Month: July 2010

Become like Children?

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One of this mornings readings included Matthew 17:24-27 which is:
 
After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, "Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?" "Yes, he does," he replied. When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. "What do you think, Simon?" he asked. "From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?" "From others," Peter answered. "Then the children are exempt," Jesus said to him. "But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours."
 
Jesus is wonderful in his teaching. Some churches have used these verses about paying the temple tax as a lesson on why we need to tithe. While I agree tithing is important, to use these verses is somewhat disengenuous because the context is Israel, a theocracy living under the power of a foreign occupier (Rome). The temple tax is part of the governing tax unlike most countries today. At any rate Jesus has many points bound up in his example. The minor points include the need to pay the tax solely for the purpose of not offending the government (not out of fear or legal requirement). A broader application of this can be that when something is asked of us we deliver for the sake of the other even though it may be a sacrifice. The reverse of this then is that we should probably not burden others with similar requests.
 
The main point of the teaching though is the illustration that rulers do not ask anything burdensome, such as taxes, from their children. The children owe their father the king nothing. As adopted children of God he asks us for nothing and offers us everything. To make this point more solidly Jesus continues his teaching on children in chapter 18. One of the drawbacks of the age-old chapter and verse system in the Bible is that people will often assume the lesson to be done at the end of chapter 17 and fail to read further. If we read the first five verses of chapter 18 we find the following:
 
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" He called a little child, whom he placed among them. And he said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes a humble place—becoming like this child—is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
 
The disciples were brilliant when it came to not getting the point and in typical fashion the same happens here. One can hardly blame them for interpreting kingdom values with worldy eyes though. Jesus is asked who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. After the teaching about the taxes and the lesson that the children of the king (princes and princesses of the kingdom) are exempt from such burdens the natural question then is who will become the princes and princesses of the kingdom; or as the disciple asks "who then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" We know these verses are directly connected to the end of chapter 17 because of the "who then" in the first verses which is clearly in response to what came before. We also know they are connected because Jesus continues the theme of children. Jesus’s response is loaded with theological meaning (we cannot go into it all here). The children of the king are the greatest in heaven and therefore if we would be great in the kingdom we must become as children.
 
ASIDE: Too often people attempt to wrestle a behavioural ethic from these verses. Why? We simply love to reduce things to rules of behaviour (God knew this when he established the law to show us the futility of "right behaviour" as a bridge between us and him). We must become like children people say. Innocent, humble, gentle, etc. While these attributes most surely are welcome this is not what the verses are speaking of here. Frankly if you have ever watched children you know they are about as far from humble and gentle as we generally get. They are completely and totally self-focused/self-absorbed and often will often fight and physically dominate weaker children to get what they want (not unlike many adults actually)…becoming like children from a behavioral perspective will not get one into the kingdom of heaven.
 
How then do we ecome like children? We have by natural birth no claim to God as father. Adoption then is the only option and not simply behaviour. Further on in the gospel Jesus teaches about what it means to be adopted by the father and once again this requires nothing on the part of the child except acceptance. It should be a relief that we do not have to develop a behavioral pattern to enter the kingdom of God.

Boundless Grace?

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s-t-r-e-t-c-h
pulling everything
out of shape
every fibre
unwound
still
undone
or done
straining at the order
at the order of all things
wondering the while
what be the breadth of boundless grace?
 
if an endless edge is reached
will one find grim savage sign
 
HERE THERE BE DRAGONS…
 
dragons once men who sought hope’s death
only to find it
now stand to greet the incoming
now stand to croak old dirge
welcome to land’s end
 

A Cry Against Apathy

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There are several ways you know you have read a good book and one of them is how quickly it is read. I devoured Max Lucado’s new book Outlive Your Life as a starving man would devour food placed in front of him. Lucado’s purpose with this book is deceptively simple: teach and/or remind people that their lives are God-given as a gift with a purpose in mind – to serve others and by doing so serve God and "outlive their lives". In the space of 150 plus pages Lucado accomplishes his task with clarity and pragmatism.
 
Outlive Your Life is rooted in the first 12 chapters of the New Testament book of Acts and blends scripture, real life stories and Lucado’s skillful ability to get to the point. In this case the point is simply that the church and Christians today seem to have fallen into a sleep of apathy and a mindset overwhelmed by the sheer volume of brokeness in the world. Lucado uses the book to remind readers that God is about the business of the church if we would simply trust that he is capable of overturning the evil of the world by using the admittedly imperfect tools who are his followers. As proof he points to the nascent church of Acts and helps the reader to understand that this ragtag group of unremarkable 1st century Jews, once empowered and enlivened by the Spirit of God, then go about the business of transforming of world.
 
Another clear purpose for the book is to challenge Christians and the church to wake from their apathetic slumber and confront directly the evil of the world which manifests in many ways such as hunger, poverty, war, racism, slavery etc. Lucado wants to make sure that anyone who picks up this text cannot put it down and claim ignorance to the needs of the world – in this he also succeeds.
 
The book is divided into 16 short chapters, each following Acts as well as tackling a particular practical way of maximizing life for the sake of Christ and the world. This structure as well as a handy Discussion and Action Guide at the end make the book a great tool for Bible Study groups, Life groups and Sunday School or other Christian Education classes.
 
Ultimately Lucado systematically removes every conceivable excuse a Christian may have for not living out the gospel and provides simple ways of moving into a life that emphasizes cummunity over the individual and the critical importance of prayer. It is important to note that Lucado does not simply present ‘practical’ ways of acting but also ends each chapter with an applicable verse from scripture and a prayer.
 
I highly recommend the book for Christians of all stripes as well as pastors, teachers and other leaders in the church. It is clear that the book has been written with the Christian believer in mind and from the outset uses language and content that directly addresses this audience. For this reason it is likely the non-Christian audience, while possibly agreeing with the action items,  will not fully appreciate the text and the scriptural reasoning behind it and may not find it beneficial.
 
It should be noted that Lucado is not simply teling others how to outlive their lives. 100 percent of author royalties from all Outlive Your Life products go to WorldVision and the James 1:27 Foundation.
 
Book has been provided courtesy of Thomas Nelson and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available September 2010 at your favourite bookseller.

Our Foolish Faith

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"…If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all others. " 1 Corinthians 15:19
 
This morning part of my reading included 1 Corinthians 15:12-19 and it struck me how often we are reminded of how foolish our faith can appear. I say how foolish it can "appear" because in fact our faith is not foolish at all but rather the grasping of the true reality of this world. That being said though the scriptures remind us that those outside of the faith would naturally view us as absolute fools (as Saint Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:18 "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."
 
I remember when Jesse Ventura became governor of Minnesota and said at one point that Christianity was a crutch for weak people. I wholeheartedly agreed with this statement in the sense that in our weakness God’s strength is perfected. Also the reality is that humnity demonstrates its weakness on an almost minute by minute basis…in every war, in every expression of personal or corporate brokeness, in every starving and diseased nation that exists at the same time as nations of unprecedented wealth…in all of these things our weakness is demonstrated.
 
What I find interesting is the amount of effort Christians put into outrage and surprise when non-Christians call them foolish. While I understand the point of apolegetics as to be able to give a reason for our faith in all times I also understand what it is not to be – a passionate, emotional debate to the death.
 
"But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect" 1 Peter 3:15
 
Notice the words "with gentleness and respect"? This is rarely our response…more often then not we meet force simply with an equal and opposite response and can be just as obnoxious as our detractors. This is clearly not how we are called to speak about our faith.
 
When listening to and hearing from people outside of the community of Christ we must always hold before us the reality that to them we are indefensibly foolish. God himself points this out to us again and again. In our effort to give reason for our faith we would do well to stick close to scripture and avoid non-scriptural defenses as much as possible. Dietrich Bonhoeffer once wrote "do not try to make the Bible relevant. Its relevance is axiomatic…Do not defend God’s Word, but testify to it…Trust to the Word." Translation: Allow for the reality that the Holy Spirit works in the heart that hears the Word…trust in the fact that God has asked us to be vehicles of his Word but not drivers. To do all of this requires deep trust in who God is and a deep love for those who will no doubt be antogonistic to Christ. If yo chafe at this idea remember the words of Saint Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:23 "but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles…"
 
Back to the opening verse from Corinthians what do we hear? Not only do we hear a reminder that the world considers us foolish but also a warning to not slip into the same mindset. It is possible to come to secretly believe one’s own faith is of no worth…that in fact we come to live as the verse from Corinthians suggests – people who would live as though Christ is only of value to us in this life…as a wise human with great moral instruction but not as the resurrected Lord of all creation. In this sense then apolgetics/defending one’s faith serves the apologist as much (or more) than the world because it reminds us of the eternal nature of our faith and of Christ.
 
In short, our faith is the height foolishness and in light of this we must never despair but remember the words of 1 Corinthians 1:25 – "For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength."

Give Thanks in all Things…

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I have been meditating on the idea of joy, gratefulness, happiness, as well as the inverse of these things. I find it quite easy to be miserable. If there is one temptation in my life that is stronger than all others it is the temptation to be sad. I find that sadness will often come first followed by the reasons for it as if it lays in wait for opportune moments and grasps even the most fragile of reasons to pounce.

Today I read 1 Thessalonians 5:18 which says:

"…give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."

To be honest I struggle with this verse. I struggle with it for many reasons but one in particular – it is not advice; it is not a suggestion; it is God’s will and therefore it is a command upon our lives. We cannot read the text any other way. We must as followers of Christ first and foremost be obedient to the will of God but not in a simplistic follow-the-rules kind of way. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer once wrote:

"Those who wish even to focus on the problem of a Christian ethic are faced with an outrageous demand – from the outset they must give up, as inappropriate to this topic, the very two questions that led them to deal with the ethical problem" ‘How can I be good?’ and ‘How can I do something good?’ Instead they must ask the wholly other, completely different question: ‘What is the will of God?’"

So then the challenge is to give thanks in all circumstances out of a deep and heartfelt desire to obey the will of God and not in the pharisaic sense that it is one of 600 plus rules one must obey to be "good" in the eyes of God. This is not to suggest that one is not to be sad…rather it is to command that even in the greatest depths of our dark days we have the unbridled desire to still give thanks. Even further then being aware of his will and assenting to it, as with all things God asks of us, is to go beyond a ‘feeling’ of thankfulness and actively demonstrate the attitude in our lives; in how we live and relate to one-another.

To give thanks in the midst of financial well-being, or what we perceive as blessedness (which usually is defined as "getting what I want") is not a struggle although ironically we often forget. The challenge is to be able to give genuine thanks in the midst of ALL circumstances; in the midst of suffering and sadness; in the midst of hardship and trial; in the midst of loss and adversity…we must give thanks.

It is not only because we seek to do the will of God that we should give thanks (although surely this should be enough) but for another quite critical reason that once again Bonhoeffer expresses so well:

"Always give thanks in all things. Everything we cannot thank God for, we reproach him for."

What we cannot be thankful for we resent. We cannot be obedient to the will of one we ultimately resent. We are painfully aware of the burden of evil in this world and the demands it places upon our lives. It demands our misery; it demands service in sadness; it demands our enslavement to brokeness. But we must always remember that the evil of this world is not the world’s true reality. Evil is a nightmare that has overlaid this world like a cloud. The reality of this world is that it is in fact the good creation of God. That we in fact are good creations of God. So good that God would condescend to enter it and become one of us for the sake of the world.

In this and in so many other things we can find the strength to give thanks because one day and in fact even now the nightmare is ending…the sleeper is awakening and finds the true nature of themselves and the world to be what it was created as – good.

Saint Paul by Pope Benedict XVI

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It is no secret that Pope Benedict XVI’s (Joseph Ratzinger) greatest strength is his mind. While some may question his ability to lead he is without question a brilliant man who shines brightest when he is teaching. Such is the case with the book simply titled Saint Paul. The book is in fact a series of catecheses (teaching sermons) presented over the course of late 2008 and early 2009 in honor of the 2,000th anniversary of the birth of Saint Paul. As the title suggests the entire book is about Saint Paul but it is not a biography, rather it is a presentation of the theology of Paul firmly entrenched within the context of his time.

In offering us this brilliant little book Pope Benedict also offers some wonderful lessons on how to read the text of scripture to get the most out of it. The first part of the book lays the foundation of Paul’s life and the time within which he lived. With that stage set Pope Benedict then delves into such themes as Christology, Eschatology, Justification, the Sacraments and Worship among others.

Although an incredibly deep text Pope Benedict manages to keep every section between 6-8 pages so it is quite readable.

I would consider the book foundational in nature and an excellent teaching resource for personal growth, small group study or Sunday school/Church Education.

It should be noted that you do not have to be Roman Catholic to appreciate and learn from the theology in this text. No where within the book did I encounter anything that a Protestant or Orthodox believer would disagree with…this is another of its strengths.

All in all a wonderful addition to anyone’s library. I highly recommend it.

 
Author: Pope Benedict XVI
Publisher: Ignatius Press
Date: 2009
Length: 131 pages

Sandman

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sandman stands in the desert
like Lot’s wife in a salt sea
surverying the wild waste
knowing they are the same
 
pray the cool breath-borne breeze
washes over gritty brow
to carry the worried world away
one
grain
at
a
time
lost on the wind
a ghost trailing into the sky
yearning to go away away
returned to the deep red clay
to sleep till the final day

Womb of this World

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we are but clay golems
umbilical-bound to the salted earth
unformed shadows of perfection
reaching toward hope’s haven
 
look into the amniotic blue
around the womb of this world
listen –
there is singing, lullabies
from beyond the fold
far voices speak in wonder
"see they move they kick
these Lord’s of time and space"
be formed, grow now and know
dark death is but eternal birth
a journey on the pale horse
to harkening hallowed home

In Celebration of a Good German

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I picked up a selection of German beers today in celebration of a good German pastor and theologian and one whom I have the most profound respect for – Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Having recently finished a more in-depth re-read of Eric Metaxas’s phenomenal new biography of Bonhoeffer it seemed only fitting that one celebrate. So I will try the following German beers:

– Erdinger Weisbrau Dunkel (a dark wheat beer)
– Schofferhofer Hefeweizen
– Holsten Festbock
– Schofferhofer Grapefruit-Hefeweizen blend (mostly out of morbid curiosity)

I felt it was still somewhat within the realm of historical connectedness to throw in a Belgium and Austrian beer as well:

– Abbaye de Leffe Blonde (Belgium)
– Salzburger Stiegl Bier (Austrian)

Finally a Scottish Ale in honour of my poem being published by Poetry Scotland and a British beer in honour of the long and complex German/English royal intermarriages (a stretch I know…really I simply like the English beer I picked a lot):

– McEwan’s Scotch (Scottish Ale)
– Old Speckled Hen (English)

At any rate I cannot write enough about how much I appreciate Metaxas’s latest biography. Everyone should read it. It has given me a deeper and more profound respect for Dietrich Bonhoeffer as well as for the plight of the German resistance during WW2, ecumenism in that time and some of the things that led to the evil that occured. Things are never so simple as we would like to believe.

Prost!

Reflections on 1 Peter 4 & 5

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I greatly appreciated the text for the sermon this past week which was 1 Peter 4 as well as the sermon Pastor D preached on it. In light of the text and its continuation in chapter 5 I have some thoughts.
 
The text of both chapters primarily address two facets of suffering as believers would experience it…as individuals and as the inter-woven community of Christ. Peter is writing to a church community that is increasingly having to bear up under the oppression of a world growing in hostility to the gospel. The question naturally arises within the community "what point is belief in this suffering Christ if my life gets worse and not better in terms of worldly suffering?" Peter points out that the suffering of the believer and the community of believers must be borne as witness (martys/martus) to the suffering Christ.
 
As Peter writes these words on the suffering church he does so with his eyesfixed firmly on Proverbs. There are several references to the Proverbs within the text of 1 Peter 4 & 5. When we look to Proverbs we learn that it is instruction of the ways of righteousness compared to the ways of evil. The writer of Proverbs (writing to his son) does not hold himself in high esteem as one who is in fact the righteous person he describes but rather he is the very fallen broken one he warns his son about and against. He writes to his son as one who has already embarked upon the path of unrighteousness. The purpose of Proverbs is not then to console the righteous but rather to warn the unrighteous. Righteousness before God in Proverbs exists as a warning and an example to the unrighteous. It exists for the other and not for the self (just as Israel exists for the sake of the other nations and not itself – but that is another note).
 
So we find the same themes in 1 Peter 4 & 5 where, as he writes to the church about the need to bear up under suffering, he does so carrying forth these same themes – that we bear up under the suffering not for ourselves but rather for the sake of Christ and the sake of the world He came to die for.
 
"but rejoice to the extent that you partake in Christ’s sufferings…" 1 Peter 4:13. Once again we are confronted with the question of why? If we are to believe that Peter is writing with Proverbs in mind for a reason then something in this tells us that our suffering is for the sake of others. Peter’s discourse on suffering echoes the words of Paul in Galatians 2:20 where he writes "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
 
‘Why again?’ we ask and are reminded of Paul’s words to us in Philippians 2:5-11 where he writes:
 
"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature. God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
 
Now we have come to the heart of the gospel which is where Peter has been pointing all along and we can in fact ask the real question that needs to be asked which is "why did Christ come and endure suffering?" and not "why do I have to endure suffering?" for in answer the former we will find answer to the less important latter. It is John who helpfully provides the answer in the beautiful poetic way only he can in John 3:16-18:
 
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son."
 
The cross is our answer. We suffer because He suffered first. We endure because He endured first. Why? Love. Christ came not to condemn but to save. So in our suffering we do not condemn but recognize that we continue the saving suffering of the Lord who’s very Spirit lives within us. The Spirit that motivates us so that as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 9:22 "To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some."
 
We suffer because it might be a means toward the rescue of others. When Peter references that suffering is in part due to God’s judgement already unfolding on the church and that if we suffer now as believers how much more shall those outside the church suffer in the end – it is not to encourage us. Peter is not saying "do not worry the unbelievers will get theirs in the end" as though attempting to appeal to some cosmic desire for eye-for-an-eye vengence, rather we must despair so much at the potential suffering of those outside the church that we would be motivated out of Christ’s love to endure suffering and even death for their sake. This again is the heart of the gospel that Peter is preaching to us.
 
Finally we must remember that if we suffer with Christ we will die with Christ and if we die with Christ we will rise again with Christ. This is our hope, this is the hope of the world and it is the gospel which can, like our suffering, only be borne and proclaimed (kerygma) with a deep Christ-like love for the world we stand before as witnesses – but such hope cannot be arrived at without going through the cross.
 
"Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life." Romans 6:3-4