Category: Links

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A Compassionate Judge

The Washington Post has an article titled “A compassionate judge sentences a veteran to 24 hours in jail, then joins him behind bars.” I encourage you to follow this link and read it. After reading it, I began reflecting on it in terms of God as our divine judge. In Jesus Christ, we have a judge who not only suffered with us but suffered in our place.

Link: http://wapo.st/1SP5uq6

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Baptism is Thicker Than Water

Dan Dick’s most recent post is titled “Baptism is Thicker Than Water.” It begins thus:

At what point should The United Methodist Church admit its failures and simply split over the issues of human sexuality raised by LGBTQI people and those in the church unwilling or unable to accept them?  For me, the answer is simple — at the point that we admit that we do not believe God has the power to unite, reconcile and heal.  To stay together is an act of faith.  To separate is to reject God, renounce Jesus, and revoke our baptism.

I would encourage you to head over to his blog, United Methodeviations, and read the whole thing.

Link: http://wp.me/ppQMH-1qg

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Bishop Jones, Syrian Refugees and Abilene First UMC

Bishop Scott Jones has written a thoughtful, carefully considered article on the Syrian Refuge Crisis titled “We Must Recognize We Are Engaged in Cultural War.” I encourage you to read it all. He makes the scriptural argument for welcoming Syrian refugees, and then he says the following:

“When Western countries mistreat and reject Muslims, it becomes a recruiting tool and propaganda weapon for our enemies. I am deeply disappointed that so many governors (including those of Kansas and Nebraska where I serve) have rejected the idea of receiving refugees. They are pandering to our worst fears and failing to lead us to be our best selves as a nation. They are making a strategic mistake and giving aid to our enemies. This culture war will be won by the Christian values of love, tolerance, mutual respect and hospitality. As a nation and as states, we need to welcome the stranger among us.” — Bishop Scott Jones.

Syrian refugees fleeing their homeland are the strongest possible rebuke to ISIS propaganda. I understand the (not unreasonable) fear that many have about welcoming refugees into our communities, but to turn them away is turn our backs on the clear witness of scripture and to do exactly what ISIS would like us to do.

I read the Bishop’s article yesterday and resolved to write the above blog post linking to it today. Then I was confronted with the opportunity to put my money where my mouth was. The District Superintendent called and said they were looking for United Methodist Churches willing to support and sponsor Syrian refugees. She wondered if Abilene First might be one of those churches. After consulting with the lay leader, the chair of the church council, and both lay delegates to Annual Conference, Jenny and I have decided to call a congregational meeting after worship this coming Sunday. Recently we, as a congregation, have practiced holy conferencing around the issues of homosexuality and the separation of church and state. My hope is that we can do the same around this issue.

Link: http://bit.ly/1j9Gm1J

 

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12 Scriptures About Refugees

Relevant Magazine has an article listing twelve scripture passages relevant to our current discussion of Syrian refugees. It’s a reminder not only of what we are called to do, but who we are called to be. As such, it’s not necessarily something we want to hear, but definitely something we need to hear. (Isn’t that often the way scripture functions in our lives?) We must not allow our fear to overcome our Christian faith and love.

Link: http://www.relevantmagazine.com/node/127480

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Remembering the Good

The 9/11 attacks showcased fallen human nature at its worst. But they also gave us a chance to show the good that can be done with the help of God’s grace (regardless of whether that help is recognized and acknowledged or not). That’s why I wanted to share this article about the Canadian town of Gander, Newfoundland. Take the time to read the article and let it bring some cheer to your day. It was a demonstration of the kind of hospitality our faith demands of us.

Link: bit.ly/1KcVDFu

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Pastiche Spirituality

The following was written by Dan Dick and originally posted at United Methodeviations. I’m thankful for his permission to repost it here. To make it easier to read, I’m not posting it as regular text and not as a block quote. Here’s the article:

I know I’ve told this story before, but it fits so well with a couple of issues I am dealing with that I share it here again.

In my travels, one morning I stopped for breakfast and sat in a booth near two women.  When the waitress came to take their orders, one of the women said, “I would like the Eggs Benedict, but could I have sausage on that instead of ham?  And I really don’t care for English Muffins; could you put it on a biscuit, instead?  And I don’t like that gunky yellow sauce they put on it, so you could just leave that off for me.  And if it isn’t too much trouble, could they fry the eggs instead of poaching them?”

The waitress, being helpful said, “You know, if you get the sausage and eggs breakfast, it comes with a biscuit and is $2.00 cheaper.”

The woman, drawing herself up indignantly, spat, “I don’t want the sausage and eggs breakfast; I want Eggs Benedict!”

I was reminded of this story when I talked with a young woman who wistfully confessed that she missed going to church, and would really love to find one, but she only liked uplifting sermons; she didn’t like being challenged or made to feel guilty.  And she wanted to go where there was really good music, but she really didn’t care for most of the hymns and she absolutely abhors praise music.  And she would like to go someplace where she didn’t feel like a stranger, but she also didn’t want a lot of people bothering her.  And she liked going someplace to pray, but she didn’t like it when she was expected to pray printed prayers.  But she really, really wanted to find a church.

Another recent inquiry came asking if I knew of a good Bible study that was simple and quick, that could be done alone, and that wouldn’t focus on any of the really boring or irrelevant parts of scripture, but would give a person a fairly good level of competency and understanding?

We are living in an age of “me-first” consumerism and entitlement.  We want what we want when we want it, and we don’t want anything we don’t want.  We have lost any tolerance for enduring the good with the bad, and in the church and dominant culture it is resulting in pastiche spirituality as the new normal.  People cherry-pick the bits and pieces they like from Bible, devotionals, sacred writings of other faiths, aphorisms, bumper-stickers, pop culture and create a mash-up that “works” for them.  Jesus wept!

Now, we all do this to a certain degree.  Due to my superior understanding and interpretation, my Jesus can beat up your Jesus any day.  My beliefs, my opinions, my prejudices, my worldview, my practices, my engagement is better in every way than the “lesser” beliefs/opinions/prejudices/worldviews/practices/engagement of “lesser” people.  Differences of opinion, exegesis, perspective, and worldview cause constant clashes.  And this reveals the problem.

Where is our “we-ness?”  What is our common good, our shared value, our connective tissue, our unity in diversity.  How has the ME displaced and usurped the WE?  Ours is a shared faith.  We are the people of God.  Sometime early in the 21st century the evangelical questions shifted from “and how is it with your soul?” to “do you know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior?” and “where have you experienced God’s grace in the world this week?” to “are you Born Again?”  The context of the earlier questions was in community or small groups, while the neo-context was individual, personal, and all-too-often private.  The plural “you” so often used in the Christian scriptures got squeezed through the singular “you” filter of modern Western culture.  John Wesley taught about acts of personal piety, but he also preached and taught about the Means of Grace.  Personal piety — prayer, devotional contemplation, journaling, reading of Scripture — was essential for all Christians, but so were regular participation in communal acts of prayer, study of Scripture, celebration of sacraments, Christian conference, fasting, and works of mercy.  These corporate practices were so crucial and central for Wesley that he described them as ways we place ourselves in the path of the divine — means to the ends of grace.  They were not optional.  They were not dispensable.  They were not irrelevant.  The practice of the Means of Grace is essential to mature in the Christian faith.  “We” matters as much, if not more than, “me.”

Today’s leadership needs to teach and preach that it is NOT okay to pick and choose the bits and pieces we like, and discard the rest.  We need to let people know that you CAN’T be as good a Christian alone as you can be in community.  We need to remind people that being and doing, believing and behaving, worshiping and working are not separate, but in every case two sides of a single coin.  We need to remember that there is no such thing as “personal salvation” divorced from the Body of Christ.  We rise or fall together, and shame on us for succumbing to the cultural values of “me, me, me, most important”.  In the grand scheme and scope of God creation, a little humility is in order.

I truly believe that when every individual defines faith in personal and private terms, the center cannot hold.  We are less and less the Body of Christ and more and more dismembered parts, lifeless and useless and perfectly happy in our personal delusion of sanctity.  I have no meaning, no purpose, and no intrinsic value unless there is a you, and ultimately a we.  We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord, and alone we are meaningless.  The “you” that Paul and Jesus so passionately proclaimed is collective more often than individual.  Were Jesus from the south, he would have appropriately taught “y’all” and it would have been a whole lot clearer.  Together WE ARE the Body of Christ.  It is important not to forget that fact.

Link: bit.ly/1IRRuHh