Enchanted Community

BLOG:10.28.19. THIS WEEK: HALLOWEEN ECLIPSES ALL SAINTS DAY: SAD

I’m not a big Halloween fan. It has become a huge money maker for candy companies to provide for the trick-or-treaters. The observance’s derivation is dubious, but it evidently comes from the misty Celtic history which believe that once a year the spirits of malignant persons rose from their graves to make mischief, and this dubious observance came to take place on the eve of the church’s All Saints/All Hallowed celebration, which was on November 1^st. But now very few even recognize All Saints Day, …but most know about Charlie Brown waiting in the pumpkin patch for the appearance of the Great Pumpkin, rather than trick-or-treating with his friends.

In my passage of living in New Orleans, with it famous cemeteries and strong Roman Catholic influence, All Saints Day is a postal holiday when the vendors go to the cemeteries to sell flowers and food to all the folks who come with camp chairs to sit by the graves of their departed family members.

My own observance each year is to remember and write down the names of those Christian folks/friends who have been a significant and transforming blessing to me in my Christian pilgrimage. The list changes and grows from year to year. I commend it to you. We did not get here on our own, but by the faithful persons whom God has used in my life. From this late life perspective, I realize how wonderfully they came into my life at key moments. Here are a few:

1. My Christian parents, Mildred and Virgil Henderson, who led me and my brothers to Christ and also modelled it for us with grace and humility, and gave us a love for scriptures.
2. Mary Harden Vaught was an episode. She was evidently from a prosperous family in the 1920s, who lost everything in the Great Depression. Mary Harden had aspired to be an actress, but somehow with turn of events became a Christian, went to a Bible College, and Christian education training school, and wound up as Christian educator in my home church. Her clothing and hair style were right out of the 1920s, … but she was so authentic, and her passion for Jesus so contagious that our youth group was hugely influenced by her. I last saw her years later as she was working in a rescue mission in Manhattan (New York), living on a minimum stipend, and full of joy.
3. Betty Colburn, a Kansas girl whom I met on a hillside at a Bible conference in the Adirondack Mountains, who became my wife, my prayer partner, my encourager, the mother of my children, my wisdom and co-laborer for 58 years.
4. John Stephen Brown who came as pastor to the campus church out of which I was working as Presbyterian campus minister at North Carolina State University. On a first meeting he bluntly announced that we were going to preach through scripture since that is what John Calvin did, and that I was to preach once a month on te next passage in the series (known as lectio continuum), I watched that congregation come alive. That became a formative principle for the rest of my pastoral career.
5. Pete Hammond, an Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship staff, whom I did not even like when I first met him, but who saw gifts in me that I had never recognized, and along with my wife became one of the two most formative influences in my adult life, because he would never allow me to deny my gifts.

  There are so many more, and on this coming Friday I will give God all praise for these saints, who are so much a part of my life. I commend this practice to you. “For all the saints …”

BLOG 10/25/19. “GOD’S SILLIE VASSAL”

There is an interesting anecdote from Scottish history that is germane to the political chaos we are experiencing at this time in this country. Granted that my Scottish Presbyterian ancestors were renowned for being “a warring and quarrelsome lot,” even so the story bears pondering. The Protestant Reformation had taken deep root in Scotland, and the reformers had taken significant positions in the government in the sixteenth century. King James VI was restless with these Protestant leaders in parliament, and sought to control the church through his royal power.

There was a certain vocal member of parliament, Andrew Melville, who would have nothing of it. (I hope I have my historical facts straight) He approached King James with this rebuke: “There are twa (two) kings, and twa kingdoms here in Scotland, there is the kingdom of Scotland in which James is lord and king. But there is also the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in that kingdom James is neither lord nor king, but God’s sillie vassal.” So there!

The church of Jesus Christ, from the beginning, has lived with this tension, beginning with Rome. It has also made of Christian people a difficult and transformational factor with whom national leaders (beginning with Caesar and the Roman Empire) have had to engage. When the church’s primary allegiance is with the sovereignty of our God and of his Christ, … then the church’s priority with Jesus Christ makes them to be salt and light, even when it costs them their lives.

In Scotland, when the Scottish reformers became the majority of parliament, remarkable changes took place. The king had to be cognizant of the reality that he was not the ultimate authority, but only “God’s sillie vassal.” This tension has existed right down to the present, and has produced faithful witnesses and martyrs. In our country, in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches we are watching that tension play-out day by day.

Here’s to more counterparts to Andrew Melville, willing to confront the issue of ultimate authority. Lord have mercy! Christ have mercy! Lord have mercy!

Amen.

BLOG10/22/19. DISCERNING FRAUDULENT CHRISTIANITY

 It is no wonder that the public-at-large can by confused (if not downright cynical) about all those who make noise about being Christian, even expropriating their definition as “evangelical Christians.” I think I can offer a clarifying note: Christians are those who embrace Jesus Christ and evidence that relationship in the way they think and behave. Such thinking and behaving is the result of the Spirit of Jesus Christ indwelling—yes, the same Spirit of God that dwelt in Jesus Christ is a dynamic new creation power at work in those who embrace him by faith. This is testified to by all the New Testament writers.

Which brings us to this clarifying assertion in New Testament writings: “By their fruits shall you know them” (Matthew 7:15-20). Or, “Faith without works is dead” James 2:14-26). Thinking and behaving, according to Jesus and the new humanity he came to inaugurate. He told his followers that by their works others would know that God was at work in him. Ah! But this is not tame stuff. Jesus’ teaching challenge the dominant order, and it value systems. It challenges the economic and political, and cultural definitions of success and power. Consequently, when one is captive to such cultural practices and definitions, defines himself/herself as a “Christian/evangelical” he or she has lost credibility right up front.

Our indigenous Latin American brothers, as they became free from the colonial economic and political dominance of European and North American influences, and by the Spirit of God began to craft a theology indigenous to their own culture and social circumstances, began to see how much Jesus’ life and teachings were focused on the poor and marginalized of society—and that is where most of the indigenous church in Latin America existed. So, emerged an understanding of “God’s preferential option for the poor.” (One has only to look at Jesus teachings and practices from beginning to end to see how true this is.)

This became known as “liberation theology” and became a powerful influence and self-conscious conviction for much of both Roman Catholic and Protestant Christianity among the Latin Americans. … But, it did not go down well with conservatives in the church in North America. Liberation theology was too much like socialism, and challenged their conservative economic and political values. They seemed not to have ever looked carefully at the thinking and praxis of Jesus and his apostles. Of the Sermon on the Plain which forthrightly begins: “Blessed are you poor. Woe to you rich.”

The gospel is far too radical too wild and free for timid conservative folk. As was said about the lion (the Christ figure) Aslan by Mrs. Beaver, in C. S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia: “Aslan is not a tame lion. He’s good, but he’s not safe.” Liberation theology is far more in harmony with the teachings of Jesus, than are all too many who (mis)describe themselves as ‘evangelicals’ in our current North American scene—so much so that I can no longer identify myself as an evangelical. It is the poor and helpless, the hungry and homeless, the sick and imprisoned that get to Jesus’ heart.

I hasten to add: this does not mean that Jesus is not also touched with the broken hearts, and homeless spirits of the prosperous. But, with the Latin Americans, his preferential option is with the helpless poor.

Chew on that for a while. Re-read the gospel accounts in this light. Jesus concludes his teaching by clearly stating that inasmuch as we have ministered to these, we have ministered to him. “Come ye blessed of my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you.”

BLOG 10/18/19. IT’S NOT THE FORM OF THE CHURCH THAT’S IMPORTANT

The church of Jesus Christ exists (and has existed) in many, many forms over the centuries, but when the form becomes the focus it may be wise to stop and take stock of what we’re dealing with. Over the centuries of the Christendom era, the church became primarily focused in sacred buildings with sacred professionals, celebrating sacred rites. These institutions were a significant part of the culture (even with all the internal squabbles and contradictions within).

With the two traumatic decades of the Great Depression and World War II a lot of that went into a ‘hold’ pattern. The influence of the Christendom era was challenged, but the church was still a symbol of stability and spiritual resource for many. So, that, after the war ended, the ‘Greatest Generation’ set about to restore the stability of their culture and set about building new church buildings, getting their denominational franchises on choice locations—church architects had a field day. The Boomer generation followed in their parents’ footsteps, and for a while the church was a very influential institution. There were many significant theological studies on the nature and mission of the church taking place in the academic community, but somehow not much it permeated the inherited Christendom patterns of the church.

   Then came the Millennial generation, Generation X, and it successors who, with a streak of cynicism and mentality of pragmatism and innovation, wanted to know what all of this institutional form had to do with the anything, … and began to move away from the traditional church institutions with their stained-glass windows, and their pipe organs, and their pulpit oratory that didn’t go anywhere. So, the questions about: what is the meaning and purpose of the church? heralded the emergence of Christian communities that sought to incarnate God’s new humanity in Christ. Here are a few key principles that have taken shape in contagious communities:

1. The church is a community (from two or three, to much larger), not primarily an institution. It incarnates the human community reconciled in and by Christ, and ministering to one another in love. It is a community accountable to one another.
2. It is a community that is being transformed by the life and teaching of Jesus Christ and is passionate about his message and mission. It is a new creation community being formed into the likeness of Jesus, and like Jesus becomes “the dwelling-place of God by the Spirit.”
3. It is a community that is defined by its obedient and joyous faith in Jesus Christ and his teachings.
4. It is a community formed by the word of Christ, by Holy Scriptures, … a community in which the word of Christ dwells richly, both in small community/home groups, or by a rich teaching of scriptures from the pulpit.
5. And, finally it is a community that can only exist by the grace of God, and by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It is a community in which none are passive or marginalized—a community of grace.

   Where these principles are kept clearly in focus by the community’s/church’s leadership life and growth are natural, i.e., the life of Christ flows in and through his people. It is because these are obscured that many church institutions have long-since died, and don’t even know it. The true form of the church is determined by its capacity to incarnate these principles in communities of God’s new creation.

   It is for such that we are called in and by Christ.

BLOG 10/15/19. A GENTLE REMINDER: REJOICE

As enigmatic and contradictory as it may seem for me to raise this Biblical exhortation at this historical moment, I will anyway. Given the cloud of distressing news, the prejudices, the greed, the political cowardice, “man’s inhumanity to man,” the obscene exploitation of the environment, the indifference to the poor and helpless, … and-on-and-on, I want to remind myself, and my readers, that the scriptures instruct us to “rejoice always …”

Say what? Well, yes! This world scene has always been one in which there was social and political chaos, and suffering. And it is into this very context that Jesus was born, and at which event the angels announced: “Behold we bring you glad tidings of great joy, which shall be to all peoples, for unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord. “This announcement, mind you, was to minimum wage workers (shepherds) in an occupied nation with all kinds of questionable political and religious shenanigans were the norm.

So, an announcement of joy. To the early church came the teaching that they were to rejoice always, even in suffering/tribulation. This means that in the midst of cultural pessimism, of frequent despair, of humanly hopeless realities of vast global injustices and tens of millions of homeless refugees, of sickness in so many forms, we are called to be a people of joy!

Isn’t that wild?

Add another perspective to that: the church is the community of Go’s new creation people, and as such those who are the church are the “dwelling-place of God by the Holy Spirit,” … or as elsewhere it is said that they are the sweet aroma of Christ unto God. This incarnation that is ours as God’s new humanity is the living, breathing, flesh-and-blood presence of Jesus Christ in this broken world. And rejoicing always is only one of the expressions of Christ dwelling in our here-and-now scene. In Galatians 5, the apostle lists the fruits of the Spirit that are to be lived out by us in our 24/7 real-life setting.

Check this out: we become the missionary arm of the Holy Spirit as we are continually exhibiting Christ’s love, joy, peace-making, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. It is such new creation behavior that makes us God’s light in this present scene of darkness, springs in the desert. Those Spirit fruits, for me, are a daily ‘punch-list’ of reminder. I commend this to you.

So, my gentle reminder: rejoice.

BLOG 10/11/19. CAN A CHRISTIAN, OR A CHURCH BE ‘DIS-EVANGELIZED’?

A generation ago, a friend, Al Krass, wrote a telling book: Evangelizing Neo-pagan North America. Given the chaos of our current political, cultural, and social scene, and the numerous persons who are prominent in it who profess themselves to be identified with the Christian church, … I find myself asking the question: Can neo-pagan North America dis-evangelize the church? I wonder what is the center of the lives of these persons? What is their ultimate authority? What is their creative source? What is their guiding line? What is their final goal?

That is a huge question, and defies simplistic answers. After all, in this democratic system of government, to be involved, one has to declare oneself as a Democrat, Republican, or Independent (basically) to vote, or to run for office. The question still lurks out there: where is my ultimate loyalty. Is it to the political party? To some economic source, or political action committee? Or, … is it to the values of God’s new creation in Jesus Christ? i.e., the teachings of Jesus and the apostles?

This is not at all a new tension. Go all the way back to the prophet Daniel in the Old Testament scriptures. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon had taken Juda captive, and as was the practice of conquerors, the instructed his armies to bring back some of the people, who could be useful to his court in Babylon: some of the royal family and of nobility, “youth without blemish, and of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace.”

The whole of the book of Daniel is a lesson in political survival. Daniel and his three friends were so skillful in their tasks that they became very useful to Nebuchadnezzar, and he wanted to reward them with all the ‘perks’ of palace life in fancy food, and other indulgences common to the sensate life of royalty. But, … these who now had proven themselves fit to stand before the king chose to be faithful to who they were, i.e., Israelites formed by the law of Moses. They insisted on a very simple diet, and a commendable lifestyle and in doing their work with excellence.

Two things resulted: 1) they rose in the esteem of Nebuchadnezzar, and 2) that esteem created intense (political) jealousy among the Babylonians in the court, and their conspiracies against Daniel, and the three other Hebrews. All the while, even when such practice was outlawed, Daniel knelt and prayed three times a day toward Jerusalem. This tension, then, is the context of the well-known stories of the three young Hebrews in the fiery furnace, and of Daniel in the lions’ den—political conspiracies to make them look seditious in the eyes of Nebuchadnezzar.

Ah! But God vindicated them and gave the emperor a sense of awe at YHWH’s (Israel’s God’s) power. Three lessons about not being dis-evangelized in the politics of neo-pagan North America, from these four political captives: 1) they knew who they were, and that this present scene is not my ultimate home, though it is the place of my incarnation; 2) that they did their ministry in that court so that it was only explainable by God and God’s power; and, 3) to discern the idols of the culture.

Only with such a lesson can we be salt and light in what is often a destructive culture of darkness. Each of those of us who are followers of Christ, and each Christian community need to reclaim this calling day by day so that we don’t become part of the neo-pagan context in which we live. As the old gospel song puts it: “Dare to be a Daniel.”

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BLOG 10/8/19. THINKING OF A SECURE FUTURE IS DIFFICULT WHEN …

On the one hand, there is so much that points us to the potential of a better tomorrow, given artificial intelligence, robotics, space exploration, medical breakthroughs, and so much more. At the same time the daily news so focused on the almost nightmarish political chaos in which we find ourselves, and which dominates the news, raises intimidating questions about a hopeful future. Add to that, the reality that ‘future thinkers’ are a distinct minority of the population. The large majority choose to think in past terms, to the “good old days” (that probably never were that good!).

That reality challenges me, being both a life-long teacher of the scriptures contained in the Bible, as well as an advocate in my writings of the mission given to his church by Jesus Christ, that is both global and which looks to the continued invasion of God’s new creation into the rebellion and brokenness of this present scene—until that day when the kingdom of this world becomes the kingdom of our God and of his Christ. Meanwhile? Meanwhile we live with the reality of the encounter that is very real between darkness and Light.

We are taught in scriptures that the kingdom of God comes not with dramatic observation, but quietly and irresistibly like leaven quietly permeating a lump of dough. We pray to our Father in heaven: “Cause your kingdom to becoming and your will to being done on earth as it is in heaven.”  We are stewards of his in-breaking new creation We, area global community that is a servant culture, instruments of is peace, of his justice and righteousness, of his heart of love. But, … we live in that calling in conflict with all the negative forces of the darkness, in our localities, in our national scene, and globally. (Fasten your seat-belts) We are taught that unto us as stewards of his in-breaking new creation “it is given not only to believe in his name but also to suffer for his sake” (Philippians 1:29). As Christ’s servant people, we are in continual engagement with the darkness in all its subtle forms.

We can give our support to those agencies which seek righteousness, who seek justice for those held in human slavery, or held unjustly in prisons without hope—and we should. We should support candidates who most reflect the ethics of God’s new creation, while realizing that neither Republicans or Democrats will rescind the subtle and pervasive darkness.

The followers of Christ, his church, need to wake up to this reality and this cosmic conflict between the culture of darkness, and the Light of God’s new creation—this global conflict in which we are engaged until the kingdom of this world becomes the kingdom of our God and of his Christ. It begins with you and me and our local Christian community having integrity as transformational agents here and now. We are to be the radiant display of God’s glory 24/7.

Run with that. And may the Lord be with you.

BLOG 10/4/19. POLITICS FROM THE UNDERSIDE

For these coming months, our news is going to be consumed with politics, its battles, its controversial personalities, and the coming election. This is nothing new. The Christian community was conceived in an intensely political culture. Its world was dominated by the Roman Empire, and its god was Caesar. The Christian community/church had no status, no prestige, and it was counter-cultural through and through. Ah! but it had a very clear message and mission, both given to it by its one true Lord: Jesus Christ, which made it the more controversial: Jesus was Lord, not Caesar.

But, one more thing to note: it was inaugurated at the margins of society, outside of the established religious and political structures of its day, and was frequently outlawed. It was conceived, we can accurately say: on the margins of society. It is in that context that one of the early formative voices, wrote his Letter to the Romans (or to the church in Rome). After laying a good foundation in the teachings of Christ to them, he comes to the un-mistakable challenge, namely that they were not to be conformed to the thinking and power-structures of this world, but rather to transformed by the renewal of their minds so as to discern what was the will of God, what was good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:1-2)

They were not primarily citizens of Rome and its power structures, but they were primarily and self-consciously the citizens of the kingdom of God and his Christ. They were to be formed by the teachings and mission of Jesus. And here’s the ‘bite’ in that mandate: Jesus’ mission was to the helpless on the margins of society, to the homeless, to the hungry, to the poor, to the sick, and without hope—those on the margins, those outside the gates of power. And, note now, it was among those on the margins, those of the underclass that the Christian church became a major force that dominated the Roman world within a few centuries. Jesus commendation to those who followed his mission to the underclass was: “In that you have done it unto the least of these, my brethren, you have done it unto me.”

Shift gears and leap over two millennia, and now observe politics quite different, i.e. a democracy in which we choose those who will govern. Jesus’ priority on ministry to those on the margins remains the same, … but all too many of those within contemporary church institutions have forgotten the message, and court wealth and power. There are the voices that are raised on behalf of those on the margins, and some of them are up for election—but all too many those running for office are dominated by the priorities of those who are indifferent to the poor and helpless. And, more tragically, there are too many who (falsely?) claim the name of Christ, who support politicians whose platforms are 180 degrees away from the teachings and mission of Jesus.

Our role and responsibility in this political scene as Christ’s followers? Look for candidates whose life and convictions and platforms see the role of government as seeking the welfare of all of its citizens (even though that candidate may not be a professing Christian). We are stewards of the passion of Jesus for the marginalized, and any government (or church institution) who does not become a sharer in that passion is part of the darkness.

The good news is that there are some good candidates out there who do share that passion. Stay tuned …

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BLOG 9.27.19. RELIGIOUS TALK CAN BE REALLY CONFUSING

Religious talk, and talk about ‘spirituality’ can be a real ‘turn-off’ to those who are listening. We tend to engage in jargon that is not only foreign to outsiders, but often rather vacuous to many inside the household of faith. There is so much religious gobbledygook sown into public discourse in our present social and political conversation that it is no wonder that it breeds so much cynicism among those who are the recipients. I remember in a session in which somebody was making a big ‘to-do’ about being ‘born again’. When the session was concluded, the Indian lady in front of me turned and asked: “OK, so she’s born again. So, what’s she good for?” Bingo!

The apostle taught us that: “The kingdom of God does not consist in talk, but in power.” (I Corinthians 4:20). I have always profited by the teaching I received from a friend, namely, that Jesus didn’t come to make us more religious but rather to make us more human. He never taught us that our ‘talk’ would persuade those with whom we came into daily contact, but that our good works and our love, and our flesh-and-blood lives as God’s new humanity people would make them curious about the source of our behavior and our ethics—our sermon on the mount incarnations would cause them to see the divine source.

I have the conviction that no matter how hostile one seems toward the Christian message, that they still have a need for a center, an authority, a creative source, a guiding line, and a final goal (even though they may vigorously deny it). So, I have in my daily discipline a couple of ‘punch-lists’ that I work through every morning. One is simply the list of the fruits of the Holy Spirit that re to be incarnated in God’s new creation people from Galatians 5: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (to which I have added long-suffering).

The other list includes my gleanings that spell out the whole radical new way of: living, thinking, behaving, hoping, conceiving, rejoicing, and being content that is the dynamic working out of God’s new humanity in us. Such people are the true missionary arm of the Holy Trinity in and through us. … And then, as Peter taught us, if men see these good works and ask the reason for such, we should be ready to give them a thoughtful and gentle answer.

Jesus didn’t come to make us more religious/spiritual, but to make us more truly human, as he has designed us to be.

Run with it!

BLOG 9.24.19. MENTORSAND MODELS IN CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIP

We take an awfully lot for granted in the Christian community/church, not the least is our presumption that when one takes baptism / confirmation vow … that one has any kind of a clear vision of how those vows of faith and obedience are to be practiced, or what exactly does any kind of Christian maturity look like. The long-term result of that blank spot is a huge number of sincere communicants engaging in liturgical rites, but remaining infants in the faith and passive in their own calling to be part of the church’s ministry where it counts the most: in the daily (24/7) context, or marketplace of one’s life—or, in other words, dependent infants in the Christian faith and discipleship with no sense that this is not what Jesus intends when he calls us to be his disciples. Rather, we are called by Jesus Christ to grow into his likeness, in his love, in knowledge, and in intimate communion with the Triune God.

Sound overwhelming? Look at it. When a couple of curious guys followed him early in his earthly ministry, he turned and asked them: “What are you looking for?” they responded lamely: “Master, where are you staying?” His response was: “Come and see?” That was the beginning of them watching him I action, and listening to him teach with a small company of intimates for three years.

Take note: Jesus became, not only their mentor, but also their model for three years. They walked with him, they saw him in action, he sent them out on apprentice missions, they questioned him, and they expressed doubts and fears. The result? They became reproductions, practitioners, of what he came teach and to accomplish as the incarnate son of God. He was not some disembodied religious figure, awesome as he was. He was the first-fruits of God’s new creation, his new humanity. After his crucifixion and resurrection, and the descent of the Spirit at Pentecost, it all became clear, and they were commissioned to do with others, exactly what he had done with them, i.e., to go make disciples everywhere, to teach them—yes! Ah, but also to model those teachings—to be mentors and models.

Inquirers need, not only what Jesus taught and requires, but also to have models of how it becomes incarnate in flesh and blood to. The apostle Paul would teach the Corinthian Christians to be imitators of him as he also was of Christ. He would tell the Philippian Christians: “What you have learned and received and heard (been mentored by) and seen (seen modelled) in me—practice these things and the God of peace will be with you.”

Those who are to become the leaders and teachers in the Christian community are not only to skillfully communicate the gospel of God’s new creation in Christ, … they are also to model it. They need to demonstrate to God’s people what it looks like in flesh and blood. This is done, not primarily in huge congregations, but in one-on-one mentoring, or in small groups of Christians growing together and seeking to grow into the image of Christ. (the concept of ‘clergy’ or church professionals) has the potential of confusing this purposeful discipline when it is not conceived as a servant role of mentoring and modelling what is being taught in scriptures.

Ah! but every Christian, Bible in hand, can make a punch-list of the commands of Christ, of life in the Spirit, and begin to be a communicator/mentor and a model in the wonderful harvest field that is his/her 24/7 harvest field.

To be continued … I love your comments.