HERE’S WHAT WE’RE AFTER …
October 19, 2009
We are content with nothing less than all God designs for the church to be. I’ve become quite convinced that when the Scriptures describe Jesus Christ as the ultimate word–supreme revelation–of God’s message to us, it implies that whatever else we do as church it must track with the person and work of Jesus.
Therefore, I’ve simplified things considerably. We’re after:
- Being and helping others be like Jesus (the HEART of holiness)
- Loving the world as God did and does (the MISSION of holiness)
- Following Jesus to the people, especially the weak, vulnerable, poor (the STRATEGY of holiness)
Much more could and should be said about all of these things. But we dare not say less. And, we dare not be and do less.
Lord, let us be and do! Amen.
Topics: Authentic Church-Being | No Comments »
Come Holy Spirit!
June 16, 2009
Fifty days following Jesus’ resurrection, on Pentecost Day, his first followers had been waiting and praying together. Then, as Jesus promised, God the Holy Spirit swept into their gathering. There came a rushing torrent, an awesome fiery descent upon each one, and a powerful infusion. This infusion of life, joy and love initiated a new human family-though once not a people, now the people of God, graced and launched into bold adventurous, dynamic mission.
Whereas other storms of the natural order leave destruction, this supernatural storm of God’s furious passion leaves the landscape ordered by new creation. The Prophet Joel had seen it coming-the fullness of God’s presence indwelling all people.
During this Pentecost season Free Methodists say, “You are welcome Holy Spirit!” Do again among and through us what you have done before. And not only with us, but with all your people.
Come and breathe life into us as you did in the very beginning of Creation and Church!
Breathe the joy of loving and knowing you into your people and through them into your world!
Breathe into our gatherings and goings that power you showed the world when you raised Jesus from the dead, and turn this world of yours right side up!!
Come Holy Spirit!
Topics: Authentic Church-Being | No Comments »
Messiah as Metaphor for Life
April 12, 2009
Everyday should be Easter! That’s the way I always feel on Easter Sunday, and for the several days that follow it. What grand realities we celebrate—God defies death in raising His Son and, in the process, puts all His enemies on notice! And, to think, He shares this victory with us, regardless what life does to us now or at some future time. Everyday should be Easter.
Several years ago, after our wonderful Easter celebrations, and after a wonderful Easter feast (how blessed we were–sumptuous food for our spirits and body!), our family spent the afternoon at Bethany College in nearby Lindsborg, KS. Every year during Holy Week the music department of the college, along with talented people from all over central Kansas, present Handel’s Messiah. The finale occurs on Easter Sunday afternoon. What a treat. As I say, everyday should be Easter!
The Messiah, as you know, celebrates through music and song Christ’s person and work as the Messiah. It begins with words of prophecy, announcing the good news of Messiah’s coming and carries you forward to experience musically and artistically the birth, ministry, death, resurrection, and exaltation of Jesus as Messiah and Lord of all. Of course, to experience all of that requires time. It’s a lengthy performance, almost three hours with the intermission. But what a treat it was, not only because I enjoy this sort of music but also because I realized that listening to The Messiah was something of a metaphor for the whole of our Christian lives.
I came to this realization in a strange way. At three points during the presentation of The Messiah I struggled maintaining consciousness. It’s a bit embarrassing to admit and I could offer excuses, but let me simply make an honest confession. Three times I struggled with slumber, and once I surrendered for a few moments of rest. I take some comfort in reporting that I was not alone. One poor fellow was so far gone, I feared for his safety. He was well past the polite nodding I tried to maintain. In fact, he’d given up the battle entirely, with his chin flat against his chest (He was so far gone that even a mild Kansas breeze would have sent him crashing over the seat in front of him into the lap of a sophisticated woman who would never have understood!).
So, there we were, surrounded by the sounds of The Messiah—immersed in His story. Heaven and earth intersected through music. At times I thrilled to the good news, sitting on my seat’s edge anticipating the next chorus of thundering joy. But at other times I could hardly stay awake. As I slumbered, however, the music and song played on, the story continued. I was no less immersed in the story, even if less aware of it. Likewise, the Messiah was no less engaged in my story, even if I felt less engaged in it. During those hours in the auditorium many of us moved through this rhythm of response and rest as the Messiah came, lived, died, rose, and received the worship of His cosmos.
It has dawned on me. I am immersed in Jesus’ story, as are all of us upon whom the Light has shined. Sometimes I am keenly aware of the “music.” I feel it and rejoice to resonate with it in daily life. At other times, I’m not at all aware of it—perhaps I’m sleeping as we all must or I’m distracted by some siren song. Yet, the music plays on, the story continues, the Messiah in whose life I am immersed moves toward the final amen!
Unless I choose to leave the auditorium, I remain there to hear that final Amen Chorus. At that time, everyone is awake and alert. Even my friend who had been so given to his slumber—even he sits leaning forward, eyes wide with wonder and awe, rejoicing to be part of Messiah’s triumphant finale.
Easter Day is one of those times when we’re wide awake and keenly aware. Yet, on other days, the music and the story are no less real. And we are no less immersed in the story. In this sense, at least, every day is Easter!
Topics: Authentic Church-Being | No Comments »
WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE?
March 10, 2009
Acts, charter document for authentic church-being, forces us to reckon with the church as people. Not buildings, places, policies, schedules, or activities—no, not even ministries. People. That church is about people helps explain why Luke doesn’t use the term “church” at first (not until ch.5 of Acts). It also explains why other terms, such as disciples, believers, followers of the way, are most common in designating the people who are church.
In other words, not just any collection of warm bodies qualifies as church—no matter what the sign out front says. Indeed, a critical concern for all who understand church as people is: What kind of people?
Remarkably, the record in Acts quickly dismisses typical, worldly ways of answering the question. Demographics, economics, sociology, and politics do not offer adequate tools for assessing what kind of people. Clearly, most any kind could be church—from every corner of the globe (see Acts 2:5), from every economic level, from whatever line of work, from both genders—whatever!
What kind? Only theological considerations answer the question. Specifically, their kind points to Christology (the person of Christ) and Pneumatology (the presence and power of the Spirit). Their response and relationship to Christ as empowered by the Spirit, who now indwells them, explains their kind. Prior to the completion of Christ’s mission among humanity and the Spirit’s invasion of their lives, these people could never have become church. Of course, they would never have had occasion even to be together, but even if they had, church could never have resulted. Just the opposite, in fact! We all know what happens when vastly different people are brought together, especially if there is bad blood or history between them. Trouble! Yet, here you have very different people drawn together—leading to church. In the process, despite their many differences, they became a unique kind of people. Only God-at-work explains it.
The practical implications of this are many. Here are a few. 1. Just because we meet together doesn’t make us church. Authentic church-being requires God to explain it. Does our togetherness require a God-happening? Or are we together for other reasons? 2. When our differences divide us, we call into question our authenticity as a church. In the world, that’s what differences do—divide, fragment, spin-off factions, mark off turf, draw lines in the sand. In the church, differences showcase the genius of God’s creativity, the wonder of Christ’s reconciling work, and the deep, durable bonds of the Spirit—all an indication of an on-going God-happening among us. 3. “Trouble” in the church—whether conflict over differences that could split the church or a status quo that suggests God is not happening among us—signals a slander on God and the integrity of his plan. It is a form of blasphemy, a gross misrepresentation of God. More is at stake than the reputation of our group in the community. It’s the reputation of our God in the cosmos. Being church is serious business!
What kind? In a word, Family. Luke says they took care of one another so well that no one in that early Jerusalem church could have a need that went unmet (see Luke 4:34). That they were, in fact, Family is the point of “having all things common.” We read the early chapters of Acts through Marxist-tinted lenses. We chalk it up to a God-inspired, pure form of voluntary “communism.” Yet, the early church predates all of that by 1900 years! No, not socialism, or “pure” communism,” but FAMILY. In families resources are shared, not hoarded. In families, members care for one another—no one’s needs go unnoticed and unmet. In families, what one has, all have—particularly when need calls for resources. To have all things in common, to regard no possession as off-limits in the presence of another’s pressing need—is to be FAMILY!
The God-happening among the people who were first church is that despite their many differences, Jesus and the Spirit made them Family. To the amazement of the world around them, they carried on in a family way. Again, only God could explain that!
One final observation and application. Within families people don’t always get along with everyone else. Sometimes members of the same family don’t even like each other. It occurs in families that are a human-happening and it sometimes occurs in the Family that is a God-happening. That possibility does not necessarily unmake the family. It does, however, signal a need to understand and cherish the gift that family is, and to seek grace to realize its full potential. In both kinds of family, the stakes are enormous!
Topics: Authentic Church-Being | No Comments »
WHATYACALL’EM MATTERS!
January 20, 2009
Words carry power! Even today when uninvited data inundates us, what you call something matters. Our Biblical heritage illustrates and celebrates this fact. Count the name changes that occur as the writers carefully narrate the story. Note the names of places and events, thrusting roots deep into space and time. Words pack a wallop of meaning.
I’m intrigued by whatyacall that group of people, those fellow believers in Jesus who gather and scatter (some prove better at one than the other) regularly to tend matters of eternity and tomorrow. Of course, we know the name. We call it “church.”
Watch out, though, because whatyacallit matters. Indeed, supremely matters. That we think in terms of “it” matters, for example. And we do objectify in this way. We focus on “it” or, we could say, “itness.” “Church,” even the most addle-brained among us knows, is that building located on the corner . . . . “Church” is that schedule of services, ministries, and activities. “Church” means these and other “things.” “Things” express “itness.” Once “church” becomes whatyacallit, you’re hard pressed to see a most critical feature of the authentic church. Once “church” becomes whatyacallit, you may forfeit the opportunity to experience authentic church-being.
Luke, writer of Acts, uses the word “church,” but not in the first chapters of his story. I believe he (God through him) avoids the danger of “whatyacallit.” There is no “it” or collection of “its” (things) that Luke would identify as “church.”
Instead, for Luke, whatyacall’em matters. Not “it” but “’em.” Repeatedly he describes them, he tells us what they did, and recounts all sorts of folk who join them. What’s the point? People! The church is a people and is all about a people. Before there were buildings, carelessly and erroneously called “churches,” the church formed and began to penetrate the world. With or without a building, with or without the other things modern use of the term “church” insists are essential, there would be church. Whatyacall’em matters. As church they were a people. And as church we are a people.
Whatyacall’em? A people, but not just any people. A people created by God, as new as Adam and Eve on creation day. A new people created by the power of the Spirit out of old ordinary folk who embraced and were gripped by the good news of Jesus. Whatyacalle’m? A people yes, and a miracle of God’s creative power.
Note the contrast before and after Pentecost. Before, from all over the world; after, together in one place, sharing a common life. Before, a cacophony of separate, preferred languages; after, a symphony of harmonious praise and good news. Before, peoples; after a people. Before, a gathering would lead to clash, if not conflict; after, a gathering led to communities of care. Whatyacall’em? Church!
Looking at the people who were first church snatches the breath out of me. Why would such people ever be together? How could they without something bad happening? How could they so that many good things happen? What a wonder! Ultimately, only God explains it.
To use the term “church” in the best sense, and to assume the label church, should stand us in awe. We behold a miracle. Nothing less than God’s awesome power explains them. God’s power shown in the self-sacrificing and grave-crushing love of Jesus makes people a new people, and gathers them up into grand, epic movements of God in history toward eternity. Yes, only God’s power can explain them. To be church—what privilege and what challenge!
Topics: Authentic Church-Being | No Comments »
ADVENT AND AUTHENTIC CHURCH, AGAIN
December 19, 2008
God’s coming, the object of our expectation during Advent and the basis of our confidence in the year that follows, is always intrusive and disruptive. To Mary, Joseph, their families, the religious establishment, the political status quo, and to all who are open to divine visitation, it is not what they expect and often at first it is what they least want.
O, but who wouldn’t want God’s Kingdom—the perfect order of things, the only way a return to paradise is conceivable? Yet, God’s actual coming calls into question the sincerity with which human desire truly aspires to God’s Kingdom.
The fact is, it is God’s, not ours. And God’s is better than ours. But God’s Kingdom comes only God’s way. God’s better requires a suspension of human longing and conceiving and radical surrender to His way, until the Kingdom comes.
I am struck by how apt this is for understanding what it means to be church and then being that—namely, church. Nothing less than God’s coming will be required (that’s what happened on the first Pentecost Day when church as such first came into being). And, nothing less than our utter abandon to whatever He wishes to do, however He wishes to do it, is required if we are indeed to be church! I have been praying, as follows:
Lord, help me to feel the disruptive impact of your visitation. Blow to “smithereens” the nice, neat arrangements that are merely facades for sinful compromise within myself and among those whose fellowship I enjoy. Forgive me, Lord, for assuming I am a special case, that if Mary, Joseph, Magi, Herod, scribes and teachers of the law could not simply “welcome” your coming, as in adding another plate to the table, but had to reconfigure the whole of life around the new thing you were doing—forgive me for assuming that your coming could mean something different for me, that I do not have the same choices to make!
Come, Lord Jesus, but not as another guest to my party, but as the One who embodies the party I know nothing about and who, lovingly and graciously, includes me. Show me how truly to party! Amen.
Topics: Authentic Church-Being | No Comments »
ADVENT AND AUTHENTIC CHURCH-BEING
November 28, 2008
In the 4th century, Athanasius described the meaning of Christ’s birth this way: He became like us so that he might make us like him. That requires both individual and corporate application. Jesus’ coming means we can have God living on the inside, so that our daily lives in relation to persons, places, and things become an expression of Jesus, who is God. Similarly, Jesus’ coming means we can together become his Body which is, as Paul says, the fullness of the One who fills all things in all ways (Eph. 1:23). That is, together we become a bodily expression of divine fullness in the world.
I think we may do fairly well with the individual application. We understand, at least, that each one of us is called to be a habitation of the Holy One. And we rightly expect that all facets of our personhood are even now being formed into Christ likeness.
I think we do poorly with the corporate application, however. We have a hard time even understanding that our togetherness—the reality created by the fellowship—is also a primary means of God’s being in the world. Matthew stresses this in his gospel, when he cites the prophecy of Isaiah to explain the significance of Christ’s coming: His name shall be called Emmanuel, which means, “God with us” (1:23). At two later points, Matthew stresses the same fact—Jesus is uniquely present when his people are together and in mission (see 18:20; 28:20).
Even during Advent we cannot evade the call to authentic church-being. To be truly church is to be open to the dwelling of God among us as a corporate Body. It is to expect that our every gathering will be an epiphany—a manifestation of divinely glorious presence. It is to experience this expectation often. It is, if we are serious about being church, to seek God until he makes it so.
How sad, if in our celebration of Jesus’ coming, he doesn’t come! O, but he has already come, you say! Indeed, but the challenge is two fold. First, have we—the corporate we—truly welcomed him and is he therefore vitally present? And, second, would the world ever guess that God is present by watching and drawing near to us?
Topics: Authentic Church-Being | No Comments »
The Ideal Church Member
October 22, 2008
After searching for the ideal church-member for years, I’ve now concluded that I’ll probably start seeing ideal members as soon as I become the ideal leader! Until then, however, we can do no better than look to Jesus who teaches us about the ideal kingdom-member. (It’s safe to assume some correspondence between ideal kingdom- and church-members, I think)
In Mark’s gospel we find some negative and positive models for receiving the Kingdom as children which, Jesus says, is a (or “the” ?) mark of kingdom membership. In Mark 10 (13-16) Jesus becomes angry with his disciples when they spoke sternly to parents and rebuked them for bringing their children to him. In response, Jesus makes clear that the children offer a model for kingdom-life. Children must be brought by others. They cannot come by themselves on the strength of expertise or will or achievement. Someone else must bring them. For their part, the children receive the touch, care, and companionship of Jesus–THAT IS THE MODEL.
In the next episode (17-22) a young man runs up to Jesus with a question, and provides a negative, contrasting approach to kingdom-life. This man comes on his own initiative, confessing a desire for the kingdom and confident he can do something to satisfy his desire. Mark tells us that Jesus loved him and would have welcomed him just as he did the little children. But in the end he did not want the kingdom, not really. He balks at receiving it as Jesus offers it to him. He would rather add the kingdom to his already good life. So he departs in sorrow. He had too much to acquire everything.
The disciples then model another approach to kingdom-life when they fail to understand how hard it is for anyone to enter the kingdom, including those chosen to be disciples of Jesus (23-27)! With humans it is impossible, but not with God. The truth is that NO ONE can simply enter the kingdom. Yet any willing person may be brought, as the children were brought to Jesus.
Blind Bart offers the final, positive model (46-52). Bart is also sternly rebuked for crying out to Jesus. Mark uses the same term for rebuke (see 4:48) with respect to him as was used when the children were brought to Jesus. Bart can cry out for Jesus and for his mercy, but can do nothing on his own to acquire it. He must be brought to Jesus, as the children were.
Bart can, however, respond with reckless abandon when Jesus notices and calls and others bring him to Jesus. When this happens he casts aside his robe, his only earthly possession— relatively speaking this robe meant more to him in his poverty than the wealthy man’s riches had meant to him in his abundance. In other words, when Bart is called and brought to Jesus he spontaneously casts aside everything to respond, to be brought near to Jesus, to receive mercy, to enjoy the touch of Jesus, and to follow him wherever and join him in doing whatever.
The children and Bart offer us clear pictures of ideal responses to Jesus. Jesus welcomes them as companions and partners in his work. May their tribe increase!
Topics: Discipleship | No Comments »
Prayer and Authentic Church-Being
September 19, 2008
Prayer looms large on the horizon of people who are church. Of course such people “say their prayers,” at all the expected times. Likewise, when in trouble, they know that God is their refuge and strength, a source of timely help when needed (Ps. 46:1). So then, too, they pray. Authentic church-being suggests more, however.
In The Acts, charter document for authentic church-being, before the followers of Jesus became church as such, they “ … devoted themselves to prayer.” And, they did it “with one accord” “together” (Acts 1:14). Then after they became church on Pentecost Day, they routinely “devoted themselves to the prayers” (2:42). These before and after pictures reveal prayer as a defining quality of their life together in relation to God and one another. That is, prayer was no merely occasional devotional exercise, nor was it merely utilitarian—to get something from God when desired or needed. To be sure, they prayed devotionally and their prayers were answered awesomely. But their devotion to prayer suggests more.
First, their prayerfulness reflects that of Jesus. We recall that Jesus often withdrew to commune with the Father in prayer. In Luke’s gospel especially, to which Acts is sequel, the most important decisions or transitions of Jesus’ life and ministry flowed out of prayerful interaction with the Father. We also recall that Jesus often simply “broke into prayer.” Whatever else was happening, Jesus knew that his Father was watching, listening, and involved. Thus, sometimes in the middle of conversation with others or in the course of responding to his circumstances, Jesus explicitly turned to the Father. Devotion to prayer for Jesus and his followers means “practicing the presence of God,” cultivating a sense that God attends each moment of our lives, and living each moment as an intentional partnership with God. Wherever you find authentic church-being you find people of constant prayerful interaction with God, conscious of a perpetual open line with God.
Second, the prayerfulness of people who are church suggests radical commitment to the Lordship of Jesus. Certainly all of us would affirm the Lordship of Jesus. Such prayerfulness practices it. If Jesus is Lord, then his subjects do as he says. If he says, stay in Jerusalem until you receive the promise of power in the abiding presence of the Spirit, they stay put. If they stay put because Jesus is Lord, then they anticipate reception of this promise—even if it takes days, they continue to gather, to pray, to expect. In fact, they didn’t do anything but what Jesus told them to do until what he said came to pass. Then, as the story continues, they continue to practice the same radical Lordship of Jesus. They do what he says, only what he says. Their prayerfulness, expressing Jesus’ Lordship, keeps the line open so that the Spirit can tell them what to do, whether directly as they worship (e.g., Acts 13), or through community consensus in the course of their discussions (e.g., Acts 15), or through the insight of their leaders as they deal with the challenges of a growing church (e.g., Acts 6). In a variety of ways, authentic church-being will exhibit a corporate prayerfulness, an ongoing openness with God the Holy Spirit, so that the Spirit can give direction and the people can practice the Lordship of Jesus radically.
FMC co-laborers, don’t you long for authentic church-being to break out across the country! I can offer no sure-fire formulas or mechanical steps for accomplishing this, but here are some of the strategic responses we should make to the Scripture’s revelation of the church. Let us practice the presence of God, as pastors and together with our people. Recall his presence, seek deeper sensitivity to his movements, and do so as matters of top priority. Let us consider how, in fact, we practice the Lordship of Jesus—perhaps even whether we do. In our meetings, for worship, study, business, how can we keep an open-line with God? Let us seek to hear and know what Jesus is telling us to do here and now, through his Word and through his Spirit’s leading. Perhaps we should simply wait and seek more often, doing nothing until he tells us, and then allowing nothing to keep us from doing what he tells us. Think how wonderful it would be to have confidence that we are now doing exactly what Jesus has told us to do! Such prayerfulness is a mark of authentic church-being.
Topics: Authentic Church-Being | No Comments »
The “His-story” Making Church
July 17, 2008
A people who together are authentically church understand that history is “his-story,” that is God’s story brought to fullness in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, what Jesus began to do and teach they continue (Acts 1:1). It’s not so much that they have a story to tell, but that they are the story that tells. Who they are (identity), what they do (vocation), and how they live (life-style) embody the Jesus-story in and to their world. They are people whose defining story is his-story-making.
Obviously, Jesus’ story makes these people ” a people.” Without Jesus there could be no church, just as without Yahweh there could have been no Israel. First with Israel and then with the church, God calls people into being, a certain kind of being, that could be by no other means. Those who were not a people God has made a people (Hos. 1:10; 1 Pet. 2:10). Authentic church-being is a kind of being that could not be apart from God. As we look at groups today–including FMC groups–it is important to ask, how is it that such a group exists? Does its existence require God? Are creation and resurrection its foundational realities?
Perhaps not so obviously, the Jesus-story creates a people who participate in the Jesus-story. Read the Acts account of how the earliest followers of Jesus interacted with and related to one another (e.g., 2:41-47) and then compare these relations with Paul’s list of fruits of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23). Clearly the list becomes living among people of authentic church-being. They become a people whose association with Jesus explains their character and conduct, as we read of the apostles (Acts 4:13), a people who in the most extreme experiences of life replicate the responses of Jesus, as Stephen did in his martyrdom (Acts 7:59-60). It is important to set our intra-church dynamics alongside the Jesus-story and note how well they match. When we are together, as we do business, in the course of our worship, witness, and service does the list (Gal. 5:22-23) become living? In and through all we are and do, can others hear the voice of Jesus and feel his touch? Does our church-life, over the course of time, carry on the adventure of God interacting with, invading, and investing human history with holy presence?
Authentic church-being is radically counter-cultural. We refuse to accept the stories the world tells us. It’s not about the Pax Romana embracing the world through the Roman Empire. Nor is it about the American dream or Democratic ideals washing over every continent’s shores. No, it’s about Jesus who goes to Jerusalem, so that his people may go from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth and then to a new Jerusalem–carrying sufficient light to see the script of God’s story, in which every person has a role. It’s not about making your mark here and now during your brief span of life. It’s about bringing the eternal depth and dimension of God’s plans for all things into every moment of time while there is time, so that no one supposes that time is all there is. It’s inviting people to come out of the cramped smallness of merely here and now living into the vast, huge frontiers of the God-given and eternal. It’s not about scratching and clawing one’s way to the top in order to be something or someone. It’s about discovering the someone God made us to be and then becoming that someone, which is something indeed. It’s not about currying favor or attracting love, it’s about waking up to a world full of the steadfast love of the Lord that is from everlasting to everlasting, that can never fade or fail, and that can make us more than conquerors, no matter what.
In fact, authentic church-being exposes the lie of every story other than God’s story. Not so much by offering us better lines as by offering us better lives as individuals and congregations. It’s not the debate, but the demonstration that counts most.
Topics: Authentic Church-Being | No Comments »
« Previous Entries