Thursday, October 23, 2008


Only two more days! Saturday will be another wonderful MORE Hands for God Day as Disciples of Christ churches from all over Metro Atlanta meet at the City of Refuge in downtown Atlanta to share the love of Christ through service to our neighbors.

Too often in my life Derek Webb's haunting lyrics ring true:
Who's your brother, who's your sister
You just walked passed him
I think you missed her.
Together we resolve no longer to pass by or miss our brother and sister. Please keep praying that God will use our work to His glory and for His purposes. See you Saturday morning at MORE Hands for God Day. NOTE: Registration and Breakfast are at 8:30 AM!

Friday, October 17, 2008

Quotation of the Week

We do not have a blue print for what a new world of peaceful and just relationships with one another will look like. We do not know for sure how we will survive in a world yet conditioned by the logic of race. But we know that the only place where we will have the power to figure these things out is in the resurrected body of Jesus. And He is going ahead of us into Galilee. So, we follow the lead of the women – Mary, Mary and Salome – and chase after God’s new world, assured that our identity as disciples offers us a better hope than the cultural identities that we are leaving behind.
Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, Free to Be Bound: Church Beyond the Color Line, 192.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Just Once


The laws of the United States provide an alternative to combat for the person who believes that all war is wrong. For our purposes, anyone who is convinced that as a follower of Jesus Christ, he or she should never take part in the violence of war may be excused from that "duty." This is to say, the laws provide for the pacifist conscientious objector. It is an altogether different situation for the person, Christian or otherwise, who adheres to the just war tradition. The person who holds that war may be morally justified under specific and limited circumstances has no legal recourse if, in fact, he or she determines that any given war fails to meet Just War criteria. Such a person will either participate in the military or face criminal prosecution. It matters not to the law that one's Christian faith may have something to say about the unjust nature of a conflict and that one is being asked to fight against religious principles. There is no legal provision for a selective conscientious objection to wars of the United States.

Most Christians in the USA, however, hold to precisely that view. Most claim not to be pacifists (despite the fact that the earliest Christians appear to have been almost universally pacifist), but rather Christians in this nation are almost all "just warriors" -- holding the position that if the nation's conflicts meet the criteria of a just war they may participate righteously.

That surely raises a serious practical question. When do the nation's wars not meet the criteria? When was the last time we saw conservative, "pro-America" Christians come to the conclusion that any armed conflict of the United States was "unjust"? When did we last hear evangelical leaders cry out against war? Oh, sure, we heard whines sounding eerily similar to just war rhetoric when Bill Clinton bombed an aspirin factory to divert attention from Monica-gate (though I suspect the real reason conservatives were upset was not the reckless use of force, but their inability to keep the nation's attention on the President's cigar collection). The point is, those who claim to be faithful to the Bible, who claim to follow the Prince of Peace, almost never find their own nation's wars unjustified. It is impossible to believe that all our armed conflicts have been a last resort -- and that is to name but one of the criteria for a just war. Yet evangelical Christians almost never protest against let alone refuse to take part in this nation's wars. They rally, wear ribbons, fly flags, preach sermons and enlist by the thousands. What we almost never hear is serious reflection from evangelical leaders on when Christians cannot participate in the war plans of the nation.
If the tradition which claims that war may be justified does not also admit that it could be unjustified, the affirmation is not morally serious. A Christian who prepares the case for a justified war without being equally prepared for the negative case has not soberly weighed the prima facie presumption that any violence is wrong until the case for an exception has been made. We honor the moral seriousness of the nonpacifist Christian when we spell out the criteria by which the credibility of that seriousness must be judged. (John Howard Yoder, When War is Unjust: Being Honest in Just-War Thinking, p. 82).
Two things I am waiting to see. I am waiting to see one single war waged by the US that is judged unjust by my "Just War" friends, and then I want to see a Church exploring Scripture and Tradition to determine what it means to follow the Crucified God in light of that judgment. When I see that -- just once -- it will be easier to take Just War tradition more seriously.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Prophets of a Future Not Our Own

Poem by Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador
Martyred on March 24, 1980 while saying Mass

It helps, now and then, to step back
and take the long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of
the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.
Nothing we do is complete,
which is another way of saying
that the kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about:

We plant seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything
and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for God's grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results,
but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders,
ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own. Amen

On Not Being Content with ‘Going to Church’


When he returned from a “mission trip” to Brazil, one church member said this: “The church in Brazil behaved as if it were a mission church, which made sense to me while I was there, because they are in a foreign field. It was only later, and I admit this to my embarrassment, it was only later that it dawned on me that Brazil isn’t a foreign field to them! All they were being was what they are called to be.”

That the church has a God-given mission is clear to most of us. What is not always so clear is this: the church doesn’t just have a mission; the church IS a mission. No matter where an authentic Christian community is located, be it Beverly Hills, downtown Atlanta, or Port-au-Prince, it is a mission: sent, empowered, and directed by Christ Jesus himself.

Poverty is clearly greater in some places than in others, but the need for the gospel of Jesus Christ is great everywhere. Thus it is no exaggeration to say that Brazil is no more of a mission field than Atlanta. Haiti is no more of a mission field than Buckhead (there’s a head-scratcher for you). You can go on a mission trip without ever leaving town – because God has set you and this church in a mission field.

I visited a church once that had a large sign at the parking lot entrance which said “Welcome.” Nothing remarkable about that. The thing about this sign was it had another message on the back, turned in toward the church so that you could read it only when leaving the property. It said simply, “You are now entering the mission field.”

It’s possible we’ve contented ourselves with just “going to church” when our number one priority is to “be” the church, i.e., God’s mission to the last, the least, the lost. Faithfulness begins when we discover that, while we have a mission, it is just as important to see that we are a mission.

Friday, October 3, 2008

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted

I am so tempted to help this stuff make sense. Surely you can see why. On its face this beatitude is absurd. "Blessed are those who mourn." What the heck does that mean? Happy are the sad? How fortunate are those who are weeping? Congratulations to you with broken hearts? If that makes sense to you, then please take a seat at the head of the class and leave me here with my dunce cap because to me it seems the exact opposite would be true.

I might expect to hear Jesus say, "Go and comfort those who mourn," or "Tough break all you mourners," or "Keep your chin up, mourners," or even "What a rotten thing it is to mourn." But no, Jesus says that those who mourn are blessed. They are fortunate and have reason to be glad. And just what is the reason mourners are blessed? Help is coming. They will be comforted.

Now, that's a divine passive if ever there was one. God is the great Comforter. It's a reminder that God never abandons the grieving. Though He may seem distant, silent, even cold -- Mathew says He sees our grief and he will make it right. Thus, mourners are fortunate and even they -- no, especially they have reason to be glad.

Commentators seem drawn to tell us what the mourning is all about. Mourning over personal failures, or over the state of the world, over sin, decay , disease. Mourning over lost persons. But Jesus doesn't complete the painting, he merely makes a broad stroke. "Blessed are those who mourn." If He doesn't qualify its meaning, then perhaps we shouldn't either.
Mourning cannot be limited exclusively to expressing sorrow for one's sin... or grief surrounding death.... Rather, "those who mourn" has the more comprehensive sense of Isaiah 61:2-3, an inclusive grief that refers to the disenfranchised, contrite, and bereaved. It is an expression of the intense sense of loss, helplessness, and despair. --Robert A. Guelich, The Sermon on the Mount.
Sometimes when we are filled with gladness and life is easy, we feel less need for God and have less room for Him in our lives. Maybe, and I imagine you've experienced this before, maybe suffering and pain, mourning and grief are blessing, even cause for gladness at times because they hollow out in us a space for God and his comfort. Blessed are those whose grief reveals in them the God-void, for God Himself will fill their deepest need.

What Becomes of the Brokenhearted?

SPOKEN:
A world filled with love is a wonderful sight.
Being in love is what's heart's delight.
But that look of love isn't on my face;
That enchanted feeling has been replaced.

As I walk this land of broken dreams,
I have visions of many things
But happiness is just an illusion
Filled with sadness and confusion

What becomes of the brokenhearted
Who had love that's now departed?
I know I've got to find
Some kind of peace of mind
Maybe

The fruits of love grow all around
But for me, they come a-tumblin' down
Every day, heartaches grow a little stronger
I can't stand this pain much longer

I walk in shadows searching for light
Cold and alone, no comfort in sight
Hoping and praying for someone who'll care
Always moving and going nowhere

What becomes of the brokenhearted
Who had love that's now departed?
I know I've got to find
Some kind of peace of mind
Help me

I'm searching though I don't succeed
For someone's look, there's a growing need
All is lost, there's no place for beginning
All that's left is an unhappy ending

Now, what becomes of the brokenhearted
Who had love that's now departed?
I know I've got to find
Some kind of peace of mind
I'll be searching everywhere
Just to find someone to care

I'll be looking every day
I know I'm going to find a way
Nothing's gonna stop me now
I will find a way somehow
I'll be searching everywhere
(fade out)


Thursday, October 2, 2008

The kingdom of heaven can be received only by empty hands


It is really only the poor in spirit who can, actually, have anything, because they are the ones who know how to receive gifts. To them everything is a gift. --Simon Tugwell, The Beatitudes: Soundings in Christian Traditions

We are to be spiritually poor only for the sake of becoming spiritually rich, detached from what own so that we can be attached in a different way to what we cannot own, detached from consuming so that we can be consumed by God. --Peter Kreeft, Back to Virtue

Right at the beginning of his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus contradicted all human judgments and all nationalistic expectations of the kingdom of God. The kingdom is given to the poor, not the rich; the feeble, not the mighty; to little children humble enough to accept it, not to soldiers who boast that they can obtain it by their own prowess. --John R. W. Stott, The Message of the Sermon on the Mount

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Blessed are the Poor in Spirit: A verse that puts a smile on the face and a spring in the step!

I think if most of us were really familiar with the text of the Bible we'd soon discover that Matthew 5:3 contains our favorite part of Scripture. Not John 3:16, not Psalm 23. Not the creation stories nor the Passion. I'm not suggesting that this is one of our favorite parts of the Bible, rather I'm saying it is our most favorite part of the Bible, though I think we'll all take umbrage at the idea. But it's not the whole of the verse, mind you, only the particular phrase "in spirit." Blessed are the poor in spirit. "In spirit" is our favorite passage. No need to memorize it because it is already in our hearts. Enjoy it; savor it; own it: in spirit.

All I can say is thank God for the "in spirit" addendum. Jesus really had me going there for a minute. And I bet I'm not the only one. Blessed are the poor? Riiiiiight. You just knew Jesus had to be setting us up with the whole "Blessed are the poor" thing. Startling us a little to get our attention before adding the liberating phrase, "in spirit."

"In spirit" is wonderful. It does everything we need it to do. Frankly, it salvages the whole verse by spiritualizing words of Jesus that were otherwise decidedly unspiritual. "In spirit" completely saves the first beatitude. A rather earthy and, if I may say so, objectionable saying (blessed are the poor) becomes a quite palatable. It allows us to understand that there are a lot of types of poverty all of which can affect our spirit. But mostly, "in spirit" is wonderful because it allows us to remain rich and still be "blessed." Why? Well, because we are "poor... in spirit." God bless us all -- everyone!

What a wonderful thing it is to know that we can still be utterly self-reliant, high achievers living high lifestyles, who need nothing from anyone -- and still receive the blessing of the Kingdom -- because of our rich poverty.

A few heads nod in puzzled agreement.
Nobody laughs.
Very few weep.

But those who do weep know what's up. Rich people, even rich church members are in a heap of trouble. Why? Because we have all we need. We have more than we want. We smile when talking about security. We don't need to rely on others, or even on God -- only on ourselves. Our plates are piled high, our closets are overflowing, our confidence soars. We are blessed!

To the losers, to the abjectly poor, to those whose circumstances beat them down so low that they are forced to turn to the only real Help anyone can get anyway -- to these, but never to the rich Jesus says, "You, my friends, are fortunate indeed. You get the whole kingdom"