These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another, render in your gates
judgments that are true and make for peace, do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath; for all these are things that I hate, says the Lord. --Zechariah 8:16 NRSV This week media outlets around the world are telling of the discovery of new Dead Sea Scrolls. The Dead Sea Scrolls were one of the greatest archaeological finds in the 20th century, and the revelation that more are still being found sixty years after the original ones were discovered is rather stunning. The name “Dead Sea Scrolls” refers to numerous caches of biblical texts found in caves in the hills along the western side of the Dead Sea in modern Israel. The scrolls include both biblical and extra-biblical writings dating from around 100 BC/BCE to 200 AD/CE Their discovery changed the way biblical scholars understand Judaism in the Roman era out of which Christianity arose. Scholars had previously understood the Judaism of this era to be relatively monolithic, but the Dead Sea Scrolls revealed a Judaism that was diverse and tolerated many different understandings of its sacred texts. Despite what you may see on sensational cable TV documentaries, there is no great conspiracy surrounding the Dead Sea Scrolls which reveals the end of time, the Illuminati or the true assassin of JFK. Instead, there has been a tumultuous scholarly squabble over who wrote the various scrolls, when they were written and what do they reveal about ancient Judaism. Over the decades, different groups of scholars have fought over who gets to examine the scrolls and which theories about them are valid. Generally speaking, many of the scrolls appear to have originated among a group of Jews living in an ascetic community near the Dead Sea (although some scholars argue against this consensus view). They hid their sacred texts and other items in nearby caves when Roman armies crushed Jewish uprisings in the first and second centuries AD/CE These most recent discoveries appear to be from a cave dubbed the “Horror Cave,” because human remains were found in it. Apparently people hid there from the Romans, and they possibly died there while under siege. Maybe the most important thing about the Dead Sea Scrolls is their age. Prior to their discovery, the earliest manuscripts known of the Hebrew Bible (what Christians call the Old Testament) dated to the 9th century AD/CE. When the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in the late 1940’s and afterward, among them were copies of the Hebrew scriptures dating to nearly 1000 years earlier! Despite some differences, the overwhelming majority of the copies were essentially the same, despite the thousand-year gap in versions. (Manuscripts of the Greek new Testament in contrast demonstrate numerous differences as scribes through the centuries made changes to them.) The latest Dead Sea Scrolls found are from a Greek translation of the original Hebrew prophets Nahum and Zechariah dating to the second century AD/CE. Don’t get me wrong, I’m pretty sure I’ve never preached a sermon on Zechariah or Nahum, so don’t feel bad if you’re not familiar with either of them. The Nahum verses don’t excite me too much, but the two verses from Zechariah seem made for our time. The Hebrew prophets demonstrate a radical concern with justice among the people of Israel. Their words not only inspired the people of ancient Israel but continue to inspire people today. Just think of how Martin Luther King, Jr.’s words, which he quotes from the prophet Amos, continue to speak to us: “let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” The verses from Zechariah read: “These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to one another, render true and perfect justice in your gates. And do not contrive evil against one another, and do not love perjury, because all those are things that I hate — declares the Lord.” (translation printed in NYTimes) In our time full of conspiracy theories, “alternative facts,” denial of science, unchecked social media posts, and shameless media manipulators, I can’t think of a more relevant word from God. Perhaps these newly discovered ancient scraps from the Dead Sea Scrolls can lead us to reconsider how we speak, email, tweet, post to Facebook and share on Instagram 1900 years later. Grace and Peace, Rev. Chase Peeples
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For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him
may not perish but may have eternal life. --John 3:16 NRSV This past Sunday I preached on John 3:14-21 and afterword several people told me the sermon was very meaningful to them. When I asked why, they said it was because of what I said about the nature of “belief” in John 3:16. What I said about the matter was a rather small point towards the end of the sermon, but this is not the first time the main thrust of one of my sermons turned out not to be the main thing people took away from it. I learned long ago that what people hear in my sermons may have little to do with what I thought I was trying to say. Usually this is because of something lacking on the preacher’s part, but sometimes I hope it has to do with God saying something through me to people and it seems like I had very little to do with the whole process. Perhaps that is what occurred Sunday. What I said which seemed to provoke a meaningful response in people was more or less that I have learned that a person’s stated beliefs don’t seem to matter much when it comes to the way the believer lives their life. I’ve known atheists who absolutely did not believe in God but whom were more Christlike than the most devout Christians. Likewise, I have known ardent Christians with detailed theologies about God who acted in the most immoral and unloving ways. I’ve learned that beliefs as intellectual concepts count for little in actually transforming who a person is. When “belief” is understood more as trusting in someone or something, then we get down to brass tacks about who a person is and how they live. What you trust in determines who you are and what you do. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve sat in meetings with people who claimed to be devout Christians but only trusted in the black and white numbers of an income/expense statement. They had no real trust in God to change anything about their situation or anyone involved in it. It’s no wonder churches are dying by the day; most of them are filled with functional atheists who don’t really trust God can or will do anything. When Jesus says to Nicodemus in John 3, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life,” he is not saying you must give intellectual assent to the concept of Jesus Christ according to a particular denomination, creed or system of theology. Instead, he is saying something like, “whoever believes in/trust in/is willing to bet their life and all that matters on the Son and the God who sent him will have a different kind of life starting right at that moment of trust.” That’s right, the Jesus of John 3 isn’t talking about a ticket out of Hell when you die, but rather a different experience of life starting right now that never ends. Your life and the quality of it depends on whom and/or what you believe in/trust. I didn’t come up with this way of thinking. Plenty of people smarter and more articulate than I have written as much—below you will find a few of them. Grace and Peace, Rev. Chase Peeples “To have faith does not primarily mean believing something, but rather believing in someone. Faith is trust. It takes courage to trust. The opposite of faith is not disbelief, but distrust, fear. Fear makes us cling to anything within reach. Fear clings even to beliefs… Faith is the courage to respond gratefully to every given situation, out of trust in the Giver.” –David Steindl-Rast, Gratefulness, the Heart of Prayer “Think of how different faith as fidelity and trust, as fidelius and fiducia, is from faith as believing a set of statements to be true. The latter can even increase anxiety. . . Have I believed stronglyenough or behaved rightly enough? But faith as faithfulness and trust eliminates that anxiety and frees us for transformation in this life. . . Faith as fiducia is trusting in the buoyancy of God. Soren Kierkegaard. . . said that faith is like floating in seventy thousand fathoms of water. . . If we are fearful and struggle as we float in an immeasurably deep body of water, we sink and drown. But if we trust that the water will keep us up, we float.” --Marcus Borg, Speaking Christian: Why Christian Words Have Lost Their Meaning and Power—and How They Can Be Restored “You can believe all the right things and still be in bondage. You can believe all the right things and still be miserable. You can believe all the right things and still be relatively unchanged. Believing a set of claims to be true has very little transforming power." --Marcus Borg One can believe in God with a very complete set of arguments, yet not have any faith that makes a difference in living. --Georgia Harkness PREPOSITIONS CAN BE VERY ELEGANT. A man is "in" architecture or a woman is "in" teaching, we say, meaning that is what they do weekdays and how they make enough money to enjoy themselves the rest of the time. But if we say they are "into" these things, that is another story. "Into" means something more like total immersion. They live and breathe what they do. They take it home with them nights. They can't get enough of it. To be "into" books means that just the sight of a signed first edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland sets your heart pounding. To be "in" books means selling them at B. Dalton's. Along similar lines, New Testament Greek speaks of believing "into" rather than believing "in." In English we can perhaps convey the distinction best by using either "in" or no preposition at all. Believing in God is an intellectual position. It need have no more effect on your life than believing in Freud's method of interpreting dreams or the theory that Sir Francis Bacon wrote Romeo and Juliet. Believing God is something else again. It is less a position than a journey, less a realization than a relationship. It doesn't leave you cold like believing the world is round. It stirs your blood like believing the world is a miracle. It affects who you are and what you do with your life like believing your house is on fire or somebody loves you. We believe in God when for one reason or another we choose to do so. We believe God when somehow we run into God in a way that by and large leaves us no choice to do otherwise. When Jesus says that whoever believes "into" him shall never die, he does not mean that to be willing to sign your name to the Nicene Creed guarantees eternal life. Eternal life is not the result of believing in. It is the experience of believing. - Frederick Buechner originally published in Whistling in the Dark and later in Beyond Words 16Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another
with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. Colossians 3:16 As we journey through Lent, let us praise God together through sharing psalms, hymns and songs. No matter the season of our life, letting Christ’s good news “dwell” among us brings joy, comfort and peace. In this long, long wilderness moment of COVID-19, we have lost much, but we have not been alone. Just as Jesus was tested in the wastelands, we have been tested and now as we walk through these forty days of reflection, we can find the comfort of the Spirit attending to our needs. It may take time for you to see where angels have stepped in. It may seem impossible to see the fingerprints of God on your life right at this moment, but He has been walking beside you through this season. We have His promise: 6Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6 What Paul is telling us, through his letter to the Colossian church, is that when we “dwell” with Jesus and allow Him fully into our lives, we live more fully and grow in wisdom. How do we grow in wisdom? By the very Word of God. When we go to the book of Psalms, we find strength and a promise that we will find the right path and learn to walk in righteousness. 105Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. Psalms 119:105 And as we meditate on these words, something moves inside of us. A hymn or praise song may raise up in your heart as you “dwell” in scripture. Amazing things begin to happen when we take time to be with our Lord. Songs of praise begin to flow from us, and joy begins to take shape in our hearts. In this season of Lent let us open our Bibles and let the Spirit whisper songs of great praise into the depths of our hearts. Let gratitude flood your soul even in the wastelands of this moment. A moment of prayer for Lent: Father I come before You now. I deeply desire to dwell with You. Oh, Lord, my God, I am facing this season with so many concerns, losses and failures, yet I trust in Your promise to be beside me in this wilderness moment. As I lean more into You, Lord, fill me with Your peace and prepare my heart for the season to come. Thank You, Spirit of the Living God for the strength that has gotten me to this point. Live fresh in me. Lord I lift up this prayer from Psalms to You: 14May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Psalms 19:14 Amen. Kathy Hendrix Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring
you to eternal life. --Jude 1:21 NRSV A dear friend of mine who happens to be an evangelical Christian once greeted me jokingly, “Hey Chase, how’s it going in your liberal church where you only preach about God’s love?” At the time, I was a bit taken aback trying to get the joke. I guess she was poking fun and comparing my kind of church with her own in which her pastor would regularly preach about God’s judgment and the sin of humanity. Her perception of me, even in jest, got me thinking, “Do I only preach about God’s love? I don’t think so, but would it be so bad if I did?” I believe the most difficult concept for most people to accept about Christianity is not that we are all lousy sinners but that God loves us, really loves us, really, really loves us. We are confronted at every turn by our own shortcomings, failures and imperfections. Most of our efforts in life are attempts to cover up what we consider shameful and don’t want others to see. The judgment we lob at one another usually amounts to what we like least about ourselves. Most people who aren’t narcissists are well aware of how unlovable they are at least some of the time. If we have a hard time accepting ourselves, since we know our own faults better than anyone, why shouldn’t we assume God has trouble accepting us too? After all, we can’t hide our flaws from God. What if God’s love for us isn’t like our conditional half-baked love? Just think about the possibility for a moment that God doesn’t look at us with judgment, wrath, anger or disappointment? What if all the stuff in scripture, tradition and practice in Christianity about God’s judgment, wrath and punishment says more about us than it ever did about God? What if God, who is love, really does love us with no conditions? Wouldn’t that be a life-changing thing if we could truly believe that? In his incredible book, Tattoos on the Heart, Gregory Boyle, a Jesuit priest who works with LA’s gang members describes what it is like to see beauty and goodness in people often considered the worst of the worst. Boyle has learned through seeing the goodness in people, who have often done terrible things and who have had terrible things done to them, what God’s love is like. He writes: God’s unwieldy love, which cannot be contained by our words, wants to accept all that we are—nothing of our humanity is to be discarded. No part of our hardwiring or our messy selves is to be disparaged. Where we stand, in all our mistakes and imperfection, is holy ground. It is where God has chosen to be intimate with us, and not in any way other than this. [Our] moment of truth isn’t in recognizing what a disappointment [we] have been all these years. It comes in realizing that God has been beholding [us] for all this time, unable to look anywhere else. Boyle’s words seem too good to be true; there must be a catch. Yet, when we talk about God’s grace, God’s unearned love for us, isn’t that what we are really talking about? If we could truly grasp just how much God loves each of us without all the crap we believe about ourselves, wouldn’t that change everything? Imagine trusting that God loves you so much that you could stop trying to prove your own worth to others. Imagine not needing to judge others to cover your own inadequacies and insecurities. Imagine experiencing how good it feels to be loved so completely that you begin to love others with less conditions and exceptions. Imagine accepting you are loved so much that you can also grasp God loves each person just that much too, so you can lay down your own need to diminish them in any way whatsoever. Just imagine what it might mean if you could begin to grasp being loved in such a way. I’ve spent the last twenty years in churches that don’t preach hellfire and brimstone, gloom and doom, judgment and wrath every Sunday, but as much as we talk about God’s love, neither I nor the people in those churches with me don’t seem to really be transformed much by that idea. Really believing that God looks at each one of us and only feels love instead of disappointment may be the hardest truth to accept. Grace and Peace, Rev. Chase Peeples The question I am asking the most these days is “Are you vaccinated yet?” I seem to get a different answer every time. Some church folks have both shots of Pfiser and/or Moderna. Some folks have their first one. Some are in line for the single shot from Johnson and Johnson. Some easily got shots and others remain on waiting lists with no word when their turn will come. Some have been fortunate to be in the right place at the right time to get some shots that would otherwise expire and others don’t expect to get shots for a month or two. It is difficult to know who is “out of the woods” in terms of vulnerability to COVID-19 and who is not.
One thing is for sure, even with increasing rates of vaccination and decreasing confirmed COVID cases and deaths, there is still too much risk to let our guard down. The day I am writing this, I found out a church member came down with COVID this week after remaining safe for the past year. When it comes to church activities, in light of the changing situation, I want to offer some suggestions. Sunday morning worship--Since last July, we have offered in-person worship on Sunday mornings in our sanctuary along with streaming the service online at the church web site, YouTube and Facebook Live. This won’t change. The church board has taken no action to lesson our social distancing safety measures which have been in place since last summer. This means we will continue to require everyone to wear a mask, socially distance by at least six feet, congregational singing will not be allowed, nursery will not be provided, etc. Since last year, we have averaged about 20 people attending the in-person service who spread out in our sanctuary which seats around 300. An additional 80 people or more stream the service online each week. Going forward, I would continue to urge people in at-risk groups to err on the side of caution. However, if you have been fully vaccinated and will abide by the required safety measures, use your best judgment about returning to worship in person. Vaccinated people may be at low risk for infection, but medical experts cannot say whether vaccinated people can carry the virus and transmit it to unvaccinated people. Visitation--Since coming to PHCC last April, I have limited my own pastoral in-person visits to only extreme circumstances such as someone entering hospice care. When requested, I have met with church members at the church while remaining twelve feet apart from them. Going forward, I still believe it is wise for me to wait to make in-person visits with church members until both they and I are vaccinated. I will continue to meet with any church members who wish at the church in-person as long as we remain twelve feet apart. I am also glad to continue to speak with any church member by phone, Zoom or other means at any time that is convenient. My decision on personal visits, especially as some members receive vaccinations, is an especially difficult one for me. For twenty years I have made personal visits in the homes of older members, hospital rooms, nursing homes as well as meetings at coffee shops and restaurants an essential part of my ministry to church folks. Over the past year, I have felt the lack of personally meeting with people in a deep way. Some church members have expressed a desire for me to visit them in person and it pains me to reply that we must wait still longer before that can happen. Please know of my desire to meet with you, pray with you and support your journey in faith. If we can do that through means like phone calls, emails or Zoom, I want to make it happen with you. If not, trust me that I am eager for the day we can sit down face to face with one another. I cannot stress enough how important it is for church members to communicate with me and the church office when they become aware of another church member in need. As soon as I hear of someone needing a pastoral contact, I reach out to them. Please help me to know when a need arises. In the meantime, please trust that the Holy Spirit of our loving God continues to bind us together as a church. Don’t stop calling, emailing, messaging and writing to one another. Don’t stop participating in worship in person or online. Don’t stop contributing to the ministry of the church. We will make it through this pandemic together and we will celebrate together when it is safe to do so. Grace and Peace, Rev. Chase Peeples I waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and heard my cry. --Psalm 40:1 NRSV Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers sang, “The waiting is the hardest part.” I’m not sure what Tom and his buddies were waiting for, but I certainly agree that waiting is the worst. In the first verse of Psalm 40, I want to skip to the end where God hears the cry of the Psalmist. The first half of the verse, the part about waiting patiently, I’d rather not deal with. I’m not very good at waiting, and from what I can tell, most of us in our “on demand” society are bad at it too. In this season of waiting, while some get vaccines and others wait for them, while all of us wait for what post-pandemic life will be like, it is difficult to be anything other than impatient. We’ve been waiting for a year now, and I’m a little worn out from it. Is there anything good to be found during this time of waiting? From a spiritual perspective, God seems to feel there is a benefit to us waiting sometimes—waiting for answers, waiting for a change, waiting for God to show up. Yet, this is counter to how things operate these days. We don’t have to wait for TV shows to air, because we can stream them whenever we want. We don’t have to wait in line for our groceries, our prescriptions or our fast food takeout—all of it can be delivered on our schedules. We are getting closer to not having to wait for much of anything, which is perhaps why waiting for this pandemic to be over grinds our gears so much. Some of the most meaningful things in life can’t be streamed on demand or ordered online for a scheduled delivery. A c-section can be scheduled, but there is no guarantee a baby won’t arrive sooner than expected. There’s no precise equation to govern when you fall in love with someone or if and when they return that love. The best meals aren’t prepackaged nor can they be microwaved, rather they are prepared, cooked and served when the time is best. Despite our best efforts to control nature, it still takes time to grow a flower, a vegetable or a tree. Some things are like Christmas morning when you were a kid, they are better because you had to wait for them. The scriptures, the mystics and the truly wise all seem to offer the infuriating idea that there can be something gained as we wait, especially as we wait on God. This time is not wasted but rather fallow time, a time when the ground must lie fallow during winter for it to be ready for the seeds of new life to find purchase and grow. As much as we often wish for God to snap the divine fingers and give us what we want when we want it, the landscapes of our own souls may not be ready for what God seeks to do. More time is needed to prepare the soils of our hearts, more time is needed for us to gain trust in God and learn humility, more time is needed before we are ready for what God offers us. Whatever you are waiting on, trust that what is outside of your control is in God’s hands and will arrive in God’s timing. It’s easier said than done, believe me I know, but God is interested in preparing us for what is to come. That preparation goes down easier if one doesn’t resist it. Wait patiently for the LORD trusting that your cries will be heard. Grace and Peace, Rev. Chase Peeples And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and
will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. --Luke 5:37-38 NRSV Over 17 million people watched Oprah Winfrey’s interview this week of the former Duke and Duchess of Sussex Harry and Meghan. (Are they former or do they still have their titles? Forgive me for not knowing all the details of British royalty!) Millions more, like me, have watched the highlights and read recaps of it. What the now ex-royal couple revealed says a lot about the institution of the British monarchy and provides a metaphor for thinking about church in 21st century America. One of the main reasons for Meghan and Harry leaving the royal family has to do with racism. Apparently, some in the royal family were very concerned their son might be born with dark skin. (As an adoptive father of two mixed race sons whom my wife and I adopted at birth, I can empathize with having family members concerned with a new family member born “too dark.”). Furthermore, the press covering the Royal Family—apparently an industry unto itself—applied a double standard in its coverage of Meghan compared with say, its coverage of William’s white wife Kate Middleton. As Meghan and Harry related, the silence from the royal family when Meghan was attacked spoke volumes about how they felt about her. Perhaps, the greatest act of racism occurred with Meghan and Harry’s newborn son, Archie, was not given the title “Prince” with all that comes with it, as his white cousins received. As someone who has only a passing interest in the British royals and more importantly as a white man, when I heard of the racism directed at Meghan and her son, I thought, “That’s terrible,” but missed the wider systemic issues involved. A number of black women have written about the interview, and as should be no surprise, their responses were more insightful than mine. Both Zeba Blay in The Huffington Post and Salamishah Tillet in The New York Times pointed out the Windsor family’s history of colonialism is a backdrop for its treatment of Meghan. As an American (and a white man), I tend to think of British royalty as sort of the same thing as characters at Disney World—something for the tourists, but unlike cartoon characters, the royal family gained their wealth by heading an empire based upon conquest and exploitation of conquered peoples—most of whom happened to be darker-skinned. To allow a woman of “mixed race” into their ranks goes against the history of the royal family. The royal family, as an institution, clings to its wealth and power even as every year passes its relevance wains in a pluralistic democracy seeking to shed its imperial past. As a minister with standing in two historically white denominations, I hear echoes of Meghan and Harry’s experience among clergy and lay people I know who happen not to be make, white, heterosexual and/or cisgender. Through the blinders of my white experience and privilege, I grew up believing that racism was a thing of the past. Similarly, as I gained awareness of them, I thought sexism, homophobia and transphobia were on the way to the scrap heap of bad human ideologies. Yet, the more I have learned from people with different experiences than my own as a white male, the more I have realized all these -isms and -phobias remain living things still causing oppression. The church in its broadest and most particular senses remains a hotbed for such dehumanizing ideas and practices. Like the British royal family, Christianity has a history of empire, exploitation and violence. Its many institutions were created with these intentions in mind. The teachings of Jesus became militarized to empower the few and to oppress the many. Just like the British royal family, the church today clings to its former cultural relevance struggling in all the wrong ways to prove it has a place in a world seeking to shrug off its oppressive ways. Like the British royal family, the church presents a kinder and gentler face to the world, yet its racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia and so much more remain “baked in” and have never been successfully removed. I have encountered this resistance to a more inclusive and just church in numerous ways. Church members of “open-minded” churches have said they welcome everyone but end up resisting such inclusion in practice out of fear of being called “the gay church” or having people from the wrong side of town (e.g. poor, non-white) show up. As harsh as the judgment may be toward the British royal family for its racism, shouldn’t a harsher judgment be on the church? The Windsors pledged fealty to an earthly kingdom with all that entails, but Christians have supposedly claimed to belong to a different kind of “kingdom” altogether—the Kingdom (or Reign) of God. I wonder what would have happened if the British Royal Family had embraced the inclusion of a non-white member and her children? In their attempt to protect their institution, they ended up undermining its continuing reason to exist. What if instead they used the occasion of one of their very white princes marrying a woman of color as a way to forge a new future where their “Commonwealth” was more equitably shared among darker-skinned people who have been historically exploited? Some of the same questions could be asked of the church. What does it take for every level of the church to embrace a new future where the inclusion and graciousness of God is modelled for a divided world? What parts of the church’s institutions must be dismantled in order to allow for such a future to occur? In every occurrence of the church resisting such a future—from global actions down to local congregations—the church’s efforts to defend itself only result in its inevitable demise. Two thousand years ago, Jesus declared that new wine (wine that was still undergoing the process of fermentation) could not go into old wineskins (skins that had already been stretched by past fermentations and would no longer stretch). Then, as now, the inbreaking of God into the world requires new models, new structures, and new ways of being. If the church doesn’t find its “new wineskins,” it will end up much like the British royal family—a curiosity from a bygone era. Grace and Peace, Rev. Chase Peeples “12At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, 13and he was in the wilderness forty
days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.” Mark 1:12 – 13 As we continue our journey through lent let us be grateful for the wilderness. When we think of the wilderness we think of a desolate, empty space where harsh conditions exist. When we find ourselves in wilderness moments, we often become overwhelmed by the severity of the landscape. And we can long, as the Israelites did, to return to something familiar – even if that thing is damaging slavery! The forty days of Lent are a reminder and a tribute to the forty days Christ spent in the wilderness. Though our modern day wilderness moments are usually not physical, they are no less disconcerting and void of comfort. Pope Francis says: “During the season of Lent, the Holy Spirit drives us too, like Jesus, to enter the desert. It is not as we have seen, a physical place, but rather an existential dimension in which to be silent and listen to the Word of God… Do not be afraid.” Angelus February 21, 2021 Listen in silence. We come to the wilderness not as punishment but as learning moments, growth moments. God is moving in our world whether we recognize it or not. Letting the Spirit “drive” us into the desert is allowing ourselves to be led into what God is doing. We learn more in these spaces than on the mountain top. In the wastelands there is time for reflection. When we allow ourselves these moments and lean into them, we come away empowered in our Spirit. And joyfully, we do not face them alone, for like Jesus we are comforted by angels and the Spirit of God. A moment of prayer for Lent: Oh Father, I open my heart to the guiding of Your Spirit. Lead me into the desert and remind me of the wildness surrounding me in this broken world. Remind me of the precious time my Lord and Savior spent being tempted and tried in the wasteland filled with dangers and wild animals. Bring to my mind all that You have given me. Expose to me those moments where I have been carried by Your comforting servants. Remind me, Oh God that You are ever present in these desolate times. Lord, thank You for Your obedience to the will of the Father. Thank You for Your example of how to face the times of trial. Let this season of Lent draw me closer to You, I pray. Spirit of the Never-Ending God, rain fresh on me in this season and open my ears to hear, open my mind to comprehend and open my heart to share the great love You have showered on me. Oh, Heavenly Father, take me today into Your arms and let me bury myself in You. As I walk through this season, let it not be a journey hastily pursued, but a true time of communion with You. In the precious name of Jesus, I pray. Amen. Kathy Hendrix There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is
no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. --Galatians 3:28 NRSV Maybe you saw the article today in the KC Star about the pastor of a southeastern Missouri church who gave a sermon saying wives have a responsibility to look good, so their husbands don't cheat on them. Among his "biblical" instructions to women was for them to lose weight, not wear pajamas and flip flops to Wal-Mart, and essentially give their husbands sex whenever they want it. He also mentioned a male friend who has a "divorce weight" for his wife and stated that not every woman can be a "trophy wife" like Melania Trump but maybe they can be a "participation trophy." All I can say is "Wow! Does anybody wonder why people are leaving churches in droves these days?" Far be it from me to pile on this poor pastor who has made national news and received all kinds of negative feedback, including from his own church members, but I think this can be a teaching moment. According to his church, this pastor has taken a leave of absence and is receiving counseling. His own denomination, General Baptist Ministries, has issued a statement rejecting his remarks. (Generally speaking, General Baptists are not what you would call virulent feminists, so for them to feel the need to publicly disown someone's remarks on women, they've got to really be saying some outrageous stuff.) Let's hope this pastor reconsiders his views of women and Christians like him begin to realize we are no longer living in the Middle Ages. I feel like this example of religious sexism can be a teaching moment as well for churches who have egalitarian views of gender. In an age of social media and posts going viral, outrageous statements like the ones of this pastor spread like wildfire. Unfortunately, when teachings like these go viral, the image of Christianity as intolerant, abusive, sexist, homophobic, racist, etc. etc. etc. becomes cemented as the dominant understanding of what Christianity means. Alternative and more inclusive versions of Christianity have to work extra hard to overcome this form of bad public relations. The beginning of overcoming this kind of bad press has to be local groups of Christians approaching scripture from a different way altogether. The Bible is a diverse enough collection of writings that you can pretty much find justification for whatever preexisting beliefs one has. If you are looking to justify a sexist position you can find scripture to do so, and if you are looking to justify a position that understands women as people equal to men, you can also find verses to do so. The late writer and ex-Christian fundamentalist Rachel Held Evans framed this reality nicely in her wonderful book Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again. If you want to do violence in this world, you will always find the weapons. If you want to heal, you will always find the balm. With Scripture, we've been entrusted with some of the most powerful stories ever told. How we harness that power, whether for good or evil, oppression or liberation, changes everything. In the case of this pastor from southeastern Missouri, he was preaching on the first half of the Bible verse 1 Corinthians 7:4, which reads: "For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does." Unfortunately, he gave little attention to the second half of the verse, which reads: "likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does." His position is a particularly acute case of selective reading of scripture. This verse occurs in a particularly confusing passage where the Apostle Paul addresses the subject of marriage with the assumption the Second Coming would occur any day. What has gotten lost for almost the last two thousand years is that Paul's declaration of mutuality between husbands and wives was a radical idea in his day. Sadly, for most of Christian history, the second half of this verse declaring husband's bodies are under the authority of their wives has been utterly ignored. Christian men throughout history have been perfectly fine with viewing women as their property while ignoring the radical idea that men and women should be in a relationship of equals. A different way to approach scripture is to notice what parts of it mirror the cultural value of its day and what parts offered a radical alternative. What fostered the spread of early Christianity, according to many Bible scholars, is that Christianity offered a radical form of egalitarianism unavailable most everywhere else. In Galatians 3:28, where Paul apparently quotes a phrase used in early Christian baptisms: "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus", he presents a dramatic form of inclusive Christianity that even the most progressive forms of present day Christianity struggle to live out. For Christians struggling to not be sexist, there are other choices besides the false one to either accept a sexist form of Christianity or reject Christianity altogether. We can turn to our own sacred scriptures with a spirit of finding the verses which speak to the equality and inclusion we feel is true and Christ-like and do so as dedicated Christians. When we do so, we discover feminism is not a secular movement in opposition to our religion, but rather an intention of God all along that sadly most Christians have failed to see. A more difficult task than reading scripture with a heart focused on inclusion, grace and love is promoting this vision of Christianity in public awareness. I know many Christians who believe men and women are equal (along with LGBTQ people, people of all races and classes, etc.), but still most people who have rejected organized religion see Christianity as only a means of oppression. This is the church's burden in 21st century America. How do we change this perception of Christianity? I wish I had an easy answer. Stories like this preacher in southeast Missouri spread go viral, but stories of churches where women have equal authority as men don't seem to spread at all. I wonder what a church might look like if it was full of people willing to approach their scripture and tradition with a God-given passion for equality, justice and grace for all people with no exceptions? Apparently, the early church spread, because just this type of thing occurred. Could it happen again? Grace and Peace, Rev. Chase Peeples As PHCC looks toward the day when the COVID-19 pandemic will be over along with the day a new pastor will be called, I want to urge you to consider some advice: Don’t go back to the way things were before COVID-19. I know that sounds strange, even crazy, but hear me out. Several times, I’ve experienced being called to a new church that expects me to do the near impossible task of leading them back to their former glory. Each time the church held off on dreaming new dreams, rethinking church and starting anything new “until the new pastor gets here.’ Each time I showed up at a church that hadn’t done much lately and had no idea of what it wanted to do in the future. Not only did I not arrive with a bagful of tricks, but when I tried to offer new ideas they were either shot down or they quickly failed, because the church wasn’t ready for them. Your next pastor will not be the Messiah, she or he will not have all the answers, nor will she or he be able to lead you back in time to a church that existed generations ago. If you aren’t already thinking and working now towards a new reason for being a church in the 21st century, before the new pastor comes, you will saddle him or her with an impossible task that is sure to fail. Trust me, I’ve been that pastor and I have the wounds to show for it.
To get you thinking about what I mean, I want you to read a piece by Mark Tidsworth, who works with churches across the country. I’m pretty cynical about church consultants—generally I think they don’t have any more answers than the rest of us—but Tidsworth has won me over. Read what he says and pray about what God may be saying to you through his words: Rev. Chase Peeples Don’t Go Back, Please! By Mark Tidsworth, Pinnacle Leadership Associates When this is over, or over enough, please don’t go back to pre-COVID church. It was dying. The average church in this USA was either plateaued or declining, with discouraging future prospects. Remember what it was like? Nearly every church was asking how it could revitalize, reach younger people, increase its budget, take care of its aging facilities, and generally survive into the future. Anxiety and concern were rampant. Many were rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic (shuffling things around while not addressing core issues), while others were engaged in deep, spiritually driven, hopeful, adaptive reshaping. Every church, regardless of its adaptability and vitality, was dealing with a radically changed environment which did not much appreciate popular expressions of church. Let’s take a good, long, clear-eyed look at what was, way back in early 2020. Remember those misguided statements we used to hear from sincere Christ-followers sincerely trying to help? “If we just called a more gifted pastor, or younger pastor with kids, or more outgoing pastor who could reach our community, or a better preaching pastor, or (insert something about savior pastors and church staff), then our church would grow again.” “If we could just reach teenagers with an excellent youth program, then their parents would come too and give and our budget would grow.” “If we added a service in a different style that’s more attractive to younger people, then we would flourish.” “If we could get more of our people to volunteer and carry the load, the rest of us wouldn’t be so worn out all the time.” “If we built new buildings, or were in a different location, or did better marketing, then our church would grow again.” These activities may help when your church is located in an environment where many people are actively looking for a church to join. Except in small cultural enclaves in this USA, that environment no longer exists. Only the largest churches will grow numerically with these outdated growth strategies, collecting up Christian refugees from smaller churches. So rather than return to what was broken, perhaps it’s time to follow our spiritual imaginations, prompted by the Holy Spirit. Reflecting on those days long ago in early 2020, we can imagine sincere Christ-followers, gathered in a fellowship hall, sipping coffee and talking church. “Maybe we need a wake-up call; something so monumental and so disruptive to our lives that we have to change. Maybe we need something so big to come along that our concerns about the small stuff are stripped away and we are forced to get clear about the purpose of church. Maybe we need some external push, making us adapt in our changing context.” Lo and behold, the Coronavirus. Don’t go back, please. For God’s sake, for our sake, for the sake of this world, may we love enough to push ahead, transforming our churches into more robust expressions of this body of Christ. Let’s receive this transformation opportunity gift, compliments of the Coronavirus. |
AuthorWe're Park Hill Christian Church in KC MO. We seek to follow Jesus by praising God, loving those we meet and serving the vulnerable. Archives
June 2021
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