified of major storms, but a good down pour is beautiful.
I think we need to learn how to dance in the rain. I think we need to waltz in the snow. I think we need to Fox Trot in the wind, Rumba in the sleet, and Tango in the slush, that way if we get tangled up we just tango on! Life is full of storms and unless we learn how to dance, we sit on the benches and let life stream on by. Sure the rain can be dangerous, but so can in activity. This winter has been terrible. Storm after storm causes my mind to wonder if green grass will ever show up again, but I trust God. God will again bring resurrection from death. God will again bring heat from cold. God will again give me the strength to continue.
Do you hear the music? Let's dance!!
It seems to be raining metaphorically every where. Someone needs a new car to get to work-light rain. Someone is having problems as a single parent-thunder storm. An infant in the NICU needs, well you can only imagine--hurricane! I find many people like to hole up in their houses when it rains. Many people do not like the problems that attend a rain storm. People like to stay dry. People like to watch the rain as it pounces on the ground. People like to let others take care of the weather and only worry about their problems and their concerns and their immediate family. People like to wait for the storm to pass before coming back outside into the bright sun shine.
I don't mind rain. In fact, rain is good for the earth. We need rain to have the growth of the fields that I so enjoy in the Northern Great Plains. Without rain and storms, we would not have the bounty of the Earth. Don't get me wrong, I am terrified of major storms, but a good down pour is beautiful.
I think we need to learn how to dance in the rain. I think we need to waltz in the snow. I think we need to Fox Trot in the wind, Rumba in the sleet, and Tango in the slush, that way if we get tangled up we just tango on! Life is full of storms and unless we learn how to dance, we sit on the benches and let life stream on by. Sure the rain can be dangerous, but so can in activity. This winter has been terrible. Storm after storm causes my mind to wonder if green grass will ever show up again, but I trust God. God will again bring resurrection from death. God will again bring heat from cold. God will again give me the strength to continue.
Do you hear the music? Let's dance!!
Sunday, February 14, 2010
The Art of Peace
As I continue to work on myself, to find a way of life in this crazy world, the way of peace draws me! Some people would say that I am drawing from many different traditions, but I find truth in many places. The way the American Indian cares for creation, the way Eastern martial arts cares for creation, the self, and others, and the way a Christian does all of these things and works for peace just makes sense to me. I think Jesus would look to many different ways of being in the world today and bless them. Paraphrasing Carl Rahner, I find truth in these words: God reveals God's self to each person in a way that that person can understand God's self.
Morihei Ueshiba says "one does not need buildings, money, power, or status to practice the Art of Peace. Heaven is right where you are standing, and that is the place to train," which is similar to what Jesus says, "the Kingdom of Heaven has come upon you."
To be a disciple of Christ for me means to practice the Art of Peace. Peace with myself, with my family, with creation, with others, and most importantly with God through Jesus. How are we doing with this practice?
Morihei Ueshiba says "one does not need buildings, money, power, or status to practice the Art of Peace. Heaven is right where you are standing, and that is the place to train," which is similar to what Jesus says, "the Kingdom of Heaven has come upon you."
To be a disciple of Christ for me means to practice the Art of Peace. Peace with myself, with my family, with creation, with others, and most importantly with God through Jesus. How are we doing with this practice?
Saturday, January 30, 2010
The Stoning of Jesus
I just finished watching "For The Bible Tells Me So," a documentary about how the "Religious Right", Focus on the Family, and fundamentalist evangelical Christians have abused the God of love and the Bible by stating homosexuality is an abomination to God. First off, I want to thank a lovely young woman who used to watch my children at seminary for recommending the video to me. Rachel, the video made me cry and angry at the same time.
I cried because people of good will, people who have loved God and continue to do so, use God to discriminate, to ostracize, to exclude others from the church because of who they love. I cried because people of good will, people who have loved God and continue to do so, have stood by and let others discriminate, let others ostracize, let others exclude people because of who they love. I cried because God cries at this.
I am angry because, as people of God continue to fight, people continue to die. I am angry because, as the Bible continues to be used as a weapon, people continue to die. People die because of who they are, because of who they love, and because of who God created them to be. For centuries, God and the Bible have been used in ways that are contrary to God and the Bible. Anything that is not of love, anything that is not about giving life, anything that makes people an outcast, demeans people, or dehumanizes people DOES NOT come from God! Even parts of the Bible that say God kills or that God hates or that God destroys IS NOT from God, it IS NOT part of the Bible that is authoritative for God's people today! Those parts of the Bible come from the people who wrote the Bible trying to justify their killing, their warring, they extermination of others. IT IS NOT FROM GOD!!!
When we let this happen, we become the people of Nazareth who forcibly take Jesus out of the town to the tip of the ravine and try to stone him. We are people who try to destroy God. God is a God of love. God is a God of liberation. God is a God who wants nothing more than for us to help the Divine help others live and love and share. Do we stone Jesus more than help him?
I cried because people of good will, people who have loved God and continue to do so, use God to discriminate, to ostracize, to exclude others from the church because of who they love. I cried because people of good will, people who have loved God and continue to do so, have stood by and let others discriminate, let others ostracize, let others exclude people because of who they love. I cried because God cries at this.
I am angry because, as people of God continue to fight, people continue to die. I am angry because, as the Bible continues to be used as a weapon, people continue to die. People die because of who they are, because of who they love, and because of who God created them to be. For centuries, God and the Bible have been used in ways that are contrary to God and the Bible. Anything that is not of love, anything that is not about giving life, anything that makes people an outcast, demeans people, or dehumanizes people DOES NOT come from God! Even parts of the Bible that say God kills or that God hates or that God destroys IS NOT from God, it IS NOT part of the Bible that is authoritative for God's people today! Those parts of the Bible come from the people who wrote the Bible trying to justify their killing, their warring, they extermination of others. IT IS NOT FROM GOD!!!
When we let this happen, we become the people of Nazareth who forcibly take Jesus out of the town to the tip of the ravine and try to stone him. We are people who try to destroy God. God is a God of love. God is a God of liberation. God is a God who wants nothing more than for us to help the Divine help others live and love and share. Do we stone Jesus more than help him?
Saturday, January 23, 2010
HOMOdox?
With a storm raging outside my window right now, I am reading blogs. I love to find something new when I am spending time on the computer. Sometimes I find a new Tae Kwon Do move or a new movie that I have not seen or even a new word. That is what I found today as I roamed the infinite space that we call the Internet.
There is a movement within Lutheranism that calls themselves orthodox Lutheran. If we look at the word orthodox, we find from the Greek that orthos means "right, true, or straight" and doxa means "praise or worship." So the word orthodox really means right, true or straight worship, but it also means "having the right opinion." (I get this information off of Wikipedia. I know that source is not academic, but for our purposes here, it will suffice.)
As I read the blogs, and I cannot remember which one this comes from, but I found something new about these so called orthodox Lutherans. They are really not orthodox. They do not want right worship or having the right opinion, but this movement is about having the same opinion. Hence, they are not orthodox but HOMOdox. Homo means same and and that is what they want. The only thing these Lutherans want is for everyone to believe and think the same way, or I should say think and believe their way.
I don't know about everyone else, but the diversity of theological thought is a good thing. We have diversity in the natural world and it helps us understand more about the world. Therefore, diversity in theological thought helps us understand more about the divine. Having a robust dialogue about the divine gives us all a better understanding of God and our relationship with God. But the key word in that last sentence is dialogue. We must have a two way conversation where each person is willing to come away from that conversation changed. If we do not have a two way form of communication, then it is just dueling monologues and we all lose. Moreover, if we were all the same, if we all looked the same, acted the same, thought the same, think how boring the world would be!
So, every time I see the word orthodox, I will begin to be skeptical!
There is a movement within Lutheranism that calls themselves orthodox Lutheran. If we look at the word orthodox, we find from the Greek that orthos means "right, true, or straight" and doxa means "praise or worship." So the word orthodox really means right, true or straight worship, but it also means "having the right opinion." (I get this information off of Wikipedia. I know that source is not academic, but for our purposes here, it will suffice.)
As I read the blogs, and I cannot remember which one this comes from, but I found something new about these so called orthodox Lutherans. They are really not orthodox. They do not want right worship or having the right opinion, but this movement is about having the same opinion. Hence, they are not orthodox but HOMOdox. Homo means same and and that is what they want. The only thing these Lutherans want is for everyone to believe and think the same way, or I should say think and believe their way.
I don't know about everyone else, but the diversity of theological thought is a good thing. We have diversity in the natural world and it helps us understand more about the world. Therefore, diversity in theological thought helps us understand more about the divine. Having a robust dialogue about the divine gives us all a better understanding of God and our relationship with God. But the key word in that last sentence is dialogue. We must have a two way conversation where each person is willing to come away from that conversation changed. If we do not have a two way form of communication, then it is just dueling monologues and we all lose. Moreover, if we were all the same, if we all looked the same, acted the same, thought the same, think how boring the world would be!
So, every time I see the word orthodox, I will begin to be skeptical!
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Lutheran CORE--What a joke!
During this wretched cold snap, I have tried to stay warm by wrapping up in a blanket and reading blogs that really have no meaning at all. It is amazing what one will do when one is really cold! Two of the blogs that I try to pay attention to are the Word Alone web page and Luterhan CORE. I do this not because I want to join, but because one should stay abreast of what the dark side is doing.
I find it funny that a group who in 2002 were complaining about not going along with tradition in the fight against Called to Common Mission now are using tradition as a basis of their argument. In 2002, Word Alone was complaining that the Historic Episcopate was a tradition and not part of scripture, although their displeasure with CCM was not about the HE but about homosexuality! Today, Word Alone is saying that tradition teaches that homosexuality is wrong. Seems like they want their cake and eat it too! How can they have it both ways?
Anyway, the blog Spirit of a Liberal tells a compelling story. Basically of the 10,500 ELCA churches, 135 churches have taken votes to leave the ELCA. Of those churches, 38 have failed to reach the needed 2/3 vote to leave. Therefore, 97 churches have decided to leave the ELCA.
Now that shows just how influential CORE really is. What a joke!
I find it funny that a group who in 2002 were complaining about not going along with tradition in the fight against Called to Common Mission now are using tradition as a basis of their argument. In 2002, Word Alone was complaining that the Historic Episcopate was a tradition and not part of scripture, although their displeasure with CCM was not about the HE but about homosexuality! Today, Word Alone is saying that tradition teaches that homosexuality is wrong. Seems like they want their cake and eat it too! How can they have it both ways?
Anyway, the blog Spirit of a Liberal tells a compelling story. Basically of the 10,500 ELCA churches, 135 churches have taken votes to leave the ELCA. Of those churches, 38 have failed to reach the needed 2/3 vote to leave. Therefore, 97 churches have decided to leave the ELCA.
Now that shows just how influential CORE really is. What a joke!
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