USED

namaste

2007-06-13T09:36:00.000-07:00

I have just begun wrapping up 10 years of involvement in the middle school ministry at my church. The first two years I was with students and helping run the program like I got paid but I didn’t. The third year I got paid $800 dollars a month to intern and I thought I was rich (rent was like $125). The last seven years I have been a full time member of the church staff and somewhere along the line I became an associate pastor. I look back now and long to know that what I was involved in really made a difference. I yearn to see that my labor was used by God for the Jesus of Nazareth to be born in the lives of those I was with; as the apostle Paul did. As the text messages, myspace comments, face to face interactions and e-mails slowly pour in I wrestle with how to receive the responses. Comments like “you changed my life” make me squirm because I don’t know what exactly they mean or how to hear it.

In his book “The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an ordinary radical” Shane Claiborne shares this about his time working in Calcutta with Mother Theresa.
“Over and over, the dying and the lepers would whisper the mystical word namaste in my ear. We don’t really have a word for it in English (or even a Western conception of it). They explained to me that namaste means “I honor the holy one in you.”

As I reflect on Shane’s story I realize that this is what I desire to hear. That our call in life is to be “instruments of God’s peace.” The theme of being “used” like a trusty shoe, guitar or car in God’s hands is so attractive to me (hence the title of my blog). Our lives should bear the frightening but familiar fingerprints of God’s continual use. I am his instrument. It is a wonderfully important call but at the same time shockingly humble.

After one of the longest hugs I think I have ever exchanged a junior in high school looked deep into my eyes and squeezed out the following words “I probably would have gotten things figure out when I got older but there is no way I would have in 6th or 7th grade. You are the main reason I gave my life to God.” There is no sweeter sound to someone who has shared life with a middle schooler then those words. He did not mean the moment he “accepted Jesus as his personal Lord and savior (or whatever that line means)” but that he screws up a lot but he is regularly realigning his life with God’s dream for the world. I think back to that moment now and I can almost hear a whisper in my ear as his lips are moving and sharing with me what my life has meant to him. I hear the whispered word, namaste. The creaky door of my spirit begins to open up and I receive whatever it is that God is saying through this young man. I don’t take compliments well but I’m learning to receive people communicating the spirit of honoring the holy one within me.

Madeline L'Engle - Awesome Audio Resource!

2007-01-26T08:40:00.000-08:00

Since I'm reading A Wrinkle In Time I decided to check up on it's author a little bit and I ran into this "writers workshop mp3." I was enthralled with her bold thoughts about truth beyond facts. I highly recommend this encouraging lecture.

Description:

Ms. L’Engle begins her talk by asking What is Fantasy? Arguing that we often confuse truth with fact, she says that Fantasy is a way to take us to a truth that exists beyond the realm of fact. Exploring this theme of fantasy, she delves into the relationship of faith and doubt and the nature of truth in a way that is both intimate yet applicable to all

Preaching Re-Imagined

2007-01-16T22:01:00.000-08:00

I’ve kind of been avoiding it for a long time but I’m currently reading Preaching Re-Imagined by Doug Pagitt. I’ve been avoiding it because much of what I’ve heard him say about this book is stuff I already agree with or I know I need to wrestle with. I’ve been afraid of having to make lasting decisions about the role of preaching and teaching in communities of faith but I ordered the book and here I go.

Parts that stuck out to me thus far:

It’s easy to realize more people are listening to more great preaching content then ever before. Current technology makes us able to listen to almost anyone, anywhere and all throughout history. But if you look around at the lack of people living in the way of Jesus it’s obvious that great preaching isn’t sufficient. It’s lunacy to think more of the same thing will solve the problem.

Pagitt’s contention is that the problem is not preaching (proclaiming) necessarily but our current method of preaching which he calls “speaching.”

“Speaching is not defined by the style of the presentation but by the relationship of the presenter to both the listeners and the content: the pastor uses a lecture-like format, often standing while the listeners are sitting. The speacher decides the content ahead of time, usually in a removed setting, and then offers it in such a way that the speacher is control of the content, speed, and conclusion of the presentation.”

Pagitt feels that speaching damages our people and creates a sense of powerlessness in them (one that we did not intend).

“As a pastor I want to be a part of a community where the workings of God are imbedded in all, where the roles of teaching and learning aren’t mine alone but instead are something intrinsic to who we are as a people.”

Reading that last quote makes me want to sing. It rings true in my heart and I long for discovering a faithful way forward in this practice. As Paul said “Let the message of Christ dwell among (us) richly as (we) teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with Gratitude in (our) hearts.” I’m tired of all the weight being on me and what I’m bringing to the table. Later in the book he talks about how Jesus couldn’t do any miracles in his hometown because of their lack of faith. “Is it really that big a stretch to believe that our sermons can be influenced by the same factors?”

Pagitt suggests the alternative of “progressional dialogue,” where the content of the presentation is established in the context of a healthy relationship between the presenter and the listeners, and substantive changes in the content are then created as a result of this relationship.” I’ve been working for some time on helping cultivate environments where it’s natural to trust the spirit to lead us as we bounce back and forth between each others comments and the scriptures (mostly influenced by Alan Roxburgh).

Pagitt’s definition of progressional dialoge very ambiguous especially the part that I left above. I did this on purpose because I’m trying not to focus on how I know his community does it but on the idea of it in general.

If preaching is a socializing force and a formative practice in a community like Pagitt says then we really need to sit back and think hard about how our preaching is socializing and forming our community.

How do you think the current method of preaching that you are used to socializes and forms a community in positive and negative ways?

What are some dreams about preaching that would form and socialize in new ways that we may need in our current context?

I am also attempting new methods of preaching in the middle school ministry and I hope to chronicle how that is going. Last week we set up the chairs in a way where everybody could see everybody and I tried to stay seated the whole time instead of lording over them. It went okay but I hadn’t set it up for much interaction. I’m planning on more questions and discussion this week.

I’d love to get some thoughts on the two highlighted questions above.

Mark 3:7-19 Revolution Time (Hallelujah)

2007-01-12T09:16:00.000-08:00

Crowds were hungry for anyone who could heal and they swarmed Jesus from the very beginning of his ministry. It’s amazing to think how powerful and fast spreading word of mouth was in those days (today too). When Jesus has run-ins with “evil spirits” they begin to reveal his identity and he like many other times in the gospels (especially in Mark) commands them not to tell anyone about him.

Scholars (N.T. Wright and Gordon Fee have been most influential for me on this subject) regularly mention that anyone living in those times who saw a religious leader who was attracting a lot of attention was choosing twelve disciples would get the message. The Jews had longed for the twelve tribes of Israel to be restored and for the kingdom of God to come. Anyone healing, teaching and gathering twelve disciples was sending a message that God is restoring his kingdom. When it mentions that Jesus takes them away to a mountain near the lake my first response would be for solitude and prayer primarily but in those days you took people there to plot revolution.

Jesus was starting something but he seemed to want to delay anyone’s misconceived notions of what it would be. Truly all the gospels lay out a path that in ways in familiar but very different then what anyone expected.

Imagine being a disciple and being this close to the teaching, healing, prayer and revolutionary symbols what would you be expecting? For me this begins to make sense of many of their misunderstandings that frequently occur even after Jesus’ ascension.

Once again this theme in Mark rings loud of Jesus inaugurating something new that God is doing but at the same time it almost seems like he wants to keep the lid on it. Most importantly Jesus seems to want to avoid people’s expectation of the messiah to be put on him.

Why?

I have some guesses but I’ll share those later.

Mark 3:1-6 "Your Sabbath Sucks" - Jesus

2007-01-12T09:13:00.000-08:00

It seems to me that the practice of Sabbath at the time of Jesus had two strong streams flowing through it. One is how sacred and forming the Sabbath had been throughout their history. Throughout the scriptures it represents at times possibly the main thing that sets the people of God apart from everyone else. The other is how legalistic and exclusively patriotic it had gotten. There were so many microscopic rules about how you did it and it almost feels like job security for the teachers of the law. Convoluted is what Sabbath seems to have been and it feels impossible to be able to discern what parts are faithful practice and what are just human rules.

Into a context steeped this deep in sacred patriotic legalism; Jesus speaks. I think I would be so concerned about not offending people or giving people the impression that I don’t think the Sabbath is valid that I wouldn’t say anything. The pressure doesn’t seem to bother Jesus; in fact he seems mad about the whole thing. Imagine someone today taking a practice that we all hold very dearly and calling it into question. This is what Jesus did; but in calling it into question he reminded them of it’s true meaning. Sabbath is a celebration of life and creation. If certain rules on Sabbath stop someone from entering into new life and new creation (healing) then we have missed the point about Sabbath.

What an amazing thing Jesus was bringing. Once we’ve meditated on that for a while we then have to ask if we will be ask God to use us in being as faith-filled, bold and creative.

Mark Part 2 - Jesus is Odd!

2007-01-05T11:09:00.000-08:00

My Memoirs of Saint Mark’s Memoirs

Jesus is odd! He discerns people’s thoughts somehow. He asks a tax collector (a hated sell out) to follow him. He doesn’t follow the passed down guidelines for fasting and Sabbath when questioned about this he quotes scripture and reminds them of the heart behind these practices.

After Jesus heals the paralytic man the crowd says “we have never seen anything like this.” They too found Jesus odd but excitingly odd. The Pharisees found him frighteningly odd.

Chapter two made me think about how against the grain Jesus was. Although I’m sure there were many things that the Pharisees and Jewish tradition at the time were doing that he supported it’s apparent to me that anyone living then would have seen him as something different. Jesus holds amazingly to the heart of what it has always meant to be the people of God in the world but at the same time he operates in a very different flow then the man-made systems and styles that have emerged. These days we are talking about very similar dreams and beginning to see some of them lived out. We are beginning to see political and theological lines crossed to hold onto fresh expressions of faith deeply rooted in the gospel.

I long to be different like Jesus. I hate telling people I work at a church (Christian or Not) because of the instant change in the conversation. I long to be deeply rooted in God but so desperately want to be viewed differently then all the unhelpful baggage that surrounds us.

What practices embedded in the culture and empowered by the spirit will set us apart but keep us rooted?

Like my last entry what words, stories and artistic expressions will paint a picture of the kingdom of God that will be obviously different?

I must rethink and then re-craft my speech, stories, expression and practices. I hope to belong to communities that join with what God is doing in the world so passionately that people say "we have never seen anything like this."

Lord, may our way of life root us in you but break from the pharisaical ties of today. May we appear frighteningly odd to the legalistic religious and excitingly odd to those hungry for good news. Free us from our own misconceptions and lead us into new streams. Prepare our hearts for others (authors, directors, singers, artists, friends and apparent enemies) that you have sent to help shape us in the endeavor. May we be faithful to the gospel right here right now. Guide us to the roofs we need to rip off so we can join your activity. Send your healing thunder surging through our minds and hearts. Raise us from our paralyzed way of being "Christian" and we stand to our feet and carry our mats home.

A short aside about being imaginative storytellers

2007-01-04T16:47:00.000-08:00

My friend Matt made a comment on inviting others into this Jesus movement and I was instantly brought back to this quote. I know I only wrote about the first chapter of Mark so far but I can’t help begin to dream about becoming apostles ourselves.

“In a certain sense, therefore, the Gospels are already functioning as hermeneutical models for us, insisting by their very nature that we, too, retell the same story in our own twentieth-century contexts.” Fee and Stuart in "How to read the bible for all it's worth"

What might it look like to join with the spirit in crafting ways of telling the stories of Jesus life that invite people in the specific contexts around me into the kingdom of God. What an amazing opportunity! I love picking up the bible and crafting versions of the biblical narrative for my 3 year old son. Last year when I was studying Revelation he would get up every morning and ask me to retell a panoramic toddler version of Revelation I had made up. He would then fill in the blanks when I forgot things I had said before. I think many people are hungry for fresh expressions of the gospel in their native cultural tongue. The question is are you and I willing ot be caught up in the same missionary spirit of God that the gospel writers were?

What might this look like for you?
Who might God be calling you to retell the same stories to?
Any ideas?

My Memoirs of Saint Mark's Memoirs

2007-01-04T00:44:00.000-08:00

Chronicles of my journey through -
The Gospel of Mark

My attempt at a running commentary on what sticks out to me about this gospel. Please add your thoughts, questions and concerns.

It is generally believed that Mark was highly influenced by Peter in writing his gospel. It is also quite interesting to me that this gospel is reaching it’s recipients ears shortly before AD 70 which would put this during the Neronian persecution of the church. Two of the main leaders of the Christian movement (Peter and Paul) have both been martyred. It is also into this time of great persecution and struggle that Mark writes this book (more on that later). He has a message he needs to get to those being persecuted. They need to be reminded of what God is doing, who Jesus is and what it means to follow him.

Mark 1
The kingdom of God is near (Now and Then)

What sticks out to me:

It’s been said that Mark can’t tell a story poorly. The book of Mark bursts with action at a blazing pace.

It is the proclamation of this Good News that sticks out to me. Although there are many streams of expectation among the Jews at the time it is very obvious by the continual bumbling of the disciples that they did not inherently know what Jesus meant by “the good news.” It’s amazing to me that John and Jesus set out to proclaim this good news but explain little of it. It also seems strange that the good news which we normally think of as the cross is already being proclaimed at the beginning of Jesus ministry. What does Jesus say? “the time has come…the Kingdom of God is near.” He walks up to some fisherman and tells them to drop their nets and follow him. Do you really think they had any idea what he meant by following him? It seems to me that Jesus cares much more about follower-ship and participation in the kingdom then people being right. He definitely doesn’t have any theological “foundation quiz” they all must pass before they can become disciples; just faith to follow.

Mark instantly jumps to Jesus driving out screeching demons, healings and he throws in Jesus strange conviction to pray “in a solitary place” and even when the disciples tell him everybody’s looking for him he says let’s go somewhere else.

I find Jesus instant induction of these fisherman to be troubling. Thinking ahead about their arrogance, lack of faith and the betrayal of these “disciples” I find the deputizing of these fellows to be odd. It’s odd in the sense that it’s not normal or instinctual for me. I think of all the criteria many have to wade through to just go on a short term mission trip mission trip or serve in a local ministry. What are the things I feel like people should have before they are thrust into being used by God? Jesus doesn’t seem to care much about details or more importantly I think he does care about details it’s just that he values participation highly. He asks them to follow him then he just starts unleashing healing and teaching power all over the place (what a ride).

Jesus is proclaiming that the kingdom of God is near. God’s action in the world is going on and you are invited. He throws out this invitation long before he has died for the sins of the world. Jesus seems to have major confidence in the devotion molding power of the gospel. It sticks out to me that this book and chapter begin with the words “the beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, Son of God.” This good news is breaking and current news for us today. I’m not trying to belittle the cross it just seems Jesus is inviting people into a way of life and I believe we must do the same today.

Do we proclaim this invitation with such reckless confidence and radically embracing openness?

What is it that we think people need to know before they can join with what God is doing?

Are we being moved to have compassion on those that are diseased, broken and destitute? In that place of compassion could we then be desperate enough to ask God to release more of his kingdom on other desperate people?

Almighty God, conceive an expectation for your coming kingdom within us. Strip us of all these debilitating human-invented boxes we feel we need to check off before we can ask people to join with what you are doing in the world. Spirit, guide us into untamed speech and saturate us with a healing presence that depends solely on your power. Christ, prepare our hearts for more of you and make ready our feet for the long journey of being your apprentices.

Book Review - Emerging Churches by Bolger and Gibbs

2006-07-03T16:07:00.000-07:00

I had flipped through the book several times and always thought it looked interesting but was probably just a lot of what's already out there.

I stumbled upon an excellent podcast by red herring http://yeredherringe.blogspot.com/ that interviewed Ryan Bolger about this book. I was fascinated with their commitment to actual feet on the ground interviews and how they didn't include many larger mega-church type churches that want to appear like an emerging church but have just changed a few things in their services. Once I listened to the podcast I had to go and get the book.

After interviewing hundreds of churches and focusing on about 50 leading people within the emerging church movement in mostly the UK, Australia, New Zealand and the US they found some similarities between these churches. They share three main things and six other things flow out of those. The three main things were Identifying with Jesus (most specifically the life of Jesus as a way of life), transforming secular space (focusing on losing the dualistic viewpoint many of us have) and living as community (most specifically people learning to live in the kingdom of God create a community and the community life supercedes all desire for programs or services).

I highly recommend the book as a way to hear how many churches are actually doing these things we keep hearing about. Don't be expecting hundreds of people at these churches though many communities in this book are under fifty people. Brian McLaren's review of the book on the back is hilarious it's basically why this book is helpful and D.A. Carson's book isn't.

If for some reason you stumble onto this site and you have read this book let me know what you thought or if you have questions about it being worth the read for you let me know.

Are we a church people or a kingdom people?

2006-06-26T15:49:00.000-07:00

I haven't entered anything for a long time and I'm actually considering doing a short commentary on each chapter of Acts sometime soon but for now here's a quote.

"Kingdom people seek first the Kingdom of God and its justice; church people often put church work above concerns of justice, mercy and truth. Church people often think about how to get people into church; Kingdom people think about how to get the church into the world. Church people worry that the world might change the church; Kingdom people work to see the church change the world."

H. Snyder

How does this statement resonate with you?

What might it look like for us to be most concerned with getting the church into the world?

Resurrection, Women's Lib and the Da Vinci Code

2006-04-16T14:02:00.000-07:00

I was thinking about the resurection and how most of my life it has meant very little to me in some ways. Growing up it was like Jesus died for your sins now you can have relationship with him if you pray a prayer of forgiveness. Then because Jesus rose again you can go to heaven someday. Resurection is about so much more......

NT Wright is one of my favorite thinkers/theologians/authors/brits and he had some amazing thoughts on the subject this year. He is referring to that fact that Jesus shows himself to Mary and then she goes to tell the disciples that Jesus is alive.

And who is it that carries this stupendous message, this primal announcement of new creation, this heraldic proclamation of the king of kings and his imminent enthronement? It is Mary from Magdala. ….But the real shock is not Mary’s character. It is her gender. This is perhaps the most astonishing thing about the resurrection narratives, granted the universal beliefs of the time in the unreliability of women in a lawcourt or almost anywhere else. It is one of the things which absolutely guarantees that the early Christians did not invent these stories. They would never, ever, ever have invented the idea that it was a woman – a woman with a known background of emotional instability, but the main point is that it was a woman – to whom had been entrusted the earth-shattering message that Jesus was alive again….. It is Mary: not Peter, not John, not James the brother of the Lord, but Mary, who becomes the apostle to the apostles, the primary Christian witness, the first Christian evangelist. This is so striking, so unexpected, so embarrassing to some early Christians

Something has happened in the renewal of creation through the death and resurrection of Jesus which has the result, as one of its multiple spin-offs, that whereas before Jesus only ever sent out men, now – now of all moments! – he sends out a woman. And though the church has often struggled – to put it mildly – with the idea of women being called to genuine apostolic ministry, the record is clear and unambiguous. And let me just say that one of the great ironies of that silly book The Da Vinci Code is that, in seeking to elevate Mary Magdalene, all it does is diminish her, to make her Jesus’ appendage, his girl-friend or even his wife, whereas she was his chosen first apostle. Here, as so often, the revisionist versions of Christianity only succeed in domesticating the utterly revolutionary message of the New Testament – not, of course, that the church has not been guilty of that as well.

Dude, that's awesome! What a call we all have to live in and share the living message of Christ's death and ressurection. What a call that we are all invited into even those that society has thought were "unfit" to do ministry. Mary become the apostle to the apostles; what a thought.

Mary's simple act of obedience in sharing that Jesus was alive began a ripple effect of living proclamation that reverberates into our hearts and world today.

I've been making a list of people that God wants to use but may feel inadequate or "unfit." I don't know how I'm going to encourage them but I am. I'm going to repent of ever thinking that God didn't want to use them and I'm going to join with God in inviting them to be "used."

The Cross before and After Jesus

2006-04-16T13:43:00.000-07:00

Rome was at the heigth of their power and rule. They were taking over more and more of the world and forcing them to live their way. If anybody got in the way, if anybody didn't fall in line then they had a place for them; the cross. To be crucified on a cross was the most brutal and public death possible. They would violently display you naked in front of everyone as a symbol of what happens if you don't go Rome's way.

What a symbol of power. Jesus took the loudest symbol of power, control and violence and transformed it. Today we hang crosses, wear crosses and even make the sign of a cross with our hands. The word crucifixion was rude to even bring up in most conversations in the first century. But Jesus was nailed to that cross as a symbol of where human ambition and lust for power always goes; violence. Rome thought they were bringing peace to the world on there terms by forcing people to live under their "superior" rule. Our human ambitions will always lead to violence of some form. Even the Jewish people at Jesus trial cried for Jesus' death but for the release of Barrabas who was a violvent revolutionary "for God." It hit just the other day how humanities choice of violence was so prevalent as Jesus was lead to the cross. Rome thought violently forcing people would bring them into a well put together world. Many Jews thought violently fighting back would lead them to salvation. Jesus goes a very different route. Jesus isn't trying to be the president or the ceasar or the general or anything like that. It's not who's in office it's the system too. Jesus death brough a whole new way of existing. He took on the violence of humans and did not retaliate. He enveloped the violence and sin of humanity in love.

The cross has become a symbol of the upside down world Jesus has created for us to live into as the spirit enables us (Or maybe the world is upside down and Jesus is right side up).

I've been thinking about the powerful message that Jesus hanging on a roman cross really sends. I've been thinking about how it's so much more then Jesus just dieing for the personal naughty things I've done in my life. I've been thinking that it changes everything. I've been think about when he said to Pilate. "My kingdom is not from this world." From is the correct translation from the greek. His kingdom is for our world but it is not from it. Thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in HEAVEN. God's way of living, acting and saving is so different then our ways. That he would use a man made tool of death, shame and destruction to save the WORLD from decay is beyond my understanding.

What does the cross mean to you?

What could it really mean if we saw it as Jesus intends us to?

CRAZY TALK II AKA the Sermon on the Mount

2006-04-11T14:47:00.000-07:00

In many ways the beatitudes are not just a proclamation of the postures of the heart we need to enter into the Kingdom of God but what we have to give up is also implied.

In Luke Nine three people ask if they can follow Jesus. They don’t ask if they can have eternal life or what commandments are most important they just want to follow Jesus. In all three situations Jesus challenges their propositions; basically saying they aren’t ready. If somebody came up to us and said I want to follow Jesus; would our next response would be to bring up things in their life that are in the way of really doing that? Jesus doesn’t affirm them and say “oh that sounds like a great decision but here are a couple things you might want to work on to get started” No, he says

As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good bye to my family." Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."Luke 9:57-62

Hey when you follow me you become a vagrant; are you ready for that? If you want to follow me come and do it right now let the spiritually dead bury the spiritually dead (your father) and come be spiritually alive. Hey if you want to follow me you have to do it all the way you can’t start and then look back at your old life.

Are you guys sure you want to do this?

What would he say to you or I today if we said we wanted to follow him?
What would he point out to us?

In the beatitudes some things he is hinting at are….

Hey if you want to follow me, If you want to live life in the kingdom…

Give up your status, pride, position, comfort, forceful ways, abilities to get you want, satisfaction with your life, your first reactions to people, violence, your grudges, your anger, your peaceful life, your well-liked state among friends and family, ………..

…Are you sure you want to follow me?

Are we sure we want to today? It's been hard for me to think about the last 10 years I've been trying to follow Christ and wonder if I really have been for much of it.

In Luke 14 Jesus says “strive” to enter through the narrow gate. The word strive is a forceful striving with intense effort. As John the Baptist said the kingdom of heaven can be entered by forceful people. Forceful in the sense that it’s the most painful and forceful experience to allow God to do a 180 in your life to turn your will to his.

The beatitudes can almost serve as a warning sign as we enter the Sermon on the Mount; as we enter Jesus teaching on how to live with him.

Warning: Are you sure you want to do this?

Through this lens the beatitudes become the framework for the entire sermon. Without them the rest is read but not embraced.

Crazy Talk - AKA The Sermon on the Mount

2006-04-08T11:27:00.000-07:00

I am taking a break from laying out some of my thoughts on the gospel as participation to share a little about what’s been going on in me while studying the Sermon on the Mount. I started doing it by accident and now I can’t stop (ahhh, the blessing of ADD).

The Sermon on the Mount starts with what is commonly called the Beatitudes where Jesus lays the foundation (I realize this is a very non-pomo/emergent/missional/cool word but I couldn't come up with anything else) for the whole sermon. Jesus takes a little bit of time to talk about who is really well off in the kingdom of God; Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers and those who are persecuted for righteousness sake. Sign me up for that club; I bet they throw the best parties!

I was listening to a teaching by a Theologian named Stanley Hauerwas. He had a lot of interesting things to say but one simple thing I can’t shake and that is “the sermon on the mount is Jesus.” The teacher and the teaching are one. When we separate the teaching of Jesus and the work of crucifixion and resurrection we make discipleship an afterthought. To live the Sermon on the Mount is salvation. Jesus said several times but in different ways those who know and love him (and his father) will follow his teachings and commandments. If the Sermon on the Mount is Jesus and we aren’t radically engaged in learning to live it then there’s no way we can “know” Jesus. To live the sermon is to know him. WOW. Hauerwas said that strikes a dagger into the heart of piety or into the heart of Jesus-being-my-personal-savior-and-I-try-to-be-a-good-person-and-will-go-to-heaven-someday-Christianity.

DANG.

More thoughts to come.

Used: The Gospel as Participation - Thoughts Part 2

2006-04-06T13:54:00.000-07:00

This is one of my Vans Old School shoes. This sucker has been through the ringer with me. I wish I could still wear them but if you look there is a ginourmous gaping whole in the back and when I walk the soul flaps out. Once I walk about a block there is only an inch of soul left inside the shoe. There is something glorious about using something well. We usually think it's the new "cool" item that has the most value but in actuality it's the things that we've shared life with that means the most. Like those "blankees" most kids have that they wear out so much they become scraps of yarn and fiber. I'm beginning to realize that God's desire for me is too look like this shoe. That his goal for my life is to be used by him. To have the worn out marks of his feet guiding my life and stamped into my being. God wants to be involved in every part of my life and he wants me to be involved in him. So much of my life I have been focused on getting somewhere when God has been whispering that he just wants me to be used. The journey with God is the destination. A life well used.

Used: The Gospel as Participation - Thoughts Part 1

2006-04-04T23:10:00.000-07:00

I had lifted weights for five days straight in seventh grade and all that hard work was now paying off sixteen years later as I lugged three storage boxes up our treacherous basement steps. My two year old son’s face lit up as he saw some new treasures emerge from the ominously intriguing “down-stay-eeze.” I opened the first bin to reveal dozens of …“STAR WARS Daddy oh WOW it’s STAR WARS.” Kaeden bounced frantically with excitement as I explained “these are Daddy’s special Star Wars toys Kaedo and because they are special we don’t take them out of their packages.” “No Open” asked Kaeden. “That’s right bud we just look.” “OHHhhhhhhhhhhh” As I carefully displayed the great spoils of my bachelor years to my young padewon I noticed interest was disappearing at light speed. Just two minutes after the star wars collectibles unveiling my son had left and begun playing with a Snapple cap in the corner. I had broken the kid in on Star Wars a little too early for his age and he had begun getting nightmares from the movies so we had to stop watching them altogether. Realizing he was probably on at least a three year star wars film fast I thought maybe seeing my humble collection would put me in the running for Dad of the year. I was wrong.

It’s used. Those words usually cause a hand to retreat in disgust from what it was reaching for and the searching eye will move on to find the sexy hot new item. For a collector the word used means a great deal less of worth is assigned to the item. What you want is something in mint condition or even still in the box so it can go up on display in all it’s faultless glory. But not taking a cool toy out of a box makes as much sense to a two year old as getting your favorite bands new CD and then displaying it still packaged up on the mantle in your house. Music is meant to be listened to, toys are meant to be played with and star wars figures are meant to collide in galactic battle all over the living room carpet. Who cares if those action figures will be worth $100 bucks a piece someday (maybe!); they are worth much more then that if they are well used.

Since that night I went down a notch in coolness with my son I began discovering a renewed and empowering meaning for things that are “used.” You would think someone who was one of the three lead singers for the incomparable underground punk/ska band “The Thrift Shop Junkies” would know better (Interesting sidenote: Punk/Ska is probably far too gracious of a genre label the best I ever heard was Spazz/Punk). My high school friends and I had discovered Value Village as a mine of creative dressing gold long before it was even remotely popular. One example would be after a purchase at Goodwill I showed up to school my junior year sporting my sleeveless baby blue extra small t-shirt with the words “World’s Largest Source Of Natural Gas” plastered across the front. A couple years after high school some of my friends joined forces with several others with second hand store tendencies to form the band. I joined the band early in the career and appear on the first full length album (Gap is the Enemy) that was recorded by a junior at a neighboring high school who had access to the school’s equipment. Well, let’s just make a long story short; “used” is a word I am very familiar with but only lately have I begun to get a glimpse of all that word could mean in life.