One of the most often talked about subjects with congregation members is Baptism. It's an intruinging topic, and it delights me to know that people are thinking about it. I think it's so intriguing because of the mystery behind it all. You can't REALLY explain baptism.
It's kind of like trying to explain "art" as a concept. You can't know what art is...you simply have to...know.
Baptism does have a United Methodist explanation, and that is (in my own words), "Baptism is a means of grace. It is the ritual performed to dignify God's grace working on and within an individual, as God's grace comes before any action or choice that we make. This is true for infants or for adults, and is an acceptance by the congregation that this person is a child of God."
Does that tell you what baptism is? For some, yes, for some, no. It describes it as a ritual experience, it tells of God's grace, but how do you describe an internal action or feeling? How do you describe God's grace at work on an infant who can't tell you about it like an adult can? It's simply baptism, acceptance into God's grace.
Some people...have a problem with this conception of baptism. To some, baptism is the moment in which you are saved, your sins are washed away, because baptism is the choice you make, allowing God's grace to come to you. It is no longer a recognition of God's action, it is an invoking of God's action.
In both cases, God's grace is available to all, but in one, God acts first and you dignify that and accept it, and in the other case, you act first and God then rewards you. Like I said...it's a tricky subject, but fun.
I think baptism gives us a good look at the way God works in our lives. We know it's happening to us or another person (perhaps our kids), but we can't totally put words to it. We can try, but we know there will always be more.
So the next time you see a baptism, embrace the mystery and celebrate that God is so awesome and works so many wonders...that we can't explain all of them as well as we'd like to.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
Heaven: Is it just therapy?
After a lively discussion this morning's Bible study focusing around the first 4 chapters of Romans, I realized how much of the conversation had centered around who and who doesn't get to heaven. This stemmed from Paul writing about God's wrath, judgment and righteousness in the first 3 chapters of Romans (yes, an uplifting start that gets better).
Interestingly enough, we got on the topic of heaven when someone asked "do we get judged now or later?"
We then sprung into talks about Haiti, 9/11 and other events that people have blamed on God, but the overwhelming consensus was that we are judged later, when we die and have the opportunity to experience heaven.
One person spoke of how comforting this feeling was, that they were going to heaven, that it was a weight off of their shoulders that they did not have to fear death.
Believe it or not, a lay person at Stonebridge UMC was right in line with statements made by Martin Luther, Paul, John Wesley and many of the great theologians from the past. They too were afraid of death and not being in the presence of God, and God's grace allowed them to be relieved and be at peace.
But is the promise of heaven just a therapeutic tool for us? Is it something to give us comfort when things are bad...that things will eventually get better? What is heaven?
Christianity is not the only faith that holds an idea of a "heaven", as Muslims for sure hold the idea of a paradise, and even Buddhists and Hindus have an idea of Nirvana or a spiritual essence that takes you out of materialism. Christians, however, have not always been consistent with their ideas of heaven...causing me to wonder if it is just therapy now or if it is true deliverance.
According to the Gospels, Jesus talks about preparing a place for us with The Father in heaven. Jesus, however, does not talk about streets paved with gold, sitting on clouds playing harps, or even a bodiless existence.
Paul, I do not believe, talks about heaven specifically, but does offer salvation through Christ. So saved from what and to what?
It is possible that heaven can be an extra-bodily existence after we die, in which we are in perfect union with God and at peace...and after that, no one can tell you what heaven is like. We can't even say that's for sure.
But the earliest Christians saw salvation as occuring within this world that they knew. Even Revelation, by many scholars, is about freedom in this world and making this world new. When resurrection of the body is talked about, Paul adamantly argues that our physical bodies and not just our souls are resurrected from the dead, and that we will walk with Christ on this earth.
Is it possible that heaven really is on Earth?
Maybe Belinda Carlisle was right...Let's make heaven a place on Earth.
I believe this takes heaven out of the realm of therapy, although I do enjoy the comfort of knowing my friends and family are in heaven when they die. However, reading scriptures, salvation and heaven are so much more than a retirement community. Heaven seems to be that state on Earth where we are in perfect union with Christ and His mission, and that can only happen when Christ returns and the faithful are resurrected (mentioned in Paul's letters).
But I don't think heaven is the end of the story. It's not the final comfort, but the beginning of an exciting journey where we experience what life with Christ is truly like. When we are so in tune with the will of God that there is no war, hate, violence, suffering, poverty. Where we are shaped perfectly by God.
Donald Miller writes, "The point of a story is never about the ending, remember. It's about your character getting molded in the hard work of the middle."
Maybe heaven is here and now, and in the beyond. Maybe it's both at the same time. The point is, that we'll never know what heaven is like, except that we'll be with God. But heaven is so much more than being reassured that we are special and that we are safe. Heaven is a call to transformation and a call to a life lived with God. Heaven is supposed to mold us here and later, so that in Christ's final victory we might be made perfect, not for a outer-wordly realm, but for Christ's reign on Earth.
Feel free to disagree. I don't know what heaven is, but I know I'm excited about it. But I tend to think that God likes this place, why else would he have created it? I tend to think Paul is right that our bodies are not just jailhouses for our souls. So if we're rethinking bodies, souls and the earth, perhaps heaven ought to be at the front of our minds as we transform these other things.
Interestingly enough, we got on the topic of heaven when someone asked "do we get judged now or later?"
We then sprung into talks about Haiti, 9/11 and other events that people have blamed on God, but the overwhelming consensus was that we are judged later, when we die and have the opportunity to experience heaven.
One person spoke of how comforting this feeling was, that they were going to heaven, that it was a weight off of their shoulders that they did not have to fear death.
Believe it or not, a lay person at Stonebridge UMC was right in line with statements made by Martin Luther, Paul, John Wesley and many of the great theologians from the past. They too were afraid of death and not being in the presence of God, and God's grace allowed them to be relieved and be at peace.
But is the promise of heaven just a therapeutic tool for us? Is it something to give us comfort when things are bad...that things will eventually get better? What is heaven?
Christianity is not the only faith that holds an idea of a "heaven", as Muslims for sure hold the idea of a paradise, and even Buddhists and Hindus have an idea of Nirvana or a spiritual essence that takes you out of materialism. Christians, however, have not always been consistent with their ideas of heaven...causing me to wonder if it is just therapy now or if it is true deliverance.
According to the Gospels, Jesus talks about preparing a place for us with The Father in heaven. Jesus, however, does not talk about streets paved with gold, sitting on clouds playing harps, or even a bodiless existence.
Paul, I do not believe, talks about heaven specifically, but does offer salvation through Christ. So saved from what and to what?
It is possible that heaven can be an extra-bodily existence after we die, in which we are in perfect union with God and at peace...and after that, no one can tell you what heaven is like. We can't even say that's for sure.
But the earliest Christians saw salvation as occuring within this world that they knew. Even Revelation, by many scholars, is about freedom in this world and making this world new. When resurrection of the body is talked about, Paul adamantly argues that our physical bodies and not just our souls are resurrected from the dead, and that we will walk with Christ on this earth.
Is it possible that heaven really is on Earth?
Maybe Belinda Carlisle was right...Let's make heaven a place on Earth.
I believe this takes heaven out of the realm of therapy, although I do enjoy the comfort of knowing my friends and family are in heaven when they die. However, reading scriptures, salvation and heaven are so much more than a retirement community. Heaven seems to be that state on Earth where we are in perfect union with Christ and His mission, and that can only happen when Christ returns and the faithful are resurrected (mentioned in Paul's letters).
But I don't think heaven is the end of the story. It's not the final comfort, but the beginning of an exciting journey where we experience what life with Christ is truly like. When we are so in tune with the will of God that there is no war, hate, violence, suffering, poverty. Where we are shaped perfectly by God.
Donald Miller writes, "The point of a story is never about the ending, remember. It's about your character getting molded in the hard work of the middle."
Maybe heaven is here and now, and in the beyond. Maybe it's both at the same time. The point is, that we'll never know what heaven is like, except that we'll be with God. But heaven is so much more than being reassured that we are special and that we are safe. Heaven is a call to transformation and a call to a life lived with God. Heaven is supposed to mold us here and later, so that in Christ's final victory we might be made perfect, not for a outer-wordly realm, but for Christ's reign on Earth.
Feel free to disagree. I don't know what heaven is, but I know I'm excited about it. But I tend to think that God likes this place, why else would he have created it? I tend to think Paul is right that our bodies are not just jailhouses for our souls. So if we're rethinking bodies, souls and the earth, perhaps heaven ought to be at the front of our minds as we transform these other things.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Stonebridge UMC's Response to Haiti
Hey Stonebridgers (or anyone else that reads this and wants to help),
For the next two Sundays (the 17th and the 24th of January) we will be asking for and collecting health kits and/or donations for health kits to send to Haiti and the thousands of victims of the earthquake there. We ask that you go over and above your normal giving to send hope and love to people who already had very little to begin with, and now their very health is at stake. As God has blessed us, let us bless others.
One of the great things about UMCOR, the United Methodist Committee on Relief is that all donations or goods donated go 100% to the people who need them. Local churches, like Stonebridge UMC, give money out of our budget to cover administrative costs, so that UMCOR can focus on rapidly and efficiently helping those that need help.
Below are three ways to help out:
1) Health kits.
Put the supplies listed below into a 1 gallon storage bag, seal it, and bring it to Stonebridge UMC or any other United Methodist Church. We will make sure it gets to the right place. All health kits need to be brought to the church by Sunday, January 31st.
1 hand towel (15" x 25" up to 17" x 27")
1 washcloth1 comb (large and sturdy, not pocket-sized)
1 nail file or fingernail clippers (no emery boards or toenail clippers)
1 bath-size bar of soap (3 oz. and up)
1 toothbrush (single brushes only in original wrapper, No child-size brushes)
1 large tube of toothpaste (4.5 oz. or larger, expiration date must be 6 months or longer in advance of the date of shipment to UMCOR Sager Brown)
6 adhesive plastic strip sterile bandages
Place these items inside a sealed one-gallon plastic bag.
Important: Please do not include any religious, political or patriotic notes or emblems in any kit. Thank you for your donations. You are helping to make a difference in people's lives.
2) Donate $15 towards a health kit. Checks can be made to Stonebridge UMC, with a memo line of "Haiti Relief". If you go to another UM Church, and tell them it's for Haiti relief. They will know to go through UMCOR.
3) Go to this website and give directly to UMCOR through the United Methodist Advance program:
http://secure.gbgm-umc.org/donations/umcor/donate.cfm?code=418325&id=3018760
Thanks for your commitment to the work of Christ. We know that Christ is the comforter, and the body of Christ is the hands and feet of Jesus.
Peace.
For the next two Sundays (the 17th and the 24th of January) we will be asking for and collecting health kits and/or donations for health kits to send to Haiti and the thousands of victims of the earthquake there. We ask that you go over and above your normal giving to send hope and love to people who already had very little to begin with, and now their very health is at stake. As God has blessed us, let us bless others.
One of the great things about UMCOR, the United Methodist Committee on Relief is that all donations or goods donated go 100% to the people who need them. Local churches, like Stonebridge UMC, give money out of our budget to cover administrative costs, so that UMCOR can focus on rapidly and efficiently helping those that need help.
Below are three ways to help out:
1) Health kits.
Put the supplies listed below into a 1 gallon storage bag, seal it, and bring it to Stonebridge UMC or any other United Methodist Church. We will make sure it gets to the right place. All health kits need to be brought to the church by Sunday, January 31st.
1 hand towel (15" x 25" up to 17" x 27")
1 washcloth1 comb (large and sturdy, not pocket-sized)
1 nail file or fingernail clippers (no emery boards or toenail clippers)
1 bath-size bar of soap (3 oz. and up)
1 toothbrush (single brushes only in original wrapper, No child-size brushes)
1 large tube of toothpaste (4.5 oz. or larger, expiration date must be 6 months or longer in advance of the date of shipment to UMCOR Sager Brown)
6 adhesive plastic strip sterile bandages
Place these items inside a sealed one-gallon plastic bag.
Important: Please do not include any religious, political or patriotic notes or emblems in any kit. Thank you for your donations. You are helping to make a difference in people's lives.
2) Donate $15 towards a health kit. Checks can be made to Stonebridge UMC, with a memo line of "Haiti Relief". If you go to another UM Church, and tell them it's for Haiti relief. They will know to go through UMCOR.
3) Go to this website and give directly to UMCOR through the United Methodist Advance program:
http://secure.gbgm-umc.org/donations/umcor/donate.cfm?code=418325&id=3018760
Thanks for your commitment to the work of Christ. We know that Christ is the comforter, and the body of Christ is the hands and feet of Jesus.
Peace.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Do You Believe in Miracles?
As part of my sermon series "Unbelievable", I've been realizing that one 12 minute sermon is in no way adequate enough to cover the topics that we're covering. After all, when you're trying to tackle the doctrines that people deem as unbelievable...it takes some argument and convincing. Plus, most of them are so multi-faceted that it's hard to cover all the questions. That being said, here is the supplementary blog if you are looking to dive into your faith, and not afraid to come out on the other side with more questions and more answers at the same time.
This week: Miracles of Jesus
I'm only covering the miracles of Jesus because Jesus is the one person in the Bible that uniquely is God incarnate. We established that we believe in the virgin birth and the incarnation last week, so I want to stick with the person of Jesus as God. The other miracles of the Old Testament and the apostles can more easily be written off as "speculation" or "perspective" than can the miracles of Jesus. Because, if the miracles of Jesus are proven to be unbelievable...then why believe in just an ordinary guy with good ideas? Are the miracles themselves not a proof of divine authority? So...can you believe in miracles?
The argument against:
The argument against and for miracles really comes down to one thing, your belief in the authenticity of scripture. Do you believe every word as sacred, or do you think people corrupted it as it was written? Do you think that God guided every thought, but gave the writers free will, or do you think the writers were simply trying to record a story with an intent behind that process? Whatever you choose, the miracles are going to take on a different meaning.
John Shelby Spong, known to be a demythologizing theologian (meaning that he takes the myth out of the story to find what he feels is the meat) claims that in the Jewish midrash (wisdom/commentary) tradition that all important events in the present must be venerated by great events in the past. This is like saying that all things we hold dear must be grounded in tradition and experience. Not absurd in the least bit. However, when taken in the context of Jesus, who was Jewish and lived in a Jewish world, and in the context of Jewish writers (Matthew, John, Paul) the idea prooves dangerous to those who hold every word as literal. What Spong means is that the parting of the waters of the Jordan River when Jesus is baptized are related to the myth/story of the parting of the Red Sea that was so dear to the identity of Israel's formation as a nation. The miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 that were no where near a market or their homes relates back to the miraculous feeding of the Hebrews in the wilderness by God. If I read this as a non-believer I would say that they made this up about Jesus to give him power. From a believer's perspective it means to me that Spong thinks maybe this stuff didn't actually happen, but there was something about Jesus that was special enough that the writers had to venerate him with history. So the miracles would then just be a literary technique to prove a point.
The other opposing argument would be, "what have you shown me lately?" Miracle healings are not exactly a dime a dozen these days, at least not by someone spitting in the mud and putting it on someone's eyes or touching someone. There are denominations that believe strongly in laying on of hands, annointing with oil or praying over someone...but they are not always successful. So why, when we are told we have the power, do we not have the power?
Some say that the person needing healing doesn't have enough faith, which is probably true, but dangerous to say when a drug dealer is shot and miraculously lives because the bullet hit his fat stack of cash. Others would say that God needs others more than the ones that die...which might be true, but I'd like to think that the child who dies in child birth did not get killed by God to serve as a momentary function or lesson for the grieving parents and doctors.
So the question remains..."why isn't the power of Jesus present today in healings and walking on water and stuff?"
The argument for miracles:
First of all, the argument for miracles goes to the same thing that Spong says...perspective. Millions of people over the centuries have claimed miraculous things to have happened, only about an eigth of which are bodily healings. They think they see Jesus in a Cheeto (and subsequently auction it on ebay) or the virgin Mary in an oil stain on a wall. Others claim to have talked to a stranger that led them to another place, only to never ever see the stranger again, but in the other place find a way to help another family or to find healing themselves. Others claim to sense God's presence as their plane was going down or in other accidents and realize that God caused them to be safe.
All of these are miracles in the eye of the beholder, it is usually sceptics that do not agree.
The biggest issue, if we're going to make a case for miracles, is why some people experience them and others do not.
1st answer :: We don't know. No matter who claims to know what God's will is, no one really knows. It's the mystery we have to live with. Although, I would claim that I do not believe that God's will is for some people to suffer at God's hands, in order that they or others would learn. It doesn't match up with the God of love everyone talks about, or else that lesson REALLY needs to be learned. However, despite me saying this...I don't know how God thinks ultimately.
2nd answer :: we need to redefine miracles.
This can include the spectacular of "the car just stopped without me pushing the brake right before I got hit by a train", but I feel that miracles need to be looked at for what the definition is, "an extraordinary event that manifests divine intervention in the world." By this definition miracles can be as small as a calling by God towards a certain school or job, or as large as a miraculous healing of cancer.
This is the best argument I have heard about the existence of miracles, to redefine our expectation of miracles, because so often we miss God's intervention in our lives while we look for what we want to see. I can completely understand why someone would want the result to be the cancer to go away, but sometimes the miracle is the reconciliation that happens between people when one is dying and life gains a whole new perspective. Sometimes the miraculous scene of a car crash, when someone claims that "God was watching over them" truly might have been a miracle...but not that no one was hurt. If God was watching over them, then heaven is an attractive offer. But the miracle might just be the transformation that occurs after that. If we're honest with ourselves...it might have been dumb luck that you walked away. But it is no accident that you believe God was involved and your life changes after that. God often shows up in the accident, not before it. God doesn't cause them...God heals them...and often not in the way we want, but in the way he wants.
I believe that life in a whole sense is more important to God than life in a biological sense, and ought to be for Christians too. It is said by Jesus that someone who gives their life for a friend is the greatest, and that is a physical giving, but there is something behind there I believe that dedicating one's life, allowing your whole person to be in line with one cause is the greatest. Sacrificing makes one the greatest.
Obviously God thinks organs and blood and life is important, and as Christians, I don't think bodily resurrection would be important to us if we didn't think God thought this was important too. However, would God want a bunch of people who are alive...or would God want a bunch of people who are living life to the fullest? I think the latter. Miracles I believe are ways in which God directs us and intervenes in our lives to guide us towards a more full life, which includes reconciliation, compassion, kindness, generosity, prayer and relationship. Many times the blood may go out of us and we don't get the healing we look for, but we take the time to love the dying person or the people around us as we are dying and we get the healing that we need. We revert back to the image of God that we were intended to be. And that is miraculous.
This week: Miracles of Jesus
I'm only covering the miracles of Jesus because Jesus is the one person in the Bible that uniquely is God incarnate. We established that we believe in the virgin birth and the incarnation last week, so I want to stick with the person of Jesus as God. The other miracles of the Old Testament and the apostles can more easily be written off as "speculation" or "perspective" than can the miracles of Jesus. Because, if the miracles of Jesus are proven to be unbelievable...then why believe in just an ordinary guy with good ideas? Are the miracles themselves not a proof of divine authority? So...can you believe in miracles?
The argument against:
The argument against and for miracles really comes down to one thing, your belief in the authenticity of scripture. Do you believe every word as sacred, or do you think people corrupted it as it was written? Do you think that God guided every thought, but gave the writers free will, or do you think the writers were simply trying to record a story with an intent behind that process? Whatever you choose, the miracles are going to take on a different meaning.
John Shelby Spong, known to be a demythologizing theologian (meaning that he takes the myth out of the story to find what he feels is the meat) claims that in the Jewish midrash (wisdom/commentary) tradition that all important events in the present must be venerated by great events in the past. This is like saying that all things we hold dear must be grounded in tradition and experience. Not absurd in the least bit. However, when taken in the context of Jesus, who was Jewish and lived in a Jewish world, and in the context of Jewish writers (Matthew, John, Paul) the idea prooves dangerous to those who hold every word as literal. What Spong means is that the parting of the waters of the Jordan River when Jesus is baptized are related to the myth/story of the parting of the Red Sea that was so dear to the identity of Israel's formation as a nation. The miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 that were no where near a market or their homes relates back to the miraculous feeding of the Hebrews in the wilderness by God. If I read this as a non-believer I would say that they made this up about Jesus to give him power. From a believer's perspective it means to me that Spong thinks maybe this stuff didn't actually happen, but there was something about Jesus that was special enough that the writers had to venerate him with history. So the miracles would then just be a literary technique to prove a point.
The other opposing argument would be, "what have you shown me lately?" Miracle healings are not exactly a dime a dozen these days, at least not by someone spitting in the mud and putting it on someone's eyes or touching someone. There are denominations that believe strongly in laying on of hands, annointing with oil or praying over someone...but they are not always successful. So why, when we are told we have the power, do we not have the power?
Some say that the person needing healing doesn't have enough faith, which is probably true, but dangerous to say when a drug dealer is shot and miraculously lives because the bullet hit his fat stack of cash. Others would say that God needs others more than the ones that die...which might be true, but I'd like to think that the child who dies in child birth did not get killed by God to serve as a momentary function or lesson for the grieving parents and doctors.
So the question remains..."why isn't the power of Jesus present today in healings and walking on water and stuff?"
The argument for miracles:
First of all, the argument for miracles goes to the same thing that Spong says...perspective. Millions of people over the centuries have claimed miraculous things to have happened, only about an eigth of which are bodily healings. They think they see Jesus in a Cheeto (and subsequently auction it on ebay) or the virgin Mary in an oil stain on a wall. Others claim to have talked to a stranger that led them to another place, only to never ever see the stranger again, but in the other place find a way to help another family or to find healing themselves. Others claim to sense God's presence as their plane was going down or in other accidents and realize that God caused them to be safe.
All of these are miracles in the eye of the beholder, it is usually sceptics that do not agree.
The biggest issue, if we're going to make a case for miracles, is why some people experience them and others do not.
1st answer :: We don't know. No matter who claims to know what God's will is, no one really knows. It's the mystery we have to live with. Although, I would claim that I do not believe that God's will is for some people to suffer at God's hands, in order that they or others would learn. It doesn't match up with the God of love everyone talks about, or else that lesson REALLY needs to be learned. However, despite me saying this...I don't know how God thinks ultimately.
2nd answer :: we need to redefine miracles.
This can include the spectacular of "the car just stopped without me pushing the brake right before I got hit by a train", but I feel that miracles need to be looked at for what the definition is, "an extraordinary event that manifests divine intervention in the world." By this definition miracles can be as small as a calling by God towards a certain school or job, or as large as a miraculous healing of cancer.
This is the best argument I have heard about the existence of miracles, to redefine our expectation of miracles, because so often we miss God's intervention in our lives while we look for what we want to see. I can completely understand why someone would want the result to be the cancer to go away, but sometimes the miracle is the reconciliation that happens between people when one is dying and life gains a whole new perspective. Sometimes the miraculous scene of a car crash, when someone claims that "God was watching over them" truly might have been a miracle...but not that no one was hurt. If God was watching over them, then heaven is an attractive offer. But the miracle might just be the transformation that occurs after that. If we're honest with ourselves...it might have been dumb luck that you walked away. But it is no accident that you believe God was involved and your life changes after that. God often shows up in the accident, not before it. God doesn't cause them...God heals them...and often not in the way we want, but in the way he wants.
I believe that life in a whole sense is more important to God than life in a biological sense, and ought to be for Christians too. It is said by Jesus that someone who gives their life for a friend is the greatest, and that is a physical giving, but there is something behind there I believe that dedicating one's life, allowing your whole person to be in line with one cause is the greatest. Sacrificing makes one the greatest.
Obviously God thinks organs and blood and life is important, and as Christians, I don't think bodily resurrection would be important to us if we didn't think God thought this was important too. However, would God want a bunch of people who are alive...or would God want a bunch of people who are living life to the fullest? I think the latter. Miracles I believe are ways in which God directs us and intervenes in our lives to guide us towards a more full life, which includes reconciliation, compassion, kindness, generosity, prayer and relationship. Many times the blood may go out of us and we don't get the healing we look for, but we take the time to love the dying person or the people around us as we are dying and we get the healing that we need. We revert back to the image of God that we were intended to be. And that is miraculous.
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