Category: Michael D
Holiday Pondering
My companion and I are fortunate to be able to be on holiday each year. This is time away from our day to day vocations (our jobs). Europeans take “holiday” rather than vacation. It is a different mindset. The film, “What About Bob” sets the difference between vacation and holiday time with this simple turn of phrase, “Take a vacation from your problems.” I once thought of our time away through that lens, but one week of escape, like booze, two hours of a film, (insert your escape of choice), life returns; life’s messiness and complication is always there. Instead, holiday allows the space to process, to explore new ideas, new activities, or revisit old ones, to pick up conversations that circumstance required us to set aside, and be present with each other. Our lives are not left behind, as it were, but part of holiday as we become our whole selves. The last few years we have enjoyed a cruise. While on holiday I ponder. Here are a few of the things I pondered from our cabin balcony in no particular order.
I’ve pondered: How is it that these United States are becoming as religiously divided as the near East? It seems to me that we’ve been on this trajectory at least since the founding of the “Moral Majority.” It and, others like it, are semi political-religious hybrids that our non-profit, freedom of religion, and tax code indulges. If Sen Cruz, the American Family Association, Franklin Graham, the 700 Club, and the Trinity Broadcasting System are to be believed, religious liberty is under assault like never before. Really? The rhetoric reveals the bias. What is labeled religious liberty, when one listens carefully, is the white male Christian patriarchy associated with a brand of Christian witness that is loosing its dominance in our culture. I understand the fear of change and loss, but it is too broad to claim that religious liberty is under attack or suggesting that Christians are being persecuted in these United States. If liberty is under attack, and it is for minorities, immigrants, the working poor, and the middle class, the source of the attack is Sen Cruz and others like him seeking to embed their ideological vision of a “Christian” America and capitalism on the citizens of our Nation.
I’ve pondered my vocational trajectory. I turn fifty years old this year. I’m an ordained minister serving as a middle judicatory representative with congregational experience, with event planning experience, with fundraising experience, and with some writing experience. I also embody a love/hate relationship with the universal Church. I’ve served primarily in youth ministry, loosely defined as grades 4-12 in my denomination, but I have diverse experience in congregational life and leadership. I’ve come to realize that youth ministry is as much a style, a way, of doing ministry as it is a specific programatic ministry of a congregation or denomination. For me, effective youth ministry incubates a balance of personal belief and communal ethics. It journeys with adolescents navigating family, culture, expectations, and current technology while they make sense of the foundational beliefs, religious or not, that will guide their lives in good times and bad times. Effective congregational life does as well. I’ve pondered, “what next?” I exist in a mainline Christian tradition that has embraced corporate America’s “downsize to the younger worker” to cut expenses and seek out eager energy. It is a trajectory of my denomination since the late 1980’s. I initially benefited from it. I didn’t know it then, but my denomination had just begun contracting after expansive growth. Several times the contraction has been slowed, but the religious and political landscape is different from our great expansion. There is an opportunity for my denomination to remain identifiably relevant, but I’m not sure we have the willful diversity to remain at table together and be an example of communal Gospel in the 21st century.
I’ve pondered how overt racism has returned to our political system. How it is that States and Governors have been able to redraw voting districts that resemble the wall between Israel and the West Bank? Governors and State legislatures have passed voter ID laws designed to make voting harder because their ideas about society, culture, and economics do not translate to the changing demographics of our country. If you cannot persuade people to your political point of view and vision, then keeping people away from the polls is the next best political strategy to maintain power. Throw in “money is speech” and SCOTUS has made it easier for multi-national corporations and plutocrats to buy the politicians and government that benefits their bottom line. I’m not sure why politicians or reporters with clout have not named the political nullification that the Republicans in Congress have been about since President Obama was inaugurated. One possible answer is that there is no longer one news source, trusted to be objective, by a majority of our citizens. The news outlets and newspapers that a majority of our citizens can receive are all owned by corporations for whom hard news reporting is not healthy for the bottom line. It doesn’t profit the corporations to report on the systemic racism that is alive and well or to invest the time and money to do investigative reporting that keeps our governmental officials and representatives accountable. That is not how one maximizes profit and increases stock price.
It seems to me that the argument could be made that the Republicans in Congress determined that a successful non-white President would provide too much hope to our citizens and those looking to the United States for inspiration that America is an exceptional place of opportunity for every person. I think they believe no one would view their actions through the lens of racism as long as they used the word “principled” in their efforts to stall, block, obstruct, and nullify legislation, cabinet appointees, judgeships, and international affairs between Heads of State. Books, websites, Youtube, talk radio, cable news channels, billionaires, religion, and multinational corporate money are the weapons of choice between the Confederacy and the Union here in the 21st century. If countries could be represented on a human development scale then we are in that awkward adolescent phase: good hearted, testing the limits of our freedom, and beginning to ask questions about little “t” truth and big “T” Truth. How will we continue the experiment, “Out of many, one.”, and live the ideal of a self governing people?
I pondered my religious beliefs. I watched the sunrise over the Atlantic on Easter Sunday and read aloud the entire Easter story from all four gospels through the appearances of Jesus. I began with Mark, then read Matthew, Luke, and John. The crew on the ship were doing their jobs, some paused a moment to listen, others steered clear from the place where I was. I remembered being in a room several stories below the street level of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Below the Chapel of St. Helena is the Chapel of St. Vartan which is not open to the public. It contains a drawing of a boat with a Latin inscription loosely translated, “Lord, we have gone.” It is believed to have been drawn by an early pilgrim to the site. Our Jewish, PhD archeologist noted it might also be translate, “Lord, we were here.”
I’ve arrived at a place in my journey in faith that I’m comfortable thinking and believing that Jesus had no idea what would become of his followers, his teachings, and his way of living. Christianity was birthed by self proclaimed Apostles and absorbed into pop-culture becoming the religion of the State sometimes, before becoming its own recognized Nation State called Vatican City. Christianity assimilated local customs and religious rituals to make it more palatable to those being conquered in the name of Christ; it still is syncretistic. An honest read of world history will note that in all the places that Christianity has gone it has been a source of good and a source of evil. As a system of belief Christianity has evolved, reformed, devolved, and matured depending on the political system adopted by the people. I’m comfortable saying that I no longer believe that redemptive violence was necessary, nor planned, to bring humanity into “right” relationship with God. Death is not a punishment for sinners in the hands of an angry God. For me, Jesus’ way of living leads to Truth about God; and that Truth is life giving. The rest is commentary seeking consistency. In the course of one day my choices of who to help, to whom I will listen, to what I will give my time, for what cause I will support, are weighed against the way of Jesus. Jesus’ way, the parables, are critical of the union of Christianity with our consumer culture, of which I participate, and the union of Christianity and a political system of domination. That’s not what the kingdom of God looks like. Most days it is easier to believe in Christ rather than practice Christianity.
I pondered the days ahead with my parents. They are healthy, as far as I know, and enjoying retirement post 70th birthdays. I don’t see them nearly as much as I should, and want. It has always been that way. I’ve been the “away” child. Like old friends, we just pick up where we left off. Mom and Pop adjusted to how my sister and I stay connected to them. I trust that my mother has made peace with our decision to be child-free. It was hard for a season. I’ve always known that my parents are proud of me and my sister, and while watching the waves on the horizon I think I found a way to accept it. Odd it took this long.
The waves floated on, my companion and I told old stories, laughed, and talked about the future. We’ve shared life for 27 years and are working on 26 years of marriage. Back home now, we do not want to revert to routine, but there is comfort in it no matter how our holiday effected our perspective and our lives. “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around for a while, you could miss it.” Ferris Bueller, you’re my hero.
Words from Sunday
During the year I have the opportunity to fill the pulpit, “guest preach,” or a more familiar baseball term, “pinch hit,” for a minister when she or he is away. I often joke that I’ll do my best not to bore the people too much and that my preaching will have a congregation giving thanks for the words and style of their minister. I thought of Rev. Dr. Fred Craddock yesterday as I was focusing on my words before stepping into the pulpit. One of my peers in Kentucky reminded me this week that we can’t be Dr. Craddock. He, Craddock, always encouraged preachers to be themselves rather than try to preach like someone else. My preaching professor, Dr. Joey Jeter, would say you have to work at your skill and do what is natural for you, but, do what is uncomfortable too from time to time. I’m always nervous, when I preach, and working hard to be adequate instead of good or great. I’m rarely happy with my delivery of the words that I’ve worked on and massaged. Guest preaching is not easy. You never know people or what they are bringing to worship or hearing in worship because you do not interact with them each week. Here are my words from this past Sunday.
Darkness Flooded in Light(1)
John 3:14-21
All of us come to worship seeking to hear and experience the gospel, the good news, that the Lord’s mercies never cease;
that Lord’s mercy is new every morning; and the Lord’s faithfulness extends beyond our ability to see in a mirror dimly and recognize the image of God in others as well as our own face. With good news on our minds and in our hearts I invite you to hear the gospel according to John.
As we look at the text today it is important to remember that the gospel of John is not a story about the life and times of Jesus of Nazareth. It has some of those narrative elements, but it is not a chronological diary of Jesus’ birth to resurrection. From the beginning word this gospel writer invites those that first heard it read, and we who read it now, into a conversation about who Jesus of Nazareth is, what his living and teaching meant and means now, for we who just believe, or just follow, or work to be consistent with our beliefs and our living.
From its first words about the Word, this gospel is full of metaphorical language. New Testament scholar Marcus Borg helps sort out Greek philosophy from Judaism when studying this gospel. I recommend his book, Evolution of the Word. In this book Borg explores the ordering of the New Testament and provides some needed background about each book. Writing about the Gospel of John he notes that the Greek, logos, that translates as “word” is grammatically masculine. It referred to the principle of reason and order in the universe. But, John’s context was throughly Jewish and the “word of God” was associated with the “wisdom of God” which is grammatically feminine. In Greek, the “wisdom of God” is called Sophia. These were interchangeable ideas in the writings of contemporaries just before and after the time of Jesus. Quoting Borg,
“God created the world through wisdom, wisdom spoke through the prophets, and wisdom, (like the Spirit of God), permeates everything. Given the equivalence between the “word and wisdom” of God, John could have just as well written, “In the beginning was Wisdom, and Wisdom was with God, and Wisdom was God. But John chose logos even though what is meant is without gender and beyond gender.”(2)
Sometimes, reading the Bible or studying the Bible can feel like being a traveler in an episode of Dr. Who.
Have you ever traveled to a country where you didn’t know the language and relied on someone to translate for you? Maybe you learned just enough to ask for directions, or water, or the bathroom, or if someone could help you understand what the desk clerk is saying or what the waiter just asked? Several times in my life I’ve relied on a stranger that could speak a bit of English to tell a cab driver where I wanted to go and then I got into a cab trusting that I would arrive at the right place. And you don’t have to visit a foreign country to experience the different meaning of words or the different meaning of customs.
If you are ever hiking through the woods of Eastern Kentucky, West Virginia or Tennessee and come upon an abandoned campfire that is burning or still warm it is important that you walk up and stir the fire a bit, because the moonshiner who is watching from somewhere won’t consider you a threat or the law. Here in Oklahoma a person needs to know something about mineral rights and water rights when buying land or have a trusted attorney. And even though we are not completely geographically isolated from one another it is important to know if you are in OSU or OU country when you start talking sports.
Most often, this is how we come to the biblical text. We rely on others to help us translate ancient ways of reasoning and understanding of ancient words. Few of us know Hebrew or Greek well enough to translate the original texts and catch the nuance of their historical context or turn of phrase. So, translating and continued interpretation of this language invites us into a conversation with the text and today’s best biblical scholarship;
and our own experiences;
and our own faith;
and with other believers;
and with practitioners of the way of Jesus who may not believe like we do;
and with de-churched, the nones, and the un-churched all around us.
The backstory of our text today is that Nicodemus shows up at Jesus’ door for a visit. The text says it was night, probably to keep from being recognized, by people in his community. Everyone has been somewhere in their lives, at least once, where they did not want to be seen. Being seen. Being seen, this is what has made the justice movements in history memorable and memorialized. Perception is sometimes more powerful than reality or fact. Perception can lead people to do good and to do evil. Perception can lead to conversation which is what Nicodemus was seeking when he showed up to visit Jesus.
When was the last time you sat and visited with someone? The first time I can remember hearing this phrase was the first Christmas of my married life. We traveled to Virginia to my in-laws house. Along the way I asked Lisa what we would do for an entire week? “You know, open presents, eat, sit and visit.” “You mean talk?” I replied. “Yes, visit.” I asked, “About what?” Lisa smiled, “We just catch up about life.” What I learned is that visiting includes family stories and secrets, tales of times long ago, critiquing the quality of the Christmas dinner v. years past, and of course, the delicate dance around religion, money, and politics. I don’t know about your family situation, but both sides of our immediate families have learned how to “visit” without creating too much controversy when the entire family is gathered. The deeper discussions or the hard conversations, you know the ones, the heated and voice raising kind, those are left for the back porch, early morning coffee, or late night when it will not make the rest of the family uncomfortable. It is the polite thing to do, but it demonstrates a lack of trust and connection out of the fear of disagreement.
People do a similar thing sitting next to a new neighbor on an airplane as you notice the magazine or book or website your seat mate is reading. I know some ministers who really don’t like answering, “What do you do for a living?” while on an airplane. Sometimes the row 26 seats b & c become an unexpected confessional. While sitting next to a stranger, friend, or new acquaintance, wherever we are, we all become our own press secretaries. We all have become adept at talking about issues that are important without talking at any depth; without saying anything, really. It is so much easier and safer to just stay on the surface. Social media has enabled this, but it has been happening for a long time as the press, the journalists well intentioned and those just making a buck, cover news based on ratings, website traffic, ad sells, and even ideological power, rather than being the balancing agent between fact and fiction; power and injustice. Some are propagandists. Many are fortune tellers instead of truth seekers. Talking about issues that are important without talking at any depth; without saying anything. It is what happens when community and friendship and governing and religion are treated like a commodity to be traded, bought and sold to the highest bidder, or hoarded. The text today gives us several places where we could sit and visit, like Jesus did with Nicodemus and the others in the room. We could divide up into group here in the sanctuary or better yet, we could gather in some of the classrooms and visit. Here are a few of the topics we could discuss.
- What does it mean to say that God so loved, past tense, the world? Can the good news of God, of which Jesus taught and often spoke of, mean something more than the creedal orthodoxy of John 3:16?
- As our nation, and the world, continues to struggle with race and racism, is the language of darkness and light helpful imagery in understanding good, evil, and those who perpetuate both.
- Is belief more important than practice? Paul later refers to this as “works v righteousness” as a way of justifying ourselves before God. Maybe we should ask, “What does your living say about your beliefs about Jesus and God?”
- In the gospel of John, “eternal life” is meant as a metaphor not about life after death, but for living now in the unending presence of God. How am I living in that light and making the light that I experience in Christ available to everyone I meet without expecting it returned? How are you living in that light and making the light that I experience in Christ available to everyone you meet without expecting it returned?
- The kindom of God is all around us already. How am I, how are you, a citizen of that kindom in this congregation and in this community?
We are four weeks into a journey with Jesus toward Jerusalem. Christendom call this time Lent. Some Christians “give something up or take on a discipline” to help get in touch with the Christ of faith. How is your discipline, if you have one, going so far? Have you stayed away from the thing you decided to give up? Are you reading the bible more? Are you praying more? Are you consistent with your practice? I think that is what the writer of the gospel of John is asking us this morning. Are you a follower of Jesus that lives in a darkness flooded in light? Why not? I heard a this story from a monastery. Are you a follower of Jesus that lives in a darkness flooded in light?
“Why not?” that was the first thing the monk said to me. He had never seen me before. I hadn’t said a word. “Why not?” I knew he had me. I brought up excuses:
“My partner . . . the people I have to work with . . . not enough time . . . I guess it’s my temperament . . .”There was a sword hanging on the wall. He took it and gave it to me. “Here, with this sword, you can cut through any barriers.” I took it and slipped away without saying a word. Back in my room in the guesthouse I sat down and kept looking at the sword. I knew that what he said was true.
But, the next day I returned the sword. How can I live without my excuses?(3)
Church, flood the homeless with the light of shelter;
flood the lonely with the light of neighborliness;
flood the mediocrity of routine with the light of renewal;
flood capitalism and consumerism with the light of contentment;
flood dysfunctional systems and personalities with light offering repentance;
flood the thirsty, hungry, and poor with the light of better economic systems;
flood those that do violence in the name of God with the light of accountability and peace.
Being in the floodlight is a way to experience God. Be a floodlight of grace, that is the way of Jesus whom we call Christ.
Be a floodlight of grace and you will experience the unending presence of God, now and always.
——–
Notes
1. My thanks to the Avett Brothers for this phrase from their hit, Head Full of Doubt / Heart Full of Promise.
2. Marcus Borg, Evolution of the Word, HarperOne, 2012, pp. 304-5.
3. Theophane the Monk, Tales of a Magic Monastery, Crossroad, 1994, p. 86.