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

A Lot Like Noah

12 11 09 Like Noah

As a Christian watching the Copenhagen Talks unfold, the irony of the times we live in are inescapable. I remember hearing the story of Noah as a child and marveling at the kind of person he was. Noah heard the Voice of God instructing him to save all land-bound life by building an ark. Further, he was to build the ark where he lived, far from the sea, and he had to do it despite the taunts of the entire surrounding community. I remember marveling at the kind of times Noah lived in, and the amazing faith exhibited in his life.

Ironically, we now we live in a time when we must hear the Voice of God calling us, once again, to save life on the planet. How ironic that I, and all people who claim faith, are called to put our faith-money where our mouth is and display the same kind of faithfulness as did Noah. It is not enough simply hear the Voice of God, but we are called to stand out in the world and make a difference. We are called to be ark-builders once again.

Only it turns out that if we are to be successful this time we have to save both the planet and human civilization. That is, it will take the combined effort of all the worlds peoples working together to pull it off. Nothing on this scale has ever been successful before. I am not even aware of something on this scale ever being attempted.

Yet, God is in it. We have the scientific knowledge and technical ability to pull this off. We have the communications networks to spread the word and build public support. We have all that it takes to pull this off. And what is more, if we pull this off, it will transform human society as we know it. .....Erosion Caused by Melting Permafrost.....
We will know
forevermore that we are capable of uniting in the face of real need, in spite of all the anxieties that go along with the trying to live with so many ‘others' on the planet. This knowledge of what we are capable of will be with us forever. WOW!

But it does require belief—belief that
God has empowered and is empowering something majestic and monumental in human history, and belief that our faithfulness can make a difference. It does require more than just hearing God’s Voice, though. It requires faith in action. It requires responding to what we hear with all our heart, with all our minds and with all our strength.

A Glimpse At a Theology Of Earth Care

Servant Leadership

Christians have always proclaimed that they have good news to tell. The good news addresses whatever bad news is in the world, and is about new life because of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. Since the bad news I have been addressing this month has to do with the need for better stewardship of the environment, I must raise the question about what Jesus’ life and teaching can offer in the way of good news. Here is one perspective.

One of Jesus’ key teachings is about each of us taking responsibility for our place in leadership. Paying attention to this part of Jesus’ ministry is hugely important if we are to address environmental stewardship. On Saturday NPR reported on national polls indicating that environmental concern ranks as last among the top 20 concerns among Americans, despite the fact that the great preponderance of scientists agree that current warming trends pose a great threat to civilization as we know it. Without real leadership, we have no hope to turn this around.

Like theologian Douglas John Hall I believe that that true confession of faith must include stance, word and deed. We see this demonstrated through Jesus’ life.

1. Jesus took a stand
for humanity and for all creation, both now and into the future, by joining with us in the flesh in history;
2. Jesus took action
conferring the essence of his right-ness upon all of us, despite whatever wrongness is in us, first by joining us in the flesh and then through dying and rising—opening new possibilities for all who will receive it, and
3. Jesus took pains to teach
what transformed life is like—teaching both through words and through personal demonstration—so that we might begin to understand and participate in it.

I therefore wish to look at how Jesus took a stand, took action, and took pains to teach about leadership. I then challenge myself, and any who read this, to apply it.

To keep this to some reasonable length, I am summarizing Jesus teaching on leadership as finding proper understanding of human dominion over creation, and a proper understanding of being “the salt of the earth.”

In Genesis 1:23 of the creation story, God told the human creatures that they had dominion over creation. This makes a lot of sense today. No species on the planet is affecting the whole of creation, and throwing the delicate balances out of kilter, on the same order as human beings. We have dominion, which means responsibility, whether we want it or not.

As the one good human Jesus must be our model of what that dominion looks like in practice. Jesus is described in Colossians 1 as the Lord of creation. Yet, Jesus rejected the glory-based lordship and its potential for tyranny as proper understandings. Indeed, Jesus
• rejected James’ and Johns’ bid to aspire to become his top lieutenants. Instead, Jesus told them that whoever would be first must become the servant of all—the least.
• Jesus also employed a demonstration method to teach this at the Last Supper, when he did slave duty by washing his disciples’ feet. This kind of pointed teaching brought the true nature of Jesus’ leadership into focus when he paid the ultimate price on the cross. Dominion, as Jesus demonstrated it, is a humbling responsibility calling on us to take action, even at great personal risk or great personal cost.

Jesus also took a stand against “losing our saltiness.” If we disciples of Christ are the salt of the earth, called to preserve the earth as salt preserves food or hides, then we cannot hide behind the idea that God has everything in control and we have no responsibility. We have been given responsibility (dominion) by virtue of being human. As followers of Jesus, we must not lose our saltiness; we have been given this message to proclaim and to put into action.

Further, Jesus’ followers understood that Jesus’ salvation is for all creation. Paul wrote that “all creation groans” (Romans 8:22), awaiting the salvation of God. As Presbyterians, we proclaim that the church is the provisional demonstration of the salvation of God until He comes. We cannot escape the call for standing with creation, teaching about stewardship of creation, and putting our teaching into action. We are called to be like Jesus, and to lead in stance, word and deed.

Jesus took a stand against a false doctrine of dominion—i.e., believing either that we have tyrannical, glory-hoarding say about what happens in creation. God is King and we are not. But Jesus also took a stand against claiming that God’s sovereignty absolves us from responsibility. We are called the same kind of leadership as that demonstrated by Jesus: leadership that responds to the needs of the world around it. Or, to put it in other words, leadership that operates out of the same responsive love we saw in Jesus’ life as proclaimed in the Bible, and as we find it at work today through the action of the Holy Spirit. A proper doctrine of sovereignty calls us to be responsible stewards of creation, caring for the Earth on God’s behalf.

Today, the Earth needs people who see and feel its distress. Humanity is over-consuming, and over-polluting. We are called to be stewards and find that we are stewards of God’s creation, whether we want to be or not. So, since we do have that much impact on the world, how can we take effective leadership, today?











There is a great contrast in this between the understandings of dominion and of saltiness that are often proclaimed. Some teach dominion as hierarchical control. Such teaching stands in great contrast to Jesus, who emptied himself of glory (Philippians 2:5), and who never controlled other human beings (though Jesus did show control over nature and demons). As theologian Douglas John Hall points out, Jesus demonstrated human leadership by always honoring God as King. If God is King, we don’t have to be…and shouldn’t be.

A teaching of dominion strictly as hierarchical control always has negative spiritual. Observe these examples:

1. Domestic violence is a huge issue in Alaska largely because we don’t know how to share leadership in our relationships, and because we have not been taught how to hold onto our own sense of personal integrity unless we have personal control of others in important relationships.
2. Recovery from addictive behavior (drugs/alcohol, gambling, and relationship addictions) only begins when we come to terms with right leadership in our own lives—which includes the fact that we can’t control our own addictive behavior on our own, that God and God’s people can help, and that we must take responsibility for a program of recovery that includes that help.
3. The environmental changes are affecting the whole world but are showing the first signs of drastic change near the polar regions like Alaska. In the short run Alaskans might smile at an October without the inconvenience of snow and ice—not to mention smaller heating bills—but down deep we all know that this is not how it is to be. Scientific models indicate that the entire world will suffer greatly if this trend, strongly enhanced (if not caused) by human behavior, is not turned around.

Nor does teaching that God is King absolve us from all human responsibility. Jesus cried out to God to “take this cup from my lips.” Yet, as a human being, Christ knew that ultimately God’s will might call for him to take up this cause and its consequences for him, even though he did not want them.

Leadership, then, is for everyone. All of us are called to make a difference whenever we are present. All are called to seek an understanding of what kind of difference we are called to make. All of us are to stand out as called, to come to know and be able to explain why we stand out, and to put our explanations into practice. None of us are called to be on this earth without making a difference.

The question I am seeking just now is: how to make a difference as stewards of God’s creation?

Signs of the Times

Faithful people need to relate the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the times in which they live. This means paying attention to the signs of the times, and joining in on how God is responding to these times in holy love. Indeed, the Scriptures tell us that paying attention to the signs of the times is important.

The 24th Chapter of Matthew relates how Jesus told his disciples that we would not know the time for the end of the world. Even so, there would be signs that show the beginnings of the end (wars, rumors of wars, etc.), and we should pay attention to them. Earlier (Matthew 16:1-4) Jesus berated the Pharisees for wanting miraculous signs from Jesus, when they were not paying attention to the signs of the times that God had provided in the world around them. Clearly, faithful people are to pay attention to the signs of the times they live in and shape their ministry to relate the gospel to those times.

We now live in a time where there are 6.8 billion humans on the world. Our cumulative impact on the rest of the planet is huge. Indeed, one of the big issues right now is climate change. The warming trend of the globe is happening faster than the most dire warnings scientists gave ten years ago. Updated science has resulted in updated estimates, and we now know with a high level of certainty that the planet will warm by at least 2 degrees Fahrenheit no matter what we do. However, by repenting of our current fossile-fuel dependent life, we can arrest the warming trend to only two degrees and, over time, turn the warming trend around. Two degrees will already mean huge, life damaging changes in the planet. More than that would threaten the very future of our grandchildren.

The problem, of course, is that we must respond to the signs of the times now, and not after the worst of these predictions (flooding of low-lying countries, spread of deserts across Africa and even parts of the United States, etc.) begin to come true. There is momentum behind climate change trends, and letting that much momentum build would make any reversal come too late. We must respond now to God’s signs provided in nature.

Of course, Scripture depicts another moment like that. Noah was considered crazy for building an ark in the desert (Genesis 6:1 - 9:17). The coming flood was years away, and no one would believe him. In such times, the faithful are called to pay attention to God’s voice, however God speaks to them, and respond faithfully. This is just such a time. We need to be the ark builders for future generations.

Not all members of the Presbytery of Yukon interpret the signs of the times the same. As a result, not all believe that the looming crisis is that drastic. Obviously, I do [For more on why I think this is so important, see the following book: Orr, David W. Down to the Wire: Confronting Climate Collapse (Oxford University Press, USA, 2009).]

Yet, all who read their Bible know that humans are to be good stewards of God’s beloved creation. On Monday, I’ll add some thoughts from that perspective, sharing thoughts that I believe all Christians must support strictly due to the biblical witness—even without the signs of the times.

Yukon Presbyterians For Earth Care

Yukon Presbyterians For Earth Care

Curt and Cindee Karns' Bioshelter










For my wife, Cindee and me the stewardship of the earth is a real passion. We are so passionate aboutit that we bought a special “green-built-house,” both to live easier with the planet ourselves, and as a teaching platform for sharing various ideas on how we all can make a difference. We were therefore thrilled to learn that the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s Presbyterians for Earth Care had decided to join the world-wide 350 Day effort.

350 Day is part of a world-wide effort to bring down greenhouse gas emissions to the
point where people and the planet can continue to coexist. Current estimates indicate that the maximum concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that would allow something similar to our current civilization would be somewhere between 295 and 350 parts per million. Recent measurements indicated the planet was passing 384 ppm. Grassroots efforts like 350 Day are aimed at raising awareness and encouraging human response to the problem—including bringing our CO2 emissions down to at least 350 ppm.

Much of the current efforts are aimed at forging a political solution to the problem, and I agree that politics must be a part of the solution. But I also believe that Christians are essential in making the theological and moral case for the effort. Reducing greenhouse emissions will not be easy, and without strong moral arguments it won’t happen. Happily, we have very strong biblical and theological support for making this case.

I will add a few thoughts on this biblical and theological material in the next few days. In the meantime. W O O H O O ! for Presbyterians for Earth Care and for 350 Day.

AKP 50th Anniversary Jubilee

My thanks to CLP LeeAnn Crumbley for allowing me to use this report. She wrote it to send to people, who serve as prayer intercessors for the Chapel in the Mountains. I am under pressure to do other things this week, and was behind on this blog. Thank you, LeeAnn, for permission to use this for this week's blog.

For Facebook friends of Presbytery Yukon, check out our newest photo album for more pix.
Curt

The 50th Jubilee celebration in Anaktuvuk Pass, Aug. 27 -30, was a wonderful, encouraging event. There were folks from Anchorage, Atqasuk, Nuiqsut, Barrow, Fairbanks, California, and Washington in attendance. We enjoyed traditional singspirations, Eskimo dances, a traditional village potluck, a KFC dinner sponsored by the corporation, with chicken flown in from Fairbanks. There was lots of visiting. A number of folks went berry picking or toured the village, including a visit to the Arctic Research experimental house.

Worship services were held Friday and Saturday afternoons, including a rededication of the Chapel, and on Sunday morning. The weather was typical, some rainy and cool, some pretty cold breezes (winds?), and some lovely sunny times.

Caven Keith, son of Bill and Terry Keith, was there continuing work on a documentary DVD, telling the story of the Chapel, the village and the people as they look back at the last 50 years and ahead to what God may do in their midst. Caven will continue working on the project into the winter, hoping to complete it in about November. Anyone interested in purchasing a copy when it is finished can let me know and I'll make a list. The interviews with village elders, church elders, and others are so well-done,it's easy to see the heart of the church and village. Caven is so committed Chapel in Mts. Choir to the project, he will finish it even though the funds raised do not cover the expenses.

Our group from Trinity, was Jeff and Sandi Bentz, JoAnn Bantz, Jack and LeeAnn Crumbley, Bob and Joan White (Joan is daughter of the late Rev. Ralph Weeks, itinerant NorthSlope pastor in the early 1970s) and Bill and Terry Keith, joined by sons, David and Caven Keith.George Gilchrist (AKP acting moderator during the 1990s), now in CA,
and son Cameron, Anchorage, joined us, as did Kendall Lancaster, Michigan, who pastored in AKP 1993-95. Mary Tener Sanders, Homer, was an itinerant S.S. teacher and teacher trainer in the early 1970s. Rev. John Chambers, missionary pilot, served the church, flying in from Barrow, in the 1950s. He came from his home in California.

Rev. Bill Wartes was the missionary pilot/itinerant pastor who designed the church. Seven members of his family, including widow Bonnie, attended, along with Doreen Simmonds, the granddaughter of Rev. Samuel Simmonds. From Palmer, Rev. Leisa Carrick, moderator-elect of Yukon Presbytery, and Martha Guinotte, wife of Rev. Henry Guinotte, joined us. Rev. Curt Karns, Yukon Presbytery executive, and Heather Smith, Trinity, serving Nuiqsut as CLP, were there. And many of our native brothers and sisters in Christ.

From Thursday afternoon to Sunday afternoon, the focus was on the hope and joy we have in God's promises and in his faithfulness to his children. Our prayer is that people will bedrawn to support and encourage each other through the Chapel In the Mountains. Please pray for Rev. Keith and Sally Johnston as they pour themselves into the Lord's service tothe people of AKP.

They expended a huge amount of energy and prayer in preparation for this event, and encouraged many villagers to take an active part in the planning and executing of the plans. Pray they now have some well-deserved rest and that they can see the fruit of their labor.
Pray that God will bring revival to Anaktuvuk Pass and that our dear friends there will respond to his invitation.

Thanks for your prayers,
LeeAnn

Jubilee: It's About Restoring Right Relationships Being (Lv. 25)













Captions:
Top Picture: The Original Chapel
Middle PIcture: Drummers Warming Up
Bottom Picture: The Mountains!!!

Uniting AAMP's Younger Leaders

Young Leaders Participants-AKP

Today I want to reflect on a new effort in support of leaders in the arctic. The Ahmaogak-Akootchook Memorial Parish (AAMP) recently invited a number of younger leaders to meet in Anaktuvuk Pass. Anaktuvuk’s Chapel in the Mountains was celebrating a Jubilee year (more on this next week!), and people had gathered from across the arctic to participate. The parish leadership invited younger leaders (people in their 40s and younger) to gather and talk about the future of leaders in the arctic churches.

The gathering began with a Bible Study of 1 Kings 19, and this passage of Scripture provided guidance that led to some wonderful new beginnings. You will remember that 1 Kings 19 speaks of Elijah (usually remembered as the greatest of the Old Testament prophets) falling prey to fear and depression. Finally Elijah cried out to God, saying:

"I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too."

God responded to Elijah, telling him that he was NOT the only one left. Indeed, there was a sizable remnant of faithful people left, so he should stop acting like a solo artist and join with them. Further, he should anoint the next generation of leaders.

And so Elijah followed God’s leading. He anointed a new king and a new prophet to come after him. And this younger prophet, Elisha, became his attendant, honoring and learning from the older prophet.

This passage pointed out two tasks.
• First, leaders of today sometimes reach the point where they, too, feel fearful, angry, and used up. Knowing this, how might we join younger leaders to the wider body of Christ in such a way that they do not feel that they are alone in their ministry, and that they would be less likely to fall into despair and burnout like Elijah did?

• Second, how might we provide training and connection to older leaders, so that they, like the younger Elisha, might be nurtured and strengthened as leaders into the future?

After some discussion, the group decided to form an ongoing electronic meeting, allowing the younger leaders to share devotions and fellowship by electronic means. They also agreed that others, who wish to join this meeting would be welcome. Together, they hope to avoid the frustration that sometimes plagues lone leaders, and also to hear from their elders.

Anyone interested in learning more about this ongoing meeting should contact the Presbytery of Yukon office by email: office@pbyukon.org. All arctic area leaders are welcome.