You are the determiner of your own destiny. This is the truth statement that underlies popular Western culture. This is the same under-pining of most salvation motivated mainstream Christian believers. This is the bottom line for the self-help movement.
We operate in a universe that says we can change our stars with enough hard work and a little luck. That hard work is fixing the behavioral damage of our parents and the genetic legacy of our appearance, but we can all reach our potential with enough surgery and medication. In the midst of all the available options to become all we can be via the secular world, the Christianity we encounter in the media is portrayed as able to sell us perfection in the afterlife, if only we believe.
Except that isn't actually what Jesus was talking about. He wasn't offering us looks or fame or charisma. He wasn't even selling the afterlife. He was selling this life. And he wasn't telling us how to get rich and famous, he was telling us how to actually be happy, actually matter, actually be human. Jesus did not become the Christ, the resurrection and the atonement so we could go to heaven. It was so that we could be fully human. It was so we could have meaningful happiness. And the way home isn't by taking care of our own selves, it is by taking care of each other.
People, by design or by nature, are communal creatures-we cannot live alone. The miracle of self-awareness creates exactly this need to live in community. “Is there anyone else like me?” is the first question we ask with our self-awareness. Earthworms are not awake at 2am wondering if anyone really understands them. People are. Children explore this question – babies and grade schoolers and high school students. Adults do it – college students and barflies, secretaries and parents, retirees and nursing home patients.
Christianity teaches us a simple and profound truth. We must consider other people before ourselves if we want to satisfy the itch of self-awareness. When we worry about our relevance, if we are needed and if we are contributing to society, we are being self-absorbed. We cannot answer own question. It is only in relation to another person that we become relevant, contributory and needed.
Have you ever taken the trust test where you stand with your back to someone and fall? Always sure that we are going to fall, and we are always amazed and surprised when we don't land on our backs. Christianity is just like this test. And like this test, we cannot do it alone.
Monday, March 20, 2006
Saturday, March 18, 2006
The Devil's in the Details
This mornings lessons are about the difference between intent and practice. We always start with the best of intentions when we create a law, and we always muddled them up in the execution. So it is no surprise that the hardest laws of all, those of God, are abused in the worst ways.
What are God's laws? I'll give you a hint, there are only two.
Love God.
Love your neighbor as yourself.
It is easy to see the intention for us in these laws. An awareness of God, of the larger and better nature to be found in the universe will center us and allow us to treat others with the respect and dignity that we would like to be offered. If we all actually did these two simple things, we could spend far more time dealing with the actual problems in the world, like hunger and homelessness.
Sign me up. This sounds great. This looks like something we can do. It certainly seems like something we want to do. We have been given this perfect law, and it will allow us to lead wonderful lives, but we haven't changed all that much from the Israelites. And that is why we still drag around the 10 commandments. Because people needed some rules to go with those laws.
God sent Moses down the mountain with the 10 commandments. Because the Israelites were trying to Love God and Love their neighbor. But they didn't know what God looked like, and so they started making idols. They were very nice idols, they used a lot of precious metal and they treated it very nice. What more did God want? And they were trying to love their neighbor, but of course, the best way to show you love someone is to kill their enemies. So Moses got stuck climbing the mountain and facing the music.
These rules are much more explicit. Much easier to follow.
There are three rules about loving God. Such as knowing which one he is. And not boxing God in, because we easily get confused and start making objects the thing that cannot be desecrated, instead of God. And don't use the name God lightly, because it is all we really have to hold onto.
All the rest are rules about neighbors. Because we spend more time with neighbors than God. And first on the list, don't keep your neighbor from what little time they do spend with God. And be nice to your parents, don't kill anyone, don't confuse sex with relationships, don't take other people's stuff, don't lie, and stop trying to keep up with the Jones.
That seems to sum it up. But, of course, there are always those special cases, like what if my coworker is an atheist, is it OK to ask them to work on Sunday? What if my parents were abusive? What about child molesters? Would it be OK to kill them? Is it stealing or free market economics? Exactly what is a lie when everyone has a right to their own opinion?
Then there is a whole class of special cases that relate to God. Sit stand or kneel? Do we blow out the candles before during or after the closing hymn? Sola scripture? Works or grace? Does the secret recipe for communion bread make it more sacred than Wonder Bread?
Is anyone starting to see why Jesus went after the people in the temple with a whip? With some work, I could probably show how each one of the 10 commandments were being broken by the production line worship happening in the temple. The Jews at the time were so busy applying all the rules to their lives, and making sure that they knew who they were, that they had forgotten the law completely.
The intention was good. That is what we often forget in this story. We make out the money changers and animal vendors as horrible people who make a living off people's need to worship God. What about our own priests, some of whom actually get paid. What about Forward Movement, which sold us our photocopies of the scripture this morning. What about the companies that sell vestments and altars and 12 foot tall crosses. Our intentions are good.
It was the execution that went all wrong for the Jews in Jerusalem. They had made the temple into their God. What about our execution? Well, we have a lot of committees. Someone will get back to you.
Seriously, this is what Paul was trying to say in the Epistle to the Romans today. Our intentions and our execution do not match. “I do not understand my own actions.” says Paul, “For I do not do what I want, but the very thing that I hate.”
Love God, love your neighbor. It looks easy on paper, and we get up every morning with the intention of doing both. But we find ourselves at the end of the day having done the wrong thing.
I want to love my neighbor, and I know she needs someone to talk to her, but I do need to go get my kids from school. I know that my employee wants to go to church on Sundays, but we need the coverage for the 3 day sale. I know that life is hard in Mexico, but I don't want to pay for illegal immigrants to go to the hospital. I know running red lights is wrong, but I'm late. I know my faith helps me get through the day, but I wouldn't want to tell anyone else how to live.
Our intentions are always for the best. Our execution always brings us back to confession.
The psalmist warns us in his pleas:
Who can tell how often I offend? Cleanse me of my secret faults. Above all, keep me from presumptuous sins; let them not get dominion over me.
Then I shall be whole and sound and innocent of a great offense. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.
A-men.
What are God's laws? I'll give you a hint, there are only two.
Love God.
Love your neighbor as yourself.
It is easy to see the intention for us in these laws. An awareness of God, of the larger and better nature to be found in the universe will center us and allow us to treat others with the respect and dignity that we would like to be offered. If we all actually did these two simple things, we could spend far more time dealing with the actual problems in the world, like hunger and homelessness.
Sign me up. This sounds great. This looks like something we can do. It certainly seems like something we want to do. We have been given this perfect law, and it will allow us to lead wonderful lives, but we haven't changed all that much from the Israelites. And that is why we still drag around the 10 commandments. Because people needed some rules to go with those laws.
God sent Moses down the mountain with the 10 commandments. Because the Israelites were trying to Love God and Love their neighbor. But they didn't know what God looked like, and so they started making idols. They were very nice idols, they used a lot of precious metal and they treated it very nice. What more did God want? And they were trying to love their neighbor, but of course, the best way to show you love someone is to kill their enemies. So Moses got stuck climbing the mountain and facing the music.
These rules are much more explicit. Much easier to follow.
There are three rules about loving God. Such as knowing which one he is. And not boxing God in, because we easily get confused and start making objects the thing that cannot be desecrated, instead of God. And don't use the name God lightly, because it is all we really have to hold onto.
All the rest are rules about neighbors. Because we spend more time with neighbors than God. And first on the list, don't keep your neighbor from what little time they do spend with God. And be nice to your parents, don't kill anyone, don't confuse sex with relationships, don't take other people's stuff, don't lie, and stop trying to keep up with the Jones.
That seems to sum it up. But, of course, there are always those special cases, like what if my coworker is an atheist, is it OK to ask them to work on Sunday? What if my parents were abusive? What about child molesters? Would it be OK to kill them? Is it stealing or free market economics? Exactly what is a lie when everyone has a right to their own opinion?
Then there is a whole class of special cases that relate to God. Sit stand or kneel? Do we blow out the candles before during or after the closing hymn? Sola scripture? Works or grace? Does the secret recipe for communion bread make it more sacred than Wonder Bread?
Is anyone starting to see why Jesus went after the people in the temple with a whip? With some work, I could probably show how each one of the 10 commandments were being broken by the production line worship happening in the temple. The Jews at the time were so busy applying all the rules to their lives, and making sure that they knew who they were, that they had forgotten the law completely.
The intention was good. That is what we often forget in this story. We make out the money changers and animal vendors as horrible people who make a living off people's need to worship God. What about our own priests, some of whom actually get paid. What about Forward Movement, which sold us our photocopies of the scripture this morning. What about the companies that sell vestments and altars and 12 foot tall crosses. Our intentions are good.
It was the execution that went all wrong for the Jews in Jerusalem. They had made the temple into their God. What about our execution? Well, we have a lot of committees. Someone will get back to you.
Seriously, this is what Paul was trying to say in the Epistle to the Romans today. Our intentions and our execution do not match. “I do not understand my own actions.” says Paul, “For I do not do what I want, but the very thing that I hate.”
Love God, love your neighbor. It looks easy on paper, and we get up every morning with the intention of doing both. But we find ourselves at the end of the day having done the wrong thing.
I want to love my neighbor, and I know she needs someone to talk to her, but I do need to go get my kids from school. I know that my employee wants to go to church on Sundays, but we need the coverage for the 3 day sale. I know that life is hard in Mexico, but I don't want to pay for illegal immigrants to go to the hospital. I know running red lights is wrong, but I'm late. I know my faith helps me get through the day, but I wouldn't want to tell anyone else how to live.
Our intentions are always for the best. Our execution always brings us back to confession.
The psalmist warns us in his pleas:
Who can tell how often I offend? Cleanse me of my secret faults. Above all, keep me from presumptuous sins; let them not get dominion over me.
Then I shall be whole and sound and innocent of a great offense. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.
A-men.
Wednesday, March 1, 2006
Why Study Sex at Church, Lenten Study Series
The following is an article I wrote for the church newsletter as an explaination for why we are studying the issue of homosexuality for Lent. As for me, I rarely give anything up for Lent anymore, but like to use the time to address something that is missing in my life. For instance, this year I am adding exercise, again. But for our study at church, I thought that something we are missing is our connection to the church writ large, and I wanted to make sure at least my tiny neck of the woods was prepared for the broohaha that will be General Convention 2006.
So, this is why we are studying sex at church....
At a Sunday service last summer, a young man who is not from a liturgical tradition asked me why we pray for the catholic church since we are not catholic? I explained that the word catholic meant universal and that when we pray for the catholic church we are praying for all bodies of Christians, no matter what kind or where they are. Hot on the heels of this came a question about why we pray for the dead, wasn’t that ancestor worship. I explained that no, we were not praying to the dead, but that we were including all Christians, both the living and the dead, as part of the church. These may be the short answer, theologically, but they are fundamentally true. As the sign says, all are welcome here.
In fact, I came from a tradition much like this young man’s and one of the reasons I sought out a new place to worship was my own belief that all who profess Christ are Christians, and that the Holy Spirit will not let evil profess Christ. (1 Corinthians 12:3) Do I think the church of my youth is not a body of Christ? No, but it was not my body.
The Episcopal Church in particular, and the Anglican Communion of which it is a part, is a practicing catholic church. We gather together as Anglicans, and we gather together in ecumenical bodies such as the World Council of Churches to consider our common Christian mission. This is practicing a belief, that all Christians are fully Christians.
The result of such welcome, however, is tension. We are all different people who see the world in different ways and bring different values and needs to our practicing faith. It takes a lot of work, on the part of individuals and institutions to acknowledge an autonomy of practice while sharing an affirmation of faith. This is the reward of the transformational nature of conversion (being born again). In fact, this tension is possible only through the Gospel. In the fact of Jesus lies the full potential of the Gospel-we are free of the burden of sin. This freedom is the necessary ingredient for us to overcome our need to surround ourselves with like-minded people who can make us feel better about ourselves. And it compels us to go and do good in the name of that freedom, in the name of Jesus Christ.
But what does that good look like? The goodness of God is unchanging. We are not. For us, where we are in time and in place will have a lot to do with how we are able to understand that goodness. The variety itself is the goodness of God. For example, consider a chair. What passes for a chair varies by location. From a smooth rock, to a gold-encrusted six-legged high-backed throne, to a three-legged stool; these are all chairs. The goodness of God is just as varied. Deciphering the goodness of the world takes the prompting of the Spirit, and following that prompting takes reflection.
We are blessed in the liturgical tradition in that we celebrate seasons each year, not the seasons of winter and summer, but the seasons of Lent and Advent. Lent is a time for reflection. We are coming into the Lenten season, and have chosen, as a community, to study the decisions that have been made in our church, in common and particular communities, with regards to sexuality and fitness for ordination. Homosexuality is not the only issue that the catholic church has wrestled with in the last 50 years, but it is currently the most heated around the world. In a few months we will gather again as a national church and these issues will be at the forefront. It is our responsibility to be aware of the work of our church, not just our parish. It is our responsibility to allow the Spirit to move us in the same ways that it moves others. It is our gift to live in tension.
So, this is why we are studying sex at church....
At a Sunday service last summer, a young man who is not from a liturgical tradition asked me why we pray for the catholic church since we are not catholic? I explained that the word catholic meant universal and that when we pray for the catholic church we are praying for all bodies of Christians, no matter what kind or where they are. Hot on the heels of this came a question about why we pray for the dead, wasn’t that ancestor worship. I explained that no, we were not praying to the dead, but that we were including all Christians, both the living and the dead, as part of the church. These may be the short answer, theologically, but they are fundamentally true. As the sign says, all are welcome here.
In fact, I came from a tradition much like this young man’s and one of the reasons I sought out a new place to worship was my own belief that all who profess Christ are Christians, and that the Holy Spirit will not let evil profess Christ. (1 Corinthians 12:3) Do I think the church of my youth is not a body of Christ? No, but it was not my body.
The Episcopal Church in particular, and the Anglican Communion of which it is a part, is a practicing catholic church. We gather together as Anglicans, and we gather together in ecumenical bodies such as the World Council of Churches to consider our common Christian mission. This is practicing a belief, that all Christians are fully Christians.
The result of such welcome, however, is tension. We are all different people who see the world in different ways and bring different values and needs to our practicing faith. It takes a lot of work, on the part of individuals and institutions to acknowledge an autonomy of practice while sharing an affirmation of faith. This is the reward of the transformational nature of conversion (being born again). In fact, this tension is possible only through the Gospel. In the fact of Jesus lies the full potential of the Gospel-we are free of the burden of sin. This freedom is the necessary ingredient for us to overcome our need to surround ourselves with like-minded people who can make us feel better about ourselves. And it compels us to go and do good in the name of that freedom, in the name of Jesus Christ.
But what does that good look like? The goodness of God is unchanging. We are not. For us, where we are in time and in place will have a lot to do with how we are able to understand that goodness. The variety itself is the goodness of God. For example, consider a chair. What passes for a chair varies by location. From a smooth rock, to a gold-encrusted six-legged high-backed throne, to a three-legged stool; these are all chairs. The goodness of God is just as varied. Deciphering the goodness of the world takes the prompting of the Spirit, and following that prompting takes reflection.
We are blessed in the liturgical tradition in that we celebrate seasons each year, not the seasons of winter and summer, but the seasons of Lent and Advent. Lent is a time for reflection. We are coming into the Lenten season, and have chosen, as a community, to study the decisions that have been made in our church, in common and particular communities, with regards to sexuality and fitness for ordination. Homosexuality is not the only issue that the catholic church has wrestled with in the last 50 years, but it is currently the most heated around the world. In a few months we will gather again as a national church and these issues will be at the forefront. It is our responsibility to be aware of the work of our church, not just our parish. It is our responsibility to allow the Spirit to move us in the same ways that it moves others. It is our gift to live in tension.
Reflections on Isaiah 6:1-8
This was going to be a sermon, now it is mostly just a mental exercise, since it is no longer the sermon due for class, but it was an interesting enough insight, that I wanted to share it all the same.
“Here I am; send me!”
I can't imagine Isaiah knew what he was getting into when he said that. And even more interesting is what God then asks him to do- harden the hearts of the people until they are in ruin so that they will again turn to the Lord.
This God is very difficult to reconcile with the Lord who cradles our every step and loves us all with reckless compassion. This God is the parent; the parent who believes in tough love. How could Isaiah want to do such a thing to his people after seeing such a vision of Lordly power? How indeed? I think some of that answer is found in the vision itself.
This vision of the Lord as a king on a throne is not unique to Isaiah. The book of Job begins with God holding court, and sounding a bit bored. Ezekiel is commissioned by God surrounded by glorious angels and enthroned.
The call to lie to the people is not unique to Isaiah either. It is also found in 1 Kings 22:19. The prophet Micaiah is also called by the Lord to mislead; in Deuteronomy 13:2, where the author warns against true prophets misleading people as a test of loyalty to the one God.
So, quickly, we have a God in the Old Testament who is represented in ways that are contrary not only to our desires and understandings of God, but who is represented in a way that is actually condemned by God himself. God did not want to place a king at the head of Israel. The people begged for a king of their own until God finally gave them David.
God had originally set the people of Israel up as a community lead by community leaders, called Judges, but not like our judicial figures. God did allow for a king, in Deuteronomy 17, but he is bound by the law. God does not allow him to be an absolute ruler. God knew that people would want someone to be responsible for them, but he would not allow them to abdicate their responsibility to Him.
Why then, if God has set up the Israelites in Canaan, just as he promised, and he has made them responsible to and for each other, would the Jewish prophets still describe God as an enthroned ruler?
It's a sad fact that no matter what God has done for us, we are still human. It is part of our nature for some of us to want to lead and for some of us to want to follow. Even in our democracy, we put up kings and idolize royalty. Consider English Royalty. They generate just as much fascination in America, where we threw out the King as they do in their own country. Maybe even more.
The truth of the matter is, we do want someone else to be responsible for our actions. We want to lay blame at the door of anyone else. This means that we are more responsive to truth coming from a God who is proclaimed in ways that we perceive as powerful. Those trappings of power, however, are not the true power, of God or of ourselves. This is what Jesus was trying to tell us before we stuck him to a tree and told him to shut up. This is why, after we realized what Jesus was trying to tell us, and we loved it for what it is, we blamed the Romans, and the Jews, leaders and laity alike, for killing him. We do not like to take responsibility for having killed our own leader, but we did. In fact, there are people walking around, even today, doing a remarkable job of actually following Jesus. If they do it in a foreign country, they are like Mother Theresa and revered, but if they do it in America, then they are like the prophets, and we vilify them, ignore them, and otherwise, attempt to hang them from a more modern tree.
The throne is important. It is the only thing. Just ask the Wizard of Oz. How frightened we will all be when we realize that the power of God is found in our own hearts.
“Here I am; send me!”
I can't imagine Isaiah knew what he was getting into when he said that. And even more interesting is what God then asks him to do- harden the hearts of the people until they are in ruin so that they will again turn to the Lord.
This God is very difficult to reconcile with the Lord who cradles our every step and loves us all with reckless compassion. This God is the parent; the parent who believes in tough love. How could Isaiah want to do such a thing to his people after seeing such a vision of Lordly power? How indeed? I think some of that answer is found in the vision itself.
This vision of the Lord as a king on a throne is not unique to Isaiah. The book of Job begins with God holding court, and sounding a bit bored. Ezekiel is commissioned by God surrounded by glorious angels and enthroned.
The call to lie to the people is not unique to Isaiah either. It is also found in 1 Kings 22:19. The prophet Micaiah is also called by the Lord to mislead; in Deuteronomy 13:2, where the author warns against true prophets misleading people as a test of loyalty to the one God.
So, quickly, we have a God in the Old Testament who is represented in ways that are contrary not only to our desires and understandings of God, but who is represented in a way that is actually condemned by God himself. God did not want to place a king at the head of Israel. The people begged for a king of their own until God finally gave them David.
God had originally set the people of Israel up as a community lead by community leaders, called Judges, but not like our judicial figures. God did allow for a king, in Deuteronomy 17, but he is bound by the law. God does not allow him to be an absolute ruler. God knew that people would want someone to be responsible for them, but he would not allow them to abdicate their responsibility to Him.
Why then, if God has set up the Israelites in Canaan, just as he promised, and he has made them responsible to and for each other, would the Jewish prophets still describe God as an enthroned ruler?
It's a sad fact that no matter what God has done for us, we are still human. It is part of our nature for some of us to want to lead and for some of us to want to follow. Even in our democracy, we put up kings and idolize royalty. Consider English Royalty. They generate just as much fascination in America, where we threw out the King as they do in their own country. Maybe even more.
The truth of the matter is, we do want someone else to be responsible for our actions. We want to lay blame at the door of anyone else. This means that we are more responsive to truth coming from a God who is proclaimed in ways that we perceive as powerful. Those trappings of power, however, are not the true power, of God or of ourselves. This is what Jesus was trying to tell us before we stuck him to a tree and told him to shut up. This is why, after we realized what Jesus was trying to tell us, and we loved it for what it is, we blamed the Romans, and the Jews, leaders and laity alike, for killing him. We do not like to take responsibility for having killed our own leader, but we did. In fact, there are people walking around, even today, doing a remarkable job of actually following Jesus. If they do it in a foreign country, they are like Mother Theresa and revered, but if they do it in America, then they are like the prophets, and we vilify them, ignore them, and otherwise, attempt to hang them from a more modern tree.
The throne is important. It is the only thing. Just ask the Wizard of Oz. How frightened we will all be when we realize that the power of God is found in our own hearts.
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