blip : Beefcake Living In a Poof :

Title: Available
Date: June 28, 2009ne 28, 2009
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
Izbrano poglavje ne obstaja!

Texts: 2 Sam 1:1, 17-272 Sam 1:1, 17-27
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
David Finds Out about Saul's Death ^{1 1} Saul was dead. Meanwhile, David had defeated the Amalekites and returned to Ziklag. David Sings in Memory of Saul ¹⁷ David sang a song in memory of Saul and Jonathan, ¹⁸ . and he ordered his men to teach the song to everyone in Judah. He called it “The Song of the Bow,” and it can be found in The Book of Jashark*. c The Book of Jashar: This book may have been a collection of ancient war songs. This is the song: ¹⁹ Israel, your famous hero lies dead on the hills, and your mighty warriors have fallen! ²⁰ Don't tell it in Gath or spread the news on the streets of Ashkelon. The godless Philistine women will be happy and jump for joy. ²¹ Don't let dew or rain fall on the hills of Gilboa. Don't let its fields grow offerings for God. There the warriors' shields were smeared with mud, and Saul's own shield was left unpolished. d unpolished: Some shields were made of leather and were polished with olive oil. ²² The arrows of Jonathan struck, and warriors died. The sword of Saul cut the enemy apart. ²³ It was easy to love Saul and Jonathan. Together in life, together in death, they were faster than eagles and stronger than lions. ²⁴ Women of Israel, cry for Saul. He brought you fine red cloth and jewelry made of gold. ²⁵ Our warriors have fallen in the heat of battle, and Jonathan lies dead on the hills of Gilboa. ²⁶ Jonathan, I miss you most! I loved you like a brother. You were truly loyal to me, more faithful than a wife to her husband. e You ... husband: Or “You loved me more than a wife could possibly love her husband.” ²⁷ Our warriors have fallen, and their weapons f weapons: This may refer to Saul and Jonathan. are destroyed.

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; Ps 130; Mark 5:21-43Mark 5:21-43
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
A Dying Girl and a Sick Woman ²¹ Once again Jesus got into the boat and crossed Lake Galilee. c crossed Lake Galilee: To the west side. Then as he stood on the shore, a large crowd gathered around him. ²² The person in charge of the Jewish meeting place was also there. His name was Jairus, and when he saw Jesus, he went over to him. He knelt at Jesus' feet ²³ and started begging him for help. He said, “My daughter is about to die! Please come and touch her, so she will get well and live.” ²⁴ Jesus went with Jairus. Many people followed along and kept crowding around. ²⁵ In the crowd was a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. ²⁶ . She had gone to many doctors, and they had not done anything except cause her a lot of pain. She had paid them all the money she had. But instead of getting better, she only got worse. ²⁷ The woman had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him in the crowd and barely touched his clothes. ²⁸ She had said to herself, “If I can just touch his clothes, I will get well.” ²⁹ As soon as she touched them, her bleeding stopped, and she knew she was well. ³⁰ At that moment Jesus felt power go out from him. He turned to the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” ³¹ His disciples said to him, “Look at all these people crowding around you! How can you ask who touched you?” ³² But Jesus turned to see who had touched him. ³³ The woman knew what had happened to her. She came shaking with fear and knelt down in front of Jesus. Then she told him the whole story. ³⁴ Jesus said to the woman, “You are now well because of your faith. May God give you peace! You are healed, and you will no longer be in pain.” ³⁵ While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from Jairus' home and said, “Your daughter has died! Why bother the teacher anymore?” ³⁶ Jesus heard d heard: Or “ignored.” what they said, and he said to Jairus, “Don't worry. Just have faith!” ³⁷ Jesus did not let anyone go with him except Peter and the two brothers, James and John. ³⁸ They went home with Jairus and saw the people crying and making a lot of noise. e crying and making a lot of noise: The Jewish people often hired mourners for funerals. ³⁹ Then Jesus went inside and said to them, “Why are you crying and carrying on like this? The child isn't dead. She is just asleep.” ⁴⁰ But the people laughed at him. After Jesus had sent them all out of the house, he took the girl's father and mother and his three disciples and went to where she was. ⁴¹-⁴² He took the twelve-year-old girl by the hand and said, “Talitha, koum!” f Talitha, koum: These words are in Aramaic, a language spoken in Palestine during the time of Jesus. which means, “Little girl, get up!” The girl got right up and started walking around. Everyone was greatly surprised. ⁴³ But Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened. Then he said, “Give her something to eat.”

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“God made everything that is made for love;
and the same love sustains everything,
and shall do so for ever.”

~ Julian of Norwich

I’ve never seen a grown man beg like Jairus. He came to Jesus and dropped down to his knees, and begged. I’m sure this was quite out of character for Jarius—after all, he was one of the leaders of a local synagogue. He’s usually the one with authority. If anyone is supposed to beg, it’s definitely not him. Usually people beg him to do things. But here he is, at the feet of Jesus, begging that Jesus would come and heal his daughter. And it works. The begging works. Jesus listens. And Jesus goes with Jarius to see about his daughter.

There are plenty of important things to notice in this story. But I want us to think about just one of them this evening. It’s actually a very simple point, probably too obvious for us to notice. This story shows us how Jesus is always available—and with Jesus, how God is available. Let me explain. Jarius finds Jesus, makes a request, and Jesus follows. Lots of folks like to use Jesus as a model for leadership—what CEO’s can learn from Jesus, or whatever. But for this story, Jesus isn’t a visionary or a trendsetter. He doesn’t offer a strategy about the future. He’s just walking around, and a man begs him to do something, so Jesus does it. He goes. He follows Jarius. Jesus is a follower.

And why does Jesus follow? Because he is fundamentally available. His presence calls out to people. The way he walks and talks is an invitation for beggars, for requests, for questions, for intimacy. Jarius begs, and Jesus follows. Jesus is willing to be available even when it is an interruption. Let me explain. He is on his way to heal a child, making his way through crowds, following after Jarius, and he stops. “Who touched my clothes?” he asks. Now, Jesus is on an important mission, but he stops midstep. This mission is time-sensitive. Jarius’ daughter is at the edge of death. Every second matters.

And what does Jesus do? He puts his important mission on pause. He stops. He waits. He searches for the one who touched his clothes. And the woman, having received the power of healing from touching Jesus’ clothes, “came in fear and trembling, and fell down before him” (Mk 5:33Mk 5:33
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
33 The woman knew what had happened to her. She came shaking with fear and knelt down in front of Jesus. Then she told him the whole story.

). Jesus responds to the woman. Jesus is available to her touch. And Jesus searches for her—to try to encounter her face to face, to be more fully available, to look her in the eyes. Jesus makes himself available, even when he doesn’t try. The woman seeks him out, and without deciding to do so beforehand, Jesus responds with healing. It just happens. Jesus is always available, even without trying to be. [Read more →]

Title: David and Goliath
Date: June 21, 2009ne 21, 2009
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
Izbrano poglavje ne obstaja!

Texts: I Sam 17:32-49am 17:32-49
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
Izbrano poglavje ne obstaja!

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, Mk 4:35-41Mk 4:35-41
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
A Storm ³⁵ That evening, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let's cross to the east side.” ³⁶ So they left the crowd, and his disciples started across the lake with him in the boat. Some other boats followed along. ³⁷ Suddenly a windstorm struck the lake. Waves started splashing into the boat, and it was about to sink. ³⁸ Jesus was in the back of the boat with his head on a pillow, and he was asleep. His disciples woke him and said, “Teacher, don't you care that we're about to drown?” ³⁹ Jesus got up and ordered the wind and the waves to be quiet. The wind stopped, and everything was calm. ⁴⁰ Jesus asked his disciples, “Why were you afraid? Don't you have any faith?” ⁴¹ Now they were more afraid than ever and said to each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

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I used to play a lot of soccer growing up. I was part of a club team, which basically means High School soccer wasn’t good enough for us. We played all year round, traveling all over the country for tournaments. A lot of the teams we played were pretty wealthy—like the teams from California. Some of them even had sponsors—not just local sponsors, but also companies like Nike. So they would run across the field with fancy Nike soccer shoes, and sparkling new jerseys.

They had all the gear. Matching warm-up suits and bags. They even had warm up jerseys. My team had nothing like that. Nike didn’t really care about teams in Tucson, Arizona. So we always looked like a bunch of rag tag amateurs.

I remember going to one of the big regional tournaments in Phoenix. There were teams from all over the place. We showed up to the field about 45 minutes before the game to warm up. We set our bags down along the side of the field, put on shoes—some wearing Addidas, some Diadora, some Umbro, some Nike. And we put on our jerseys and started kicking the ball around on the field and stretching.

Then we saw our competitors approach the field. They sparkled. They walked in formation, two lines, side by side, matching bags over their shoulders, all wearing the same Nike shoes. They reached the sideline of the field and lined up their bags in a perfect row. Just before the game began, they all changed out of their impressive warm ups and put on their top of the line home jerseys. They were ready for war. We just stared at them, entranced.

With all their finest gear, they were Goliath. And we were David, looking like we didn’t belong on the same field. I can’t remember if we performed as well as David. I doubt it. We couldn’t go back home and impress the locals with another story of the victory of the underdog.

That has to be what David and Goliath is all about—the victory of the underdog. Against all odds, David wins. When we read this passage from First Samuel, you can almost hear the Israelite militia-men going back home and telling the story to the country folk: Our shepherd boy David fought a giant, he was 8 feet tall… no probably at least 9 feet—the biggest man I’d ever seen. And his bronze armor must have weighed 100lbs, no, maybe 150lbs. You should have seen him. What a sight! (I Sam 17:4-7am 17:4-7
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
Izbrano poglavje ne obstaja!

) [Read more →]

Title: Closer
Date: June 7, 2009ne 7, 2009
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
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(Trinity Sunday)
Texts: Isa 6:1-8Isa 6:1-8
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
6 A Vision of the Lord in the Temple ¹ . In the year that King Uzziah died, q the year that King Uzziah died: Probably ⁷⁴² B.C. I had a vision of the Lord. He was on his throne high above, and his robe filled the temple. ² Flaming creatures with six wings each were flying over him. They covered their faces with two of their wings and their bodies with two more. They used the other two wings for flying, ³ . as they shouted, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord All-Powerful! The earth is filled with your glory.” ⁴ . As they shouted, the doorposts of the temple shook, and the temple was filled with smoke. ⁵ Then I cried out, “I'm doomed! Everything I say is sinful, and so are the words of everyone around me. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord All-Powerful.” ⁶ One of the flaming creatures flew over to me with a burning coal that it had taken from the altar with a pair of metal tongs. ⁷ It touched my lips with the hot coal and said, “This has touched your lips. Your sins are forgiven, and you are no longer guilty.” ⁸ After this, I heard the Lord ask, “Is there anyone I can send? Will someone go for us?” “I'll go,” I answered. “Send me!”

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, Ps 29, Rom 8:12-17Rom 8:12-17
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
12 My dear friends, we must not live to satisfy our desires. ¹³ If you do, you will die. But you will live, if by the help of God's Spirit you say “No” to your desires. ¹⁴ Only those people who are led by God's Spirit are his children. ¹⁵ . God's Spirit doesn't make us slaves who are afraid of him. Instead, we become his children and call him our Father. m our Father: The Greek text uses the Aramaic word “Abba” , which shows the close relation between the children and their father. ¹⁶ God's Spirit makes us sure that we are his children. ¹⁷ His Spirit lets us know that together with Christ we will be given what God has promised. We will also share in the glory of Christ, because we have suffered with him.

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In April, celebrities took over downtown Durham. Hollywood came to town. They were filming a movie called Main Street. Most of the young ladies were very interested in the star of this movie, which is Orlando Bloom. But my wife was much more interested in the co-star, Colin Firth. In order for me to understand her admiration of this middle-aged British celebrity, Katie made us buy the BBC’s six-part 1995 production of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

So we’ve been watching Pride and Prejudice for the past few weeks. And I’m glad I did, because now I understand the Trinity. Yes, I had to go back to England in the early 19th century to understand the Trinity. It’s all about Mr. Darcy learning how to love courteously. But before we go there, I should probably talk about the Bible first.

There are plenty of interesting things in our passages to talk about. The passage from Isaiah 6 has the Seraphs in heaven praising God saying, “Holy, Holy, Holy.” Later tradition has suggested that each of “holy”s is for each person of the Trinity—Father, Son, and Spirit.

Or we could talk about the interesting emphasis on the Word that proceeds from the mouth of God in Psalm 29. The “Voice of the Lord” does this, the “Voice of the Lord” does that—a constant repetition. There’s a rhythm to the Psalm that focuses our attention on this voice that almost has a life of it’s own.

But of all the passages on the table for today, I think Romans might be the best way into the Trinity. Besides, it’s one of my favorite passages—maybe it’s the nihilist in me. I like all the stuff about groaning, the sighs too deep for words. It’s there in verse 26, “for we do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit intercedes with groans too deep for words.” [Read more →]

Title: The miracle of communion
Date: May 31, 2009, Pentecost
Texts: Rom 8:22-27Rom 8:22-27
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
22 We know that all creation is still groaning and is in pain, like a woman about to give birth. ²³ The Spirit makes us sure about what we will be in the future. But now we groan silently, while we wait for God to show that we are his children. n to show that we are his children: These words are not in some manuscripts. The translation of the remainder of the verse would then read, “while we wait for God to set our bodies free.” This means that our bodies will also be set free. ²⁴ And this hope is what saves us. But if we already have what we hope for, there is no need to keep on hoping. ²⁵ However, we hope for something we have not yet seen, and we patiently wait for it. ²⁶ In certain ways we are weak, but the Spirit is here to help us. For example, when we don't know what to pray for, the Spirit prays for us in ways that cannot be put into words. ²⁷ All of our thoughts are known to God. He can understand what is in the mind of the Spirit, as the Spirit prays for God's people.

, Ac 2:1-21Ac 2:1-21
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
The Coming of the Holy Spirit ^{2 1} On the day of Pentecost e Pentecost: A Jewish festival that came fifty days after Passover and celebrated the wheat harvest. Jews later celebrated Pentecost as the time when they were given the Law of Moses. all the Lord's followers were together in one place. ² Suddenly there was a noise from heaven like the sound of a mighty wind! It filled the house where they were meeting. ³ Then they saw what looked like fiery tongues moving in all directions, and a tongue came and settled on each person there. ⁴ The Holy Spirit took control of everyone, and they began speaking whatever languages the Spirit let them speak. ⁵ Many religious Jews from every country in the world were living in Jerusalem. ⁶ And when they heard this noise, a crowd gathered. But they were surprised, because they were hearing everything in their own languages. ⁷ They were excited and amazed, and said: Don't all these who are speaking come from Galilee? ⁸ Then why do we hear them speaking our very own languages? ⁹ Some of us are from Parthia, Media, and Elam. Others are from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, parts of Libya near Cyrene, Rome, ¹¹ Crete, and Arabia. Some of us were born Jews, and others of us have chosen to be Jews. Yet we all hear them using our own languages to tell the wonderful things God has done. ¹² Everyone was excited and confused. Some of them even kept asking each other, “What does all this mean?” ¹³ Others made fun of the Lord's followers and said, “They are drunk.” Peter Speaks to the Crowd ¹⁴ Peter stood with the eleven apostles and spoke in a loud and clear voice to the crowd: Friends and everyone else living in Jerusalem, listen carefully to what I have to say! ¹⁵ You are wrong to think that these people are drunk. After all, it is only nine o'clock in the morning. ¹⁶ But this is what God had the prophet Joel say, ¹⁷ . “When the last days come, I will give my Spirit to everyone. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will have dreams. ¹⁸ In those days I will give my Spirit to my servants, both men and women, and they will prophesy. ¹⁹ I will work miracles in the sky above and wonders on the earth below. There will be blood and fire and clouds of smoke. ²⁰ The sun will turn dark, and the moon will be as red as blood before the great and wonderful day of the Lord appears. ²¹ Then the Lord will save everyone who asks for his help.”

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Author: Isaac Villegas

I’ve been thinking a lot about Ben’s sermon last week, his sermon on Ascension. And the more I think about it, the more it makes sense that Jesus goes away, that he ascends to the Father, that he goes to heaven. I can believe that. It’s easy to believe. I mean, the absence of Jesus is quite clear. We see it all around us, right? Nobody needs to prove it to me. Just read the paper, or watch the news, or listen to the radio. Basically, if you are a human being, you know the world is messed up and Jesus isn’t doing much about it. He must be gone—ascended, away, out of the picture.

But then what is Pentecost all about. While Jesus goes up to heaven at ascension, something comes down at Pentecost. “Suddenly” the text says—“Suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind.” Heaven comes down to earth and blows through the room like a rushing wind. This heavenly wind, Acts says, “filled the entire house where they were sitting” (v. 2).

Now while all of this is exciting stuff, there’s some danger going on here. “Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them” (v. 3). God’s fire isn’t something to be messed with. Remember what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah. They were inhospitable to strangers, to three foreigners, and God burned the place up with fire from heaven. Lesson: hospitality to strangers is important to God.

But it’s the fire that we are talking about here. God’s fire, flames from heaven. Spectacular. Something to get excited about. There’s another story in Luke about people getting excited about God’s fire. Jesus and the disciples want to pass through a Samaritan village. But the villagers refuse. In response to their inhospitality, James and John ask Jesus if they should send fire down from heaven to consume the people—just like Sodom and Gomorrah. The disciples want to use God’s heavenly fire to punish people. But Jesus rebukes them. This fire is dangerous. Jesus won’t let the disciples use it.

So, when these flames come down from heaven on Pentecost, the disciples are at the edge of danger. But this time the heavenly fire doesn’t destroy anything, there’s no punishment for inhospitable people; instead, the fire creates a group of people that is open to everyone—and that’s the church. [Read more →]

Sermon preparation…

First I read a bunch of the more interesting commentaries on the assigned lectionary passage. And usually nothing happens. No sermon ideas—although every once in a while a word or a phrase or a sentence triggers a sermon. After spending a day with the commentaries, I put their careful exegesis aside and take a look at the theological section of my bookshelves. I take a book off the shelf, look at the table of contents, maybe flip through the pages to find my pencil markings, read a little here and there. And usually something happens. A sermon idea is born. So, here’s some stuff from random books that I’m hoping will turn into a sermon at some point in the next few days.

Vladimir Lossky, The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church, p. 173:

For the Holy Spirit is the sovereign unction resting upon the Christ and upon all the Christians called to reign with Him in the age to come. It is then that this divine Person, now unknown, not having His image in another Hypostasis, will manifest Himself in deified persons: for the multitude of the saints will be His image.

Eugene Rogers, After the Spirit: A Constructive Pneumatology…, p. 205: [Read more →]

I wrote a short piece for The Mennonite. Here’s an excerpt:

Our Mennonite identity is always disturbed; the church is broken; our congregations are torn. People come and go. Disagreements reemerge and threaten to drive us apart. Congregations dissolve, and others are born.

The church is in a precarious state of unsettled tornness. That’s simply what it means to be the body of Christ. We shouldn’t attempt to hide our divisions and our wounds. In fact, we confess that this tornness is part of the good news. “The body of Christ, broken for you.”

The tearing and scattering of the body of Christ took on new meaning for me a few months ago when Dave and Laura Nickel joined our congregation.

If you want to read the whole thing, follow this link: “the broken body of Christ.”

Title: Abide in me
Texts: John 15:1-8John 15:1-8
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
Jesus Is the True Vine ^{15 1} Jesus said to his disciples: I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ² He cuts away every branch of mine that doesn't produce fruit. But he trims clean every branch that does produce fruit, so that it will produce even more fruit. ³ You are already clean because of what I have said to you. ⁴ Stay joined to me, and I will stay joined to you. Just as a branch cannot produce fruit unless it stays joined to the vine, you cannot produce fruit unless you stay joined to me. ⁵ I am the vine, and you are the branches. If you stay joined to me, and I stay joined to you, then you will produce lots of fruit. But you cannot do anything without me. ⁶ If you don't stay joined to me, you will be thrown away. You will be like dry branches that are gathered up and burned in a fire. ⁷ Stay joined to me and let my teachings become part of you. Then you can pray for whatever you want, and your prayer will be answered. ⁸ When you become fruitful disciples of mine, my Father will be honored.

, Acts 8:26-40Acts 8:26-40
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
Philip and an Ethiopian Official ²⁶ The Lord's angel said to Philip, “Go south a Go south: Or “About noon go.” along the desert road that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza.” b the desert road that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza: Or “the road that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza in the desert.” ²⁷ So Philip left. An important Ethiopian official happened to be going along that road in his chariot. He was the chief treasurer for Candace, the Queen of Ethiopia. The official had gone to Jerusalem to worship ²⁸ and was now on his way home. He was sitting in his chariot, reading the book of the prophet Isaiah. ²⁹ The Spirit told Philip to catch up with the chariot. ³⁰ Philip ran up close and heard the man reading aloud from the book of Isaiah. Philip asked him, “Do you understand what you are reading?” ³¹ The official answered, “How can I understand unless someone helps me?” He then invited Philip to come up and sit beside him. ³² . The man was reading the passage that said, “He was led like a sheep on its way to be killed. He was silent as a lamb whose wool is being cut off, and he did not say a word. ³³ He was treated like a nobody and did not receive a fair trial. How can he have children, if his life is snatched away?” ³⁴ The official said to Philip, “Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or about someone else?” ³⁵ So Philip began at this place in the Scriptures and explained the good news about Jesus. ³⁶-³⁷ As they were going along the road, they came to a place where there was some water. The official said, “Look! Here is some water. Why can't I be baptized?” c Why can't I be baptized: Some manuscripts add, “Philip replied, ‘You can, if you believe with all your heart.’ “The official answered, ‘I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.’ ” ³⁸ He ordered the chariot to stop. Then they both went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. ³⁹ After they had come out of the water, the Lord's Spirit took Philip away. The official never saw him again, but he was very happy as he went on his way. ⁴⁰ Philip later appeared in Azotus. He went from town to town, all the way to Caesarea, telling people about Jesus.

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, I John 4:7-21John 4:7-21
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
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Date: May 10, 2009

“Abide in me.” Jesus says that’s what we are supposed to do. “Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me” (Jn. 15:4).

What does it mean to abide? I think it has something to do with staying, lingering, remaining, dwelling, waiting. And those are all things I’m not very good at doing—and I doubt you are either. Nobody stays anymore. We don’t stay in the towns where we were born. Nor do we stay at the same job for very long. I read in the Economist that on average people in the United States stay at a job for no more than four years.

I don’t think any of this is bad. It’s just interesting—and maybe it’s indicative of a cultural sensibility that runs deep into our minds, into our psychology, and into our spirituality. We are never at home, and that means we are never happy. There’s always a better place to live—a better city, a better neighborhood, a better house. And there’s always the perfect job, which is usually the one we don’t have.

They call it Western restlessness. Sigmund Freud seemed to get it right when he said that our civilization is discontent; we live in a culture of uneasiness (“Das Unbehagen in der Kultur”). We are never happy—there’s always more to consume, more to see, more to try, more to experiment with. It seems like the key to our happiness is always over there, just out of reach, around another corner.

The last thing we would expect is that we can be happy right where we are, with what we have—not just content, but happy, fulfilled even. But it’s hard to get there because it’s hard to be where you are. It’s hard to abide where you find yourself—it’s hard to wait, to dwell. [Read more →]

I wrote a short review of Hauerwas and Coles’ book from last year, Christianity, Democracy, and the Radical Ordinary (Cascade). It appears in the current issue of the Mennonite Weekly Review (May 4, 2009). Here’s an excerpt:

Politics involves all the ways we tend to the common good. This happens in our neighborhoods, not just in Washington. For Coles and Hauerwas, democracy is everyday politics that turns us to the importance of “concrete practices of tending to one another.”

Coles describes the civil rights movement as a story of this kind of everyday democracy. He focuses our attention on the ordinary African-American churchwomen who gave Martin Luther King Jr. a movement to talk about. Ella Baker is the protagonist of this story. She was a political organizer who spread the civil rights movement among everyday folk. According to Coles, Baker’s politics displayed “the arts and the techniques of ‘sitting at the feet’ of the least of these.” These relationships turned into political networks that birthed life in the midst of suffering.

Baker’s democratic politics started at the kitchen table and community meals. For Coles, with whom we eat is as politically significant as what we do in the voting booth. Meals of communion fuel political imagination.

If you want to read the article, follow this link: “Politics beyond an election.”

Title: Who are you?
Date: May 3, 2009
Texts: Acts 4:5-12Acts 4:5-12
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
5 The next morning the leaders, the elders, and the teachers of the Law of Moses met in Jerusalem. ⁶ The high priest Annas was there, as well as Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and other members of the high priest's family. ⁷ They brought in Peter and John and made them stand in the middle while they questioned them. They asked, “By what power and in whose name have you done this?” ⁸ Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and told the nation's leaders and the elders: ⁹ You are questioning us today about a kind deed in which a crippled man was healed. ¹⁰ But there is something we must tell you and everyone else in Israel. This man is standing here completely well because of the power of Jesus Christ from Nazareth. You put Jesus to death on a cross, but God raised him to life. ¹¹ . He is the stone that you builders thought was worthless, and now he is the most important stone of all. ¹² Only Jesus has the power to save! His name is the only one in all the world that can save anyone.

; I Jn 3:16-24Jn 3:16-24
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
16 God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die. ¹⁷ God did not send his Son into the world to condemn its people. He sent him to save them! ¹⁸ No one who has faith in God's Son will be condemned. But everyone who doesn't have faith in him has already been condemned for not having faith in God's only Son. ¹⁹ The light has come into the world, and people who do evil things are judged guilty because they love the dark more than the light. ²⁰ People who do evil hate the light and won't come to the light, because it clearly shows what they have done. ²¹ But everyone who lives by the truth will come to the light, because they want others to know that God is really the one doing what they do. Jesus and John the Baptist ²² Later, Jesus and his disciples went to Judea, where he stayed with them for a while and was baptizing people. ²³-²⁴ ; ; . John had not yet been put in jail. He was at Aenon near Salim, where there was a lot of water, and people were coming there for John to baptize them.

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Who are you? There are a number of ways to answer that question. You can give your name: Hi, I’m Isaac. Or maybe your job, or talk about your parents, or about where you’re from.

Who are you? It’s also a scary question if you think about it long enough. It asks you to give an account of your self, of your life—what you’ve done, what you’ve left undone, what you shouldn’t have done.

Who are you? It’s a question that makes me want to run. But I can’t. I can’t because it is the question at the heart of our faith, at the heart of the gospel, at the heart of the ongoing story of Jesus. And it is scary, completely frightening… but also good news. I’ll give you the frightening stuff first. The book of Acts is a scary story—in a good way of course, if you are ready to repent.

The heart of the matter comes in Acts 4, verse 10. Peter confronts the leaders of the people with the truth about themselves. He gets up in their faces and says, You killed Jesus; and God raised him from the dead. It quite a bold accusation to make to the people who just had Jesus killed. Peter has guts. The religious leaders wanted to make Jesus go away, to put an end to Jesus’ trouble making, but to do so without getting their hands dirty.

That’s the thing about powerful people. They can kill without getting blood on their hands. They can get rid of the people in their way without looking like the real bad guys. The powerful simply need to suggest to the right people that so and so is making life uncomfortable. It would be much better, they say, if you could take care of the matter. And so the powerful religious leaders got the Roman authorities to do their dirty work. End of story. Everything gets back to normal.

Or so they had hoped. The problem is Jesus wouldn’t stay dead. [Read more →]

Title: Those who have not seen
Date: April 19 (Easter 2)
Texts: Acts 4:32-35Acts 4:32-35
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
Sharing Possessions ³² The group of followers all felt the same way about everything. None of them claimed that their possessions were their own, and they shared everything they had with each other. ³³ In a powerful way the apostles told everyone that the Lord Jesus was now alive. God greatly blessed his followers, n God greatly blessed his followers: Or “Everyone highly respected his followers.” ³⁴ and no one went in need of anything. Everyone who owned land or houses would sell them and bring the money ³⁵ to the apostles. Then they would give the money to anyone who needed it.

, Ps 133, I Jn 1:1-2:2Jn 1:1-2:2
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
The Word of Life ^{1 1} In the beginning was the one who is called the Word. The Word was with God and was truly God. ² From the very beginning the Word was with God. ³ And with this Word, God created all things. Nothing was made without the Word. Everything that was created ⁴ received its life from him, and his life gave light to everyone. ⁵ The light keeps shining in the dark, and darkness has never put it out. a put it out: Or “understood it.” ⁶ ; ; God sent a man named John, ⁷ who came to tell about the light and to lead all people to have faith. ⁸ John wasn't that light. He came only to tell about the light. ⁹ The true light that shines on everyone was coming into the world. ¹⁰ The Word was in the world, but no one knew him, though God had made the world with his Word. ¹¹ He came into his own world, but his own nation did not welcome him. ¹² Yet some people accepted him and put their faith in him. So he gave them the right to be the children of God. ¹³ They were not God's children by nature or because of any human desires. God himself was the one who made them his children. ¹⁴ The Word became a human being and lived here with us. We saw his true glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father. From him all the kindness and all the truth of God have come down to us. ¹⁵ John spoke about him and shouted, “This is the one I told you would come! He is greater than I am, because he was alive before I was born.” ¹⁶ Because of all that the Son is, we have been given one blessing after another. b one blessing after another: Or “one blessing in place of another.” ¹⁷ The Law was given by Moses, but Jesus Christ brought us undeserved kindness and truth. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God. The only Son, who is truly God and is closest to the Father, has shown us what God is like. John the Baptist Tells about Jesus ¹⁹-²⁰ The Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and temple helpers to ask John who he was. He told them plainly, “I am not the Messiah.” ²¹ a ; b Then when they asked him if he were Elijah, he said, “No, I am not!” And when they asked if he were the Prophet, c the Prophet: Many of the Jewish people expected God to send them a prophet who would be like Moses, but with even greater power . he also said “No!” ²² Finally, they said, “Who are you then? We have to give an answer to the ones who sent us. Tell us who you are!” ²³ . John answered in the words of the prophet Isaiah, “I am only someone shouting in the desert, ‘Get the road ready for the Lord!’ ” ²⁴ Some Pharisees had also been sent to John. ²⁵ They asked him, “Why are you baptizing people, if you are not the Messiah or Elijah or the Prophet?” ²⁶ John told them, “I use water to baptize people. But here with you is someone you don't know. ²⁷ Even though I came first, I am not good enough to untie his sandals.” ²⁸ John said this as he was baptizing east of the Jordan River in Bethany. d Bethany: An unknown village east of the Jordan with the same name as the village near Jerusalem. The Lamb of God ²⁹ The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him and said: Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ He is the one I told you about when I said, “Someone else will come. He is greater than I am, because he was alive before I was born.” ³¹ I didn't know who he was. But I came to baptize you with water, so that everyone in Israel would see him. ³² I was there and saw the Spirit come down on him like a dove from heaven. And the Spirit stayed on him. ³³ Before this I didn't know who he was. But the one who sent me to baptize with water had told me, “You will see the Spirit come down and stay on someone. Then you will know that he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.” ³⁴ I saw this happen, and I tell you that he is the Son of God. The First Disciples of Jesus ³⁵ The next day, John was there again, and two of his followers were with him. ³⁶ When he saw Jesus walking by, he said, “Here is the Lamb of God!” ³⁷ John's two followers heard him, and they went with Jesus. ³⁸ When Jesus turned and saw them, he asked, “What do you want?” They answered, “Rabbi, where do you live?” The Hebrew word “Rabbi” means “Teacher.” ³⁹ Jesus replied, “Come and see!” It was already about four o'clock in the afternoon when they went with him and saw where he lived. So they stayed on for the rest of the day. ⁴⁰ One of the two men who had heard John and had gone with Jesus was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. ⁴¹ The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother and tell him, “We have found the Messiah!” The Hebrew word “Messiah” means the same as the Greek word “Christ.” ⁴² Andrew brought his brother to Jesus. And when Jesus saw him, he said, “Simon son of John, you will be called Cephas.” This name can be translated as “Peter.” e Peter: The Aramaic name “Cephas” and the Greek name “Peter” each mean “rock.” Jesus Chooses Philip and Nathanael ⁴³-⁴⁴ The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. There he met Philip, who was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter. Jesus said to Philip, “Come with me.” ⁴⁵ Philip then found Nathanael and said, “We have found the one that Moses and the Prophets f Moses and the Prophets: The Jewish Scriptures, that is, the Old Testament. wrote about. He is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.” ⁴⁶ Nathanael asked, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip answered, “Come and see.” ⁴⁷ When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said, “Here is a true descendant of our ancestor Israel. And he isn't deceitful.” g Israel ... isn't deceitful: Israel was the name that the Lord gave to Jacob , the famous ancestor of the Jewish people. ⁴⁸ “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.” ⁴⁹ Nathanael said, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God and the King of Israel!” ⁵⁰ Jesus answered, “Did you believe me just because I said that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see something even greater. ⁵¹ . I tell you for certain that you will see heaven open and God's angels going up and coming down on the Son of Man.” h going up and coming down on the Son of Man: When Jacob was running from his brother Esau, he had a dream in which he saw angels going up and down on a ladder from earth to heaven . Jesus at a Wedding in Cana ^{2 1} Three days later Mary, the mother of Jesus, was at a wedding feast in the village of Cana in Galilee. ² Jesus and his disciples had also been invited and were there.

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, Jn 20:19-31Jn 20:19-31
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
Jesus Appears to His Disciples ¹⁹ The disciples were afraid of the Jewish leaders, and on the evening of that same Sunday they locked themselves in a room. Suddenly, Jesus appeared in the middle of the group. He greeted them ²⁰ and showed them his hands and his side. When the disciples saw the Lord, they became very happy. ²¹ After Jesus had greeted them again, he said, “I am sending you, just as the Father has sent me.” ²² Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ . If you forgive anyone's sins, they will be forgiven. But if you don't forgive their sins, they will not be forgiven.” Jesus and Thomas ²⁴ Although Thomas the Twin was one of the twelve disciples, he wasn't with the others when Jesus appeared to them. ²⁵ So they told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But Thomas said, “First, I must see the nail scars in his hands and touch them with my finger. I must put my hand where the spear went into his side. I won't believe unless I do this!” ²⁶ A week later the disciples were together again. This time, Thomas was with them. Jesus came in while the doors were still locked and stood in the middle of the group. He greeted his disciples ²⁷ and said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands! Put your hand into my side. Stop doubting and have faith!” ²⁸ Thomas replied, “You are my Lord and my God!” ²⁹ Jesus said, “Thomas, do you have faith because you have seen me? The people who have faith in me without seeing me are the ones who are really blessed!” Why John Wrote His Book ³⁰ Jesus worked many other miracles n miracles: See the note at . for his disciples, and not all of them are written in this book. ³¹ But these are written so that you will put your faith in Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God. If you have faith in o put your faith in ... have faith in: Some manuscripts have “keep on having faith in ... keep on having faith in.” him, you will have true life.

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“if the church does not live by miracles she does not live at all.”

~ John H. Yoder

Last week was Easter. And we heard the story of Mary’s encounter with Jesus by the empty tomb. Mary returns to the disciples and tells them what she saw: she says, “I have seen the Lord” (Jn 20:18Jn 20:18
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
18 Mary Magdalene then went and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord. She also told them what he had said to her.

). Mary has seen Jesus.

Now this week we find the disciples huddled together in a room. And Jesus shows up. They rejoice. But Thomas doesn’t make it in time for the party. So the disciples tell Thomas what they saw: they say, “We have seen the Lord” (v. 25). Like Mary, the disciples have seen Jesus.

But Thomas doesn’t believe them. He says, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe” (v. 25). I totally understand where Thomas is coming from. That Jesus came back from the dead is completely unbelievable. That stuff just doesn’t happen. When was the last time you saw someone come back from the dead?—besides the movies.

But Thomas gets what he needs in order to have faith. Jesus comes back to let him have a peek at his resurrected body, to see what he wanted to see. “Put your finger here and see my hands,” Jesus says, “Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe” (v. 28). Thomas sees and believes.

You can start to see the pattern—people see and then believe. Mary, the disciples, and Thomas—they all must see before they believe. But Jesus messes with this pattern at the end, when we get to his teaching moment. He says to Thomas, and to us, the readers: “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe” (v. 29). Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.

This is a part of the Bible that jumps off the pages of history and into the present. Jesus is talking to us—people who didn’t see, and yet believe. At the end of the resurrection account, Jesus tells us why any of it is important: so that people who don’t see, people like us who were born thousands of year too late, can believe. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.

But wouldn’t it be easier if we could have seen him? [Read more →]