tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356395005920819612024-03-19T11:22:40.558-07:00 Rev. Don EricksonFostering Wisdom, Compassion & PeaceDon Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08478153198546181488noreply@blogger.comBlogger155125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735639500592081961.post-3450087307566664402024-02-18T20:09:00.000-08:002024-02-18T20:19:14.715-08:00Temptations of the Church in the Wilderness<p> <span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 16pt;">The
American church is in the throes of a wilderness experience. For Jesus, it
was 40 days and 40 nights. For us, it is going on 30 years.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;">Authors
Jim Davis, Michael Graham, and Ryan Burge describe what this wilderness
experience amounts to in their 2023 book <i>The Great Dechurching</i>. They write: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 8pt 0.5in;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;"><i>The U.S. is currently experiencing
the largest and fastest religious shift in the history of our country, as tens
of millions of formerly regular Christian worshipers nationwide have decided
they no longer desire to attend church at all. These are what we now call the
dechurched. About 40 million adults in America today used to go to church but
no longer do, which accounts for around 16 percent of our adult population. For
the first time in the eight decades that Gallup has tracked American religious
membership, more adults in the United States do not attend church than attend
church.<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 8pt 0.5in;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;"><i>More people have left the church in
the last twenty-five years than all the new people who became Christians from
the First Great Awakening, Second Great Awakening, and Billy Graham crusades
combined. Adding to the alarm is the fact that this phenomenon has rapidly
increased since the mid-1990s. </i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;">Jesus
while in the wilderness experienced temptations. The church in its own wilderness
experience faces temptations too. Lying behind these temptations is our desire
as the church to be relevant again, to grow again, to bring back some kind of
former glory. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;">When it
feels like one’s community is dying, it is understandable a sense of
desperation sets in. And when one is desperate, the temptation to act out of
character becomes great. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;">Jesus
fought that temptation. We must fight it too.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;">But
what are the temptations for the church amid its wilderness experience?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;">Let me
give you and go through what I see as three temptations of the church amid this
era of the Great Dechurching. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-left: 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Bookman Old Style";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.)<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;">Spiritual Shallowness</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;">In the
story of Jesus’ temptation, the figure of Satan urges Jesus to throw himself
down the side of a mountain so God through his angels can come and rescue Jesus
and bring him out of the wilderness. Jesus sees this as testing God and resists.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;">But
more than a test, testing God is sort of a silly, shallow thing to do. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;">For the
church, to make things convenient and attractive for would-be members, we might
be tempted to dumb down the faith, to remove any demands, to not ask for some
buy-in. We might be tempted to stick to simple platitudes and motivational
speeches and avoid discussing theology and scripture and the requirement to do justice, love mercy, and walk in humility.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;">But we
must resist this temptation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;">There’s
real work involved when it comes to this community called the church. There are
obligations involved in becoming part of Christ’s church. There are expectations
involved in building the beloved community.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;">Part of
the temptation of spiritual shallowness is the tendency to focus simply on
numerical growth. Get more visitors, more members, more volunteers, more funds
in the door, and count it all. But these quantifiable things are secondary when
it comes to the community of Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Spiritual growth, spiritual depth, spiritual practice -- these are the goals. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;">Spiritual
and theological shallowness can’t be an option. In fact, it isn’t what most
people want. Research shows this again and again.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;">People
want a spiritual life that goes deep, a theology that is weighty, and spiritual practices of justice, compassion, and humility that require putting in the work. People want a faith that encompasses their
whole lives, that is grounded in eternal truths, that has a long lineage of
spiritual ancestors that have walked the same path now being tread. And people
want a community that helps them along this path.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-left: 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">2.)<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Cultural Capitulation</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;">The
most straightforward of Jesus’ temptations is when Satan plainly states, just
fall down and worship me and the world is yours. Jesus says only God is to be
worshiped. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;">Many things seek our devotion and worship. Popular culture, for example.
Pop culture often seems like it is trying to convince us that pop culture is
essential, so essential that it becomes our focus. In many ways, we are a
celebrity-worshipping culture.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;">Church
is by nature a counter-cultural venture. Jesus resisted the prevailing cultural
forces surrounding him, forces that served as distractions to the greater cause
of doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God. We, the church, are
called to do the same, to resist cultural forces that ignore the real work of doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;">Now, let me say, I love popular music, movies, TV. Pop culture is of
great interest to me. I do feel sometimes it is helpful to use pop culture to
point to eternal truths. There’s nothing wrong with using pop culture as a tool
to foster a greater good. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;">Sometimes,
the focus is right and it works. Sometimes, things become out of balance and
the results are iffy. We must be mindful of finding the right balance.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;">The general lesson for me is we must resist the temptation of wanting to become the cool
church. That is what I mean when by capitulating to culture.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;">Our
relevance is not based on how cool we are, or how we incorporate elements of cool
culture. Our relevance is based on the timeless good news of God’s
self-emptying love for us that meets us where we are and lifts us higher.
Nothing can be more relevant or needed than that. The good news' relevance
comes from its necessity in the human heart. Stay focused on that, and, to
quote Kendrick Lamar, "we gon’ be alright."<br /><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-left: 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Bookman Old Style";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.)<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;">Political Partisanship</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;">Satan
tempted Jesus to turn stones into bread to relieve his hunger. Jesus famously
quips, "We cannot live on bread alone."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;">As we
enter a presidential election year, you’re going to hear a lot of talk from
politicians about how they’re going to in no uncertain terms turn stones of hardship
into the bread of success. That’s fine. That’s what politicians do. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;">What is
the church to do, though? What does it have to say in the face of all this
talk?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;">The
temptation for the church is to delve into the sordid game of political
partisanship, making it plain that we as a church favor one group of so-called
bread-makers of success over the other. That is a temptation we must resist. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;">At the
same time, we must be clear that apathy, the art of ignoring it all, is also a
political side. We must resist the temptation to take that side. We must
resist embracing the politics of apathy, too. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;">What do
we do then? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;"><i>Take
the side of love</i>. <i>Side with love</i>. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;">We follow the one who perfectly
and completely sided with love and who was in fact love incarnate. We follow
Jesus. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;">And
Jesus is clear that there are non-negotiables when it comes to human
society. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;">A <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2025%3A31-46&version=NRSVUE">large section of Matthew 25</a> points to these non-negotiables. Instead of listing
Jesus’ non-negotiables, I summarize them with the overarching command from
Jesus – <i>take care of the most vulnerable in society</i>. They, the most vulnerable,
<i>they are where we are to start</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;">We will differ and bicker over how to <i>best</i> care for the most vulnerable. That is a given, and why political parties are a given. But, we are
obligated <i>to</i> take care of the most vulnerable. That is the
non-negotiable Jesus gives us. Remember, whatever we do unto the most
vulnerable, we do unto Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;">Okay,
so I need to end this meditation quickly. I’m now at 1,200 words, which is my
cutoff goal. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;">Resisting
these temptations comes down to this. Get to know God and God's way of love deeply, resisting
spiritual shallowness; worship God alone and do so regularly, resisting
cultural capitulation; and remember God who is love and who loves all and includes all,
resisting political partisanship – these three spiritual practices are
kryptonite for the temptation I described this morning.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Bookman Old Style",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos;">The
takeaway – practice them!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Don Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08478153198546181488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735639500592081961.post-44030579435336414002024-02-18T18:08:00.000-08:002024-02-18T18:08:15.927-08:00Meditations, Ep. 3: The Way To Take<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="388" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XIO6_FqxBTk" width="467" youtube-src-id="XIO6_FqxBTk"></iframe></div><br /><p></p>Don Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08478153198546181488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735639500592081961.post-18998795477325831112024-02-09T10:45:00.000-08:002024-02-09T10:45:54.588-08:00Meditations, Ep. 2 - Sacrifice of Selfishness<p> <iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="397" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6DJE8m0vP3o" width="477" youtube-src-id="6DJE8m0vP3o"></iframe><br /><br /></p>Don Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08478153198546181488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735639500592081961.post-5155181461879177792024-02-09T10:42:00.000-08:002024-02-09T10:46:41.595-08:00Meditations, Ep. 1: Holding Jesus Salvation<p> <iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="401" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xWrXVCbbAmY" width="483" youtube-src-id="xWrXVCbbAmY"></iframe></p><br /><p></p>Don Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08478153198546181488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735639500592081961.post-66718101104043381882024-01-28T11:46:00.000-08:002024-01-28T12:38:27.904-08:00The Stumbling Block Principle & Shame's Cure<p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRHTDGSs0nWkswESNhfA1vnqi2i3u8IRARZNmgAYMFrIGc4EXuii7uP_XUgW8A7LzDppfm50NXPA_r2CpSQw1mUMWHoUeCaA1ZrWKtNEVVMqM2Q782UfudXRCnXj0m8L5i5L9NCzdTOPyQfHPcpXNpj5BE6VgHDtQH7gl8qriQfHBo9B5Y5TsCnHz-Uoo/s1500/5th-century-b-c---italy--reggio-di-calabria--museo-nazionale-della-magna-grecia--archaeological-muse-96502745-5a591c92da27150037f157ce.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1163" data-original-width="1500" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRHTDGSs0nWkswESNhfA1vnqi2i3u8IRARZNmgAYMFrIGc4EXuii7uP_XUgW8A7LzDppfm50NXPA_r2CpSQw1mUMWHoUeCaA1ZrWKtNEVVMqM2Q782UfudXRCnXj0m8L5i5L9NCzdTOPyQfHPcpXNpj5BE6VgHDtQH7gl8qriQfHBo9B5Y5TsCnHz-Uoo/s320/5th-century-b-c---italy--reggio-di-calabria--museo-nazionale-della-magna-grecia--archaeological-muse-96502745-5a591c92da27150037f157ce.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br />I’d like to first focus on our scripture from <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%208&version=NRSVUE">I Corinthians 8</a>.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">It is a fascinating passage. Paul gives us a principle that
I think is rather important, one we would be wise to implement in our own
lives. I’m dubbing this principle, the stumbling block principle.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">This is what Paul is getting at:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">For Paul, no thing is evil in and of itself. How a thing is
used might be evil. The results from a thing being used might be evil. But the
thing that is used itself isn’t evil. An inanimate object is neutral. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">Here’s an example – cyanide. Now, we all know that cyanide is
toxic, a deadly poison. But cyanide isn’t evil in and of itself. It has
positive uses, after all. The development of photography, that process, uses
cyanide, for example. Cyanide salts are used in metallurgy for electroplating,
metal cleaning, and removing gold from its ore. Apple seeds contain trace
amounts of cyanide. Does that make apple seeds or apples evil? No, cyanide
isn’t evil in and of itself. But as Agatha Christie would remind us, using
cyanide to do away with someone, that is evil. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">Why does this matter? Well, there is a specific situation
going on in the Corinth church. There is an argument inside the church
happening. It is related to food offered to idols, idols being physical objects
used to represent pagan gods. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">Some argue that food given to idols is made corrupt and evil
in God’s eyes, and so it is to be avoided at all costs. Others say no, these other
gods are not real, the idols are just blocks of stone, and so, the food is fine.
These folks have no hesitation in eating the food offered to objects
representing nothing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">Paul agrees with those who looked past the fake truth of
fake gods and felt free to eat whatever food that nourished them. Paul sees
this sense of freedom as indicative of spiritual maturity. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">But Paul is also mindful that not everyone is as spiritually
mature. So, he gives a principle that places a limit on spiritual freedom, the
kind of freedom that would eat meat offered to idols knowing it is just food.
What is that principle placing a limit on freedom?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">I’m calling it the Stumbling Block Principle.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">If eating the food offered to idols causes someone less
spiritually mature to stumble in their faith, partaking of that food is to be
avoided for the sake of the other. When it comes to an activity that is
otherwise unharmful and allowable, if partaking in that activity causes someone
observing you to stumble, to question their faith, to doubt things, don’t
partake in that activity. Do no harm! If eating meat offered to idols harms
someone’s spirit, don’t do it!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">In other words, for Paul, your rightful freedom stops at
another’s struggle with that freedom. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">I think this is made beautifully clear with the example of
drinking in front of an alcoholic. Once in a great while, I like to have a beer
with a friend. I feel free to do this. By the grace of God, I don’t struggle
with alcohol and always stop at one. That said, if I’m with a newly sober
acquaintance, using my freedom to drink in front of them at such a vulnerable
time would be unwise and even calloused, right? I place a limit on my freedom
to have a beer for the sake of the other, for the sake of someone struggling
with alcohol addiction. My drinking in front of them could easily cause them to
stumble in their new journey of sobriety.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">What’s lies behind this Stumbling Block Principle? Where
does it come from?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">Love. We are called to love one another. And to love another
means to have their best interest at heart, and not just your own interest.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">Freedom without love and compassion is a recipe for
disaster, a recipe for communities full of competing me me me’s with no sense
of we or of another’s needs. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">That’s why the church is so important. If done right, church
reminds the world of me-first and me only of the necessity of love and compassion and
community. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">Let’s move on to our gospel reading from <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+1%3A21-28&version=NRSVUE">Mark 1</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">It tells the story of Jesus’ first miracle in the gospel of
Mark, the first of many. Jesus drives out an unclean spirit from a man
suffering under that unclean spirit’s weight. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">The concept of an unclean spirit is foreign to our modern
way of thinking. In Jesus’ day, an unclean spirit was responsible for all sorts
of ailments, whether bodily or psychological. Today, we don’t think along these
lines. Ailments are segmented. You have your bodily ailments – diseases,
conditions, disorders. You also have your psychological illnesses – depression,
anxiety, addictions. These ailments are explained away as having natural
causes, not spiritual causes like an unclean spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">That said, I’ve been thinking about this idea of an unclean
spirit. What would be a modern-day equivalent of an unclean spirit, a state of
being that results in pain, suffering, and sickness?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">What in Jesus’ time was called an unclean spirit, in our
time might be called, “shame.” Shame if profound enough will affect our whole
being, leading to physical and psychological illness. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">Maybe you’ve heard of the researcher, teacher and writer,
Brene Brown. A big subject of her research, teaching, and writing is in fact shame.
She studies how shame functions in human beings and destroys our well-being.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">She defines shame as “the intensely painful feeling that we
are unworthy of love and belonging.” That to me is a good description of an
unclean spirit. If we intensely know the pain of feeling worthless, of feeling
completely unlovable, of feeling excluded from any kind of belonging, we feel
what? We feel unclean. Our spirits somehow seem sullied. We experience shame. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">This feeling of shame should not be underestimated. As Brene
Brown notes, “Shame is deadly.” Shame eats away at our well-being. It easily
leads to not only anxiety and mental distress, even depression. Shame, and the
stress involved, can also lead to physical illnesses and conditions. Just as
stress can kill, shame can as well.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">That’s what we have going on with the man Jesus encounters.
The unclean spirit of shame is killing him. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">First of all, in the story, the unclean spirit does the
talking, calling out to Jesus, “What have you to do with us?” <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">Shame easily can control our whole lives. It effects what we
say to ourselves and to others. It influences our decisions, leading to bad ones usually.
Shame takes hold and we are not the same. Indeed, shame can possess us and we
become someone else.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">Shame is a prison. We need liberation!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">In Mark 1, to save the man means liberating him from his shame. And Jesus is all about liberating us from shame. Saving us from shame was
his reason for being.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">As we come to a close here, I ask a couple questions.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">What about you? Do you carry shame around with you? Does it weigh
you down, hold you back, keep you tethered to a sense of dis-ease with life? It
doesn’t have to.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">Christ is here to free you from the spirit of shame. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">Let go of it, let go of deadly shame. Let Christ take it
away and give you life, and life more spiritually abundant and free.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">And that’s where the two readings connect – spiritual freedom,
the kind that sees past the lies of false idols and a spiritually tainted world,
comes from Christ helping us to release our shame and live a spiritually
abundant, a spiritually full, a spiritually rich life. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">So, I pray you will give your shame to God and know a
spiritual freedom that allows you to see the world anew and share the love of God
with your very steps and your very being.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">Amen.</span></p>Don Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08478153198546181488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735639500592081961.post-10120855311626016852024-01-28T10:14:00.000-08:002024-01-28T10:21:28.450-08:00On Snow Days & the Need for Grace<p><span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjHLZdXpAZezswzXhpJ-j_ZOpa_EFAfOz2wHoFZ6NKiVHTa0PmpRlFhVeJTo4e-ie3Ks_R2CQfTdJBGotpKWWpIy38HzVNIicUl95edHIzuZ1MIOqbfSFozykcXqvBwU8rYJ9hp1N6ND5TKwcRDDKhD3Kncug8WDIouajlINZadvuZzEfOlIBbjHN-c1Uw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="930" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjHLZdXpAZezswzXhpJ-j_ZOpa_EFAfOz2wHoFZ6NKiVHTa0PmpRlFhVeJTo4e-ie3Ks_R2CQfTdJBGotpKWWpIy38HzVNIicUl95edHIzuZ1MIOqbfSFozykcXqvBwU8rYJ9hp1N6ND5TKwcRDDKhD3Kncug8WDIouajlINZadvuZzEfOlIBbjHN-c1Uw=w400-h173" width="400" /></a></span></div><span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">As a kid, I could not imagine what went into the decision to
cancel school because of the weather. I simply wanted as many snow days school wanted
to give me. I’d get upset if an expected snow day didn’t happen.
There was nothing worse than going to sleep secure in your belief in a snow day,
then waking up and seeing the forecast was wrong and school was happening. Oh,
those mornings were the worst!</span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">As someone who is now involved in calling snow days, I
assert that making such a call is an imperfect science. In fact, it is an
imperfect art. Why? Because there are so many variables to consider when
deciding whether to cancel an event due to weather, especially an event
called Sunday worship.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Think about it: there is the weather in the present, there’s
the hourly forecast, and there’s also what has occurred in the last few hours such
as change in temperature. Then, there’s the state of the roads, whether interstate
highways, state highways, city and suburban streets, rural roads, etc. There is the demographic of the
folks who will be driving, and whether it will be safe both in getting to the
event and getting home after the event. And for some church events, i.e., an
important all-church meeting where as much input as possible is important,
there’s the variable of whether there’ll be enough people either officially
(for a quorum) or for adequate input’s sake.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">It is a tough game being responsible for snow cancellations. As mentioned, it is an imperfect science. It is also stressful knowing that people may be driving in hazardous conditions if you don’t call it, which can lead to severe results. Another adage comes to mind: better to be safe than sorry.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Sometimes, the calling of cancelation turns out to be a
no-brainer. Sometimes, it is less clear and we wonder if the decision to call it
was the correct one. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">The old adage comes to mind: hindsight is 20/20. Well, if
this is so, then foresight is less than 20/20.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Here’s where grace comes in. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>If there’s ever a need for grace,
it is when someone’s sight is not and cannot be perfect.</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">I’ll admit, as a parent especially, it is tough not to
grumble when a snow day is called and it turns out to be fine just an hour
later. I’m not immune to grumbling in these situations. And I know it is tough
to be completely grumble-free. No one expects perfection.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">However, <i>don’t forget grace in all of this!</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Grace is the antidote to grumbling. If there’s a choice between
grace and grumbling, choose grace! That’s what we do! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">And if a grumble leaks out, no worries. Grace means forgiveness.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">“’Tis grace that brought us safe thus far, and grace shall
lead us home.”</span><o:p></o:p></p>Don Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08478153198546181488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735639500592081961.post-67335348184534942632024-01-21T11:44:00.000-08:002024-01-21T11:46:22.610-08:00IXOYE<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4fsEjNa6gy7gz9uKyOS4RW6noX2W_FK_QWWchxljcrXjn_aHHoDcObbTJ5axjiVgRVrLqHAX9XCE3KiF5LZC8u2smzV6acm5g9EsN61tvZkIMeKiRDPRwt-I6g44RUiRAQLsmi3loDO4xTbNxx5l03rmjxsD7QkTp11qSymRLENrgVqpVcvPGh32NXos/s1080/image.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="579" data-original-width="1080" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4fsEjNa6gy7gz9uKyOS4RW6noX2W_FK_QWWchxljcrXjn_aHHoDcObbTJ5axjiVgRVrLqHAX9XCE3KiF5LZC8u2smzV6acm5g9EsN61tvZkIMeKiRDPRwt-I6g44RUiRAQLsmi3loDO4xTbNxx5l03rmjxsD7QkTp11qSymRLENrgVqpVcvPGh32NXos/w640-h344/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><p>Seven of the 12 Jesus’ disciples were fisherman. In our gospel reading this morning, we meet Peter, Andrew, James and John, a pair of brothers both engaged in their work. </p><p>Three of these men – Peter, James, and John - will become the big three of the twelve. They are mentioned the most. We know the most about them. They are there at the essential events of Jesus’ adult life and ministry – the Transfiguration, Christ’s resurrection of Jairus’ daughter, and Christ’s submission in the Garden of Gethsemane. And especially Peter and John are key figures in the birth of the Church.</p><p><br /></p><p>Not only were Peter, James, and John fisherman, they seem to have been successful fishermen. How do we know this? </p><p>Peter in a parallel text from Luke is described as owning two fishing boats. He lived in Bethsaida, a thriving town deemed a kind of desirable suburb of the Galilee. He had a wife and children. His mother-in-law lived with the family, and Peter was able to support all of them as a fisherman.</p><p>As for James and John, Mark 1 notes they worked for their father who not only employed his sons but other fishermen. </p><p>This kind of success for fishermen was unusual. But for Jesus’ movement, it was crucial.</p><p>We sometimes forget that Jesus’ ministry required financial support. It required business savvy as well. Peter, James, and John provided some of this, as did Mary Magdalene, and two other women who financially supported the Jesus movement named Joana and Susanna. </p><p><br /></p><p>The Sea of Galilee, which is really a lake, was steeped with fishermen. Fishing after all, was the essential trade in Galilee. Galilean society relied upon it. </p><p>Think about fishing communities in Costal Maine and Cape Cod. This was the Sea of Galilee with its hamlets and towns. Without the fishing industry these towns would not exist.</p><p>Fish was the key staple of the Galilean diet. We all know family members or friends who say, “oh, I don’t like fish.” Well, if you didn’t like fish in Jesus’ day around the Galilee, you didn’t like to survive.</p><p><br /></p><p>What was the fishermen’s’ life like?</p><p>Well, fishermen literally worked all day long.</p><p>Actual fishing usually happened at nighttime. In the dark, fish would be less able to see the nets and thus wouldn’t swim around them. Fishing at night also meant avoiding the hot sun in the summers.</p><p>It was hard, physical work that also demanded a high level of mind power – planning, organization, and flexible thinking. What worked one day out on the lake might not work the next, so you had to think, adjust, and adapt. </p><p>The Galilee is really deep, and so we’re talking deep water fishing. Deep fishing on a larger scale necessitated multiple boats with nets connecting them. Boats would go out seven or eight times during the night. By the morning, the fishermen could bring in a half ton of fish.</p><p>The early part of the day stayed just as busy. The fish would be sorted and readied for sale. The nets were washed and tears and rips were mended. The nets were then air dried, folded, and prepared for the next catch.</p><p>The fishermen kept their own schedule, free to start fishing and stop work when they wanted. In fact, in the record there are complaints because fishermen preferred to go to Synagogue to pray rather than fish on the Sabbath.</p><p>Fishermen stereotypically were gruff and rough around the edges. You know the idiom, “swear like a sailor.” This could have been applied to the fishermen sailing on the lake of Galilee. Yet these cursing sailors through their diligence, tenacity, and savviness fed a whole region.</p><p>And among these ruff, gruff commoners, Jesus chooses more than half of his disciples. </p><p><br /></p><p>Here’s some more fish-talk. </p><p>Before the Cross became the central symbol of Christianity, the fish was. I’m sure you’ve seen the fish symbol on cars, on bumper stickers, and elsewhere. That is an ancient symbol dating back to the earliest days of the church. The anchor, also a fishing related symbol, was an early Christian symbol along with the fish.</p><p>The fish symbol had multiple meanings. Yes, it was related to what we’ve been talking about. Jesus led a movement steeped in a culture of fishing, fishermen, fishing for people. But here’s another layer – Jesus himself was deemed a fish.</p><p>If you look at the cover of your order of service, you’ll notice Greek letters that look like IXOYE, the Greek word for fish. Those Greek letters are the first letters of the following name – Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior. </p><p>The Greek word and symbol for fish meant Jesus Christ. </p><p>To fish for people, to draw and bring people into the boat called the Beloved Community, it is the fish that is Christ that’s used. Christ is the bait fishers of people use to draw people in. </p><p>Evangelism means offering Christ, his way, truth, and life.</p><p><br /></p><p>Mainliners like us in the UCC don’t talk a lot about Evangelism. But Evangelism is what Jesus is talking about when he says, I will make you fisher of people. Jesus calls us to the same work. We too are called to draw and bring in people to our faith.</p><p>When I was a kid growing up in the Evangelical tradition, sharing the good news with as many as we could was an expectation of being a Christian. Yes, I used to knock on doors and invite people to Christ.</p><p>I’m not saying we ought to exactly follow suit. But we have good news to share, too, right? Shouldn’t we be sharing it?</p><p>No matter where you are on life’s journey, God loves you, welcomes you, and stands ready to change your heart and your life. That is the good news we share and should be eager to share.</p><p>It goes even deeper than this personal hope we know in God’s love. </p><p>The whole world is involved in this hope born of God’s love . </p><p>All that began with God through Christ, will end in God through Christ. The world God’s love created through Christ, in Christ will be fully and eternally reconciled to God’s love. </p><p>God through Christ will be all in all, in all things with nothing, not even hell, spared and no one left behind. For whatever God is in, whatever God’s presence pervades, becomes what it was created to be – good.</p><p>That is the good news we share! It is a news so good we can hardly fathom it. We can only share it.</p><p>And how people need to hear this unfathomably good news. </p><p>So, let us follow Christ and be fishers of people, drawing and bringing people into the fold and into the loving light of God’s ever-embracing presence. Let us, despite our gruffness and roughness around the edges, become diligent, tenacious, and savvy in expanding this boat called the Beloved Community, a community enraptured with new life born of God’s love.</p>Don Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08478153198546181488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735639500592081961.post-79666953516752733312024-01-20T14:27:00.000-08:002024-01-20T14:30:45.742-08:00Nazareth & Nathaniel<p> <span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">If someone were doing a ranking of
Ancient Palestinian towns in Jesus’ day, Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth would
certainly be on some kind of worst place to live list. So might Bethlehem, the
small town in which Jesus was born.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">As for Bethlehem, it was a town long
past its glory days. Yes, it had some religious importance. King David, the
greatest King the Jewish nation ever had, was from Bethlehem. It was known as
the City of David.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Bethlehem was also once known as the
town that took in Jews escaping captivity in ancient Babylon. However, by the
time Jesus, instead of taking people in, people were moving out of Bethlehem.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">Joseph, the human father of Jesus, likely
left Bethlehem for this reason. There were no jobs, no opportunity, no
long-term security in Bethlehem. The Galilee could provide these things. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">The only reason Jesus was born in Bethlehem
was because there was a census that mandated men of the household take their
families back to their hometowns to be counted.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Jesus did not grow up in Bethlehem. He grew up in Nazareth, an even humbler,
harder-scrabbled town. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">Of all places for a heroic Messiah
to come from, Nazareth would be very low on the list. It was so insignificant
that there’s no mention of it other than in the Gospels as the hometown of
Jesus. And it was so insignificant that in no longer exists.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">Biblical historian Bart Ehrman says
this about Nazareth, “It was far too small, poor, and insignificant. Most
people had never heard of it and those who had heard didn’t care.
Even though it existed, this is not the place someone would make up as the
hometown of the messiah.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">Our gospel reading from John points
to this reality. Jesus’ soon-to-be disciple, Nathaniel, whom we’ll be
discussing in a bit, is incredulous that the Messiah could come from Nazareth.
Nathaniel, after hearing of Jesus’ hometown, quips, “Nazareth! Can anything
good come from there?”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">So, that’s Nazareth. Nazareth is, or
has the reputation of being, a “nothing good comes from there” kind of town.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What about Nathaniel, also known as
Bartholomew? Who is Nate?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">We don’t have a lot of information
about Nathaniel. The only detailed mention of him comes from our reading.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">Well, Nathaniel was from nearby
Cana. Yes, the same Cana where Jesus performs his first miracle. Now, Cana
wasn’t exactly Monte Carlo. It was for many a nothing town, too. Maybe there
was a cross-town rivalry going on.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">Nathaniel was likely a common
tradesman, maybe a fisherman. If he was something else, that would have been
noted.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">He and Philip are good friends. They
seem to be theology nerds. In verse 45, Philip introduces Jesus by pointing to
the Hebrew scripture they study and how this Jesus is the promised one they’ve
been reading and studying about.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">Nathaniel and Philip were Bible
Study buddies!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">How else do we know Nathaniel was a
student of scripture? Let’s skip to verse 48. Jesus makes his declaration,
“Here is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” We might say, here is an
Israelite who is a straight-shooter.” Nathaniel frowns at this and asks, “How do you know that. We just met.” And Jesus states in verse 48, “I saw you under
the fig tree.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgpGUzT-cq1Qetkqlf9sSw-qw_zGFjo3kncRujvZ-bIKHFGuzymNk-Kpz1m54m-vWBTse0IUPBpcbGSqYA5UrLImZTehLDVCQEvJtUc1B7K6wplEYq2X9l4tmXbWdrQtNdLdiEqno4chFPQup5RvqGSTPKspi_tQb2145xS0GqRky0TWrtCjMabhetXAk/s1792/lucaskitchen_a_bible_character_sitting_under_a_fig_tree_5e2e820c-e913-4716-a947-5f2fde856557.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1792" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgpGUzT-cq1Qetkqlf9sSw-qw_zGFjo3kncRujvZ-bIKHFGuzymNk-Kpz1m54m-vWBTse0IUPBpcbGSqYA5UrLImZTehLDVCQEvJtUc1B7K6wplEYq2X9l4tmXbWdrQtNdLdiEqno4chFPQup5RvqGSTPKspi_tQb2145xS0GqRky0TWrtCjMabhetXAk/w640-h366/lucaskitchen_a_bible_character_sitting_under_a_fig_tree_5e2e820c-e913-4716-a947-5f2fde856557.png" width="640" /></a></div><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"><br />What was Nathaniel doing under the
fig tree, maybe you’re asking. Well, that phrase is a give-away. It is an
ancient Jewish idiom. To sit under a fig tree means to engage in the activity
of contemplating scripture. That’s what Jesus saw Nathaniel doing. He was
meditating on scripture.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">Now, Jesus did not see Nathaniel and
Philip’s discussion of Nazareth where Nathaniel degraded Jesus’ hometown. But
Jesus reads Nathaniel perfectly. He’s a straight-shooter. He speaks his truth
without a filter. He avoids even white lies to avoid hurt feelings.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">I have a son like this. I’m sure you
know folks like this yourself. I’ve been watching the TV show Young Sheldon
whose main character is clearly on the Autism spectrum. And one of the traits
of folks on the spectrum is that they have no filter. What they see and think
comes out unfiltered when they choose to speak.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">Now, if you’re on the other side of
this unfiltered truth-telling, it is not always so fun! Corey regularly pokes
my tummy as if to say, yes, Dad, it is fatter than it used to be. Ouch every
time for me!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">Most folks would not say this
unfiltered way of being is a positive characteristic, at least not always.
Sheldon is often disliked or excluded because of his straight-shooting
regardless of the context.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">Jesus, however, sees the positive in
Nathaniel, even in his messy trait of being unfiltered. Here is a man in whom
there is no deceit. That indeed is putting a positive spin on it!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">My grandmother modeled Jesus’ knack
for seeing the best in people. Her pastor told the story at her memorial about
this gift of hers. One day, as she came through the line after worship and they
exchanged pleasantries, my grandma complimented the pastor on being so nice.
The pastor, known for his hellfire and brimstone preaching, responded back by
saying, “Most wouldn’t agree with you there. I lose my temper at the world
sometimes.” To which my grandmother, incredulous, said, “Oh, I can’t believe
that. You’re doing great.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">This little interaction touched the
pastor, softened his heart. As he told the story, he got emotional. It is a
blessing to have the best of you seen and uplifted. We need that every once in
a while, don’t we?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">Well, we need to be givers of that!
How about trying to make a habit of seeing the best in people. Not just in
people. How about trying to make a habit of seeing the best in situations as
well.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">I end with this postscript.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">As for Nathaniel, saw the best in
Jesus in return. Jesus’ best is who he is – Rabbi, the Son of God, and Messiah
all rolled into one! Nathaniel sees who Jesus is and follows him.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">Nathaniel will go on to become one
of the great builders of the church, spreading the good news to Persia and
India and as far from Palestine as Armenia. He is seen as the founder of the
Armenian Church to this day.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">Nathaniel, the straight shooter,
followed Jesus of Nazareth and did well for himself. Something good indeed does
come from Nazareth and from Cana too.</span></p>Don Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08478153198546181488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735639500592081961.post-34619040406396694892024-01-07T10:46:00.000-08:002024-01-07T16:04:38.330-08:00The Baptism & Communion Connection<p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt;">There are 2 sacraments in the
United Church of Christ denomination – baptism and communion. It is the first
Sunday of the month – and year – and normally a Communion Sunday. Today in the Christian calendar is the Sunday we recall and reflect on the Baptism of the
Lord. So, both of our sacraments are a focus today.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Maybe you wonder, are these two
sacraments connected? They seem very different. Baptism looks nothing like
Communion.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">But our scripture reading from
the Gospel of Mark points to how baptism and communion are connected. Let’s
delve into it, shall we?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">I’d like to begin by looking at
what John the Baptist’s baptism looked like. How Jesus was baptized, in other
words. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">We don’t get a full description,
but we get a hint in the first part of verse 10 – “as he was coming out of the
water.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">If Jesus was coming up out of
the water, he must have first been down in the water, right? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">So, what this tells us is John
baptized people using full emersion. The whole body is submerged in the
water, then, emerges out of the water. Maybe you’ve seen this take place
either in video or in person. It is not an unusual visual.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="333" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zLfp9O8v7_w" width="482" youtube-src-id="zLfp9O8v7_w"></iframe></span></div><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">That’s what it looked like. But
what did baptism mean for John? Was it simply a thing he did to symbolize the
washing away of sin, a kind of purification ritual? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">No, it was much more than that.
For John as a practicing Jews, baptism – mikvah in Hebrew – was a symbolic act
of willful death to self followed by spiritual rebirth. As a writer for the
webzine the Wailing Wall states, “Mikvah personifies both the womb and the
grave and consequently, rebirth.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Being submerged in the water
represented being overcome by the water, a figurative drowning of the old self.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Then the emergence happens. The
old self dies, and a new self is born as it emerges out of the water. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">John uses the word repent. In
the biblical languages, repent means a heart shift, a mind change, a spirit
transformation. The baptism was a way to give a picture, a physical
representation, of the spiritual shift that comes with true repentance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Now, did Jesus need a heart
shift, a mind change, a spiritual transformation? No. Jesus reached that level
a long, long time ago. After all, even before his baptism, Jesus embodied the
way of God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Jesus’ baptism pointed to
something else. Something John the Baptist didn’t really understand. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">In the story of Jesus’ baptism
found in the Gospel of the Apostle John, John the Baptist sees
Jesus the day after he was baptized and declares, “Behold the Lamb of God who
takes away the sins of the world.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Jesus’ baptism foreshadowed just
that. Christ’s baptism foreshadowed his selfless sacrifice on the cross and his
resurrection from the tomb.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Submergence – this begins with
the Garden of Gethsemane. What happens there? Jesus submits his will to God’s
will there. “Not my will but your will be done.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">We underestimate that moment. We
as Christians sing about Jesus’ blood saving us. But without Christ’s
submission to God’s will in that moment, no sacrifice would have happened and
no blood would have been shed. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">As for the Cross itself, Christ
figurative drowning in his baptism foreshadowed his last gasps of breath on the
Cross. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Paul makes this connection in
Ephesians 4, verses 8-10:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 8pt 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><i>Therefore
it is said,<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 8pt 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><i>“When
he ascended on high, he made captivity itself a captive; <br />
he gave gifts to his people.” <o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 8pt 0.5in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><i>(When it says, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had
also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He
who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that
he might fill all things.)</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Christ’s death on the Cross is a
descent, Paul is saying. Just like Jesus descended into the waters of baptism,
in death he descends to the very depths of hell to save all beings.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">But he doesn’t keep descending.
The Cross of death cannot hold him. Death holds no sting. What descends,
ascends. What is submerged, emerges anew.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Jesus comes up out of the water.
He rises up. Emptying the tomb with a new, glorified body as Paul says. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Jesus’ emergence from the waters
of baptism foreshadows his resurrection. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">So, before we look at how this
applies to our spiritual lives – and that is the essential question for a
sermon – <i>let me get to the gist of what I’ve been teaching about this
morning. Christ’s baptism, points to the cross and the empty tomb. And so does
the Lord’s Supper, the sacrament that Jesus introduced, what we call Communion.<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><i><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Its not only Jesus’ baptism that
points to the cross and the empty tomb. Our baptisms do too. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Romans 6:3-4 says,<br /><br /><i>"Do
you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized
into his death? Therefore we were buried with him by
baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the
glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life."</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Colossians 2:12 nicely summarizes this: "<i>When you were
buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the
power of God, who raised him from the dead."</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">As for Communion, it also points
to the cross and the empty tomb, of course. The bread and the wine or juice
point to the body broken and blood shed for us. The church, we, the body of
Christ, in which Communion happens points to the resurrected one.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Communion is also a time we
recall our baptism. That’s right, Communion is a reminder of our Baptism, our
death and resurrection in Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">The Communion we partake in and
the Baptism we remember bring us to the Cross. And what ought
we do at the cross? </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Isaac Watts in that old hymn tells us:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><i>Thus might I hide my blushing
face<br /></i></span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><i>
while his dear cross appears;<br /></i></span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><i>
dissolve my heart in thankfulness,<br /></i></span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><i>
and fade mine eyes to tears.</i></span> </span></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><i>But drops of tears can ne'er
repay<br /></i></span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><i>
the debt of love I owe.<br /></i></span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><i>
Here, Lord, I give myself away;<br /></i></span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><i>
'tis all that I can do.</i></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt;"> </span></span></p></blockquote>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Dissolve our hearts in
thankfulness.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt;">Fade ourselves into tears.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt;">Give ourselves away.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 17pt;">That’s all we can do there at
the cross.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="353" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aCvsmkmLhOg" width="519" youtube-src-id="aCvsmkmLhOg"></iframe></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt;"><br /></span><p></p>Don Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08478153198546181488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735639500592081961.post-61367925975422887772023-12-31T10:11:00.000-08:002023-12-31T10:16:12.421-08:00David, Goliath, Taylor Swift & Jesus<p><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 15pt;">MEDITATION #1</span></span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 15pt;">Taylor Swift wasn’t always the
megastar she is now. In late 2006, Swift was a 17-year-old burgeoning Country artist
trying to make it big, signed to an independent label, then the tiniest in Nashville.
She was the first and only artist signed to that label and knew even at her
young age the odds were not in her favor.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">Country music then and now is
controlled by mammoth record labels, namely Universal and Sony. <i>They</i> produced
the hits and the stars. A tiny independent label with its 17-year-old singer-songwriter didn’t stand a chance.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">It was a David versus Goliath
story in the making. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">Out of the context of this underdog
story, Taylor Swift began writing a song titled “Change,” her kind of retelling
of the David and Goliath story.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">Here’s a live, acoustic version
of that song from 2008 <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jwWR1cQTKyw" width="479" youtube-src-id="jwWR1cQTKyw"></iframe></div><i><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />[Goliath] got closer and closer to David, and his
shield-bearer was in front of him. When the
Philistine Goliath looked David over, he sneered at David because he was just a boy;
reddish brown and good-looking.</span></i><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Goliath asked David, “Am I some sort of dog that you
come at me with sticks?” And he cursed David by his gods. <b><sup>44 </sup></b>“Come
here,” he said to David, “and I’ll feed your flesh to the wild birds and the
wild animals!”<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But David told the Goliath, “You are coming against me
with sword, spear, and curved blade, but I come against you in the name of
the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> of heavenly
forces, the God of his people’s army, the one you’ve insulted. Today
the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> will hand you
over to me… all those gathered here will know that
the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> doesn’t save by
means of sword and spear. The <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> owns
this [fight]…”<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt;"><i>The Philistine Goliath got up and moved closer to attack David, and
David ran quickly to the front line to face him. David
put his hand in his bag and took out a stone. He slung it, and it hit the
Philistine on his forehead. The stone penetrated his forehead, and he fell
facedown on the ground. And that’s how David
triumphed over the Philistine with just a sling and a stone, striking the
Philistine down… —and David didn’t even have a sword! </i>(I Samuel 17:41-50)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt;">David versus Goliath. It is an eons-old
tale. In many ways, the David and Goliath story is the prototype of the underdog
narrative.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">Wikipedia describes the underdog as
“a person or group… who is largely expected to lose.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">When the underdog defies
expectations and wins, it inspires us like nothing else. It seems to be in humans’
DNA to love a good underdog story. Think of all the movies about an underdog
who defies the odds and comes out on top. There are some sports-related ones: Rocky,
Karate Kid, Rudy, the Bad News Bears, and their sequels. There is a new movie called
Boys in the Boat that applies the sports underdog trope. Christmas movies love a
good underdog story, too – Home Alone, It’s a Wonderful Life, Merry Christmas,
Charlie Brown, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">Well, we might say David and
Goliath is the original underdog story. Now, the David and Goliath story is
more literature than history, a subject for another day. We might call it, “based
on a true story”? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">The larger true story David and
Goliath is based on is the story of Israel itself. Israel is an underdog people. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">Israel begins with Abraham, a fatherless, old nobody living in the desert. From nobody, old Abraham is born a people. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">That people eventually become an oppressed, enslaved
people. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">Among all the nations, Yahweh God chooses Abraham and chooses <i>this</i> people, an
enslaved people, to be <i>His</i> people. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">God then frees the Israelites and promises
faithfulness toward them in return for their keeping of the covenant and the
commandments. God also promises them their own land, the Promised Land, and guides
them there. Israel as a people with its own land and temple eventually comes to
be.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">Now, the story of Israel has
many sequels along the way. Rocky has, what, nine sequels if you count the Creed movies. Well,
the story of Israel has scores more. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">The plot line is similar. Israel
gets defeated by larger, opposing forces, often opposition of their own making. They lose, get lost, lose hope and in turn break God’s covenant.
And just when all looks lost, God picks them up, forgives and helps Israel overcome. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">This story plays out again and
again in the Old Testament.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">Well, David and Goliath in some
ways is a condensed version of Israel, its struggles, and its overcoming of those
struggles with God’s help.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">I must highlight that world “struggle.”
Indeed, there is struggle and even conflict involved in the plight of the underdog.
The underdog must face the top dogs and their greater power. The powers that be
want to keep the underdog down. The underdog must struggle against this, do battle,
seek to break the control of the powers that be. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">As the David and Goliath story
shows us, in the underdog’s struggle to overcome these oppressive powers,
violence is often used and condoned. The whole of the David and Goliath narrative
is pretty violent.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">Fast forward to Jesus, the New David.
He too will struggle against the powers that be controlling and oppressing his
people. But the use of violence, well, that is where Christ tells a different
story. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">MEDITATION #2</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;"><i><span style="font-size: 15pt;">Judas brought a detachment of
soldiers together with police from the chief priests and the Pharisees, and
they came there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Then
Jesus, knowing all that was to happen to him, came forward and asked them,
“Whom are you looking for?” They answered, “Jesus
of Nazareth.” Jesus replied, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was
standing with them. When Jesus said to them,
“I am he,” they stepped back and fell to the ground. Again
he asked them, “Whom are you looking for?” And they said, “Jesus of
Nazareth.” Jesus answered, “I told you that I am
he. So if you are looking for me, let these people go.” This
was to fulfill the word that he had spoken, “I did not lose a single one of
those whom you gave me.” Then Simon Peter, who
had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right
ear. The slave’s name was Malchus. Jesus said to
Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath. Am I not to drink the cup that the
Father has given me?”</span></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt;"><i>So the soldiers, their officers, and the Jewish police
arrested Jesus and bound him. </i>(<o:p></o:p></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 20px;">John 18:3-12)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt;">Last week, I discussed how Jesus
is the New David. That idea applies this week as well. That said, we have in
our gospel narrative from John a New David versus Goliath theme.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">Who’s the Goliath? The Roman Empire
in cahoots with the Temple’s religious hierarchy. They are in control, they
have the power, they arrive on the scene ready to apply that power, ready to
arrest and execute an innocent man. And in the Roman courts, arrest and execution
went hand in hand, execution almost a given. Jesus knew this.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">Jesus, the New David – what does
he do when confronted with this Goliath? To protect his disciples, he submits.
Jesus rejects violence. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">Peter doesn’t. Thinking that he
must defend Jesus at all cost, takes out a sword and cuts a servant’s ear. Jesus
rebukes this, commands that Peter put his sword away. Like David, Jesus will have
no sword! He gives his reason in John 18: “Shall I not drink the cup my father
has given to me?” Matthew’s parallel text adds Jesus saying, “he who lives by
the sword will die by the sword.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">Jesus submits. That word
literally means to place yourself under an authority. Jesus, though divine, though
God in human form, accepts underdog status and its consequences.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">Now, we should not equate submission
to acquiescence. Jesus is not giving up on the struggle. He is not admitting
defeat. The struggle has just begun. Jesus, the New David, still must defeat Goliath.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">But nonviolence will be Jesus’ slingshot.
His death will be the stone that ends this Goliath. The Cross is what will overcome
the powers and principalities before him. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">This Goliath’s way of deadly
power and death will lose, for through the Cross, Christ will destroy death
itself. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">The Cross gives way to the Empty
Tomb, my friends! “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” Through the Christ’s
nonviolence and his submission, the finality of death itself “is finished.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">As for the Roman empire, it too
would fall and Christ via his church and his word would remain standing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;"><br />
But we can’t end there. We can’t ignore a key question that maybe some of you
are asking. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">What happens when David becomes Goliath?
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">What happens when Israel becomes
one of the most powerful militaries on earth, a nuclear power? What happens
when Taylor Swift, now a billionaire, becomes one of the most powerful artists on
earth? What happens when the Church becomes suffused with political power and extraordinary
wealth? What happens when the underdog becomes the topdog?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">I end with scripture’s answer. That
answer can be summed up with these words – to remain David, resist pedestals
and remain an underdog in spirit. Philippians 2: 3-7,8 says this:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 8pt 0.5in;"><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">Do nothing from selfish ambition or empty conceit, but in
humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let
each of you look not to your own interests but to the interests of
others. Let the same mind be in you that
was in Christ Jesus,<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 8pt 0.5in;"><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">who, though he existed in the form of God,<br />
did not regard equality with God<br />
as something to be grasped,<br />but emptied himself… and<br />humbled himself…<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt;">Our New David shows us how to
remain like David and resist the way of Goliath.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">Did Christ gate himself away, high
on a pedestal? No. He came to us, met us where we were, and dwelled among us. He experienced our suffering, felt our pain, and grieved our losses with us. He taught us:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">Be poor in spirit. Don’t ignore the
sorrow and loss all around us. Empty self, resist selfishness. Hunger and
thirst for justice. Be compassion-filled, pure at heart, and a builder of peace.
For blessed are you.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">Taylor Swift seems to get it. Her goodheartedness, kindness, humility, and connection to her fans are legendary and inspiring. Here’s
one example, which I close with: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">In 2018, [8-year-old] Isabella McCune of Arizona went through an accident that landed her in the hospital for nine months with
burns on over 65% of her body. Though she hoped to attend a concert during Swift’s 2018 Reputation Tour, she couldn’t because of her recovery. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">Taylor Swift somehow heard about McCune’s
story and visited Isabella in person at the hospital. Before Swift departed,
she left Isabella a note. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">“Isabella, I hope you feel
better soon. I’m so honored you’ve been listening to my music. You’re so
awesome and I can’t wait to have you at a show. Stay strong, gorgeous. Love,
Taylor.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">According to McCune, Swift
helped her get through some of the most difficult times of her life as she
recovered from her burns. She stated,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">“Her music helped me a lot while
I was in the hospital.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">Swift followed up on her promise
five years later, as she kicked off her 2023 Eras Tour.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">With the help of a local radio
station and the Valleywise Health Foundation, Swift and her team surprised
McCune with four tickets to a Saturday night concert in Glendale. It’s a
surprise McCune will never forget.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">She stated, “Not only the fact
that I’m able to go and I got these tickets gifted to me, they’re from Taylor
Swift and her team and they remembered me, and thought of me to give me these
tickets.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;">Such goodheartedness, kindness, humility, and
connection – let us, individually and collectively, as people and as <i>a</i>
people, follow suit in the name of Christ, Amen.<span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>Don Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08478153198546181488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735639500592081961.post-38191039986311141102023-12-29T17:54:00.000-08:002024-01-08T13:13:37.003-08:00A Christmas Meditation<div dir="auto"><div class="x1iorvi4 x1pi30zi x1l90r2v x1swvt13" data-ad-comet-preview="message" data-ad-preview="message" id=":r19p:" style="padding: 4px 16px 16px;"><div class="x78zum5 xdt5ytf xz62fqu x16ldp7u" style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; margin-bottom: -5px; margin-top: -5px;"><div class="xu06os2 x1ok221b" style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-top: 5px;"><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1xmvt09 x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u x1yc453h" color="var(--primary-text)" dir="auto" style="display: block; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><div class="xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs x126k92a" style="margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto"><span><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: inherit; text-align: left; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3FEzvMqFQuMDDeewItkBEWAMF6xnjxNYy3CNA-AfY9YmSZ1MlQG92to_BwP4KBpPu3gOHjNam0v5vVlYQXkF1wPytvOzNHx_dazEDAvqlNIx7Xpbw2S6NEVaHSlYdr5113nbgRT-kTSebbWS3BxKs8oOWs-djZfRDbgJo7r2ibU4NKeyv4eSel1NX5gk/w640-h480/413048882_747171627445125_4188365510778814374_n.jpg" width="640" />
</span><i style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span><span style="font-size: large;">Were you there when he first breathed in this world?</span></span></i><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div></i></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Were you there when he first breathed in this world?</i></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Oh, sometimes, it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.</i></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Were you there when he first breathed in this world?</i></span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="font-family: inherit; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a style="color: #385898; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit;" tabindex="-1"></a></span>Maybe you were one of the shepherds, eking out a life when that good news of great joy flew from the voices of angels; a shepherd knowing a quiet desperation, invisible, seen as lesser-than in society, feeling excluded, longing for belonging, perennially kept on the outside looking in, then welcomed in to the story of God.</span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="font-family: inherit; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">Maybe you were one of the magi, those wise ones from afar, on a journey elsewhere but pining for a home you left behind; a magi, a vagabond void of magic going into the great unknown, presumed to have all answers but really just rich with questions and thirsting for truth, then, once at his feet, in his face, you experienced the truth of love.</span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="font-family: inherit; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">Maybe you were Joseph, a working man, a common man, not sure of what to do, where to go, how to fit into the story but knowing you needed to be there and as supportive as possible. Maybe you were Joseph a mere carpenter tasked with the impossible, step-fathering a king, parenting humanity and divinity rolled into one, staying humble through it all.</span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="font-family: inherit; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Maybe you were Mary, as close to God as a mother to a baby in her womb. Maybe you were Mary, enduring the pain of birthing life and experiencing the divine life born to you. Maybe you were Mary, uplifted </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">by a grace that gave you breath, the breath you breathed, the love of God you carried close to your heart, the reality you pondered.</span></span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="font-family: inherit; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">If you weren’t there then, you can be now.</span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="font-family: inherit; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">For unto you this day is born a Savior. </span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="font-family: inherit; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">He waits for you to come to the cradle and peer into his face. He waits for you to give the gift of making it there to show care and compassion. He waits for you to let go of the questions and rest in his mere presence.</span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="font-family: inherit; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">Everyday is Christmas day, or at least it can be.</span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="font-family: inherit; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">Be born in us, our Lord Emmanuel.</span></div></div></span></div></div></div></div><p> </p>Don Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08478153198546181488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735639500592081961.post-56687988023233660662023-12-24T17:47:00.000-08:002023-12-30T07:10:05.090-08:00Three Kings, One Present<p> <span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt;">When I was maybe in the 5</span><sup style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">th</sup><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt;">
or 6</span><sup style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">th</sup><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt;"> grade, I played a trumpet solo for the Christmas Eve service. I
played the old Christmas carol “We Three Kings of Orient Are.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">As famous as the carol is, it’s
not so biblically accurate. According to Matthew 1, magi, three or more, visit
Jesus. They were not kings. Magi were priests and practitioners of the
Zoroastrian faith. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">That said, there are 3 kings to
be found in the story of Jesus’ birth. And Palestine was then considered the Orient, a term we no longer use. So, there are 3 kings there in the so-called Orient.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Who are these 3 kings?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">One king is obvious. The other
two kings are more implicit in our wonderful narrative from Luke 2. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Who are they?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Well, the first one, as I said, should be
obvious to us, though not at all obvious to those who meet him in the story.
Tomorrow is this king’s day, this newborn king lying in a feeding trough for the farm animals. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Jesus, even as a newborn, is the
king of his people. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">But what’s even more
mind-blowing is this: that tiny one, a king cooing in that Bethlehem stall --
he is, as the Nicene Creed says, “Light of Light, true God of true God.” The
very Creator of the whole universe, the one who holds the moon, star, and planets
in place, comes to us here inhabiting the humblest of realities - a baby boy
wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a feeding trough.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Talk about Amazing Grace. From
Christ’s cradle, this grace is as powerful as it gets.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Okay, one king named Yeshua is
there, that’s clear.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Where, who are the two other
kings?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">The other king is King David.
That’s right, King David is there. Where do we see him? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Well, the angel of the Lord
calls David by name. The angel says, “For unto you is born this day in the city
of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” When you name something, you
bring it to the present. With the word David, he is there in a sense. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">What is the city of David? Of
course, Bethlehem. That’s where David was born. David would grow up around
Bethlehem, growing to be the greatest king that Israel ever knew. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Jesus is born in the line of and
in the city of David. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">It’s clear to Jews hearing this
that Jesus is the New David, the messiah long waited for, hoped for, prayed
for.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">But there’s another part of our
story telling us that David is there. To whom is the angel telling the good news of
Jesus’ birth? The angel is talking to shepherds. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">The angel comes to shepherds, a
lowly, outcast group from whom once came the greatest king Israel ever saw,
David. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">It is as if the angel is saying,
David came from you, and was one of you. Now, you should come to the new David in
Bethlehem. This new David born today is is one of you too. The good shepherd,
the one you’ve been waiting for, the one due your honor and your reverence and
your devotion, is born! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">It is fitting the angel calls
shepherds to be first witnesses, the first followers, the first Christians. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">The child born is the good
shepherd, as well as the lamb of God. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Christmas in many ways is a day
for shepherds, for the lowly, outcast ones, for those perennially on the
outside looking in. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">On Christmas morning, those on
the outside are welcomed inside, embraced and warmed by the child’s light,
never to be left behind.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">So, King Jesus and King David
are there? Who was the last king there that day?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Look at verse 1 of our gospel
passage from Luke – Caesar Augustus. Caesar Augustus was not just a king, but
the king of kings of the Roman Empire. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Now, Luke 2 is an absolutely
essential text. If we were to rank biblical passages from the New Testament,
Luke 2 would be way up there. And here’s the thing - you cannot read and truly
understand Luke 2 without reading and understanding it in light of the
historical context. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">This newborn king named Jesus was born in the context of the Roman Empire, an empire ruled ruthlessly, brutally, and violently by Caesar, the world’s king of kings. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">The Christmas story is a
subversive one. It subverts the fake good news of the empire with its fake
peace and points to God’s kingdom and its real, lasting peace.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">This newborn king, he is not
only the new David. He is the new Caesar who ordains a new kingdom of real
peace. That is what Luke 2 is saying. That is what God through the voice of the
angels is declaring!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">The contrasts between Ceasar and
Christ make this clear.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Caesar calls a census to number his subjects in order to oppress and bully them. Baby Jesus cries to save and free numberless people. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Caesar awakes every day in the
lap of luxury, rewarded with a grand palace on a Roman hill from which he looks
down from high. Baby Jesus is born this day in the lowliest of habitations,
denied a room in the humblest roadside inn but given a farm stall outside the
inn. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Caesar could have, wear, eat, do
whatever was humanly possible, limits not really applicable to him. Baby Jesus has
no pillow for his head, wears swaddling clothes limiting his every movement,
lays in a feeding trough for farm animals as if himself food, unable to do
anything for himself, reliant on others, namely his parents, to care and rear
him up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Caesar has an army of men
fighting for him, securing him as emperor and a god, shouting his praises. In
the world’s eyes, what greater power can be had?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Baby Jesus has an army of angels
telling lowly shepherds of the good news of his birth, declaring him messiah
and the one Lord, singing him praises. In heaven’s eyes, this vulnerable child
brings the truest, most lasting power, a spiritual power that never dies.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">These contrasts say one thing: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">This Child is the new Caesar
bringing in a new way, a new paradigm, a new world. In this new world, justice,
love, and humility will be the guiding principles. In this new world, the
vulnerable, the poor, the captive, the children will be lifted up and set free.
In this new world, a godly peace, a peace forged by forgiveness, non-violence,
and reverence will reign eternally. In this new world, a child shall lead us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><i><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Earlier this year, there was a
big to do about men thinking about the Roman Empire all the time. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">But where is the Roman Empire
now? Where is Caesar? In the words of Sting, the empire turned to sand and fell
into the sea.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Christ’s community still stands.
Not even death on a Roman cross will keep down this one crying in the manger.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Love wins, my friends. In that
struggle between the Caesars of the world and Christ of the Cosmos, the love of
Christ wins. <br />
<br />
The community dedicated to that love, this living reality we call the church,
it still lives to celebrate this day.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Why? How could this be?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">In the words of Paul to the
Romans,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><b><i><sup><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">38 </span></sup></i></b><i><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Neither death, nor life, nor
angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, <b><sup>39 </sup></b>nor
height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate
us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.</span></i><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">And so, we celebrate Christ’s
mass, singing with the armies of angels, <i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><i><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Glory to God in the highest, and
on earth peace, good will toward all.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Don Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08478153198546181488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735639500592081961.post-43156958491040807642023-12-17T17:35:00.000-08:002023-12-29T17:44:23.718-08:00Variations On the Theme of the Gospel<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15pt;">The angel said to them, “Don't be
afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15pt;">Our reading from John 1 mentions the
making straight of the way of the Lord. The passage from Luke 2, mentions the bringing
of good news. How is the way of God and the good news related?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15pt;">Well, the way of God is the good
news. The way of God and the good news are in many ways interrelated terms. So,
you’ll hear those terms interrelated in this reflection</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15pt;">A larger question is this what is
the way of God? What is the good news?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If you look at the Bible both Old and New Testaments, there are variations, variations
on how the way of God, the gospel is defined. That’s right, variations on the
theme of the gospel.<br />
<br />
There are three overarching variations.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The first variation comes from the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament to
Christians. This is the BC, Before Christ, variation. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15pt;">In the Hebrew Bible, the OT, the
gospel, the way of God, amounts to God’s covenant with an enslaved and
oppressed people, Israel, a covenant where God promises faithfulness to and
liberation for His people and hands down a way to follow.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15pt;">Jeremiah lays it out beautifully in
Jeremiah 7:23 –</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But this command I gave them, “Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you
shall be my people; walk only in the way that I command you, so that it may be
well with you.”<br />
<br />
This way of God here is the covenant and commandments preached and delivered by
anointed ones – by law-givers and prophets… Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, etc. John
the Baptist comes in this vein of prophets.<br />
<br />
But the good news these lawgivers and prophets are preaching is
not their way. It is not the gospel of a lawgiver like Moses nor the
gospel of a prophet like Elijah. It is the gospel of God. Moses and Elijah and their ilk were merely the
mouthpieces, megaphones for that gospel, that way of God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What does this mean for us? In the Hebrew Bible, the good news is that God vows
to be with us. We simply must trust that vow, and follow God’s way. If we do,
we’ll know wholeness. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15pt;">The gospel according to this variation, in a nutshell, is this: God is with us, follow God, and be whole.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
<br />The second variation on the theme of the good news comes to us in Jesus’ life. This
is the DC, the During Christ’s life, variation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15pt;">The three synoptic gospels of
Matthew, Mark, and Luke describe the DC variation on the gospel.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In the gospels, Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the anointed one. And in line
with the Jewish understanding, Jesus teaches the way of God, which Jesus
highlights as the way of the Father’s kingdom…<br />
<br />
Jesus never refers to himself as the source of the good news or the aim of the
good news. Jesus himself says in Mark, “only God is good.” When Jesus talks
about the gospel, he talks over and over again about the Father and the
Father’s Kingdom. Jesus points to the Father’s kingdom and says follow me
there.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15pt;">The Sermon on the Mount describes
that Kingdom and how we get there. To be blessed, to be whole, to know the kingdom of heaven, be poor in spirit, be honest about your grief, be humble, be compassion-filled, hunger and thirst for justice, be pure of heart, and make peace. In other words, to be blessed, to be whole, to know the kingdom means being like Jesus. As Jesus said
to those who’d join him, follow me.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So what does this mean for us living our lives? When it comes to Jesus and what
he lived and taught, the way of God means following him in the way of doing
justice, loving compassion, and walking with humility.<br />
<br />
<br />
The last variation on the theme of the good news is the one found most clearly
in the gospel of John and in the writing of Paul. This is the AD Variation
on the gospel.<br />
<br />
John 14 quotes Jesus saying, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one
comes to the Father but through me:<br />
<br />
A little bit before this, Jesus also said, “I and the Father are one.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Jesus is the way to the Father, yes. But he is also what awaits us when we get
to the Father. Being one with the Father means Jesus is there when we get to
the Father, at one with Him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Here we have the gospel not just of God but of Christ, the crucified and
resurrected one, who is also God. <br />
<br />
In other words, Christ in the AD Gospel is the means and end of salvation. The
crucified Christ saves us. And the resurrected Christ is what we are saved to. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15pt;">Before, Christ was merely the means
to the end of God, he was the way to God, the one who transforms us by guiding
us to God. By following Jesus and his teaching, we got to God.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In the gospel according to John and for Paul, Christ, and his death and
resurrection, is the means to God, yes. And Christ, the incarnate God, is also
the end we get to. Jesus is the way and the truth that way leads to. <br />
<br />
What does this, the AD gospel, mean for us? Well, trusting, having faith in
Christ and in the saving grace of his life, death, and resurrection, this
trusting in Christ makes us whole.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15pt;"><br />So three variations on the theme of
the gospel: </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15pt;">The BC variation where the good news is that God is with us
and by following God’s commandments we are made whole.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15pt;">The DC variation where the good news
is Messiah Christ is with us and by following Christ we are made whole.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15pt;">And the AD variation where the good
news is Savior Christ is with us and by our faith in Christ’s death and
resurrection we are made whole.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
<br />
The question is…<br />
<br />
Is there a common denominator? Is there a common strand that unites these
three?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15pt;">Important question! With a common
strand we have a more universal gospel, one that unites the gospel of the
Hebrew Bible and of the Christian Bible, of the Jew and the Christian.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I say yes. We have a common denominator, a basic gospel. And it is pretty
simple.<br />
<br />
It begins with the simple faith claim that God is Love.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Love moved God’s covenant with
Israel. Love moved Messiah Christ’s life and teaching. Love moved Savior
Christ’s work on the cross and his resurrection. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In Matthew 22, a Torah expert asked Jesus,<br />
<br /><i>
“Rabbi, which of the commandments in the Scripture is the most important?”
Jesus “told him, “‘You are to love the Lord your God with all your heart and
with all your soul and with all your strength.’ This is the greatest and most
important commandment. And a second is similar to it, ‘You are to love your
neighbor as yourself.’ All of the Scripture and the Prophets are dependent on
these two.”</i><br />
<br />
So, Love.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15pt;">Love God. Take God, take Love, into
your heart.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And Love. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15pt;">Love one another. Seek to love
others as God who is love loves them.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The good news is the good we effect through loving God and loving others<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15pt;">Love is the point. Love is the
reason for the season.</span></p>Don Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08478153198546181488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735639500592081961.post-24049834584538699942023-12-11T07:17:00.000-08:002023-12-11T07:17:32.989-08:00Trinity As a Wheel<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0jPLRt7AqOrdQr4JxHkF1o-U4WxDPq1IleDZxAoTY3VcP625ooOS3ytIUyOWAXTKMfP_mwrhsTAn9VU0QBO-42xBNCLiFMJkkHJW6df_etEFkt5TxMmyj1Mj0GqWdKHEZpgAH-MLW4Se_Wk2WWEuk5k5hXu8qAw51TCtrL0VyHjmP_pqstNDuTLG5xhA/s1262/Trinity%20Wheel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="947" data-original-width="1262" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0jPLRt7AqOrdQr4JxHkF1o-U4WxDPq1IleDZxAoTY3VcP625ooOS3ytIUyOWAXTKMfP_mwrhsTAn9VU0QBO-42xBNCLiFMJkkHJW6df_etEFkt5TxMmyj1Mj0GqWdKHEZpgAH-MLW4Se_Wk2WWEuk5k5hXu8qAw51TCtrL0VyHjmP_pqstNDuTLG5xhA/w400-h300/Trinity%20Wheel.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">What do you envision when you
think about the Trinity? Is there an image that pops into your head? Maybe a
triangle? Maybe that Rubin painting of the Trinity?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">I will say, that I do envision
something when I think about the Trinity. The image that pops into my head is a
fairly new one, but one that has stuck. The image of the Trinity that pops into
my head is that of a 3-spoked wheel and one that is self-propelling. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Now you know the rationale for
the image in your bulletins. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">The 3 spokes ought to be clear –
Father Spoke, Son Spoke, Holy Spirit Spoke… no pun intended. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">But why a wheel? Why the image
of a wheel? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Well, there’s movement and we
might say traveling involved in the story of the biblical God, right? God isn’t
confined to moving around in the heavens out there. God doesn’t simply act and
move and progress outside of and separate from creation. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">No, God travels from heaven
enters earth and moves within it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">According to the Bible, we have
two big examples of God traveling down, we can say, from heaven and coming into
earthly time and space.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">First, there is Creation itself.
In story of Creation, God moves beyond heaven and, as Genesis 1 says, first comes
and hovers over the waters of creation, then forms creation. Here’s the thing –
with creation, God enters creation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">I’ve used this metaphor before,
but when an artist is painting a piece of art, something of that artist enters
that painting. The painter stands in front of the canvas, takes her brush, dips
into paint, and upon painting that canvas enters the world being created there.
Artists move into their canvas when they work.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Look deeply at an artist’s
finished product, a painting, a great painting anyway, and you see that
artist’s vision, her mindset, her sense of beauty and view of the world. Why?
Because a little bit of the artist entered the art she created.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">The same thing goes for God and
creation. God the artist in painting creation entered that painting in a real,
albeit spiritual sense. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">As theologians would put it, God
was revealed in God’s creation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Going back to our image, the
wheel of God rolled out earth and the life of God traversed that earth. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">In the movement of the globe,
the movement of the days, the seasons, the years, we see the handiwork of God. We
can see proof of the verb that is God all around us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">The second big example of God sojourning
from heaven and entering earth is the reason for the season. Christ descends
from heaven, taking human form, and living the active, progressing forward life
of a man. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">The wheel of God in a symbolic,
non-literal sense, entered the life of Mary and from Mary’s womb came Christ,
who they named Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">God through Christ birthed the
universe.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">God as Christ upon his birth
inhabited the universe. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Here’s the larger point I want
to make this morning. In between Creation and Christmas and thereafter, the
wheel of God didn’t stop moving. Yes, the two most pivotal examples of the
wheel of God entering the universe are at Creation and with Christ. These
pivotal examples are the domain of the Father and the Son. The Father and Son
spokes propelled the wheel forward. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">But, but there are many smaller,
less pivotal, yet just as real examples throughout time of the wheel of God
entering into the universe. These smaller yet just as real examples are the
domain of the Holy Spirit. Here, the Holy Spirit spoke propels the wheel
forward.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">When lives are transformed by
the power of love and compassion, when hearts are moved to godly lives, when living
beings through their wisdom and light change others’ lives for the better,
these are examples of the wheel of God, moved by the Holy Spirit, entering into
the universe. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Maybe you’ve asked or have heard
asked this crucial question - what about those who are not Christians? What
about that loved-one that could never bring themselves to believe? Are they
included? Will God’s realm include them?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">I say, yes. Through the work of
the Holy Spirit, the wheel of God enters into the universe and touches and
transforms all lives. Our lives come from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and
compassion-based spirituality, and the Holy Spirit uses these diverse
backgrounds, cultures, and compassion-based spirituality to move people toward
union with God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Christian author and theologian
Simone Weil once stated, “We do injury to children if we bring them up in a
narrow Christianity that prevents them from ever becoming capable of perceiving
the treasures of purest gold found in non-Christian civilizations.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">I think this is rightly said. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Well, “non-Christian civilizations,"
non-Christian spiritualities grounded in compassion, this is the domain of the
Holy Spirit. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">In some mysterious way, the Holy
Spirit brings non-Christians into the sacred realm of the Trinity. She brings them
inside the home of the Trinity, introducing them to the Son, the way, truth,
and life, who in turn brings them to the Father. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Why would the Creator oversee
the creation of myriad religious faiths just to condemn them? God uses various
tools for God’s own glory and to expand the kingdom as wide as it can go.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">I close with the question, why
Christ? What is so essential about this season we celebrate, the season of
Christ’s birth?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Christ’s birth is the pivot
point of history. There is BC time and AD time. X marks the spot between BC to
AD. Xmas and Christmas, despite the hoopla you hear, are interchangeable. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">And what does Christ pivot us
to? Christ pivots all of Creation back to Eden, back to the beginning, back to
God. Christ pivots all of Creation toward the heavenly realm from whence we
came. Christ pivots all of Creation to the promised land where all will be
restored to God, all will be reconciled, all will know full union with the
Creator and with one another. Christ pivots all of Creation back to her
Creator.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">This is the good news of the
holy day we call Christmas. Christ descends and enters the universe and pivots
that universe to the one from whence it came, the God who is Love and who loved
us into being. <o:p></o:p></span></p>Don Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08478153198546181488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735639500592081961.post-18940338786722501022023-12-03T15:19:00.000-08:002023-12-03T15:28:24.015-08:00The Comings of Christ<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhtVvRNVeZKvcArUWGPpkpr8NIn-x5nBvWxCnHp84ipHZ-kcnwVwrp60UEsV1Ay2XY0k9tiZXfpivOUj4QdwkSS0LV__TPiqY-AE-6MO07iX4bdSInkqYzMjskxskKQqFKUz95lUJkR3k3-JqpN6gwgYmAPfKyq8gJh4gk8VMow6D3-XlsaXvADQ65KVnk" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhtVvRNVeZKvcArUWGPpkpr8NIn-x5nBvWxCnHp84ipHZ-kcnwVwrp60UEsV1Ay2XY0k9tiZXfpivOUj4QdwkSS0LV__TPiqY-AE-6MO07iX4bdSInkqYzMjskxskKQqFKUz95lUJkR3k3-JqpN6gwgYmAPfKyq8gJh4gk8VMow6D3-XlsaXvADQ65KVnk=w640-h360" width="640" /></a></div><br /> <span style="font-size: 17pt;">Maybe
you’re wondering what our gospel reading from </span><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+13%3A24-37&version=NRSVUE" style="font-size: 17pt;" target="_blank">Mark</a><span style="font-size: 17pt;"> has to do with the beginning
of Advent, the time in the Christian calendar when we wait for Christ to come.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">First of all, Jesus
is speaking, meaning there is no waiting involved. And that's only the beginning.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Have
you ever noticed how with the Christian calendar, time overlaps, intersperses, and intermingles? Advent begins our wait for Christ, a Christ who is already here and has been since the beginning.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">We call this paradox, and paradox is a
thing in our faith.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">I
mean, Communion is a part of our Christian calendar. In fact, we just
remembered and recalled the real spiritual presence of Christ’s body and blood.
Yet we also honor today the beginning of Advent, the time of waiting for
Christ’s presence on earth to arrive. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Time
for us as the circle of Christ-followers isn’t perfectly linear. This is not an
a to b to c to d faith. A, b, c, and d overlap, intermingle, sing together! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">This
should be no surprise. God is infinite in nature. Time doesn’t apply to God. And
so, real, earthly time and Christian time don’t perfectly align.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">And
so I say without reservation that, as Advent begins, <i>we wait for what’s already
here. </i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">We
share Communion while recalling and remembering one not yet born. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">We
worship the son of God who is the same age as his Father,
and their age is infinitude. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">This
paradoxical reality, we see it in the mere fact that our passage from Mark 13 is the lectionary reading for the first day of Advent. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Mark 13 shows Jesus prophesying his second coming. But we read
it on the first Sunday of Advent, the time of waiting for Christ’s <i>first</i>
coming.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">The
reason Mark 13 is part of the Advent lectionary is that there is a common denominator
surrounding Christ’s first coming on Christmas and Christ’s second coming yet
to happen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">The
common denominator? Both the wait for Christ’s first and second comings include
the hopeful, watchful expectation that with Christ’s coming things will be made
right and just and true, that God’s will shall be done on earth as it is in
heaven. The hopeful waiting for Christ’s return mirrors the hopeful waiting in that
original Advent 2,000 years ago.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">But
I’d like to consider something that disrupts even that familiar linear notion
of Christ’s first and second coming. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Christ
has been coming into the world again and again since Creation. In fact, Christ
was the conduit through which Creation came into being. Colossians 1 explains
this beautifully! “For by [Christ] all things were created, both in the heavens
and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or
authorities — all things have been created through Him and for Him.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Creation
is an expression of Christ. Whenever you truly stop and observe the beautiful gift
of Creation, you see Christ here and now. Three thousand years ago, say, on
this very land, if someone looked at the heavens and earth and saw deeply and
humbly and experienced the beauty of creation therein, Christ would have been in
a general way revealed. This was true before Jesus was born and still is. Why?
Because Creation is an expression of Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Do
you know what else is an expression of Christ? The word of God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">I
know I quote a lot from John 1, but it is so essential to a Christian view of
the world. John gives us a Christian addendum to Genesis 1. In the beginning,
was the Word. Christ is the Word of God. As for the Bible, the written word, it
expresses Christ, the original word. The Bible’s words point to the Word, the
Word that became flesh and dwelled among us, saving the world, as the gospel of
John.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">That
the Bible expresses Christ is obvious for the New Testament. But the Hebrew
Bible, the Old Testament, for Christians, expresses Christ as well. Jesus
himself said, “I’ve come not to abolish Torah, the Old Testament scripture, but
to fulfill it.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">For
my last point here, let’s narrow in on the Old Testament, namely on a figure
that regularly appears in the story of the Old Testament. That figure is called
the Angel of the Lord. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">This
angel of the Lord is unlike any other angel. Think about the Hebrew Bible’s
major characters – Hagar, Abraham and Sarah, Moses, Jacob, Joshua. The angel of
the Lord appeared to them. The angel of the Lord informed Hagar of the great
lineage that would follow with the birth of her son Ishmael. The angel of the
Lord informed Abraham and Sarah about Isaac’s miraculous conception. The angel
of the Lord appeared in the burning bush and spoke to Moses. The angel of the
Lord wrestled with Jacob and transformed his life. The angel of the Lord
appeared to Joshua as the angelic host’s captain and commanded Joshua to remove
his sandals for he was in the angel of the Lord’s presence, and thus on holy
ground.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">In
all these cases, the Angel of the Lord is understood to be the Lord God in
earthly visible form. Hagar, Abraham, Moses, Jacob address the angel of the
Lord as the Lord God himself.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">The
Christian tradition since the beginning has taught that the angel of the Lord
in the Old Testament is none other than the pre-incarnation, pre-Christmas expression
of Christ. The angel of the Lord in the Old Testament was an expression of
Christ. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">So,
let’s summarize and then conclude with our takeaway. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Creation
is an expression of Christ, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">The
Bible, the New of course, but also the Old Testament, is an expression of
Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">The
angel of the Lord read about in the OT is an expression of Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">And
all of these things point to expressions of Christ before we even get to Jesus’
birth.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">What
is the takeaway for this first Sunday of Advent?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">As
we prepare our hearts and wait for Jesus’ birth, may we know what we prepare
and wait for is already here waiting to be born in us. It is Christ who waits.
Christ waits for us to realize he is already here. Christ waits for us to make
room for him to live in us and through us. Christ waits for us to actualize his
peace in a world perennially at war. Christ waits for us to take his grace and
make it amazing with the lives we lead in the communities we call home.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Maybe
this little meditation practice I leave you with might help. Each day this week
or maybe even this Advent season, take 5-10 minutes and recite this prayer
taken from the carol we will soon sing. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><i><span color="windowtext" face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Be
born in me today,<br />
Emmanuel<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">By
the way, Emmanuel literally translates as God With Us. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Let
us close by taking a minute or less to recite this prayer silently.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Don Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08478153198546181488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735639500592081961.post-85937321003902713662023-11-26T11:26:00.000-08:002023-11-27T06:38:02.697-08:00Top 5 Christmas Hymns & A Christmas in Korea<p></p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Here’s how I came up with the ranking of the hymns. Primarily I used the website secondhandsongs.com whose song search gives you the total number of times the same song has been recorded by different artists. So, I went through each Christmas hymn and noted how many versions of each Christmas hymn has been recorded. I also factored in something else – the inclusion of Christmas hymns in the top 100 streamed Christmas songs on Spotify. <br /><br />I start with #4 below and move up to #1. Then I will end with #5. <br /><br /><i>#4 - What Child Is This? </i><br /><br />(edited from Galaxy Music Notes webpage) <br /><br />“What Child Is This?” is a famous and traditional Christmas carol crafted in 1865. The lyrics were composed by William Chatterton Dix, the son of a surgeon residing in Bristol, England. Dix spent most of his life as a businessman in Glasgow, Scotland, working at the managerial level of the Maritime Insurance Company. <br /><br />Dix was [enthralled] by traditional English folk music;. And when he started writing the lyrics for “What Child Is This?,” he decided to utilize the melody of “Greensleeves” to create the carol. It is [easily] his most memorable and famous creation. <br /><br />In 1865, William was 29 years old when he suffered from a near-fatal bout of sickness. He was afflicted with severe depression, and this experience changed him completely. While undergoing recovery, he experienced a spiritual awakening that inspired him to start crafting hymns. He became an avid reader of the Bible. Dix subsequently wrote the lyrics of “What Child Is This?,” and incorporated the tune of the celebrated English folk song, “Greensleeves.” <br /><br />Greensleeves was already one of the most aesthetic and beloved melodies of the festive season at that time. Although it’s not a quintessential Christmas tune, its association with the festive season can be dated back to 1642. It was paired back then with Waits’ carol titled, “The Old Year Now Away is Fled.” Also, William Shakespeare refers to this popular tune twice in his famous play - “Merry Wives of Windsor.” <br /><br /> My favorite rendition of the carol comes from renowned American musician Martina McBride. McBride’s voice is simply gorgeous, and her arrangements and interpretations of songs are uniformly spot-on. Her 1998 holiday album White Christmas is a classic. Her version of What Child is This appears on this album. <br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="400" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mgwO61LrOB4" width="481" youtube-src-id="mgwO61LrOB4"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><i>#3 - O Come, All Ye Faithful </i><br /><br />O Come, All Ye Faithful, like many of our Christmas carols, is Catholic in origin. It was born in France in the early 1740s. There is a great deal of uncertainty surrounding who composed it. This is true for both the lyrics and the tune. <br /><br />As for the words, some have argued the carol comes from an English organist and composer named John Reading. Some believe it comes from an anonymous group of Cistercian monks. Some even claim that the classic carol was composed by the Portuguese king John IV. A large majority of modern scholars, however, claim the composer of both the words and the music to be an English hymnist, copyist, and teacher named John Francis Wade. <br /><br />The earliest copies of the hymn, composed in Latin, bear the actual signature of John Francis Wade. Those texts come from a Catholic college in northern France, the College of Douai, where Wade worked. <br /><br />Methodist hymnologist Fred Gealy notes: “Seven manuscripts containing the Latin hymn are known; they are dated 1743-61. All appear to have been written, signed, and dated by John Francis Wade, an Englishman who made his living by copying and selling plainchant [compositions] and other music.” <br /><br />Research by Dom John Stéphan, author of The Adeste Fidelis: A Study of Its Origin and Development (1947), has determined that the first and original manuscript was dated in 1743, indicating that Wade composed both the Latin words and the music between 1740 and 1743. <br /><br />The English language translation of the majority of the carol’s stanzas is the work of Frederick Oakeley. Born in 1802, Oakley was a translator of Latin hymns during the Oxford movement, a movement to catholicize the Anglican church. <br /><br />We are going to hear a beautiful rendition of this carol by the group Poor Clare Sisters of Arundel. As the name suggests, the group is made up of nuns, part of the contemplative Franciscan tradition. Their recording of the Catholic carol is indeed contemplative in nature. It also simplifies the carol, narrowing it to the first verse. Interestingly, it intersperses the original Latin and the English translation. <br /><br />This version of Come All, Ye Faithful is brand new, released just a couple weeks ago. It has quickly become my favorite rendition. So let us listen. You’re welcome to sing along if the Spirit leads. <br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="405" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DqN8Jhor2vw" width="487" youtube-src-id="DqN8Jhor2vw"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><i># 3 - O Holy Night </i><br /><br />An agnostic-Marxist poet, a nominal Catholic of Jewish descent composer, and a Transcendentalist-Unitarian pastor walk into a French café… Sounds like a joke waiting to happen. But instead, it is a beloved carol waiting to happen. Not just any carol; the most popular carol outside of Silent Night. <br /><br />O Holy Night begins in Roquemaure, France in 1847 with a poet named Placide Cappeau and a request given to him by his parish priest. What was the request to the agnostic-socialist-leaning Cappeau? Write a poem for Christmas Mass that year in celebration of the restored church organ. Why the priest asked Cappeau is a question we have no answer for. Maybe he saw something in Cappeau that Cappeau did not see himself. <br /><br />Anyway, Cappeau wrote a poem titled Cantique de Noel, or Praise Song of Christmas. The poem begins with the French words, Minuit! Chrétiens, c’est l’heure solennelle. <br /><br />Or Midnight, Christians, it is the solemn hour. <br /><br />The priest loved the poem despite Cappeau’s unnuanced theology. <br /><br />Soon, the idea to put the poem to music developed. Cappeau contacted his friend Adolphe Adam, a musician and composer. While the evidence is not clear, Adam was at least of Jewish descent but seemed to loosely convert to Catholicism during his early years. Adam was a renowned composer, having composed the music for the still-performed ballet, Giselle. <br /><br />Adam wrote what we now know as the tune to O Holy Night. Cappeau’s poem put to Adam’s music became a popular one to the French. We’d call it today a hit song, one that was played in church services regularly. <br /><br />But as writer Ann Gabhart states, “When Placide Cappeau completely left the church to join a socialist movement and it was [believed] that Adolphe Adam was [of Jewish descent], the French Catholic church leaders decided ‘Cantique de Noel’ was unfit for church services… But even though the church no longer allowed the song in their services, the French people continued to [play] and sing it.” <br /><br />So the song eventually made its way to America. Almost a decade later, John Sullivan Dwight, a Unitarian pastor with Transcendentalist leanings, ala Ralph Waldo Emerson, translated and revised Cappeau’s words into English. He added some theological nuance to the English lyrics, most notably removing Cappeau’s direct mention of God’s wrath in the French original. Dwight, an abolitionist, was especially moved by the poem’s third stanza. He more directly translated these words into English. <br /><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><i>“Truly, he taught us to love one another;<br /> His law is love and his gospel is peace.<br /> Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother;<br /> And in his name all oppression shall cease.” </i><br /><br />Dwight retained Adam’s composition and in 1855 first published O Holy Night as we sing it today. Crystal Caviness of the United Methodist Church website writes, “[Dwight] published the updated version in his magazine, “Dwight’s Journal of Music,” which propelled the song to popularity in the United States and, particularly, in the North during the Civil War as abolitionists related to the anti-slavery sentiment.” <br /><br />As for my new favorite rendition, it comes from the group Passion, a Christian worship band based in Atlanta. It features the singer-songwriter David Crowder. The 2021 recording includes a beautiful string quintet and a lovely arrangement. The result is an admirably understated piece, especially compared to so many renditions of O Holy Night that make an opera out of the song. The Christmas story’s humility and glory move together, just as humanity and divinity do in Jesus. Passion’s interpretation combines humility and glory in a wonderful and engrossing way. <br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="404" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uj1psts_qTc" width="486" youtube-src-id="uj1psts_qTc"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><i>#1 - Silent Night, Holy Night </i><br /><br />Silent Night begins with a poem. One composed by Joseph Mohr in 1816. <br /><br />Born in the city of Salzburg, Austria on December 1792, Joseph Mohr was a man of humble origins; his single mother earned a meager income spinning and knitting, and his father, a soldier, simply boarded with the family and deserted them as soon as the pregnancy was discovered. <br /><br />Mohr grew up in abject poverty and, having been born out of wedlock, was something of an outcast. He found a father figure in Johann Hiernle, a vicar and church choirmaster who recognized and encouraged the boy's musical aptitude. Hiernle saw to it that young Joseph received a proper education. The boy learned guitar, violin, and organ and he served simultaneously as a singer and violinist in the choirs of the University Church and at the Benedictine monastery church of St. Peter. <br /><br />Following in his mentor’s footsteps, Mohr chose a religious life and in 1811 entered seminary in Salzburg. In August 1815, Mohr graduated and was ordained as a priest. <br /><br />The first church he served was in the village of Mariapfarr, where his grandfather lived. It would be here Mohr wrote his famous poem. <br /><br />In 1817, after a bout of illness, Mohr transferred to the village church in Oberndorf. There he befriended church organist Franz Xaver Gruber, who worked as a schoolteacher in neighboring Arnsdorf. <br /><br />Gruber was born November 1787 in Hochberg, Austria. He also grew up in poverty, the son of a poor weaver. The expectation was that the son would follow in the family trade. Yet Franz had other plans. He discovered that his true interest was in music, and he cultivated his gifts by taking music lessons in secret from organist Georg Hartdobler at the parish church in Burghausen. <br /><br />When his mentor died, Gruber replaced him as the organist in Burghausen. <br /><br />In 1807, Gruber accepted a teaching post in Arnsdorf where he served also as organist and sexton. From 1816 on, Gruber filled-in occasionally at the church at St. Nikolaus in Oberndorf- yes, that’s right, St. Nikolaus Church. In his capacity as itinerant organist, Gruber would meet Mohr. A friendship commenced and would produce one of the greatest pieces of music we know. <br /><br />The region in which Silent Night, Holy Night was conceived and first performed was down and out, ravaged by the 8-year-long Napoleonic Wars. Conflict and foreign occupation devastated the area both economically and emotionally. War-weary describes it well. <br /><br />Another source of significant hardship and pessimism was the change in the local economy. For a long time, the core of the region’s economy was the salt-mine industry. The Napoleonic War saw the salt-mine industry falter, fade, and eventually disappear never to return. And with the introduction of trains, the river became less important for not only salt but for other manufactured goods. <br /><br />All of these things – war, the departure of industry, and the introduction of technology – resulted in an economically depressed region, with Oberndorf on the river especially hit hard. <br /><br />From these examples of tough times and dire straits – an illegitimate son, a poor weaver’s rebellious son, a down-and-out town – came a glimmer of light that still shines forth, a glimmer devoted to the Light that has always shone forth. It is a musical light beginning with the words <i>Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht -</i> Silent night! Holy night! <br /> <br />In December 1818, Father Mohr was busy planning for Christmas Eve services for his small church in the Oberndorf hills. He wanted a new song that got to the heart of the holy day. He had his poem written some two years ago in Mariapfarr, a poem still speaking to him. He just needed a tune to make the words sing. <br /><br />A few days before Christmas Eve he got together with his friend Franz Guber in the sanctuary of that Oberndorf chapel. The organ was broken. They used a simple guitar, which Mohr preferred, to hash out what would become the most popular and greatest-selling carol of all time. <br /><br />Gruber became the spiritual conduit for the tune – a lovely, simple lullaby that fit Mohr’s poem perfectly. Both the words and music point to the yearning for peace, a lasting peace, and a new beginning that endures. <br /><br />On Christmas Eve of 1818, in the snow-draped chapel in Oberndorf, Mohr and Gruber, with just a guitar and two harmonized voices, first performed Silent Night, Holy Night. <br /><br /> <br />Fast forward centuries to December 2000. Holly and I lived in South Korea that year. We were there teaching English and experiencing a whole new way of life. Now, there are many Christians in South Korea. However, it remains Buddhist-Confucian in culture. This was especially so in more rural places like Iksan, the town where we lived. There, the Buddhist-Confucian culture was still rather unadulterated. Folks in Iksan certainly celebrated Christmas but in a way more like we celebrate Valentine's Day in the U.S, which is to say, not so significantly spiritually. <br /><br />It was for us the first (and only to this point) Christmas spent in a culture not Christian (and Christmas) centric. However, this Christmas in Korea was one of the most spiritually significant for me . <br /> <br /> The story begins with a walk down <i>daehagno</i>, the college town area very close to our apartment. That Christmas night in the bustling neighborhood was not exactly silent. The shops were all open. There was no snow falling. No christening of brighter than usual streetlights. No enlightenment ignited by stars shooting above me. Only a sense that I was remembering something I once knew in my heart and not merely in my head. <br /><br />From one of the many open shops “Silent Night” lilted. That it was Frank Sinatra’s version only propounded the homesickness that moved in me. <br /><br /><i>“All is calm, all is bright…<br />holy infant so tender, so mild. <br />Sleep in heavenly peace.” </i><br /><br />Some years before, I parted ways with the Evangelical brand of Christianity I was given. It wasn’t an easy departure. I knew it wouldn’t be easy. It complicated my relationship with my parents, my siblings, my church friends right away. I was outcasted in a real sense. I was no longer the great young Christian hope of my church or my family, the future Billy Graham who’d do great things for the Lord. <br /><br />It complicated my relationship to faith, too. Christianity seemed distant and lost to me. As distant as Korea was from America.<br /><br />I felt cheated by the narrow-mindedness of the faith I once knew. <br /><br />I felt isolated from God. <br /><br />I felt Christmas to be increasingly empty. <br /><br />It felt like the holiday was no longer meant for the adult me, but for the childhood me that no longer applied. <br /><br />Like an old, artificial Christmas tree, I placed Christmas away in the cluttered basement of my mind. <br /><br />My sense of isolation from the culture around me coincided with my spiritual sense of isolation that Christmas day.<br /> <br />Despite my best efforts, I could not learn the language fast enough. I could not understand the words spoken by those passing around me, or coming out of those shops. Nor could I find full inclusion in the culture I now lived within. <br /><br />Yet I understood what Sinatra was singing. I understood the words. I understood the sentiment. I understood the spiritual truths being sung about. I understood the moment.<br /><br />And the silence of that moment, the music of a Sinatra serenade, released something within me.</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">I cannot explain exactly what it was, only <i>that</i> it was. I sensed the Spirit of Christ and Christmas in that moment, and something changed within me.<br /><br />As I walked the streets of a Korean town back to the home called Holly, I meditated on the good news for the first time in a long time. I meditated on the good news of divine humility and newness born to us in silent moments. I pondered the Christmas truth born again within me. And I started to sing to myself the words Sinatra just crooned about Christ. I sang the same words I’d later sing to my son Corey a few years later, a lullaby to serenade his drifting off to dream. <br /><br />Then I got to that last verse, the verse Sinatra did not sing, but one I had not forgotten. One I could not forget. I sang through quiet, joyful tears as I neared home: <br /><br /><i>Silent night, holy night<br /> Son of God, love's pure light<br /> Radiant beams from Thy holy face<br /> With the dawn of redeeming grace<br /> Jesus Lord, at Thy birth<br /> Jesus Lord, at Thy birth</i><br /> <br /></span><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="404" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iUnWS9R2RUo" width="486" youtube-src-id="iUnWS9R2RUo"></iframe><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /><br /><br /><i># 5 - Joy to the World </i><br /><br />Quickly, as we close, Isaac Watts, called by many the greatest hymn composer of all time, wrote the words to "Joy to the World" in 1719. Waats based most of the hymn’s words on a paraphrase of Psalm 98 which we just read. The stanzas we will hear and/or sing all come from Waats’ loose rewrite of Psalm 98. <br /><br />The basis of the carol’s most popular musical setting comes from none other than George Frederic Handel’s 1741 masterpiece, Messiah. The tune we now sing is the result of pieced-together portions of that famous composition. <br /><br />The piecer-together was influential Boston educator Lowell Mason. His musical arrangement of fragments from Messiah was first published in 1836 and was titled, Antioch. To this very day, the Antioch tune is what we sing Waats’ words to as we will hear now.<br /><br />We will close with indie musician Sufjan Stevens’ 2006 version of the classic carol from his Songs for Christmas album. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="408" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eyORnEzBpAo" width="491" youtube-src-id="eyORnEzBpAo"></iframe></div></span><br /><br /><br /></div></div>Don Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08478153198546181488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735639500592081961.post-72562016231159122652023-11-13T11:42:00.000-08:002023-12-03T15:55:20.952-08:00The Doxology Discussed<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">How many times have you sung the doxology? Well, I’m 52 years
old. If I sang the doxology at every Sunday service from my 5th birthday till
now, I would have sung it 2,240 times! That’s a lot! For many of you, the
number would be higher.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">That in mind, do any of you know the meaning of the word
doxology? I didn’t<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">"Doxa" means glory, and "logia" means to give words to or
expression to. So doxology means to give words to or expression to glory, in this case, to the
glory of God. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">Okay, can any of you tell me who wrote the words to the
doxology we sing? I gave you a hint in that question, by the way. "Ken" any of
you tell me who wrote the doxology?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">Thomas Ken is the composer. Here’s a little bio from the
desiringgod.org website:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;"><i>Thomas Ken (b. 1637 – d. 1711) crafted these plain and
profound words in the late 1600s. He wrote them as the final and “doxological”
stanza of three hymns he published, first for students at Winchester College at
Oxford University.<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;"><i>Ken, who was an Anglican minister, royal chaplain, and
eventually bishop, first penned verses for his students at Winchester to sing
upon arising in the morning, at bedtime, and if you woke up with trouble
sleeping. Each of these three hymns ended with the verse that we sing as the
doxology.</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">With that knowledge, let’s go through each line back to
forward and see what we can learn. Knowledge is power, after all. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;"><i>Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">Maybe some of you have wondered for a while now why in the
place of those traditional lyrics I’ve incorporated alternative language,
namely Creator, Christ, and Holy Ghost. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">This is not something I originated. A few churches I’ve been
a part of using this alternative language. Why? There are a few reasons. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">First of all is the matter of hospitality. If I’m a woman new
to church and to Christianity in general, a question might arise and I know
personally has arisen: where do I a woman fit in that paradigm of Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost?, she might ask. I’m a mom. I’m a daughter. I’m not a ghost, she
might say. I mean, Genesis 1 is clear that God created us in God’s image, male
and female, God created us, scripture says. Where is the female in Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost? To be hospitable would mean maybe using language, even if occasionally, that helped her find belonging<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">There’s another reason. One that we often forget or look
past. I’m afraid I must put on my theology nerd hat here to explain. So my
apologies.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">Let me put it this way: God is not literally a Father in the
human sense of the word. If so, who is the Mother? Some creatures in nature reproduce offspring asexually, without a partner. But this is not
God. God is not a creature. God is also not a human.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">As for Christ, well, before Christmas, the 2nd person of the
Trinity was. Did you know, in the early development of the Trinity idea, Logos
was the name initially given to the 2nd person of the Trinity? Not son, but
logos. Logos is translated “the Word” in John 1. Well, Logos, the Word, always
existed. Before Mary, Christ as Logos, as the Word, was.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">Logos became a son at Christmas when Jesus was born to Mary.
This might sound controversial, but if Ancient Palestine was a female-dominant
society, maybe Logos would have been incarnated as a daughter. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">One last thing, the Father and Son language, if taken
literally, presumes the Father came first and the Son was a later addition. But
there are no later additions for the Trinity. Creator, Christ, and Holy Spirit
co-exist together eternally, and have always existed this way, without beginning
nor end. Christ was not literally begotten as a son.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">What’s the point then? Well, God as Father points to the
truth that God is our source, our beginning, our fountainhead. Or simply put,
God is, what? Our Creator. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">Christ as the Son points to the truth that Christ is of God,
connected to God, and looks just like God to us. Christ comes from the home of
heaven into the world for us to see and follow. Christ literally means Anointed
One. God anointed Christ to be the vehicle, the conduit, the perfect image
through whom we see God. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">As for the name, Holy Ghost. I’ll spare you the details, but
Holy Ghost is a bad translation. Holy Spirit is the correct one. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">So, why stick with the word ghost? Because it rhymes with
host. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;"><i>Praise God above ye heavenly host. </i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">Thomas Ken originally wrote it "Praise God above ye angelic
host." So, the heavenly host in the doxology refers to the angels above. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">Angels are created beings. And like us, angels were created
for fellowship with God. Not only that, angels sometimes help us to fellowship
with God. Angels sometimes serve as God and our mediators. Scripture is clear
about this too. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">This line always brings to mind that verse in Luke 2 that
will soon become extra prescient. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the
heavenly host praising God, and saying, g</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;">lory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will
toward men.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">The angels were the shepherds' mediators to God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;"><i>Praise God All Creatures Here Below</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">We just heard Psalm 148’s words sung. All of creation praises
God. Not just us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">Have you ever asked the question, how? How do non-human
creatures praise God? How does creation praise God?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">Each creature, each part of creation praises God by being
what it was created to be. Just by being what it is, creation praises God. Just
by doing what they do, creatures praise God. God created the universe and
declared it good. Its purpose is to exist as the good thing it is. By existing
as good, praise happens.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">For us humans, it’s the same. We were created to be in
relationship with God. Praising God comes out of our relationship with God. Our
praise begins with that relationship. Without this relationship, it’s empty
praise, an empty flattering of God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">Think about it. If I look Holly in the eye and say, you are
truly wonderful! That is natural and right, even lovely. If I go around saying
that to strangers with no context, that would be, well, strange.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">Praise and relationship go together!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">Anyway, Let’s move on…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;"><i>Praise God from whom all blessings flow</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">One of the lesser-known metaphors for God is Fountainhead.
God is our fountainhead from which all the blessings we know flow. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">Page Park is in my backyard. We often walk down to the really lovely pond, especially when the fountain is on. The beautiful
fountain has a source, a beginning, a fountainhead. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">The same for the stream in Page Park. Like with any stream,
it begins somewhere. It has a source. Well, that beginning, that source is the
fountainhead. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">Likewise, God is our beginning. God is our source. God is our
fountainhead. And all the blessings we know flow from that fountainhead which
is God. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">Why does this matter? Well, yes, it’s always good to be
thankful for the stream before you, the babbling water, and the way the light
hits it. It's okay to praise the stream before you. How beautiful you are, o
lovely stream. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">But do not forget to thank and praise from whence that stream
before us came. We might not be able to see the beginning of the stream, the
source, the fountainhead, but don’t you think we should thank that source for
what we’re enjoying now before us. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">God is invisible to us and might even seem absent sometimes.
But we must thank and praise the one from whom all blessings flow!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;"> <br /></span><span style="font-size: 16pt;">What is the takeaway? Well, no matter how you sing it, how
about singing the doxology twice a day as it was originally intended by its
composer, Thomas Ken? Sing it every morning as your morning prayer then every
night before bed as your evening prayer. When you wake up in the middle of the
night, thoughts and troubles keeping you up, try singing the doxology to ease
your mind.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 21.3333px;">And maybe you want to sing to the gorgeous, moving rendition below:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="408" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gLamGZjelSU" width="491" youtube-src-id="gLamGZjelSU"></iframe></div><br /><span style="font-size: 21.3333px;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span> </p>Don Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08478153198546181488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735639500592081961.post-65123236302712183152023-11-05T12:06:00.003-08:002023-11-05T12:11:01.743-08:00Bruce Springsteen & the Gospel of Love<div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">1.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GFe1zEnIqus?si=I0RMXW0WXbmocwz6" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br />For centuries before Jesus, prophets in the Holy Land
shouted from the hills and in the city streets. Isaiah epitomized these
hard-truth tellers. Amid the ruins of his day and city, Isaiah preached truth to
power. His words from Isaiah 58 still ring true:</span></div><div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><i><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Remove the yoke of oppression from among you,<br />
the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,<br />
Offer your food to the hungry<br />
and satisfy the needs of the afflicted.<br />
If you do, then your light shall rise in the darkness<br />
and your gloom be like the noonday.<br />
The Lord will guide you continually<br />
and satisfy your needs in parched places…<br />
and you shall be like a watered garden,<br />
like a spring of water<br />
whose waters never fail.<br />
Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;<br />
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;<br />
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,<br />
the restorer of streets to live in.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">No one listened, at least not for long. Hard times and
hardened hearts got in the way of hard commands. The journey to the promised
land remained rocky or worse. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Amid times and spaces of rocky ground, people yearn for
the promised nourishment to come and they ask who will lead us there?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">More than a prophet was needed. As great as Isaiah and
the other prophets were, not just another prophet would do. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Prophet, yes, but prophet, shepherd, poet, mystic, and sage
all rolled into one servant leader infused with divinity was needed. A new paradigm
infused in a person, that is what the times required. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">The time had come. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Jesus, the mystic-sage, the parable-poet, the shepherd-preacher,
one anointed with divinity, appeared.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">The good shepherd, as the sun through the clouds,
appeared and peered into every eye and reached the universe’s soul. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">That good shepherd, like in the parable-poem he once preached,
came to find <i>all</i> frayed and strayed-ones, even that lost one among the
hundred, that lost one who cannot find his way home alone. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Jesus takes doubt and instill trust. He fills the
silence of unanswered prayer with his presence. He, through himself, turns the loneliness
of no one’s there into divine companionship in God. He leads us from rocky
ground to still waters and green pastures, restoring our souls.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">A new day has come. A new paradigm has come. Jesus has
come.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">2.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/C0Vf4HDKwk8?si=Tshf-yCePKafz0k5" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></span><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br />Mary and Jesus shared a special bond. Mother Mary – it’s clear
she was the one most responsible for Jesus’ edgy, iconoclastic streak. Mary was
Jesus’ guru, his rabbi. Luke 1 says it all. Mary sang,</span></div><div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><i><span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">“God has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.<br />
God has brought down the powerful from their thrones,<br />
and lifted up the lowly;<br />
God has filled the hungry with good things,<br />
and sent the rich away empty.<br />
God has helped servant Israel,<br />
in remembrance of God’s mercy…”</span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">The world rewards the strongman. The one with simple answers,
obvious power, and ready armies. The one worshipping strength, their own strength,
and using and abusing it to weaken and keep weak. The one who ruthlessly takes
hold of thrones and squashes any questioning of authority or threats to power.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">In this paradigm of the powerful, only the strongest deserve to
survive, the less strong lose and deserve to.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Weakness? The weak? In the paradigm of the powerful, it’s best
to ignore these things. If ignoring is not possible, control and condemn them,
these things.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Jesus – he brought a new paradigm, the paradigm of love. It’s the
paradigm his mother taught him. He embodied that new paradigm all the way to a Roman
cross whose violence would not win. This new paradigm embodied in Jesus would
rise victorious and change the world.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">It is sorrow that transforms us.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">It is the soul of Love that willed the universe into being.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">It is vulnerability and selflessness that saves the universe.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">To those who worship power, and worship what or who is strong,
we preach the good news, the gospel story of freedom and liberation for the vulnerable
ones.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">It is in weakness that we are strong.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">It is in grief that we are most human and humane.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">It is in losing our pride and privilege that we win our souls.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">It is in meeting people where they are that changes hearts and changes
the world.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span>It is in a love that fully sacrifices self to protect and heal
that we find the greatest strength.</span><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">This paradigm of love, let’s find it again and let it re-create
the universe. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">3.</span></p></div>
<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0Irenk0E1R4?si=wBeh_JreTdoeXRuG" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
</span><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br />Have you ever faced the reality of ruins? I
think of Israel and Palestine this morning. The reality of ruins is inescapable.
Maybe your ruins was or remains a little closer to home.</span></div><div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In the wake of the Crucifixion, the community
that surrounded Jesus was certainly facing the reality of ruins. The one they
placed so much hope in, so much faith in, so much of their lives in, was gone.
He left in such a violent fashion, its own kind of loss. Dreams died with
Jesus. Yes, the curtain of the temple was torn open, as scripture says, but the
disciples had all scattered. They were scattered leaves indeed..<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">They saw and sensed despair etched on
Jerusalem’s empty streets. Grief overwhelmed. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Those familiar heart-rending questions appeared:
how can I go on, how do I begin again, what happens now, now that the one who
changed my life forever is gone?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A community was in ruins.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">All hope was not lost, though.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The mercy and grace of resurrection, that
promise of new life despite death, that was not lost. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mercy and love, they still drifted through the
trees even that night of Jesus’ death and the night after. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The unanswerable questions of why, where were
you, they invoke a prayer of hope, a plea for renewal, a pleading of the spirit:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 8pt 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Come
on, rise up! <o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The unanswerable questions give way to hands
and hearts working to remove the rubble of loss and let the resurrection of
life happen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 8pt 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Come
one, rise up!<br /><br /></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><i>"Mary Magdalene stood outside the tomb crying… The
angels said to her, “Dear Woman, why are you weeping?”… At this, she turned
around and saw Jesus standing there." - </i>John 20:11-14</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">4.</span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sWvdFIU6hZg?si=S1-IM4Es5U6WY3zy" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></span><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">If the mention of
sinners, whores and gamblers alongside saints and kings bothers you, then I
offer this friendly reminder. The gospels and Jesus include them. Jesus said it
is the suffering and lost who need a physician most. And he said to the religious elitists among him this: "<i>I
tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the
kingdom of God </i>– the train to God - <i>ahead of you</i>."<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">This out of the way,
let’s talk about this train and this land of hope and dreams. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">What seems clear is
the land of hope and dreams is a sacred place. Is it heaven? Some kind of
spiritual paradise? Is it the realm of pure consciousness at one with God?
Maybe.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><i><span style="line-height: 107%;">I’d </span></i><span style="line-height: 107%;">say the land of hope
and dreams is the Kingdom of God. It is the Promised Land where all in the end will
be reconciled to God who is love.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">And what is the train,
this train that leads to the promised land of hope and dreams? <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">The song gives hints.
The train includes a community of diverse people, from the honored and
respected to the dishonored and discarded. The train encourages and supports
the beauty of our deepest longings. The train reward faith. The train rings in
and bring us to divine freedom.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">So, again, what does
this train symbolize?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Well, where are you
right now? Who are you right now? <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><i><span style="line-height: 107%;">This</span></i><span style="line-height: 107%;"> is the train! You and
me, the church, are this train leading to the Promised Land of God’s Kingdom. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">And all are free to
board. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Even if you’re
brokenhearted,.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Even if you’re
grieving deeply, get on board.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Even if you deem
yourself a fool,<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Even if you’ve lost
your faith, get on board. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Get on board and
you’ll gain insight into wisdom and find your faith. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br />
Are you ready?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Once you hop on board
with all your soul, there’s no going back. This community of God’s love will
seep into your spirit, transforming you from the inside out. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Yes, some releasing of
our baggage and possessions will be required.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">But you’ll find
shoulders to rest and cry upon. You’ll find friends who’ll walk alongside you, accompanying
you amid those difficult parts of the journey. You’ll experience a light in the
coalmines of life. You just might find some healing, some help, some truth
about your own heart. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">And maybe, just maybe,
this will be the last day of utter loneliness and never-ending despair<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">This train, this
church, this faith – all, all aboard!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></p><br /></div>Don Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08478153198546181488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735639500592081961.post-24310164688278742482023-11-01T05:06:00.006-07:002023-11-06T10:22:59.240-08:00Do Church Growth Consultations Work?<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Below is from a no-longer functioning website of the Hartford Institute for Religious Research (HIRR). (Hartford Seminary, where HIRR exists, is now Hartford International University.) The web-post asks and answers the increasingly pertinent question, "Do Church Growth Consultations Work?" <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20040702183126/http://www.hirr.hartsem.edu/research/quick_question36.html">The web-post first appeared in June 2004</a>. It references research from 1986 done by C. Kirk Hadaway. I was in high school in 1986, which was 37 years ago. In 1986, we were living in a culture that was much more friendly to church life. According to Pew Research, in 1986 only around 8% of Americans claimed "none" when asked about their religious affiliation. In 2021, that number soared to 29%. Many more examples of research point to the decline of religion in America as well as the decline in how religion is perceived. There is a whole generation (Millenials) and one still progressing (Gen-Z) that are largely non-religious. In other words, "the market" for church involvement is drastically worse than it was in 1986. The number of those "in the market" is rather low. If the research discussed below was done in 2023, I'm not sure if the answer of "Yes-but" would be the same. Anyway, I'll let you decide that. Here is the Hartford Institute for Religious Research's archived link from June 2004.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong><i><span style="font-family: times;">"Do Church Growth Consultations Work?</span></i></strong></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong><i><span style="font-family: times;">The quick answer: </span></i></strong><span style="font-family: times;"><i> Yes - but typically only in the short term.</i></span></span></p><p><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><strong>The longer answer: </strong> Faced with declining membership, many church congregations naturally want to “do something.” Some turn to church growth consultants for help. But do these consultations really work?</span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">In a study by C. Kirk Hadaway, he suggests that consultations are the “mainline equivalent of a revival” -- they can boost membership growth, but growth tapers off as enthusiasm wanes. </span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">“The results of this analysis clearly show that the consultations tend to have a positive effect on participating churches,” Hadaway wrote in the study. “However, the positive effect does not last very long for most churches.”</span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Hadaway analyzed 208 Christian Churches (Disciples of Christ) that participated in church growth consultations from 1983 to 1986. </span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">The efficacy of church growth consultations poses an important question, because the majority of churches in the United States are either plateaued or declining in membership. In response, a “church growth movement” has sprung up, offering an array of books, training conferences and workshops on church growth and evangelism, as well as specialized on-site consultations.</span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Hadaway’s analysis focused on evangelism and church growth/ congregational planning consultations conducted on-site at churches. Most church growth consultants have not systematically evaluated the effectiveness of these consultations. Typically, consultants can offer examples of churches where a consultation worked well, but can’t give statistical data on the percentages of churches that grew as a result or the average number of new members gained. </span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">The study was conducted with a list of churches provided by the National Evangelistic Association for Christian Churches (Disciples of Christ), now known as The Net Results Resource Center. Typically, Net Results’ consultations come in two forms: a visit by a consultant who presents a pre-packaged evangelism/growth program aimed at inspiring, motivating and educating the congregation; or, a more customized approach aiding the congregation in developing a strategy of its own. </span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Analysis revealed that the average church experienced a decline of 1.0% in participating membership in the year prior to the consultation. In the year of the consultation, the average church grew by 1.7% in participating membership. However, the positive effect did not continue, as the average church lost participating members in the two years following the consultation (see figure 6.1 in the full report). Similar results were observed in aggregate measures (see figure 6.2 in the full report).</span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Overall, 44% of the churches grew by at least one person in average worship attendance in the year prior to the consultation. During the year of the consultation, this percentage increased to 50%. Very few churches (only 12%) grew during the consultation year AND during the two subsequent years, suggesting that few churches are thoroughly ‘revitalized’ through church consultations. </span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">So what does it all mean for churches considering a church growth consultation? </span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">First, even with programs of short duration (1/2 day or 1 day), consultations do improve the membership, worship attendance and church school enrollment of the average participating church. This was true even among many churches that did not follow through with the programs launched by the consultations. </span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Second, however, very few churches see long-term growth. After the initial enthusiasm wears off, churches tend to return to the “old ways” of doing things, and the emphasis on evangelism fades. For real, long-term benefits to occur, churches must make deeper, more profound changes. </span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">“The challenge to church consultants is to create planning models that recognize these realities,” Hadaway concluded. “That’s the only way to assist churches in the process of becoming vital, accepting institutions that reach out to the communities that surround them.”</span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">C. Kirk Hadaway's full report titled "<strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211211033356/http://hirr.hartsem.edu/bookshelf/Church&Denomgrowth/ch&dngrw-ch6.pdf" style="color: #333333;">Do Church Growth Consultations Really Work?</a></strong>" is available for download in .pdf format."</span></i></p>Don Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08478153198546181488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735639500592081961.post-34386568431193785722023-10-22T14:26:00.011-07:002023-12-30T12:38:19.243-08:00The Mountain Stream Record Shop<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Abadi, sans-serif" style="font-style: italic;">These
are new things I’m teaching, and they can’t be reconciled with old habits.</span><span face="Abadi, sans-serif"><i> Nobody would ever use a piece of new cloth to patch an
old garment because when the patch shrinks, it pulls away and makes the tear
even worse. </i><span style="font-size: 13.3333px; font-style: italic;"> </span><i>And nobody puts new, unfermented wine
into old wineskins because if he does, the wine will burst the skins; they
would lose both the wineskins and the wine. No, the only appropriate thing is
to put new wine into new wineskins (Mark 2:21-22). </i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt;">Here’s
the truth when it comes to the American church. For the most part, as the data
shows, one is either a large church, a megachurch or close to it, and thriving,
or a small church like ours, struggling to get by.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">For
small churches, declining or stagnant membership, volunteer burnout, and
financial concerns are the new normal. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">To be
brutally honest, I don’t see it getting any better.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">The issues
at play in the decline of the mainline church and all churches now, really,
these issues are systemic in nature and decades if not centuries in the making.
One big example of a systemic issue is the nationwide fusion of politics and
religion, a fusion that has turned off a whole generation from the church. This
fusion, what sociologists call syncretism, goes way back, a century or more it
goes back in America. Even though the fusion of politics and religions has been
extremely prevalent on the Right in the past 30 years, even churches not on the
Right or not political at all, are tainted by it. Like it or not, many young
people look at even UCC congregations and see toxic partisan politics.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">There’s
very little a small church like ours can do to counteract this kind of systemic
issue except maybe not play that same game of fusing politics and religion. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">So, we
can do everything right but still, because of the systemic issues, lose
members, not have enough volunteers, and struggle financially. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">It is
a new world, folks! As Jesus reminds us with the examples of new, unshrunk cloth
and new wineskin, the new and the old don’t coexist easily. This new-minded
world and we old-minded churches are not getting on well.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Let’s
review some history. The hey-day of the mainline church was the 1950’s into the
60’s. In 1960, everyone went to church. On Sunday mornings, it was square to be
somewhere else. Churches thrived on every block.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Thinking,
like humans do, these happy days will last forever, congregations built big
additions to their old structures in downtown neighborhoods. Congregations
built bigger churches in the suburbs. Churches added staff and furniture and
art and offices. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Things
began changing as 1970 came around. Decline in the mainline church began. That decline
hasn’t stopped. As we see now, churches are closing, being sold and </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 22.6667px;">in almost every town</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt;"> becoming houses
or hotels or even stores. The rest struggle to get by.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt; tab-stops: 192.75pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Indeed,
this is a new world for the mainline church.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt; tab-stops: 192.75pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">I’d
like to use an analogy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">The mainline
church is akin to the vinyl record 20 years ago before vinyl experienced its
recent revival.<o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidyxaRvFUUO8w3xL_CscnO37zXfMhOKj1Lh7Fdv_4E14JRX9K1giY4VMBRxfi6uZK2ZxJwZIsJrgM6b5D6JqT7R3un8Qv8xqOCh60SEvzU-fYICN548TS8xRsFN8tBICInHphDfQHjUbFZls1DKjlddlGoT0GS9n44Eeb1jQnLA3_yaNhbzyEmELH93e8/s599/7f95b304fec8b3249fad5dca36c09aa3.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="389" data-original-width="599" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidyxaRvFUUO8w3xL_CscnO37zXfMhOKj1Lh7Fdv_4E14JRX9K1giY4VMBRxfi6uZK2ZxJwZIsJrgM6b5D6JqT7R3un8Qv8xqOCh60SEvzU-fYICN548TS8xRsFN8tBICInHphDfQHjUbFZls1DKjlddlGoT0GS9n44Eeb1jQnLA3_yaNhbzyEmELH93e8/w640-h416/7f95b304fec8b3249fad5dca36c09aa3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><br />At one
time, vinyl ruled the roost. Vinyl was IT! We bought them in loads, carried
them to parties, were proud to play them on our personal record players. Who my
age or older doesn’t have fond memories of playing and dancing to 45’s on your
little Victrola?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">The
hey-day of vinyl was the 1960’s and 70’s, and record stores were everywhere.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">But
then along came the cassette tape. It was smaller, easier to play in the car,
and you could record stuff, a huge benefit compared to vinyl. You could make
mixed tapes. You could get free music, too. Remember having your tape recorder
ready when a favorite song came on the radio? You’d hit record and start your
own playlist sort of like Spotify.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">And
then came the Compact Disc and the world of digitalized music. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">By the
time music streaming services like Spotify came along, records shops either were
closed or they embraced their niche market status and somehow survived.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">That
is where <i>mainline churches </i>are. We are facing the reality that in effect
we are a small record shop in the neighborhood. Will we embrace that reality,
is the question.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwKzj77Dug1afZ1V-oGIn4Hl5C436beGGO0uGFB-H8IQqbsQ-rFEEBxGhg5Q8gz40dU4xMb1mTyyYxP8MdqNYGrbIbIqIfxQex5Ax9YzhgjDFrtROS6ntfKvjjEdyhXWjTtBtt_sOm8ZVbocv6pFkFJt-Jkdd198ZCBpofXNh9A2kYjLKUnI4H6uVwsa8/s800/Mountain%20Stream%20off%20beaten%20path.webp" style="clear: left; float: left; font-size: 17pt; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwKzj77Dug1afZ1V-oGIn4Hl5C436beGGO0uGFB-H8IQqbsQ-rFEEBxGhg5Q8gz40dU4xMb1mTyyYxP8MdqNYGrbIbIqIfxQex5Ax9YzhgjDFrtROS6ntfKvjjEdyhXWjTtBtt_sOm8ZVbocv6pFkFJt-Jkdd198ZCBpofXNh9A2kYjLKUnI4H6uVwsa8/w400-h266/Mountain%20Stream%20off%20beaten%20path.webp" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">To
mix in another analogy, despite the mainline name, we are no longer mainstream
when it comes to the overall population and culture. We are now becoming more a
beautiful stream off the beaten path than a big river running through town. </span></p><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">We
need to embrace this new mode of existence. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">We
must become new wineskin holding today’s new wine.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">We must
find pride in being who we are – a beautiful stream off the beaten path. A small,
wonderfully eclectic record store on the corner. A small church doing creative
things in Plainville.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">This
does not mean we’re ruling out growing as a community. We’d love a revival like
the one vinyl records are seeing. But that revival can only happen on the basis
of who we are, not by ignoring it or by trying to be what we are not.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">This new
reality is not a bad thing, friend. There are a lot of benefits to being a niche
market. It gives us a lot of creative freedom and flexibility. We can try new
things. We can play and experiment and embrace innovation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">An
example of this has been a couple services we’ve had in the past few months. Outside
of baptisms and special services like Easter and Confirmation, we usually do
not break 50. We average around 40 people on Sundays. At the end of April, we
had a special Sunday service that used what I called a “Radio Show” format.
That service brought more than 50 people.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Another
example was from just a few weeks ago. The Communion Breakfast service was a
brand new thing we tried. It too brought more than 50 people and such a great
spirit of togetherness and liveliness. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">These
are examples of CCP embracing its mountain stream off the beaten path status.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">To
close, I speak not to just CCP here but to the mainline tradition as a whole. We
must resist the temptation of relying on tradition – the ways we’ve always done
things – to be our default setting. Creativity and innovation must become the
new default setting. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">I
realize this is hard. We want Sunday mornings and other church events to be our
constant, a bulwark in the face of change. We want our Order of Service to be
nice and orderly. We want what we’ve always had.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">But niche
markets rely on doing things the ways we’ve always done them at their own
peril. Grasping onto traditions that worked with some churches in the recent past,
I think of contemporary praise bands, even this tradition should be questioned.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Yes,
maintaining our one constant – the truth of the Trinity – is non-negotiable. But
we must not confuse our only true constant with what’s involved in worshipping
that one, true constant. Confusing God and tradition is not helpful to the task
before us - embracing a new way of being church in a changed, post-Christian society.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Honoring
tradition? Yes, this must happen. Keeping the traditions that speak to us and
those new to us? Absolutely. But worshipping tradition and holding onto it at
all costs indeed is costly. What are we willing to pay?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">In
other words, a Golden Gate-like bridge over a mountain stream off the beaten
path is too much, not feasible, nor will it help growth.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">I
leave you with some questions – how do you envision us as a mountain stream off
the beaten path? Or a small record store in the neighborhood? How do we become
that? What needs to go and what must stay?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<span face=""Abadi",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 17pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Your takeaway is to ponder
those questions this week and in the coming weeks.</span>Don Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08478153198546181488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735639500592081961.post-17171696608255595352023-10-08T09:49:00.008-07:002023-12-30T10:17:06.503-08:00Jesus, the Cornerstone, & Hard Tales <p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCaHawEFLMTW5wq5FTdqc2F5IwZyQatC9AzrzTxKgRTrtBSuxOkIXXTX_TjshcLM9IJSfr4UzxyufPirODgEI_cfRCJ18_Ge2eRU-Qx0oJT-cint2WDUetbrJCXeLbnyHra8Fq_xSQJ0EFslnX2H08dYafgwHTW1ZbKht1Eyf5Rs3X8N4ztpMDKU3kZuE/s512/cornerstone.png" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="285" data-original-width="512" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCaHawEFLMTW5wq5FTdqc2F5IwZyQatC9AzrzTxKgRTrtBSuxOkIXXTX_TjshcLM9IJSfr4UzxyufPirODgEI_cfRCJ18_Ge2eRU-Qx0oJT-cint2WDUetbrJCXeLbnyHra8Fq_xSQJ0EFslnX2H08dYafgwHTW1ZbKht1Eyf5Rs3X8N4ztpMDKU3kZuE/w400-h223/cornerstone.png" width="400" /></a></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2021%3A33-46&version=NRSVUE">The Parable of the Wicked Tenants</a> is a
really interesting one. A bit dark, yes? A bit troubling. Jesus seems to be
condoning divine vengeance.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">One thing we need to
know to begin is that Jesus is speaking to the religious hierarchy in Jerusalem,
a city to which he just arrived. At the end of the parable, Jesus asks the religious
hierarchy,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><i><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">…when the owner of
the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?"<br />
<br />
They said to him, "He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and
lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the
harvest time."<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">Is Jesus condoning a miserable
death even if just in the fictional story?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">Well, let’s be clear.
Jesus does include violence in his parable. But at the same time, the parable,
a fictional story, points to an important truth.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">One of my favorite TV
shows is the show <i>Breaking Bad</i>. It is an unbelievable show about a brilliant high
school chemistry teacher who has underachieved and, he feels, unjustly so. At
the beginning of the show, he’s diagnosed with lung cancer. This begins a
downward spiral into horrible choices, a meth lab, drug dealing, and eventually
a hell of the lead character’s own making. It is really a modern Shakespearean tragedy,
a morality tale about breaking bad. And like Shakespearean tragedies, it is not
without violence. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">Now, Breaking Bad is
a fictional show. The violence depicted is fictional. There is no condoning of
the violence in the show. It is a realistic part of the story. At the same
time, the story is profoundly moral. It is not good that the main character,
Walter White, breaks bad. He harms everyone around him and pays for it. The
most sympathetic character, the antihero of the story, Jesse Pinkman, turns out
to be the most compassionate, most empathetic character. He breaks good and in the
end, finds some sense of freedom.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">Anyway, like the
example of Breaking Bad, Jesus was not afraid to get dark with his moral stories.
Jesus was not afraid to point to darkness and not shrink from the reality. Jesus
was a realist and did not sugarcoat things. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">So, this parable, this
fictional tale, yes, it includes violence. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">But there is a truth
Jesus is telling with the story.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">This begs the
question, what is the truth Jesus is telling with the story?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">First of all, Jesus seems
to be predicting his death with the parable. He is the landowner’s son who is
killed by the tenants.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">We should be clear.
The author of Matthew is writing some 60 years after Jesus’ crucifixion. He is
quoting Jesus a few years before that crucifixion. Biblical scholars with a
more secular bent wonder if these are words put into Jesus’ mouth. I’ll leave
that discussion for another day. I presume Jesus did predict his death in the
parable.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">Jesus also predicts
the consequences for that death. Remember, Jesus is speaking to the religious
hierarchy with the parable. He tells them, for your rejection and discarding of
me, something will be taken away. The chosen-ness of, the favor given to the religious hierarchy and those they lead, will be taken
away and be given to those ready to receive the good news of God’s love and
compassion.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">Not only that, there
will be a divine response to the violence used.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><i><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">Will God put those
wretches to a miserable death? </span></i><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">That is the answer <i>the religious hierarchy</i> gives when Jesus asks what the landowner should do. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">Jesus does not directly
affirm their answer. He responds to their violent answer with another question, quoting Psalm 118:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><i><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">Jesus said to them,
"Have you never read in the scriptures: 'The stone that the builders
rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is
amazing in our eyes'? <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">Then Jesus says this: "</span><i><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. </span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">God’s first and foremost
gift to them is taken away, that’s clear. But violent retribution? Will human
violence beget godly violence?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">Jesus continues: "</span><i><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls."</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">The closest Jesus
gets to violent retribution is a veiled metaphor about a stone that the rejectors fall upon or a stone that itself falls
upon the rejectors. Someone falls on a stone and is broken into pieces.
Then a stone is dropped on someone and crushes them. That stone being
fallen upon or being dropped down is Christ the cornerstone.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">This is not to be
read literally, though. Jesus is not literally a stone. No one will be
literally broken or crushed by a metaphorical stone. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">This is all spiritual
in nature. Christ is the stone that makes people spiritually stumble and the rock
that makes them fall. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">Why? So God, like a loving parent when their child falls,
can pick them up, dust them off, and bring them home to care for their wounds.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">Again, we have fictional violence pointing to an important truth. For those who reject the way of love again and again, a more drastic approach must be taken. Tough love, albeit still nonviolent, becomes necessary. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;"><i>For Jesus, there is no such
thing as godly violence.</i> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">We see this made completely clear with the cross. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">Jesus predicts his
death in the parable. So we look ahead to the cross for some answers to the big
question the parable presents, the question of godly violence. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">Does the cross result
in a miserable death for all those involved in making it happen? Does the
violence of the cross beget Christ-condoned violence? Not at all. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;"><i>The cross begets forgiveness, a saving love, a transformed world.</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">As we see all the
time, vengeance and violence is a vicious cycle. Vengeance and violence by
nature spin round and round again. It's like Dr. King famously quipped, “If we
do an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, we will be a blind and toothless
nation.” Violence and vengeance ruin us.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">This vicious cycle itself must
be broken into pieces and crushed. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">That is what Christ
does on the cross. He breaks the cycle. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Jesus practices via the cross what he once preached – love your enemy. </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">What does enemy love
do? It breaks and crushes the cycle of vengeance and violence.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">Christ crushes the cycle of vengeance and violence with “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">Jesus crushes the cycle by meeting hate with
love, saying “Love your enemy.” He crushes the cycle by meeting violence with nonviolence, saying, “Put your sword away, whoever lives by the sword, dies by it.” He crushes the cycle of violence by meeting government-sanctioned death with God saving life, stating, “I am the resurrection and the
life.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">Christ, the
cornerstone, crushes any final victory for violence through the crucifixion. The
reality of the resurrection defeats the dominance of death. The cornerstone
constructs a new way, one of nonviolence, compassion, and love.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">So what’s the
takeaway here?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">As we hear news of
war in Israel, as the war in Ukraine continues, let us commit ourselves to the
way of nonviolence and peace. Let us live the way of nonviolence and peace. Let
us remember real lives hang in the balance. Nonviolence must be the answer. Blind,
toothless, and departed cannot be the way. The takeaway - let us pray for peace,
knowing that is the Christian way.</span></p><p></p>Don Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08478153198546181488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735639500592081961.post-16369954191369935602023-09-29T07:16:00.009-07:002023-09-29T08:25:13.280-07:00"River" (Joni Mitchell)<p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu26ZBOq_sAUo1YhwzJpk2oK4a9gZhRVWJDSM0UqqxA-qvZwfJHz7KAbP2yRAxgGjYhCp6enZLkMLr6otPHcYqxA_1bOcaScFFuc1fPfYGkiJNWbAu33ULvGSMQJYwPHy2g1LQfxQOY3lD09ASkrqeYxSbPPdpmGQ3dHXb36Ey1OPeQtbyOvizDZ7VlqM/s1024/Catskills%20Hudson%20River.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu26ZBOq_sAUo1YhwzJpk2oK4a9gZhRVWJDSM0UqqxA-qvZwfJHz7KAbP2yRAxgGjYhCp6enZLkMLr6otPHcYqxA_1bOcaScFFuc1fPfYGkiJNWbAu33ULvGSMQJYwPHy2g1LQfxQOY3lD09ASkrqeYxSbPPdpmGQ3dHXb36Ey1OPeQtbyOvizDZ7VlqM/w400-h266/Catskills%20Hudson%20River.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I wouldn’t always live along the Hudson. I first moved away
when I was just 19 years old. In many ways, I kept moving. But it wasn’t the river
I was running from. </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">In fact, wherever the place I lived, I’d always miss the
Hudson and the Catskills in the distance hovering over the river. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Most years, I’d make it home for Christmas, the river
sometimes frozen over or almost. And the Catskills by then were touched with
white like my hair these days. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Of course, I don’t remember my first Christmas. I was merely
8 months old in the December of that year with its momentous music. That year
of 1971 ended with a couple Christmas-themed songs that transcended the season,
Happy Xmas (the War is Over) by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and River by Joni
Mitchell. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Can you hear Joni Mitchell sing?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">It's coming on Christmas<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">They’re cutting down trees<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">And putting up reindeer<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">And singing songs of joy and peace…<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> <br /></span></o:p></i><span style="font-family: inherit;">In 1971, the Christmas traditions sung about happened. Like
every year, the season children love came around with all its promise, with
wishes granted, and new gifts received.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The emotion underlying Joni Mitchell’s song, however, is a little more exclusive. That
emotion is for those who move away. For those who’ve moved away and who long,
if just for a time, for what was left behind.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Homesickness… it’s an interesting word. Sick for home. Or
for what used to be home. Or for what was created as and called home.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Many Christmas songs include the theme of pining for home or
what used to be. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">“I’ll be home for Christmas, you can count on me.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">“Someday soon we all will be together<br />
If the fates allow<br />
Until then, we'll have to muddle through somehow<br />
So have yourself a merry little Christmas now”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">“I’m dreaming of a white Christmas <br />
Just like the ones I used to know… <br />
where tree tops glisten<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">and children listen<br />to hear sleigh bells in the snow.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Then there’s those <i>Home Alone</i> movies from the early 1990s.
Its theme song, "Somewhere in My Memory" joins our theme:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">“Somewhere in my memory<br />
Christmas joys all around me<br />
Living in my memory<br />
All of the music, all of the magic<br />
All of the family, home here with me.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Add “River” to the playlist.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I wish I had a river<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I could skate away on…<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The term “complicated grief” comes to mind. Grief in the
wake of a complicated relationship. Losing someone you loved but shared a messy
history with, one strewn with hurt and conflict. Missing a deceased sibling you
loved but were bullied by as a child. This kind of grief is not easy, not
simple, and, well, not uncomplicated. Complicated grief makes the process of
grief harder to wade through or describe.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">There is such a thing as complicated homesickness, too.
That’s how I’d describe how I often felt, and sometimes continue to feel. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">My homesickness was real – I did really miss home sometimes
– but it felt complicated. How? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The answer is nothing new. It is an ancient story. It is the
plight of the black sheep. There is loss involved in this lonely existence.
There is isolation and sadness. There is, yes, complicated homesickness. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The home I pined for was a home I didn’t always sense full
acceptance within. The home I pined for was a home that didn’t fully get me nor
did it seek to. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">And when I did get home, there was a sense I came to merely
stand on the outside and look in. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I wish I had a river so long<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I would teach my feet to fly<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">There’s a push and pull to home. Pulled back by memories,
positive memories, of life along the Hudson with the Catskills in the distance,
memories of my childhood walking the sidewalks of Hudson, living in the
neighborhood I knew, playing on the playgrounds around me, attending elementary
school just around the corner, memories of days that feel freer, simpler,
longer. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Pushed away by who I grew to be, by my life spent away from
home, by the differences so pronounced they cannot be camouflaged.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Of course, my parents and siblings wanted me closer. They
didn’t understand why I came and went so much, why I moved so much, why I
didn’t stay longer. White sheep don’t understand why the black sheep feels so
disconnected. “We love you just the same,” the notion goes. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">What’s more, the white sheep feel hurt at the black sheep’s
feelings of dissonance and disconnect, that is if they see that dissonance and
disconnect to begin with. This hurt only adds to the complicated existence
experienced by the black sheep lost. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I made my baby cry…<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Christmas is months away as I write. But I can, with the
help of Joni Mitchell’s evocative song, place myself there at the doorstep of
Jingle Bells at home. There, I recall what I learned in Sunday school. The wise
men traversed a long way from home to finally find the home they were looking
for. They returned Eastward, transformed by the journey there and back.</span><o:p></o:p></p></span>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/F8MqF7xEGhs?si=cr-38GzGhb7wfdAi" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>Don Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08478153198546181488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735639500592081961.post-25645642094566937652023-09-24T15:32:00.006-07:002024-01-08T07:12:30.101-08:00 Transformative Christianity (Pt 3): The Bridge to Eden<p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">We come to the climax of this sermon series. We’ve discussed
who we are – created in God’s divine image. We’ve discussed how this divine
image is covered over with the baggage of our humanness. Now we turn to the one
who removes that baggage and returns us to our original state as God’s divine
image. We turn to the one who finds us east of Eden, gathers us, shepherds us, and lays down his life to be a bridge back to Eden.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm7HLFc9_ollu0We2ITKixaodltq7npjPZK3szsN8MaLnywx8QQ_79SRTv8UeKxWQ5KgLmie0cqoKg8aEtkT2VTUvswExJXx1tbiUVsyf-JcB8oXcpGXL13JjIMXHRLjHTmwvgnsJ_OXvZQ7NCLrRmOI3hdgyFdZwnvx624p7mL_FE6h0uc-mjVnzwxio/s1024/bridge%20of%20people%202.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm7HLFc9_ollu0We2ITKixaodltq7npjPZK3szsN8MaLnywx8QQ_79SRTv8UeKxWQ5KgLmie0cqoKg8aEtkT2VTUvswExJXx1tbiUVsyf-JcB8oXcpGXL13JjIMXHRLjHTmwvgnsJ_OXvZQ7NCLrRmOI3hdgyFdZwnvx624p7mL_FE6h0uc-mjVnzwxio/w400-h400/bridge%20of%20people%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Imagine a huge bridge over troubled waters. A huge flow of
people walk that bridge from east of Eden into Eden.</span></div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">For each individual in that stream of people, Christ is
their personal bridge to God, a bridge to the garden of their hearts, a bridge
to a relationship with God, a bridge back to our original nature, our divine
image. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Christ through his work on the cross removes the baggage
covering that divine image, allowing us to begin again. We can say Jesus wipes
the slate clean, getting us back to square one where we are at-one with God.
Christ and the Cross at-ones us, atones us. Christ returns us to Eden and to the
intimate relationship with God that Adam and Eve had.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">But there is a collective level to all of this.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">That stream of people on the bridge called Christ, that
stream of people, well, that would be the church! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">If you’ve personally internalized and affirm the Christian
faith, you are part of the Eden-bound people called the church. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">And you are on the bridge! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Sure, you can choose not to be involved in the church, the
community walking with you. But how sad this would be! How lonely! Walking with
a community beside you but remaining aloof and alone, that is a sorrowful
existence, I’d say. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">If you’re a Christian, you are a member of the Christian
community. Christ purchased your membership fee. Whether you make the most of
that membership, well, that is up to you. As a pastor, of course, I hope you
will make the most of it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Here’s something else to think about. A bridge as a function
means moving from one side to the next! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">A bridge never taken, never used, well, is it really a
bridge?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Christ without the church, well, is like a bridge without
people crossing it. Christ works through the church! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Imagine the Golden Gate Bridge was simply there to look at,
not to take. It would not be serving its original purpose. Christ, the bridge,
needs us!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Christ needs us to take that bridge and be the church, to be
his body, the body of Christ, progressing forward.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">But it goes even further. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Remember last week, we talked about a disturbance in the
force that came as a result of an unwise choice made by the first humans,
representing humanity as a whole. Adam and Eve’s act of selfishness had immense
ramifications. Their choosing of self and disregarding of God gave way to a
huge imbalance in Creation. This is what the Christian church has traditionally
taught.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Maybe you’re thinking, this makes no sense. How can taking a
bite out of fruit lead to all of this?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Well, have you ever heard the name Vasili Arkhipov?
No? Well, Arkhipov has been called “the man who saved the world.” Here’s a
description from the Farrnham Street blog. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">“Arkipov was a Russian Naval officer in 1963, stationed on a
nuclear-armed submarine near Cuba. In November of that year, American aircraft
and ships began using depth charges to signal the Russian submarine that it
should surface so it could be identified. With the submarine submerged too deep
to monitor radio signals, the crew had no idea what was going on in the world
above. The captain, Savitsky, decided the signal meant that war had broken out
and he prepared to launch a nuclear torpedo. Everyone agreed with him—except
Arkhipov. Had the torpedo launched, nuclear clouds would have hit Moscow,
London, East Anglia and Germany, before wiping out half of the British
population. The result could have been a worldwide nuclear holocaust, as
countries retaliated and the conflict spread. Yet within an overheated
underwater room, Arkhipov exercised his veto power and prevented a launch.
Without the courage of one man, our world could be unimaginably different.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">The notion of one small act having immense impact, it is
known as the Butterfly Effect. And we see it throughout history and even in our
own lives. Adam and Eve are the original example of this truth.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Adam and Eve’s small act of eating that fruit, selfishly
disobeying God, is a microcosm of all of Creation being marred by human selfishness.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Enter Christ. Christ and his utter self<i>less</i>ness on the
Cross reverses the trend, turns the tide back, restores balance to Creation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Not only that, Christ’s selflessness will eventually end in
the restoration of all of Creation in God. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><i>Eden is the end-game, and the
compassion of Christ is getting us there!</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Anyone who’s attended church for a bit of time knows that
the word gospel literally means good news. This good news – we often shrink it
to mean just for us. It becomes my good news, my story of personal redemption.
Jesus redeemed me and set me free. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">But the good news is not just for us as individuals. It’s not just for us as a human species. No, the good news is for all the world. For God
so loved, what? The world. It is not just peace in our neighborhoods or among
just people. It is peace on<i> earth</i> filled with a diversity of beings, flora and fauna! </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">“The wolf shall live with the lamb; the
leopard shall lie down with the young goat; the calf and the lion will feed
together, and a little child shall lead them.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><i>Christ and his compassion on the cross – it is the pivot
point for Creation and for all of Creation’s return to God. </i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Acts 3 talks about
the restoration of all things through Christ. The restoration of all things –
that is the good news we preach, friends. And can you get any better than that?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">The simple takeaway is this – share that good news! With
your deeds and if you have to with your words. Be the living words of God in
real-time, being the bridge for others to <i>the</i> Bridge that is Christ. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">May our community waking that bridge together be ever full
and growing!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Amen.</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Don Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08478153198546181488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735639500592081961.post-31505164275890106902023-09-22T12:06:00.006-07:002023-09-22T13:40:40.424-07:004 Songs / 1 Theme - Yom Kippur<span style="font-size: medium;">The highest Jewish holiday is Yom Kippur, a day of atonement, a day of starting again. Think about this, you Christians reading this - Jesus honored Yom Kippur. Atonement is a universal theme. There is a need in us to be reconciled with those we're disconnected from for whatever reason. We see this theme in music often. Who doesn't love a good apology song? Anyway, here are 4 songs that loosely tap into the meaning of Yom Kippur (some less loosely than others, I might add).</span><div><br /></div><div><<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?si=CTbiBmwdsEPmmnsT&list=PLdUpmu59w8eb_chNLfSCcimfFri6Wv4ln" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<iframe style="border-radius:12px" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/09mqJA3TLxocyVJJWdmL7u?utm_source=generator" width="100%" height="352" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" loading="lazy"></iframe>Don Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08478153198546181488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735639500592081961.post-67851626492621804292023-09-18T11:17:00.005-07:002024-01-08T07:28:11.049-08:00Transformative Christianity (Pt 2): Our Baggage, God's Image<p><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7i6UdEHHwEyF8PInyjNEWcNVvu8DcBgFIVS-9tgR63oTTEkWqXI1hQC21wU4i1C0dwcEH3XiAx0lPl8X7qkM6AiHXaouIggwgYEUQebxDGvkkCz2JT1ORLADPPFCBxEUm2wWJcv5Uzg-GNLilHksssJwUXwNvDTavT37CaR-jusIDugRy035Gl-F19xU/s1024/OIG.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7i6UdEHHwEyF8PInyjNEWcNVvu8DcBgFIVS-9tgR63oTTEkWqXI1hQC21wU4i1C0dwcEH3XiAx0lPl8X7qkM6AiHXaouIggwgYEUQebxDGvkkCz2JT1ORLADPPFCBxEUm2wWJcv5Uzg-GNLilHksssJwUXwNvDTavT37CaR-jusIDugRy035Gl-F19xU/w400-h400/OIG.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />Before we get into our discussion of what the Christian
tradition has come to call the Fall, I want to begin with a refresher of last
Sunday’s big takeaway. That we, being created in God’s image, are God’s
self-portrait to the world and in the world.</span></p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’d like to add something to this before we move on. I John
4 reminds us more than once that God is Love. God is not just loving. God not
only loves the world. God is love itself.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This has really wonderful applications. I encourage you
sometimes when you’re reading the Bible, insert the word Love with a capital L
whenever you see God or Lord or even pronouns for God. It often gives a new, beautiful meaning to the
text. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Here’s an example, Genesis 1:26a, 27.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>Then Love said, </i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>“Let us make humans in our image,
according to our likeness…”<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i><span> </span>So
Love created humans in Love's image,<br />
in the image of Love were they created;<br />
male and female Love created them.</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt;">If we are created in God’s image, and God is love, then we
are created in Divine Love’s image. We are Love’s self-portrait in the world. We
are Love’s self-portrait given to the world. </span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We see glimmers of this beautiful truth all the time, don’t
we? Despite all the bad news shouting at us, a quieter truth of good news can be
seen almost everywhere if we really look. With each loving act in the world, we
see love’s self-portrait realized. With each example of compassion and care, we
see love’s self-portrait lived-out. In a parent’s selflessness, in a friend’s presence,
in a stranger’s kindness, we divine love’s self-portrait in real-time.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But here's the conundrum of conundrums. If God is Love and
we’re created in Love’s image, why all the hate around us. If God created us in
God’s good image and deemed us very good, why all the evil in the world?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Age old question! Christianity gives a pretty standard
answer – the Fall. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">To use traditional language, the Fall is highlighted as the point
in time when sin entered the world’s story. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Let me emphasize, not only was humanity effected by the
first humans’ unwise choice. The whole trajectory of the world was changed. The
whole reality of the world changed<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Climate change is an undeniable truth these days. There
continues to be a debate over whether humans have primarily caused or heavily
influenced climate change. 90 plus percent of scientists say, yes, human
choices are the primary cause of climate change globally. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Well, the first humans’ choice there in the Garden of Eden
led to a <i>spiritual</i> climate change on a global scale. According to the Christian
understanding, harmony between humanity, God, and the whole of creation ended
with those bites of that fruit. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">To use Star Wars-ese, a mammoth disturbance in the Force occurred
with Adam and Eve’s bad choice. The resulting global imbalance in the Force was
the new reality as Adam and Eve left Eden. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As for humanity, according to traditional Christian
teaching, we’ve each suffered the consequences of sin ever since. Because of sin,
harmony between us and God is no longer a reality. Our connection to God
suffered a clear, definite breach, one that would not be easily bridged.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And it is harmony with God, it is connection with God, that
we most long for as human beings. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How could this <i>not</i> be our deepest longing? We are created in
God’s image. If we are not in harmony with the one whose image we bear, if we
are disconnected from our source, a profound discontentment, despair, disharmony,
a kind of spiritual dis-ease cannot be avoided.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This disharmony and dis-ease takes shape, takes form, appears
in various ways – as violence, as hate, as divisiveness, as cruelty, as apathy,,
as greed… as, you know, sin.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
Alright, I’m hoping this makes sense. I’d like to turn to something I referenced
a few times before, and that is the Western approach versus the Eastern
approach to the Fall. What is the difference between them? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Now, I know this is more for the theology nerds out there. I’m
learning that there aren’t a whole lot of theology nerds at CCP, but there
are some, and it is good for me to feed that intellectual hunger sometimes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We have St. Augustine mostly to thank for the Western
approach. He taught the notion of original sin. The disease of sin is an
inherited disease, genetic, passed on to us originally by Adam and Eve. Adam
and Eve’s original sin and the guilt of sin became genetic in every, <i>every</i> human
thereafter. As I was taught as a kid, we come into this world with a sinful
nature and we are due death. As for us being created in God’s image, it is thoroughly corrupted
by that sinful nature. God’s image in us is lost the moment we are born. Again,
this is the Western view.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But thanks to Christ, we are saved from our sin and from
death, God’s image in us restored.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Eastern approach rejects Augustine’s notion of original
sin. We are born with God’s image in us intact. There is no genetic disease
passed down. No sinful nature upon birth corrupts that image. The sins of the
father and the accompanying guilt for those sins are not passed onto the son. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Yes, we sin in this life and incur the guilt on ourselves. But
it is more a disease resulting from our behavior, not genetic. Sort of like
getting lung cancer because of smoking instead of getting it because it runs in
the family.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Yes, humans have a <i>predisposition</i> toward selfishness, stubbornness,
and sin, and so, bad choices and missteps are rather unavoidable. Yes, because Adam
and Eve’s bad choice changed the trajectory of Creation, we are predisposed
toward sin. But that predisposition does not mean we are diseased by nature, or
totally depraved as Calvin put it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Let’s use the alcoholism example. Alcoholism is not genetic.
Thankfully, I didn’t inherit alcoholism biologically. I’m not an alcoholic <i>by
nature</i>. But because my grandfather and uncle were alcoholics, I am predisposed
to becoming one as well. I never drink more than one beer at a time and do so
very occasionally. So, thankfully, I’ve avoided becoming an alcoholic. But if I
begin drinking more often and regularly, becoming an alcoholic is very likely. I
have a predisposition toward alcoholism.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Eastern approach says, we have a predisposition toward
sin. Sin isn’t a disease passed down to us. We are not sinful by nature. But
once we begin sinning, we likely will acquire the disease of sin and suffer the
effects.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Cain and Abel story shows this. Cain let his predisposition
toward the disease of sin get the best of him, made bad choices, and it ruined
him. The same predisposition toward sin in Abel did not take hold. He trusted God,
and God was pleased with him. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Eastern Christianity sees God’s image in us as there from
the get-go. That is why Jesus points to children as a model of goodness. God’s
image in them has not been corrupted yet by bad choices and missteps. But as we
grow up, we <i>do</i> make bad choices, experience missteps, we sin, and that divine
image in us becomes covered over and inactive and latent. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Think of each bad choice, misstep, and sin as a bag filled
with garbage. This baggage of garbage, we place it on our spirits, spirits created
in God’s image. That baggage of garbage begins to accumulate, covering up God’s
image in us. Baggage covering God’s image then becomes a condition in need of
healing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But the good news is this: Christ finds us, removes the
baggage, the garbage, healing us, allowing us to begin again.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The details of Christ finding us, that is for next week’s
discussion.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This week’s takeaway, here it is: we are not without hope. There
is hope even for those whose divine image is so baggaged over that that divine image seems lost
forever. God’s image in us is still there, waiting to be actualized. Christ
will find us and salvage that divine image, will salvage who we really are. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="font-size: 17pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>There is hope because there is Christ.</i> </span><span style="font-size: 17pt;">Christ finds us. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; tab-stops: 2.0in right 427.5pt;"><span style="font-size: 17pt;">Allow
him to find you. Allow Christ to remove all the baggage you’ve placed over that
of God in us. Allow Christ to remove your baggage and restore God’s image in you.</span></p>Don Ericksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08478153198546181488noreply@blogger.com0