Happy New Year

This is the greeting I sent to the Yukon Presbyterians for Earth Care. Although it was crafted with them in mind, I find it wonderfully fitting for all, so I include it below.

May God bless you all in this new year!

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Happy New Year Everyone!

This is a traditional time of the year for Christians to greet one another with great warmth. The new year marks a moment to embrace new beginnings--and we have learned that new beginnings are very real, but only become real because of God's gift of grace-in-action. Indeed, for many cultures, the New Year's "Watch Night Service" at New Year's is a much bigger religious celebration than Christmas. So Happy New Year!!! Greeting each other at this time is another way of verbally celebrating God's grace-filled new beginnings!

We know there is much trouble in this world. We also know that the inability of our society to live in proper relationship with this planet is downright depressing. But in this New Year's season, we should claim the reality of God's new possibilities, and dedicate ourselves to live out of this good news.

I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday week.

Happy New Year!

Curt

My View of the 219th General Assembly, PC(USA)

(Photo: Curt Karns, Exec; Antonia Panaya, Youth Advisory Delegate from Gambell Presbyterian; Rev. Tom Letts, Minister Commissioner from Trinity Presbyterian. Not in photo: Beulah Nowpokahok, Elder Commissioner from Gambell Presbyterian)

I was interested in the difference in tone between this General Assembly and the 218th General Assembly (2008) and the 219th (2010). There was a definite sense that this General Assembly did not come to do battle with one another, but seriously sought to find ways to discern God’s will as clearly as possible.
There were certainly enough weighty and important issues for this General Assembly to vote on, and to differ with one another on. They voted…
• on the wording of the paragraph describing ordination standards, including the famed “fidelity and chastity” wording (voted to make the change eliminating that wording—see my earlier blog entry).
• on whether or not to make an authoritative interpretation of the constitution with regard to civil unions (voted not to make the authoritative interpretation).
• on whether to change the definition of marriage from between a man and woman to between two people (voted not to make the change).
• on whether or not to move forward toward adding the Belhar Confession, developed in South Africa as a response to Apartheid) to our Book of Confessions (voted to keep the process moving toward accepting the new confession).
• on whether or not to recommend a replacement of the entire Form of Government section for the Book of Order—claiming to be shorter, less regulatory, and more empowering of diverse ways to respond to local needs (voted for the replacement, it now goes to presbyteries for their vote).
• on whether to denounce Caterpillar company for knowingly profiting on unjust uses of its products to harm Palestinians (yes) and whether to advocate divestment from Caterpillar (voted no) or to continue dialog with the company (voted yes).
• On a report on the Middle East that was modified in committee through a process that many (USA Presbyterians, Jewish and Palestinian participants) called miraculous, finding ways to move back from strident, relationship-damaging language to more respectful, yet pointed language on Israel and Palestine.

With all these weighty topics, it was interesting that the General Assembly was less interested in rocking the boat and more interested in moving into the future together. Again and again participants pointed to their awareness of the spiritual nature of what they were doing, and of the need to find common ground to move forward together. This was a different GA.
Not that this GA was always consistent in its peacemaking. Those who wanted sea-change language largely did not get it and went home unhappy. And certainly, the change in the ordination standards paragraph ruffled a lot of feather. However, in general the body did work to find middle ground, and embodied a group that valued mutual respect and wanted that for the whole church. I found the meeting refreshing.
Personally, I thought the debate on ordination standards surfaced the major theme of the GA. More than one person spoke of the need to focus on the Form of Government change rather than same-sex relationships. They pointed out that issues concerning same-sex relationships tend to “suck all other air out of the room” for presbyteries and congregations so that they cannot give adequate consideration to other important topics. Right now, the argument went, we are at a time for asking how we understand our purpose and calling as Christians, as congregations, as middle-governing bodies and as a denomination. We are at a different time in history and we must open ourselves to new discernment of our identity and our purpose. The New Form of Government asks us to take this question seriously, and so we must give our greatest attention to it for a while.
No one was saying that same-sex relationships are unimportant. However, we all know that a legislative vote does not eliminate the division on the topic within our churches. Voting 53% to 46% to change the ordination standards may result in changed wording, but it won’t decide the issue. No matter what happens when the presbyteries vote on the change, we can be sure that the question will come back again in some form at the next General Assembly.
The 219th General Assembly seemed to be asking us to take seriously how to do more than just battle with one another within the church. We need to recognize that we disagree and will disagree on some things. But we also need to recognize that we were saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8) for the good works God prepared beforehand for us to do (Ephesians 2:10). In my opinion, we are in a time right now to stop focusing on distrust and attacks within the church, and to focus on discerning next steps in our common mission together.

PC(USA) July 8 at General Assembly

Hi, everyone,

Below you will see my list of significant decisions made by General Assembly on July 8. This is a very brief list, using my words and not the official (and often long) wording actually passed by the general assembly. For more detailed information, go to the pcusa.org web site and look for GA news.

This has been a GA characterized by significant decisions. The debates have been very civil, and commissioners have visibly embodied a great sense of mutual respect, and eve agape love though they have divided strongly on many of the votes.

For today and tomorrow, I will leave most of my personal reflections out of this blog, and instead simply list what I believe are the actions of most interest to the people in the Presbytery of Yukon. However, I have to admit that watching this process and listening to people reflecting on our changing society, I am moved by the stirrings of the Spirit among us, Who I believe is drawing us into a new way of being the church. Also, in the light of the amazing worship services held as a part of this event, I am considering again the role and power of worship in our lives together. I would like to write a few reflections on such things later (maybe starting Monday) in the hopes of hearing back from others of you on your own thoughts regarding how God is forming and reforming the church today.

One other side note: I very much enjoyed dinner with many of the Presbytery of Yukon folks last night (what a great group) and the fellowship of the Synod of Alaska Northwest lunch. Last month’s redefinition of synod mission and practice seems to be at the cutting edge of what so many are calling for across our denomination! I look forward to sharing more with you at a later date.

Peace,
Curt




07 08 10 Thursday GA Notes

2. Voted to give certified Christian Editors who are also elders voice and vote at presbytery, both during their years of service and in retirement.

3. Voted (53% for, 46% against, 1% abstaining) to ask presbyteries to vote on a change in the Book of Order replacing the wording of ordination standards in G-06.0106b from the following:

Those who are called to office in the church are to lead a life in obedience to Scripture and in conformity to the historic confessional standards of the church. Among these standards is the requirement to live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman (W-4.9001), or chastity in singleness. Persons refusing to repent of any self-acknowledged practice which the confessions call sin shall not be ordained and/or installed as deacons, elders, or ministers of the Word and Sacrament.

to the following:

Standards for ordained service reflect the church’s desire to submit joyfully to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in all aspects of life (G-1.0000). The governing body responsible for ordination and/or installation (G.14.0240; G-14.0450) shall examine each candidate’s calling, gifts, preparation, and suitability for the responsibilities of office. The examination shall include, but not be limited to, a determination of the candidate’s ability and commitment to fulfill all requirements as expressed in the constitutional questions for ordination and installation (W-4.4003). Governing bodies shall be guided by Scripture and the confessions in applying standards to individual candidates.”

4. Voted not to take action on changes in guidance to pastors or sessions on civil unions, but instead voted to send presbyteries and congregations two reports from the committee assigned to study this, one from the majority of the committee and on from the minority. The two sides split on their recommendations, and the assembly decided studying the thinking of both sides would be helpful. To assist in this, GA also voted to encourage all sessions to engage in study of issues of biblical interpretation using the General Assembly papers, “Presbyterian Understanding and Use of Holy Scripture” and “Biblical Authority and Interpretation.”

5. In this era of reviewing financial justice in America’s corporations, the GA voted to study justice in GAMC salaries, seeking criteria to assure there would not be an unjust disparity between the salaries of the lowest and highest paid church employees.

6. Voted to lift up the Creation Care policy of 1993 and strengthen it with the additions listed below (to see the full document, go to the resources section of our presbytery’s Earthcare web site: www.yukonpresbyteriansforearthcare.ning.com).

Additions:
"[4. Affirm that concern for God's creation is, for every Christian, an essential way of living faithfully in Christ's world that will necessitate personal study of, attention to and engagement with emerging and new environmental concerns that are persistent, acute, and pressing.
"[5. Affirm that the best available science should inform our care for God's creation, shaping the direction of responsible programming and policy, especially with respect to public witness concerning emergent environmental issues such as global climate change, desertification and access to potable water, and wetlands/coastal erosion.
"[6. Affirm that all living creatures require potable water to live; that water, being essential to life, is a human right that must be accessible to all people.]"

7. Voted that the study paper, Living a Human Life Before God, be distributed electronically to ministers and congregations of the PC(USA) for the purpose of helping congregations explore and teach Christian ethics as they face today’s issues.

8. Voted to stand in solidarity with immigrant people in Arizona and call for just immigration reform, and to refrain from scheduling Presbyterian meetings in Arizona until their immigration law is improved.

9. Established an administrative commission empowered for the next to years to allow presbyteries and synods, the middle governing bodies of the church, to redraw their boundaries, when the affected middle governing bodies request it, and with a 2/3 majority vote of the administrative commission

Wednesday, July 7 at General Assembly

To: pastors of PbYukon congregations

Hi, everyone,

I just want to give a brief update on GA activities. For my notes on decisions, you or your parishioners and friends can go to my blog online at http://pbyukon.blogspot.com/

For now, though, I want to say that The Presbytery of Yukon has been well represented in the work of the General Assembly Committees. Commissioners served as follows:
• Youth Advisory Commissioner Antonia Penaya from Gambell Presbyterian
Served on Committee

• Elder Commissioner Beulah Nowpokahok from Gambell Presbyterian

• Minister Commissioner Rev. Tom Letts from Trinity Presbyterian
Served as co-moderator on the Committee on Church Growth, Christian Ed and PILP



Wednesday: July 7, 2010 Plenary Business

1. Report of the Committee on Evangelism and Church Growth, and PILP

a. Renewed Grow the Church Deep and Wide
i. Four-fold emphasis: Evangelism, discipleship, witness and service

b. Renewed our commitment to fulfilling the Decade of the Child as an emphasis for churches across the nation.

c. Approved conducting a study on Racial-ethnic and Immigrant Church Growth

d. Approved convening conversations on Hispanic/Latino/Latina church growth at all levels of the church.

e. Established a new nation-wide mission statement on Youth Ministry:
The Youth Task Force recommends that the 219th General Assembly (2010) approve the following as the new vision statement for the church and youth in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.):
“In the midst of a beautiful and broken world, we have a vision for ministry with young people that unites youth in Christ with all other generations and proclaims the love of God that is without end. This vision gives us hope for a church that
“• is authentic, comprised of communities of faith that live what they proclaim;
“• participates in, and pays witness to, the lively, joyous reality of the grace of God for the whole world;
“• helps young people to understand what it means to be saved by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that they will, as God does, view all people with love and possibility;
“• expresses God’s boundless love by embracing young people as they are and where they could be, inspiring them to share their ideas, dreams, and unique gifts with the world and the church;
“• acknowledges and celebrates youth as the keepers of God’s world, capable of serving as agents of healing, friends to the friendless, and leaders along the path of Jesus;
“• encourages young people to live and lead with humility, but also with confidence and joy;
“• accepts that it may be changed, even re-made, through the power of the Spirit by youth’s energy, freshness, and vitality.”

3. Committee on Theological Issues and Institutions
a. Clarified that the Book of Order section on communion being for baptized members is pastoral advice, and not a regulatory requirement. Theologically, people would normally be baptized as a sign of entry into the faith community before coming to communion. However, pastorally this is not always a gracious rule, and should not be considered absolutely required.

b. Voted to authorize a new translation of the Heidelberg Confession from German to English. They reported dozens of errors in translation, affecting a full and clear interpretation of the confession. As an example, they noted that the current English translation is more sexist in language than the original German.

c. Voted to approve recommending the Belhar Confession from South Africa for a vote of the presbyteries as to whether it should become a new confession in the PC(USA). The Belhar confession
i. Notes that unity is and justice are not only a gift of God to the church, but also goals for the church to pursue.
ii. Speaks more clearly on the issue of race and power than the Confession of 1967, and provides theological guidance on dealing with differences in Christian community.
Points for the first time to our need and ability to learn from the whole church, including the Christians located South of the equator.

4. Committee on New Form of Government
a. Voted to recommend the New Form of Government to the presbyteries as a replacement of the Form of Government section of the Book of Order. This now comes to the presbyteries for a vote for or against the change.

5. General Assembly Mission Council Report
a. Voted to affirm the continuation of Linda Valentine’s contract as executive director of the GAMC.

So What?...In Worship there is always an answer!

Worship services should point to God. But if worship is to speak gospel (good news) in the face of the needs and hopes of the world,they should point to God and also answer the question: So what?

Let me develop this just a bit more.

The Scriptures, the Holy Spirit and the actions of Jesus Christ while here on earth all bear witness to the fact that Jesus is at the same time fully God and fully human. In Jesus Christ there is full communion between God and God’s creation. When we look at Jesus, we witness the awe and the wonder and the power of God. And when we look at Jesus we witness God’s deep concern and involvement for you and for me and for all creation, and God's empowerment of creation to respond as part of God's activity in addressing these needs. Every Christian worship service should therefore point both to the wonder and power of God, Who inspires such awe and worship in us AND to the actual involvement of God in the nitty gritty, earthy things that we are involved in.

To put it in other words, a worship service should tell us something about who God is, and should tell us in such a way as to inspire or reinforce our devotion to God. But a worship service should also point to what response this awareness of God requires of me and my generation of faithful people. A worship service that speaks of God but does not connect that awareness to the hurt and hopes of the worshiper and therefore engage them in either proper attitude and/or work in the real world is not enough.

Worship services should point to God. But if worship is to speak gospel (good news) in the face of the needs and hopes of the world,they should point to God and also answer the question: So what?

A Pentecost Sermon

Scripture:
Psalm 104:24-35 Romans 8:14-17 John 14:8-17, 25-27

Introduction: Worship Should Always Point to Two Essentials
The Scriptures, the Holy Spirit and the actions of Jesus Christ while here on earth all bear witness to the fact that Jesus is at the same time fully God and fully human. In Jesus Christ there is full communion between God and God’s creation. When we look at Jesus, we witness the awe and the wonder and the power of God. And when we look at Jesus we witness God’s deep concern and involvement for you and for me and for all creation.

Every Christian worship service should therefore point both to the wonder and power of God, Who inspires such awe and worship in us AND to the actual involvement of God in the nitty gritty, earthy things that we are involved in. That is also true on Pentecost Sunday, today, when we celebrate God in the Holy Spirit. Today, I want to do that through two stories, one about the Holy Spirit inspiring awe, and one about Holy Spirit inspired action.

Reviewing the Scriptures
However, before I do that, let’s review the Scriptures recommended by the Lectionary for today’s worship service. In all three Scripture passages there is a movement from fear to confidence, and that confidence becomes very important when we consider the work of the Holy Spirit through the church of today. Let’s take a look at the Scriptures together, watching for the movement from fear to confidence.

That movement from fear to confidence is not obvious in today’s Psalm, but it is there. Did you notice the reference to Leviathan in the Psalm? Leviathan was what they called the sea monster. Now, Israel was an inland, desert people. They feared the sea, because they just didn’t understand the sea. It was foreign and wild, and they didn’t know how to guard against it. But even scarier was the sea monsters—the whales and the giant squids and, probably even worse, the unknown. And that dreaded unknown was embodied in the mythical monster, Leviathan.

But in the Psalm, God isn’t a bit scared. God delights in all creatures—even Leviathan. And it is God’s spirit that gives Leviathan life or death. The Spirit is a spirit of delight, not fear. And there you have it, the movement from fear to confidence.

That movement from fear to confidence is much more obvious in the Romans Passage. Here, Paul tells us that we need to recognize that in receiving the Holy Spirit we have received we have not received a spirit of fear, but of security. We are not like slaves, afraid that we might be cast off at any time. Rather, we have received a Spirit of adoption, whereby God actually chooses us to become children of God. Our place is secure and nothing can take that away from us. We should therefore be confident of the ministry to which each of us has been called and join with Christ as Christ joins with all people and all creation’s broken-ness and suffering in this world.

And, indeed, Jesus himself told us that this is our work. Remember in the Bible, in the last half of Matthew 25 Jesus tells us that when judgment comes we will be judged by the way that we treated him when he was homeless, or hungry or in prison. And if we ask when we ever saw him like that, he will tell us that whenever we saw the least of these, his brothers and sisters, we were seeing him. He absolutely joins with the brokenness of creation.

And I do mean creation. Humans? Assuredly. But also all creation. Because Jesus came for the love of all creation, because God so loved the world (by the way, in John 3:16 ,the word in Greek is kosmos. “For God so loved the kosmos that God sent the only son…”). But Jesus enters into ministry on behalf of all the broken and downtrodden of all creation, and asks us to join him in this as fellow children of God, with Christ as the firstborn. We join with Christ in this because we are not afraid of such ministry, we are moved to security and confidence.

Finally, today’s passage from John’s gospel, begins with the disciples absolutely bathed in fear. Jesus had just told them that he was about to be arrested and would die.

I have to believe that this was a shock to the disciples. They believed when they signed on with Jesus that he was going to lead them from victory to victory, right into glory. They didn’t believe that they had signed on with a Messiah who would be put to death, and leave them abandoned. And especially not abandoned at such a frightening moment. The religious leaders were gunning for Jesus, and they had managed to get the Roman governmental leaders to join them. If the religious and government leaders were after Jesus, then surely they would be after his followers, too. This had to have been a very scary message to receive, even from Jesus.

So Philip replied for them all: “Show us the Father, and that will be enough.”

I suspect Jesus was really frustrated by this. As he told Philip, he had already been showing them the Father. Didn’t they get it? The Father is in Jesus and Jesus is in the Father. Whatever he had done, it was the Father doing it in him. He had already been showing them the Father. Showing the Father was not the answer to their fear right then.

Jesus was leaving them, it was not the Father they needed, but the Holy Spirit, Immanuel (which means God with you) who they needed. They needed the Spirit, who would be with them always, who would be the one to advocate for the Father, telling them everything they needed to know and reminding them of everything they already had been given. Yes, the Spirit would advocate for God to them, but also would advocate for them to God, making sure that God understood them, and even praying for them in ways they could not pray for themselves.

Further, the Spirit would empower them to continue Jesus’ ministry on earth, inspiring them and empowering them. If they listened to the Spirit for what Jesus wanted, then anything they asked in Jesus’ name would be done for them. Indeed, they would do the works Jesus was doing, and even greater works than Jesus had already done. For the Spirit would abide within them individually, among them all collectively, and would be at work through them.

When the Spirit comes we are moved from fear to confidence, and are sent out in confidence in the ministry of the Lord. Each of us are ministers. And nothing is more important than God’s love for this broken creation, and God’s ministry to save and reconcile that creation.

Powerful stuff. So now, let us look at this message both in terms of the awe and wonder of God, but also in terms of God’s involvement with us in ministry. Let me tell you two true stories.

First story: The Lord of Heaven
Not so long ago, I went goose hunting with an elder from the Atqasuk Chapel on the North Slope. The wind was really blowing, and we were standing in the show waiting for geese—which sounds like a cold, unhappy morning, I suppose—but it wasn’t. As I stood there, I began to think about passages from the Bible carrying a similar message to the one in today’s Psalm, Psalm 104:30—when God sends forth God’s spirit, creaturely thing, including living things, are created. And when God withholds God’s spirit, they cease to be.

It is this kind of teaching that causes Christians to teach the Holy Spirit in a couple of ways, and one of them is that the Holy Spirit is the sustainer. The Holy Spirit is the sustainer of the universe—the Holy Spirit holds the universe together; the Holy Spirit gives life to all living things and sustains them. But according to Jesus, the Holy Spirit also comes to us personally, drawing us into faith and guiding us to grow in learning and understanding.

And I suppose all of this might sound a bit confusing as it comes out of my mouth. But it wasn’t confusing while I was goose hunting!

Suddenly, I began to see God everywhere in a bunch of ways. I began to recognize that God’s fingerprints were in the air that I was breathing, the snow that was blowing, the bush that was shaken by the wind in front of my face, and the geese that I was hunting. Further, I realized that because of Pentecost, the saving Spirit of God dwells within me, and within my hunting partner, and within all people of faith worldwide. And suddenly, everywhere I looked I was seeing God. God around me in nature, God in me, God through me in my actions, and God at work among us, God moving in ways mysterious, through all creation and all time.

WOW!

As I said, there are two things that should be pointed to in every worship service. One is the absolute awe and wonder and power of God. And if you start to think of God’s spirit, holding the universe together, dwelling in your heart and drawing you into a life of faith, and at work connecting you to all people of faith and all creation that serves the Lord in all time and space…well if that doesn’t stir wonder in your heart, then just wait. Maybe you will be goose hunting one day, or fishing, or holding a baby, or something else. One of these days, the wonder of God present in every moment and place will reach out and grab you.

These moments of wonder are a gift from God and we need to hold onto them. Most times we don't feel such wonder. In fact, when times are tough, my emotions can get in the way so that I absolutely cannot feel the wonder and the awe. At such times, I have found two things that are essential to my spiritual well being. The first is remembrance--I need to remember these moments that show me what is always true whether I feel it or not. Indeed faith and life is not about feelings but about doing what is needed, no matter how we feel.

Second, I need to recognize that God always gives enough strength to do what is needed to the church, but rarely to one person alone. It is in the sharing that we find that there is strength enough and wisdom enough to face the most difficult moments. Person ally, I have established a relationship with two Soul-Friends, who I can call at any time, and who I can trust with the most sacred of things. If you haven't found a soul friend, I recommend that you do. And I also recommend that you remember those sacred moments of awareness that God gives to you. Remembrance is important and powerful.

Second story: The Lord of Earth
Did you know that the North Slope Borough was started because of the Presbyterians? We knew from our connection to churches in the arctic that the oil was going to be pumped South and the taxes from the oil was going to Juneau and not to the local people. No bank would finance the political and legal effort it would take to start the North Slope Borough. They feared that the oil companies would take their business away if they helped start another taxing agency.

But an Iñupiaq Eskimo woman named Martha Aiken was attending a Presbyterian meeting in New York and learned of a new thing in those days; The Self Development of People Fund. She and Eben Hopson filled out an application, the presbytery approved it and sent it on, and the national church gave a grant of $800,000 to bring justice to the arctic. Within two years another Iñupiaq man, Rex Okakok, returned to the General Assembly with a check in his hand. ‘No one would stand with us,’ he said. When it was not popular to empower native-based government, when public opinion was against us, and when we were left alone, our brothers and sisters in the church were the only ones, who stood with us. Only the church, because they knew God would not leave us here in poverty when there was something else that could be don.’

And with that, he handed the check to the stated clerk, repaying the full amount, plus interest. ‘Go out and do that again,’ he said. Find others facing injustice and join with them, too. Be like Jesus and with others that no one else will stand with.

This is the kind of church I want to be a part of. I want to be a part of a church that understands how it matters that Jesus is both fully God and fully human—that in Jesus we see divinity and the awesome power of God, who inspires us to worship and calls us, on the Lord’s Day, to set that day apart and come together to join our worship and offer it to him. And, in Jesus, who went to the cross for us, we also see a very human side, empowered to enter into as earthy and messy of a creaturely situation as you can imagine, and transform it from crucifixion to resurrection. And in the Holy Spirit, God touches us, brings us into the security of God’s salvation, and then inspires and empowers us to go forth in the name of Jesus. Because of the Holy Spirit, we are called and empowered to continue the Great Work of our Lord.

The Challenge
So what about us? How does this apply to us, specifically? Let me ask you a few questions about how this applies to you.

First, when did you have one of those moments of awe and wonder, when God seemed so amazingly present that you were drawn into worship and awe? Probably it wasn’t when you were goose hunting, though it might have been, I suppose. When was it for you?

Second, remember that you have met God so that you can know who you really are, a child of God, not a child of fear. And yet, humans that we are, we do know fear. When has fear, or anxiety got in your way when you knew God wanted you to do something?

How did you respond? (if you are like me, sometimes you responded well and sometimes not well at all)
Please recognize that we are called to learn, both from those times when we responded well and when we did not. You are still a child of God, no matter your past. What does God want you to learn?

And now a question for this church. The First Presbyterian Church of Anchorage is made up of this group of people, in this town at this time. What ministry does God want this church to do? How does God want this church to make a difference here at this time.

Now, each of you are in this church. Each of you are to make a difference in it. Are you giving your self to this ministry with all your energy, intelligence, imagination and love? Are you doing what you can to make the ministry of this church effective?

Hear the words of your Savior:
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.

The Voice of the Lord: Part III

I have heard it said that Celtic Christians speak of “thin places.” Thin places are places in this world where contact with the holy seems easy. Some of these thin places become pilgrimage goals for the faithful, others are known just by only a few, and others seem to be special places for one time only.

The gospel passages describing the Transfiguration of Christ (Mark 9, Matthew 17, Luke 9) depict what is perhaps the ultimate in “thin place” experiences. Peter, James and John accompany Jesus up a mountain to pray. In that lonely place they suddenly see Jesus with new eyes. Instead of the Jesus as just one more man with dirty feet, they see the divine Jesus positively glowing with the glory of God. What’s more, they also experience Jesus as in visible communion with the sources behind the Law and the Prophets.

I believe that this is one small piece of what worship is about. Worship is about declaring that this finite world in which we live is also a place in which the full glory of God is present among us. Worship uses liturgy, art, Word, sacrament and fellowship to proclaim this truth of communion-with-God-in-this-world, and also to orchestrate opportunities for worship to sometimes turn into an actual experience of the thin places of this world.

In my personal experience, corporate worship does sometimes (though rarely) succeed in becoming such a thin place experience. Yet, even when worship seems boring and repetitive, I believe the to be tremendously important. Participating in worship proclaims a truth that is always present, but that some only rarely experience—that though we live in a creation that hurts and struggle and must pass away, we also live in the presence of, and in relationship with, the Holy One, and are surrounded by God’s grace and glory; even if we don’t know it. There is great wonder to be found in this creation, and we need to recognize and celebrate that truth. Worship is an intentional effort at recognizing and celebrating the Holy.

Besides understanding worship, there is another aspect of this passage that I love. I find it fascinating that in the very moment when the disciples experienced the power and glory of God in Jesus, the words that the Voice of the Lord spoke were the same words that were s[plem when Jesus was baptized. The same voice spoke the same words at Jesus’ all-too-human baptism and at his all-so-divine transfiguration: “This is my (God’s) Son, whom I Love.”

On the other hand, at Jesus’ transfiguration the Voice added, “Listen to him.”

I suppose I am a Christian and a minister to some degree because of those moments in which I have experienced great awe and wonder in glimpses of the divine. I truth, those moments are precious. They somehow manage to transcend the routines and drudgery that are make up so much of life. Yet, I must admit that only a very small part of my life has been filled with such wonder.

Even so, because I have glimpsed God’s glory, and just as important, because liturgy and true Christian community keep proclaiming that reality even in the dry times and even in the painful times of my life, I have found that I am fed by this holiness and glory—and the potential that this glory holds for all—both in good times and in bad. In my life, and I believe in the lives of most people of faith, I/we continue living the way I/we do out of faith, not sight.

However, having said that, I also believe that this awareness of the divine power and glory of God creates certain challenges for people living out of hope. First, we need to be continually striving to proclaim what is true, namely the truth of this reality of God’s grace and glory all the time by what we do and say. Consistency is important.

Second, we need to be careful in how we proclaim such things. I sometimes find it tempting to “force” the message by pretending to have wonderful experiences in moments that are not “thin place” moments. It is tempting to buy into the idea that I ought to “look holy” or others will lose the message, or to believe that if I act holy enough I will experience these special moments. These temptations have nothing to do with reality, or with what honors God.

But most importantly, I find that this passage encourages me to stay the course and work for healing, justice and reconciliation in this broken world even when I am feeling overwhelmed by this world’s troubles. I believe this is the deepest teaching of the passage. After all, Jesus does not let the disciples stay at the “thin place” on top of the mountain. Instead, he insists that they accompany him back down the mountain, where they immediately find people suffering physically, spiritually, and socially. And so they wade into the struggles of life once more.

This is the essence of hope. Not that we always (or even normally) feel holy ecstasy, or even great emotional confidence. The essence of hope is based on glimpsing what is true beyond the immediate troubles and, living out of that reality, to participate in God’s work of addressing the bad news of this world with the good news of God.

The Voice of the Lord: Part II

The season before Lent normally begins and ends with two Scripture accounts that serve as bookends around important portions of the gospel. Specifically, these portions of Scripture show Jesus, the man, as the Savior in whom the fullness of God dwells. Interestingly, both of these bookend passages (the Baptism of Jesus, and the Transfiguration) include an audible hearing of the Voice of the Lord. Today’s blog is about the first of these, the baptism of Jesus.
The thing that strikes me about Jesus’ baptism (look in Matthew 3, Mark 1, or Luke 3) is that it was a sinners’ baptism. People who needed a fresh start were coming to John the Baptist to be washed in the Jordan River as a sign of their need (and desire) to make a clean, new beginning. John called them to repentance of their sin--a turning of their lives away from whatever in their life had left them lost or broken and onto God’s path of right relationship and right actions.

Yet, according to the Scriptures (2 Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 4:15) Jesus was a sinless man. Even so, as Jesus watched the people going to John for a fresh start he made the decision to join specifically with those people.

Surely this act of joining with sinners in their baptism was a powerful way of showing Christ’s intention as Savior. In Jesus’ baptism, we see that Jesus insisted on identifying himself with us, the sinners, and with all creatures that suffer from the brokenness of this fallen universe. In his baptism Jesus was declaring himself a full human being—a true part of the created order of the universe. For us humans, who were created with a need to understand, this was as if God were telling us that God was taking action by sending us salvation through a human Savior—that God was identifying us completely, even with our human DNA. I am hoping that we will truly get what this means: God will not let us be lost forever but will reach out with real salvation that will make a difference. Indeed, it was at this very moment, when Jesus came up out of the waters of a sinner’s baptism that the Voice of God spoke, letting us know: This (this creature, this man that absolutely insists on being related to all of you) is my son, with whom I am well pleased (Matthew 3:17).

For Christians this should have two powerful messages which we need to grasp with all our might. The first is that we are beloved by God. Not only did God somehow become fully a creature in the birth of Jesus, but God joins with us even in our sin, and calls us to repentance and new life. For people who don’t know hope, this is a powerful message. If we don’t know how to save ourselves, somehow God is coming for us and we need to watch and be ready. But in the meantime, we need to hear the message—God joined with us in the coming of Jesus, in the baptism of Jesus, and God will find a way of joining with you (us) today, wherever you are. Don’t listen to those who say you are beyond hope. Don’t listen to those who say you are not worthy of help. Listen to the Voice of the Lord: this Savior comes to bring real, life-changing salvation. Be ready and don’t lose hope.

Second, if we are followers of our Savior, we need to see that Jesus demonstrated what faithful human life looks like. This means that we Jesus followers need to ask how we can embody that hope that Jesus showed us. Specifically, if Jesus was willing to join with us and with the brokenness of creation, who are we called to join with? Where do we see creation broken and failing? Where do we see people burdened with their guilt or shame, or with their hurt from sin that has been committed against them? Where do we see people cut off from the hope that they had and in need of new hope? Where, in our own lives, are we in contact with those who truly need allies of hope? How can we join with them, as Jesus joined with us? How can we help people not to be alone, without hope, in their brokenness?

The Voice of the Lord: Part I

In the Old Testament, the whole point of putting hope in the Messiah was that Israel knew that they (and we) needed a Messiah. Without a Messiah all would be lost.

Today there are probably many who won't admit their need for a Savior. Some either believe they are already healthy and doing well, thank you very much. Others simply cannot admit how lost they are, because they see no other hope than their own ability. If we see no hope, then how could we dare to admit how lost we are. It is this kind of situation that leaves so many people in denial of their great need. There are many who are stuck in addiction, or in depression, or in abusive relationships, or in some other impossible situation. Such people often live in denial of how bad things are because they simply have no hope.

But when the people of Israel knew they were lost, God revealed that a Messiah would come. They could, and should, put their hope in the Messiah. Jesus is that Messiah, and God took action to assure us that Jesus is the one. God did it in one of those rare moments when people could actually hear a voice speaking audible words--though some still doubted.

There are two times when God's spoke audibly during Jesus' ministry. In the interest of keeping this somewhat brief, will write about them in my next two blogs. They will clarify not only that Jesus is the Messiah, but how that makes a difference. For now, I just want to point out that the biblical writers really wanted people to pay attention to the voice of God. Jeremiah complained that Israel just wasn't listening to the voice of God. They treated the word of God as if it were ancient literature cast in stone, as if God couldn't say anything new to them. Jeremiah complained that they weren't listening to what God was saying today. In short, they were cutting people off from the hope, which God had right then for the people with urgent needs. Jeremiah called them to listen to what God was saying right now.

The Psalms picked that theme up, too. In the Psalms when God speaks, the hearing of God's voice changes everything, shakes everything up, and brings about good things. A great example is Psalm 29! I will list it, below to help show my point. But for now, let me end the first of three blogs on the voice of the Lord by asking these questions:

1. How aware are you of the need for God to act as Savior for the world?

2. How aware are you of the need for God to act as Savior in your world (for your family or your life)?

3. How ready are you to pay attention if God actually speaks to your need?

Psalm 29
(I'm using the "Message" paraphrase by Eugene Peterson, because I think it brings the poetry alive in our own cultural language, as Psalms are meant to be heard.)

^1-2 Bravo, God, bravo! Gods and all angels shout, "Encore!"
In awe before the glory,
in awe before God's visible power.
Stand at attention!
Dress your best to honor him!

³ God thunders across the waters,
Brilliant, his voice and his face, streaming brightness—
God, across the flood waters.

⁴ God's thunder tympanic,
God's thunder symphonic.

⁵ God's thunder smashes cedars,
God topples the northern cedars.

⁶ The mountain ranges skip like spring colts,
The high ridges jump like wild kid goats.

^7-8 God's thunder spits fire.
God thunders, the wilderness quakes;
He makes the desert of Kadesh shake.

⁹ God's thunder sets the oak trees dancing
A wild dance, whirling; the pelting rain strips their branches.
We fall to our knees—we call out, "Glory!"

¹⁰ Above the floodwaters is God's throne
from which his power flows,
from which he rules the world.

¹¹ God makes his people strong.
God gives his people peace.

Finding Christ in an Age of Suffering

Epiphany is about hope. Why then, two millennia after the Messiah's birth, is there still so much suffering in the world. Think about it:

• The Dominican Republic is on the same island as Haiti, but has enjoyed better government. As a result, building codes were better, infrastructure was better, economic policy was better, and the people were not set up for near as much suffering as Haiti, even in the face of a huge earthquake. Why must Haiti suffer so much today?
  
  
• Humans have both overpopulated and mismanaged our relationship with the planet to the extent that we have set up a huge die-off of life, unless we can repent and make meaningful change. Yet, after decades of growing evidence, denial is still largely the preferred method of human leadership on this issue.
  
  
• Although the genius of American government was founded on free speech, our inability to differentiate between voters and corporations (they are both considered equal citizens under today's law) has created the ability for corporate capital to outshout mere voters in any debate. In Alaska, where we have witnessed multiple prosecutions of big corporations buying the votes of legislators, we know that such speech will be abused. The Supreme Court's decision today in favor of big business was simply an immoral, betrayal of government of, by and for the people to government of, by and for big business. And the rights of the little person will suffer.

These are only three examples, which I chose straight out of today's news. 'Where is God?', one might ask. If the Messiah came, how do we live now in the hope of that Messiah? If hope is about truly living today for God's future, then where is God in this?

In truth, as much as we pray for God in our lives it seems to me that when God appears in our midst in ways we can recognize, we often don't really want it. In fact we rebel against it. Witness this familiar Epiphany season passage from Scripture:

^{Matthew 2:1-2 and 2:16
1}After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem ²and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him...When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.

Herod didn't want this Messiah and tried to prevent him from coming into his ministry. This is the Messiah story for today. If we are serious about trying to see the Messiah, we must begin by recognizing that there are still people like Herod today--we recognize these Herod-types by the injustice. And if we are to see the Messiah in God's Holy-Spirit-Work today, then we must look for the movement of God to address today's injustice. For instance:

• In Haiti, it is the greed and prejudice that so mismanaged that island nation that it was not prepared for an earthquake that had to come. The Messiah, now, is found right in the suffering people. Remember Jesus on the cross? That is the first place to see the Messiah--in the Holy Spirit's presence in the suffering. The second is in those who not only bring aid, but in others who will stick with the rebuilding of that nation so that relationships might become different from now on, so that the Haitian society will insist on, and government will operate with the kind of justice that is for all the people.
  
  
• On planet earth, the Messiah must first be found suffering in the desecrated water and airways, and in all those creatures that are imperiled today. Second, the Messiah must also be found in all human beings who speak the truth about this issue and who take action to change their lives and to change the prevailing wisdom of our society.
  

• For advocates of free speech, the Messiah can be found in the frustration of voters who know that big corporations have ability to out-spend (meaning out-shout) normal citizens, and in the fire that will inspire the work to bring about the legal changes aimed at real free speech.

The age we live in is the age of the Messiah, the age of Jesus. When this age finally comes to an end, God will initiate a new age, bringing all things together in proper communion. But in the meantime, in this age, we know that God entered history in Jesus, and that God is at work in history now through the Holy Spirit. Indeed, there are two messages to take away from the arrival of the Messiah:

1. God is present in every experience of suffering (remember the cross), and
2. God is at work through God's creatures (remember God was in the man, Jesus, and is now doing Holy-Spirit work through all who will accept it) to redeem all that is broken in the world today.

In this age, we participate in Christ both when we are witnesses to today's suffering, and when we participate in redemptive life.

So what suffering are you passionate about? Do you recognize the Spirit, Who inspires such passion? It is the Holy Spirit.

And what can you do to address the cause of that suffering? Do you recognize that it is the Messiah's Spirit, Who inspires each of us in this service of our Lord?

What is Christian Hope?

Isaiah 9:2:
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.

This season between Christmas and Ash Wednesday is called Epiphany. It is the season when we celebrate the hope we have in Jesus Christ. The symbol for this season has traditionally been light in the darkness. To me this seems like such a great symbol right now, when the arctic coast of Alaska is just about ready to see the first appearance of the sun in the year. Just as the sun can be counted on to appear at the right time, we can also expect Jesus to be with us always as our hope, and to act at just the right time.

Hope is about living today for the kind of future God wills for all creatures. That being said, I wonder sometimes about the difference between hopeless living, living with false hope and living out of real hope. Here are a few of my beginning thoughts:

• Some people seem to live as if they have no options at all, with no real expectation that God will bring about a future worth living for. Such people, it seems to me, live without hope—without any sense that Christ is already with them or faithfully at work for the future.

• Some people seem to live as if Christ were a fairy godmother who would wave a magic wand and fix everything. By this I mean, some people seem to live as if they, themselves had no responsibility to live in such a way as to help facilitate the tomorrow (or next year, or next decade, or next century) that God is bringing about. They live as if they didn’t have a care in the world, because God will fix everything. Such people offer nothing today for people lost in the darkness. Their sugar-coated words fall empty on people suffering today.

• But there are some people who seem to really know about hope. They look at the world as it really is, neither giving up on it nor sugar-coating it. They know that sin and brokenness are real, and they join with those suffering today. They look for what God is doing today to make a difference, because they know that God is in the world today and that there really is light leading toward a better future. And they know that God calls them to be a part of all God is doing to bring that future to life. Such people take action in their own lives—often costly action. And because they take action, they both build up the whole people and become part of what God is doing to help the whole world become move toward a better future.

I hope you will want to be one of these hope-full people, one of those looking for the Light of the World in each day, and whose life helps point the world toward that light.

Hope is to hear God's melody for the future;
Prayer is to listen for it;
Faith is to dance it. --adapted from a quote by Ruben Alves