Davison's Doodle

Well Fed Spirit

I was asked to speak at a local congregation about something I am passionate about.  That word, passionate, is not one I use to describe my interest in a hobby, project, or topic.  I do understand the context of the times and the motivational nature of marketing, engagement, and inspiring persons that is part of our culture and church speak now.  What’s your passion? I can do the translation work that honors the spirit of the request and also fits my conceptual set.  Thank you liberal arts education.  I don’t think of myself as a particularly passionate person though I have a history of being a hot head and am considered by some to be arrogant, conceded, and convinced about my skill set and knowledge in an area or two.  I am passionate about nurturing the relationship with my beloved of twenty-nine years.

I am one of those that has embraced that time away from your local congregation and family is generally a good and necessary part of personal growth and a well fed spirit.  It is important for both the religious and non-religious alike.  A daily walk, yearly pilgrimage, church camp, or retreat can stretch the spiritual muscles or fill the batteries that help one traverse life and the human condition.

I borrowed that phrase, “well fed spirit,” from a colleague and friend, Rev. Warren.  You can find his website dedicated to spirituality at Well Fed Spirit.

What follows are my words, lightly edited, that I offered at First Christian Church in El Reno for their first “Church Chat” during the Sunday school hour.  It was World Communion Sunday (October 7).

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Good morning church.  It is good to be with Disciples this morning to chat a bit.  It is one of the things we usually do well, especially when there is food, talking about our experiences following Jesus and balancing our beliefs in our lives.  This morning I want to explore what it means to have a “well fed spirit,” and how our summer camp program, retreats, study trips, and mission trips are an important part of a well fed spirit.

Do you remember the first time you realized that God exists?  Maybe it was simply a moment when God was real for you for the first time.

I remember.  It was the summer between seventh and eighth grade.  I was at campfire on Thursday night at Chi Rho Camp.  The crescendo of crickets and bull frogs drowned out the sound of feet shuffling in gravel and pine straw.  It is something we Disciples do at summer camp: sit around a campfire for s’mores, stories, sing, pray, and sweat.   Camp Wildur was a pretty flat place.  It was just slightly higher than the bayou and swamp land that were part of the east side of the property.  The trees seemed to reach the sky and many adorned with moss. The campfire circle sat at the bottom of a hill just behind the main building that was both dining hall and rec hall.

I think we were supposed to be in a silent prayer.  I looked up and the silhouette of shadows from the fire light made it hard to find the camper I hoped to walk back to the cabin when campfire was over.  Trying to see across the flames I noticed the embers and smoke lifting into the night sky.  I watched one ember float up and up and up until it flickered one last time and my gaze was on the night sky.  I was a Boy Scout who had seen the night sky many, many times.  But something was different.  The stars seems so close they could be touched.  I had grown up going to Sunday school and Church.  My family was active in Church.  I knew about God.  I had been baptized, confirmed, baptized a second time, that’s a story for another day, but in that moment God was known.  I felt it somehow.  The night breeze seemed cooler and stronger that nights past.  The moss seemed to dance in swaying trees.  When I think back on it now it was as if God was dancing and celebrating that another person, me, realized God was real.

Back at the cabin one of our counselors, John, asked as we settled down for the night, “Did anyone have a God moment today?”

I’ve said yes to Disciples summer camp ever since.  It is intentional Christian community.  That kind of community can help people that practice Christian faith be better citizens of the planet, and some become leaders.  Community is not easy.

Intentional Christian Community requires attention to the essentials that create unity amidst diverse people.

Intentional Christian community is a willingness to name, and let go of, the non-essentials to unity and bless each person’s search for liberty and happiness.

Intentional Christian community is an attitude of benevolent good will or love of humanity, “charity”, as if you are meeting Jesus or the Imago Dei, the image of God, in other persons that makes Christian community possible and counter-cultural.  That seems harder than ever these days.

Do you have a smart phone?  I don’t know how your security is set up, but my device asks me each time an app wants to gain access to my camera, mic, contacts, or location.  I have to touch “yes” on the screen to give an app, or something in the operating system, to give it “access” to the eyes and ears of my device.  I have to touch yes to allow connections to me, and those that have trusted me with a connection to them in my address book.  As each person travels our walkabout of life, we are connected to different communities that want access to our identities, our friends, and our locations.  One of the things a well fed spirit does is calibrate our sense of right and wrong, and helps us say, “no” or “yes,” to the connections in our lives.  Sometimes, a well fed spirit is that little voice of your moral compass as you navigate the degrees of grey areas living in the 21st century; and rationalizing the choices that are a part of each day.  My parents called a well fed spirit, “Use the brain that God gave you.  Think before you act or speak.”

Psychology calls this cognitive dissonance: it occurs when your ideas, beliefs, or behaviors contradict each other.  Most people don’t come to church looking for cognitive dissonance, but rather a way to escape it.  We forget that much of Jesus’ ministry comforted the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.  Said another way, Jesus would help you with the work of creating blessing baskets for your neighbors in El Reno.  But, he would work harder to change the systems in El Reno that create the need for blessing baskets in the first place.

And, a quick side note, search the origin of that phrase, “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.”  You will learn about Mr. Dooley, an Irish Immigrant character created by Finley Peter Dunn in 1893.  Mr. Dooley’s satirical sayings about the political and social issues of his day were a weekly feature in the Chicago Evening Post.

Never have I ever heard of a church that adopted as it mission statement, “Following Jesus example, we comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.”  Would you walk into a church that had that on its’ sign?   There are a lot of kinds of Christianity out there that make a good living throwing the word sin and sinner around, but I don’t think that is afflicting the comfortable.  When you take a broad look through the eyes of the gospel writers at who Jesus was and what Jesus did, this pesky peasant’s ministry was based in parables both in word and deed.  And intentional Christian community is a good place to work on the dissonance and the discomfort that comes with being a follower of Jesus.  This is why I think church camp, mission trips, and educational trips are vital to the way the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) explores Christian faith, practices Christian faith, and proclaims the good news of God.

Contrary to the Holiday Inn Express commercials, you don’t just become good at a thing or knowledgeable overnight.  A person may have natural talent or abilities for music, art, sports, math, writing, or cooking, but that talent and abilities have to be nurtured, challenged, and continually practiced to get better.  There has to be a commitment to do the hard work that creates trust, confidence, and competence.  Somehow, we get this with almost everything else except practicing Christianity.  Confession of faith and baptism are the beginning of the journey, not a destination.  They might be consider the prerequisites for the course, “Loving and Serving Like Jesus.”  And that leads to a question for another day:  “What makes one a competent Christian?”

The gospels tell us that Jesus went away, most often to the desert, which makes sense because there is a lot of desert in that part of the world.  He went away to pray, to reset, to listen for the voice of God.  And, as Jesus’ story unfolds, he takes the disciples with him away – away from their comfort zones, away from the business of everyday life, away from places, faces, priorities, and distractions that can keep one from listening, learning, and practicing being a child of God.

And this is the “why” offered through our summer camp program, retreats, International Affairs Seminar, Mission Trips, and now Intersections.   We are not in the business of manipulating children, youth, and adults, but we are invitational communities that understand that by blending play, prayer, worship, study, and service into a weekend retreat or week long experience we are teaching the language of faith and the practice of Christianity for the Church today and tomorrow. 

There is nothing magical, but there is space for the mystical, for the presence of God to become real.

There is time to talk about the difficulties of being a follower of Jesus in a consumption driven culture.

There is time to ask about belief and disbelief.

These experiences are a kind of sabbath.  Time away to listen, learn, serve, and practice.  We help children, youth, and adults learn the difference between intercessory prayer, public prayers on behalf of a group, and praying for oneself.  We teach that words matter.  We help children, youth, and adults take the bible seriously, but not literally.  We create a kind of community that enables a person to tap “Yes” to a connection understanding that it means “No” to another.  It is not easy and you have to want it.

Traveling with people, whether you know them or not, you learn the nuance of the story behind the image of your traveling companions and yourself.   Each participant brings a piece of the event puzzle with him or her.  Away from your comfort zone, away from routines, and sharing space with people who are not just like you, but share a common expression of faith, you can choose to embrace the invitation to be vulnerable about questions, about faith, and open to new learnings.  Even learning that stirs me from my comfortable faith.

When I served in congregations as a youth minister, the first meeting of the fall would be a big family fun gathering.  The youth sponsors would hand out calendars, get release forms for the year signed and notarized, organize dinners for the youth groups, play and worship.   And somewhere near the end I would offer a version of these words.  “You know, this being Christian stuff is not easy.  It is hard more often than easy.  When you get home tonight and are looking at schedules.  Remember, Sunday school is the active study we do each week, and youth group is putting into practice what we studied.  It is hard to do both, study and practice, well, in an hour on Sunday morning or 90 minutes of youth group.  That’s why it is important for you to be regulars, and for you parents to be regulars in your class or group, and not drop-ins.  This being a Christian stuff is hard to do alone, and we need one another to be better followers of Jesus.”

You are doing a good job with this First Christian.  You study together, pray together, and serve together.  All of this, and so much more feeds your spirit.  And what does that do?  What does a well fed spirit do?

I think a well fed spirit gifts a person the vision to see rainbows, and create opportunities for others to have their own rainbow vision.

Seedy Gospel

My framework of my words at Bethany Christian Church on June 17, 2018.

Mark 4:26-34

Jesus also said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.’

Jesus also said, ‘With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.’

With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.

This morning I’ll do my best to slow down and speak clearly.  You do your best to listen to and through the words, and we will trust that somewhere along the way we can meet up in the good news of God.  I think that is what Jesus means when he says, “Let anyone who has ears to hear, listen.”

When we catch up with the disciples and Jesus this morning it’s as if he is doing a gardening show on HG TV.  The 4th chapter of Mark is a pomegranate of seed filled parables. For some, it might flare up diverticulitis or a seed allergy.  No matter.  There are other teaching stories that may better fit your condition.  Like Jesus, the parables meet followers and believers where we are in life, and each time the parables have the ability to create dissonance.

A dissonance that can create frustration: like hitting every red light when you are late or working the blasted Rubik’s Cube.

Parables can create a dissonance that blesses apathetic relativism.

The parables can create a dissonance that can open the heart and mind to deeper learning, vision, and commitment to following the way of Jesus; or at least being a decent human being.

A marketing guru, Seth Godin, had a little thought this week that describes the work of the parables.  His words:

There are two polar opposites: Staying still and Breaking.   It’s easy to visualize each end of the axis, whatever the activity.

In between is stretching.

Stretching is growth. Extending our reach. Becoming more resilient, limber and powerful. Stretching hurts a bit, and maybe leaves us just a little bit sore.

But then, tomorrow, we can stretch further than we could yesterday. Because stretching compounds.

If you’re afraid of breaking, the answer isn’t to stay still. No, if you’re afraid of breaking, the answer is to dedicate yourself to stretching. (Seth Godin, “Stretching”. June 10, 2018)

Let anyone who has ears to hear, listen.

In the gospel of Mark, I think Jesus gives us a primer for the parables at the end of chapter 3. “Whoever does the will of God is my brother, sister, and mother.”

So, what do we do with this seedy gospel of the kindom of God?  It’s as if someone scattered seed on the ground.  In an agricultural based society this makes sense, but there are other definitions for the word scatter that effect how one hears and listens to this parable.

Scatter:

• to cause to separate widely
• to cause to vanish
• to fling away heedlessly
• to distribute irregularly
• to sow by casting in all directions
• to reflect irregularly and diffusely
• to diffuse or disperse
• to divide into ineffectual small portions (
  (“Scatter.” Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 16 June 2018)
  

Maybe we need to be more intentional about our scattering as much as the seed we are spreading or ingesting.  You can understand the elements that create germination or as the parable notes, not know how the earth works at all, but soil doesn’t always yield what one expects. And, we end up harvesting a genetically modified good that was grown by doing or accepting a little bit of evil.  It is a kind of gardening we all struggle with, every day, on the walk to love our neighbor as ourselves.

But, dominant public Christianity seems different right now.  The prosperity preachers, evangelical ideologues, state and federal legislators of a particular brand, and fellow citizens have separated widely through the embrace of an unethical, insult driven culture war profiteer to get what?  This is what they are getting: judges on the federal bench, reclaim a “status”, to slow change, or embrace a freedom to discriminate that they already had in their home life, though no longer protected by the law in public or at the ballot box.  Apparently, that too is changing.

Do we really need to wonder “why” Generation X, Millennials, iGen, and the growing class of religious “nones” of all ages are suspicious of Christendom’s seedy gospel.  Actually, I think the appropriate word for this day and age is “sketchy”.  A disreputable and slightly unwell gospel “acting-out” fear your neighbor as yourself.  A sketchy, “do as I say not as I do” monetized gospel whose kindom has a profit margin.

But, no matter the historical context Christians remember, some of us weekly, that somehow we inhabit this already, but not yet, kindom of God.  With what can we compare it, or what parable will we use for it?  Well, it is like kudzu.   The vine begins as ground cover.  It takes some time to root, and then it appears to be unstoppable.  Kudzu does a great job of keeping soil from washing away or blowing away.  Even during the dormant winter months, its woven tapestry holds on to wherever it has taken root.

In 1935, amidst the dust storms of the prairies, Congress enlisted kudzu to stop soil erosion and paid people to plant this vine imported from Japan.  It appears to grow quickly and out of control, but that perception is false.  The Southern states are said to be covered with it, but it is not as invasive as myth would have you believe.   It does return again and again.  Kind of like the mustard weed, kudzu seems to survive and come back sometimes in odd places.

I’ve seen some kudzu recently at Chi Rho camp. Two boys in conflict discovering their home lives similarly impact their behavior.  The settle and shake on keeping each other accountable for their behavior the rest of the week.  They exchange snapchat handles at the end of the week.  A 6th grade girl about the size of Mary Lou Who, this little one was the sole voice of her small group’s skit at the talent show.  She told the story of Joseph and his brothers and his amazing coat as if she was, and we all were, participants in the story.  All the while, her small group acted out the story in shadows created from a few flashlights and a sheet.  She knew names and places and she ad libbed for characters like they were family stories.  She spoke of how people reconciled with one another and did some exegetical interpretation ending the story: “Joseph and his brothers made up.  Joseph forgave, but I don’t think he forgot.  That would be a lot to ask wouldn’t it?  Being family again was enough.”

I’ve seen a kudzu like kindom in the work of this congregation with the school just down the hall, with your engagement in civic life in Tulsa, and the affirming open hospitality offered to everyone that wander through the doors.  Neighborliness, one person at a time connecting to intentional community with honest dialogue, prayer, and accountability.  Sharing life together like those first called disciples of Jesus.

I’ve come to think of the kindom of God not as a Nation state, nor idealized, nor as a time of global peace.  As I’ve traveled through living my journey in faith has embraced the idea that the kindom of God is something that is within each of us.  It is part of the Imago Dei, the divine spark of God’s residue that inhabits our being. Maybe that is an obvious theological statement, but you wouldn’t know it by listening to what is claimed on behalf of public Christendom these days.  For me, the kindom of God is a blend of conscious, moral compass, the way of Jesus, and trust in God.  Scattering the kindom happens interacting with people.   Somedays I do a better job than others.  That’s why its like the pesky mustard weed or kudzu.  It is so deeply rooted in us we are unaware that the kindom is holding on, waiting, to be discovered and scattered.  In any situation we can choose to do what is right because we know it is right.  To borrow from my companion, we can choose to act out of our original blessedness.

With many parables Jesus speaks the word to us as we are able to hear it. 

Remember the primer. 

Not sure what the will of God is?  See Micah 6:8. 

Then, revisit a parable that Jesus told.

And . . . stretch.