Another "New" Year??

Sunday begins a new year.  This year I feel fortunate to have survived the "holiday season" with everything in tact.  I detest the commercialism that has become our celebration but I am too tired and old to keep on tilting at windmills so I just continue on in my curmudgeonly ways and curse quietly under my breath trying hard not to make everyone around me as miserable as I tend to feel during this time of the year.

However, it is my custom to take a few minutes to "take stock" during this time of year (probably NOT the best frame if mind for my musing...but somehow it works for me).  This week while pondering I have also been working on a series of sermons for the church that will deal biblically and theologically with things that are "new."

There are two primary words in the bible for "new": neos and kainos.  Both terms are sometimes used synonymously and interchangeably so I expected the contrast between what is "new" and what is "old"--for instance Jesus' teaching about the new and old wine and wineskins...after all the bible is not rocket science!

However, what I came to understand theologically about how these terms are used shed some light on some issues in my life and I thought that someone might find them helpful as well...sorry I won't be posting all the information from all four sermons but if you have interest--this should get you started.

First off...here is a partial list of things that are either new (in contrast with the old) or are made new in the New Testament:

Using the term "neos":
Dough (1 Cor 5:7)
Wine (Matt 9:17 and parallels)
"New" Man (Col 3:9)
Covenant (Heb 12:24)

Using the term "kainos":
Commandment (Jn 13:34; 1 Jn 2:7-8)
Creation (2 Cor 5:17; Gal 6:15)
Existence [life in the Spirit] (Rm 6:4; 7:6)
Man (Eph 2:15; 4:24, cf 2 Cor 4:16, Col 3:10)
Heaven and Earth (2 Pt 3:13, Rev 21:1)
Name (Rev 2:17; 3:12)
Jerusalem (Rev 3:12; 21:2)
Song (Rev 5:9; 14:3)

It is a pretty impressive (albeit partial) list!! But here is what I came to understand...these things are not "copies" of the old things--God, through Christ is not "renewing" these things...He is either comparing and contrasting these things with the "old" ones (especially in the case of "neos" with dough and wine). Or He is making literally NEW things.

If I understand the language correctly (and I have not taken the time to go over every verse in the original language yet--so I may have come to a wrong conclusion) but I think a better way to state these terms is like this--"neos" is primarily used of things that are "fresh" compared to things that are old and stale. "Kainos," on the other hand, has a qualitative dimension to it that might be rendered as "better" (that is NOT to say that everything that is deemed "new" is better than the "old" things)--if the New Testament is a fulfillment of the Old Testament then we should see the "new" things as fresh and better things that God has set upon the foundation of the old things.  It is not a "new" thing that comes from the old...but it is something completely fresh that surpasses what has already been.

When we apply this line of thought to the lists above the promises of God take on a WHOLE new dimension.  Eventually "everything" will be made new for "the old order has passed away" (Rev 21:5) but in the meantime look what God is already accomplishing in the life of those who love and live for Him!!!

There is no doubt that Sunday at 12 midnight we will begin a "New" (fresh as far as the calendar is concerned) Year...but is it also possible that God is working in our lives to make things "new" (qualitatively better)?  The problem is that we associate the term "better" with things always going our way and us getting what we want...but that is NOT what God has promised!!

In the lyrics of The Counting Crows "it's been a long December and there's reason to believe that maybe this year will be better than the last..." it will because we will be one step closer to God making everything new because He is alive and at work.  I believe...help my unbelief.

BTW...Happy "New" year!

Marginal Jesus

I continue to be amazed by grace.  Not that I have any real grasp of it, I  only understand that I have received it—but not WHY I have received it, but I continue in my feeble attempt to understand it and recognize it when I see it in my life and the life of others.

The world we live in is “graceless.”  Not in the sense that there is no grace…but in the sense that we are NOT graceful people (although we love to pretend that we are!).  The past month has been a living testimony to that. It appears to be that if we REALLY understood grace we would understand Thanksgiving as a unique holiday.  Instead, our consumer culture has one shift dismantling the Halloween candy and decorations and the next shift putting up Christmas trees and snow globes filled with Santa and his reindeer. “Thanksgiving?” the clerk asks in response to my query.  “I believe we have some ‘fall’ decorations over in the corner.” Fall?  Really…? we have merged Labor Day, Halloween, Fall Break, and Thanksgiving into “Fall?”  I guess I didn’t get the memo!!  Only a graceless culture would lose sight of all that we truly have to be thankful for…perhaps only the grocery stores celebrate because it is, after all, “turkey day.”

Perhaps that is PRECISELY the point.  We have become graceless because we have been SO blessed by grace.  In other words…we have been given so much that we now have come to expect it.  Please allow me to ask you a personal question…have you been “good” enough to receive gifts this Christmas?  No really!!! Has your behavior throughout the year ACTUALLY been so exemplary that you deserve a gift?  Every kid is going to give an unqualified “yes” to this question but I would suppose that we as adults actually believe that we have not been that bad…and whether we actually get gifts or not we believe that we are entitled to get them…well…because we do (after all, as Scrooge tells Marley… “you are no better or worse” than anyone else)!

I often struggle with people.  I don’t want to go further down this road…I’m just stating the facts. AND, conversely, I am certain that there are people who struggle with me (and I am COMPLETELY okay with that!). When I read the gospels and I see how Jesus has some of the same issues.  Though He is clearly different than me in that He loves everyone equally it also seems evident that He was frustrated at some points.  In fact, it seems as though He reserved His harshest critiques for His disciples and the “religious leaders” of His day (perhaps He thought that they should have known better?) But He always seems to err on the side of grace (NOT the side I usually err on!).  I am fascinated by the sociology displayed in the gospels—whether actually by Jesus or inferred by the authors of His biography.

It appears, even from a cursory reading, that Jesus spends most of his time with three groups of people: the disciples He chose, the “spiritual leaders” of His day—which usually led to a conflict, and the disenfranchised and marginalized people of His culture (it is also unique to note that Jesus accepts some of both in His group of disciples!) which usually led to grace.

Since Christmas season is soon upon us, allow me to illustrate from the Christmas narratives. From our hindsight it is easy to see what is going on in Matthew and Luke.  Matthew a Jew, who is concerned about the Kingdom, shows how there is to be a Kingdom reversal with the birth of Jesus.  The earthly powers that be enter into the story with much fear and resort to all kinds of violence to thwart the attempted subversion.  Luke, a Gentile doctor, who is always concerned about the poor in his gospel, focuses on the earthly impact that this baby will have on our world. While both are concerned about the theological implications of the birth (Matthew identifies Jesus as Emmanuel meaning “God with Us” and that He is to be “the Christ” (the anointed one of God), and Luke whose account tells us that the baby will be called, “Yeshua” (Jesus) which means “God Saves,” and reminds the shepherds that today a “Savior” is born) they diverge on other details.  No kings or wise men in Luke…only lowly shepherds (the “hom-r-air-its”—the people of the land) who go to the manger because “there was no room in the inn” (where “rich” and “middle class people stay?). Could Luke be telling us something?  It is after all, Luke alone who has Jesus proclaiming the year of Jubilee (cf Luke 4) in the synagogue in Nazareth.  Who benefits the MOST from the year of Jubilee?  The poor and marginalized!

Luke goes to great lengths in his gospel to place Jesus “eating and drinking with sinners.”  In fact, in the original language the phrase “reclining at the table” is used of Jesus more frequently in Luke than any other Gospel!  According to Donald Heinz in his work, Christmas: Festival of Incarnation, people who were shepherds in Jesus day were considered to be COMPLETELY marginalized and ostracized by their world:

In the first century shepherds got no respect…the original shepherds were unlikely candidates for epiphany. Unshaven and drinking hard, shepherds starred among the thieving and cheating professions; they could not hold office or be admitted as witnesses in court. Just because of who they were, they were important to Luke, who always makes heroes of the lowly, the marginalized, the foreigner, and women.

Imagine someone who could not testify in a courtroom chosen to testify to the world about the most important event in human history!!  They became important for the first time ever!!  They were struck by grace in a graceless world where the “haves” did not care about the “have-nots!” Isn’t there a bit of irony in the fact the John would later give Jesus the title “THE Great Shepherd?”  Whatever else Jesus did for humanity he brought the divine and human together where Spirit touched matter and that would be “Good news for ALL people.”

Perhaps the marginalized people of the world find so much hope in Jesus because they cannot find hope (grace?) in any other place?  They are thankful for the small things because they have nothing?  They live in, and extend grace, because they understand how truly blessed that they are, and have no expectation that they deserve anything.  This is indeed the case with Christians in Haiti who struggle to survive, much less thrive.  When we were there a few years ago they were so gracious to receive instruction (from Scripture, for the dulcimer or guitar) that it was reflected in the way that they lived, worked, and most poignantly, in the way that they worshipped.

Is it any wonder that in our “graceless” culture Jesus, who loved the marginal, has been pushed to the margins?  Where ever Jesus was, grace was also present…perhaps that is why we are “graceless” in our Western world today? This Christmas seems no different than the last two thousand and something Christmases…there is still no room for Jesus!  And yet wherever people are oppressed and marginalized…grace shows up…because Jesus is there.

I just wonder if grace abounds in the marginal because Jesus feels appreciated there?

What the Church Should Learn from the News this Week

1. Penn State—the only thing that matters is integrity.

I am not a Penn State fan. But I HAVE to respect the dedication of someone like Joe Paterno who has dedicated his life to the Penn State football program and has succeeded in ways that some coaches will only ever dream of. That being said…ONE IS TOO MANY.  If the fiasco at PSU has taught the world anything it should be this simple truth…not matter what else happens, in the end, integrity is all that matters—when you lose that you have lost everything.

2. Veteran’s Day:

In the midst of the battle “little” things don’t matter.

I spent a part of the day watching the war movie marathons that have been on the “classic” movie channels all week...those movies that were made in the postmodern era stress the “politically correct” aspects of war—that things like race, creed, socio/economic background, and belief systems don’t matter in the midst of war—I’d like to think that those things are true but I am not naïve enough to believe it—in fact wars are fought over ideologies and believe systems. The late Robert Webber’s last work was called “Who Gets to Narrate the World”—based on the notion that ideologies often create conflict because at their core they form “truth claims” that are sometimes contradictory to each other.

In the end, though, we have fought long enough for things that don’t matter—the battle has damaged lives and dented faith…if our struggle is “not against flesh and blood”—we should know better by now.  What REALLY matters?  It is probably not what we think---Jesus didn’t die for “things” but for people…we are really all that mattered to God…do we share the same views?

Remember to be thankful before it’s too late.

What has often been called ‘America’s greatest generation” is now aging and dying off—they are all but forgotten because the world has simply passed them by.  According to Time magazine those young men and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are “The Next Greatest Generation” because of the impact that they will have on America as a result of their training, and service.  This should serve as a reminder that though we live in an ever changing  world where nothing seems to be permanent we MUST live the “attitude of gratitude” every day we survive. Is it any wonder that more people choose their church home based on worship and technology than doctrine or belief systems?

Veteran’s Day had fallen out of favor a bit until 9/11 and the subsequent war on terrorism brought out appreciation to those who serve to the forefront once again.  If all the images we are bombarded with remind us of anything it is that we must speak up while we have a chance—appreciation must be our new way of life---if not for the sacrifice of others we would be unprotected.  The same is true in the spiritual realm…if not for the sacrifice of Christ we would be left unprotected so worship must be a reciprocal language when we awake each day anew…if His mercies are new each day should our worship be less?

3. Roman Catholicism—the “new” mass that reflects old theology

An article this week stated that Catholicism is on the verge of a new translation for the Mass. (you can read the entire article HERE).  The new “mass” is intended to finish what was started at Vatican II.  The Second Vatican council  developed a mass primarily for English speaking nations that kept the intent of the Latin but used language that was more idiomatic and more easily understood by those who knew little or no Latin but wanted to remain active in the pursuit of their faith.

The new mass is apparently striving to reflect the Latin meaning without using the Latin language.  For instance the new phraseology of the Nicene Creed reflects a greater depth of understanding by stating that Jesus (the Son) is “consubstantial with the Father.”  Which is really what the Council of Nicaea was all about in 325 anyway—the relationship between the Father and Son.  Where once the priest announced that the Son was “of One being {essence} with the Father” they are now understood as “consubstantial” which reflects a deeper ontology than previous terminology—clearly the Father and Son are now to be seen as “homo-ousia” (of the same essence) in the STRICTEST sense of our understanding of this Hellenistic philosophical concept.

This move by the Vatican only shows the depth of the worship and culture wars that are still being played out between the Church and the world.  But this is no introduction of contemporary worship choruses…this is a call for depth amidst a world that is tired of a Christianity that is ankle deep without integrity.  The Vatican is not calling for a return to modernism, as reflected in Vatican II, but a clarion call to embrace a postmodern culture with ancient truth that, by design, was ANYTHING but emotional “fluff.”  As my theology professor would say, “these boys are only interested in playing hardball!”

The Church needs to take these things to heart---they are telling us more about the world that we are living in than any “ghettoized” Christian magazine, book, or seminar.  We are called to live IN THE WORLD (but not of it)---light is really only noticeable if it shines in the darkness…what is the point of using a flashlight in the brightness of day?  We are called to be salt and light (and we do not have a choice) but just where (and how) are we doing that?  As Francis Assisi once quipped, “preach always…use words when necessary.”

Starting Over?

When I was MUCH younger we often entertained ourselves playing a variety of outdoor games. Sometimes we played touch-football, or baseball, on occasion: kick the can, hide-n-seek, ghost in the graveyard, tag, or freeze tag.  We picked teams according to “one-potato-two-potato” or “bubble gum bubble gum in a dish” or last but not least, “eany meany miney moe.” No matter how great we got along or who was winning invariably something went wrong somewhere and we needed an opportunity for a correction…we called that opportunity a “do-over.”

These days I’m doubtful that the youth of our day have “do-overs”—instead they simply push the “reset” but that allows them to go back to the beginning of the game or to the last place that they “saved” their progress within the game.  Too often we see life as a game that must be mastered—when we see life like that we WILL, periodically, make errors--unfortunately, life rarely allows “do-overs.”

However, what the natural world denies us the spiritual world assumes---second chances.  It is the essence of the concept of grace.  We invariably make mistakes but we are simply asked to admit them, apologize (if it was our fault) and go on. YES!! We must sometimes live with the consequences of those mistakes but we do NOT have to live with the guilt…that is what grace does…we continue to make mistakes and we continue to get chances to do better “next time.”

My wife, kids, extended family, and friends all manage to put up with me (most of the time)—they are willing to overlook my “issues” and continue to be supportive…I suppose because they care for me—though sometimes I am not sure why.  I assume the same goes for God.  Though I am baffled at the “why” question, clearly, the evidence in my life leads me to believe that for whatever reason He is willing to overlook my failures, and allow me to continue on—even though He knows I will never get it right.

In a mere ten days I will once again have the opportunity to experience a “do-over” in my life, though I confess that it will not be exactly like any other circumstance I have yet faced.  I have been given the opportunity to work with a struggling congregation as an interim (what congregation isn’t struggling right now!?!). I am unsure of how I might do things different this time. In twenty-five years I hope I have learned what NOT to do…but I am less sure that I have learned what TO do or to do better than I have before…which has caused me to reflect more deeply on both the prophetic and the priestly roles of those who serve congregations as “ministers.”  I am not a reverend (in fact, I may be one of the most irreverent people I know), nor am I a pastor (in the NT that is the elder’s job), while some like the title evangelist I don’t see myself as one of those either…because I believe, biblically, I spend most of my time training those who already believe to become disciples (or as Kyle Idleman would say “followers” as opposed to “fans”) of Jesus Christ.  It is Barthian because it requires a full understanding of both the bible and the daily news. In Jesus’ words we must be “in the world but not of the world.” But who has “cornered the market” on that?

It is not an opportunity that I take lightly.  There is no way that I can know what the future might hold…but one thing is for sure…I will more than likely mess it up in SOME way…I am thankful that I don’t have to be perfect…and even when I am not God allows “do-overs” for those of us who cannot get it right the first, second, third, fourth…well you get the point.     

In the Desert...You Can't Remember Your Name

Today’s rambling may be completely random…I have three strands of thought in my head that I hope I can cause to converge in my thought process to make a complete puzzle…so hang on while I try to put the pieces together…

I LOVE the biblical story of the exodus of God’s people from Egypt—but for ALL the wrong reasons.  The “good stuff” is all sort of “self-evident”…it is like a child’s flannel graph story from Sunday School in the 1970’s…it is hard to miss the point—God at work in the lives of His chosen people—He is faithful even when we aren’t.  The narrative of promise and the theology are all there…but it is the geographic content that intrigues me, and for that we need to step back a little further.

I’ve never been to the “Holy Land” but I have seen pictures, videos, and I talked with several people who have witnessed it first-hand.  Parts of it seem quite beautiful (even though it has been war-torn nearly since Jesus left the earth) but there is a stark contrast to the beauty—the barrenness of the desert (also called “wilderness”). The Hebrew can be translated as “desert” or “barren wilderness”…no words better describes MOST of my spiritual life than these.

Since the time I felt called by God to enter the ministry I have always sought God’s leading.  Often I felt clear direction and sensed the Spirit’s prompting for me to make certain choices—and CLEARLY they have been just that…MY CHOICES.  I am not a Calvinist and do not believe in deterministic predestination—I fully believe that God has an overall plan but gives us free will to make choices, and I have always thought that I have tried to see God’s plan and make choices that aligned my will with God’s will—obviously I have not always been successful at that (at least from my perspective)—so I feel like I have spent my life “wandering in the wilderness” (a good spiritual metaphor for me).  I have always believed that God was with me in my wandering (and even in the wilderness) but I have often felt exiled NOT because of God but because I was bearing the responsibility of MY choices (Sartre would be proud of my existentialist leanings here…taking the responsibility for both my choice AND what I didn’t choose!).  Too often my self-imposed exile left scars.

Last week I was listening online to a streaming audio sermon by Mike Breaux.  It was an okay message (long on pop/socio psychology and short on theology grounded in Scripture for me but that is a WHOLE other issue) but he was talking about Moses when he said a phrase that has been stuck in my head.  He spoke about Moses killing the Egyptian taskmaster and then fleeing to the desert for safety.  He went on to tell how Moses stayed in the desert, and then he said this, “Moses was in the desert and the desert was in him.”  It was the Fred Craddock moment of the sermon…it was not his main point but it was so powerfully worded that it was impossible to miss!  This was the epitaph for my own life.  Please note, God was still with Moses in the desert (even though he was now a murderer—for ALL the right reasons—but a murderer all the same)…I suspect He was waiting…for Moses to dissipate and for the desert to set in.

It is the nature of sin in our lives.  It is the effect that it has on our souls.  I am reminded of two powerful scenes from the Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.  Both scenes are prompted by the power that the ring (the symbol of evil) has over the  “ring-bearer” (and btw remember Galadriel’s words to Frodo: “to be a ring-bearer is to be alone”).  The first is the opening sequence of the movie that shows what happens to Sméagol and Déagol the day Déagol finds the ring.  Sméagol kills his friend to gain “ownership” of the ring, and then:

They cursed us. Murderer. Murderer they called us. They cursed us and drove us away. And we wept, Precious, we wept to be so alone. And we forgot the taste of bread, the sound of trees, the softness of the wind . . . We even forgot our own name…

The second is near the end of the movie.  Frodo and Sam are near the top of Mt Doom (where the ring is to be destroyed) and they are exhausted from their long journey…Sam ponders the future:

Sam: Do you remember the Shire, Mr. Frodo? It'll be spring soon. And the orchards will be in blossom. And the birds will be nesting in the hazel thicket. And they'll be sowing the summer barley in the lower fields... and eating the first of the strawberries with cream. Do you remember the taste of strawberries?

Frodo: No, Sam. I can't recall the taste of food... nor the sound of water... nor the touch of grass…

It is what happens when the desert overcomes us…we forget!  I have been accused of being unsympathetic, introverted, and distant (even though I don’t think I am—it could be a by-product of my too modernistic rational theological education), but I am NEVER unmoved by those who suffer debilitating neurological disorders…who “forget” to eat, to communicate, loved ones, their name…themselves. 

We are, in part, who we are because of our names (though we can legally change them—we cannot change the genetics behind those names). Names are important.  My wife and I went to great lengths to make sure that the names of our children told their stories…and as they shape their own stories growing up—their names are helping to shape them serving as reminders of what our (my wife and I) visions, hopes, and dreams, were of them and for them.

When I was younger I was learning to play the acoustic guitar…and though I wanted to ROCK…I began with easy folk and country songs. But what I wanted to play was those “soft-rock/folk-rock” songs of the 70’s…one of the first ones I tried to play was “A Horse with No Name” by the group America (man am I getting old!!)…I have always tried to figure out just what that song was about---and I have read MANY explanations (none completely satisfied me) but I have always been struck with the phrase, “in the desert, you can’t remember your name…”—whatever they meant they understand how the desert gets in us..and we forget.

I’ve been there.  I am there.  I have been lost and disoriented but I have never been alone.  The desert has consumed me…it lives in me…I am dry, and barren inside and out, and yet I have never felt completely alone nor devoid of hope (though it has often dimmed!).  One reason is because I know that I have been sustained by those who love me, even when I am unlovely—they have prayed when I could not, they have gone when I decided to stay, they cared when I didn’t, and they stayed strong when I was weak.  And somehow when I don’t want Him or when I least expect him…God shows up and reminds me that I have a new name…Christian…and even when I forget…He doesn’t.

So once again I find myself at a crossroads.  Just when I thought a break from ministry was immanent…God seemingly has other plans…plans that only He could have orchestrated.  So I will do my best to follow—knowing that trying to do it on my own will only end in failure but recognizing that my failure is His specialty…because when I am weak HE IS STRONG.  I believe…help my unbelief.